The Mole
THE MOLE
A SPECIAL AGENT DYLAN KANE THRILLER
J. ROBERT KENNEDY
About the Special Agent Dylan Kane Thrillers
"Dylan Kane leaves James bond in his dust!"
Though this book is part of the Special Agent Dylan Kane Thrillers series, it is written as a standalone novel and can be enjoyed without reading the other installments.
What readers are saying about the Special Agent Dylan Kane Thrillers Series:
“The action sequences are particularly well-written and exciting, without being overblown.”
“I love how the author explains what's needed but doesn't just ramble on in narrative.”
“Don’t mess with Kane, he takes no prisoners, especially when you target his friends.”
“Fast paced international spy thriller with good old American values among its main characters. I'd like to think we really do have agents like Kane.”
BOOKS BY J. ROBERT KENNEDY
Please click here for the intended reading order.
* Also available in audio
The Templar Detective Thrillers
The Templar Detective
The Templar Detective and the Parisian Adulteress
The Templar Detective and the Sergeant's Secret
The Templar Detective and the Unholy Exorcist
The Templar Detective and the Code Breaker
The Templar Detective and the Black Scourge
The Templar Detective and the Lost Children
The Templar Detective and the Satanic Whisper
The James Acton Thrillers
The Protocol *
Brass Monkey *
Broken Dove
The Templar’s Relic
Flags of Sin
The Arab Fall
The Circle of Eight
The Venice Code
Pompeii’s Ghosts
Amazon Burning
The Riddle
Blood Relics
Sins of the Titanic
Saint Peter’s Soldiers
The Thirteenth Legion
Raging Sun
Wages of Sin
Wrath of the Gods
The Templar’s Revenge
The Nazi’s Engineer
Atlantis Lost
The Cylon Curse
The Viking Deception
Keepers of the Lost Ark
The Tomb of Genghis Khan
The Manila Deception
The Fourth Bible
Embassy of the Empire
Armageddon
No Good Deed
The Last Soviet
Lake of Bones
Fatal Reunion
The Resurrection Tablet
The Antarctica Incident
The Ghosts of Paris
No More Secrets
The Special Agent Dylan Kane Thrillers
Rogue Operator *
Containment Failure *
Cold Warriors *
Death to America
Black Widow
The Agenda
Retribution
State Sanctioned
Extraordinary Rendition
Red Eagle
The Messenger
The Defector
The Mole
The Arsenal
The Delta Force Unleashed Thrillers
Payback
Infidels
The Lazarus Moment
Kill Chain
Forgotten
The Cuban Incident
Rampage
Inside the Wire
Charlie Foxtrot
The Detective Shakespeare Mysteries
Depraved Difference
Tick Tock
The Redeemer
The Kriminalinspektor Wolfgang Vogel Mysteries
The Colonel’s Wife
Sins of the Child
Zander Varga, Vampire Detective Series
The Turned
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents
The Novel
Preface
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Acknowledgments
Don't Miss Out!
Thank You!
About the Author
Also by the Author
For Stephen “tWitch” Boss.
May your death inspire those in pain to seek the help they so desperately need.
“The East is rising and the West is declining.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping
“The biggest source of chaos in the present-day world is the United States…The United States is the biggest threat to our country’s development and security.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping February 2021
PREFACE
On October 22, 2022, during the Chinese Communist Party Congress, something unprecedented happened. Caught on camera, Hu Jintao, the 79-year-old former president of the communist regime, was physically escorted from the meeting by men who lifted him out of his chair.
What was telling was the reaction of the current president, Xi Jinping, who essentially ignored his predecessor, even though the man was clearly confused as to what was going on.
The Party provided no explanation. Was this a preemptive move by the Chinese president to prevent Hu from speaking against the unprecedented third term Xi was about to be granted by a coopted party?
And if the Chinese president were willing to make such a public move against an opponent, what else might he be willing to do to cement his permanent grip on power?
1 |
Tong Residence Falls Church, Virginia
“You have got to be kidding me!”
CIA Senior Analyst Sonya Tong slammed her fist into the steering wheel. She pressed the button to start the engine once again. It turned over but failed to catch. “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” she repeated as both fists beat the steering wheel, punctuating each enraged outburst. It was cold out, but it was by no means Antarctic cold. A two-year-old ca
r should have no problem starting.
