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“I could get used to this,” Laura Lee said to him after they were settled in their seats and offered champagne or another drink by the first-class cabin attendant. “Do you always get upgraded?”
“If there’s space available,” he said, taking a sip of the beer he’d accepted.
“Nice,” she said, sipping the glass of champagne. Yes, it was in a real glass, not plastic.
The flight was on time and uneventful. An FBI agent waited in a Ford Expedition for them when they exited the airport at the designated arrivals door. Garcia opened the front door, glancing in at the man in the dark suit. Yes, standard FBI uniform. “Grant?”
He held up his badge and credentials. “Yes. Yours please?”
Both Garcia and Laura Lee flashed him their badges and creds. She slid into the backseat as Garcia got into the front passenger seat. “Have the detainees been moved yet?” Garcia asked.
“No, but the State Department wasn’t happy to delay it. Your boss has some pull, I’ll tell you that.”
Laura Lee smiled. Yes, he did. And she was thankful he did.
Agent Grant drove above the posted speed limit to get them to the facility as fast as he could. He brought them through the secure entrance, getting them declared, and then led them to the detention room they’d moved Xi Laing to.
Three other agents, including Will Fletcher, who’d been the Agent in Charge at the house, joined them in the hallway and briefed Laura Lee on what they’d tried. She listened, but knew she’d do it differently. They’d approached it straight out of the FBI interrogation playbook.
“We’ll be in this room,” Grant said, pointing to the door beside the room. “The interrogation room is outfitted with cameras and sound. We’ll hear and see all that takes place.” He turned to follow Fletcher and the others into the room. “And give me your weapon. No weapons allowed in the interview room.”
Laura Lee unclipped her holster at the small of her back and handed it to Garcia. Even though she had pushed to conduct this interview, she was nervous. She had one shot to get Xi Laing to talk. He’d be on a flight to Beijing in less than an hour after she walked out of the room if he didn’t offer up something substantial to keep him in the U.S.
“It’s the personal connection you make with him the second you enter that room that will get him to open up to you,” Garcia said. “He has to believe he can trust what you’re telling him. That you can deliver what you’re offering him.”
“Yes, I just hope I can sell it,” Laura Lee said.
“Be your genuine self. No air of authority, no title until you need it. Just Laura,” Garcia said.
Laura Lee thought about that for a second. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“I’ll be next door in the gallery room watching with the other agents. Good luck.”
Laura Lee opened the door and entered. Xi Laing sat handcuffed to the table. He wasn’t the scared gay man she’d hoped to encounter. His game face was on as though he was expecting his Chinese higher-up to enter the room. She looked him in the eye. “Hi, Alex. My name is Laura Lee.” She took the seat facing him. “You don’t mind if I call you by your American name, do you?”
He remained stoned face, watching her.
“I don’t think you want to be deported. I don’t think you want to go back to China, and I can help you stay here. Stay with your boyfriend. I can also make it look like you’re dead, so no one in China or here will know you’re still alive. You can live your life freely, the way you want to, with whom you want. All you have to do is ask for asylum. It’s that easy.”
“It’s not that easy,” he said.
“We will need some information from you. Consider it payment for this asylum you’ll be given.”
He did not answer.
“Alex, you’re only twenty-two years old. You have a lot of life in front of you. What do you want that life to be like? Who do you want to spend your life with? It’s reported that China is currently not a very LGBTQ friendly place.”
“You don’t understand,” he whispered. “It’s not my life to choose.”
“It should be,” she said. “If it was me, I’d be all about making that choice. If they think you’re dead, there’s no longer any expectations of you. Aren’t you tired of living a lie?”
For the first time, she saw emotion wash across his features. Actual tears filled his eyes.
“You’ve been in the U.S. for over a year. Where do you think is the better place to live? China or the United States?”
He huffed out a sigh, acknowledging that was a ridiculous question.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. You have a chance to live the American dream. It’s right in front of you. All you have to do is reach out and grab it.”
