Finding North (38 page)

Alex followed Amam Ibn
Hinna to the back of the cave. She got to the edge of a hallway and
stopped.

“
Cigarette,” Alex said
under her breath.

Raz nodded.

Amam Ibn Hinna started
down a low, rough-hewn hallway in the very back of the cave. Alex
glanced at Raz. She had to bend over at the waist to make it down
the hallway. With his hand on her back, Raz followed right behind
her. Passing rooms on either side of the hallway, they went nearly
fifty feet before Amam Ibn Hinna turned left into a room. Alex
followed him into the room, where she was able to stand. Raz
remained hunched over in the doorway.

“
Ah, you are here,” a man
said in Mandarin.

Another set of floodlights
came on. Alex was standing near the doorway of a small room. A
large statue of Buddha took up most of the back of the room. Fong
and Ji were tucked to one side of the statue in a corner. Fong
stood defensively in front of Ji. Alex caught Ji’s eyes. Her old
sparring partner was terrified.

A colonel in the People’s
Liberation Army stepped forward. He dropped a cigarette butt on the
ground, and Fong gasped at the impropriety of his simple act. The
colonel chuckled and crushed the flame with his foot.

“
I have met your father,”
the colonel said. Alex shook his hand. “It’s a pleasure to be
introduced to his daughter.”

“
Lieutenant Colonel
Alexandra Hargreaves, sir,” Alex said. Because he’d addressed her
directly, she took authority in the conversation. “This is my
partner, Department of Homeland Security Agent Rasmussen. We are
here with Egyptian diplomat, Amam Ibn Hinna.”

“
Yes,” the colonel
said.

The colonel held out his
hand to Raz, who shook his hand. The colonel smiled at Amam Ibn
Hinna and gave him a little bow.

“
I took it upon myself to
secure Ms. Song and her son,” the colonel said.

The colonel got close to
Alex, and Raz shifted his body between them. The colonel raised his
hands as if he meant no harm. Alex indicated for Raz to back
off.

“
Mister
Fong is in great danger,” the colonel said in a
low tone. Alex swallowed hard. Ji had been stripped of his rank.
“There are many after him. He is injured. You brought your famous
medics?”

Alex gave a curt
nod.

“
Did the colonel cause
these injuries?” Amam Ibn Hinna asked in English to
Fong.

“
No,” Fong said in
English. “My son was injured when the colonel brought him here. The
soldiers out there beat him, and I . . . The colonel
told them he was taking us to this cave to murder us.”

Amam Ibn Hinna looked like
he was going to eat the colonel.

“
Ji!” Alex said in
English. “Are you able to get out of here?”

“
No,” Ji
grunted.

Alex nodded.

“
If you’re
finished . . .” The colonel scowled at Alex. “I will
show you out.”

“
It’s very dark,” Alex
said. “I’m wondering if you would mind if Agent Rasmussen assisted
Mr. Song.”

“
Of course,” the colonel
said.

Raz went toward Fong, and
she moved away. Alex gasped. Ji’s right ankle was broken, and he
was bleeding from missing toes on his left foot. His knees looked
as if they had been destroyed. His face was a mottled mess of
healing and fresh bruises. He moved as if his ribs were broken,
like each of his fingers. His eyes held the haunted look of someone
who had been tortured. Raz put his arm under Ji’s shoulder to see
if he could tolerate it. Ji groaned.

“
I’ll need to carry him,”
Raz said.

The colonel
nodded.

“
Mr. Ibn Hinna?” The
colonel asked. “There are two . . .”

The colonel gestured
behind the statue. Amam Ibn Hinna went behind the
statue.

“
Lieutenant Colonel, if I
may?” Amam Ibn Hinna asked for Alex’s help.

Raz shook his head, but
Alex shrugged. She jogged behind the statue. She found Amam Ibn
Hinna standing over two dead bodies. The male had similar injuries
to Ji. Amam Ibn Hinna pointed to the woman’s arms. They carried the
body of the woman into the center of the cave. They jogged back
behind the statue. Together, they carried the body of a
man.

