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When do we start moving?”
    “We could get a call any minute. You all set?”
    “I’m all set,” replied Morgan, sensing unease in Sutherland’s tone.
    “How much do you know?”
    “Not much,” Morgan replied truthfully. “I received a mission summary from headquarters and read it inflight, but it was just the headline stuff.”
    At this point, all Morgan knew was that he and Sutherland were on standby to extract Reigns, potentially under hostile circumstances if things went south. Morgan and Sutherland had been dispatched together on similar missions before. They were a good team and General Davenport used them as his primary extraction team, as and when required. So, other than it being hazardous, Morgan knew next to nothing about Reigns’ operation here, or who they might be up against if they had to get her out in a hurry.
    “We’re currently in the middle of phase one of a major operation. This bit is all about finding a guy named Wu Ming. He’s a big-time crime figure in this part of Asia – drugs, weapons, prostitution, protection, you name it. The guy is a master at establishing legitimate businesses as smokescreens for his illegal activities while remaining a ghost. He’s been getting away with it for years.”
    “Why haven’t HKPD done anything before now?”
    “They’ve been trying but he’s too well connected. One of those guys who everyone knows is neck deep in bad shit, but somehow never gets his hands dirty in public. They haven’t been able to pin anything on him. He’s believed to be heavily into the slave trade, although HKPD couldn’t prove it, but that all changed when his name suddenly came up in a global human trafficking investigation being coordinated by the UN and Interpol which, as you know, includes your last job, Operation Usalama.
    “Basically, the Hong Kong cops were working with Interpol on some recent leads into a trafficking ring operating throughout Asia, and out of nowhere they had a breakthrough. Until recently, Wu Ming had only been suspected of playing a role in moving migrant labor in and out of Hong Kong, but then a former Kowloon business associate of his moved to the US and ended up charged with migrant smuggling violations by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement,   for illegally employing a foreign national in domestic duties. When ICE traced the background of the victim, a Filipino, it turned out she had originally entered the forced-labor cycle as a prostitute in a brothel known to be run by—”
    “Wu Ming?” said Morgan.
    “Correct. And that’s what brought him to the attention of the international authorities, and eventually us.”
    “Sounds like getting Al Capone for tax evasion,” Morgan said. “The line of least resistance.”
    “Something like that, but whatever works, right?” replied Sutherland. “The chance to establish a link between a major organized crime figure in Asia and the movement of migrants around the world for the purposes of exploitation was sufficient to get all the agencies talking to each other. Before the general sent me out here with Reigns, he told me that he wants to direct the entire operation, from bottom to top. Like I said, this Wu Ming lead is the strongest anyone’s got into what is believed to be a global cartel, so we’re going for it. Our objective is to find Wu Ming, confirm his identity, and follow the trail from him to the next link in the chain, who, apparently, is the ultimate target.”
    “Do we have any idea who that is?” asked Morgan.
    “I gather the general has his sights on someone big, a woman known as the Night Witch. She’s in the system but only under her alias. You know, one of those Blue Notices with a silhouette instead of a photo.”
    “Night Witch?” Morgan scoffed. “Very fucking helpful.”
    Interpol Notices were urgent alerts published by the General Secretariat and dispatched to the law-enforcement networks of member nations. They covered a wide range of issues and were