It wasn’t, after all, a notorious British sports car with a famously faulty electrical system.
She didn’t have time for this shit. She was already running behind as it was, and this would make her uncharacteristically late. She was scheduled to work an op in an hour. One of their top operatives, CIA Operations Officer Dylan Kane, was inserting into China, and she had to be there. She gave the engine one more try, slammed her fist one more time, then called the toll-free number on the roadside assistance sticker in the upper left-hand corner of her windshield. She arranged for a tow, then grabbed her purse and bag, rushing down the driveway of her still new-to-her home and toward the bus stop.
She rarely took the bus. She could count on one hand how many times she had in this neighborhood, and wasn’t familiar with the schedule, though she was certain the buses were at least half an hour apart. The chirp of airbrakes then the roar of an engine had her cursing and picking up speed as the bus she couldn’t see approached from around the corner. The last 200 yards were on a slight incline and her shins burned. She did forty minutes on the treadmill every day, but that was in comfortable clothes with running shoes and at an incline far less than this.
She spotted the bus stop, three people at it already edging to the curb. “Hold the bus!” she shouted.
A man in a business suit turned, the other two ignoring her. He smiled and gave her a wave. “I’ve got you!”
She flashed him a smile but kept up her pace as the bus came into sight. Several people disembarked from the rear door as those waiting boarded at the front, the man standing in the door, one foot still on the curb, saying something to the driver.
She rounded the corner and eased up. “Thank you so much,” she gasped, and he smiled at her.
“No problem. Maybe one day you’ll return the favor.”
She stepped onto the bus. “Absolutely, though hopefully my car doesn’t break down again anytime soon.” She stepped to the fare box then tossed her head back, groaning. “I don’t think I have any change. Who uses cash anymore?”
The man chuckled and tapped his SmarTrip pass twice. “I’ll take care of her,” he told the driver.
“It’s your four-twenty-five.”
Tong’s shoulders slumped as she turned to the man. “Oh, thank you so much.” The bus started up and she shuffled down the aisle, taking an empty seat. She smiled up at the man. “Please, join me.”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
It was then that she finally noticed how strikingly handsome the man was, his smile so genuine, so inviting, that she caught herself staring. She snapped out of it with a flinch and retrieved her wallet from her bag. “You have to let me pay you,” she said as she flipped open her wallet, finding only large bills. “I don’t suppose you can break a twenty?”
He laughed. “Forget the money. How about you give me your number? Maybe we can go for coffee sometime?”
Her cheeks flushed and a tingle raced through her body. She was certain this was the first time a man had ever asked her out in her life. Well, that couldn’t be true. She had been on dates before, though most of those were blind, arranged through family or friends. She had certainly never been asked out by a stranger. There had always been some previous connection.
“Should I take your silence as a no?”
She flinched again, giggling, immediately horrified at the sound.
Did you just giggle? What are you? Twelve?
“No. I mean, no, you shouldn’t interpret it as a no.”
“So then, it’s a yes?” The smile broadened, revealing a perfect set of teeth, the twinkle in his hazel eyes declaring he was genuinely pleased.
“Yes. I mean, yes, it’s a yes.”
He laughed. It was a good laugh, a laugh she could enjoy without cringing. The bus came to a halt as he pulled out his phone. “Why don’t you give me your number and I’ll text you?”
She opened her mouth to give her number when there was a shout from the front of the bus. Two gunshots rang out and passengers screamed as a crazed man burst up the steps, a handgun extended in front of him. He fired two more rounds into the driver then swung his weapon toward the commuters.
Tong stared ahead, her eyes fixated on the barrel of the weapon, unable to see anything else. The gunman shouted something, what, she couldn’t hear above the roar in her ears.
Breathe.
She sucked in a breath, inhaling deeply, her world snapping back into focus, and she raised her eyes to see the gunman staring directly at her.
“Stop following me!” he screamed, then the muzzle flashed. Agony slammed into her shoulder and she slumped in her seat as the pain overwhelmed her. Her seatmate shouted something, and as she drifted into unconsciousness, she added yet another regret to a long list.
I never even got his name.