“
Murderers,” the colonel
said. “Executed this morning. We must leave.”

Fong was so relieved that
she lost her balance. Amam Ibn Hinna grabbed her before she hit the
floor.

“
You are dead, Mrs.
Pershing,
” the colonel
said, emphasizing Fong’s married name. She was no longer Fong Song,
resident of China. Fong nodded that she understood. “You will never
return.”

“
Thank you, father.” Fong
gave him a low bow.

“
Don’t thank me,” the
colonel said. “Thank her.”

The colonel gestured to
Alex.

“
The debt owed to her is
large,” the colonel said. “This is only a small gesture of
gratitude.”

“
And Ji?” Alex
asked.

“
He is dead,” the colonel
said. “Killed trying to escape capture. But
Joe Pershing
will leave China
tonight and never return.”

The colonel
nodded.

“
I will show you out,” the
colonel said.

He strode out of the small
room and turned left at the door. In order to avoid injuring Ji’s
further, Raz scooped him up like a lover. They followed the colonel
out the door. Alex put her arm around Fong to help her. They bent
over and ran down the hallway. Slumped over and carrying Ji, Raz
was able to keep up with the colonel. Amam Ibn Hinna followed
behind. They stopped on the edge of an open room. The colonel
turned his back to the room.

“
There are security
cameras from here forward,” the colonel said.

Alex nodded. She flicked a
switch in her pocket that would scramble the security cameras in
the entire building.

“
Thank you,” the colonel
said.

He went out into the room
and down a wide-open modern cement stairwell. He stopped at the two
modern metal doors at the base of the stairwell. He waited for them
to catch up before opening the door.

“
Call your men,” the
colonel said.

Alex whistled, and Joseph
materialized out of the darkness. She gave Fong to Joseph. They
started moving across the plaza to the hotel.

“
You need to stay, Agent
Rasmussen,” the colonel said.

Alex whistled again, and
Royce appeared. Royce took Ji from Raz and ran across the plaza.
Amam Ibn Hinna followed Royce. Alex waited until they were halfway
across the complex before turning to the colonel.

“
Why take the risk?” Alex
asked.

“
You don’t remember me,”
the colonel said. “I can’t expect you to. I was only eight when you
rescued me from . . .”

“
I remember now,” Alex
nodded.

“
I never knew why you did
it,” the colonel said. “Why would you care if a Chinese orphan is
beaten to death?”

“
I cared,” Alex
said.

“
Yes,” the colonel said.
“And the woman you placed me with?”

Alex smiled. On their way
to rescue the child of a politician, she had saved a young boy and
a young woman from the clutches of a brutal man. Because she didn’t
have time for another solution, she told the young woman that the
boy was now her son. They had left together for her
hometown.

“
How did that work out?”
Alex asked.

“
She cared for me every
day since then,” the colonel smiled. “It turned out very
well.”

“
I’m so glad,” Alex
said.

“
I have something else for
you,” the colonel said.

Alex watched Trece greet
Fong as she made it to the hotel. The colonel followed her eyes,
and, for a moment, they watched White Boy take Ji from Royce. The
colonel took a small cloth-wrapped package from his
pocket.

“
You’ll need this,” he
said.

“
What is it?” Alex
asked.

“
It is an aid to translate
old Chinese to Linear A,” the colonel said. “It may not be one
hundred percent. It was most likely translated into old Chinese
from nomadic Xiongnu.”

Alex was so moved that she
touched her heart.

“
You can use it?” the
colonel asked.

Alex nodded.

“
Good,” the colonel
said.

“
Thank you,” Alex bowed to
him, and he smiled.

“
I went to college,” the
colonel said. “I have everything — a home, a wife, even a young
mistress. My mother is grandmother to my son. All because of what
you did.”

“
I’m so glad,” Alex
said.

