He hung up the phone and began typing. He brought up a large map of Beijing and zoomed in, looking for G111 highway. He then switched screens and replayed the audio from Borger’s microphone, listening again to his conversation with someone named Clay. M0ngol wrote down the coordinates, then looked up and typed them in. The map on his screen jumped north, zeroing in on a small building which matched Borger’s description — the hospital.
He then worked the distance back toward Beijing by three hours and thirty-nine minutes, giving him an estimate of Clay’s location. Next he factored in a change in speed after hearing the car accelerate in the background.
M0ngol watched as his computer began calculating and answered his phone again when Qin called back.
“I’m on.”
“Is this your laptop?”
“Yes.”
“Hold on. I’ll connect.”
A moment later, Qin watched as a map was displayed on his own screen.
“We found who broke into our systems. It looks like we’re not the only ones looking for Wei’s daughter. They think they know where she is.”
“Who?”
“A small group inside the U.S. Navy.”
“Are you absolutely sure?”
“Yes. They just severed our connection.”
Qin’s map jumped to an overhead satellite picture of Washington, D.C. — with a prominent red icon identifying the Pentagon building.
Qin nodded. “So, where is she?”
“They think she’s here.” The map changed to an image of the small building surrounded by trees. “And two of them are almost there. They should arrive in just under three hours.”
“Zoom out.”
The picture shrank and Qin studied the map. “Where are they right now?”
“I’m guessing about right here.” Another icon appeared further south.
“You said three hours?”
“Maybe less. They’re moving faster now.”
“Have you identified them?”
“Not yet.”
“Find out who they are and what they’re driving,” was all Qin said before hanging up. After only a brief moment, he swiftly began scrolling through the address book on his phone, searching for a name. Three hours might be enough time, given the right resources.
General Wei’s puzzle had just been solved. It was all about his daughter. Everything. The man had fooled everyone and now, whatever was extracted from South America, Wei had hidden it away with his daughter.
The Americans may have figured it out first, but Qin now knew everything. And he would beat them there.
Unfortunately, Qin didn’t yet know that there was still more to the puzzle. And one of the missing pieces was presently scared out of her mind.
45
DeeAnn Draper wasn’t just scared. She was also pissed.
She glared at Caesare with a combination of fear and anger while Anderson stood behind her, cinching two nylon straps in place. The harness was composed of two thick straps running between her legs and up the back side, with two more crossing around and fastening tightly over her chest.
The area below the center plate of her harness left barely enough room for the IMIS vest. It remained on while both Juan and Dulce went through the same ordeal. Anderson cinched hard one more time, causing her body to stumble forward. DeeAnn caught herself against the bare interior wall of the plane.
How dare he, she fumed. How dare he hide this from her. From both of them! This wasn’t some joke. These were their lives Caesare was gambling with. She knew what was involved. There was no reason for him not to tell her. She still would have done it.
Glowering, DeeAnn looked around the cabin. The powerful rushing wind blowing through it filled her with a sense of reality and dread that she couldn’t shake. Okay. She was pretty sure she still would have done it.
Dulce, bound in her own smaller harness, said something that couldn’t be heard above the howling from the airplane’s open door. She seemed to let it go and gazed up as Caesare placed a child’s helmet on her head, fastening it in place. The helmet sat awkwardly atop Dulce’s cone-shaped scalp and she examined the top of it with her long fingers. It wasn’t until the goggles were secured that DeeAnn almost laughed out loud. With two enlarged eyes peering through her goggles, the small gorilla resembled something right out of a cartoon.
Even through her anger, DeeAnn marveled at how calm Dulce seemed to be in the presence of Caesare — a man she clearly had a strong connection to. She watched as Caesare picked Dulce up in his powerful arms and moved to the other side of the cabin. He made eye contact with Corso and Tiewater, who already had their chutes on, then motioned to the small crates and held up three fingers.
Both men nodded and began detaching the straps that secured them to the wall.
Oh God, she thought. Three minutes! DeeAnn could feel herself beginning to hyperventilate. She didn’t know if she could go through with this. From the look in Juan’s eyes next to her, he was having the same thought.
She had been hoping that somehow they wouldn’t have to jump. That something would change. Maybe Joe would call back from the cockpit that they had to postpone it because of a mechanical problem or bad weather. She couldn’t believe she was hoping for bad weather in a plane!
The last couple of hours had actually been smoother than expected. A break in the storm gave them a surprisingly clear flight and calm conditions. Now, she found herself perversely wishing for the opposite.
She stared nervously at Caesare and raised her voice. “I don’t know if I can do this!”
She jumped back when Corso and Tiewater pulled one of the crates free, sliding it between them, toward the back of the plane.
“You’ll do fine,” Caesare replied loudly. “We’re at a low altitude. We’ll be on the ground before you know it.”
“It’s not the landing I’m afraid of. It’s the part about leaving the plane!”
He examined her calmly. “Are you afraid of heights?”
“I am right now!”
Caesare looked at Juan. “Juan?”
Juan glanced at DeeAnn before replying. “I’m pretty freaked out too.”
All he could do was nod. He understood their fear. Their inexperienced minds racing through all the things that could go wrong. But there wasn’t anything he could do about it. At least not at the moment. The best he could do for them was to make the experience as short as possible. They could yell at him later when they were on the ground.
He looked at his watch and held up two fingers to his men.
DeeAnn couldn’t believe how quickly those two minutes passed. The men had moved all three boxes to the door and unbundled the large parachutes on top. Suddenly, they all nodded to Caesare at once and pushed the first one out into the howling wind. They quickly followed with the next two, getting them all out within a matter of seconds from each other. She watched as Corso and Tiewater stepped back, and Caesare then made his way to the cockpit.
He slapped Joe on the shoulder and shouted something to him. Less than a minute later, DeeAnn grabbed one of the straps on the wall as the plane began to bank to the right.
“Okay. Here we go.”
It seemed to happen in a blur. Tiewater and Anderson moved behind them and began attaching her and Juan’s harnesses to their own. They pulled them in tight to ensure they were secure. Together, they pushed the two forward, with each pair shuffling awkwardly toward the door.
Behind them, Caesare fastened Dulce to his own harness, facing inward toward his chest. Her dark legs dangled in the air as he shuffled and joined them at the door.