Private Beijing

Chapter 79

Justine felt angry and she couldn’t understand why. It was an internalized anger that clawed at her, a grim sense of frustration with no outlet. She knew from professional experience that such feelings were neither healthy nor productive, so tried to understand where they had come from.

Was it delayed anger and grief for fallen colleagues? Was she tired of being thrust into danger by malevolent people? Was she angry at Jack for the cavalier way he hurled himself into these perilous situations, regardless of the odds? All these issues came to mind, so Justine suspected they played a part in the fire that seemed to start in her chest and spread up her spine to the very top of her skull.

She sat back in the executive chair and stretched. She was alone in the small meeting room in the Private office overlooking Madison Square Park. Mo-bot and Sci had been elusive ever since Angel had been released. She had told them about her experiences with Tate Johnson and the team spying on the Consulate and related what Jack had said about helping the DoD contractor find a way to bring Angel to justice.

She was happy to hear Shang Li was alive and relieved for his wife and children, but the good news had been followed by bad. Now Dinara, Feo, and the rest of the Private Moscow team were missing.

There had been a time when Justine had been jealous of Dinara, while she and Jack had been working closely together in Moscow, but Justine’s feelings had been grounded in a fear of losing him that proved to be unfounded. She had since come to know Dinara as an extremely competent investigator, and was genuinely concerned about what had happened to her and her team.

There was a knock at the door and Mo-bot entered. She was in blue jeans and a green T-shirt emblazoned with a screen print of bolting ponies.

“Any word from Moscow?” she asked.

Justine shook her head. “No. Jack’s on his way there now.”

Mo-bot whistled softly. “Does he know what he might be walking into?”

“Yes. That’s why he’s going,” Justine said. “He wants to put an end to this and get his team back.”

“I’m sorry, Justine,” Mo-bot responded. “This can’t be easy for you.”

“It’s the job,” she replied.

They both fell silent for a moment.

“You didn’t come in here for a gloom session with me,” Justine remarked at length. “What have you got?”

“Am I that transparent?”

Justine recognized Mo-bot’s knowing smile; some scheme was brewing. She nodded.

“Well, we do have something as it happens,” Mo-bot said. “Let me show you.”

Justine got to her feet and followed her along the corridor to the large conference room where she and Sci had set up a couple of workstations. Sci was at his, sipping from a paper cup.

“Morning,” he said cheerfully.

Mo-bot shut the door behind them and took a seat at her workstation. Outside, the midday sun was making the city shine, but the conference room was just the right side of chilly.

“What’s going on?” Justine asked, taking the seat next to Mo-bot’s.

She saw them exchange a look.

“Didn’t sit well with us that Angel gets shipped back to China,” Sci revealed. “Jack was right to want to bring him to justice.”

“I agree,” Justine said.

“The set-up Tate and his people had at the Consulate inspired us,” Mo-bot said. “We bugged the place with devices even the Chinese won’t find.”

“More advanced than the Pentagon’s?” Justine asked.

“No,” Mo-bot replied. “Just more creatively deployed.”

She indicated her screen, which brought up an image of an office ceiling. Justine could see strip lighting and the very top of a whiteboard.

“We hacked the phones of a number of embassy staffers, turning them into surveillance devices,” Mo-bot revealed.

“How?” Justine asked.

“Well, once you know who they are, it isn’t that complicated,” Sci replied. “That’s what she says anyway.” He nodded at Mo.

“I built a device that hijacks the Bluetooth connection to install my software patch. It’s more complicated than he’s making out,” Mo-bot said.

“Really?” Sci scoffed.

“Anyway, they are moving him tonight,” Mo-bot went on. “He’s booked on a private jet from Newark. We can tell Tate Johnson the license plate and the time of departure.”

“Do you think they’ll be able to hold him this time?” Sci asked.

“I hope so,” Justine replied. “We now have proof he was spying. We didn’t have that before. Liu Bao’s recorded confession changes things. Angel has clearly been engaged in espionage activity against the United States. Carver’s people must be able to hold him for that.”

Mo-bot nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

“Okay,” Justine said, hoping she was right. She would really like to see Lewis’s killer face justice. “I’ll make the call.”