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“I can’t talk you out of it, can I?”
I didn’t respond.
“Promise me one thing,” she said. “You’ll come back alive.”
“I promise,” I replied, although I knew my fate would be out of my control.
“And when you get back, we’ll spend a month together. No distractions. We’ll take a long vacation.”
It sounded like bliss to me. “Deal,” I replied.
“Be careful, Jack,” she said.
“I will,” I replied, before hanging up.
I went over to Zhang Daiyu, who stood waiting with Hua.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
I nodded.
“We have an address for Fang Wenyan,” she revealed. “From Fen. It’s an apartment in Zizhuyuan Subdistrict.”
Hua whistled.
“Problem?” I asked.
“He is whistling because this Fang’s area is where half the government lives. It’s for party members with power. Those with real connections,” Zhang Daiyu replied.
“Then we better make sure we don’t upset anyone,” I said, climbing into the van.
Zhang Daiyu and Hua exchanged hesitant looks before following me into the vehicle. Hua said something in Mandarin as he slid behind the wheel.
I looked at Zhang Daiyu expectantly.
“It’s better I don’t translate that word for word. It’s enough for you know he asks questions about your sanity.”
I smiled. “He’s not the first,” I said, as Hua stepped on the accelerator and we drove away.
CHAPTER 74
WHEN WE ARRIVED at Zizhuyuan Subdistrict we saw that the place oozed wealth and power. Even the night couldn’t obscure it. From the expensive European SUVs and sports vehicles glimpsed in private parking garages to the perfectly manicured public areas, plush canopies over the grand apartment-block entrances, LED street lighting … a sense of opulence pervaded everything.
It was late and the streets were quiet. There were lights in the windows of many of the high-rise buildings around us, and at the top of each penthouses that glowed like dwarf suns.
Hua stopped outside Fang Wenyan’s building, an impressive black skyscraper that resembled a giant aftershave bottle with gold trim here and there.
Hua peered toward the entrance, and I followed his gaze to see a man in a black suit seated at the desk in the lobby.
“How do you want to do this?” Hua asked.
“Too risky that way. I don’t want Fang to know we’re coming. Drive around,” I said. Hua put his van in gear and moved on.
The building occupied its own block and was surrounded to all sides by landscaped grounds extending to the street. There were no sidewalks, just a path from the road to the main entrance, and at the rear of the building a driveway leading to a service entrance and underground parking garage.
“What do you think?” I asked.
“It’s an infrared remote,” Hua said, gesturing toward the grille that covered the entrance to the garage. He pulled over near the start of the driveway and went into the back of the van. “Hold on one minute.”
