Shadow Lies, page 6
Alexis chose her words carefully. “Did you have long to prepare for this performance?”
“No. It was—” He squinted, as if searching for the words.
“Last minute?” Alexis supplied.
“Yes. We were told just last week.”
She drew in a breath. Charley was going to get Kane there one way or another. Whether he agreed to her assignment or not.
Was he a fall guy? If he refused to take out Wei, would she just have someone else do it and let Kane take the blame since he was already burned? Her brain churned out scenarios, each worst than the last.
She found Kane amid the others. He moved beautifully. As if he’d been doing this his whole life. “Does everyone go to perform? Those not hurt, I mean?”
“No. Just the best.”
“Will Kane go?” She turned to look at him. “My friend. Kane Lee.”
The monk nodded. “The shifu favor Brother Lee. He has learned fast. He is good.”
She swallowed hard.
What should she do? Tell Kane not to go? Tell him he had better take the job and not risk the wrath of Charley and possible retaliation from her mysterious organization?
Her heart thundered. Her stomach twisted. The peace and serenity shattered, she needed to move. To do something.
But what?
It hit her. She could do what she did best. What she was so good at that it had cost her job. Research. Digging. Putting together seemingly disparate reports. Evidence. Until a clear picture emerged.
She didn’t have the resources of the CIA but she still had skills. Before leaving college, she’d rubbed elbows with some of the best hackers on the dark web.
And thanks to Charley’s payment, she had money to buy equipment. Good equipment. Everything she’d need to dig deep. Into Wei. Into this mining company and the backers of the camps. Maybe even into Charley.
As soon as she was armed with the information she hoped to find, she needed to tell Kane what was happening. What she’d just put together as far as Charley and Beijing.
And she had just days to do it. The deadline was the start of the Olympics.
Spinning on her heel, she said, “I’ll leave you now to go about your day.”
He looked surprised at her abrupt decision. After recovering he asked, “Will you be back again?”
“Yes, I will.”
As soon as possible.
But before all that, before she put her plan in motion, she took out the cell again while in the back of the town car. She punched in a text to Charley.
“Not giving up. I’m staying. Will keep trying.”
The reply came immediately. “Good.”
Chapter Ten
Alexis was back again. It had been three days since she’d been there last. He’d assumed she’d flown home.
The black town car creeping its way toward the monastery told him that perhaps she hadn’t.
Kane hated that his pulse had started to race at the sight.
Of course, maybe it wasn’t Alexis.
Could it be the mysterious Charley had come herself to try to lure him to do her bidding?
He’d know soon. But not soon enough. Not until after the silent noon meal was served, eaten and cleaned up. He didn’t think he could sit there silently wondering if she was there or if it were Charley.
Either way, he had to know now.
He ran with the wheelbarrow of that day’s firewood toward the building. He parked it by the kitchen door, then ducked away before getting pulled inside for the serving of the impending meal, taking off instead toward the abbot’s office.
Luckily for him, the abbot was gone for the day, as he so often was. Off conducting business somewhere. Alexis’s frequent visits—and the two of them taking over the abbot’s office for his entire break—might have been a problem otherwise.
He skidded to a stop at the door of the office just as his teacher came into view with Alexis at his elbow.
The man was a Zen master and managed to not react at the sight of Kane looking, he was sure, as if he’d just sprinted to see Alexis. Which he had.
“Brother.”
“Shifu.” Kane returned his teacher’s bow.
“You have a visitor.” At the same time he should be helping with the noon meal. Those words remained unspoken but Kane heard them clearly in his head and in the other man’s tone.
“Yes. Thank you.” He turned his attention to Alexis—and damn, she looked great again today. How many clothes had Charley bought for her? “Can you stay until my break?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll bring you food.”
She held up one hand. “Thank you, but no. I ate before I came.”
His lips twitched, knowing it was more likely that the monks’ bland, sparse diet didn’t make Alexis happy.
He recalled her learning to bake just so she could make cookies when she got home from school and both parents were still working. He’d also seen her put away enough beef as any linebacker at one family barbecue he’d been at.
He thought he hadn’t paid much attention to her back then. Brittany always dominated any room she was in. But Alexis was always there when he visited, trailing along behind them.
The more he saw Alexis now, the more he remembered about her from the past. She’d always been there in the shadow of her older sister.
It must have been hard living as Brittany’s little sister. But Alexis seemed to do pretty well for herself in spite of that.
Well enough that she’d gotten recruited by the frigging CIA. Good enough at her job there to get herself fired when she’d discovered their error.
And now this—this thing with Charley.
He wanted to ask why she was back.
Although maybe he didn’t care. He’d say no again to the offer from Charley—if you could call a job to assassinate someone an offer—and then they could catch up some more.
He liked that idea. But first, he had duties. “I’ll see you here as soon as I’m done.”
She nodded. “I’ll be waiting.”
He turned to the door, his teacher at his side. The monk shot him a sideways glance.
