White Jade (The PROJECT) (3 page)

"
Do that. Then
I want you to go
to
California
with D
octor
Connor and retrieve
that book
.
Does that work for you, Selena?"

"
A
nything that helps."

"Why do you want me along?" Carter said.

"
They didn't get the book.
If they
think
Selena
has
it
t
hey might go after her. I
want you to keep an eye out." She
looked at her watch and
turned to Selena.
"
It
'
s too late to get a flight today. We
'
ll book one for tomorrow. What
airport,
Selena?
"

"
Sacramento
. The mine is only an hour
away
.
"

"
We
'
ll arrange a car.
"

Carter said,
"
We can use mine. It's
already there
.
"
He
'd flown
out of Sacramento
. His
truck
was in the
long term lot
at the airport.

"
Good.
H
ook up with Jordan
before you go
. Call me after you
find
the book. We
'
ll search the rest of these files and follow up.
"

"
What do I tell
Jordan
?
"

Harker tapped her pen on the desk.
"
T
ell him
about
the financial accounts
. W
e
'
ll
keep the book to ourselves for now. There
'
s no need for the Bureau to know about it.
"

Chapter
Four

Earlier that same day, Colonel Wu Chen
was
sitting in a
secluded
red leather booth at the Happy Family restaurant in San Francisco.

Muted sounds drifted up from the street below. The
only other customer was a
n old man across the room reading his newspaper. The smell of rice, pork and noodles mingled with the murmured conversation of waiters huddled in a corner. Wu sipped his tea. He took a bright red carnation from the vase on the table and twirled it in his hands. He thought about his conversation with the General.

"
Tell me about this book.
"

Yang
'
s
wet
voice had echoed through the satellite link.

"
The American
obtained it
in
Bhutan
. The book concerns the
First
Emperor
. It
is a medical text with a formula for a draught of immortality.
T
hat is why I contacted you.
"

T
he General was always interested in anything to do with the
First
Emperor
and his quest for immortality.
Wu needed to keep General Yang happy.

"
What is the name of this book?
"

"
The American said it translates as
'
The
Golden Garuda'
.
"

Wu heard a sharp intake of breath. When Yang spoke again, his voice was controlled
. Wu sensed his excitement.

"
I have an assignment for you.
"

"
Sir.
"

"
I require the book. Obtain it and
d
eliver it to me.
" There was a pause. Wu waited. "The American is rich?"

"Yes, sir. He has great wealth."

"
A
ccess
his
financial accounts
. T
ransfer the funds to the account numbers I send after this conversation.
"

"
Yes, sir. Are there any restrictions?
"

"
Use any means necessary. Make sure there are no complications after.
"

"
Yes, sir.
"

"
Inform me when you have succeeded.
"

Wu toyed with the flower and sipped his tea. The book hadn't been in Connor's home.
T
he niece
must know
where it was. His agents would bring her to him for questioning.

Wu thought about interrogating her
. He
felt the beginning of an erection. He would strip her naked and bind her. That always unnerved prisoners, especially the women. Choy could question her, but
sometimes
his sergeant got carried away and damaged the subject beyond repair before Wu learned what he needed. No, he'd do it himself.

The water technique was effective, but
time consuming if the subject was stubborn.
Wu preferred the blowtorch and pliers.
Or knives, the kind you'd find in any kitchen.
Simple tools were always best.

He reached for his tea and glanced down. The shredded petals of the flower made a delicate pattern against the scarred table top. He brushed them aside with his hand. They fell to the floor in a shower of red, like drops of blood.

Tinkling green jade prosperity symbols over the restaurant doorway announced the arrival of his Sergeant.

Choy Gang's skin was the color of the Mongolian desert on a winter evening
, betraying his mixed heritage
. He was tall and weighed
over two hundred and fifty
pounds. His head was large and sat like a cantaloupe with crumpled ears on his massive shoulders. His hands were broad clubs, the knuckles scarred and bulbous.

Choy's fleshy face was marred with acne scars. His eyes were small and close set, almond-shaped, an odd golden color. A shiny blue shirt stretched taut across his massive chest and arms under a loose fitting brown jacket.

In the People's Liberation Army, Choy had found a home. In Colonel Wu, he had found a Master.

