The Spy Devils by Joe Goldberg (top rated books of all time .TXT) 📕

fall, an overdose, an accident. Dragon Fire operated without incident and one hundred percent effectiveness for over a year, clearing away regional detractors of China’s South China Sea expansion military.

Then nine months ago, two of his men were captured and exposed publicly in Hong Kong. What made the exposure devastating were the videos and internet postings showing his team confessing their actions. The social media posts and videos were disastrous.

When Li Chu showed Deputy Minister Chen the black card with the red pitchfork he found in Hong Kong, where his men were seized, Chen’s body went stiff.

“Wode ma ya! Oh, my mother! The Spy Devils are the cause of this?” he said in a low, anxious voice.

“The Spy Devils,” Li Chu repeated.

Then he regained his focus.

“Yes, but they will not find us.”

“They already have found you” Chen shook his head and sighed. “This is very disconcerting.”

Chen shook his head in doubt and said in a whisper, “The Spy Devils.”

The same thing happened twice in Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and again in Hong Kong. Now in Taiwan. Each time, a flood of videos, tweets, and posts on social media followed a few days after the capture.

“I am to relay that the Standing Committee is dissatisfied with your recent failures,” Deputy Minister Chen told Li Chu after the last incident in Hong Kong. “They are being queried by uninformed Politburo members about your existence. It is the same with the letters from foreign governments and the United Nations. So far, we have denied everything.”

“I pledge that it will not happen again. I will find these Spy Devils.”

His steps echoed when he reached a steel cell door a quarter of the way down the corridor on the left side. Next to the door, an electronic keypad glowed lime-green. When Li Chu pushed several numbers, metallic clicks of the unlocking cylinders were followed by a long buzz. The door released and opened a few inches into the hall.

When the two captured Dragon Fire team members saw Li Chu walk into their cramped cell, they jumped to their feet and stood at attention in the narrow space between the two bunks placed along the walls. The eight-feet-wide and ten-feet-deep cell was windowless. A single bright safety light was attached flush to the ceiling. A metal toilet and sink were behind the men between the bunks on the far wall.

Li Chu looked from one man to the other, then back again, communicating with a slight nodding motion of his head as he took a step closer. They wore baggy blue short-sleeved pullover tops, elastic-waist blue pants, and slippers.

He noted the feeling of the acid growing in his stomach with both a mix of aggravation—for feeling anything—and comfort. These were men he had handpicked. He trained with them and executed dozens of successful active measures with them. He led, and they followed. Good men. Strong and courageous men dedicated to doing what needed to be done for the future of their country.

Now, they were as useless as a spent brass shell casing.

Li Chu saw the expression of confidence and pride in the Dragon Fire men’s faces, which were now known to every intelligence and security organization. What he was about to do was not totally their fault—not totally. It was the fault of the Spy Devils.

Li Chu turned to his left. Bai stood as tall and powerful as always, despite deep purple-yellow bruises and swelling that ran along his jaw. His lips were split and purple. When Li Chu was ordered to create the team, he immediately pulled Bai out of his counterespionage position in the Beijing State Security Bureau. Now, it was over.

“What can you tell me of Bridger?” Li Chu asked.

“Very little, I am afraid. Blonde hair and tattoos,” Bai said between clenched teeth as saliva rolled from the corners of his mouth.

Li Chu looked at the other man, who had a large bandage on his shoulder. His arm was in a sling.

“You, Peng?”

Trying to stand at attention, Peng nervously answered, “I do not remember much. They used gas. And shot me.”

Li Chu nodded. Without any external signs of emotion, he reached toward the small of his back and pulled out a suppressed Taiwan T75 pistol. Without hesitation, he aimed and shot Peng in his chest four times. Peng fell back against his bed, bounced off the wall, and landed sprawled across the bed. Li Chu aimed and shot the already dead Bureau X man in the back of his head, sending much of its contents onto the wall.

Li Chu was pleased to see his friend Bai was still standing at attention. Li Chu raised the weapon and shot his friend between his eyes. Bai fell back as a rooster tail of blood exploded onto the bed behind him. He shot Bai three more times in the chest before he shut and locked the cell door. As he stepped out of the building into the narrow alcove, something in the air triggered a childhood memory. He stopped for a moment.

Cherry blossoms.

It was years ago. Li Chu recalled his father taking a very young boy to the orchards outside a village. The boy held the man’s rock rough hands as they strolled between the rows admiring the blooming cherry blossoms. The petals would float down on him like rain. He caught as many as he could, hoping a few would keep their subtle scent for at least a few more days. None did. They turned brown and dissolved in his hands.

A car horn honking in the distance broke into his thoughts. He shook off the memory to discover he was standing by the door of his car.

He did not mourn his team members. The risk of capture, torture, and death was a part of the risk of being an assassin. He did not feel sorry for himself. He chose to lead the team, and until the Spy Devils arrived, they were a strong arm of China’s foreign policy.

He felt anger.

He would not answer