Rong scratched his head as his men streamed out of the mall and gave him their reports.
‘These.’ One of the CPOs held up a bunch of cell phones that were taped together. ‘They are the bombs. They have a recording of those sounds that were played at a specific time.’
The deputy inspected the cheap devices and noticed the absence of a network signal.
‘No SIM cards, laoban. They’re burner phones.’
‘Did anyone see who placed them in the mall?’
‘No, laoban.’
The MSS executive looked up when more men joined him. ‘Any luck?’
‘No, laoban,’ one of the new arrivals panted. ‘That man with you, no one’s seen him.’
‘He couldn’t have gotten far,’ Rong snapped. ‘Get more men. Search this entire neighborhood. Find him.’
‘Didn’t he say he worked in the law office?’
‘Yes,’ the deputy snarled. ‘I called them. All their employees are in the office. There’s no one who came late. He was lying.’
‘Who could it have been, laoban?’
‘GO!’ Rong yelled at the CPOs. ‘Find him.’
‘It must have been Carter,’ the deputy told his boss two hours later, in the MSS headquarters.
Hsu listened quietly to his subordinate’s account and spun his chair to look out of the window. He took a deep, calming breath and swung back.
‘I agree. It’s just like him to taunt us. You can bet that disguise he was wearing … he’ll never use it again.’
‘He could have taken you out, laoban. He was that close to you.’
‘No, our security is better than that. You know that. Sure, he could have shot at me, but he wouldn’t have gotten away. Our men would have killed him. Carter is not into suicide missions. He’s planning something else.’
‘We need to change your schedule, laoban. That visit to the tower … that got a lot of coverage. That drew Carter there.’
‘Shi,’ Hsu agreed. ‘But I have very few such engagements which are that public. He doesn’t know the rest of my schedule. And he certainly won’t attack Zhongnanhai. We need to have one more event which is talked about.’
‘I don’t understand, laoban.’
‘The trap,’ Hsu explained patiently. ‘We need to set it up for Carter.’
‘I think they were in Jianwai Soho earlier today.’
‘Why do you say that?’ The MSS chief looked up sharply.
‘Something funny happened there, laoban. Their cameras went down. In fact, their entire security system was zapped by an electromagnetic wave. And,’ Rong’s voice rose an octave in excitement, ‘this was found at one of the tables.’
Hsu squinted at his deputy’s cell phone. ‘That’s a newspaper on a table.’
‘Shi, but check out the report on that page … it’s about your visit to the tower.’
‘Carter,’ the MSS boss breathed out softly. ‘He must have seen that article and decided to act.’
‘Why did he come to me, though?’
‘He was testing our security. How alert we were, how we would respond. If only you had caught him, Jimmy.’
‘I’m sorry, laoban. He reacted unexpectedly.’
‘That’s what he does. I don’t have any public event for several weeks. Set something up, in a suitable location. Come back to me with all the details.’
‘Shi, laoban.’ Rong bowed and left.
Hsu rubbed his jade ring furiously when he was alone. He pinched the bridge of his nose and took deep, calming breaths.
Carter hadn’t even touched him. The American couldn’t escape the MSS dragnet in the city. I’ll have his head, soon.
The MSS head firmed his jaw resolutely and flicked open a file. He ignored the feeling inside him. He wouldn’t give it a name.
And yet, deep down, he knew what it was.
Fear.