The Canton Connection (18 page)

Jake and Wu left the train station and found a food stall on the sidewalk.

Wu tried his Mandarin again, and this time it worked.

The bowl of hot noodles was spicy, but filling, once Jake got the hang of using chopsticks to fish out the flat, thick noodles. The sweat produced by the soup overcame the heat of the night, and Jake’s skin felt relatively cooler. It was kind of a poor man’s air conditioning system.

Food restored his energy and helped him concentrate on the mission at hand.

“We don’t know Walsh’s whereabouts,” he said, trying to get comfortable on his low plastic stool. “But I have a hunch he’s in China with Stacy.” He looked around at the beautifully illuminated high-rise buildings, none more than ten years old. “But where are we?”

Wu had a word with the food stall owner.

“She only knows food vocabulary in Mandarin,” he reported.

“Keep working on that. In the meantime, our job is to find Walsh and Stacy and prevent them from causing irreparable harm to the internet.”

“If that’s what they’re trying to do,” Wu said.

“I have my doubts, too,” Jake said. “Someone at the CIA confirmed that China had a lot to lose if the internet was compromised, but he said there were politicians in the provinces that might want to make a name for themselves.”

Wu studied Jake. “What else did the CIA say?”

Jake thought back to his meeting at Langley with the burly Bill Brewster who had so calmly fielded questions about everything, until he learned that there was such a thing as an A root server.

“The guy I talked to,” Jake said, “told me that China had no interest in undermining the internet. China just wanted to get a leg up on its competition in the world economy. The government could tap into its reserve of private hackers to steal state and industrial secrets.”

“I’ve heard about China temporarily re-routing all web traffic through their servers,” Wu said. “Scary stuff.”

“But it’s not the central government that we should be concerned about. Local politicians might be out to control the national agenda. He said our embassy and consulates would be up on all that information.”

“Maybe we should start there,” Wu said. “But the government has a warrant out for my arrest.”

An idea was forming in Jake’s mind. “We have information to trade the CIA,” he told Wu. “We know about Walsh and Stacy. For that information, the Agency will let us talk directly to the embassy.”

Wu looked bemused. “Just how do you talk to an embassy?”

Jake didn’t know, but that wasn’t going to prevent him from trying. He reached for his cell phone and turned it on. He went back through his list of contacts and found Bill Brewster.

Wu was staring at him. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to call Langley.”

“Not with that,” Wu said, indicating the phone.

“What’s wrong with this? It might cost a little for the international call, but…”

“Got an international SIM card?”

“No.”

Wu shook his head. “Read me off the number. Your phone isn’t going to work in China.”

Jake read off the number. So he was prevented from sleeping, traveling or calling. What
could
he do in China?

The call went straight to Bill Brewster, who answered at once. Wu handed the cell phone over to Jake.

“That you, Bill?”

“This is Bill Brewster.”

“Jake Maguire from the FBI. I met with you earlier in the week.”

“I remember.”

“Thanks for taking my call,” Jake said. “I’ll be brief.”

“And then you’ll head back home. We’re on the case already.”

“How do you know where I am?” Jake said.

“How do I know you’re in Shenzhen, China? That’s where your cell phone is calling from.”

Jake forgot he was dealing with the CIA.

“And what’s the other thing you said?” Jake said. “You’re on the case already?”

“You bet,” Bill said. “I have to thank you for alerting us to the A root server problem. I’ve got people in Beijing working on it this very moment.”

“That’s great, but I need some information from you.”

“I don’t exactly want to be accused of aiding and abetting a suspect at large.”

Now Jake was a suspect? “Where do you get your information?”

“Buddy, you’ve made the top ten of the FBI’s Most Wanted list. Everybody knows about you.”

Apparently Jake was frowning, because Wu wanted to know what Bill Brewster had just said.

Jake covered the phone. “The FBI added me to their Most Wanted list.”

That seemed to trouble Wu as much as it did Jake.

Wu wanted the phone shut off at once.

But Jake turned
in his stool and kept talking. “I can tell you who’s behind the hacking of the A root server,” he said quickly. “It’s a deputy with the U.S. Marshals Service.”

“We know all that.”

“It’s not Simon Wu,” Jake said.

“Knew that, too.”

Jake was confused. How had the CIA obtained all this information? He thought he was the only one left working on the case.

“You’re talking about Oscar Walsh, right?” Bill said.

Jake hesitated. “How did you find out it was Walsh?”

“Several ways. One, the Justice Department cleared up the problem with the murder suspects’ fingerprints and notified us. Second, that told us Walsh was the murderer. And third, his trip to China registered on our travel alert system.”

Jake felt like a Johnny-come-lately, and the party was mostly over. “I, er, figured that out about the fingerprints.”

“I guessed that was you.”

Jake covered the phone and whispered to Wu. “Walsh is on a trip to China.”

That didn’t seem to make Wu happy.

“So why am
I
on the Most Wanted list?” Jake asked.

