“Very funny…”
“But seriously, I like where this is going.”
“Thought you might.”
“So whose footprints have we got?”
“Not too many, which is hardly surprising given the esoteric and archaic nature of the content, and that made it much easier. In the past few weeks it’s received less than twenty visits, mostly from Germany and the UK, but here’s the interesting part — several IP addresses all from one location made a series of visits all in one burst just a few days ago.”
“And what’s the location?”
“Langley, Virginia.”
Sophie’s eyes widened. “Langley? You mean the…”
“The headquarters of the CIA, exactly.”
“Now, that is very interesting.”
Ryan nodded, smiling. “Uh-huh. Surprised they didn’t mask that to be honest, but then whatever they were looking at on the site, why would they think anyone else would ever be looking for them? No one ever visits the site.”
“I’m starting to believe that maybe you are in fact a genius…” she said, and turned to him, her expression peaceful, but serious. “Did you think any more about what we talked about?” She was thinking of her suggestion that the two of them drop off the grid together, maybe permanently. She’d had enough of living life in top gear, and had seen a farmhouse in the Loire to renovate, maybe even start a vineyard. Ryan seemed like the perfect man to do it with.
“I have, and… yes, I’d love to.”
She smiled and they kissed. “I’m so pleased.”
“Not sure what Hawke’s going to do without me though…”
“A genius…” she repeated, “albeit one with a serious ego problem.”
“That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me, although Joe does call me ‘mate’ from time to time, which is high praise from a man like that.”
“Speaking of Hawke, do you think he’s all right?” Sophie asked.
Ryan shrugged his shoulders. “Sure. Hawke’s always all right. If he was in a hurricane, bet against the hurricane. I expect he’s kicking someone’s arse right now as we speak.”
“You think?”
Ryan nodded absent-mindedly. “Definitely. Whatever he’s doing, he’ll be totally in control of it, rest assured.”
For a moment, Hawke felt like he was totally out of control. Then he reacted in a split-second, and whipped his arms around, grabbing hold of the low lip that ran around the bottom of the open trunk door. He’d had better days.
“Lexi — slow down!”
He clung to the back of the F-Pace for all his life was worth, digging his fingers into the padded sill of the tailgate’s interior as hard as he could. Lexi slowed in an effort to allow him to climb back inside the SUV more easily but this acted as an invitation to Sheng’s goons who took advantage and accelerated towards them.
“Bloody well speed up, Lexi!” Hawke shouted, his words barely audible with the rush of the air and the hum of the Shanghai traffic all around them. Other drivers pointed in amazement and one child took a picture of him with his phone.
He turned to look over his shoulder and saw Sheng’s men gaining on them again. His boots scraped along the tarmac and he knew letting go of the tailgate meant instant death under the wheels of the growling GTR.
Lexi sighed and shook her head. “Slow down, Lexi! Speed up, Lexi! Make your mind up Joe!”
The GTR once again roared forward. Hawke had been dreading this moment, and for half a second thought he was about get both his legs crushed between the fenders of the two speeding vehicles.
But instead he heard gunfire and the GTR suddenly braked and swerved into the next lane.
Then he heard Lea’s voice calling from inside the SUV. “That’s the sound of me saving your arse yet again, Joe! You can thank me later.”
“That’s very kind of you — but talking of arses, maybe you could drag yours over here and help me get back inside this bloody Jag!”
“I’ll cover you, Lea!” Scarlet shouted.
A second later Lea was leaning over the rear seats and extending her hand to Hawke. “Can you reach it?” In the background he heard the sound of Scarlet’s gun firing rapidly as she covered the rescue attempt.
“Does it look like I can bloody well reach it?!”
Hawke thrust one hand up while clinging to the back of the car with the other.
The GTR swerved back out behind them.
Lexi accelerated the Jag but tried to keep it steady. Hawke missed and nearly slipped off the back again.
Lea tried once more, and this time Hawke managed to grab hold of her hand. At the same time she aimed her gun and unleashed a brutal burst of bullets across the front grille of the GTR, striking the radiator and sending a shower of steam into the air.
Hawke clambered inside and yanked the trunk door down, securing it with a rear seatbelt to the internal handle.
Lea fired again, this time through the smashed rear window of the Jag. She struck the front right tire and it exploded in a burst of shredded black rubber. It sent the GTR squealing like a trapped pig off the road where it skidded uncontrollably down an embankment and smashed headfirst into the base of an enormous digital billboard advertising Rolex watches.
“Looks their time finally came,” Hawke said. He wiped the sweat from his brow as he watched the GTR end its days in a savage explosion of sparks and smoke down at the side of the road. Slowly, the carnage receded into the Shanghai twilight as Lexi powered the F-Pace toward the city.
“You okay?” Lea said, ignoring his pathetic attempt at humor.
“Sure, but I’m not going to thank you later for saving my arse like you just said.”
“No?”
“No. I’m going to thank you now.”
Hawke took Lea by the shoulders and kissed her.
“Oh get a room,” Lexi said.
Scarlet sighed. “I’ll second that.”
“We’ve already got one,” said Lea.
“And talking of which,” Hawke said, “It’s about time we got this sodding portrait back to the hotel. Something in this picture is the key that’s going to unlock this whole mystery.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The portrait of Xi Shi that had once graced the walls of ancient palaces was now on a bed in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in central Shanghai. Hawke and the others stared at it in silence for a few moments.
Ryan leaned over the modest, faded picture. “So this is what all the hubbub is about?”
Hawke glanced at him and nodded his head. “Yup. This little baby right here is what our mate Sheng hired Johnny Chan to steal from the museum in Hong Kong.”
“Just a few hours after Felix Hoffmann was killed by an unknown assassin in the Paris Métro,” Lea added. “And then those bastards ambushed me.”
“And only a few hours after that the Tesla device was taken from a US Navy transport vessel,” Hawke said. “And somehow it all ties together.”
“Somehow…” Lea said.
Lexi took her hair-tie out and shook her hair loose. “And, if what just happened back on the Henshang Road is anything to go by, it’s pretty obvious Sheng will do anything to get his hands on it.”
Scarlet frowned. “But what does he want with it?” She lit a cigarette and crashed into chair on the balcony. She crossed her long, slim legs and tipped her head back. “If he already has the earthquake machine then what does he want with a simple portrait like this?”
Hawke ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath. Yes, it was true Sheng was prepared not only to deploy a small army to get the portrait, but was also more than happy to kill anyone who got in his way. But now, staring at the tiny picture on the bed he was at a loss to explain what its value was and why anyone would go to the lengths that Sheng had gone to in order to get their hands on such a harmless picture.