Dragon: Out of the Box (The Girl in the Box Book 37)

by Robert J. Crane

  “But?” I asked, fishing.

  When Ngo continued, her voice bore the hallmark signs of discomfort. “She's on the outs with the policymaking establishment. At least in regards to China. Thank you, Mark. That'll be all for now.” Someone shuffled around in the background and I heard a door shut before she spoke again. “Which is to say...”

  “She didn't like the Chinese government,” I said.

  “Correct,” Ngo said. “Don't get me wrong, she loved the country, the culture, the people. Everything except the government – the PRC, the Communist Party. The majority of our China Natsec policy apparatus is called, colloquially–”

  “'Panda huggers', right?” I asked.

  Ngo's voice registered surprise, but it vanished quickly. “Yes. Well, Bridget was no panda hugger. Quite the opposite, in fact. Her assessments lined up with the more hawkish folks at places like the Pentagon, who view the People's Republic as a bona fide threat. You're asking why I could see her become a potential target?” Ngo hesitated. “There was no more vocal critic in the State Department's China section than her. She didn't trust their government, didn't think they operated anywhere close to aboveboard, and she didn't hesitate to spread that opinion...oh, everywhere, anytime she could. Which is why I'm able to parrot it to you now with complete ease.”

  “Do you think China would do that, though?” I asked.

  Here, Ngo started to sound wary. “I wouldn't accuse them of it, no. Not only because it's a diplomatic atom bomb, but because I'm assuming you have zero evidence to link it to anyone. Correct?”

  “Results from dissecting the device aren't in yet, but even if it said 'Made in China' we'd probably struggle to connect it to the government.”

  Ngo laughed lightly. “You're right about that. And I can predict their response – they'd accuse us of anti-Chinese bigotry.”

  “They've learned to play our favorite games,” I said. “I could almost tear up with pride.”

  Ngo laughed again. “There's a very smart and capable cabal running the show over there, and they understand the West very well. Over here, if asked, most people know that the People's Republic is not a democracy. Very few realize exactly how much of an oligarchy it is, though. Especially after their current premier solidified power over the last few years. He's got an iron grip on it, and probably won't ever be 'voted' out. You add that to the level of planning they already engage in...they know what they're doing. Especially in regards to how far they can push us. As I'm sure he told you, the president doesn't need trouble from them. Especially not this year.”

  “You ever get the feeling that politics is getting in the way of doing what's right?” I asked, then realized I'd just blurted it out without thinking. Brain, filter, mouth? Nahhhh. I went straight to Brain, mouth, whoops!

  Ngo laughed again, though. “This is Washington, Ms. Nealon. Better get used to it. Did you need anything else?”

  “Unless you have a report from your underlings on those passports we sent over, I think that covers it,” I said. “Thanks for the candor.”

  “I'll have my people get in touch if there's anything else on those passports,” Ngo said. “But we got the denial from China. I wouldn't count on anything else.”

  My turn to chuckle. “They didn't even bother coming up with a reasonably legit-sounding excuse?”

  “Why would they need to?” Ngo asked. “Who's going to call them on it? Especially for a small issue like this.” When she spoke again, I could almost hear the tight smile through the connection. “Good luck on this. I don't envy you, but I'm sure you'll do your best. Reach out if you think anyone else at State can be of help.”

  “Thanks,” I said, and listened to the click as she ended the call. Pretty words were nice, but a break in the case would have been a hell of a lot better.

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  Chapman

  WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR GIRL UP TO? Chapman typed furiously into the Escapade app. He didn't usually go all caps, but the occasion certainly warranted it, and he went with it.

  Chalke came in with the first response. Of course. Bitch had nothing going on but this stupid chat screen and managing her pathetic, dying federal bureaucracy. Which was messing up his life.

  CHALKE: Was this supposed to be a text to one of your boyz?

