Dragon Head

by James Houston Turner

  “Zài zhèlĭ!” the old man with wispy white hair shouted to Jingfei and Kai, who were running toward him. Police officers had cut the chain on the gate with bolt cutters and the kids had sprinted past them. Farther behind were Wilcox and Alice, with other officers following, along with an ambulance and three police cars.

  While Jingfei and Kai hugged Su Yin, the old man extended another board down into the water for Talanov, who thrashed to the surface and grabbed on until police officers arrived to pull him up out of the water and lay him gently on the concrete.

  Talanov kept looking out into the brown water of the harbor, searching for Sofia. But there was no sign of her anywhere. No body. No one swimming. Nothing.

  Su Yin broke away and ran over to Talanov. “13:5,” she sobbed, hugging him tightly.

  Talanov winced at Su Yin hugging his cracked ribs but he held her close. “13:5,” he whispered hoarsely just as a medical team arrived.

  When he was being lifted onto a gurney, Talanov looked out into the water a final time.

  Sofia was nowhere to be seen.

  CHAPTER 85

  The next few days flew by in a blur. Talanov was admitted and released from a Hong Kong hospital with three cracked ribs, a broken nose, and some lacerations and abrasions. He was told he would heal just fine. Su Yin was also admitted and released. She had lost several pounds but was told she would recover quickly. Gustaves phoned Wilcox to say Charlie had dissected AK’s virus and been working with the appropriate agencies to make sure nothing like this would ever happen again, especially since the Chinese would no doubt pressure AK to reveal his hacking secrets.

  Gustaves then broke the tragic news about deaths of Zak and Emily. She relayed how she had tried to get through to Shaw’s men and countermand the termination orders, but the phones kept ringing until it was too late. A clean-up crew was sent to the site, but when they arrived, they found no bodies, and what had once been an open grave had been filled in. Gustaves ordered the grave reopened, but when it was, it was found to be empty. The explanation given was that wires had gotten crossed and another clean-up crew had arrived first and removed the bodies. Her suspicions: the anonymous powers of the Deep State did not want their agents prosecuted and had stepped in to remove the evidence.

  Wilcox asked Gustaves whether or not charges would be filed against Shaw’s men. Gustaves said she was looking into that, which Wilcox knew was code for, “I doubt it.” He then asked about Ginie, and Gustaves said she was a remarkable woman who was understandably grieved over the deaths of Zak and Emily, but had the discipline and clarity to describe in detail what had happened.

  That night in their hotel room, Wilcox gathered everyone together and made the announcement. As expected, the kids reacted differently. Jingfei stormed out of the room, Su Yin cried, and Kai didn’t make a sound, but simply fell onto the couch and curled up to stare bitterly at the floor.

  The next day, Wilcox concluded his business with Alice, who escorted them to the airport and saw them safely off as promised. When the kids all hugged her, Alice was touched. She was not affectionate, as Americans so often were, but found the warmth of these children especially beneficial at this particular time. It had been a time of great strain and uncertainty between China and the United States, and she hoped this burst of affection was an indicator of what was ahead.

  As for Sofia, police divers searched the waters around the construction site for three days but came up empty. The currents of Victoria Harbor had obviously carried her body away.

  As for the money, the escrow account was inexplicably empty. Where the funds had gone, no one knew. That’s because Charlie’s virus, which she had emailed to AK, had obliterated the money trail. Apparently, her virus struck after the account had been emptied but before the destination account could be identified, so it would take years before the maze of offshore accounts could be untangled and finally searched.

  After they arrived home, the next week also flew by in a blur. There were debriefings, medical exams, meetings and more meetings, and more meetings on top of those. On Friday, Wilcox arrived at the Rayburn Office Building, where Gustaves had her office. Wilcox saw Talanov, Ginie, and the kids waiting for him at the top of the steps, near the elevated entrance, and after climbing out of the taxi with his phone to his ear, he paused on the sidewalk and waved that he would join them momentarily, then turned away to finish his call.

  “Where are you now?” Wilcox asked.

