4
After her meeting, Lisa went straight to her room and ran a hot shower, where she sat on the tiled floor and sobbed. She knew when Shen Yu returned to Hunan, he would be arrested for spying and executed without due process. His death wouldn’t be reported, and the world would continue to spin believing China was a modern nation far removed from its violent past of Communist oppression.
After almost twenty minutes on the floor of her shower, she stopped feeling sorry for herself and resolved to honor his last wishes. She picked herself up, turned off the water, and climbed out to dry off. Sitting in her robe at the foot of the bed, she ran a brush through her damp, dark hair and contemplated how to get the flash drive and its contents back to Langley before Shen Yu’s ominous warning came to fruition.
If what he had said was true, they were already watching her. She couldn’t assume the flash drive would be safe concealed in her luggage or transmitted electronically back to Langley. She put the brush down and stared out the window at the remarkable Shanghai skyline while contemplating her options.
The phone on her nightstand rang and broke her from her trance.
“Hello?”
“Lisa!” Jenn’s perky voice broke through her fatigue. “What are you doing?”
“I was just getting ready for bed,” she replied, hoping the younger flight attendant caught the hint.
“Want to have a nightcap and watch the sunset?”
“I don’t know…” She was about to decline, but a glance at the flash drive resting on the nightstand gave her an idea. “Maybe. Do you have a computer I can use?”
“Yes! Come on over!”
“I’ll be right there,” Lisa said.
After hanging up, she got dressed in a pair of jeans and a faded, loose-fitting concert T-shirt, then tucked the flash drive into her front pocket, armed herself with the nonmetallic G10 blade concealed in a sheath along her waistline, and snatched her room key off the dresser. She surveyed her room once more, then tucked the Do Not Disturb sign between the jamb and the door as she closed it and stepped out into the brightly lit hall.
Before Lisa could knock, Jenn opened the door and pulled her inside. “There’s my computer,” she said, pointing to a worn MacBook sitting on the desk across from her bed. “I’ll pour you a glass.”
Lisa thanked her, then sat down at the desk and inserted the flash drive into the computer, thankful it was an older model with USB-A ports. She had more experience working with the Windows operating system but knew enough about the Mac OS to create a hidden folder and transfer the contents of the flash drive for safekeeping. She would still hide the flash drive in her roller bag’s secret compartment, but she felt more comfortable knowing she had duplicated the information onto Jenn’s computer. Just in case.
Once complete, she ejected the flash drive, tucked it back into her pocket, and opened Safari to navigate to her web mail. She thought back on what Shen Yu had told her, before crafting a carefully coded email to her boss.
Monty,
Wish you were here. Jenn and I have been touring the city. The cherry blossoms are so beautiful, and I can’t wait to show you my pictures when I return. Miss you.
Lisa
“Are you done yet?”
“Almost.” She sent the email and logged off, then closed the MacBook. Turning to Jenn with the biggest smile she could muster after one of the longest and most emotionally draining days of her life, she graciously accepted the offered wineglass.
“Here’s to a wonderful layover,” Lisa said.
“I wish Andy were here to see this,” Jenn replied.
“Who’s Andy?”
Jenn wiped at the corners of her eyes before replying. “My boyfriend.”
“Is he back home in…” She couldn’t remember where Jenn had said she was from.
“San Diego? No, he’s in Japan.”
“Japan?”
“He’s in the Navy.”
Lisa understood all too well the challenges of being with someone in the military, so she remained silent and watched the sun setting behind the neighboring buildings from the twin chairs Jenn had arranged to face the floor-to-ceiling windows. As much as she couldn’t stand the perkiness of the younger woman, Lisa had to admit it was a rare and beautiful moment. Especially in her line of work. She finished her glass with a silent toast to Shen Yu and, without having to fake it, yawned and made her excuse to leave. Reluctantly, Jenn relented and gave her one last hug.
“Breakfast?”
She nodded. “But not too early.” She hesitated for a moment before saying what had been on her mind. “Can I give you some advice?”
Jenn gave her a confused look. “Sure.”
“Take some time off and go see your boyfriend.” Jenn looked as if she was about to protest, but Lisa cut her off. “Trust me. You won’t regret it.”
Jenn’s eyes glossed over as if imagining their reunion. “Thank you.”
With a knowing smile, Lisa left the other flight attendant’s room and scanned the empty hall before turning toward hers, trying to fend off her own memories and the mental fog that came with hours spent trapped in a steel tube miles above the earth. Between her long duty day and the glass of wine, it would have been too easy to forget she was isolated and become complacent. But she understood the risks.
All her senses were keenly attuned to her surroundings. Behind her, a door opened and closed, followed by the soft plodding of feet on carpet moving closer.
Two… no, three people.
Because the elevator was in the opposite direction, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and she was immediately alert. She pictured the approaching threat in her mind, a picture that became clearer as she inhaled the faint scent of body odor, poorly masked by cheap cologne. Her eyes twitched at their shadows cast onto the walls on either side of her, and she braced herself for what she suspected was coming.
But above it all, she choked back the sour taste of fear and prepared for a fight.
She slowed her pace while pretending to reach into her back pocket for her room key, but instead slid her hand to her waistline where she had concealed the nonmetallic G10 knife. She felt more than heard the first one reaching for her, and she quickly drew the blade and spun to face him.
His eyes locked onto hers with a startled look, but she quickly registered that he wore the uniform of the People’s Armed Police. Without hesitation, she plunged all three inches into his chest and saw his grip relax on the syringe he had been about to stick into her neck.
She withdrew the blade as the syringe fell silently to the floor. In that instant, adrenaline flooded her body and her training kicked in. She shoved the uniformed man into the closest of the remaining two, then subtly shifted her weight onto her back leg and prepared for the coming attack.
Her mind swam with questions that were better left for later. Who are they? What do they want?
The second man darted forward, but she had prepared for his attack and snapped her leg upward in a sharp front kick, connecting the ball of her foot with his nose. He staggered backward a step, but his experience in the martial arts was evident as he shook it off and quickly resumed his advance. She pivoted on her back foot and caught the side of his head with her outstretched heel in a hook kick.
But it had little effect on him. Before she could retract her leg, he snatched it from the air and pulled her off-balance. She fell to the ground on top of the man she had stabbed, but quickly rolled away from her attacker and scrambled to her feet to resume the fight.
They had her hemmed in on all sides. The walls limited her lateral movement, and a man blocked her path in either direction. There was nowhere to go, and she was left with only one option.