Zeb parked his Ford in the luxury hotel’s lot off Dawand Road and set off on foot.
‘Ten minutes away,’ he relayed into the comms at four pm.
‘We’re close, too,’ Broker answered lazily.
He adjusted his backpack and slipped several flash-bangs and smoke bombs into his cargo pants’ pockets, nodded unconsciously and entered Zhenzhi Road from Jinghui Street. He brought out his phone when he entered Zhenzhi Road from Jinghui Street and pretended to speak into it loudly, arguing with a nonexistent spouse.
He came close to an empty car and bent down to tie his shoelaces. He slipped a flash-bang and smoke bomb beneath it and got to his feet. Beth would detonate the remote-controlled devices at his go command. He went to the next vehicle, which was empty as well, and leaned against it. He made a show of wiping sweat from his face and let slide more devices, using his body as cover.
No cops, none that I can see, he thought, scanning the street casually when he resumed his walk. No BMWs. Manhole cover is loose, too, sticking out an inch. He passed the alley and spotted no vehicles in it.
‘It’s quiet.’
He placed more flash-bangs and smoke bombs down the street. Went to the café he had visited earlier in the day and ordered a coffee. Grabbed a window seat when it became available and waited.
‘That’s your disguise?’ he heard Chloe exclaim.
‘Ball cap and shades, and I’m tagging a bunch of tourists,’ Bwana exclaimed defensively.
They must be within sight of each other.
‘Yeah, but you don’t need to slurp your drink so noisily. The whole street can hear you.’
‘No one can. Roger would have been the first to protest if he heard it.’
‘Rolling out that map and studying it was a nice touch,’ Beth said, coming to his defense. ‘Made you look like a tourist.’
‘Why do y’all pick on me all the time?’ the operative complained plaintively.
‘How else would we entertain ourselves?’ Broker snorted.
‘Are you all on the same street?’ Zeb asked them.
‘Not me,’ Meghan replied. ‘I’m coming down Guanghua.’
‘Me, too,’ Roger confirmed.
A Toyota entered the street and parked behind a truck. Its driver reclined his seat, pulled a cap over his head and snoozed. Zeb turned his attention to other passing traffic as vehicles entered and departed. A few cars parked on the road, and their drivers remained inside.
Taxis, probably, waiting for their customers.
‘We’ve dropped several flashers and smoke bombs,’ Meghan said, breaking the silence.
He double-tapped in acknowledgment and continued watching out of the window.
At four pm, two police vehicles entered the street. One parked down the road, behind one of the cabs. No officers climbed out.
Reinforcements? Was I wrong in assuming Hsu wouldn’t call the police?
‘Cops,’ Beth announced. ‘They’ve parked behind one of the coaches.’
‘Will that make it difficult for you to go beneath?’
‘No. They’re well behind.’
‘I’m on Zhenzhi,’ her sister announced.
‘So are we,’ Bear spoke for Chloe too.
Zeb saw Broker pass his window, who caught his eye and winked as he went out of sight.
‘I’m near Beth,’ Bwana announced and then broke into Mandarin. ‘Excuse me, nushi, can you help me? I’m lost. I want to get to the Forbidden City.’
Zeb couldn’t help grinning when he pictured what his friend had done. He’s gone to her for directions.
The younger twin kept her composure as she pointed out the route to him and chuckled ruefully when he had left. ‘Smart play.’
At five pm, a gleaming Honda drove into Zhenzhi from the Guanghua side. It stopped in the middle of the road and Rong climbed out, within sighting distance of Zeb inside the café.
‘Heads up,’ he warned, ‘the deputy is here.’
The MSS executive held his palm up imperiously as vehicles honked at him. Police officers emerged from their rides and directed the traffic to back up. Two of them installed cones on the road and wheeled over a metal barrier to mark the road closure.
‘Those cops,’ Beth announced, ‘they’ve closed the road at our end.’
‘Same here,’ Zeb confirmed. ‘Hold up. Looks like Rong’s asked them to inspect all the vehicles inside the perimeter … yeah, the police are questioning every parked driver.’
‘That’s what they’re doing here, too. Some of them have climbed inside the buses … and come out.’
‘Did they check beneath the vehicles? The cops on my side didn’t.’
‘Negative.’
That’s increased our chances. We would have had to abort if our distraction devices had been found.
‘What about foot traffic?’
‘Unaffected. They’re not stopping anyone.’
At five-thirty, the cops returned to Rong and gave him an update. One of them pointed to the taxis, at which the deputy strolled to the parked cabs and spoke with each driver.
‘Must be government vehicles,’ Zeb corrected his earlier guess.
‘What?’
‘There are a few cars parked by the side,’ he said, addressing Chloe’s question. ‘Their drivers are still in them. I thought they were cabs … but Rong has left them alone.’
‘Government officials.’
‘Yeah. Someone with more clout than Rong.’
‘There are a few such cars on our side, too,’ Broker announced.
‘Their passengers must be inside the hotel. Probably attending the same event Hsu’s going to,’ Roger guessed.
‘That’s likely,’ Zeb agreed. ‘Cops are leaving … here comes that second vehicle. There should be no more police on your side.’