Choy cast a contemptuous glance at the elderly customer across the room. He squeezed into the booth. One of the waiters poured more tea. Wu ordered food in a rapid burst of Mandarin.

When the waiter was gone
Wu
said,
"You had no trouble obtaining the information for Connor's accounts?"

"No, sir. He resisted at first, but it didn't take much to convince him to give me the numbers." Choy thought about how the old man had screamed when his finger had been
snipped
off. He smiled, showing the gaps between his yellowed teeth.

"You are sure the book was not in Connor's home?"

"Yes, sir. I am positive it was not there. His heart gave out too soon, before he revealed its location."

"That was unfortunate. But you did well.
Now
I have another task for you."

Wu watched Choy perk up.
He's like a good dog
, Wu thought.
Give him something new and interesting to do and he's happy.

"The American owned a house three or four hours from here. Take some men tomorrow and search for the book. Use a vehicle from the black pool."

The black pool was a small fleet of cars untraceable to the Chinese Consulate.

Wu took an envelope from his jacket and slid it across the table to Choy. "Money and a driver's license. The directions to the place are also there."

Choy put the envelope in his jacket pocket as the waiter returned with steaming plates of food.

"Sergeant," Wu said, "enjoy this delicious dim sum. It's as good as we get at home."

Across the room, the elderly Chinese man took a last sip of his cold tea. He folded his newspaper and rose. He shuffled by the cash register to pay and
carefully made his way down
the steep stairs. His superiors would be pleased when they learned of the meeting he had just overheard.

Chapter
F
ive

Nic
holas
Carter and Selena Connor
stood in
the
heat of the
parking lot.
All the parked cars were still empty.
Carter put his phone away. Two and a half hours before Triple A could get him out of here.

"
Can you give me a ride into town? My rental
's no good
.
"
He
gestured at the mess under his car.

"
Of course.
I
'
m parked just over there.
"
 

A
new
Mercedes CL600 gleamed in the
late afternoon
light.
T
welve cylinders and over five hundred horsepower
. A
fast,
luxury
car.
A driver's car.
A money car
.
Not many women drove cars with that kind of power. It said
something
about
her
.
Nick
got his
bag
from the rental
and climbed in.

"
Nice
car.
"

"
I just got it a few weeks ago.
"

She started up,
drove
out of the lot.

"
Where are you staying?
"
he
asked.

"
The Mayflower Renaissance.
I
stay
there when I'm in Washington and
leave the car
there when I'm out of town."

"
T
hat
'
s not far from my
place
.
Where do you live when you
'
re not in D.C.?
"

"
San Francisco
. I
'
ve got a loft in
North
Beach
.
"

They
pulled onto the Interstate. The interior was quiet except for the whisper of the air conditioner
.
Carter
relaxed
into the leather.

They
were doing a little over seventy. S
elena
glanced in
the
rear view mirror
and
switched lanes. A
BMW
740
with
blacked out
windows
passed her
and cut sharply in front.

"
Jerk,
"
she muttered under her breath. In the side mirror
Nick
saw a black Suburban pull in behind, riding
their
tail.
His
ear began itching
.

The
y
entered a construction zone
. The right lane of the highway was bordered
by heavy cement barriers laid end to end. O
range signs warn
ed
of
doubled
fines and men at work
.

The Suburban rammed into
them
and drove the
Mercedes
into
the cement
. The car
rebounded
from the barrier
in a shower of sparks
and fishtailed
back onto the roadway. In front, the
BMW
blocked them
. Selena fought for control. The Suburban came alongside on the left and broadsided
her
back into
the
barrier.

The front right fender and hood buckled
. S
omething flew over the roof.
S
parks streamed by
Nick's
window
. T
he Mercedes slid along the cement in a din of screeching steel.

D
rivers swerved around
them
, horns blaring.

Carter
pulled out
his
.45.
Selena
'
s eyes
narrowed.

"Hang on," she said.

S
he
hit
the brakes and the big discs on the Mercedes
grabbed
the wheels
.
Carter
wasn
'
t ready
. T
he seat belt stopped
his
head
inches from
the dash. The Suburban surged past on the left,
scraping
strips from the car
, taking the mirror with it
. Selena shifted down
. She
floored the accelerator
and
the
f
ive hundred horses came to life.
She
cut
across
panicked
traffic into the outer lane.

