else can steal it. It’s not over, boss.”
Yu jerked back as if pulled on a leash. “What do you mean?”
“Perhaps you should hear what happened on Taiwan.”
Where he stood, one foot out of the room like a confidence man poised to make a clean getaway, Yu hesitated. “Tell me.”
“We killed the American agent, and we retrieved the manifest … ”
Yu wanted to scream with frustration. Why was this not finished? What the hell did Feng mean? “I know that! If that’s all?”
“?but Mondragon wasn’t alone. There was another man on the beach.
A well-trained man, clever and skilled. Almost certainly another American spy sent to ferry the information to Washington while Mondragon returned to his cover in Shanghai. The beach was merely a transfer point. There is no other logical explanation for the presence of the second man, since he had the training and skill to escape us.”
Yu fought panic. What was so bad about that? The Americans had failed; the manifest was now safely in his pocket. “But he failed, we have the manifest. What?”
“The man’s in Shanghai now.” Feng watched every move the entrepreneur made, every twitch of a muscle. “I doubt he’s here for a holiday.”
A sour taste rose into Yu’s throat. “Here? How could such a thing happen? You let him follow you back? How could you be so stupid?” He heard his voice rise like that of a hysteric. Instantly, he stopped his tirade.
“He couldn’t have followed us. Mondragon must have given him some other information, or he found some on Mondragon’s corpse. One of those two brought him here.”
Yu struggled to regain control. “But how did he get into the country?”
“That’s the question, isn’t it? It appears he’s actually a well-known microbiologist and medical doctor, who also happens to be a soldier.
Lieutenant Colonel Jon Smith, M. D., a biomedical researcher. What he does not appear to be is an operative with any known U.S. agency. Yet he was the one who met Mondragon on the beach. And then he invited himself into our country.”
“Invited himself?”
“On Taiwan, our eminent Dr. Liang Tianning expressed interest in meeting with him. Smith put him off. Then this morning, Smith changed his mind.
He hinted strongly to Dr. Liang that he would honor us by addressing our microbiological research institute here in Shanghai immediately. But once here, he pleaded fatigue. He wanted to remain alone in his hotel.
Dr. Liang was surprised and a little suspicious. Of course, he informed Zhongnhai. Zhongnanhai now has him under surveillance.”
“How do you know this?”
“Knowing such things is why you pay me so well.”
It was true. Feng’s guanxi sometimes appeared to be greater than Yu’s own, and it could make him impudent. He constantly needed to be reminded who was boss. “I pay you to do your job, nothing more. Why is this American still alive?”
“He’s not easy to approach, and we must be careful. As I said, Zhongnhai is watching.”
Yu tasted bile in his throat. “Yes, yes, of course. But he must be killed. Killed quickly. Have you discovered who gave Mondragon the invoice manifest?”
“Not yet.”
“Find him. And when you do, kill him, too.”
Feng smiled. “Of course, boss.”
In the dim light of the Flying Dragon office, Smith saw the short, heavy man stare at the file folder still open on the filing cabinet. The man’s gun wavered as his gaze swept to the exposed safe on the wall above the cabinet.
He had not asked, What are you doing? or What’s going on here? He had demanded only, Who are you? He knew why Smith was in the office headquarters of Yu Yongfu, president and chairman.
Smith said, “You must be Zhao Yanji. It was you who gave Avery Mondragon the Empress’s real manifest.”
The muzzle of the Sig Sauer began to shake. “How—?” “Mondragon told me. They killed him before he could pass it to me.”
“Who has it now?”
“They do.”
Zhao Yanji grabbed the shaking pistol with both fleshy hands to try to steady it. “How … how do I know you’re telling the truth?”
“Because I know about Mondragon, I know your name, and I’m here looking for the manifest myself.”
Zhao blinked, the Sig Sauer dropped to his side, and he sank crosslegged to the floor, head in his hands. “I am a dead man.”
Smith picked the Sig Sauer from his fingers. He transferred his Beretta to his jacket pocket, shoved the Sig Sauer into his belt, and looked down at Zhao. Zhao sat with the back of his neck exposed, as if waiting for the slice of an executioner’s axe.
Smith asked, “They can trace the manifest back to you?”
The head nodded. “Not today. Perhaps not tomorrow. But eventually. Feng is a sorcerer. He can see behind any screen.”
“Who’s Feng?”
“Feng Dun. Yu Yongfu’s security chief.”
Smith frowned, wondering … “What does he look like?”
Zhao described his height and strength, the red-and-white hair, and the viciousness that was hidden behind the calm exterior. “You’ve seen him?”
“I have.” Smith nodded, not surprised. At last, he had a name for him.
“Start at the beginning. Why did you do it?”
Zhao looked up, suddenly angry, his terror forgotten. “Yu Yongfu is greedy, a pig! He is why I gave the manifest to Mondragon! The honored grandfather of my friend Bei Ruitiao founded Flying Dragon Enterprises while the English and Americans were still among us. We were an honorable company … We … ”
As Smith listened to the harangue, he pieced together a story that was all too common in the new People’s Republic: Flying Dragon had been a relatively small, conservative company, primarily ferrying cargo up and down the Yangtze and along the coast as far as Hainan Island. Bei Ruitiao was president until Yu Yongfu, using muscle, connections in the Party, and Belgian financing, grabbed the company in a Mafia-like takeover. Yu made himself president and chairman and, with the help of the Belgian shipping firm, expanded into international transport. The entire time, he skated on the edge of both Chinese and international law.
Zhao’s voice shook with emotion. “My friend Ruitiao is ruined because of Yu. I gave the manifest to Mondragon to expose Yu and ruin him in return!” All his bravado vanished as quickly as it erupted. “But I have failed. I am a dead man.”
“How did you manage to steal it?”
He nodded to the exposed safe above the file cabinet. “It was in a secret file in Yu’s safe. I am the treasurer of Flying Dragon. I pretended to welcome Yu, and he made the mistake of retaining me. One day he forgot he had taken the file from the safe, and I found it. I returned it to the safe after I took the manifest. At the time, he did not remember he had left it out. But he will remember now. The manifest had to come from somewhere.” His body slumped more, beaten.
“Where do you the think the manifest is? In the safe here again?”
Zhao shook his head. “No. Yu would be too afraid to leave it here now.
It must be with him at home. He has a safe there, too.”
“Where does he live?”
“Far beyond Hongqiao Airport. An obscene mansion that would have shamed an official of the Yuan Dynasty.” He related an address that meant nothing to Smith, but Andy would be able to find it.
“Mondragon said there were three copies?”
“Yes,” Zhao said dully. “Three.”
