Dragon Key

“Any progress through diplomatic channels?”

“So far, the Chinese aren’t even acknowledging that they have him,” Brognola said. “The rest of the team’s still in place, but they’re kind of green and they haven’t made a move yet. I need somebody I can count on to go there and give me a sitrep. Interested?”

Bolan blew out a slow breath. “We talking about a jail break?”

“If the diplomats fail.”

Bolan sighed. “When do they ever succeed?”

Brognola barked another laugh. Two forced laughs in a single conversation. This was getting serious.

“All right,” Bolan said. “When do I leave for Beijing?”

“Aaron’s got you on a flight leaving in four hours.”

“Pretty sure I was going to say yes, weren’t you?”

Brognola snorted. “Let’s just say I had a real strong hunch.”

“Yeah, well if you get any new hunches about the Powerball jackpot,” Bolan said, “buy an extra ticket for me.”

“Hey, that’s not all.”

“You’ve got more good news?”

“Sure do,” Brognola said. “I’ve got help on the way.”

“Who?”

“Grimaldi.”

“Jack?” It was Bolan’s turn to chuckle. “I thought you said you were sending help? Talk about importing a bull into a China shop.”

“Well, he won’t get there for a while. He’s traveling commercial.”

“I pity the pilots.”

“So do I,” Brognola said. “You two will be there as sports journalists covering the World Asia Track and Field Games, not to mention that boxing match a couple of days later. The Chinese world champion is making his professional debut in Shanghai. That should give you guys the run of the place, not to mention a chance to see the fight.”

“Well, for the record,” Bolan said, “I’d settle for a couple cold ones in front of a big flat screen in Vegas.”

Brognola barked a final laugh before his voice took on a more serious tone. “Hey, Striker.”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for never letting me down.”

Beijing

GENERAL WONG SU TONG of the People’s Liberation Army stepped out of the jeep and told the underling to wait for him. He was perhaps one block from the entrance to the Forbidden City. The general carried himself with his customary military bearing, proud of the image he projected: a well-built man with the aplomb and power of a professional solider. He worked hard to maintain his sleek, iron physique—despite being in his early fifties—and kept his hair dyed jet-black. A solemn yet serene expression was on his face, even though the icy fingers of incipient and nagging panic were pinching their way up and down his spine.

He hated these subterfuges, these clandestine meetings that Chen insisted upon, but he also understood their necessity. Wong was no stranger to treachery. He knew full well that despite his exalted position in the Central Military Committee, spies were watching his every move. Several members of the all-powerful Standing Committee, who smiled to his face, would love to stick a knife between his ribs if the opportunity presented itself. And if they ever found evidence of his covert dealings, those knives would appear quickly. If he were caught, if his secret dealings with the Triads and his hidden assets were discovered, Wong would be arrested immediately. And no doubt his trial would be both expedient and lethal.

He walked briskly past the throngs of tourists and made his way to the whispering wall. More tourists, some Americans or Europeans, but mostly Chinese, strolled by. No one dared look him in the eye. A group of soldiers passed and saluted. Wong suddenly regretted he hadn’t changed to civilian clothes. His uniform made him stand out like a tiger in a marketplace. But time was of the essence. He paused under the entranceway to the Forbidden City, underneath the massive banner of Mao, and glanced around again. No sign of Chen.

Where was the son of a whore?

The past week had been a disaster. The deal with the Iranians, the stolen payoff money, the missing guidance system and, most of all, the loss of his personal flash drive, the dragon key. His whole life, as well as his future, was on that device. It contained all the bank account numbers and passwords to his secret accounts in Hong Kong and Zurich, the special accounts his brother-in-law, Yoon, had set up for him. The accounts that assured he would be richer than he ever imagined when he eventually left the PLA, and China, for good.

He silently cursed the woman who’d stolen it from him, and his own stupidity for being so drunk and infatuated with her red-haired beauty that he hadn’t immediately caught the substitution. But she had been so very talented, and the copy was so exact...

