The Shanghai Union of Industrial Mystics (29 page)

‘Yes, but how much do you get paid? In United States dollars?’

Dooley had stopped. The information was not classified. But it might be embarrassing. What the heck—he could open up a little bit. It might even inspire her to defect from China and become an American. That thought gave him a smile, which he kept deep inside. What a shame a woman like this was stuck in such a godawful job in a godawful country.

‘Weel, you start off pretty low, on the pay scale, ah mean. But then it climbs up at a reasonable speed. After an average of five years in the field, a special agent can get assigned to a protective detail, which lasts four to five years. We start at what we call the GS-5, GS-7 or GS-9 pay levels, depending on qualifications, and so on. And then, after a few years, we climb up through GS-11, GS-12 until we get to GS-13, which is what is called the Journeyman Grade. But we get good extras, too. We get twenty-five per cent of base salary in addition as LEAP money—that stands for Law Enforcement Availability Pay. ’cause we’re never off duty sort of thing, always on standby. Then there’s SOT, which is scheduled overtime.’

‘Yes, but how much do you get in dollars?’

There was no escaping it. ‘Weel, the average new agent can expect to pull down maybe fifty-five to sixty-five thousand, and then it climbs up to GS-13, Journeyman Grade, at something over a hundred thousand per year. Oh, and there’s one really good perk. Agents in the field also get G-Rides. These are government vehicles. Uh, cars.’

She thought about this. ‘One hundred thousand US dollars a year. That’s a lot of money. That’s almost a million yuan. That’s more than our President gets. And a free car.’

‘Yeah, well, it’s not really a free car. We can only use it on government business and to go to work and to come home and other stuff.’ Hell, what was he saying, it
was
a free car. ‘And it’s different for you. The cost of living here is like nothing. Ah mean, nothing compared to what we have to pay.

Ah mean, a cup of coffee at Starbucks at home is like four dollars.’

‘A cup of coffee at a fashionable restaurant here is five dollars. Officers of the People’s Armed Police get two thousand yuan a month. That’s two hundred and forty US dollars. A day’s pay works out as one and a half cappuccinos. Rank and file military men get meals plus an allowance of three hundred yuan a month. That’s about one dollar a day.’

He hadn’t known what to say to that. ‘Gee, ah’m so sorry, that stinks,’ he said—and then decided that that was the wrong response. ‘Come and join my lot—ah’ll see to it that you get a pay rise.’ He had meant it mainly as a joke, but he saw alarm in her eyes. That was also the wrong thing to say.

‘I can’t join your service. I am from mainland China.’

She was dead right, of course. That was the end of that conversation.

A movement to his right brought him back to the present. A tall individual using a long-range weapon to cover the west side of the building gestured with his hand. ‘Sir? An elephant, you said? Yeah, there was a girl and an elephant came out a few minutes ago. I thought it was pretty strange, but then I remembered there was a show tonight—magicians and circus-type things. Was the elephant part of the show?’

Dooley ignored the question. ‘Where is it now?’

The man pointed along Nanjing Xi Lu. ‘Down there somewhere. Ah—it went in that direction. A big crowd gathered around it, made it hard to move. I saw it cross the road, head up there, past the Marriott Hotel. I think it’s over there somewhere, maybe near the park.’

The three of them peered over the edge of the parapet but could not see the beast.

Lasse said: ‘Do you think we should go down there and have a look, boss?’

But Dooley was already heading to the staircase.

Commander Zhang had dispatched an English-speaking lieutenant to get more information on the emergency: a young man named Wan. He reported back within minutes with the same information that she had been given: someone had put a bomb in an elephant. They were, apparently, talking about a real elephant. And then someone—a foreign woman working with a local woman, apparently—had escaped with the beast. At this moment, no one knew where the girl or the elephant had gone, but they could not have gone far, and the Americans requested the People’s Armed Police and any other public security body to provide immediate help in tracking them down as soon as possible.

Zhang phoned Dooley. ‘You told Wan about this elephant business. With the bomb inside, yes?’

‘Yeah, Zhang, we may need your help in sorting this one out. We’ve found the elephant. They’re about a half-mile or so up the road, due north of the Grand Theatre. They’re heading north or east. We haven’t exactly got a plan about what to do when we catch up with them. We’ve told the President’s people—uh, both Presidents—that the show is off. They are being diverted to a secret location outside the city.’

‘You are talking about a real elephant, a real bomb.’

‘Yes, of course.’

‘This is not a sexual thing?’

‘What?’

‘This elephant and bomb, it’s not an advanced English colloquialism for a, ah, sexual thing?’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘Never mind. What do you want me to do?’

‘I’ll tell you what you can do that might be real useful.

Find me some sort of location—perhaps a warehouse or something—where we can explode the bomb safely.’

‘Can you disarm the bomb?’

‘Negative. We don’t have the expertise to get to it. Nor do we have time now. We’re going to have to blow the thing.’

‘I’ll start looking for a suitable location. Where is the elephant?’

