Private Beijing

Chapter 68

“It will take Hua at least thirty minutes to get here,” she told me. “We should call the police. Chen Ya-ting is a good man.”

She was referring to her former colleague in the Beijing Police who was heading up the investigation into the deaths of the three Private agents.

“We can’t take the risk of him reporting it to his superiors,” I replied. “If Liu Bao’s allies in Guoanbu or the government find out, all our lives would be in danger. You take the van. I’ll find a cab. Liu needs to go to wherever Shang Li is being held to give me proof of life, and if he’s given himself twenty minutes it must be close, so we follow him and then figure out our next move.”

I could tell Zhang Daiyu didn’t like the improvisation, but it was all we had so she nodded her agreement and climbed into the van.

I hurried down Tuanjiehu Road and reached Chaoyang North, which ran in front of Liu’s building. I walked along a little, heading away from the tower block, and saw a taxi coming toward me in the steady flow of traffic. I glanced over my shoulder to see Zhang Daiyu roll the van to a halt at the intersection.

Diagonally across from her, a convoy of three vehicles emerged from the underground parking garage beneath Liu Bao’s building. There were two red BMW M5s and a silver Range Rover, all with blacked-out privacy glass, but we didn’t need to see the occupants. These were his people.

Zhang Daiyu turned right to follow them and I hailed the cab and jumped in the back.

“Follow those cars,” I said.

The driver’s blank look made me regret my decision to take a taxi. I should have been in the van, and Zhang Daiyu should have been in here.

I lost valuable seconds entering the words into Google Translate and using the audio function to play the driver the translation. He nodded, muttered something and got going.

Over the many vehicles ahead of us, I could just about make out the top of the LDV surveillance van Zhang Daiyu was driving,

The cab driver, a sharp-looking man in his early sixties, said something that was lost on me.

I typed, “My friend wants me to follow her to make sure she gets home safely. She has some expensive tools with her that might interest thieves. She’s in the black LDV 9 van. Could you try to keep it in sight?”

I played him the translation and he gave me a momentary look of disbelief before he nodded. He moved into the outside lane, which was for faster vehicles, and we made up some ground. I could just see Liu Bao’s convoy up ahead of Zhang Daiyu, racing through the brightly lit city.

The convoy came to a busy intersection and the cars turned left, heading north on Qingnian Road. Zhang Daiyu followed, and a few cars later so did we.

When we turned the corner, I was shocked to see the two BMWs flanking the van. They had slowed and the driver of one rolled down his window to shout something. Had they made Zhang Daiyu? It certainly looked that way.

I received a text from her.

My fears were confirmed. Liu Bao’s security team were good. They’d spotted a potential threat and neutralized it. The van’s brake lights flared and it slowed right down. I was worried Liu Bao’s men might recognize her and take more violent action, but the M5s peeled off and accelerated rapidly. After weaving through the light traffic on the dual carriageway, they joined the Range Rover.

I typed, “Follow the two red BMWs. The ones that just spoke to my friend in the van,” and played the translation for the cab driver.

He nodded and we passed Zhang Daiyu turning into a sidestreet. I nodded at her but she didn’t notice me. Her face was a mask of frustration and anger. She was not taking her exposure well.

I returned my attention to the convoy which was now about fifty yards ahead. The skyline around us was changing as we moved from an upscale residential neighborhood into an industrial area. High-rise blocks were replaced by warehouses and furnace chimneys. I was heading into unknown territory, following one of the most dangerous and well-resourced men I’d ever encountered, and I was doing it alone.