White Jade (The PROJECT) (7 page)

Chapter
Eleven

Carter
watched the crowd as they walked through the airport terminal. Nothing seemed out of place. Nobody paying any attention. The shuttle dropped them in the lot
and they
walked over to
his
Silverado
.
A light coating of dust lay on the windshield.

He opened the door for her.
"
Climb
in
.
Not like your Merc, but it's pretty comfortable.
"

He
took them
out of the airport
onto I-5, then moved onto 99 North and headed for the Sierra foothills. It was a classic
June
California
afternoon, clear and in the eighties.

"
Tell me about where we
'
re going.
"

"
Connorsville,
"
she said.
"
In
Gold Rush
days
it
had saloons, hotels, fifty bordellos and five thousand miners and Chinese living in shacks and tents.
"

"
T
he Chinese
again.
"

"
T
hey did the heavy work. There are stories that
they
dug secret tunnels leading away from Connorsville and the mine
. They did that in Marysville and Sacramento. W
e never found any
, though
. My uncle always warned me not to go into the mine. It
'
s not safe.
"

She looked out the window. "
M
y uncle had a metal detector. We
'
d walk around where the town used to be and find all sorts of things. It was fun.
"

"
Did you find gold?
"

"
A
coin and a
couple of nuggets.
O
ne was almost as big as my hand.
"

At Marysville
they
picked up Highway 20 and turned east, past
flat,
green rice fields and wide pastures spotted with cattle. A flight of white herons exploded into the air from one of the ponds alongside the road.

After a while,
they
crossed the
Yuba
River
. A
few minutes later Selena pointed ahead.

"
The turnoff is up there on the left. The bridge looks bad, but it
'
s safe to drive over. Just go slow.
"

He
turned onto a short stretch of rough pavement and across the bridge. It
looked like it was ready to collapse
. Signs warned off trucks and trespassers.
They
bumped across and followed a gravel road in. On the right a tall, brick chimney rose from the weeds and brush, a ghost from California
'
s golden past.

"
Is that what
'
s left of the town?
"

"
That was the Wells Fargo
building
. Follow the road down, over there.
"

The ground sloped away through a field of tall grass dotted with blue oaks. In the spring it would be green as
Ireland
, ablaze with orange poppies and wildflowers in white and yellow and purple. Now, as the heat of summer built, the flowers were gone
. T
he grass
was turning
golden brown and dry.

The road curved and dropped down. The house came into sight between two large outcroppings of rock rising out of the grass
. T
he river
was
a hundred yards beyond.

The building was single story with a green metal roof, stained log siding and a pillared porch in the old country style. A broad swath of gravel lined with white rock spread out in front. Tall camellia bushes bursting with red blossoms lined and crowded the porch. In the yard
he
saw the ore cart.

"
Where
'
s the mine?
"

Selena pointed through the windshield.
"
Down there on the left toward the river,
on the other side of
the hill.
"

He
parked on the grave
l in front of the house. When he
shut down, the only sounds were the river going past below and a dog barking in the distance.

Selena walked onto the porch, took out her keys and opened the door. She disappeared inside
for a moment and
reappeared.

"
I thought I might as well turn everything on. We
'
ve got lights and power. Nothing in the fridge, but there
'
s canned food and spaghetti, and wine if we get thirsty. The well
'
s good, so we
'
ve got water too.
"

She came off the porch and stood by the corner of the cart
. She rested
her hand on the rusty edge.

"
I used to put thi
ngs right here, under the rocks. I
n a metal lunch box. It might even still be here.
"

The cart was deep.
Carter
took off
his
jacket
. He
started
lifting
out rocks and stacking them on the ground.
He
got to the bottom without finding anything.

"
Nothing here.
"

"
Try another corner.
"

He
dug out some more rocks. Nothing.
He
started emptying the cart
in earnest
.
A
glint of plastic
caught the afternoon light
.
He
pulled out two more rocks and a rectangular package
and
held it up in the air.

