She nodded. “Right. Truckloads of equipment have recently been delivered. Some of the former scientists started regularly depositing small sums of money. The Office never noticed. It was all done through shell corporations, but with the data we recovered from the servers in Seoul—”
Eric smiled. “You found the trail of breadcrumbs.”
“There’s more,” she said. “I have a name. It was buried in sales records in Europe, but the organizer of this mess is named Liu Kong.”
“Liu Kong?” Eric asked. “What do we know about him?”
Karen typed on her keyboard and a profile soon emerged on the wall screen. “Liu Kong. He’s Chinese. I found a passport entry from 1998 where he entered Australia with — and get ready for it — Wong Yuan. Nothing since. He’s probably been using assumed names. If the age on his passport was correct, he’s now thirty four. The records weren’t digitized. We have no picture. I expanded my search and found Liu Kong is listed as the CEO of a dozen companies, all shells.”
“What about Feofilivka?” Eric asked.
“It’s been refurbished,” she said. “I’m sure of it. The shell corporations purchased centrifuges, refrigeration units, spectrometers, DNA sequencers, and racks of computers… everything they need to do heavy-duty bioengineering. I ran the equipment list past Doctor Elliot. He said if they did basic prep on the MV Rising Star, it would only take a few days for them to complete their work, depending on what they were brewing up.”
Eric shook his head, his face hard. “Sergeant Clark, tell Taylor Martin I want wheels up in thirty. First stop is Chicago. Valerie Simon has accepted my offer to join the Office. Next, we’ll pick up Deion and Mark in China, then on to Seoul to get Nancy and John before we arrive in the Ukraine.”
Clark stood and saluted, then left the conference room to make it happen.
“You’re going, aren’t you?” Karen asked before she could stop herself. Eric turned to her and she felt a warmth through her body. She wanted nothing more than to sleep with him, one last time, but she saw the way he looked at her.
Eric was becoming emotionally involved, and it would end badly for him. He approached until he was close, and she felt the heat radiating from his body. She shook her head and said, “That’s not a good idea,” before he could touch her.
Surprised, he took a step back. “Why?”
“You need to find someone you can love, someone who’ll love you back. I’m not that woman.”
His jaw clenched and he shook his head. “I don’t see how you can be so unemotional.”
She sighed. It was definitely time to call it off. “Boss, you need your head in the game. I thought I was helping, but I think I was distracting you.”
“You were helping,” Eric insisted. He turned and sat down heavily in his chair. “This place is, well, stressful is too light a word. When we’re together, it relaxes me. I think more clearly.”
She smiled. “I’ll always be here for you, boss. You know that.”
He nodded wearily. “I know, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Smith answered the video call. “Yes, Eric.”
Eric smiled. “Hello, sir. How are you feeling?”
Smith leaned back in his chair. He glanced around his office and for the first time noticed it was utterly bare. He had grown used to the slate gray walls and the matching industrial carpet, and he had shipped his ancient wooden desk to Area 51 after he’d taken over the underground base. His current desk was a modern high-density fiberboard with laminated gray top, and it still reeked of plastic. The foul stench was the only thing of note, the only hint of personality in the room. “I’m well. Better than I’ve felt in years.”
His young protégé nodded. “I think we’ve found something. We have a name. Liu Kong. He’s involved with the MV Rising Star, as well as the infected IC’s from Korea. There’s been activity at an old biolab in the Ukraine. A city called Feofilivka. I’m leading a mission there.”
Smith took a moment to digest that information. “I also have a name. Huang Lei.”
“Who is Huang Lei?”
He wondered how much to tell Eric, but finally settled for, “A ghost from the past. I would like Mr. Green to investigate Huang Lei. Dewey has a knack for finding the unusual.”
“Yes, sir,” Eric said.
“Tell me, will Nancy be on this trip to Feofilivka?”
Eric nodded. “Yes, along with my men, and Frist, of course.”
“Of course.” Smith smiled. “When shall you leave?”
“Soon,” Eric said, then frowned. “Why do you ask?”
His heart was beating faster, the start of an idea forming in his head. “I need to make certain preparations.”
“What preparations?”
“Nothing you need concern yourself with. Eric?”
“Yes?”
“Tell Mr. Green to look for where Huang Lei isn’t, not where he is.”
Eric’s face grew puzzled. “What does that mean?”
“I suspect Mr. Green will understand.”
Robert dropped him off at the National Mall again and he quickly made his way around to the old man in the unfashionable suit who waited for him by the reflecting pool. “Vasilii.”
The old man eyed him carefully. “Fulton. We meet so soon?”
Smith smiled. “New information, my friend. I’ve identified the party behind our latest problem.”
“Why so pleased?”
Smith paused. If this worked, he might finally reunite his family before his mind faded completely. “The disgruntled man is a third-party actor. A phantom from our past. Yours and mine.”
“Tell me his name,” Vasilii muttered. “I will send someone to eliminate this stain on humanity.”
Smith continued walking. “I don’t think so.”
“And why not?” Vasilii demanded. “Is this some game?”
He smiled lazily. “I’ve been reminded, quite recently, that’s it’s always been a game.”
Vasilii glared at him. “I do not care for this. Why have you called me here?” The old man’s gaze intensified, and the faintest of smiles appeared. “Ah. So, that’s it?”
Smith laughed, loud enough to cause tourists to turn and stare at the two old men as they walked along the pond. “Feofilivka.”
“You joke.”
“Afraid not.”
“That is history. No one cares.”
“They will. Your country never acknowledged Feofilivka.”
Vasilii shook his head. “How will this help? You think to threaten us? Bah. Old ghosts, my friend. Old ghosts.”
“Even old ghosts can kill,” he said softly. “Especially if they are used to generate a new threat.”
“I stopped that,” Vasilii said. “We agreed.”
“Huang Jin’s son. He’s planning something. He’s behind everything. Feofilivka is active again.”
“Huang Jin?” Vasilii asked. “He disappeared and took his son with him. I searched for him. I would have executed him. Anything to keep that man’s work buried.”
“The Chinese. They took him, along with his son, Huang Lei. The father died. The son hates us.”
“He means to lay waste to you and blame us?” Vasilii paused. “Not bad plan,” the old man admitted.
“Yes,” Smith said. “The boy is clever.”
Vasilii shook his head. “I still don’t see how this helps with Alexandra.”
“My daughter and her team are en route to Feofilivka. They will clean up this mess and then they will find Huang Lei. They will keep this quiet.” He turned to the old man and raised an eyebrow.