He did, and she said, “He’s hit in the thigh. It’s a gouge. It’s deep, but not deadly.”
Chen said, “What happened?”
The woman wrapped the man’s thigh in a scarf, causing him to wince. He sat up and said, “We interdicted the couple as you asked. They were skilled.”
“Skilled how?”
“They . . . took out the team.”
“What do you mean?”
“They’re dead.”
Chen took that in, then said, “They were armed?”
“Ummm . . . no.”
Chen looked in the rearview mirror and saw fear. He said, “What happened?” And the man told him. Chen couldn’t believe it. He had not wanted to create another scene on the continent of Australia, and now he had. It would be a firestorm, all tied to one Clifford Delmonty. Now he had to find that man, if only to shut him up.
Chen said, “Who were they?”
“I don’t know. They claimed they were just meeting Clifford for a vacation. Initially, they were compliant, shocked that we interdicted them, just like we thought would happen.”
“And then?”
“And then they turned into something else. The man killed Li Kang with his own pistol, and the woman killed Bao with a corkscrew.”
Chen was incredulous. “What? Bao was killed by a woman? With a corkscrew?”
“Well, not killed. Just stabbed in the eye. The man killed him with Li Kang’s pistol.”
Chen reached a stoplight and squeezed his eyes shut. It was a disaster. He said, “So this Clifford Delmonty is more than Jake says? Is that your read?”
The man hesitated, then said, “Possibly. It’s hard to tell. The couple we interdicted were skilled for sure, but I can’t say that Clifford is the same.”
Chen shook his head and said, “You can’t? Really? You pick up a couple outside of his door and they slaughter a trained team from the Guoanbu?”
His voice rising, he said, “To what would you attribute the action? Random chance? He’s just a computer programmer who has friends who can kill on command? Or perhaps it was sloppy actions?”
The man sagged in the seat, not saying a word. Chen said, “Were the men clean?”
Now on firmer ground, the man said, “Yes. I had the cell phone. Other than that, we had no pocket litter. They can’t identify anyone short of using forensics in China. It will be a mystery.”
Chen scoffed and said, “Except for where they were found.” He pulled over and said, “Get out. Go clean up the mess you made. You are no longer of use.”
The man snapped up and said, “What will I do? I’m shot. I can’t go to the hospital. I don’t even have a visa for Australia.”
Chen said, “Get to the evacuation safe house. Call the number. There is a doctor on call. Get patched up, then get a cleanup crew to that apartment. Dispose of the bodies, then get the hell off of this continent. You’ve done enough damage.”
“How will I get there?”
Chen turned around and said, “I honestly don’t care, but if you fuck up your own exfiltration, cause a scene in any way, I will gut you. I promise.”
The man left without another word. The woman said, “It may be time to call higher. Get that number in the system. Find its location.”
Chen put the car in drive and said, “I really don’t want to do that. So far, this is a local problem. If I call them, I’ll have to penetrate the cell network here. It will raise questions. I’d prefer to handle it on my own.”
“We don’t know where he’s run to, and no matter what Jake said before, we have to stop him now just to cauterize the wound we’ve created.”
Chen glanced at her, wondering about her judgment. He understood her skill, but was still unsure about her. He knew her as Zhi Rou, but understood it was an alias. She’d been assigned to him as a honeypot for the mission against Nick Zhao, the man they were trying to infiltrate into the Australian Parliament. Her sole mission was to get him to drop his willingness to testify about the PRC plan—to get him to reconsider talking about his recruitment, leaving China in the clear. Instead, he’d ended up dead.
She’d said that it was inevitable, that the man was going to press the case against the People’s Republic of China, but Chen was doubtful. Maybe she’d just decided that killing him was the easiest solution. At any rate, she’d done it in such a manner that the authorities were still confused about how he’d died. Natural causes? Of course not, but so far homicide hadn’t been mentioned.
A tall woman with a statuesque build, she had straight black hair and emerald eyes that belied a pure Chinese heritage, but her loyalty was unquestionable. She had killed for the PRC under his command, but he was still unsure about her judgment.
She saw him considering and said, “The longer we wait, the farther he gets away.”
Chen pulled over. “Maybe you’re right.” He sighed and said, “Call up our contact at external branch. Get the Third Department active.”
She pulled out her encrypted cell and began dialing the Third Department of the People’s Liberation Army—the 3PLA, as it was known in the West, the direct mirror of the United States’ National Security Agency.
She relayed the request, hung up the phone, and said, “It’ll take some time. Maybe thirty minutes.”
Chen shook his head and said, “Thirty minutes is too long. We’ll have to readjust to a different city. He’s on the run.”
His cell rang, startling them both. The other car he’d sent on a reconnaissance—a fishing expedition, really—said, “We have him. We have him. He’s headed north, back on the A9.”
Chen said, “We’re coming. Stay on him.”
He put the car in drive and said, “About time we had some luck.”
Chapter 15
Paul Kao wound through the four-lane road that circled the massive concrete structures of the National Security Bureau on the outskirts of Taipei. Outside of the gate—which appeared respectable and official—the rest of the compound looked like a prison from the road, with drab concrete buildings and a sixteen-foot wall topped with concertina razor wire.
He slowed as he reached the main gate, really not wanting to enter. He knew what lay beyond. He had failed.
Separating from every other vehicle on the freeway, he took a left, rolling up to a soldier in an immaculate uniform complete with a ceremonial weapon and a white helmet. He showed his badge and was allowed access.
Unlike the other minions, who had to park across the freeway, he was allowed the small privilege of parking inside the compound. Not because of his position, but because of who he was meeting.
He pulled to the left, drove down the central road that ringed the buildings, and found a spot reserved for the chief of the Third Department of the NSB—the department chartered for the internal protection of Taiwan. The irony wasn’t lost on him that his direct opponent was the Third Bureau of the PRC’s Ministry of State Security—the bureau tasked with penetrating Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.
He exited his car and entered a three-story concrete building, walking up the stairs to the second floor. He went right, stopping at a door with flags of Taiwan standing left and right. He pressed the buzzer and heard a lock click open. He entered, saw a secretary at a desk, and said, “I have a meeting scheduled.”