The point of the needle touched her skin. Her fingers loosened, and it dropped into the sink. Matt punched her again in the solar plexus and then issued another heavy blow to her stomach. She fell forward onto him. He reached around her and pulled the door shut behind her and slid the latch.
Matt used her arm to turn her around so her back was to him and used his weight to hold her in place. He brought the heel of his shoe down to into the back of her leg, bringing her to her knees with a cry of pain.
Picking up the syringe with his free hand, he brought it to her neck, holding the point next to her skin.
“Will this kill you?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Then I’m very sorry about this. You know that it’s part of the job.”
“Don’t.”
“It’s you or us. You know this. I have no other option.”
The woman was silent for a few seconds.
“Okay,” she said.
Matt was surprised to hear her say ‘okay’. It seemed unusually brave, given the situation.
“Please forgive me. This is war. We are soldiers. My government requires me to do this, just as yours does. Are you alone on the plane?”
She jerked suddenly, but Matt clamped down harder on the lock he had on her neck.
“Alright, I’m going to send you off now.”
He pierced the skin and pushed the plunger, emptying whatever it contained into her system. He held her for a few minutes, on her knees, as her body went limp. He took her pulse. It slowed and was soon faint. Matt’s mind shifted to the problem of cleanup.
Her body shuddered in his arms. She was gone.
Casey returned to her seat followed by two attendants carrying three meals that she’d negotiated, playing the annoying, fussy and controlling mother character. Matt appeared after the food had been served. Lu Lei was still asleep.
Casey whispered, “Honey, what happened back there? Are you alright? You have a weird look on your face.”
“Yep, I found Lu Lei’s scorpion in the bathroom.”
“Is he..?” Casey’s face finished the question.
“She’s gone. I lay her down in the back row under a blanket and buckled her in.”
“How did you do that without being seen?”
“Timing. Luck. It’s almost empty in back. I only had to move her a few feet, and the food trolley had everyone’s attention.”
Casey looked down at Lu Lei to make sure she was still asleep.
Matt continued, “I expect that they’ll work it out when they prepare the plane for landing. Or not. You never can tell how much these young ladies follow the safety regulations, especially on the Japanese airlines. They tend to let passengers be.”
“Wow. Well... bon appetit.”
Casey poked Lu Lei.
“Wake up, sweetie. You should eat now. I got you your favorite.”
Matt led the way out of JFK’s baggage claim to passenger pickup, where he saw a pair of CIA officers he knew standing with a woman.
“Thanks for coming you guys. Let’s go.”
“Love the beard. Nice trip?”
“One body on the plane and two in the Tokyo airport. And I think I have a cracked rib.”
“Those three over there,” the officer gestured with his head, “we think they might be here for you.”
Matt looked over at them. “I can guarantee that they are here for us. 911?”
One of the agents smirked and nodded as he made the call.
Lu Lei, always the curious one, asked, “What are you smiling at?”
“Those three guys are about to get taken down by New York’s finest. Just give it a few minutes.”
Casey put her backpack down and looked at Lu Lei. “Honey, it’s over. You’re safe now. We are home. Well, nearly home. We’ll stay in Manhattan for a couple of days for the debrief and hand over our files. After that, Langley for a week, to say hello to our friend Marcus. Then, La Jolla. We’ll decide what to do next, after a nice seaside vacation. Sound good?”
“Yes,” she said distractedly, watching the three Chinese men who were now looking at her menacingly from across the hall.
Matt turned to look outside. “Here we go. Watch this, Lu Lei.”
Two squad cars had pulled up outside and four uniformed policemen entered the glass doors. Matt waved at them and pointed at the thugs.
“It’s good to be home, isn’t it, Casey?”
Matt waited for an answer, but she just shook her head, smiling.
The cops disarmed and cuffed the three men, then bundled them into the squad cars and drove off.
“Let’s go,” said Matt, "I really want to get out of this beard.”
30
Epilogue
Six months later: La Jolla, California
Lu Lei pedaled her bike along the boulevard, her new puppy sitting in the basket, his nose in the air, smelling the sea. Her parents were working from home, here in La Jolla, and she’d started school. The kids in her class were welcoming, and she’d experienced only one problem with a bully, which had been short-lived, though her parents made her go in and see her new therapist about it.
