BLOOD DRAGON by Freddie Peters (books to get back into reading .TXT) 📕

Ferguson had seen how closely Nancy and Pole had worked together on the Phelps case. He was not an idiot and didn’t seem to care whether they were involved as long as they delivered the goods. Today, however, Ferguson was not prepared to turn a blind eye.

“I don’t know, Ferg …” Pole pushed his chair away from his desk, in a sharp move. His anger was not faked. “I’ll call her as soon as we finish this conversation.”

“Why don’t you call her now?”

Pole’s jaw clenched. Ferguson was right, if it was a simple professional call, why not now? “You have a point.” Pole bit his tongue before he could make a comment about time difference. “What part of China is she in?”

“Hong Kong.” Ferguson had dragged a chair right up to Pole’s desk. “She landed an hour ago.”

Pole took his mobile out of his trouser pocket and pushed speed dial number one.

Ferguson was following his every move. Pole could feel the intensity of his gaze. Nancy’s phone was still switched off. He left a short professional message.

She would know from his tone that her prediction had come true. Ferguson and the counter-terrorist squad were on her trail.

“I hear from Marsh you have a theory about the burner phone that registered both at Scotland Yard and near Ms Wu’s apartment.” Ferguson’s abrupt question were directed more at someoene he considered a suspect rather than a colleague. Pole settled into his chair and spun his mobile in his hands a few times before replying.

“That’s correct. I have a possible theory … I said so to Marsh yesterday evening.” His face had become expressionless. He didn’t have to share his findings with the Commander until they were more substantial. He had to give Harris a little more time to produce his decoy.

“Is that it? A hunch?”

“It’s a little more than a hunch, but I’d like to make sure I’m right, before I share with you.”

Ferguson sat back. He had not yet finished, but he knew he had not unhinged Pole as much as he had hoped. Pole waited. He hadn’t had time to think about the motives for launching this informal inquiry. After all, Ferguson had dismantled a new terror cell in London, eliminated its members after a brutal assault, despite the delay caused by MI6. Pole had known Ferguson a long time. He was a relentless, determined officer who deserved his successes.

“What’s your beef with Steve Harris?” The question came out of nowhere and surprised even Pole. It had been an obvious point he should have thought of right at the beginning of the inquiry.

Ferguson pulled back a little. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve gone along with this inquiry because I’d like some clarity too, but why move heaven and earth, when at the end of the day, no one was hurt and you eliminated the terrorist cell as you had set out to do?”

“It could have cost us a lot … the delay engineered by Harris to get his operatives out.”

“But it didn’t … don’t we all have better things to do than to hunt for some hypothetical mole?”

“The mole isn’t hypothetical, Pole. You and I both know that.”

“Okay then … this mole of yours, have they done any more damage recently?”

Ferguson’s eyes narrowed in anger. He sized up Pole for a moment, but judged it was not worth a fight … at least not yet. He took his time to rise, hands gripping the armrests of the chair he occupied. A slow motion that told Pole … you haven’t seen the last of me.

* * *

“Forty-eight hours. Shit …” Harris was on the phone to Jack.

“At least he hasn’t asked me to come back to Langley straight away.”

“Would you have done so?” Harris had a smile in his voice showing he knew the answer.

“What I need from you, pal, is all you have on Randy Zhang.” Jack still hadn’t unpacked the suitcase he had hurriedly left in his room at the Mandarin Oriental. He hadn’t had time to check the whereabouts of Nancy Wu either. He would catch up with her tomorrow morning and then do a bit of good old-fashioned trailing.

His focus was now on Zhang.

“He left Viro-Tech a few months ago with little ceremony. One day he was there … the following day he was gone.” Harris had turned serious. “This is not the UK so no employment law requiring consultation.”

“How about the Biotechnology Research Institute?”

“He is employed as a research assistant there too. It seemed that Viro-Tech liked the thought of him being able to access the research facilities as well as the lab capabilities. He hasn’t been seen there for a couple of months either.”

“Has anybody filed a missing person report?” Jack opened his laptop, firing it up. He wanted to check Laurie’s latest input too.

“Nothing. So, either he’s not missing and simply lazing around or managing to keep people concerned about him happy that he is still fine.”

“Randy is an American Chinese, he’s lived all his life in California. San Jose to be exact. He moved from Hong Kong with family because this is where his grandparents come from. He only moved back to Hong Kong three years ago.”

“But we can assume he is in touch with his folks in the US.”

“I’d say he’s lying low. Laurie was unable to find any evidence of a girlfriend, and Harvard don’t describe him as a loner.”

“How do you know that?”

“The way your agency would know about someone who had studied at Oxford or Cambridge.”

“Perhaps you should check the YMCA … A lot of students stay there when they visit Hong Kong. It’s a place where young people mix socially and he may have had friends staying there too.”

“Good point, will do.” Jack hung up and started scrolling down his emails.

Laurie had not been as productive as he might have hoped. Or, more likely, Hunter III had put an end to her freewheeling co-operation. He hesitated but he only had 48 hours. Jack dialled her number.