The Chase (14 page)

“You’re telling me that you don’t know how long it will take to crack the safe?”

“It’s mathematics, the process of elimination, and chance. You can’t accurately put a timer on that.”

“I wish you’d told me that before we started this caper.”

“You wouldn’t have agreed to do it.”

“That’s right,” she said. “Because where I come from, ‘you never know’ is not favorable odds.”

“We can significantly improve those odds if we know a couple of the numbers in the combination.”

Nick slid the armature against the safe so that the pincers clutched the dial and the suction cups were flat against the door.

“That’s like trying to guess the numbers in the lottery,” Kate said. “What happens if we guess wrong?”

“It could take even longer to open the safe than if we’d relied only on pure luck and the software’s algorithm.”

There were little tabs on the suction cups. Nick pressed the tabs, and the arm stuck firmly against the safe. He plugged one end of the power cord into the machine and ran the rest of the cord, the one with the jumper cables on the end, out to the battery that had been removed from the Rolls-Royce.

“We know that Fu is a successful Chinese businessman with a dragon painted on his plane,” Nick said. “Dragons have enormous symbolic power in Chinese culture. A dragon is also the logo of his company. That leads me to believe that Fu is superstitious, since dragons represent power and good luck in Chinese culture.”

Nick took out his iPhone, plugged it into a socket on the safecracking device, and tapped a vault-shaped icon on his touch screen, activating an app. “If I’m right, then his combination will be comprised of numbers ending in two, six, eight, and nine. Those are very lucky numbers to the Chinese. Even numbers are usually considered better than odd ones, so we can rule odd numbers out.
Traditionally, two represents harmony, six equals success, and eight symbolizes prosperity and high social status, which is why the Beijing Olympics opened on August 8, 2008.”

“Nine isn’t an even number.”

“It’s an exception. Nine represents permanence and security. Four is also an exception, in a bad way. It means death.” He gestured to the keyboard on his iPhone screen. “So should I tell the app to favor numbers that end in two, six, eight, and nine?”

Kate sighed. “Go ’head.”

Nick tapped the numbers into the iPhone, and the robotic arm came to life. The pincers immediately began spinning the combination dial with remarkable speed and agility. The unit emitted a smooth electric whirring sound and a
clickety-clack
as its robotic joints moved.

“Now all we have to do is wait for the door to open,” Nick said.

Alexis remained in her seat for the first couple hours and casually watched the other passengers move about the plane. None of them had introduced themselves or tried to engage her in small talk. In fact, nobody seemed to notice her at all. That’s because she didn’t make eye contact with anyone, and her body language screamed
not interested in any human interaction
. She might as well have been wearing Harry Potter’s Cloak of Invisibility.

The two fake producers didn’t appear to be on board, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have an accomplice or two among the passengers or the crew. Nothing jumped out at her as suspicious or unusual about anyone’s behavior, so she eventually decided to get up and explore the plane along with everybody else.

She peeked into the gym and changing rooms that were aft of the passenger cabin. There were five executives marveling over the showers and taking pictures of themselves standing in them. The airborne showers didn’t interest her at all. Her attention was
drawn to the emergency door to a stairwell that led down to the two lower levels. Someone could use the stairwell to sneak down to the cargo hold, though she suspected that opening the emergency door would set off a warning light on the instrument panel in the cockpit, alerting the pilots.

Alexis walked back through the cabin toward the front of the plane and along the wood-paneled hallway that separated the four staterooms. The hall curved past the closed double doors leading to Fu’s private suite and ended at the grand, winding staircase that went down to the first-floor lobby.

She went down the stairs to the second level, encountering two of Fu’s statuesque young Chinese flight attendants carrying trays of dim sum and tea. She made her way past the doors of the conference room and through the elegant library to the nightclub. Several passengers were gathered around the nightclub’s dance floor and gaping at the windowlike video display under their feet. It was a cheap thrill for people who’d never experienced any real danger, she thought. Only a genuine hole in the floor might have interested her. Even then, she wouldn’t gape.

A door opened at the far end of the room, and a flight attendant emerged carrying a tray of assorted dim sum, fresh from the galley. Alexis peeked into the galley at the white-coated chef. He bowed in greeting and smiled. The galley was small but looked efficient. Elevator doors opened next to a prep area, and a second white-coated chef stepped out carrying a plastic container of food. Perfect, Alexis thought. The pantry was in the cargo hold. This would be her access point to the lower level.

She backed out of the galley and returned to her seat. She hadn’t seen anyone yet who’d set off any instinctive alarm bells, but a pro probably wouldn’t, and there were still a lot of crew
members she hadn’t laid eyes on. That was okay. She had more than fourteen hours to see if there were any thieves on board. She’d wait until the big meeting began, and once most of the passengers were behind those closed doors, she’d see if anyone tried to pay a visit to the safe in the cargo hold. And if someone did, he would find her there waiting for him with the stiletto that she called her “conversation starter.” She’d found that people were a lot more forthcoming with her when she was slowly peeling their skin off.

And when she was certain she had a little time to herself, she’d take a good look at the safe, although she suspected it would be easier for her to steal the rooster after it was offloaded from the plane.

Kate was asleep in the backseat of Fu’s Rolls-Royce, her head on Nick’s shoulder, when a bump of turbulence woke her up. She lifted her head in the darkness.

“Is the safe open yet?” she asked.

“Afraid not,” Nick said.

Kate stretched, running her fingers along the car’s cashmere headliner and then over the creamy chestnut leather seat. “Who knew that flying in the cargo hold could be as elegant as first class?”

“This is much better,” Nick said. “We’re sitting on Bavarian bullhide. Everyone else uses cowhide for upholstery. Rolls-Royce won’t, because cows get stretch marks.”