  FLANAGAN: I was thinking the same thing lol

  Figured Flanagan's dumb ass would weigh in here. Could barely be bothered to weigh in most of the time, but here he was with the funny when Chapman's multi-billion-dollar China deal was going down in flames thanks to Sienna Nealon.

  CHAPMAN: No, it was not a wrong text. What the hell is Sienna Nealon doing messing up our relations with China?

  Long pause. Good. Let these morons reflect on that bombshell. Bad relations with China had to resonate in Washington if the reverberations were hitting him in California.

  BILSON: I'm sorry, I guess I'm late to the party on this one. What do you mean?

  Chapman just fumed. Late to the party, indeed.

  CHAPMAN: My deal with Wu Huang just blew up in regulatory approval over in Beijing because they're hearing that Sienna Nealon is trying to pin her current case on China. That she's had meetings with the president. That she has his ear and she's spewing this noxious, anti-Chinese venom in every direction. Concerned about a chilling of relations, they put my deal on hold.

  JOHANNSEN: Ouch.

  Chapman started to type, That's not for publication, Johannsen. Or you, Kory. But he stopped himself.

  What was the downside if word got out Sienna Nealon was sinking relations with China? None to him; Kory and Johannsen knew well to attribute anything he said to “a Silicon Valley source,” which would keep him in a deniable position.

  No, this was all upside. Let the word get out; no one wanted a war with China, trade or otherwise. America did too much business with them, all across the board. Everyone would feel that pain, at nearly every level of American society. People who bought, well, anything, would see prices go up, probably considerably. People like him who did business in China would be hurt, probably worse, but they could better afford the hit.

  The stock price, though...it would crater.

  BILSON: I've been watching Nealon closely this entire case. Whatever opinions she may have of China, she's not talking to the press, they're not leaking out in public, and she's had one meeting with the president, and a brief one, at that. So there's not much room for her to spray “venom,” as you put it.

  CHAPMAN: Then why is Beijing telling me my deal is off?

  God, he was just fuming. This idiot girl had been toxic to them from the word go. Chalke had called it, and nobody had listened, not even him. He felt a twinge of annoyance; her 5,000-year lifespan was interesting and all, and had its possible uses, but for now all he could think was how long she'd be a pain in his ass.

  CHAPMAN: Chalke was right. We never should have tried to bring her under our control when things went sour after Revelen. She should have died somewhere off the public stage: alcohol poisoning, a bullet to the back of the head, anything, really, to get her out of the damned way. We got cute, and she's done nothing but bite us in the ass ever since.

  Yeah, that was pretty much how he felt in the moment. Had she ever produced a net good for them? He couldn't think of one. Even the blowup in San Francisco with that hard-skinned meta could have been resolved with much less trouble if she hadn't shown up. The damned thing would have just taken what it wanted – which it did, anyway, in spite of her – and moved on to do whatever scheme it had in mind. Something about an EMP that wasn't even real, right? It had all faded into the background of his mind once it was resolved, because he didn't sweat about the little things.

  Instead, she'd blown that up into a huge deal, made a mess of herself on social media to the point where even he was being asked for comment. Coupled with involving herself in the governor of Louisiana's downfall and suicide, and he just couldn't see any advantage to having her “on board.” Whatever the hell that meant. I
f she was sabotaging relations with China to the point where he lost his deal, it seemed like it meant she was actively sinking their ship.

  BILSON: Actually, I've found her to be bright, engaged, and willing to own up to her mistakes. She has copped to bad behavior with Chalke, made no bones about it, and seems open to learning and changing. In my conversations with the president, I don't believe she's had any influence at all. Gondry is very aware of the minefield that he's walking through during this re-election campaign, and he's not looking to rock the boat with you, Jaime. If this China thing is real, it's happening almost entirely on their side as an overreaction to Nealon's investigation. Which is producing some adverse evidence against them, I have to admit.

  Of course he added to his bullshit. Covering his ass, Chapman thought in disgust.

