"Sir, did you say the Chinese Consulate?" Gordon had almost passed that comment by, then it struck him, there was no Chinese Consulate in Glasgow. The Consulate was in Edinburg.
MacDonald looked puzzled for a moment, "Of course, there's no ..."
MacDonald was exhausted, he'd had perhaps three hours of sleep in the last two days, not consecutively either. Perhaps he had said consulate, knowing full well that that edifice was in Scotland's capital.
Gordon was looking with concern at MacDonald, "Look, Mac, we're both tired, perhaps ..."
"No, I definitely misspoke. What I meant to say is that this safe house, it's a flat actually, is in Chinatown in Glasgow. More specifically, they can see the Chinatown Restaurant on New City Road where Dalhousie Street intersects with New City."
"And we're concerned with this restaurant?" Gordon was confused.
MacDonald rubbed his face with both hands, "Not exactly, but where they get their seafood is a concern."
"Sir?"
Wolf nodded, turning to Stewart he said, "The seafood company uses white vans, all marked with a small company logo on the passenger door. That van, while the same make and model, didn't have any logo. Why is that?"
"We think that MSS¹ is using the seafood company to hide in plain sight, as it were. Same type vans, who's going to notice that the logo is missing? The men from the fake vans wear the same jumpsuits as the company's employees, very nice cover without having to actually coopt the seafood company."
"Does MSS have an office in this building?" Wolf watched as two men unloaded two crates from the van parked across the way onto a dolly, then wheel it into the opening between the two businesses. Apparently it provided access to the China Town market behind the two store fronts.
"The market back there has a number of stalls and storage areas, place is a bloody maze. One of our chaps went in there and said that there are any number of places to hide back there."
"Why would the Chinese want to foment unrest in the UK?"
"Why wouldn't they? Unrest in the West allows the Chicoms to operate with less worry in places like Africa and those parts of Asia where we Brits used to have a very deep interest in having everyone stay calm."
"India? Pakistan? The Belt and Road Initiative?" Wolf was beginning to see the big picture.
"Precisely."
Back at the farm, Wolf huddled with his men and explained what was going on. He explained how it was in the Chinese Communist Party's interests to keep the West confused and off balance.
"Where do we fit in, why are we here, boss?" Fuji's question caused a number of heads in the room to nod in agreement.
"Back home the Congresscritters are scared shitless of the Chicoms. They think that if we push back on anything, then nuclear war will break out." Wolf explained.
"Doesn't mean they're wrong though, does it?" Max's deep voice rumbled as he spoke.
"Nope, they could be wrong, they could be right. But one thing is certain, if we don't attempt to stop them, we can kiss Western Civilization goodbye. Forget the Dark Ages, what would follow from a Chinese Communist takeover of most of the world economy would cause societal collapse. Those bastards have learned nothing since their Great Leap Forward."
Max shook his head, "Commies always think that the things that didn't work before could work if only the right people were in charge."
Fuji sighed, "My family lost a lot during that time period. It's one of the reasons my Mom and Dad fled to Hong Kong."
"And then the Brits gave that away."
"Yup, so we went to Australia, and when that went to shit, we moved to Los Angeles."
"Always on the run, yeah?" Peter Goldstein spoke up, "Try being a Jew."
"But now you stand and fight back," Fuji pointed out.
"Yeah, we learned that going along to get along would just get us killed in the long run. It's about time the United States woke up to that."
MacDonald looked better than he had in days, a good night's sleep can work wonders if you can manage it. He handed Wolf a slip of paper.
"That's an address in Glasgow. It's a small flat, three men are staying there. We believe that they are funneling money to the rioters making trouble in southern Scotland."
"Funneling the money from?"
MacDonald paused, then decided to share what he knew with Wolf. "Well, Mr. Wolf, we strongly believe that the Chinese Communist Party has an interest in keeping the UK in turmoil. We don't have any firm proof, but ..."
"Those three guys in the apartment might provide that proof, right?"
"Exactly. But we don't need all three."
"We'll bring you one of them, the one that is probably the brains hopefully."
MacDonald handed Wolf a photograph, "We think this is the lad we want."
Wolf studied the photo, "Guy doesn't look Chinese ..."
"He's Albanian, the other two are Chechens, we think. They provide the muscle, the Albanian provides the funds, which we're pretty sure originate in China."
"Bring back the moneyman, you got it. What we do with the Chechens ..."
"Might be better if they don't live to tell tales." MacDonald said in a low voice.
"That's what I was thinking." Wolf nodded then turned to go.
"When do you think ..." MacDonald began.
"Tonight, it will happen tonight. Bring the moneyman here when we're done?"
"If possible, if not, contact me," MacDonald handed Wolf a burner phone, "the number of my burner is the only one on there. Best of luck to you chaps."
"Doesn't hurt, but if we do it right, those guys won't know what hit them. Skill trumps luck."
¹ The Ministry of State Security (MSS) is the principal civilian intelligence and security service of the People's Republic of China.