“I can relate. That’s the same reason I insist on vinyl seats in my cars. There’s nothing worse than a car with stretch marks. How long was I asleep?”

“About four hours.”

“I’m hungry.”

“We didn’t bring food, but the food storage area is on this level.”

“I’ll make a supply run,” Kate said. “I need to stretch my legs anyway.”

“The wine cellar is down here, too. I understand Fu has some excellent Bordeaux. A vintage Pétrus would be nice.”

“I wouldn’t know a Bordeaux from Hawaiian Punch.”

“Just grab a bottle of anything red. Some cheese would go well with that. Crottin de Chavignol if they have it. Maybe some chocolate, too.”

Kate got out of the Rolls, turned her flashlight on, and squeezed through the narrow space between the ULDs to the access door at the front of the cargo hold. She opened the door and walked down a long, dark hallway to another door at the far end. It was pitch-black. Without her flashlight, she wouldn’t have been able to see a thing.

She stopped, pressed her ear to the door, and listened for any sounds of people or activity coming from the other side. She opened the door a crack and peered out.

The lights were on. There was an elevator to her left and a hallway that led to a housekeeping storage area. Judging by the size of the door, the elevator appeared to be just wide enough to hold a person and a refreshment cart. Directly across from her was the pantry. A porthole window in the pantry door allowed her to see the bread, candy, cookies, and cans of food secured in cupboards with thick wire mesh to keep items from flying out during turbulence. She didn’t see or hear anyone, so she stepped out, crossed to the storeroom, and slipped inside.

The room was roughly ten feet by ten feet wide, with a gleaming vinyl tile floor. To her right was a utility closet, a Sub-Zero refrigerator, and a huge temperature-controlled wine cabinet
with a glass door that showed the dozens of bottles inside. A row of six empty food and beverage carts were lined up underneath a counter. On top of the counter was a stack of one-inch-deep plastic trays for stocking the carts. Kate took one of the trays and began to do a little grocery shopping. She helped herself to crackers, several bottles of Evian water, and a bunch of Godiva chocolates and Toblerone bars, and she was just about to see if she could find some cheese and cold cuts in the refrigerator when she heard the elevator doors open.

Kate gripped her tray and ducked down, catching a glimpse through the porthole window of the person outside. It was the stunning blond BlackRhino operative who’d been watching her in Palm Beach. This didn’t come as a total shock. There had always been the chance that Carter would discover the theft and put enough pieces together in time to place someone on the plane. Unfortunately it made an already complicated situation even more unwieldy.

Kate’s rule of thumb was
Always better to be the attacker than the attackee
. So she pushed the door open and whacked the surprised woman in the head with the tray. Alexis went down to one knee, shook her head to clear it, and whirled around, catching Kate with a perfectly placed kick to the rib cage. Kate crouched and blocked a second kick.

The two women were now fully engaged in hand-to-hand combat, executing their attacks and defenses in rapid, dizzying combinations, with a deadly, almost balletic grace. Neither was able to deliver a decisive blow, but Kate felt a satisfying snap when one of her sharp lightning jabs smashed the woman’s nose. The operative stepped back, licked the blood from her lips, and smiled.

It was unnerving. Kate’s father had warned her that BlackRhino
operatives liked killing. Now Kate knew that Jake was right, and that only one of two women would be leaving the storage room alive.

Alexis pulled a switchblade from a sheath in her sleeve, flicked it open, and slashed at Kate. Kate leaned away from the blade and tried to kick her attacker’s knee, but Alexis dodged her, swung the blade again, and sliced into Kate’s leg.

With her right hand, Kate grabbed the assassin’s arm as it passed and drove her left elbow into the woman’s bloody nose. Alexis seemed oblivious to the pain and countered with a furious series of devastating jabs into Kate’s side with her free hand, weakening Kate’s hold.

Alexis yanked her arm free and lunged at Kate with the knife again. Kate sidestepped the blade, but not fast enough. She felt the deep sting as the blade sliced her left forearm, which she’d instinctively raised to protect herself.

The parry gave Kate an unexpected opening. The assassin’s body was momentarily exposed and unprotected. Kate punched Alexis in the throat and grabbed her knife arm, yanking it down.

Alexis lost her balance. Kate pinned Alexis’s right arm behind her back, driving the assassin facedown toward the floor, knocking the knife out of her hand. Alexis grabbed Kate’s ankle and yanked.

For an instant, they were both down on one knee, facing each other like two opposing football players along the line of scrimmage. But Alexis was quicker, charging forward and wrapping her right arm around Kate’s neck in a chokehold.

To tighten the vise, Alexis grabbed her own right wrist with her left hand, locking Kate’s neck under her armpit, and then stood up, using Kate’s weight against her to crush her throat. It was a brutally efficient way to kill.

Kate felt herself losing consciousness as her windpipe was crimped like a hose. She knew that in an instant, Alexis would intentionally fall backward, using the momentum to bring Kate down and snap her neck. Kate had a second or two left to live. Her years of combat training kicked in, she stretched her legs out in front of her, and abruptly sat down. The move dramatically shifted the balance between them, hurling Alexis face forward and dropping Kate backward. Kate let the momentum carry her, falling flat onto her back and flipping Alexis over her and headfirst onto the floor.

Kate gasped for air and realized the pantry was deadly quiet. Alexis wasn’t moving. Kate crawled on her hands and knees and looked at Alexis. The would-be assassin’s eyes stared straight ahead, unblinking, and her head was twisted at an unnatural angle. She’d broken her neck when she got flipped over Kate and slammed into the steel door of the fridge. Kate felt for a pulse. None.