Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose. The CCC. He knew this political movement-cum-Mafia only by ruthless reputation, since he had somehow managed to avoid a hands-on run-in with them. “The Chinese Cooperative Confederation. It’s a lot like Russia after the Soviet Union fell apart. Like Morocco during World War Two.”
“Bastards who play for keeps, was how Mitch put it,” said Lucy. “They’re outside international law. No extradition—”
“No diplomatic inquiry,” said Gabriel, nodding.
“Once someone’s tucked away in there, there’s no getting them out.”
“And you want to get someone out?”
“Mitch does. And unless they keep her locked up for the rest of her life, she’s going to go after him herself. Neither of which is a great alternative. I mean, Mitch can take care of herself, but I wouldn’t want to see her go up against an or ganization like this.”
“Unlike me, for instance,” Gabriel said.
Lucy nodded, and the look of utter confidence in her eyes shot right through Gabriel’s defenses. It was like when she was eight years old and he was twenty, freshly back from a year in North Africa, and she’d listened to his exaggerated tales of his exploits with rapt attention each night after Michael had headed off to bed. She’d believed he could do anything. He’d believed it for a while himself.
“And who is this woman?” asked Gabriel. “Why is it so important to you to help her?”
Lucy paused before answering. “She’s a friend,” Lucy said. “I’ve known her a long time. She got me through some very bad stuff. I owe her a lot.”
“All right,” Gabriel said. He mulled over the possibilities. “The CCC,” he said. “Well, moving around inside China’s easier than it used to be, though you’d still want cover for something like this. One possibility, Michael was telling me about a lecture series he’s setting up at a bunch of Chinese universities. He’s supposed to give the lectures himself—but who’d really complain if I showed up with him?”
Lucy allowed herself the ghost of a smile. “Or instead of him. You’d really wake up some of those rooms.”
“No doubt,” Gabriel said. “So, tell me straight: what exactly is it you want me to do?”
“First thing is help me get Mitch out of jail,” said Lucy. “And then convince her that she doesn’t need to fly to China to kill this guy.”
“Because I’ll do it for her? I’m not some sort of assassin, Lucy.”
“You’ll think of something,” Lucy said. “You always do.”
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Ejoy these other Gabriel Hunt adventures:
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Copyright
A LEISURE BOOK®
April 2010
Published by
Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.
200 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
in collaboration with Winterfall LLC
Copyright © 2010 by Winterfall LLC
Cover painting copyright © 2010 by Glen Orbik
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
E-ISBN: 978-1-4285-0829-3
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
GABRIEL HUNT was created by Charles Ardai and is a trademark of Winterfall LLC.
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