  “Leaving airport,” Larisa replied, walking with her roller suitcase toward a line of taxi cabs. Her long blonde hair had been pulled back in a ponytail and she was wearing a short summer dress, denim vest, and cowboy boots.

  “We’re going into our meeting with Congresswoman Gustaves,” Wilcox said, “so wait across the street on the Capitol grounds. There are some benches beneath the trees. I’ll come and find you.”

  “Does Alex know I am coming?”

  Wilcox did not reply.

  “He does not know I am here, does he?” asked Larisa.

  Wilcox did not reply.

  “You invite me to come from Australia, and you buy me a ticket – which is very nice of you – but you do not tell him that I am coming? This puts me in a very difficult position.”

  “I know him. He wants to see you.”

  “How do you know that? He sent me away, to Australia, to other side of planet. I know he thinks he did it for my protection, but he never returns my calls, or my emails, or my texts. Is that the behavior of someone who wants to see me?”

  “Don’t worry, I know him. He will.”

  “You lied to me, Bill. I should get back on airplane and go home.”

  “Please be there, okay? Sorry, I’ve got to go.” And without waiting for Larisa to reply, he ended the call.

  Inside Gustaves’ outer office, Becka was working at her desk when Gustaves opened her door and said, “Amber, will you—”

  Gustaves stopped mid sentence and put a hand to her mouth.

  Becka smiled and waved it away.

  Gustaves came over and gave Becka a hug. “I am so sorry,” she said.

  “It’s fine, ma’am,” Becka replied. “Amber was a huge part of your life.”

  “You’re very kind.”

  “If you’d like, one night I’ll stick around and you can tell me all about her.”

  “I’d like that,” Gustaves replied, noticing the small tattoo of a dot above a comma on the inside of Becka’s wrist. “Is that a semicolon or a winking symbol?” she asked.

  “Both,” Becka replied. “I’m a grammar nerd who winks a lot.”

  Gustaves laughed just as the door opened and Wilcox stepped through. He was dressed in a suit and Talanov was right behind him, dressed in slacks and a sports jacket, followed by Ginie and the three kids. Ginie was wearing a blue slack suit, while Jingfei was wearing a dress, as was Su Yin. Kai, as usual, was in baggy jeans.

  With a sad smile, Gustaves gestured them into her office. “Hold my calls,” she told Becka.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Becka replied.

  After shutting her office door, Gustaves walked over to Talanov and took him by the hands. “I am so sorry about Zak,” she said with genuine empathy. “I didn’t know him, but wish that I had. There are very few people in this world with the integrity of you and Bill, and from everything Bill has told me, Zak was one of them.”

  Talanov nodded but did not reply.

  “I understand he was a true man of God,” Gustaves said.“He was, ma’am,” said Ginie, “and he didn’t just preach the gospel, he lived it. Forgive my interruption, but Zak gave his life for me. He embodied 13:5.”

  “13:5?”

  “From the Bible, ma’am, Hebrews 13:5. ‘I will never desert you.’ It’s how Zak lived.”

  Gustaves nodded sadly and looked back at Talanov. “You were right, by the way, about the assassination attempt at the Monocle. I thought there was a connection with China. We’ve since confirmed Angus Shaw to have been responsible.”

 
“He was only the tip of the iceberg,” Talanov replied. “Your Deep State opponents will stop at nothing to get rid of you.”

  Gustaves nodded somberly. “And you,” she said, stepping in front of Wilcox and taking him by the hands. “You put everything on the line for your convictions. Your career, your life . . . I owe you.”

  “You owe me nothing,” Wilcox replied. “I simply did what had to be done.”

  With an appreciative nod, Gustaves moved on to Ginie, who still had scabs on her face. “The sacrifices of Zak and Emily will not be in vain, Ginie. I promise you that.”

  “Thank you, ma’am.”

  “I hear you’re going back to the community center to continue their legacy.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Let me know how I can help. And I mean that. Whatever it takes.”

  “Thank you, ma’am.”

  Gustaves gave Ginie a hug before moving on to Jingfei and Kai. “I . . .” she began, then looking away, unable to complete her sentence, her eyes welling with tears.

