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My fears were confirmed. Liu Bao’s security team were good. They’d spotted a potential threat and neutralized it. The van’s brake lights flared and it slowed right down. I was worried Liu Bao’s men might recognize her and take more violent action, but the M5s peeled off and accelerated rapidly. After weaving through the light traffic on the dual carriageway, they joined the Range Rover.
I typed, “Follow the two red BMWs. The ones that just spoke to my friend in the van,” and played the translation for the cab driver.
He nodded and we passed Zhang Daiyu turning into a sidestreet. I nodded at her but she didn’t notice me. Her face was a mask of frustration and anger. She was not taking her exposure well.
I returned my attention to the convoy which was now aboutfifty yards ahead. The skyline around us was changing as we moved from an upscale residential neighborhood into an industrial area. High-rise blocks were replaced by warehouses and furnace chimneys. I was heading into unknown territory, following one of the most dangerous and well-resourced men I’d ever encountered, and I was doing it alone.
CHAPTER 69
WE TURNED OFF Qingnian Road and followed Liu’s convoy into an industrial park. There was less traffic now, so I used Google Translate to ask the driver to keep back.
He said something in a tone that was universally recognizable: He was frightened.
I used my phone to tell him I would pay him an additional bonus of 3,000 Yuan, roughly equivalent to 450 bucks, and that seemed to calm his nerves a little. We’d fallen back too far and lost sight of the convoy as they went round a bend, which curved for about six hundred yards following the perimeter of a warehouse complex. When we cleared the bend there was no sign of Liu Bao anywhere.
I looked in every direction. There was a rail terminal to our west, more warehouses to the north, and a large container yard to our east. The yard was packed with shipping containers stackedfour or five high. There was still no sign of Liu and I started to fear we had lost our chance to rescue Shang Li.
The cab driver said something and pointed to a spot at the heart of the container yard. Liu Bao’s convoy had pulled up beside a stack of large blue steel boxes.
I saw him climb out of the Range Rover and head toward the bottom container. A couple of men in black trousers and matching T-shirts opened the doors from the inside. One of them had a large triple dragon tattoo on his forearm.
The doors were closed swiftly and the angle of the container was such that I couldn’t see what was inside, but I did notice the air vent and cooling system that had been fitted to the outer panel.
I opened the map on my phone, dropped a PIN in my location, and sent it to Zhang Daiyu, who replied instantly.
On my way.
I used my phone to tell the driver he could drop me off, paid him his bonus and received exclamations of relief and grateful thanks.
I got out and watched the taxi pull a U-turn and speed into the distance. I took a better look at the container facility. It was a lot of about ten acres with long alleyways that cut through the stacks. Peering down one, I could just make out the posts supporting the fence on the other side of the compound. The fence on this side was capped with barbed wire and there were automated security cameras by the main gate. One was at a height to capture vehicle registration and the other set at a suitable level to photograph visiting drivers.
A sophisticated fixed-crane system ran high over the road and was used to take the containers from the yard onto trains. There were gates either side of the giant crane system, used to stop traffic when containers were being moved, and I went over to the nearest. It was set flush against the perimeter fence. I used it to conceal myself from the view of anyone inside the compound.
I waited with a growing sense of impatience. I had nine minutes before I was supposed to call Liu Bao. Once he had given me proof of life, there was every chance he’d kill Shang Li. I couldn’t risk trusting that Liu had the sense to bring his hostage to our meeting.
Zhang Daiyu arrived six minutes later and pulled to a halt at the curb beside me. I jumped in the passenger seat. We had less than three minutes before my call.
“They are in a container in there,” I said, indicating the yard.
My brain was working furiously, trying to figure out a way to safely rescue my partner. The odds were stacked very much against us.
We were prohibited from carrying any weapons in China, whereas I had little doubt Liu Bao and his men would be armed. I had no idea how many people we would be up against and still didn’t have confirmation Shang Li was even in there.
“Any ideas?” Zhang Daiyu asked.
I shook my head and checked my watch. Two minutes until I was supposed to call Liu Bao.
“You?”
She pursed her lips before speaking, indicating she didn’t particularly like what she had to say. “We could force them tomove him. Put in a call to Beijing Police and say we think we saw Liu Bao being abducted. His Guoanbu contacts will warn him before the police are even dispatched. He won’t want to be caught here with the hostage. Even with his protection, it would just complicate things, so he will probably move Shang Li.”
“And we intercept them when they do?” I suggested.
She was right to be skeptical about her idea – it wasn’t the strongest, but it was the best we had.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s do it.”
CHAPTER 70
