CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER
A MAN WAS WAITING FOR THEM in the airport with Lynn Ryder’s name on an iPad.
He led them to a large Mercedes passenger van in the parking garage.
There were four men there in addition to the driver.
Nash could see that all of them were armed.
After their bags were loaded in they were driven off, one sturdy guard on either side of both Nash and Temple.
They passed through a tunnel under Victoria Harbour and emerged into daylight on the other side.
After negotiating a series of surface roads they reached a high-rise building in the Hom Hung neighborhood, located in the southeast section of Kowloon Peninsula.
Nash recognized the area because he had stayed nearby on a previous trip while working for Sybaritic.
The Mercedes parked in the building’s underground garage.
A glass elevator carried them into the sky.
Temple looked nervous, Ryder confident, and Nash, despite his anxiety level riding pretty high, did his best to appear calm.
The doors opened directly into an entry vestibule, where two armed men appeared. They expertly searched Nash and Temple, and promptly confiscated Nash’s two guns and both men’s phones.
“I want those back,” demanded Nash. However, nothing was returned.
They were escorted into a large room with floor-to-ceiling windows and sweeping views of the dazzling harbor. Ryder took a seat next to a large chair set in the center of the room, while Nash and Temple were directed to two seats across from her.
Nash’s gaze took in every aspect of the room, especially the armed men. What Nash was observing was not good, since he had no weapons and the exits were guarded by men who did. And he was in a foreign land that was controlled by China. None of that boded well for him.
Then she came into the room.
Prior to this Nash had seen only a photo of Victoria Steers, briefly shown to him during a previous meeting with the FBI.
Steers was the product of a Chinese mother and an English father.
Tall and wiry, with long black hair and porcelain skin, Steers glided across the floor dressed in sleek dark clothing that covered all of her body except her neck, face, and hands.
She carried no weapon and did not look particularly threatening, yet at her appearance every hair stood up on the back of Nash’s neck.
When he eyed Temple, he noted that his boss was staring at Steers with palpable fear.
Steers smiled at Ryder. “Thank you, Lynn, for all your good work.”
“Of course, Ms. Steers.”
Then Steers looked at Temple. “Mr. Temple, would you introduce me to your colleague, whom you insisted accompany you on this trip despite objections.”
Temple cleared his throat and said, “This is Dillon Hope, my personal bodyguard.”
“Your personal bodyguard? Do you have something to fear, Mr. Temple?”
“Everyone has something to fear, Ms. Steers.”
She glanced at Ryder before saying, “I also understand that Mr. Hope has been told of our private business?”
Temple’s lips curled in displeasure in the face of Ryder’s smug features.
“He had to be told some things, Ms. Steers. But he is a professional, and everything will be kept in the strictest confidence, I can assure you.”
Steers did not appear to be listening. “You bring a stranger to my home? And reveal some of our business to him? In my estimation you have performed acts that are truly unforgivable.”
“I was told you had approved it,” Temple added, with a sharp glance at Ryder.
Steers seemed to ignore this as well. “I was also informed that Mr. Hope is discomforted by the business between us.”
“Look, he can be a real asset to you,” said Temple. “He is top notch. I’ve seen that for myself.”
“I have many top-notch people in my employ already, Mr. Temple. I require no others.”
She slowly withdrew her searing gaze from him and swung it around to Nash. “However, Mr. Hope, now that you are here, it will be interesting to see if you can become an asset. I trust you understand all that this entails?”
“I do. Thank you, Ms. Steers,” Nash said, though every muscle in his body was tensed to respond immediately in the face of her threatening phrasing.
If I can just reach the man who took my guns…
As though she were reading Nash’s mind, Steers held out her hand.
One of the guards produced a Glock 9mm and placed it in her palm. She gripped it, checked the mag, and racked the slide, loading a bullet.
As she looked at them Temple went rigid in his chair, and Nash felt his butt cheeks involuntarily clench.
“A good choice in a personal sidearm, Mr. Hope,” she said. “However, I prefer a Norinco NP42 Mini. But then again, I like to buy local.”
“The Chinese also make good weapons,” he said.
“Indeed they do. They made me, after all. I also understand that three of my people are now in the hands of the FBI. That is a decided setback that I find unacceptable. Accountability must be served.”
At this abrupt segue, Temple glanced anxiously at Ryder and blurted out, “I had nothing to do with that. That was not my call. I argued against it, in fact.”
Steers said menacingly, “You disavow all responsibility for this debacle? Is that really what you are telling me?”
Temple sputtered, “I didn’t mean… I just wanted to point out that…” He glanced at Ryder and saw her smug look deepen even as he squirmed.
Before he could say anything else, Steers raised the pistol, causing Temple to put up his hands and flinch backward.
Steers then pointed the gun at Ryder’s head and fired.
The woman fell to the floor, blood sprayed all over her clothing and white hair.
Some of the blowback had dotted Steers’s cheek, hand, and sleeve.
One of the guards hustled forward and used a wet cloth to thoroughly clean her off.
Two other men rushed in, wrapped Ryder in plastic, and carried her out.
The chair in which she had been sitting was also removed and the marble floor underneath the chair thoroughly mopped.
Temple and Nash appeared stunned, while Steers had her eyes closed, her expression placid.
When all traces of the woman had been removed, Steers opened her eyes and studied the two men. “Death can be awkward,” she said. “And unpleasant.”
“Yes, it can,” said Nash evenly.
“And also necessary,” she added.
Nash did not reply to this.
She looked at Temple. “My people being in the custody of the FBI is… not… good.”
“No,” said Temple quickly. He still looked horrified by what had just happened.
Steers once more turned to Nash. “I trust that you understand the implications of what has just transpired, Mr. Hope?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Nash cautiously. “You mean Ryder’s death?”
“You disappoint me. I thought it rather obvious.” She held up the pistol.
“You and your weapon have just committed a terrible crime in Hong Kong. And though Hong Kong does not have the death penalty, China does, and it exercises no hesitation in employing it. It is done by lethal injection, or else they shoot you.” She handed the gun to one of her men.
“That choice will be theirs. But you also have a choice to make.” She glanced at Temple.
“And as an accessory, Mr. Temple, your fate will not be much better: life in prison. But again, you have a choice as well.”
Nash drew a shaky breath. “You mean we can choose to work with you?”
She shook her head. “To work for me.”
“And if we refuse?” said Nash, already knowing the answer.
“Then steps will be taken demonstrating that my colleague’s murder occurred in China, and all necessary evidence to implicate both of you in her death will be provided; the rest is assuredly known to you.
One of you will be executed, and the other will spend the rest of his life in a Chinese prison.
” She added coolly, “I think I would prefer death, actually. The Chinese are often not kind to their own law-abiding citizens. And they are completely ruthless to their criminals.” She glanced at Temple.
“And Americans in particular are not at all popular in China at present.”
“To work for you doing what exactly, Ms. Steers?” asked Temple in a tremulous voice.
Nash thought he knew the answer. But it would turn out that he could not have been further from the truth.
She said, “My mother is being held in a prison in another country. And you both are going to help set her free.”