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She tried to conceal the shock she felt at the accusation but wasn’t entirely successful.
“What? Bullshit!”
He showed her the photos on Hua’s tablet and she crumbled almost immediately.
“He recruited me out of college. Said he needed a cultural advisor.”
She sat next to Hudson and put her hand on his knee, but he moved away.
“I know I should have told you, honey.” She started to cry. “I never meant for this to happen. He told me to befriend you in Washington. That you’d be coming to China soon.”
“So he has good sources,” Zhang Daiyu observed. “To know about US State Department postings in advance.”
“I didn’t realize that … I didn’t know what he wanted. I still don’t. As I got to know you, Gavin, I fell in love, but by then I was trapped. Liu threatened to expose me to you … to the embassy … unless I kept doing what he told me to do. I begged him to stop but he refused to let me go. He said I was to introduce him to you and help you understand that your future lay in furthering China’s interests.”
“Honey trap,” I remarked. “One of the oldest tricks in the book. He got to Daisy with money and used her to get to you.”
“Have you been sleeping with him?” Gavin asked her.
The silence that followed told him everything.
“How could you do this?” he asked, his face flushing red.
For a moment his anger surged and I thought I might haveto intervene, but as I tensed his rage subsided and was replaced by sorrow.
“I’m so glad you caught this,” he said to me. “Thank you.”
“You’ll report it?” I asked.
“Report it?” Daisy echoed, concern in her voice.
Gavin nodded.
“Mr. Hudson has an obligation to report any compromised contact to his superiors,” I explained. “They’ll bring in specialists to assess the situation.”
“I didn’t mean … I’m sorry. I …” She was sobbing now.
Gavin’s eyes were full of sadness. It was clear that life as he’d known it was over. He would almost certainly be transferred back to Washington for a time. If she was lucky enough to escape charges, Daisy would not be going with him. The State Department would put an end to their relationship.
“If I can ever repay the favor …” he said.
“We would like any non-sensitive intelligence she might be able to offer that relates to Liu Bao’s operations,” I replied.
“But I don’t know anything,” Daisy protested. “He always kept me in the dark. I should never have taken his money.”
“No, you shouldn’t,” I agreed.
“What about Private?” Zhang Daiyu asked. “Did he ever say anything about an investigation agency called Private?”
Daisy wiped her eyes and thought for a moment.
“Yes,” she said. “I heard him talking on the phone once. He said Private would be targeted. An example would be made of them.”
I looked at Zhang Daiyu and could see she was equally troubled by this revelation.
“He said that?” I confirmed. “An example would be made of them?”
Daisy nodded.
