Private Beijing

Chapter 25

It was gone 8 p.m. and Justine was still in the Private New York office, working in the conference room on the thirty-fifth floor, trying to put together a profile of the person who had planted the bombs intended to kill her and her colleagues.

She had developed a couple of scenarios. In the first, whoever planted the devices was the same person who shot Jessie and Lewis. The second possibility was that they were separate and unrelated people. Bombers tended to be meticulously careful individuals with little appetite for encountering death up close. Someone capable of gunning down two people in close contact had a very different attitude. But if there was one person who combined the discipline and technical knowhow needed for bomb-making with an appetite for close combat, then that suggested someone with military or paramilitary training.

Justine had written up two different profiles but it had taken her much longer than normal because she had found herself frequently distracted by her concern for Jack. Speaking to him hadn’t helped. He had sounded dead tired and worried, and she hated to think of him fighting for his life in an unfamiliar city. She had, however, heard good things about the Beijing office’s number two, Zhang Daiyu, and hoped she lived up to her reputation.

There was a knock at the door and an Atlas Security officer entered. He wore a gray uniform shirt and was accompanied by an English Springer Spaniel sniffer dog, held on a short leash.

“Sorry to disturb you again, ma’am,” he said. “We’re doing another sweep.”

“Go ahead,” Justine replied, watching as the security officer allowed the dog to sniff the corners of the room in search of traces of explosives.

It spent a while under the table and its handler opened the cupboards built into the storage unit behind her. She watched the dog check inside the large piece of furniture, tail wagging.

“Looks like he’s enjoying himself,” Sci said.

The forensics expert was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame.

“He knows he gets a treat if he does a good job,” the security officer said. “You’re clear,” he told Justine, and he and the dog squeezed past Sci to leave the room.

“I have news,” Sci said, shutting the door and taking a seat at the boardroom table. “NYPD has been able to trace the detonators to a demolition firm based in Connecticut. Ryedale Engineering. Guy called Seth Ryedale runs the place. Mo-bot is working up a background on him and the firm. Detective Salazar has asked us to give him a clear run and not to make contact until lunchtime tomorrow at the earliest. They want to question Ryedale and search the place for evidence. They don’t want us doing anything to tip him off.”

“We can do that,” Justine replied. “We need to cooperate wherever we can.”

“How’s Jack?” Sci asked.

“He’s doing okay,” she said. “Considering.”

“And you?”

“I’ll be glad when he’s home.”

“We all will,” Sci agreed.

“Is Mo-bot in the computer lab?”

Sci nodded.

“I’ll join her,” said Justine, getting to her feet. “See if any of the staff at Ryedale Engineering fit the profiles I’m working on.”