  Su Yin looked up at Talanov and saw him nod, and with a smile, she stepped over to Gustaves and gave her a hug.

  Gustaves wrapped her arms around Su Yin and hugged her tightly.

  And they both began to cry.

  CHAPTER 86

  The meeting did not last much longer because there was not a lot more to say beyond what had already been said. The business talk would come later.

  Talanov led the way outside and down the steps to the sidewalk, where he told the others to go on ahead, that he wanted to talk with Ginie.

  Once the others were gone, Talanov took Ginie by the hands.

  “You don’t need to say it,” said Ginie.

  “Say what?” asked Talanov.

  Ginie linked her arm through Talanov’s and began walking with him along the sidewalk. “You need to heal, Alex, and you need to decide what you want, and who you want, and I need to let you do that, because I have a lot of healing to do myself in light of what Zak did for me. And right now, I’m not sure how to do that.”

  “I’m glad you’re taking over the community center. I know Zak would want it that way.”

  “You don’t have to do this, you know.”

  “Zak and I were the only family each of us had, and he left the building, so I’m turning it over to you.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure.”

  “Well, thank you, and if you’re ever in a mood to get your ass whipped again in basketball, you know where to find me.”

  Talanov laughed and gave Ginie a hug. When Ginie hugged him in return, Talanov flinched.

  “Sorry,” Ginie said with a grin. “I forgot about the ribs.” She gave him another hug, this one gentler.

  “Much better,” he said. “Much better.”

  Downhill, across the street on the Capitol grounds, Larisa shook her head angrily. I am such a fool, she thought when Talanov and Ginie hugged. Bill had been convincing, that was for sure, but what she was seeing right now spoke more truth than Bill would ever admit.

  Turning away, Larisa ran downhill through a small stand of trees and along a curving sidewalk that took her to a line of waiting taxi cabs.

  Uphill, Wilcox led the kids along a sidewalk on the western side of the Capitol. “The center of freedom and democracy,” he said proudly, pointing at the majestic dome silhouetted against a bright blue sky.

  “How about power and corruption?” asked Kai. “And we can’t forget duplicity and greed.”

  “Cynic,” muttered Wilcox, and Kai grinned.

  “You do know the CIA is a globalist cabal bent on taking over the world?” Kai stated more than asked. “Did you know those fake Russian hackers were really CIA? It was a false flag all the way, which makes you more than a little suspect as far as I’m concerned.”

  “Is there, like, someplace I can ship you back to?”

  Kai grinned again and punched Wilcox playfully on the arm. Wilcox rolled his eyes and began looking around. He turned a full circle – twice – looking in all directions.

  “What are you looking for?” asked Kai.

  “Someone I told to meet us,” Wilcox replied.

  “Who?” asked Jingfei.

  Wilcox did not reply, and with a shrug, Jingfei kept walking.

  “Wait up!” yelled Talanov.

  Wilcox looked back to see Talanov dash across Independence Avenue against the light.

  “You can get ticketed for jaywalking in this town,” Wilcox called out.

  “That’s why I keep you around,” answered Talanov. “To take care of things like that.”

  Wilcox shook his head, then looked down the hill toward Garfield Circle, where he could see a blonde woman getting into a taxi. But she was so far away he couldn’t tell for sure who she was.

  Taking out his phone, Wilcox quickly dialed Larisa’s number, and with his phone to his ear, he watched the blonde pause to retrieve her phone, look at the screen, then put the phone in her handbag and climb into the taxi just as Wilcox heard his call go to voicemail.

  “Who was that?” asked Talanov, looking in the direction Wilcox was looking.

  “Where’s Ginie?” asked Wilcox in return.

  “We hugged and said goodbye.”

  Wilcox looked again in Larisa’s direction just as the taxi drove away.

  “Is everything all right?” asked Talanov.

  “Peachy,” Wilcox mumbled, and without another word, he marched off toward the Capitol.

  “What’s up with him?” asked Talanov.

  “I think I may have upset him,” Kai replied. “I was joking around about him being in the CIA and I don’t think he liked it very much.”

  “Go show him some love,” said Jingfei.

