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

shoulders as much as he could. “He would know better than I. He works there. But if you are asking my thoughts, I would hazard a guess it’s ‘the stuff that dreams are made of.’” Bridger let his Humphrey Bogart impression, one he always thought was pretty good, bounce inside Li Chu’s head.

He could see by the blank expression Li Chu did not recognize the voice or the famous line from The Maltese Falcon.

“What is that…stuff of dreams?” Li Chu stepped away from the table.

Bridger shook his head, amused. “It was a bird. A movie. Forget it.” He waited for the next jolt. It didn’t come. Instead, he enjoyed the stupid look on Li Chu’s face.

Li Chu pointed to the table.

“Isn’t it curious that all of this is about getting something we know nothing about?” He held it up in front of Bridger.

Be alert, Peter.

“Isn’t that the definition of espionage?” Bridger asked. “How often do we ever know what it is about, or more interestingly, what will be the result of all our work? You think your side is right. I know my side is right. So what? We deceive and plot and target and act, then move on to the next more important thing. Like this case. What were you doing—what, a few days ago—before you even knew this existed?”

“Jack. Open it.”

Li Chu moved the case back in front of Peter.

“Jack?” Peter was confused. “I don’t know how, either.”

Peter seemed to be more in control. Bridger could see some fuck you in his attitude.

“I have been told it cannot be opened, or the contents will be destroyed. But I have been told there is a way.” Li Chu swung the case in front of Peter, then Bridger, then Peter again, as if it would magically give him the solution to the puzzle. “Open it!”

“I don’t know how. I don’t!” Peter said.

Li Chu reached for the Devil Stick. Peter recoiled as much as he could in the chair.

Bridger looked at the irate man, then at Peter.

Perfect. Now is the time.

“I do,” Bridger announced in a matter-of-fact tone.

Peter and Li Chu stopped immediately, like their batteries had suddenly run out.

“What?” They said simultaneously, looking at him with disbelief.

“I can open it. What else do you want to know?” He said it with a sigh like he was bored talking about the subject.

“How can you open the case without harming the contents?” Li Chu asked.

“Yeah. How can you open the case without harming the contents?” Peter was shocked. “Since when?”

“Since whenever.” Bridger stared into Peter’s eyes, hoping he could comprehend his role in Bridger’s plan.

Come on, corporate spy.

“I am not a fool,” Li Chu said.

“Well, I disagree, but that still doesn’t mean I can’t open the case.” Bridger smiled.

Li Chu looked at Peter disbelievingly. “Can he get in?”

Peter met Bridger’s gaze.

Back me up. We can get out of this.

“If Jack says he can, he can,” Peter said, with a shrug.

Then Bridger saw it— behind Li Chu–a few feet on the other side of the glass door. The Devilbot was hovering and pointed straight at Bridger.

It’s time to fuck with this fucker.

47

A Thin Metal Device

Lebedevka Village, Ukraine

“It is in my backpack, which was in the car.”

Li Chu motioned to his man by the door, who turned and left the room.

“Is there a reason why you didn’t tell me about this?” Peter still had his eyes turned to Bridger.

He’s a little miffed.

“Nope. Just never thought about it.”

The guard returned a few minutes later, holding a backpack. He handed it to Li Chu, who impatiently dumped the contents on the table. A plastic bag containing a ball of tangled power cords. Power adaptors. USB sticks. Pads of paper. Loose change. A few open rolls of antacids—each half gone. An assortment of pens. Golf balls.

Frustrated, he held it out to Bridger.

“Where is it?”

Bridger looked at his wrists. Then at Peter. Then back at Li Chu. Then he saw the Devilbot pull away from the windows and out of his sight.

“Don’t we all want to see what this has been about? We have been chasing, dodging, and whatever else for days, and for what? You won. You got us. You got him. Way to go!” He flinched toward Peter. “If you want my help, cut us loose.”

“No. Tell me where it is and how to use it.” Li Chu snapped his fingers in the air. Bridger felt the cold metal of a gun on the back of his neck. He didn’t react at all. In fact, to Li Chu’s surprise, Bridger showed more annoyance than anything.

“Really?”

This was the critical moment. Bridger had to irritate the hell out of his captor one more time. If not, the chance of getting out was slim and none, and slim just left town.

Bridger continued.

“It goes like this. If you kill me, you still can’t open it, because I am the only one who can, and so on and so forth. Then you will realize I am right and threaten to shoot him,” Bridger nodded toward Peter, “and I say fine. You were going to kill corporate spy boy anyway, and if you do, I am definitely not going to help you open it. And, to be totally transparent, which is all the rage these days, he doesn’t mean anything to me. You will be doing me a favor.” Bridger gave no indication he was lying as he ended with a broad smile.

“Thanks. I love you, too.” Peter frowned.

“Then, as poor Peter here bleeds out on the floor, you will threaten to beat me up and torture me, which you know won’t work, at least not for many hours, or days. So why not cut us loose? We can all work together to look inside this pain-in-the-ass case.”

There was a moment of silence as Li Chu considered the logic of Bridger’s argument. He gestured to the guard, who cut the zip-ties from the arms and legs of both men.

Each man immediately rubbed their sore muscles and checked their wounds.