“Beats me
,” Bill said. “But the fact that you fled the country for China doesn’t argue in your favor.”

It appeared that everyone suspected him of something.

“What do you really think?” Jake asked, hoping to find some empathy on Bill’s part.

“What I think is you took off with Stacy Stefansson and you aren’t coming back.”

Jake was floored.

“What’s happening?” Wu whispered.

Jake put a hand over the phone again. “He thinks I’m in league with Stacy.”

Wu rolled his eyes.

Bill explained. “First of all, you’re romantically inclined toward her. Then, your superiors ordered you off the case, yet you persisted in meeting with her. And now, you’re in China with her. It all adds up, buddy.”

“Okay, hear me clearly,” Jake said. “I’m not ‘romantically inclined’ toward her. I was taking the lead in investigating and protecting her, and she’s the one who fled to China. I’m here to find her and stop her before she gives away the key to the internet. After all, why do you think I’m calling you?”

Bill hesitated on the other end of the line. The last argument seemed to hit home. Jake wouldn’t risk calling the CIA if he wasn’t still working on the case.

“What information do you need?” Bill said at last.

“I need to know the local scene from your operatives here. Who stands to gain from all this? I need you to hook me up with the embassy.”

“Get yourself to Guangzhou, and I’ll set up a meeting with the consulate.”

“Where’s that?” Jake said.

“Guangzhou is the
Mandarin name for Canton, an hour or so north.”

“An hour north by what?”

Bill came back in a hushed voice. “I wouldn’t linger around the Shenzhen Railway Station much longer.” And he hung up.

Jake quickly hit the off button and handed the phone back to Wu. “He knows where we are. Others may, too. Let’s scram.”

They stood up and Jake’s knees creaked as he straightened his legs. He wasn’t made for low stools.

He and Wu blended in with clumps of people departing the station. They
crossed streets several times and ended up between a couple of name-brand hotels.

“What did the CIA say?” Wu wanted to know.

“It looks like Bill is willing to cooperate,” Jake said. “He’ll arrange a meeting if we can get to Canton. He said it’s an hour north by train.”

“Canton,” Wu said, brightening up. “Then I know where we are.”

“Good,” Jake said. “That makes one of us.”

“Just follow me,” Wu said. He turned and aimed for the front door of a fifty-story hotel.

Jake followed him into the gleaming foyer.

Wu headed for the elevators and punched the up button.

Inside the elevator, Wu hit the button for the top floor.

“Where are you taking me?” Jake said.

“You’ll see.”

Jake’s ears hurt by the time they reached the top. There was a restaurant with a piano bar and panoramic views of the city.

Wu strolled like a proud owner to a floor-to-ceiling window and pointed at the horizon.

The lights of Shenzhen reached to a defined point, where there was a strip of darkness, then lights glittered on water beyond that.

“That’s Hong Kong,” Wu said.

Jake sucked in his breath. They were that close.

Now he knew where Shenzhen was. They were in southern China.

“Care for a drink?” Wu suggested, easing up to the bar.

“Sure. I’ll have a Mai Tai.”

Jake lingered over his rum longer than he needed to if he were simply there for the refreshment.

Wu was using the restroom, so Jake sat by himself twiddling the speared pineapple and lime and looking around the room.

He found comfort in the familiar vapors and the orderly scene of a bar. He knew the traditions, the lingo, and where he stood.

But once he returned to the streets of Shenzhen, he would be out of his element. For a methodical person like him who planned out his next move well in advance, the past two days had been anything but planned.

He felt like a fast-moving car hydroplaning on a wet highway. He had control over very little in his life. How was he going to cope?

“Excuse me,” came a smooth, urbane voice.

Jake turned to look at the source.
A short, well-dressed young man was moving toward him. He had a handsome, almost Western face, perhaps because his eyebrows were almost nonexistent. He had a frilly dressed young Chinese babe on one arm.

“I know you,” the man said.

“I don’t think we’ve met,” Jake said, shifting his eyes to the young lady. “But I wish we had.”

“You’re quite famous,” the man said with an unswerving gaze.

Jake was confused. Why was the guy so sure of himself? Maybe all Westerners looked alike to him.

“Say,” Jake said. “Where did you learn such good English?”

“I was educated in Hong Kong since I was twelve,” the man said.

“Very nice.” Jake looked at the young woman. “And you?”

The man turned toward the woman and translated in a complex language.

“I’m sorry,” the man said. “She doesn’t speak English.”

“Not a problem.”

“She’s originally from Hunan.”

The man reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a business card. “My name is Eric Li,” he said in his polished way.

Jake took the card and looked it over. It had a dragon’s head in a triangle. Jake’s mind shot back to Han Chu’s half-naked body slumped in the bushes. The same dragon head and triangle had been tattooed on Chu’s chest.

Eric Li was a member of the same Triad gang.

“I don’t need your card, Mr. Maguire,” Li said. “You’re already well known.”

