Jimmy Yan’s refusal to be rattled was comforting to Berman, but he knew his friend would have some explaining to do if he chose to mention these incidents to any of his superiors. Jimmy had alluded to the politicking that took place inside the Chinese government and had admitted that some individuals and factions disliked any arrangement with foreigners in the West, especially Americans. China could reach these technological goals on its own, it was argued. Yes, agreed Jimmy, of course China was capable of making such advances, but how long would it take? The opportunity was here, and they should seize it now with all the foreign reserves, particularly dollars, they were sitting on. And on top of that, they could get something else that they wanted almost as much: international athletic recognition to help make up for the loss of self-respect from having been subjected to centuries of abject colonialism by Western powers.
Berman turned his head away from the window and caught Whitney giving him the evil eye once again.
“Okay, okay! I screwed up,” said Berman. “What do you want me to say?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to, your face was doing the talking for you. I know what you are thinking: stupid Berman had to get involved with this woman. He couldn’t keep away from her like some besotted teenager. Okay, I’m a guy with a weakness for beautiful women. I don’t want to have to remind you of how you have personally benefited from my… interests.”
“Zachary, I promise, I didn’t say anything.”
“So you said,” said Berman. “Perhaps I need to talk it out for my own benefit. I’m confident Pia didn’t tell anyone about anything she found, except possibly the ER doctor. She didn’t have time. And if she had told the doctor, he would have rushed off to tell the police, which we know he hasn’t done. Right now, he’s sitting home in his apartment, and the only calls he’s made have been to Pia’s mobile phone. We know that for a fact. I predict he will go to work at three o’clock when he’s expected and only start taking action if he hasn’t heard from Pia when he gets off work, whatever ungodly time that might be.”
“You’re confident of that?”
“I am. You can’t raise an alarm because a grown woman hasn’t called you for a few hours. Can you imagine how flooded the switchboards would be? Even if it’s a whole day, the police aren’t going to do anything. And by then, we’ll be in Jimmy’s safe house.”
“I think you’re right,” said Whitney. “I know we’ll be fine.” She was placated to some extent, but there was one huge mistake Berman had made, to her mind. If they were speaking frankly, she would bring it up.
“The only real problem is the woman.” She nodded her head toward the back of the cabin. “What exactly do you have in mind?”
“So you have a problem with me bringing her like this?”
“Of course I have a problem. She’s the weak link in all of this. She’s caused this brouhaha, and she’s still with us. She can ruin everything. If it had been up to me, she should have been left in the hands of the head of security. Ultimately he’s the one to blame for all this by not keeping her out of Nano.”
“Of course you know what would have happened to her if we had left her in his hands. You don’t find that a problem?”
Whitney was quiet for a moment. She knew what would have happened, but she didn’t want to think about it, like she had never wanted to think about the people in the Nano aquariums. She had been brought into Berman’s vision, and her future was tied to his, she knew that. If he went down, she went down with him. But she did have her limits.
“Actually, no, I don’t. I don’t think about it. But the fact that she is here with us, that’s a problem.”
Whitney turned around and looked over her shoulder. Berman followed her line of sight, and there, as he was well aware, was Pia, unconscious and slumped back across two wide seats, her mouth open, her chest rising and falling in quiet, rhythmical breathing. She was handcuffed to the table in front of her, restrained like one of the many Chinese athletic prisoners who had traveled west on this plane.
“You bought her with us. She could ruin everything we’ve worked for. What are you going to do with her?”
“Well, that’s what I’ve been thinking about,” said Berman, and he smiled. “Her fate will depend on her willingness to become a team player. Maybe she could be your assistant.”
“My assistant?” Whitney howled. “No, no, no! You’re not going to saddle me with that willful bitch. I don’t want to babysit your latest plaything, especially knowing you, you’ll tire of her. She’ll be hanging around my neck, and I don’t have the time or the energy. Keeping you on track is enough of a job for me.”
“Oh, come on! Whitney. Your job’s gotten bigger and you need an assistant. She’s intelligent and tenacious: a hard worker. You could use her.”
“I don’t know,” Whitney said. She knew how much she owed Berman, and it was hard for her not to do his bidding. The trouble was she was reasonably certain the Pia business was going to end badly, and she didn’t want to get to know the woman and then have to be involved with getting rid of her, really getting rid of her.
CHAPTER 47
Berman’s body clock was shot. At two hours’ notice, he had flown twelve hours from Boulder to Milan, then refueled, turned around, and flown back west, although the journey from Italy to Stansted Airport in the U.K., London’s third airport, was much shorter.
Berman was very glad to have Jimmy Yan as his partner at this stage of his dealings with the Chinese government, as Jimmy was able to solve with ease and equanimity problems that might otherwise be intractable. Berman had established his own contacts airside at the Milan Linate airport with a general aviation enterprise, so coming and going discreetly had been no problem.
But now he had a piece of troublesome cargo he needed to get into the U.K., a country known to be more rigorous with import rules and regulations than the Italians. “No problem,” said Jimmy, “I’ll make your flight an official Chinese government one. No one will look at it. As for the cargo, a diplomatic pouch can be any size; just make sure the package is immobilized, and you can transport it in a large duffel bag. As for somewhere to stay, forget your West End hotel. What were you thinking anyway? The traffic in London is epically bad. The Chinese government has a house in the country used for diplomats and diplomatic purposes that is much more convenient. And much safer.”
Jimmy and his people had picked up Berman and his party and driven them west from Stansted around London’s orbital road, the M25. Berman noticed signs for quaint-sounding towns such as Potters Bar, Frogmore, and Chorleywood, which was where they got off the M25. They quickly decamped in a place he was told was called Chenies — pronounced “Cheney’s,” as if it belonged to the former USA vice president — in the county of Buckinghamshire.
Jimmy had been very quiet on the ride in the large, black limousine, only to tell Berman that he and his countrymen generally traveled by Mercedes station wagons and vans in the U.K. because SUVs stood out so much. With gas at $10 a gallon, only those with money to burn, almost literally, drove an SUV. He said that the Chinese delegation preferred to be more discreet.