"
No lunch box
.
I think we just found what we came for.
"

"
Let
'
s go inside.
"

Carter
put
his
jacket back on and
they
went into the house. On her way in, Selena plucked a blood red flower from the bushes. She set it on the table in a bowl of water.

Chapter
Twelve

Choy was in a bad mood. The Mercedes was old, the motor pool mechanic
slow
. When the car was ready, one of his men rushed to the toilet
complaining
about food from the night before. The passenger seat would not move all the way back. Choy crammed in as best he could, knees up against the dash, his head touching the roof of the car.

The men in the car sensed his mood and kept quiet. The driver was named Li
. E
veryone called him
"
noodles
"
because of his long, thin looks. He clenched the wheel, trying to make sense of the unfamiliar exit signs and heavy freeway traffic. Twice he made a wrong turn and had to backtrack for miles before they could continue.

The second man, Chung, squirmed in the back seat, trying to control his uncooperative intestines. They stopped twice more so he could relieve himself, using up
more
time. But for the last two hours there had been no more delays
.
Now they
were
past
Marysville, heading for the house marked on Choy
'
s directions. Li kept to the speed limit, watching for the Highway Patrol.

Choy hoped they would find the book quickly so he could get back to the Consulate. There was a woman who worked there, cleaning halls and meeting areas. He would
make
her pay another visit to his bed. She had been satisfying, if uncooperative at first. He was sure she secretly wanted what he had done to her. When they got back he would bring her to his room.
Choy settled into the uncomfortable seat, his mood improving as he thought about her.

They swept across a long, curving bridge over a river. The highway narrowed and began to wind about.

Choy peered out the window.
"
Slow down, we should be getting close.
"

"
There
'
s a truck behind me.
"

"
Never mind him. The place should be up here somewhere on the left.
"

Li looked in his rear view mirror and began to slow. Choy wasn
'
t sure where they had to turn.

"
Look for a bridge,
"
he said.
"
There should be a bridge on the left.
"

"
There it is!
"
said Chung. Just then the truck following behind blasted his horn and the Mercedes shot forward as Li floored the gas pedal. They missed the turn.

"
Fool! That was it.
"

"
Yes, Sergeant.
"

"
Keep going until we get rid of this dung behind us and turn around.
"

Soon they saw a marker pointing to the town of
Smartsville
.

"
Take that road.
"

They pulled off the highway toward the town. As the truck roared by the driver stuck his arm out the window and lifted his finger in salute.

Choy controlled his rage.
"
Fucking
Americans," he said. "
Turn around.
"

Back on the highway, Li drove slowly until they came to the turnoff. He pulled in and stopped.

"
Why are you stopping?
"

"
The bridge, Sergeant. It doesn
'
t look safe.
"

"
Just drive over it. It has to be strong enough. There
'
s a house back there.
"

The car crept over the bridge and onto the road. They crested the rise and saw the house below. Parked in front was a
silver
pickup
.

"
Pull over behind those rocks
,
"
Choy said.

"
Do you think they saw us?
"

"
I don
'
t know. Maybe the woman is there. That would be good. Out here no one will notice if we have to question her.
"

The thought of questioning Connor
'
s niece excited him. Choy licked his lips. They got out of the car.

Each man checked his pistol. All three carried Chinese copies of the Beretta 9mm. From the trunk, Li took out three micro-Uzis, lethal at close range, although not very accurate. Choy reached into a box and took out two type 82-1 grenades, stuffing them into his
jacket
pocket
s
.

"
Do you think we
'
ll need those?
             
"
Do you want to find out we do if we don
'
t have them?
"

"
It
'
s just a woman.
"

"
We don
'
t know that. Now shut up and let
'
s get going. Remember your training. Noodles, you go that way. Stay low and work around to the
back
of the house. Chung, you come with me. We
'
ll circle to the right and approach the front from the side. If it
'
s the woman, we go in and take her. If there
'
s anyone else, take them too. Remember, any trouble, don
'
t
kill
the woman.
"

The three men moved toward the house.