AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Not necessarily,” Mo-bot replied. “Could be someone who has access to their tech.”
“Raid-Boxes are supposed to be impossible to trace unless you have the machine number, aren’t they?” Sci remarked.
“Guess what Carver’s people gave me?” Jack said.
“You’re kidding?” Mo-bot responded, suddenly coming alive. “Jack Morgan, you’re a genius.”
“I just made a phone call,” he countered.
“How did they get the machine code?” she asked.
“Who knows what the Pentagon is really capable of?”
“I thought I did,” she remarked. “With the machine code, I can run a crawler to watch local ISPs and see if he uses the Raid-Box anywhere within two hundred miles of the city.”
“Good,” Jack said. “You let me know when you find him. And call the cops. We need to bring them in on this.”
“Police?” Rafael asked.
“Yes,” Jack replied. “You made a bad choice. The chips are going to fall where they fall.”
Rafael nodded slowly and Justine saw a look of defeat sweep across his face. He had accepted there would be a full legal reckoning. Jack had made their decision for them.
“I’ll get started,” Mo-bot said. “We’ll call you as soon as we’ve got anything.”
“Good luck,” he responded before hanging up.
CHAPTER 47
ZHANG DAIYU AND I grabbed somezhajiang mianfried-sauce noodles from a stall near the hostel. We ate standing on the street not far from the grinning, wiry old man who kept up a steady trade serving his sweet-smelling bowls to the locals. I had never tasted anything so good in my life. Partly a consequence of hunger, but also a testament to the chef’s skill with the spices that went into the hot sauce covering the noodles.
“Good, right?” Zhang Daiyu remarked.
“I can’t tell you how good,” I replied.
She spent time on the phone, briefing Huang Hua, who was leading the surveillance effort on Liu Bao. We had a team of six operatives working in rolling shifts and Hua had put together an equipment package ready for installation that night. I didn’t care about the cost. I wanted the man who had targeted my organization and killed my colleagues.
After my call with Justine, Sci, and Mo-bot, Zhang Daiyu and I went to a local clothes shop and refreshed our wardrobes. I bought underwear, black jeans, and a gray T-shirt, and was dressed like many of our fellow residents in the hostel. The only thing missing was the ubiquitous blue worker’s jacket, but it was far too hot for outerwear. Zhang Daiyu was in a pair of black trousers and a red blouse, which she managed to make look like designer wear despite the fact it had been cheaper than our noodles.
“I want my own clothes,” she grumbled between mouthfuls. “I feel as though I’m in my mother’s wardrobe.”
“You look great.”
“Thank you, but you don’t have to be kind. I suppose I can’t go home until this is over?”
I nodded. “Seems that way. These guys are serious.”
Her phone rang and she pulled it from her pocket and answered rapidly before hanging up.
“Come on,” she said, hurrying back to the stall to hand her bowl to the vendor. “The surveillance team has spotted someone of interest visiting Liu’s office. A man with the triple dragon tattoo on his arm. If we hurry, we can support them. They don’t have the resources to watch Liu Bao and tail this new target.”
I nodded and handed my bowl to the chef, who smiled his thanks.
Thirty minutes later, after a cab ride, we reached the financial district and asked to be dropped off a few blocks from the building. We walked to Guangcheng Street, where we found Hua’s Private surveillance van parked in a multi-story between twooffice blocks. The van was on the roof of the building and had a partial view of Liu Bao’s eye-shaped headquarters.
Zhang Daiyu rapped on the side door and someone let us in. Hua was alone, monitoring a variety of screens.
“Good,” he said. “I think you’re in time. We haven’t seen him come out.”
