Next to Liu in the rear of the limo, Maria Barber was curled up with her head resting against the rear door. Her coffee-colored breasts were almost spilling from the top of her loose blouse and the angle of her legs allowed him a view of her lace panties if he was so inclined to look. He wasn’t.
“Maria, we’re here,” he said and tapped her shoulder.
She muttered in her sleep, licked her lips and slowly came awake.
“I’m sorry, lover,” she cooed when her eyes fluttered open. “After what you did to me in your office, I just couldn’t stay awake.”
Liu didn’t believe her. He knew she’d feigned sleep so she wouldn’t have to talk to him on the long drive to the house. She still loved the money and gifts he gave her, but she could no longer maintain the pretense that she loved him. It was just as well. He’d grown bored of her too. She’d fulfilled her usefulness and he only kept her around now because sex with her was simpler than engaging prostitutes.
Stepping from the vehicle, Liu walked to the back of the van and looked at what Huai and Chen had brought him. His voice betrayed his disappointment. “Not exactly what I had in mind but I suppose it will do.”
“Sir.” Captain Chen made a gesture to Liu asking him to turn around.
Coming out the front door of the house was Panama’s new president, Omar Quintero, and the director of the canal, Felix Silvera-Arias. Behind them stood General Yu, the head of COSTIND. Liu nearly choked. In the military hierarchy of Hatcherly and COSTIND, Yu’s only superior was the defense minister himself. Not knowing why Yu was here, Liu didn’t take his presence as a good sign. A jet of acid erupted in his stomach. He wanted to reach back into his car for his Mylanta.
“Mr. Liu,” Felix Silvera-Arias greeted him from several feet away. “Your General Yu graciously invited us out for a meeting. I have never seen your home before. Quite interesting. Why, isn’t that—?”
With a sharp glance, Liu cut off the canal director when he realized that Maria was still with him. Felix had enjoyed the ministrations of two of Maria’s friends following a dinner a few weeks ago and was aware of the role Maria had played in their operation. Her death should have been ordered weeks ago because of what she knew. He had to get rid of her before Felix mentioned her name or Yu became suspicious about her identity.
“Get into the car,” he hissed at her.
“But I’m tired.” She pouted. “I want to go to bed.”
He shoved her into the vehicle, his anger at her masking his fear of Yu. “Shut up, you stupid puta.” He tapped the button to lower the divider separating the driver’s compartment and addressed his driver. “Take her back to her apartment then get back here as quickly as possible.”
“Yes, sir.”
Liu slammed the door on her protests.
“I’m sorry about that, gentlemen.” He spoke English, the only language they all shared. “Had I known you were coming I wouldn’t have hired some, ah, entertainment.”
President Quintero made a dismissive gesture as if he understood, but General Yu’s scowl deepened. Shorter than the others, but with a much more commanding presence, it was for the general’s benefit that Liu had made the excuse. Liu took a deep breath, wincing at the pain in his stomach. He had to get control of himself and the situation. He spoke a few words to Captain Chen and then started toward the others. He shook hands with the president and Silvera-Arias and snapped a perfect salute to Yu.
“I am honored by your visit, General.” Liu barely succeeded at sounding genuine. Rather than honor he felt terror. As far as he knew, the general had never set foot outside China. Liu blew on his fingertips as if they’d just been burned.
“Perhaps,” Yu grumbled. “Let us go inside.”
The four men moved into the cool interior of the house. In the large living room, a pair of half-finished drinks stood amid condensation puddles on a glass-topped table. The minimal furniture was sleek, whites and chromes mostly. The walls were bare of any decoration, as if the design of the house was art enough. Yu sank into a separate chair while the two Panamanians took their places on a sofa facing the cocktails. Although they were the most powerful men in the nation, even they were subdued by Yu’s menacing aura. They waited for the general to start the conversation.
Liu desperately wanted something to settle his roiling stomach, and every second the silence dragged on made it worse. His abdomen made an audible twist. The autonomy he’d enjoyed since first coming to Panama was at an end. That much was clear. What he didn’t know was what controls Yu was about to place over him and what that meant for his career once Operation Red Island was complete. He felt his place within COSTIND suddenly slipping.
Felix Silvera-Arias finished off his drink in a nervous gulp while President Quintero, elegant in a tailored suit despite what must have been an urgent summons to this meeting, wiped his glasses on a scrap of silk he then returned to his breast pocket. Like Liu, the canal director wore casual slacks and a loose shirt. Both Panamanians possessed the studied polish of longtime politicians. They even resembled each other slightly—they were cousins. Felix owed his new job to the president and Quintero owed his presidency to the backroom machinations orchestrated by Silvera-Arias—and Liu.
Yu, squat and pugnacious in a suit he made look as regimented as a uniform, had neither an insider’s élan nor a politician’s charm. His rank was the result of years of unwavering discipline and success. And in a culture that revered age, Yu was just sixty-four years old. He had a great deal further to go within the Beijing power structure.
“Mr. President, Mr. Director,” Yu started formally. “If you could excuse Yousheng and I for a moment, we need to speak in private.”
There was a second-long pause when the leader of Panama thought he was expected to leave the room. Instead, Yu stood and beckoned his protégé to follow. They took up seats on the far side of the room, where even if the two Panamanians could understand the language, they couldn’t overhear.
“When I am finished,” Yu spoke softly in Chinese, “translate what you feel necessary to keep those two satisfied. There is a new resistance developing within the portion of the People’s Congress who know about what you are attempting here. They feel that your plan will antagonize the Americans rather than deter them.
“Our president has been informed about this and is beginning to rethink our position in Panama. I believe he’s going to order COSTIND to pull out of Operation Red Island.”
The news was devastating, but Liu knew better than to interrupt.
“I understand nearly everything is in place to execute the plan with the exception of finding the buried treasure. Is that true?”
“Yes, General.” Liu spoke formally, hoping there was still a chance to salvage Red Island. “Gemini has been in the Bay of Panama awaiting transit for a couple of days. Our submersible is ready to deflect the ship preceding Gemini through the locks. Everything at the mine is as it should be, and the government here has already accepted the first shipment of bullion from home as down payment for what we will recover near the River of Ruin.”
“But no gold has been found at the volcanic lake?”
“That is correct, sir,” Liu answered at once.
“Why?”
“I overestimated the abilities of local troops to act as guards and have needed to use more of our own soldiers. I’ve spread them too thin, sir. I’ve lost efficiency in all aspects of the operation because of this.”
“And you’ve needed extra guards?”
Liu gave the other two men a significant look. “This is a lawless country, sir. Thieves have attempted to infiltrate our container port and the Twenty Devils Mine.”
Yu seemed convinced by the ready answers. They agreed with his own sense of what he’d seen of Panama since his arrival just a few hours earlier. “Very well.” The general went silent for a moment. “I need an honest assessment, Yousheng.” His use of Liu’s first name was meant to impart trust. If anything it made the Hatcherly executive even more suspicious. “How far can we safely push up the timetable without jeopardizing the mission? Don’t give me an answer you think I want. I want the truth.”