“Lei Gong is a name, Mr Hawke,” McShain said. “It means Lord of Thunder.”
“General McShain’s right,” said Lao. “In Chinese mythology Lei Gong, or Lei Shen to use his other name, was the God of Thunder.”
“Sounds like a reasonable chap,” Scarlet said.
Jason Lao took a deep breath. “Of all the ancient Chinese gods, the Thunder God was not one to mess with. He appeared to the world as half-man and half-bird, and punished those mortals who transgressed the boundaries of Taoism. His wife was Lei Zi, the Goddess of Lightning.”
Scarlet clicked her tongue. “They sound like they’d be real fun at a swingers’ party.”
Hawke rolled his eyes and turned to Lao. “But why was his name sprayed on the side of the American ship?”
Lao shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe whoever took the device has a serious ego problem and thinks he’s some kind of god.”
“Or maybe,” McShain said, “they were giving us some kind of warning about what we’re in for.”
Lexi nodded. “I think so, yes. Why else waste time doing this during what had to be a lightning raid?”
“Very funny, darling…” Scarlet said.
Lexi looked at her confused. “Sorry?”
“Thunder God, lightning raid…”
“Oh, I didn't mean to…”
Lao interrupted the moment. “This was also sprayed on the ship.” He held up another photo of more Chinese characters. “It says the whole world will fear me.”
“Not another one,” Hawke said, recalling Zaugg.
“I’m sorry?” Lao asked.
“Nothing. Carry on.”
“Either way,” Lao continued, “it’s come down to us to get to the bottom of it, and when I say us, I mean you.” He looked steadily at Hawke and Scarlet. “Our intel is limited, but we think that the first earthquake attack is merely a prelude to a much bigger strike somewhere else in the world, so it’s imperative we find out who’s taken the device and take them out before they kill millions of people.”
“And then the US Government is going to want the device back in safe hands,” McShain said sternly. “And the whole thing remains Top Secret, got it?”
His tone suggested that taking the information to a newspaper might be the sort of thing you’d live to regret. Hawke and Scarlet both nodded in agreement.
“One thing I still don’t understand,” Hawke said. “What connects the murder of Felix Hoffmann and the portrait of Xi Shi with the stolen Tesla device?”
“Nothing at all,” Lao said, “apart from the fact this was found on Hoffmann’s body.” Lao passed another photo to Hawke and his eyes widened to the max when he saw it. He was looking at an image of Hoffmann’s dead body in a morgue, and cut into his corpse were the only two Chinese characters that he now recognized.
“Lei Shen, the God of Thunder?”
Lao nodded. McShain looked nervous.
“This detail was of course omitted from the official public record,” Lao said. “According to the official story Felix Hoffmann was killed in an attempted robbery.” He smiled briefly. “But these characters were carved into his stomach, and as Eden told you, Agent Zhang’s calling card — the origami dragonfly — was left at the scene of the murder as well. Clearly, she was framed for the murder of Felix Hoffmann.”
“Clearly,” Scarlet said, glancing suspiciously at Lexi out the corner of her eye.
“I did not kill Felix Hoffmann, I swear,” Lexi said.
“I believe you,” Lao said. “And so will everyone else in here if we are to work together and stop this nightmare from getting any bigger, agreed?”
Hawke nodded. Scarlet made a muffled note of reluctant agreement.
Lao offered an appreciative glance at them all. “So the writing on Hoffmann’s body clearly suggests his death is connected to the theft of the Tesla device, and his expertise on ancient Chinese artwork tie everything together with the missing portrait of Xi Shi. As far as your agent is concerned, we know she had Hoffmann under surveillance while he was here in the city recently, so her disappearance is linked to this also, but we don’t know the full reason why these things are connected yet. We do know, however, that somehow they are and we have to work out what it is before whoever is behind this murders millions of innocent people.”
Scarlet shrugged. “Another day, another dollar.”
“You think you can handle this?” McShain asked.
“Pretty sure,” Hawke said. “But we’re going to need more help so I’m going to make a call.”
“And what about you?” McShain said, facing Scarlet.
She sighed. “Don’t ask me. I’m still dazed by Joe Hawke using the word phenomenon.”
CHAPTER SIX
The Blue Orchid was a luxury nightclub buried in the heart of Hong Kong’s entertainment district on the east end of Pottinger Street. It was on the same island as Lao’s office, so it was just a short ride in a cab through a few blocks of the financial district and they were there, but halfway into their journey Hawke received a text message.
It was from Ryan Bale. He said that he and Sophie Durand had been briefed by Sir Richard Eden and instructed to join him immediately. They were already in Hong Kong and wanted to meet in a bar before they spoke with Victor Li at the Blue Orchid.
Hawke and Scarlet emerged from the cab into a warm subtropical afternoon, the air buzzing with the sounds of a busy city and traffic pollution rising into clouds that hung gray and heavy above the dense skyline.
The bar was busy but there was no sign of Ryan or Sophie yet. Hawke ordered two whiskies and he and Scarlet took a table by the window overlooking the street outside.
“Just like old times,” Scarlet said.
“How do you mean?”
She shrugged her shoulders and took some of the Scotch. “Don’t you remember Karachi?”
Hawke nodded. Yes, he remembered Karachi. Hart and the rest of the top brass had flown the ultra elite subsection of his unit into Pakistan where they were to meet with local liaison before entering Afghanistan and neutralizing a terrorists’ compound in the Tora Bora region.
“Back when you were in the SAS?” Hawke asked.
Scarlet smiled and downed her drink. “The good old days.”
“And now you’re part of the SIS. A very different life I’d imagine.”
She nodded but said nothing. Hawke had known she was lying about being in the Secret Intelligence Service ever since Agent Nightingale had told him so. His former CIA contact had once saved his life and he trusted her a lot more than he would trust Cairo Sloane, and that was for sure.
But all Nightingale had told him was that Scarlet had never been part of MI5, and this cute little bombshell was the full extent of his knowledge about her. He knew she was lying, and he knew she was working for a powerful agency, but who exactly was still a mystery.
The same went for Sophie Durand, the French spy currently shacked up with Ryan Bale in the world’s most unlikely relationship. She too had told him she was attached to the DGSE, the French Secret Service. They had first met when they were searching an apartment in Geneva. Her backstory also turned out to be a web of lies, busted once again by the enigmatic Nightingale. Hawke wondered if she had told Ryan the truth about her background since they had been seeing each other. He doubted it.
“So why did you leave the SAS, Cairo?”
She ran her finger around the edge of the glass. Black nail varnish, smooth white hands, beautiful but lethal.
“Some things are better left unsaid, Joe. You know that.”
“But…”
Before he could finish his question, he heard a familiar voice call his name. It was Ryan Bale, now walking across the lobby and stepping into the busy bar. He was wearing a Batman t-shirt under a denim jacket and black jeans. He still hadn’t combed his lanky hair. Sophie was wearing blue jeans and a simple black shirt. Her hair was up.