The tai chi class that she had joined was weak, compared to what she was used to, but after her initial demonstration, the coach had promptly asked her to sign on as his assistant. He frequently stepped aside to let her teach the class while he watched from the office, as he took care of administrative tasks. Lu Lei noticed that the words coming out of her were not her own, but those of the Master. Often, while she taught, she imagined that she could feel his spirit guiding her movements and her words. She was happy to be able to meditate in class again and despite all the violence that she had already known, she was able to find moments of peace when her mind could go off alert, and she could trust that nothing bad was going to happen.
She’d already received three letters from Wei Bao, who was now seeing her old psychologist every week. He was still living in his father’s house, but his mother had moved back in after being released from the re-education camp. The Chief had been the only one keeping her there, so after his death, the housekeeper called her cousin who worked for the government. After that, it had all happened quickly.
The Chief’s murder was still unsolved, but Wei Bao and Lu Lei agreed that the rickshaw man had been watching over them… with a rifle. Lu Lei fantasized that some day she might run into the rickshaw man again, so she could thank him and maybe interrogate him a little.
Lu Lei patted her puppy on the head as she approached the park overlooking the ocean. Her group of new friends sat in the shade of a tree, surrounded by bikes and skateboards. She coasted to a halt on the grass next to them, and she and the new puppy were mobbed.
“Lu Lei, he is so cute. Is it a he?”
“Wow, look at his big paws. Oh my gosh, you are so lucky to have him.”
Surrounded by her new friends, time stood still as her mind flashed back to the morning when she had brought that silly Barbie Doll to school. The girls had all stood around and fawned over the doll until Wei Bao had stolen it, provoking the scuffle that humiliated the Chief, who reacted by murdering her parents, which led to her adoption...it was just like the Master’s parable of the lucky horse. His voice echoed in her mind:
A righteous young man lived near the border of the barbarian territory.
One day, without reason, his horse bolted and galloped off.
Everyone said, “That’s such bad luck,” but his father said, “Might actually be good luck.”
Several months later, the horse returned, bringing with it a group of fine, wild horses.
Everyone congratulated the young man on his good fortune, but his father warned, “Could be bad luck.”
When the son mounted one of the wild horses, he was thrown off, breaking his leg.
Everyone felt sorry for him, but his father said, “Maybe this was good luck.”
One year later, the barbarians invaded the territory. The men strung their bows and we
nt into battle.
Nine out of ten border residents were killed–but not the son, because his leg had never recovered properly. Both father and son survived.
Bad luck brings good luck, and good luck brings bad luck. This happens without end, and nobody can ever predict it.
“Lu Lei, are you okay?” one of her friends asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She looked up and smiled, picking up the puppy and holding him to her chest. She pushed her cheek down onto the soft fur of the puppy’s head before handing him to one of the boys so that she could lay her bike down.
“Last night I dreamed that I was my puppy. I had to go to puppy obedience school, but it was super strict, and I had to learn all this new stuff, which I don’t really remember. I liked it, though. It was a good dream.”
“You’re such a weirdo, Lu Lei,” one of the boys said, but he was smiling at her.
If you enjoyed this book, would you please be so kind as to leave a review on: Amazon and on your favorite book website: Goodreads.com or on Bookbub.com? I appreciate the support. Reviews buoy my spirits and stoke the fires of creativity.
If you haven't yet read The Wuhan Mission, it's #1 in series but can also be read after Surviving Spies. The story follows our protagonist, Lu Lei, when she joins the CIA and heads back to China.
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About the Author
Irving Waters was a Professor at the State University of New York, and is a graduate of the University of Southern California, and has a Doctorate in classical music. He worked as a journalist in Manhattan and has taught film making, and underwater camera work internationally. He is an accomplished cave diver and mariner.
This series is expected to consist of at least five novels.
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ALSO BY IRVING WATERS
The Wuhan Mission
The CIA has caught wind of a terrorist plot.
A female recruit (you may recognize her) is tasked with infiltrating a Wuhan laboratory.
Aided by a CIA spy embedded in the Chinese government staff (you have already met him too) the Wuhan Mission goes ahead just as the Chinese are putting the finishing touches on a new biological weapon.
The odds are against her as she sets up camp in Wuhan to try to prevent the Communist Party from bringing down the global economy.
From Langley to Wuhan, Beijing to New York, and finally in Milan, how will it end?
Surviving Spies (Irving Waters, Spy Fiction Series) Page 25