“It’s not what it looks like, shifu,” Kane said with as much respect as he could manage.
Shifu Yon Yun shot him a sideways glance as they walked. “Perhaps it’s more than it appears.”
Considering those words carefully, Kane couldn’t deny that was the truth.
She was still there, as promised, when he rushed to the office after washing and putting away his bowl.
Alexis turned and smiled at his arrival. He didn’t return her smile. During the silent meal, he’d had plenty of time to think. And what he thought most about was that Charley had a hell of a lot of nerve. First to ask him to become a civilian assassin. Second, to use Alexis to get to him.
Then there were his flip-flopping feelings about Alexis. His initial joy at seeing her had been replaced by suspicion. Why was she so relentlessly pursuing him for Charley’s cause? That consideration had occupied the majority of his lunch time.
He guessed the monks knew what they were doing declaring that all meals be silent. A man needed time to get his thoughts in order. To consider his options. And his enemies.
The Shaolin were warrior monks. Their skills hadn’t changed but perhaps their purpose had. It wasn’t always peace and prayer here. Historically, a small group of warrior monks provided protection for the leader of the country against a warlord. There were also tales of the monks using their skills to rob from the rich and give to the poor during times of famine.
But besides their superior fighting skills, they also had outstanding focus when it came to matters of the mind.
He’d need everything he’d learned now as he faced off with Alexis and considered if she was friend or foe. He’d already placed Charley in the latter category.
“Why are you back?” he asked, his tone sharp.
She drew back at the change in his demeanor from before lunch, but he didn’t scare her off. No. She was too stubborn to give up easily, even in the face of his playing scary SEAL.
“I’ve done a little digging. And I’ve learned some things.”
He folded his arms across his chest. “Good for you. But there’s nothing you can say that will make me change my mind and take on Charley’s dirty little task.”
She set the cell on the table between them.
He felt the need to comment on that. He couldn’t help himself.
“Making sure Charley can hear us?” he asked.
Alexis shook her head. She glanced around the room, her gaze landing on the computer, the monastery’s concession to surviving in the digital age. It was on. The screensaver a picture of the temple.
She moved to the power strip and placed a finger above the off button. “May I?”
Brows raised, he wondered what this was about but nodded. “Go for it.”
She switched off the power to the computer and straightened, connecting with his gaze. “Charley can’t hear us. The cell phone is powered down and I took out the SIM card. And now the computer is off.”
He frowned. “Why?”
“Do you want her listening to us?”
“Not really. No.”
She shrugged. “Neither do I. Especially not about this.”
“And you think she bugged the abbot’s computer?”
“I wouldn’t put anything past her.”
He wondered what was going on. Was there division in the ranks? Had Alexis broken away from her leader? Why?
What had she discovered to cause this complete turn-around?
Leaning against the desk, he said, “Go on. I’m listening.”
“You mentioned you’ll never say yes to Charley’s assignment. That’s one reason I’m here. I’m afraid it doesn’t matter whether you say yes or no.”
She acted as if he had no choice in the matter. But he damn well had a choice and he’d made it.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
She pressed her lips together and considered him. “Don’t you think it’s funny that the Shaolin were such a last-minute addition to the Olympic celebration?”
His eyes narrowed. “Perhaps someone cancelled.”
“They didn’t. I checked. The monks were added to the program right after Charley found out you were here. Putting you there, performing at Xi Jinping’s reception for world leaders where Wei will be in attendance… Don’t you think it’s too perfect to be a coincidence?”
He shook his head. “First of all, to think I could successfully complete her assignment with the level of security that will be in place with all those VIPs in one room is insane, even for Charley.”
“Maybe she thought the monks wouldn’t be too heavily scrutinized by security.”
“Doubtful. I think everyone will be heavily scrutinized. Second, there was no guarantee I’d even be traveling with the performers. I’m new—”
“Yes, but you are performing, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but—”
“A large donation was made to the temple right about the same time. It came from one Phoenix Rising Foundation.” She lifted the cell in her hand. “Remember that video logo I showed you on the phone Charley gave me? With the phoenix rising from the fire. Another coincidence?”
He wanted to say yes, it was just a coincidence, but couldn’t.
He’d wondered at his being chosen for the performance. He’d written it off to the fact he’d chosen the staff as his area of expertise and the competition for that weapon was less than some of the others. One of the brothers who was expert in staff work happened to be injured, but there were others with more years of practice with the weapon to fill the spot rather than Kane.
Dammit, Alexis had him questioning everything. Even his own shifu and the abbot. Had they been bought? Bribed to put him on the performance team?
He’d spent a year of green tea and meditation to attain a modicum of peace to settle his mind and his soul and Alexis and Charley had destroyed it in less than a week.
“There’s more,” she said.
“More? Great.” He rolled his eyes and decided he’d better sit for the rest. Bypassing the abbot’s chair out of respect, he sat on the hard wooden bench. “Go on.”
