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Ma Yuhang spoke to Zhang Daiyu and she translated for me
“We have a few minutes only,” she said. “He’s called in many favors to get us this far, but they will only last so long.”
I nodded to him. “Xièxie ni.”
Ma Yuhang bowed his head in reply, but clearly wasn’t happy. He opened the door and ushered us inside.
I have no idea how long David Zhou had been waiting in this bare gray concrete room that reeked of fear and misery, but he looked surprised and somewhat relieved to see us. He fidgeted with the shackles that tethered his wrists to the table.
“You seem less hostile than previously,” I told him.
“I thought I was about to meet my end,” he said. “So anyone other than an executioner is a most welcome sight.”
Ma Yuhang shut the door behind us and stood guard outside. Zhang Daiyu and I took seats opposite Zhou.
“I was sitting here trying to make my peace with death but failing badly. I really don’t want to die. Life is too good.” He smiled sadly.
“You’re expecting people to reach you in here?” I asked.
“Why not?” he replied. “You did.”
“People like Liu Bao?” I asked.
We didn’t have a lot of time and I was going to have to risk sharing some of the intel we’d acquired if I was going to get David Zhou to trust me.
He looked surprised and a little impressed. “Liu Bao is a mere foot soldier.”
“Pretty powerful foot soldier,” I remarked.
“You only say that because you haven’t seen the power of the men he serves.”
“We know he’s connected to the Guoanbu,” I revealed.
“He is Guoanbu,” David countered. He looked around the room uncertainly and added softly, “As am I.”
I exchanged a surprised glance with Zhang Daiyu. My surprise was two-fold. I was shocked to learn this prisoner worked for Chinese State Security, but also that he’d trusted us with the information. Assuming it was true, of course. He had no reason to lie to us and my instincts told me I could trust him, but I had learnt long ago that nothing is ever what it first seems.
“I met Liu Bao the night your people were attacked. He told me I was finished and that my demise would be used as an opportunity to take out another enemy.”
“Private,” Zhang Daiyu observed.
“Why would he consider us an enemy? Why would he use us to take you out?” I asked.
Zhou had relaxed a little now. Gone was the taciturn, suspicious man we’d encountered during our first visit to Qincheng. He seemed almost relieved to have someone to talk to. I could only imagine how hard his life was in this place.
“I have no idea why your business was targeted,” he replied, “but he wanted me gone because I have been tasked by my superiors with bringing him to justice. For months I have been investigating him for embezzling state funds as part of his operations. I was authorized to engage with him and build sufficient trust that he would use me to process the finances for an arms deal in Africa.”
“Process the finances?” I asked. “You mean money laundering?”
Zhou nodded. “I was able to prove the money he receivedfor the arms deal was not the same amount he returned to the Guoanbu bosses. There was a thirty-million-dollar shortfall, but before I could present the evidence, I was arrested for the murders of your colleagues. I have not heard from my superiors, so I can only guess they have been purged or convinced to remain silent. I underestimated Liu Bao and I regret that deeply. He is far better connected than I could ever have imagined. There’s a war going on. A war for the heart and soul of China.”
“We heard,” I responded. “Someone told us there is a battle raging within Guoanbu.”
“What’s happening here to me, to you, is a manifestation of that battle,” Zhou confirmed.
“But what do we have to do with it?” I asked. “Private has no interest in such things.”
“I don’t know, but you are involved whether you like it or not,” he replied. “Liu Bao and his sponsors believe in the power of the individual. In your country people would say they were right-wing, but such terms have little meaning here. They believe in self-enrichment above all else, and as a result they support the idea of Chinese empire and conquest. This isn’t about spreading ideology. This is about unparalleled greed.”
