“We must hurry,” one of the operatives told her.
Shun Li didn’t think so. Hurrying to Xiao’s office now would likely be disastrous for her.
“A moment, please,” she said. “My shoe is untied.” She knelt and pulled apart the shoestrings. “There’s grain in my shoe.” She pulled off the shoe and then her sock, pulling it inside out and shaking it, pretending to watch bits of dust or gravel fall.
Her toenails were orange painted. She’d forgotten about that. She tried to hide that from the operatives. East Lightning Guardian Inspectors shouldn’t paint their toenails. Shun Li had begun doing that after several intimate meetings with Tang, the original Lion Guardsman who had invaded her hotel room. She went to Chairman Hong’s country residence every day, usually driven by Tang. Weeks of conversation in the car had led to one thing and then another. She painted her toes orange because Tang said he liked that, and she’d discovered that she indeed liked the big Lion Guardsman.
“Look,” one of the operatives said.
Shun Li looked up. The operative tugged the other man’s sleeve and pointed at her orange toenails.
That was the problem with East Lightning operatives, especially ones working this near the Police Minister. Secret policemen were trained to observe. They were ferrets sniffing out disloyalty to the state. To do so, they often looked for the smallest of clues that would give a person away.
The second operative laughed. “Orange toenails, Shun Li?”
She shrugged, smiling at the man.
He did not smile back. Instead, with such a serious look in his eyes, he was obviously filing the information away. Xiao would have likely tasked these two with studying her behavior. The toenail painting would go into the databanks concerning her personality. On such little things could a career—or a life—hang.
I am a barracuda among killer whales and great white sharks.
Yet even barracuda’s had eyes, and they could think and file information away, too. She stalled now in the hallway for an excellent reason. Marshal Gang of First Front should be in California, of that she was certain. It would be easy to discover if he’d made a trip to China. If he had not made an overt trip, then logic dictated he had some covertly. Shun Li had spent much of her time studying the political situation—her life depended on it, as she was a mole in the Chairman’s estate for the Police Minister.
Chairman Hong disliked Marshal Gang. The old man with the chest full of medals had belonged to the discredited faction backing dead Foreign Minister Deng. At the end of the California invasion, Hong had instructed Xiao to shoot Deng.
Why had Hong left Gang in military control in California? Shun Li didn’t know the answer to that. Likely, it was for reasons of political maneuvering. The military and especially China’s Army represented the most powerful political bloc in the world. Hong needed to tread lightly with them and at the same time keep them disunited and terrorized if he could.
If Gang had belonged to Foreign Minister Deng’s side, the Marshal probably resented Deng’s untimely passing. He might even want revenge. Certainly, he would have resentments against Hong.
Therefore, the conclusion was terrifying to Shun Li. If Gang had secretly flown to China to meet with the Police Minister, then it would appear that a dangerously advanced coup might be in the making.
Did Xiao fear for his position? Did the Police Minister resent the Chairman’s questioning of her concerning him? Did it even matter what the reason was?
Shun Li stalled because she did not want to enter Xiao’s office so soon after Marshal Gang had left it. The Police Minister might realize she had seen Gang. And there was something she had learned about Xiao Yang these past weeks. He was thorough to an extraordinary degree. He took great pains and observed the minutiae. To protect himself during such a dangerous scheme, he might execute her.
“The Police Minister is waiting,” said one of the operatives. “You can scratch your foot later.”
“I don’t understand it,” she said, continuing to scratch. “My foot itches abominably.”
“We must hurry,” the operative said, pushing against her shoulder.
“Yes, of course,” she said. She pulled on her sock.
She’d learned another thing about the Police Minister. He was an intensely ardent nationalist. He breathed love of China and the greatness of the present venture. He wished America prostrate before China’s feet.
Slipping her foot into the shoe, Shun Li tied the laces tight. She couldn’t think of another way to stall. It might be bad policy to drag this out much further. The orange toenails had diverted the two operatives. If she took any longer, they might realize her stalling had to do with Marshal Gang’s surprise appearance.
“There,” she said, standing. “That’s much better.”
They turned into the corridor and marched the length to the Police Minister’s ornate door. The senior operative knocked discreetly.
The red light above the door stayed dark. Finally, the intercom buzzed.
“Yes, who is there?” Xiao said.
“It is time for Shun Li’s weekly interview, sir,” the senior operative said.
The red light shined.
“Go in,” the operative told Shun Li.
She did so, closing the door behind her. The Police Minister sat at his desk, and he watched her closely as she approached.
As she sat down, he appeared to hesitate. He opened his mouth as if he were about to ask a question. She dreaded the possibility that he would ask if she’d seen anyone. Fortunately, the mouth closed and he tapped a finger against the desktop. He checked his watch.
“You’re late,” he told her. “I expect promptness.”
“It won’t happen again, sir.”
He continued to stare at her. She found it terrifying. The crocodile had become suspicious. If the Police Minister played for the highest stakes, he could ill afford to take chances.
She realized then that he must suspect that she had seen Gang. But her position in the Chairman’s country estate could prove priceless if Xiao planned assassination.
It felt as if her chest hollowed out. Did Xiao expect her to assassinate the Chairman?
No, no, you’ve become too paranoid. What higher rank could Xiao possibly seek? If the military practiced a coup, they would never leave Xiao as the Police Minster. He must understand that.
Shun Li’s mouth almost opened in surprise. Could Xiao be seeking the highest office of all? Surely, he couldn’t yearn to be Chairman himself. Few people wanted a ruthless secret policeman to become head of state.
“I’ve become curious about the feeding,” Xiao said.
“What?” Shun Li asked, startled out of her thoughts.
The Police Minister refolded his hands on the desk. “You attend your polar bear cub daily. You said the Leader has allowed you to hold the cub’s milk bottle.”
“Yes sir.”
“I want to know the exact times this occurs.”
“Of course,” Shun Li said.
“Oh, and I’m also curious about a little thing. Does the Leader attend the feedings?”
“No sir, not every time.”
“But I expect there is a pattern.”
“I’m not sure.”
“You will write a report, stating the exact times you feed the cub. In the report, you will also record the exact words the Leader utters.”
Shun Li nodded.
Xiao put an insincere smile on his face. It was more a drawing back of his lips, stretching them across his teeth but keeping them hidden.
“I have become concerned about the Leader’s mental health,” he said. “These setbacks in the Midwest are disconcerting. We must help the Leader in any way we can. We must ease the terrible burden for him.”