  BILSON: (Rather unfortunately and against my interest. I believe good diplomatic and trade relations with China to be absolutely key to moderating their regime's excesses, so I have no more interest than you in seeing things tank with them.)

  FLANAGAN: Gotta be honest, I'm not as deep on this China business as the rest of you, but I'm perfectly capable of reading a paper and I have to ask: We've been dealing with them for, what? Fifty years? How much “moderation” have you seen in that time? I mean, I'm all about eschewing war in favor of diplomacy, but they don't seem to be getting better. In fact, in spite of favorable treatment from almost every corner of American/Western cultural powers, it looks to me like their human rights abuses are worse than ever.

  Chapman saw red. His fingers moved automatically.

  CHAPMAN: How are you going to influence that to change without any relations with them, Tyrus? I mean, really. You want to try and box them in? Cut off all trade? Impose sanctions? That'll go great, I'm sure.

  FLANAGAN: I think a Chinese version of the Magnitsky Act might be just the medicine to bring about some change over there. They've got an oligarchy. Let's hit those guys (because they're pretty much all guys, as I understand it).

  You know nothing, Chapman seethed. But he had regained enough control of himself not to type that.

  CHALKE: Look, I'm not sure what the problem with Nealon is this time, and you know I have zero issue with calling out her excesses. But like Bilson, I'm not seeing it. Not saying it's not there, that she's not making a shitstorm (she's really good at those), but I'm just not seeing it. Yet.

  CHAPMAN: It's there. Trust me. If I'm losing a multi-billion-dollar deal with China, it's not for no reason. She's doing something.

  BILSON: We're watching her.

  WATCH HER CLOSER! Chapman wanted to scream. But then, he had the full ability to watch her himself – that was the idea, anyway. He tapped the button on his desk for his assistants. “Send Devin Fuller up here ASAP. Thanks.”

  Instead of venting any of that, instead, he moderated himself.

  CHAPMAN: I hope so. This is having serious consequences on our relations, business and diplomatic. I know none of us want that.

  Though some of them clearly had less skin in the game than others. Like him.

  CHAPMAN: But this is another critical situation in which we're reliant on someone who has proven herself less than reliable. I don't like it. I haven't liked it since we embarked on this project post-Revelen. I had hopes it could work out, but it's not doing so thus far. We need more assets on our balance sheet if we're going to be effective in shaping policy and changing things to our liking, the way the world *should* change. If she continues to be a liability, we need to start discussing how to exit her off the books.

  There. That was a modest proposal, not too suggestive, but enough so that everyone would get the implication.

  CHALKE: Trust me. If she needs to be dispensed with, I'll be the first to agree to it. We're not quite there yet, I don't think. Whatever she's doing is probably just spooking Beijing. Probably because they're behind the shit she's investigating.

  CHAPMAN: WHO CARES? This is so stupid! So they tried to kidnap some college professor in bumfuck Virginia? She's a nobody in the scheme of things! She's an ink stain on the path of progress.

  Privately, he would have handed her over to the damned Chinese himself if it meant salvaging this deal. This was going to change the course of the world. What the hell was she going to do that was on that level? Nothing, that was what. He was busy orchestrating a deal to bring information and news to all of China and she was...well, who cared? She'd teach some people, maybe, and that was it. In the great book of the universe, she'd end up a zero, Jaime Chapman reflected.

  CHALKE: I agree she's a no one, but the Bureau has to at least look like we care, even when presented with cases that we know we'll never get to the bottom of. It's our job. But it'll be fine, Bilson and I are managing the political ramifications of this. Stay tuned. Even if China was involved, no one is going to hold them to account.

  BILSON: Because how can we, really? No one wants war. No one wants sanctions. It'll all work out. You'll see. China's just hitting you because they know you have influence. We'll smooth it out. Don't worry.

  Chapman bit his lip. It would be hard to not worry, with billions on the line. In fact, he'd have liked to see Chalke or Bilson take that cool attitude if they were watching that money burn in front of their eyes. He doubted they'd be quite as chill if that was the case.

