“What about the legal side?”
“The criminal stuff is the bedrock, but it has evolved into a nontraditional organization with foreign affiliates and legitimate businesses: manufacturing, real estate, movies, phamaceuticals. And, as you discovered, commercial fishing. Some of its divisions have gotten into trouble for producing contaminated, dangerous products.”
“Does the Pyramid leadership have a human face?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, it has three.The company is said to be run by a set of triplets.”
“That’s an unusual arrangement.”
“Not when you consider the extent of their empire. Pyramid is like a country unto itself. It has a huge treasury, an army of thugs at its command, and a diplomatic corps that interacts with the Chinese government, which traditionally has supported the Triads. It has gangs in every major country, including the U.S. It’s the biggest criminal organization in China, possibly in the world.”
“How do you fight something like that?” Zavala asked.
“With great difficulty. Asian criminal groups are smart, rich, multilingual, and flexible. Advances in travel and communications have allowed them to operate on a global scale. We can make life tough for their street gangs and nibble around the edges of their financial empire, but they’ve been impervious up to now.”
“What has changed?”
“They are up against the only enemy who could do them harm: the Chinese government. It’s trying to put Pyramid out of business.”
“Wait a second, didn’t you say the government supportedthe Triads?”
“That’s history.There’s a huge gray area between what is legal and what is criminal in China. That’s where the Triads operate. The government hadn’t clamped down before this because the Triads produce money, keep order, and are patriotic.”
“Why the sudden change of heart?”
“The Chinese military has been in business with the Triads for years. Pyramid is particularly tight with the Army, giving it political muscle to defend its criminal interests, but the government is worried this cozy arrangement has given Pyramid too much power. They’ve put thousands of corrupt officials from the National People’s Congress in jail, but they really began to push after the safety scandals. China lives on its exports. And anything that threatens them threatens the stability of the country and therefore its rulers.
“Tell me about the triplets,” Zavala said.
“Not much totell. Triads give their people numbers, according to rank rather than names. But they usually have someone to serve as their public face. Pyramid’s front man is an immensely rich guy named Wen Lo. No one has ever seen the other two triplets. Triads are usually decentralized, but Pyramid has been strengthening its leadership, which also has the government worried.” She paused. “Now it’s my turn, Joe. Why would a Chinese Triad want to sabotage the bathysphere?”
“Kurt thinks they were after Dr. Kane because of a secret research project he was involved in. Does that sound plausible?”
“Anything is possible with this gang. What would you like me to do?”
“I was hoping you might poke around and see what you can dig up.”
Caitlin cocked her head. “Not to be coy, but what can you offer me in return?”
“A ride in my ’Vette, a romantic dinner at an old inn in the Virginia countryside.”
“Been there, done that, senor.Tell you what, Joe, if Pyramid is involved in anything,it’s part of something very big. Pyramid doesn’t do things in half measures.”
“Would the government crackdown have anything to do with what we’ve talked about?”
“Possibly. Pyramid has reacted like a wounded snake since the purge began. They’ve killed cops, judges, and top officials as a warning to the government to keep its hands off, but I don’t see the connection with your Dr. Kane.”
“Neither do I. Can you help?”
“I’ll put you in touch with Charlie Yoo. He’s an agent that the Chinese security agency sent over to work with the FBI. He’s a specialist in gangs. Pyramid made a mistake underestimating you and Kurt. But a few words of advice . . .”
“We always listen to advice from a pro, Cate.”
Caitlin put her hand on her holster, a reflexive gesture, as if she sensed danger.
“That’s good, Joe, because if I know Pyramid, you and Kurt are in their sights. And they won’t miss a second time.”
THOUSANDS OF MILES FROM Virginia, Pyramid Trading was also on the lips of Colonel Ming. The slender, soft-spoken man with the thick head of silver hair stood outside a dilapidated building in the slums of Shanghai. There had apparently been an attempt to burn the building, but the firefighters called in to keep the blaze from spreading to the nearby slums had nipped the fire in the bud.
The smoke still burned the colonel’s eyes, even though he stood several hundred feet from the building. He didn’t want the ash floating in the air to settle on his razor-creased Army uniform. Even if he had wished to get closer, he would have been prevented by the cordon of decontamination trucks and ring of armed police.
He turned to the Ministry of Health official, who had called him.
“I’m not sure why you asked me to come here,” Ming said. “It appears that the city has the situation well in hand. There seems little need for crowd control by the military.”
“This was no ordinary building and this was no ordinary fire,” said the minister, whose name was Fong. “There were medical tests of some sort going on here.”
“This seems an unlikely place for that sort of thing. Are you sure?”
Fong nodded.
“We found a number of people locked in cells,” he said. “They had been left there to burn, but, fortunately, even though they were in poor condition, they were able to talk. They said they had been kidnapped, and that many people had been taken from their cells, never to return. We believe they were moved to labs, and, from the equipment we found, it seems they were the subjects of experiments.”
“What kind of experiments, Fong?”
“We don’t know specifically. But we did find traces of a virus strain that is of some concern to our ministry. It is the same virus that caused an outbreak in a village to the north. The person who caused that epidemic was from Shanghai.”
“Quite the coincidence,” said Ming.
“Even more, the person was employed in a security capacity by Pyramid Trading based here in the city. And, almost unbelievably, Pyramid owns this building.”
“I think I know where you are going with this, Fong. It’s well known that the Army operates a string of brothels in partnership with Pyramid. But there’s no connection to this,” he said with a wave of his hand.
“I understand that, Colonel, but perhaps you might want to reexamine your partnership when I tell you what else we found in the building: the remains of dozens of human beings, discovered in a crematory. We think they had been used in the experiments.”
Ming’s reaction was one of combined fear and revulsion, fear that his name had been linked to Pyramid, revulsion over the experiments.
He stared at the building, trying without success to imagine the horrors within its four walls.
“Thank you, Minister,” he said. “I shall look into it and take the appropriate steps.”
“I hope so,” Fong said. “This is not good for China. Whoever is responsible must be brought to account, but it must be done quietly.”
“I am in complete agreement with the need for discretion,” Colonel Ming said. “And I think I know exactly where to begin.”
CHAPTER 22
DOOLEY GREEN LOOKED UP FROM THE OUTBOARD MOTOR he’d been repairing at the end of the dock and his mouth widened in a gap-toothed grin when he saw the young Asian woman coming his way.