“
To repay you even a
little bit . . .” the colonel said. “You have made
me very happy.”

The colonel turned to
Raz.

“
We must hurry,” the
colonel said.

The colonel jogged up the
steps. Alex and Raz followed close behind. They bent over and
jogged to get down the hallway. The colonel turned right into the
small room where they had left the bodies. Alex and Raz slipped in
behind him. To their surprise, Amam Ibn Hinna was waiting for them
there.

The colonel started
yelling in Chinese. He nodded to Alex, and she yelled at him in
Mandarin. Amam Ibn Hinna got involved in the yelling. After a few
moments, the colonel pulled out a large-caliber revolver and shot
the male body in the face. The large-caliber bullet destroyed most
of the man’s head. Playing her role, Alex screamed. Raz yelled,
“No,” and the colonel shot the female body in the face. The colonel
grabbed Alex by the arm and marched her toward the cave with the
waiting soldiers.

He threw her out of the
main room. She landed wrong and collapsed to the ground. Raz ran to
her side.

“
You have not heard the
end of this!” Amam Ibn Hinna yelled at the colonel.

The colonel sneered, and
the soldiers shifted to ready. Raz helped Alex to her feet. Amam
Ibn Hinna grabbed her other side, and they ran down the stairs.
They hurried across the plaza and were in the back of the private
car in minutes.

“
That was close,” Amam Ibn
Hinna said.

Alex nodded and then
scowled.

“
Did you know?” Alex
asked.

“
I was told he would kill
Ji and Fong,” Amam Ibn Hinna said. “I knew of your connection to
him. I thought maybe that might keep him from killing the Songs.
Seems like it worked.”

“
That was quite a risk,”
Raz said.

“
Not really,” Amam Ibn
Hinna said. “Did you get the codex?”

“
What?” Alex
asked.

“
Good,” Amam Ibn Hinna
said. “I’ll tell you, Lieutenant Colonel. You are much smarter and
braver than I’d ever hoped you would be.”

Aman Ibn Hinna
nodded.

“
You just might pull this
off,” he said.

“
Pull what off?” Raz
asked.

Aman Ibn Hinna just
smiled. He didn’t say another word about it. At the airport, he
said his good-byes, leaving Alex and Raz to wait by themselves for
the team. Most of the team arrived in taxis, while Colin and White
Boy appeared on camels. Within an hour of Fong and Ji’s mock
murder, they were on Amam Ibn Hinna’s plane and on their way to
Beijing. Rather than change planes in Beijing, Bestat’s pilots took
the place of Amam Ibn Hinna’s pilots. They refueled and flew out of
China.

They cheered when they
were out of Chinese air space. Amam Ibn Hinna’s plane landed on the
US Navy Base at Yokosuka. The team grabbed their gear and left the
plane. The team met medics, who escorted Ji and Fong to the Naval
Hospital, the same hospital Ji’s father, Steve Pershing, had been
in six months ago. When Ji was rushed into surgery and Fong was
settled, they boarded a Hercules C-130 and headed for
home.

Chapter
Twenty-seven

Saturday, early
morning

May 21 — 3:10 a.m.
MDT
(5:10 p.m. China Standard Time)

Buckley Air Force Base,
Aurora, Colorado

The moment her foot hit
the Buckley Air Force Base parking lot, Alex’s phone
rang.

“
We’re going home,” Raz
said.

Raz was walking beside
her, and Troy was standing next to her Jeep CJ. Because it was so
early in the morning, Alex had insisted that they could make their
way home without a driver. Alex looked at her phone and
groaned.

“
No! No! No!” Troy said.
“I know that groan. Do not answer . . .”

“
Good morning, Admiral,”
Alex said.

“
Lieutenant Colonel,” the
Admiral in charge of Special Operations said.

“
What can I do for you?”
Alex asked.

“
I’m wondering why the Fey
Team has been flying all over the globe, and
I . . .”