He entered the password, and the panel slid open to reveal a small wall safe inside.
He turned the mechanical lock dial, and with a click, the door opened.
There were no documents, no cash inside, only an old Nokia phone.
He bought this prepaid phone on the black market, registered under a fake identity, and had never used it; theoretically, it couldn't be traced.
His hands trembling, he opened the back cover, inserted the battery and SIM card, and pressed the power button.
The green screen lit up, and the signal bars flickered.
Tor Khan took a deep breath, digging out that number from the depths of his memory.
A few months ago, after a joint anti-terrorism exercise with Mei Ku concluded, Major General Duke had privately handed him a business card. Besides the official contact information, a number was penciled on the back with the instruction, "Call this number if there's something truly important."
At the time, Tor Khan didn't understand why Duke did this, but now he did.
