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“Then give him whatever help he’s willing to take. Ask Sci and Mo-bot to get on it.”
“Okay.” She hesitated. “You sure you won’t come home?”
“I can’t, Jus. I can’t.”
It was hard to explain, but I was driven by an innate sense of duty. People either experienced it themselves and understood it, or they had no idea, in which case my actions would seem alien, possibly irrational. Thankfully Justine knew exactly what motivated me.
“Okay. Just be careful. Make sure you come back in one piece.”
“I’ll do my best,” I replied. “I love you.”
“Love you too,” she said, her voice breaking.
This was hard on her. Well, it was hard on us both.
I ended the call to discover I had a voicemail message from my Los Angeles service. I returned the call and my skin crawled when I retrieved the message and heard Liu Bao’s voice.
“Mr. Morgan, call me at your earliest convenience. It seems I have something you want.”
CHAPTER 67
“HE’S TRYING TO lure me into his trap,” I said to Zhang Daiyu. “But he’s created an opportunity for us. I want you to get Hua and his team back here. We’re going to put everyone on Liu Bao.”
She nodded and stepped outside the van to make the call.
I phoned Mo-bot, who answered after three rings.
“Jack, Justine was just filling me in on what happened.”
“We’ve got a chance to save Shang Li,” I told her.
“So I understand. I’m all ears.”
“I need to call a bad guy and I don’t want him tracing my location.”
“Give me the number,” she said. “I’ll route you off this call.”
I gave her the number Liu Bao had left in his voicemail.
“The line will go dead for a while. Then you’ll hear the normal ringing tones and, hopefully, whoever you need to talk to.”
“Thanks,” I responded.
“Good luck, Jack,” she said.
I plugged my phone into one of the van’s sound recorders, and soon afterwards the line went dead. The muffled noises of Zhang Daiyu talking on her phone came from outside; every so often they faded into the background cacophony of the city.
After a few moments, I heard the ringing tone and the call was answered.
“Mr. Morgan,” Liu Bao said. “You’re ready to trade?”
“What do you want?” I asked.
“Any evidence you’ve acquired in your investigation,” he replied.
I knew what he really wanted, but he needed a reason for us to meet that didn’t involve revealing his true intention was to kill me.
“I want copies of anything you have and your word that the originals will be destroyed,” he said.