‘On the main road behind the park—waddyacallit, Nanjing Xi Lu, is it? Or just off it somewhere.’ There was the sound of a map being crinkled. ‘They may be on this road called, er, Huanghe Lu. We’re chasing them.’

‘Understand.’

‘And, uh, Commander?’

‘Yes, Special Agent Dooley?’

‘We might need a bit of local advice. We’re not that great at getting around here—especially not with this traffic and this demo and stuff.’

‘Understand. I will send Officer Wan to help you.’

‘Thanks. I appreciate that.’ Dooley rang off.

Zhang slowly lowered her handset and turned to Wan. ‘The Americans are up to some sort of trick. And the President of China may be the target. What else can it be? This is exactly what we expected from them. Remember I warned you? We need to pretend to play along with them. Call the rest of the team.’

As Wan got on to the radio phones, Zhang wondered what exactly she should say to her chiefs: they would be in a state of panic. This was a highly significant development. And which chiefs? Her superior at the People’s Armed Police needed to know, but so did the Politburo, the Communist Party leaders, and the Central Military Affairs Commission. She thought it would be wise to get an urgent message to her senior-most contact at the main leadership compound of Zhongnanhai in Beijing.

Zhang had a three-minute conference with her squad of twelve key officers, then outlined the plan. ‘Wan, you will cooperate with the Americans and pretend to help them. But don’t help them too much, you know what I mean? You will really be gathering information for us.

‘Xin, you and your team will cover all activities at the Grand Theatre.

‘Chen, you will seek out a location—a factory or warehouse or construction site, perhaps north of Suzhou Creek or out in Pudong somewhere, or Caohejing—which can be evacuated in case the bomb needs to be detonated.

‘Tan, we’ve got a squad stationed at The Bund. Call them and inform them about the situation. Tell them to head straight down Nanjing Dong Lu. The elephant and the terrorists will escape from the Americans and run due east— straight into our waiting arms.’

She rose to her feet and headed out of the back door. She had not told anyone what she herself was planning to do. But she had her own transport and believed she could beat any traffic jam.

‘
Wei
?’

‘Marc? I mean, Marker? Is that Marker?’

‘Yes. That is…?’

‘It’s Joyce. From CF Wong and Associates? You moved all our stuff? Last week? And then moved it all again yesterday?

Remember me?’

‘Remember.’

‘I said I’d call.’

‘Yes.’

‘How are you?’

‘I am fine. How are you?’

‘Yeah, fine, ha ha. Er, actually, not so fine. I’ve got a little problem. I mean a big problem. Er, hey, are you free right now?’

‘Yes. You want to meet?’

‘Yes, definitely, yes, yes.’

‘You want to drink some coffee or something sometime or something?’ He sounded excited.

‘Yeah. Great. That would be fab. But there’s just one thing.’

‘One thing.’

‘Yeah. Er. I need to move something. Can you help me move something, and then we’ll go for a coffee somewhere?’

‘Yes. Okay. What do you want me to move?’ She believed she could hear the delight in his voice starting to evaporate as soon as the social invitation showed signs of transmuting into unpaid work. Joyce felt suffused with guilt. He must think he was being used—he must think she only wanted to see him because he was a removal man and would help her move something. ‘Listen,’ she said. ‘I’m not just using you, ha ha, I wouldn’t want you to think that.’

‘Think that.’

‘Yeah. You’re a really good friend and I nearly called you after the first time we met, last week, on a Monday, or was it Tuesday? Actually, I nearly called you a few times. But you know how it is. I meant to, but I didn’t actually call you. I just thought about it, you know, ha ha.’

‘You just thought about it, ha ha.’

‘Yeah. Ha ha. Anyway, what I am trying to say
is.’
She thought about what she was trying to say.

He waited patiently for a few seconds. ‘Hello? Joy-Si? You are there?’

‘Er, yes-yes-yes. What I mean is, let’s meet lots of times, for lots of coffees. I mean, ha ha, it would be good to get to know each other. I mean, even if I didn’t want you to help me move this thing. Do you know what I mean?’

‘Yes. I think so. You want lots of coffee. Many cups of coffee. You are very thirsty.’

‘Um, yes. Well, I suppose that’s true. What I am saying is that I’m not just using you. I’m not calling you just because you are a removal man and I need something moved. That’s just a small part of it.
Apart
from that, I really want to meet you, you know, for social reasons. Meeting you for social reasons is more important than the little job I want you to help me with. Understand?’

‘Yes. Understand,’ Cai said. ‘So we have lots of cups of coffee first, very important, then do little moving job afterwards, because not important.’

‘Ah. No. I think. Ummm. No, let’s get the little job out of the way. Then I can feel more relaxed. It’s kind of an emergency sort of thing, know what I mean?’

‘Yes,’ he said, but she could tell from his voice that he didn’t have the slightest idea what she was talking about.

‘Look, can you get to the corner of Huanghe Lu and, er, Fengyang Lu in the middle of town as soon as possible? Just up above Renmin Park? Do you know where I mean? Then you’ll understand what I’m on about. Thanks so much. I’m really, really grateful. Ha ha. Bye.’

She clicked the phone off.
Cheese
. Where had her brain gone?