He said something in a tone that was universally recognizable: He was frightened.
I used my phone to tell him I would pay him an additional bonus of 3,000 Yuan, roughly equivalent to 450 bucks, and that seemed to calm his nerves a little. We’d fallen back too far and lost sight of the convoy as they went round a bend, which curved for about six hundred yards following the perimeter of a warehouse complex. When we cleared the bend there was no sign of Liu Bao anywhere.
I looked in every direction. There was a rail terminal to our west, more warehouses to the north, and a large container yard to our east. The yard was packed with shipping containers stacked four or five high. There was still no sign of Liu and I started to fear we had lost our chance to rescue Shang Li.
The cab driver said something and pointed to a spot at the heart of the container yard. Liu Bao’s convoy had pulled up beside a stack of large blue steel boxes.
I saw him climb out of the Range Rover and head toward the bottom container. A couple of men in black trousers and matching T-shirts opened the doors from the inside. One of them had a large triple dragon tattoo on his forearm.
The doors were closed swiftly and the angle of the container was such that I couldn’t see what was inside, but I did notice the air vent and cooling system that had been fitted to the outer panel.
I opened the map on my phone, dropped a PIN in my location, and sent it to Zhang Daiyu, who replied instantly.
On my way.
I used my phone to tell the driver he could drop me off, paid him his bonus and received exclamations of relief and grateful thanks.
I got out and watched the taxi pull a U-turn and speed into the distance. I took a better look at the container facility. It was a lot of about ten acres with long alleyways that cut through the stacks. Peering down one, I could just make out the posts supporting the fence on the other side of the compound. The fence on this side was capped with barbed wire and there were automated security cameras by the main gate. One was at a height to capture vehicle registration and the other set at a suitable level to photograph visiting drivers.
A sophisticated fixed-crane system ran high over the road and was used to take the containers from the yard onto trains. There were gates either side of the giant crane system, used to stop traffic when containers were being moved, and I went over to the nearest. It was set flush against the perimeter fence. I used it to conceal myself from the view of anyone inside the compound.
I waited with a growing sense of impatience. I had nine minutes before I was supposed to call Liu Bao. Once he had given me proof of life, there was every chance he’d kill Shang Li. I couldn’t risk trusting that Liu had the sense to bring his hostage to our meeting.
Zhang Daiyu arrived six minutes later and pulled to a halt at the curb beside me. I jumped in the passenger seat. We had less than three minutes before my call.
“They are in a container in there,” I said, indicating the yard.
My brain was working furiously, trying to figure out a way to safely rescue my partner. The odds were stacked very much against us.
We were prohibited from carrying any weapons in China, whereas I had little doubt Liu Bao and his men would be armed. I had no idea how many people we would be up against and still didn’t have confirmation Shang Li was even in there.
“Any ideas?” Zhang Daiyu asked.
I shook my head and checked my watch. Two minutes until I was supposed to call Liu Bao.
“You?”
She pursed her lips before speaking, indicating she didn’t particularly like what she had to say. “We could force them to move him. Put in a call to Beijing Police and say we think we saw Liu Bao being abducted. His Guoanbu contacts will warn him before the police are even dispatched. He won’t want to be caught here with the hostage. Even with his protection, it would just complicate things, so he will probably move Shang Li.”
“And we intercept them when they do?” I suggested.
She was right to be skeptical about her idea — it wasn’t the strongest, but it was the best we had.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s do it.”
Chapter 70
Zhang Daiyu never got the chance to make the call. The rattle of machine gunfire cut through the still night, and one of our rear tires burst as it was shredded by bullets. Another volley took out the other back tire. The van shuddered as it settled on the wheel rims.
Desperation makes people dangerous. I knew what lay in store for us if we were captured. I leapt from the cabin and was confronted by one of the men I’d seen open the container doors for Liu. He was the one with bare forearms, sporting the distinctive triple-dragon tattoo. A couple of inches shorter than me, he was well-built with a face twisted in anger and hatred.
He shouted something and brandished his gun at me, but I knew I was dead if I surrendered so kept moving toward him. He was as surprised as any man who waves a weapon around expecting people to do what they are told.
He fired a warning shot above my head and the crack of the report set my ears ringing. It didn’t slow me down. I rushed at him. He tried to clock me with the butt of the QBZ-95 assault rifle, but he was too slow. I got my hands on the gun and yanked hard.
The sudden movement caused him to pull the trigger. Muzzle fire flared as a volley of bullets sliced through the air by his face. He stepped back instinctively and let go of the weapon. I took firm hold, flipped it round and thrust the butt into his face, knocking him down and out.
I ran round the van to see two more gunmen forcing Zhang Daiyu into the back of one of the BMW X5s, which had parked just on our tail. I couldn’t open fire for fear of hitting her and one man took advantage of my hesitation. He pointed his gun at me and pulled the trigger.
I stepped back behind the tail of the van as a volley of bullets rattled and whined through the air where I had been standing.
I heard a screech of tires and saw the BMW shoot backwards, aiming for the gates. It swung round violently. The wheels spun, fighting for purchase, before they bit into the asphalt and sent the powerful vehicle into the container yard.
I knew I had to move fast because once Liu had his hands on Zhang Daiyu, I suspected he would kill either her or Shang Li. He only needed one of them to coerce me into obeying him.
I slung the QBZ-95 over my shoulder and ran at the chain-link fence. I hauled myself up and over, ignoring the pain as barbed wire cut into me at the top, and dropped into the container yard.
I could see the BMW reverse and start to race along the service road, passing behind the stacks of containers so it was only ever visible for an instant. I couldn’t let them reach Liu Bao before I got to him. So I dropped to one knee, pulled the gun from my shoulder, and took aim.
It made a poor long-range weapon, but the rapid fire meant my aim didn’t have to be perfect. I just had to ensure I didn’t hit Zhang Daiyu in the back of the car. I pointed the muzzle at a gap between the containers, just ahead of the BMW, and as the car raced into sight, I squeezed the trigger and tracked the air just in front of the vehicle. Bullets chewed the ground around the wheels, and a few struck the front driver’s side tire, which burst.
I didn’t wait to watch the crash but was on my feet as the BMW veered out of control, sprinting by the time it hit the closest stack of containers. I was breathing heavily and my legs were burning when I saw one of Zhang Daiyu’s captors drag her from the back and set off on foot. They were followed by a man I recognized; the same one who had planted the bombs in the Private Beijing office.
This was the guy who had been trying to kill us since the day we first visited David Zhou in prison.