Private Beijing

Chapter 66

I was in shock.

Shang Li was still alive. His wife had been right. Zhang Daiyu too. She looked at me tearfully, smiling with relief.

“He’s alive.”

I nodded, scarcely able to believe it. My friend and business partner had survived the attack that had been used to frame David Zhou and was being held hostage by these evil men.

As my mind reeled at the wonderful revelation, another part of me struggled to come to terms with the implications of what we’d just heard. My agency had been part of some sort of trade. We were the price of one of Liu Bao’s corrupt deals. But with whom? I thought of all my friends and colleagues who had suffered and died, and wanted to leave the van, walk the block to his building, and beat the truth out of him.

The call had tied Angel to Liu Bao and both men to Fang Wenyan, and we had recorded them revealing they were holding Shang Li prisoner and plotting my murder.

“Jack,” Zhang Daiyu said, suddenly becoming somber. “I’m so sorry. I can’t help crying with relief, I’m just so happy he’s alive. But I should have been more thoughtful. They’re coming for you.”

I understood her fear. I had become a target of the Guoanbu, one of the most feared intelligence agencies in the world, in its home city. The odds of me making it out of Beijing alive had just lengthened significantly.

Fang Wenyan’s cynical words were still reverberating in my mind when my phone rang.

It was Justine.

“Jack,” she said, when I answered, “you’ve got to leave Beijing. Angel called someone there and they are planning to kill you.”

“I know,” I replied. “We heard the call. It was to Liu Bao and a Chinese State Security official called Fang Wenyan. How do you know about it?”

I didn’t care about maintaining secrecy at this stage; I had already been marked for death. If anyone intercepted this call, at least the names of the conspirators would be on record somewhere.

Justine wasn’t quite so reckless.

“I’m with some friends of the man you saved in Nevada. They will make sure the information reaches the right people.”

She was talking about Secretary of Defense Eli Carver. I was glad she was with good people. They must have had ears on Angel.

“That’s reassuring to know.”

“You need to leave, Jack,” she said. “Let other people take this now. Your friend has the resources to handle it.”

“But Shang Li is alive,” I countered. “I can’t abandon him.”

“They want to kill you, Jack,” she protested. “You’ve got to get out.”

“A lot of people have tried to kill me over the years, but I’m still here.”

“This is different. You’re in their backyard where they control everything.”

“Not everything,” I replied. “We have good people here too.”

I looked at Zhang Daiyu, who nodded.

“I know this is hard, but I can’t leave Shang Li. I must get him back, and the people behind all this need to be punished for what they’ve done.”

There was a long pause.

“You’re a stubborn man, Jack,” she said at last.

“Determined,” I responded. “How are things there?”

“Rafael is in custody. The DA is figuring out what charges to bring.”

“What do my Nevada friend’s people plan to do about Angel?”

“I don’t know,” she replied. “They had to let him go.”

“Are they with you?”

“Uh-huh.”

There was a brief pause and then a man came on the line.

“I can’t give you my name,” he said.

“I don’t need it. I want to know if you’re planning to let a man who murdered one of my colleagues, and put another in hospital, just leave the country.”

“He’s protected by diplomatic status, sir.”

“You and I know that’s meant for parking tickets, not murder.”

“I can’t comment on such things, sir. Not on this line. But rest assured, America always seeks justice.”

“That’s all I need to know,” I replied.

The line went quiet for a moment.

“Jack?” Justine said.

“Can you trust that guy?” I asked.

“I think so,” she replied.

“Then give him whatever help he’s willing to take. Ask Sci and Mo-bot to get on it.”

“Okay.” She hesitated. “You sure you won’t come home?”

“I can’t, Jus. I can’t.”

It was hard to explain, but I was driven by an innate sense of duty. People either experienced it themselves and understood it, or they had no idea, in which case my actions would seem alien, possibly irrational. Thankfully Justine knew exactly what motivated me.

“Okay. Just be careful. Make sure you come back in one piece.”

“I’ll do my best,” I replied. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” she said, her voice breaking.

This was hard on her. Well, it was hard on us both.

I ended the call to discover I had a voicemail message from my Los Angeles service. I returned the call and my skin crawled when I retrieved the message and heard Liu Bao’s voice.

“Mr. Morgan, call me at your earliest convenience. It seems I have something you want.”