Private Beijing

Chapter 75

“You can come in, Mr. Morgan,” a man’s voice called from inside the apartment. I couldn’t see anything beyond the black door.

I looked at Hua and gestured for him to return to the stairs.

“And your friend too. There will be no escape for Mr. Huang,” the voice went on. “Miss Zhang Daiyu is my guest now. You have until the count of five to come in and join her. One...”

I glanced around, wondering how they could see us. There were no obvious signs of cameras.

“Two...”

I looked at Hua, who shrugged.

We didn’t have much choice.

“Three.”

I walked into the apartment.

Like the rest of the building, black was the dominant color. The huge space had a polished obsidian floor, black couches, abstract monochrome photo prints, and sculptures that matched the bleak color scheme. Beyond the expansive windows, the lights of the city added the only touches of color.

Fang Wenyan was standing by the windows, two heavy-set men in dark suits flanking him. The one to Fang’s left was holding Zhang Daiyu and had a gun to her head.

“Did you really think you could break in here?” Fang reproved me. “I have security you can only dream of. You’re persistent though. I can understand why you made enemies in Moscow.”

“Who hired you to kill me?” I asked.

“Hired?” he responded derisively. “I don’t work for anyone but China.”

“You made a trade. My life and my friends and business for an alliance. There was an agreement and a price. That makes you a hired gun in my eyes.”

I could see I was getting to him, which was good. I might be able to force a mistake.

He smiled, but the expression looked strained and he was clearly masking deep anger.

“You think what you want, Mr. Morgan. Using your employees’ murders to imprison David Zhou has created many new opportunities for me and my allies. We are consolidating our power now, so what I have done to you and your business is in my own interests. I’m a patriot, helping China take its rightful place in the new world.”

“You’re a greedy extremist. I’ve met people like you before. Your ambition gets people killed — my friends and colleagues among them.” I allowed him a glimpse of my own anger. “You will answer for their deaths.”

“No, I won’t,” he sneered. “All three of you will die here tonight. The girl first.” He indicated Zhang Daiyu, who looked back at him defiantly. “You broke into my home and killed this woman and her colleague to cover up your involvement with the criminal Liu Bao. He will be sacrificed to protect our objective, and your dreams of justice will die with you. The circumstances of your death will destroy Private’s reputation and the company you’ve built will be ruined, fulfilling my arrangement with the Russians.”

I stared at him, wondering how I was going to prove him wrong.

There were twenty feet between me and the large man holding Zhang Daiyu at gunpoint. I had no chance of reaching him before he shot her. The second bodyguard produced a pistol, which he levelled at me. Hua and I were easy targets, and I think Fang Wenyan realized I’d understood how badly the odds were stacked against us because he beamed broadly.

“You see, don’t you? You’ve lost. This is the end for you, Mr. Morgan. Kill them.”

He repeated the command in Mandarin, and Zhang Daiyu’s captor pressed the barrel of the gun against her temple.

She struggled and cried out, but he held her fast.

Zhang Daiyu was about to die.