2 |
Operations Center 2, CIA Headquarters Langley, Virginia
CIA Analyst Supervisor Chris Leroux entered the operations center and his eyebrows rose at Sonya Tong’s empty chair. He rarely beat her in. “Morning, everyone,” he said as he took his position at his station in the heart of the state-of-the-art room. The half-dozen of his team already there replied, pleasantries exchanged. His cellphone rang and he picked it up off the desk, his eyes narrowing at the call display.
Langley Memorial Hospital.
His chest tightened for a moment before he remembered that his girlfriend was on an op in Europe and his best friend Kane was why they were all here today. He took the call. “Hello?”
“Hello. This is Nurse Cummings from Langley Memorial. Am I speaking to Chris Leroux?”
“You are.” His eyes drifted to the empty chair of Tong.
“You’re listed as the emergency contact for Sonya Tong.”
He shot to his feet. “Is she all right?”
The entire room stopped what they were doing at the panic in his voice.
“She’s in surgery right now. I don’t have a prognosis yet.”
“What happened?” asked Leroux as he began packing up his gear.
“I only know a few of the details. Apparently, there was an incident on a bus this morning and she was shot. I don’t know anything beyond that. Will you be attending?”
“Yes, of course. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“You should notify her family if she has any, just in case.”
“It’s that bad?”
There was a pause. “Turn on the news. I’ll let you go now, sir. When you get here, come to the ICU nursing station.”
“All right. I understand.” He ended the call. “Bring up the local news.”
Randy Child, their tech wunderkind, leaned toward his keyboard. “Any particular station?”
“All of them.” His voice cracked at the thought of losing Tong. He had worked with her for years. She was a good friend, and he was well aware she had feelings for him and that she was all alone. He had to be by her side.
Several stations appeared on the massive displays arcing across the front of the room, and he pointed at one showing a breaking news alert. “Bring that one up.”
Child complied, the feed expanding to fill the entire display, the audio piping in through the overhead speakers.
“—just joining us, there’s been a mass shooting on a Fairfax Connector bus in Falls Church, Virginia. Five people are dead and three people are wounded, one critically. Authorities report an unidentified female passenger is in surgery now, clinging to life. Witnesses stated the gunman boarded the bus, shouting about being followed. He shot the bus driver then a female passenger, then several others before finally being taken down by an unnamed passenger. The gunman is dead—”
Leroux waved his fingers in front of his throat and Child muted the broadcast. Leroux faced his team. “The passenger clinging to life is…” He squeezed his eyes shut, drawing a deep breath. “It’s Sonya.” Gasps filled the room as he wagged his phone. “I just got a call from the hospital. I’m going ther
e now.”
Marc Therrien, one of the senior analysts, cleared his throat. “Um, what about the op, boss?”
Leroux cursed, their entire purpose for being here forgotten. “You’re right. Marc, you’re in charge. I’m going to go talk to the Chief, see if we can swap off to another team. I’ll check and see if Avril’s team can take over.” He headed for the door and Child rose.
“Hey, boss.”
Leroux turned, to see the young man’s eyes red and glistening. “Keep us posted.”
Leroux looked at the others, concern on all their faces. They were family, and he was the head of it, and it was his job to bring them comfort. He stopped at the doorway. “As soon as I know something I’ll let you know. But we all know and love…” His voice cracked at the word, triggering tears in some of those seeking strength from him. He sniffed hard. “We all know and love her. She’s a fighter. If anybody can make it through this, it’s her. Let’s just all pray. I’m going to go talk to the Chief and see if we can get the op reassigned, or at least a new Control Actual in here. If any of you feel you can’t work, let Marc know.” He turned to Therrien. “That goes for you too.”
Marc gave a thankful smile. “I’ll be all right, boss. You go do what you need to do.”
Leroux gave a curt nod then headed out the door and across the corridor to the standby ops center, a team always assigned to it for situations just like this. He entered and was surprised to see David Epps standing at the Control station instead of Avril Casey. “What are you doing here? I thought Avril was on duty.”
Epps gave him a look. “Well, good morning to you too.” He stopped, his eyes narrowing. “What’s wrong?” The concern in Epps’ voice was sincere, personal, not just professional.
Leroux dragged a knuckle across his eyelid, wiping away a tear. “Sonya’s been shot.”