‘None,’ Meghan confirmed.
Zeb watched as Rong rolled the metal barrier back into position once the jingcha rides had disappeared. The deputy leaned against it, then went to his Honda and climbed inside.
He’s waiting for Hsu.
‘In position.’ Bwana’s voiced echoed in their earpieces several moments later. ‘Good shooting lines to the alley as well as to its mouth.’
‘I’m in the apartment,’ Meghan confirmed. ‘Ready. The door was unlocked, as Maria promised.’
‘And me,’ Broker grunted. ‘Beneath the first coach, right in front of the alley. Bear and Chloe some feet away. EMP gun with me.’
‘Good cover?’
‘Affirmative. I can take out the cameras I see. I don’t need the drone for that. But the ones behind me … I can’t do anything about them.’
‘Let me fly the drone,’ Beth checked in, ‘and see whether we need to do anything about those. They might be looking in other directions if we are lucky. I’ll fly our bird once it gets dark.’
‘I’m good to go, too, from beneath the last truck,’ Roger sighed. ‘Sightseeing, Zeb promised us when we came to Beijing. This wasn’t what I had in mind.’
Beth crawled towards the edge of the pickup and peered cautiously from underneath it. Streetlights had turned on when the sun set. She could hear the occasional murmur of passing foot traffic on the sidewalk behind her, but no one was in sight on the road.
She launched the drone with her left hand and returned to her position, where she picked up the screen and navigated the UAV.
It rose swiftly and silently, as its surface coating absorbed light and prevented reflection. She flew it toward the side of the hotel and noted the two cameras high up on the wall. Navigated it to the apartment building in which Bwana was holed up and then flew it to her sister’s hideout.
‘There are three on Meghan’s building,’ she whispered, ‘but we’re good there. None of them are pointing at the street. They are aimed downwards, to their yard. They would have recorded her going in, but she can’t be recognized by that feed.’
‘I’ve taken out all the ones visible to me,’ the eldest operative replied.
‘The two on the hotel and on Bwana’s—’
‘Toast.’
She hovered the drone high and searched for radio-frequency readings. She ignored the small spikes she got from the street. Those are from cell phones. Nothing from the cameras looking into the alley. Broker got those. She flew the drone back to her position, dismantled it swiftly and returned it to her go-bag.
‘We’re dark,’ she announced.
Zeb was sipping his second coffee when Rong straightened as a pair of headlights lit up Zhenzhi. He spoke into a radio as he hurried to the metal barrier and rolled it back for a BMW to nose inside.
Just one ride? Where are the others?
Zeb craned his neck to see behind the vehicle, which had rolled to a stop as the deputy spoke briefly to its driver. Nope, no other BMWs. Looks like Hsu has come with only the CPOs in his ride.
‘I’ve got eyes on,’ he relayed to his team, who double-tapped or grunted in acknowledgment.
‘I see it,’ Meghan broadcast a moment later as the MSS head’s ride drove to the alley. ‘Where are the other Beamers?’
‘He’s alone.’
‘That’s fewer hostiles to take out. Here he comes. Bwana, you can see his—’
‘Yeah.’
Zeb stuffed several bills beneath his coffee mug and headed out of the café. He climbed down the few steps, got on the sidewalk and fell behind a pedestrian, a man who was on his phone, talking loudly as he headed to the end of the street.
One cab with its driver inside, to my right. He seems to be playing with his cell. Rong was twenty feet away to Zeb’s two-o’clock, in the middle of Zhenzhi, at the barrier.
‘Door’s opening,’ Bwana called out.
‘Driver got out,’ Meghan added.
‘I can see … Hsu!’
‘GO!’ Zeb said softly.
He had taken two steps when the first flash-bang exploded in the night from beneath a vehicle. He brought out a pair of clear-glass welding goggles from his cargo pants’ pocket and put them on as more detonations rocked the night and smoke started filling the street.
Shouts of alarm and screams came to him. He was aware of Rong running towards the alley, gesticulating furiously, coughing from the thick smoke that hung low.
‘Take the shots,’ he told his friends as he extracted a wet bandana and wrapped it over his lower face.
He was fifteen feet away from the alley’s mouth.
‘One CPO down.’ Bwana, calm, bored, as if reading the weather. ‘Two others have hustled Hsu back into the Beamer. It’s backing up.’
Twelve feet away.
‘I’ve fired into his rear window. A double-tap.’ Meghan, emotionless.
Zeb stepped out on Zhenzhi between two vehicles.
Eight feet away.
Rong to his left and to his right … he stared in disbelief as men spilled out from the waiting cars and sprinted towards the Beamer, which was emerging from the alley.
‘Those are the CPOs,’ Bear said laconically.
Can I take Hsu out? He assessed his chances swiftly as he took in the racing hostiles, Rong coughing and screaming, Hsu’s BMW—which had now backed out and was straightening twenty feet away.
Bwana and Meg can take out the agents … but there are too many of them, spread out on the street. Even with the smoke debilitating the hostiles, it was risky.
‘Abort,’ he hissed.
Rong spotted him.