  But, it was a benefit of being master of his own destiny that he didn't just have to wait and let things play out. No, indeed, Jaime Chapman was not a “sit on the sidelines” type. If Sienna Nealon was going to push her way into messing up his deal, he'd have to insert himself in the process and push right back. And for one of the richest and most powerful men in the world, which he totally was, that would be an easy thing to do.

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  Sienna

  “So that's four confirmed,” I said as Holloway finished hanging up the phone. “Five if you want to count that weak one that hung up on you.”

  The office was quiet as always, the sound of Holloway's pen scratching along on his list the only sound other than his breathing, which was steady and rhythmic. Slightly elevated, because we were making some progress after hours of pounding the phones and getting little for our trouble.

  Still, four kidnappings confirmed out of a list of fifty names wasn't nothing. And we were down to the last five or so each.

  “I want more,” Holloway said, eyes fixed on the list. “Every one of these doesn't feel concrete enough.” He looked up at me. “I mean, just what we've discovered about the ones we've confirmed – easy prey, all in the shadows,” he said, sitting back in his chair. “Except your patient zero.” He tapped the list with his finger. “College professor. Why her?”

  I did a lean back of my own. “Why any of them? I mean, that's where I break down on this. Why is China – if it is the PRC government – reaching out and conducting a stupid, high-risk kidnapping op in America? And this close to DC, no less?”

  Holloway shook his head. “They got a billion people over there. Why do they need fifty more from us?”

  That made me wrinkle my nose. “Good question. Their motives aren't usually that murky, are they? I mean, it's not like they move in indecipherable ways.”

  He nodded along. “Right. They want to assert themselves in the South China Sea, they built out atolls to function as strike bases to cover the area.”

  “They use everything they have at their disposal to block weapons sales to Taiwan,” I said, “because it's a strategic enemy just across the Formosa Strait. Because they think it should be part of them, a rebel province they can't get their hands on.”

  “Tibet pisses them off, they send in troops to crush them,” Holloway said. “Xinjiang Muslims make them mad? Stick 'em in concentration camps and sell their damned organs. Dissident pisses you off? Jail them and order their execution with a bullet to the back of the head. Then bill their family for the cost of the bullet. They've even grabbed people off the street in Hong Kong, and that was before they tried to make it formal with that extradition bi
ll.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, it's pretty straightforward stuff. Brutal, in some cases...but straightforward.”

  “This was a little more sly,” I said, staring at the list. “It was calculated, even. Grabbing these people.” I held the list in front of me. “Who were these people to China? Jang-Peters's parents were dissidents. They were at Tiananmen Square and came over afterward to avoid the reprisals. Which were significant, I believe.”

  “You think all the rest of them were dissidents, too?”

  “I don't know,” I said. “This whole thing is a black box to me. Totally opaque. Is it revenge? If they are dissidents or dissident-linked, it starts to make sense. Motive-wise, I mean.” I shook my head. “But I can't help but feel there's something else at play here. They've always cracked down on their own citizenry, sure. But look at Hong Kong; they've flinched from doing the big, nasty things, the violent things that would bring widespread condemnation, outside their own borders. They have a public image to maintain. It's not that they care nothing for world opinion. And masterminding an overseas kidnapping scheme?” I let out a low whistle. “That's not something that's liable to raise their Dun and Bradstreet in the international community, if you know what I mean.”

  “Right, right,” Holloway said, face scrunched in thought. “Which is why I'm struggling with this whole thing. Could it be a Chinese businessman masterminding it, maybe? Instead of the government.”

  “Maybe,” I said. “Less likely given the scale of the op, but not impossible. The thing that makes me doubt it? There was an aide to the Chinese ambassador that came to the scene with Bilson.”

  “Which scene? The one we were just at?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Came over and talked to me while you were filling out the report. Said he was taking a look on behalf of the owner of the building, a Chinese citizen.”