  Kai responded with a dubious frown.

  “Come on, Kai, don’t be a jerk.”

  Su Yin grabbed Kai by the hand. “Come on, Kai!” she exclaimed, grabbing Kai by the hand and tugging him into running with her. “Uncle Bill, wait up!” she called out.

  Once Kai and Su Yin were gone, Jingfei stepped in front of Talanov and looked him directly in the eyes. “Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked.

  “Absolutely,” Talanov replied. “I want you three to come live with me. We’ll get a new house. File the legal paperwork. Make this official as far as me being your legal guardian. No need to change your last name or anything like that.”

  Jingfei gave Talanov a hug.

  “Just to be clear, I’m not trying to replace your parents,” said Talanov. “Or Zak. Those people are irreplaceable. I just want you to know I’m here for you, that my home is your home, and that any guy wanting to date you will be thoroughly background-checked.”

  Jingfei punched Talanov on the arm and he laughed. She then took a tiny flash drive from her pocket. “Okay, then, here you go,” she said. “One and a half billion and change.”

  “The money’s here, in this little thing?”

  “Not physically, of course, but, yes, as far as electronic codes are concerned.”

  “How did you manage to steal it?”

  “Technically, I didn’t steal it,” answered Jingfei. “I simply returned it to its original owner, which I was able to do with Charlie’s help by hacking the escrow account, which was a breeze, then creating a phantom duplicate of the account webpage, which showed your deposit, then embedding that page with an executable virus, which I then juxtaposed over the original, which I’d already emptied before Dragon Head’s stooge clicked the link that I sent him, which nuked everything at his end, which, of course, was just how I—”

  Jingfei stopped when she saw the blank stare on Talanov’s face. “Forget it, you don’t want to know,” she said.

  “Probably not,” Talanov replied. “Where’s the money now?”

  “In a trap door account inside an offshore bank that I created using a circular blind.”

  “What does that even mean?”

  “It means no one can find it unless we want them to.
”

  “And it’s all in here?” Talanov asked, holding up the flash drive.

  “Every number you’ll ever need.”

  Talanov nodded, then turned to watch Su Yin doing the happy dance for Wilcox, who was laughing and shaking his head while Kai was trying to get him to do the happy dance with her.

  “I wish Zak could be here to enjoy this,” Talanov said, smiling at the sight. “He was the best friend I ever had.”

  “He said the same about you,” Jingfei replied. “He told us stories about when you were young and stupid and how you’d get in all sorts of trouble. How he was constantly bailing you out.”

  Talanov laughed, then looked away, fighting back emotion.

  “Don’t worry, old man, you’ve got us,” Jingfei said, linking arms with Talanov. “13:5, remember?”

  “13:5 to you, too . . . kid,” responded Talanov. “But there’s one thing I still don’t get.”

  “What’s that?”

  Talanov looked at the flash drive quizzically. “How do I upload – or is it download – music onto this thing?”

  Jingfei grabbed for the flash drive but Talanov yanked it away. “It’s not a toy!” she yelled.

  Talanov darted ahead and turned, holding the flash drive high in the air.

  “You need to grow up!” yelled Jingfei, racing after him. “It’s called responsibility. Want me to spell it out for you? Re-spon-si-bil-i-ty.” Catching up with him, she punched him on the arm. When Talanov grabbed for Jingfei, she ducked aside with a girly scream and began making faces and dancing around, taunting Talanov to try to catch her.

  With a laugh, Talanov glanced upward toward the sky. “Kak odin, my friend. I’ll take care of them,” he said before racing after Jingfei.

  EPILOGUE

  Located on a neon strip of Bangkok, the nightclub was vibrating the night with synthesized music that spilled out into the street, where surges of partygoers drifted past in slow currents, drinking and laughing while eyeing the enticing array of teenage prostitutes loitering around the entrance. The enticements of a good time intensified inside, where a strobes of pulsating green laser lights kept beat with music so loud it made conversation all but impossible. But no one was interested in conversation, at least not on the dance floor, where a packed crowd of more than three hundred partygoers were dancing with their hands in the air.