Karen looked up from Cavanaugh’s laptop. “The hard drive is encrypted. I can decrypt it back home, but even then, it’s going to take time.”
He nodded. “Perhaps our young guest will help if we ask. Miss Cavanaugh? Will you decrypt your hard drive?”
The girl scratched at the rose tattoo on the back of her hand. “Are you going to kill me?”
Since leaving Orlando, Alexandra had been quietly explaining to Nancy how she had managed to stay underground for so long without the Russians finding her. When Lila spoke, Alexandra turned her attention to the girl. “You think they will kill you?”
Nancy frowned at her mother. “This isn’t your concern.”
“You forget that I worked for your father,” Alexandra said. “You’ve been leaking information, yes?”
“How did you know?” Eric asked.
“I watch the news,” Alexandra said, then pointed at Karen. “I also overheard your briefing with that one. You think the girl targeted the OTM, but you don’t think she was behind the newest leak. She wasn’t. She is meek. A man was involved.”
Eric’s jaw dropped. Nancy stared at her mother in astonishment, and Karen was looking at Alexandra in awe.
“Who is she?” Karen asked softly.
“I’m Nancy’s mother.” She turned to Eric and smiled frostily. “Why are you surprised? I am a spy.”
Eric sighed. “And you haven’t lost a step over the years, apparently. Yes, you’re correct. Her boyfriend, Patrick, was the man killed in London. We were set up, and we think the party behind it released the information about the OTM.”
“Obviously,” Alexandra said. “Someone knows about the OTM, and they seek to destroy you.”
A shiver ran up his spine. “That’s… exactly what I was thinking.”
“This goes deeper than the OTM,” Alexandra said. “What could your enemy gain by disclosing the OTM’s existence?”
“I’m not sure,” Eric said.
“This country was founded on the concept of freedom,” Alexandra said, “but people will always trade their freedom for security. It has been that way since the beginning of history. Americans. You thought yourselves different than those who came before. When the people wake from their long slumber and realize their world has been shaped by a group like the OTM? It will shake them to their core.”
Karen cleared her throat. “I’m a friend of your daughter. Aren’t you being a tad melodramatic?”
Alexandra leaned back in her chair and shook her head. “Americans’ faith in government will collapse. Your Congress will be in revolt. There will be investigations. Impeachments. Economies will plunge. Someone wanted to hurt you, and they found the perfect way to do it.”
She turned back to Lila Cavanaugh. “I do not know you, young woman, but I assure you that whoever released the information wasn’t trying to right a perceived wrong or bring justice to the oppressed.”
Lila’s face was pale. “I… don’t know. You’re really not going to kill me?”
Eric smiled reassuringly. “I’m Eric. I’m in charge of the OTM. You’re safe with us. We just need to find the person behind this.”
Lila tilted her head and stared at him before sighing heavily. “Give me my laptop.”
Karen handed it to her, and Lila typed in a password and fiddled with it for a few minutes before handing it back. “There. It’s unlocked. I don’t know what you’ll find, though. I don’t know anything. I swear.”
“Thank you,” Karen said. She ran a cable from her own laptop to Lila’s laptop and started working.
“Your boyfriend,” Eric said. “He knew. He had to. That explains how our team was set up in London. Did he work with anyone?”
“No,” Lila said. “He never…”
“What?” Eric asked.
“He was terrified,” Lila said. “He told me to leave. He told me to go to Dallas. I thought he was scared of the… the OTM.”
Nancy leaned forward in her seat. “We’ll find the person responsible. We will make them pay.”
“We’ll catch them,” Eric said hastily, “and make sure they’re punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
Alexandra’s eyes caught his, and he saw concern, but also a hint of approval.
“How could you not predict the damage this man would do with the Lotus Blossom?” Hu demanded.
Lee Chen resisted the urge to point out that he had protested the decision to allow Huang Lei access to the Lotus Blossom. “The chairman ultimately approved its use. How is that our responsibility?”
Hu’s pudgy cheeks reddened. “The chairman thought Lei would embarrass the Americans, not destroy our economy. The markets are plunging! Tens of billions of dollars were wiped out in minutes!”
“May I offer some advice?” Chen asked patiently.
Hu crossed his arms. “The chairman is furious with me. And by me, I mean you.”
“I have served many chairmen,” Chen said with a smile. “I have followed orders because that is my job. If you hope to keep yours, you must keep your eyes on the future. There is a right side of history and a wrong side of history. Ensure that you are on the right side.”
“How dare you lecture me?” Hu sputtered. “You are an old man. Your time has passed. I won’t let your incompetence destroy my chances at—”
“You wish to be the next chairman,” Chen said with a smile. “If the chairman knew of your ambition, you’d find out how he deals with such threats…”
Hu’s face paled, making him look like an oversized schoolboy. “You can’t threaten me!”
“Where do you think power originates?” Chen asked softly.
Hu frowned. “What?”
“I am just an old man,” Chen said. “Sooner or later, I will be gone. What do you think happens then?”
“I don’t understand.”
“Power,” Chen said. “That is what you crave. You think the chairman has real power. You are wrong, my young friend.” He sighed and took a drink of hot tea before continuing. “The game of kings. That is what I play.”
“You’re not making sense,” Hu said. “You’re delusional.”
“The game is ancient,” Chen said. He stared at Hu for an uncomfortably long time, until Hu broke eye contact. “The game of kings,” Chen continued. “It has been played for thousands of years. Empires have flourished and withered. Great men, and even women, have come and gone, but the game continues. It always has, and it always will. The players have the real power. Some are spies. Some are leaders. Elected officials. Tyrants. Captains of industry.”
Hu shook his head. “You’re talking about a conspiracy—”
“Not a conspiracy,” Chen corrected. “Some call us a cabal. Not every member knows of the others or even their own role.”
Hu’s face went white. “This American group, the OTM. You knew about them.”
“Of course,” Chen said. “Information is power, and I deal in information. You must learn, my young friend. Learn all you can so that you may take my place. The correct application of information at the right time profoundly influence world events. That’s true power. What do you know of the Shanghai Pact?”
“It’s… our attempt to counter NATO,” Hu said. “Its primary purpose is to offer a global security response in case of a terrorist or foreign nation attack.”
Chen clucked his tongue. “Nonsense. Its real purpose is to promote a unified economic power that can leverage its position to devalue the American dollar and to align Russia’s and China’s fiscal policies. You don’t create such a thing unless you have the backing of the global elite. Did you know that China has created millionaires at a faster pace than the United States? Do you think that is a coincidence?”