The fingers of his right hand momentarily went to the chain around his neck, the chain that always held the flash drive, disguised as a dragon’s head. Now it held the ersatz dragon key—the one the Russian had substituted. How had she known about it, much less taken the real one and replaced it with an exact duplicate?

Although the device was protected with a password, there was a slight possibility that someone might eventually breach the code. The Politburo Standing Committee would certainly have people who could do it. So would the Americans. He wondered which would be worse. The Americans would no doubt blackmail him, but the Committee would publically rend him limb from limb.

“General,” a soft voice said.

Wong looked around, but saw no one except the pretty Chinese girl smiling at him on the opposite side of the nearest obelisk. He could barely hear her above the cacophony of the milling crowd.

“General,” the girl said again.

Wong squinted at her and raised an eyebrow.

“The man you seek awaits inside the Hall of Eternal Harmony.”

She had to be one of Chen’s girls, Wong thought. He took another moment to appraise her. Her dark hair was long and fell like a curtain over part of her face. It was a pretty face, and although she wore pants and a loose-fitting shirt, Wong could tell her figure was excellent. The old, fat Triad leader liked to send young, fetching creatures to do his bidding. The general had no doubt she could most likely slice a man’s throat as soon as seduce him. He tugged the corner of his mouth into a slight smile, nodded to her and went to meet Chen. An interior meeting was eminently preferable to outside, where the prying eyes of the Committee could be hiding among the throngs of tourists.

He strode through the gate, bypassing a line of people at the ticket booth. A guard saw him and immediately came to attention as Wong walked past. Inside, the Forbidden City was divided into a complex of beautiful courtyards and ceremonial halls.

Wong stopped at the entrance to the Hall of Eternal Harmony and shook a cigarette out of his pack. He lighted it and drew deeply as he glanced around. The girl who had whispered to him was walking about thirty meters behind with two men, both dressed in loose-fitting jackets. Obviously they were Chen’s security team. He never went anywhere without one, and Wong could hardly blame him.

The son of a whore is cautious and thorough, he thought.

Wong took a few more drags on the cigarette, waiting for Chen’s trio to get nearer. When they were about five meters away, Wong crushed the butt under his shoe. The security team would no doubt keep any intruding eyes—and cameras—away from the meeting. He smiled slightly at the girl as the three grew closer, then Wong went into the courtyard. She was indeed a rare beauty.

He walked past a fountain with two stone dragons flanked by tigers. The tigers, his zodiac animal, buoyed his spirits slightly. Chen, Wong knew, had been born under the sign of the rat, which meant he was skilled at survival, subterfuge and gathering money.

Wong passed by a series of trellises replete with winding stems of blossoms and caught sight of Chen, who was sitting on a bench in front of a row of cypress trees, holding a flower.

He looked more like someone’s benevolent grandfather than the merciless leader of the Sun Yang Triad, the largest and most powerful of the Chinese crime gangs. Chen had survived the Cultural Revolution, a forced exile in Hong Kong, the internal power struggles of the Triad and innumerable attempts on his life. But then again, he was a rat, and rats were nothing if not resourceful.

Chen’s mouth flickered into a smile, and he bowed his head slightly as Wong approached. Wong did the same and sat on the opposite end of the bench. They were close enough to hear each other’s words, but they wouldn’t look like acquaintances.

They sat in silence for perhaps half a minute. Wong was growing impatient when Chen finally broke the silence. “Is it not miraculous, the way the leaves turn toward the sunlight? Do you ever wonder if they can feel the warmth?” Chen laughed softly, his chuckle sounding like the flow of water over pebbles in a brook.

Wong had little time for the riddles of horticulture. “Have you found out anything?”

Chen’s laugh came again, but this time it reminded Wong of an erosive leak down a wall. Wong’s face twisted into an expression of displeasure as he turned toward the Triad boss.