Chapter 25

  The CIA field office in Xuan Loc was a shit-hole of a building that the U.S. Government had paid the owner three times its actual value. The house where Sanders bunked was directly across the street. It was a former cathouse, also purchased for far more than its true value. Just as a formality, Sydney searched through Sanders's file cabinets and desk. Pretty much everything had been removed or burned.

  She exited the field house and looked at the mass of people in the street. From the very old to the very young, the street was filled with people, and all their worldly possessions were stacked beyond capacity in wooden carts or anything else that would carry their merged belongings. Small children tied to their parents on tethered lines, of course rope. Buses, trucks, scooters, three-wheeled tuk-tuks, and bicycles filled the street. Anything that would carry people and their possessions moved through the cramped streets, all trying to escape the onslaught about to reduce the city to ashes. She weaved her way across the street to the house where Sanders and Jensen had bunked and tried to enter through the front door. But, of course, it was locked, and she didn't have a key.

  *****

  Shawn couldn’t find Jeffery, so he headed for his bunkhouse to gather up his gear. Bennett had given him and all other MACV-SOG units their orders to evacuate the city before the NVA attacked. As he drove through the crowded streets, he looked ahead and spotted Sydney walking across the street. She looked like she was on a mission and paid little attention to the chaos all around her. Curious, Shawn pulled his jeep over to the side and decided to observe her for a minute. He watched as she attempted to enter the front door of the CIA bunkhouse. After this failed, he watched as she slipped into the narrow gap between the bunkhouse and the next building, and then she disappeared.

  *****

  Sydney went around the back of the building and found the back door locked. She tried to kick the door in, but it had been reinforced and held fast. She looked at the windows with their steel bars across them and then back at the door. Not deterred, she pulled out her 45 browning automatic from its holster, and with one shot, she blew out the lock. She looked at the old Vietnamese woman sitting outside on an old wooden chair, smoking a pipe. The woman didn’t even flinch at the sound of the loud report. Sydney stared at her for a moment before kicking in the door.

  *****

  Shawn finally grew tired of his sleuthing and started up his Jeep. He had only traveled a short distance when he heard the gunshot. It could have been a truck backfiring, but he knew the sound wasn’t a backfire. It was a gunshot. Now, he was very concerned for Sydney’s safety. He pulled his Jeep over to the side again, pulled the key out of the ignition, and quickly found a young man to guard his belongings with the promise to pay him 500 Dong when he returned. With the deal struck, Shawn made his way to the back of the building through the narrow gap he had seen Sydney take.

  At the back of the building, he found a rickety back staircase that led to the top floor and a single door on the lower level. It soon became apparent to him where Sydney had gone. The lower level door was partially open, and the lock had been blown out. The debris was still on the floor where the slug had torn out the lock. Shawn looked up and down the alley and only saw an old woman and a few stray cats scurrying about the deserted alley. He slowly pushed open the door with his foot and stepped into the long hallway. Inside, there were four doors. However, only one stood open.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Shawn slowly eased his head through the doorway and looked around. There was no one inside. From his vantage point, he could see into the living area through the next opened door. He stepped into the room and started to make his way quietly through the bedroom to get a better look into the next room. He only made it a few steps when a sound stopped him dead in his tracks. Someone was in the next room. It was a woman’s voice cursing in English.

  *****

  Sydney got up from the desk chair and was about to search the rest of the room when she stopped and froze. Even above the din outside, she heard the floor creak in the next room. She listened intently and, at the same time, pulled out her pistol, went into a crouch, and very quietly pulled back the hammer of her automatic. She wasn’t alone.

  *****

  Shawn inwardly cursed when the floorboard gave him away. He immediately stopped and backed out of the room as quickly as possible. He didn’t want to have to explain why he was there. When he reached the outer door, he bumped it, and the unoiled hinge squeaked loudly after only moving a few inches. Shawn winced at the sound, then turned and ran down the alley and found a hiding place under an abandoned ox cart with a broken axle. From his vantage point, he could see the back door clearly, and he waited for Sydney to come out. Shawn didn’t have to wait long. Moments after he ducked under the cart, Sydney peered out the door with a 45 automatic in her hand. He watched her look up and down the alley before she finally started to walk right at him.

  Shawn had no place to go. He felt like an idiot for hiding from her. Now, he wished that he had just identified himself after entering Sander’s former room and explained that he was concerned for her safety after hearing the gunshot. That would have ended it. But now Shawn had no idea what he would tell her if she spotted him. Sydney was only a few yards away when an old woman came out of the building next to the one Sanders had occupied. When Sydney noticed her, she approached the old woman and said something in Vietnamese. The two women had a short conversation; however, Shawn had no clue what they were talking about. Finally, Sydney made another quick sweep of the alley, then turned and disappeared between the two buildings with her pistol still in her hand. Shawn hoped she wouldn’t spot his Jeep and question his newly acquired unpaid attendant.

  *****

  Shawn waited five minutes before he went back to Sanders's room. He stood in the living quarters and looked around. The place was a mess. The desk had all its drawers pulled out and lying on the floor. Lamps, tables, chairs, and the small sofa were all turned over. He did not know if Sydney had done this or if it was in this condition when she arrived, but he suspected that she was looking for something. In any case, someone was clearly looking for something. As he walked back to his Jeep, a lot of things were going through his mind. He wondered what Sydney was doing there. She wasn't there to pack up his belongings. Then it dawned on him. She was looking for the envelope that was now in his possession. She must have found the letter in Sanders's pocket and knew that Jensen had made an encrypted copy. He had no way of knowing this, but the timing was suspect.

  When Shawn got back to the street, Sydney was nowhere to be seen, and he was relieved to see that the young man was still sitting in his Jeep. He climbed into the driver's seat and gave him 1000 Dong for his trouble, knowing full well that the Dong would soon suffer the same fate as the Confederate Dollar at the end of the American Civil War.

  A half-hour later, Shawn finally returned to his bunkhouse and started packing his gear. Bennett had told him that Jesse was still alive and would be airlifted to Walter Reed the following day. The surgery to repair his heart had gone well. However, he was still in critical and battling a severe infection that still threatened his life. He had also gotten his orders, and he was returning to the U.S., where he had a choice to make. His enlistment would be up in thirty days, and Bennett asked him to consider his reenlistment options. Bennett wanted him to stay the course because he had plans for his special skills. But Shawn already knew what he would do; he wasn’t going to re-enlist. He had something else planned that might just put him in jail for a very long time. That is if he got caught. After finishing his cigarette, he started his Jeep and headed to the airfield. He was going home.