The
y
shot
past
the SUV and the
BMW
.
T
he car fill
ed
w
ith
the smooth growl of the engine and the sound
of pavement
under the tires.

The speedometer climbed past ninety.
Selena wove in and out of
the
traffic
and
clip
ped a red Honda
.
It skewed across the highway and
flip
ped
over onto the grass median.
In the side mirror, Carter saw
a
gray
sedan slam into an old pickup filled with furniture
. C
hests and chairs
spilled
across the roadway
.

A quarter mile
ahead
a blinking yellow arrow on the back of a truck
and a
s
tring
of
orange and white barrels
funneled
three lanes into
two
.
They were about to run out of room.
The cement streamed by
on the right,
a
blurring
, silent
ripple of gray outside his window.

Shit, he thought
. He
calm
ed himself, lowered his heart rate
,
getting ready for whatever was coming. T
he gun rest
ed
on his thigh. He was out of control, but the car was so comfortable. Carter
glanced at
Selena. She
gripped the wheel, her face set,
absorbed
in
the traffic and the road. The
speedometer h
ung at a
hundred
.

A
long,
wide gap
in the
cement
barrier
open
ed
along the right
onto a
n excavated
parking area
with
neat
rows of
equipment and
stacks of
supplies
. Selena
slowed,
shifted down
,
sto
od
on the emergency brake
and wrenched the wheel over. The rear end slid smoking to the left in a howl of burning rubber.
In
one
fluid motion s
he released the brake and whipped the wheel back to center. The Mercedes
shot
through the
gap and
went ai
rborne
over the edge of the road
and
down
hard onto
gravel
.

The front tires
blew out. The car
corkscrewed and
slewed sideways
and sprayed
g
ravel and dirt
in a wide arc
. They
fishtailed
across the lot
. The
car
slammed to a jarring halt against a
pile
of
rebar and steel
. Steam
erupted
under the buckled hood.

The
BMW
and Suburban caught up and stopped
on the highway
. Two men jumped from the
car
, guns in their hands. Two more piled out of the Suburban.

Carter
pushed Selena down into her seat and
fired twice
at
the windshield
. The shots
deafened him
inside
the car. The glass spider-webbed
. H
e
fired again.
A large piece of
the windshield blew out.
He
fired at the first man out of the
BMW
and missed.
He
fired again and
the man
spun backwards, arms splayed wide.

Carter
s
hot the second man in the chest
, then
turned
toward the others
.
He ducked.
The two from the Suburban opened up with their pistols
. T
he
car
windows disappeared in a shower of flying glass. Bullets thumped into the
sides
of the car
.

Something
clip
ped
his
ear. Selena
was
bent low behind the wheel
with her hands
covering
her ears
.
He
let off three more rounds over her head
.
A third man doubled over and fell face down on the pavement. The fourth ran back behind the Suburban.
Carter
made
out
a
driver hunched down behind the wheel
and
shot him.

The B
MW
drove
away
,
fast
. The
last
man pulled the body
of the driver
from
behind the wheel
of the
SUV
. He
climbed in and took off
on smoking
tires.
Carter
fired a
fter him
until the slide locked back on
his
pistol.

For one or two seconds the Suburban kept going straight. Then it heeled right in a tilting, impossible turn and flipped over onto the driver
'
s side
. It slid
along the pavement showering sparks and shedding pieces of metal, glass and chrome until it came to rest. With a loud thump, it burst into flame.

The
BMW
was gone, out of sight.

"
Are you all right?
"
His words sounded flat and far
a
way. H
is ears rang
from the pistol shots.

"
What? Yes, I
'
m okay, I think.
"
She sat up, brushed glass from her hair, and looked at
him
.
"
You
'
re bleeding.
"

The Suburban burned with fierce, red beauty
. A
black column of smoke
rose
into a sky scattered with clouds turning pink and gold from the lowering sun.
He
felt blood
dripping on
the side of his neck
.

He wanted to look
in the rearview mirror but it was gone.

On the highway
,
p
eople were getting out of their cars. Holding the .45 high
,
Carter
ejected
the empty
magazine
and
inserted
a fresh
one
.
He racked the slide.