Jake looked up from the card. How did this guy know him?

Wu was just returning from the john.

“Hello, Simon,” Li said, and extended a hand.

Wu looked at Jake questioningly, and shook the hand.

“How do you know my name?” he said with a frozen expression.

Li had a fixed smile.

For that matter, how did Eric Li know both of them? Had they made the news in China and this was a chance encounter? Or had Li tracked them down through the ATM machine or Wu’s cell phone?

Jake studied the man’s fine features. Li wasn’t the hoodlum type. Nor was he a godfather figure. He seemed more like someone Jake would meet in college and hang out with. If Li was so well connected, who else did he know?

Jake decided to go for broke. “Say, Eric, do you happen to know Oscar Walsh?”

“Yes. Of course I know him.”

Okay. This guy was either extremely well connected, or an extraordinary liar.

“How do you know Walsh?” Jake asked.

Li turned to Wu. “I know Mr. Walsh, but not as well as Simon might.”

Wu nodded in acknowledgement. After all, Oscar Walsh had been Wu’s boss, assigning him to watch Stacy.

Li went on. “I have yet to meet Mr. Walsh, but I look forward to it. I understand he has already arrived.”

Bill Brewster had said that Walsh was coming to China, and Li confirmed it.

Li continued in his purring voice. “I arranged for Mr. Walsh to come to my place, and I expect to meet him this evening.”

“Small world,” was all Jake could say. Anybody associated with Oscar Walsh could not be trusted.

Wu spoke up. “Where is Walsh now?”

“He’s at my house in Guangzhou.”

Jake looked at Wu, who had led him into the hotel and to that very bar. Had Wu set the meeting up with Eric Li?

Suddenly everybody was suspect. Everybody was so close and chummy that Jake was beginning to feel paranoid.

On further reflection, it had to be Wu’s cell phone that gave them away. If the CIA could track their movements from Langley, certainly the Triad could pinpoint them even faster within China.

Then Li leaned over to Jake. “As for your special friend, she will arrive in Guangzhou tomorrow.”

Jake didn’t know whether to panic, or merely to be freaked out.

“Where is she now?” he asked, attempting the casual tone that Li used.

“Still in Beijing,” Li said. “She’ll come down to Guangzhou tomorrow.”

Jake’s mind was reeling. Just an hour earlier, he had no idea where in the world he was. Now he felt like he was part of the social calendar for southern China.

“You mean she’s not traveling with Walsh?” Jake asked.

“No.
she flew in to Beijing, and Walsh flew to Shanghai.”

Suddenly it seemed much less likely that Walsh had forced her to fly to China. It also increased Jake’s suspicion of her. Why did she take herself to China?

“I’m looking forward to seeing her,” he said.

“I’m sure you are.” Li gave him a wink. “You are very close, I am told.”

Okay. Just how much did this Li character know about him and Stacy? Jake glanced at Wu, who was showing visible signs of concern.

“I have only one question, Mr. Maguire,” Li said. “Even though you’re on the Most Wanted list, why did you call the Central Intelligence Agency?”

Jake felt cornered. Li knew more about him than he realized. That put him at a serious disadvantage. Had Li eavesdropped on the conversation?

“Let me just ask you this,” Jake said. “How is it that you’re here? This is a big country, although it seems to be getting smaller by the minute. How did you even know I was coming to Shenzhen?”

Li laughed. “We can read, you know. The
International Herald Tribune
had the story of your disappearance. The police found your cars at the UPS facility in Kentucky. UPS only flies directly to one location in China. And this is it.”

“I see.” Jake did begin to see. Ever since he, and probably Wu, had made the Most Wanted lists, the world had been given the latest news of their whereabouts.

“So you were waiting for me?” Jake said.

Li glanced at his watch. “For about eight hours. I wanted to be the first to welcome you to China.”

Jake wasn’t so sure he should be flattered.

“I also wanted to be the first to thank you and Simon Wu,” Li said, bowing slightly.

Jake and Wu exchanged glances.

“Thank us?” Wu said, and gave a perplexed smile. Smiling seemed to be the preferred way of hiding actual emotions.

“The company wishes to show its gratitude to the two of you,” Li said. “I have a special surprise in store for you.”

Jake didn’t like the sound of that. What company was thanking them? And for what?

He didn’t know if the guy was trying to seduce him into a life of crime or if he had a twisted sense of humor and was about to execute them on the spot.

“You eliminated Han Chu,” Li said. “And I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. He was the worst squealer in our company’s history. He betrayed my father to the authorities, and because of that, my father spent the rest of his life and died in a Hong Kong prison. You have finally brought justice to his spirit.”

Li reached behind his date’s neck and unclasped two strings of pearls. He pulled the pearls up from her bosom and revealed two car keys. “Care for a drive?”

Jake held the key firmly. The metal was still warm.

Had he just taken a payoff, a bribe, or the bait in a sting operation?