She closed her eyes in the darkness, trying to relax, and reminded herself that she had plenty of time.
38
Sheng Lam pushed a button on the side of his watch to read the illuminated face. It was similar to what he’d worn before prison, including his fatigues and boots, but better quality. His only weapon was a P19 semiautomatic pistol, holstered on his left side. And it gave him a sense of carnal pleasure each time his elbow brushed back against it.
He’d snuck a look at the magazine before they lifted off to make sure they hadn’t given him an empty gun. Years ago he would have been able to tell just from the weight, but not anymore. Some of his skills were nowhere near as sharp after years of being unused. But others, the more innate abilities, were still intact. Especially his tracking abilities.
His call with the hacker M0ngol was just another example. The kid was clearly frightened, but several slight pauses in his speech told Lam he was also hiding something. A hunch further confirmed by some of the subtle fluctuations in his voice. The hacker was beginning to worry more about covering for himself than finding the girl — which meant he needed to be watched very carefully.
Lam could also sense the mood amongst the five men sitting around him. Something… deceptive. A second agenda he clearly didn’t know about.
But it didn’t bother him. He’d had more than his share of secrets when serving in the army. Lam’s only concern now was whether those men would get in the way of his objective. Because if they did, he was ready to kill every single one of them.
Impatiently, Lam glanced again at his watch.
Less than two hours.
39
Li Na was moving before dawn broke. Once there was enough ambient light to navigate the stairwells, she began quietly descending, pausing briefly at each floor to listen before continuing.
She stopped at a floor where she thought she’d seen one of the others disappear, but there was no sound. No talking, no movement, nothing. Li Na abruptly gripped one of the handrails when it occurred to her that perhaps the others might be listening for her.
She looked up the stairs behind her, then down below, listening harder. She placed each step toe to heel to eliminate any pounding, no matter how subtle. On each stair, she moved down the gray metal steps with only a slight reverberation.
When she finally reached the bottom, she pushed open one of the beige double doors and checked the exit at the end of the hall. She eased the door closed behind her and bounded lightly down the hallway.
There was no one outside yet. Still half dark, the streets were both easily visible and very empty. From a nearby corner, Li Na scanned up and down her street, spotting the entrance to the mall she’d found the night before. She spotted movement further down the street on the far side. A man with his head down, dressed in gray pants and a white shirt.
She inhaled and stepped out onto the sidewalk.
The team’s Mi-17 helicopter landed several kilometers outside of the city, where the thumping of its rotors would not be heard. The men climbed out to see the towers of Yuhong rising solemnly into the air, silhouetted by the first rays of sunrise.
From that distance, there was little indication that the metropolitan area was empty. Instead, the cityscape looked calm, almost peaceful, in the morning air.
The leader of the five soldiers, a man named Peng, stopped almost two hundred meters beyond the chopper’s spinning blades and withdrew a small handheld device. The flat screen came to life, promptly displaying an aerial map. It was quickly followed by the appearance of a red dot, indicating their location. The others, including Lam, closed in around him as the leader zoomed in on the mall where the video images had been recorded.
“Eight, maybe nine kilometers,” he instructed in Mandarin. He looked up to observe the tip of the morning sun peeking over the distant mountain range. “It’ll be too light when we get there. Leave the rifles and change clothes. Take only weapons you can conceal.”
“We should split up,” one of his men offered.
“When we get a few streets in. Our target is here,” he replied gruffly, pointing at the screen. “We see if she comes back first.” The leader then turned to Lam. “You stay with me.”
Lam didn’t reply.
Peng ignored him and nodded to the rest of his men, a nod they promptly returned before running back to the helicopter.
40
The first sign of hope Li Na found was in the form of a large parking garage. It was several stories tall, attached by a glass bridge to a very large and expensive building, towering high overhead. Mirrored glass covered all sides. The spacious entrance to the building was visible in the far corner and looked as deserted as the rest. Once-tall Gingko trees planted on either side now stood wilting and neglected.
Inside the garage, Li Na found the first two levels empty. However, on the third level, where the skyway connected the two buildings, she was surprised to find several cars. They were all parked together in a small group, leaving the rest of the level as barren as the first two.
She recognized the symbols on each of three Mercedes and one Jaguar. But the last two she hadn’t seen before. All of them were expensive.
Li Na turned to check behind her, then eased behind a concrete pillar, watching for movement. There was no motion at all. Just the row of automobiles parked in silence.
Across the bridge, she could make out a large heavy glass door. Opaque and still.
She moved cautiously. Walking forward in a wide arc allowed her to keep her eyes fixed on the glass bridge. Without a sound, she reached the group of cars and moved in close enough to look inside the windows. It wasn’t their opulent interiors or upholstery that surprised her. Or even the wide television screens embedded in the thick leather of the backseats. What surprised her was that two out of the three cars she examined did not have their doors locked.
Searching the other levels confirmed the rest of the garage was empty. Her growling stomach kept interrupting her thoughts. If she was going to find another option, it was going to take time.
From the top level of the garage, she peered out over the early-morning city. Even with the sun’s light casting long shadows, she could see much more now than she had the night before, including a larger city center. And a park that stretched almost a half kilometer on the other side. Both locations, to her surprise, showed signs of movement.
This revelation caused a brief wave of optimism to course through her veins. There were more people here than she thought, which could mean an opportunity for making a friend — someone who might be able to help her get out of the city.
And now with the hope of a new day, the most logical place to start was back at the food court.
Even dressed in normal clothes, the emergence of all six men from the tall grasses outside of Yuhong appeared ominous. With the squad leader in front, followed closely by Lam, they quickly covered the open distance of grass and dirt. They then crossed the first major, yet empty, road. Upon reaching the other side, the men split up. Each one moved separately through various side streets and alleys, toward the city center just two kilometers away.
Peng and one of the leader’s men remained close to Lam, keeping him within eyesight — half for the man’s tracking ability and the other half a result of their second priority. If they found the girl, they were to keep her alive, no matter what the cost.
This also meant that once the girl was secured, they were to kill Lam immediately.