“I researched the target. Wei.”
“And?” he prompted.
She cringed. “I can’t be sure but things don’t add up for me.”
“What did you find?”
“There was a missing person’s report filed for his daughter Peng about a year ago. Then suddenly, he withdraws the report and says it was all a mistake. She wasn’t missing at all. That was just about the time he began to publicly support the camps.”
He frowned. “How did you find all this?”
She shrugged. “I have some resources. And computers are kind of a hobby of mine.”
He couldn’t help but wonder who or what her resources were. Without the CIA at her disposal, she’d still managed to get a hell of a lot of information.
He forced his mind off Alexis and her wily ways of obtaining intel on the Chinese mining executive and focused on what she was saying.
“You think the Chinese government took his daughter and forced him to be the public face of the Uyghur camps?”
She nodded. “If not the government then maybe the mining corporation. Or a combination of the two, working together.”
“So Charley would have me assassinate the wrong man. The puppet rather than the puppet master.”
“That’s the thing though. I’m not sure she knows what I know.”
His brows rose. “She seems to know plenty about everything to me.”
She wobbled her head. “The missing person’s report was very well buried.”
“Then how did you find it?”
She pressed her lips together.
“Don’t say your sources,” he warned.
“I’m friends with a girl from college. We met in one of my cybersecurity classes. She has a hacker contact who is—Chinese.”
His brows shot up. “Cybersecurity class, huh? That’s ironic.”
“Her hacker friend isn’t one of the bad ones. I promise. He only targets people who deserve it,” she defended.
Kane scowled. “I’m not sure the people he hacks would agree with you.”
She lifted a shoulder. “That’s not the point.”
“What is the point?” he asked.
“If Charley doesn’t know, maybe we should tell her. If she doesn’t have you do it, she’ll just get somebody else.”
“Probably.” He nodded.
“And that’s the other thing I’m worried about. What if Charley making sure you’re there in Beijing at the same time as Wei is a set up? What if, because you said no to the job, she has someone else do it and frames you for it?”
He ran a hand over his face. Not worrying or caring where he was at the moment, he let out a string of cusses. “This is too much like the Warner Group.”
“I know. That’s what I’m thinking.”
“Which would make me the perfect patsy to hang for the assassination. The dishonorably discharged SEAL sniper with a record of going rogue.”
He shook his head and let out another choice word that seemed to echo off the hallowed walls of the abbot’s office.
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
“So we tell her.” He spun from the far wall where he’d paced in his agitation. Facing Alexis again, he said, “We shine a light on this whole thing. Let Charley know not only what we know but that we’re on to her. She can’t possibly go through with it after that. She won’t know if I’ve written a letter to the New York Times. Or if you’ve spilled it all to your hacker friends who will plaster the internet with it if anything happens to us.”
Alexis stood there looking torn. Finally, she reached for the cell phone on the table. “You sure about this?”
He snorted. “You have a better idea? You want to bring it to your old CIA buddies? Because they were so responsive the last time you brought information to them.”
“I see you really embrace the fact you’re allowed to be sarcastic in the monastery.” Scowling, she pulled the chip out of her pocket and started to reassemble the cell. “And no. I don’t have a better idea. I just—Charley scares me a little bit.”
Kane let out a snort. “Yeah. I can see why. Want me to talk to her?”
Her eyes lit. “Would you?”
“It would be my pleasure.” He’d love to tell her she was wrong. He only hoped Alexis was right.
Even if the information wasn’t accurate, he didn’t feel at all bad looking into it. He was done blindly following orders. He had questions and he was going to ask them.
“Call her.” They were on the clock here.
For the first time since coming here, he felt the press of not having enough time. The stress of having too much to do and not enough time to do it.
He’d have to remember to thank Alexis and Charley for that.
There was that sarcasm again. Maybe Alexis was right. He embraced it a little too much.
Chapter Eleven
“What do you mean when you say I’ve got the wrong guy?” Charley repeated Kane’s words.
Alexis could hear Charley’s displeasure through the speaker phone.
“Well, I assumed you wanted me to take out the person in charge, so unless you wanted me to take out the wrong target, Wei’s not the one. He’s not pulling the strings,” Kane said.
“Please explain what you’re talking about.” Was that frustration, in the always cool and calculating Charley’s tone?
Fascinating.
Alexis glanced at Kane. He’d heard that exasperation in Charley’s voice too. She saw the satisfaction on his face.
“Wei is just the puppet. We don’t think he’s doing it willingly. There’s someone else behind him. Either the government or the mining company or both. We believe it’s whoever it was that threatened his daughter Peng. Her safety is what forced him to become the poster child for the camps. So you can take him out, but I’m sure they’ll just install someone else in his position before his body is even cremated.”
Cringing, Alexis glanced at the open doorway. Hits. Bodies. This discussion was appropriate for the CIA or the military, but it was no kind of talk to be having in a Buddhist monastery with the door open.
