Page 112 of Into the Gray Zone

I said, “Probably so, since all we have left are our fists.”

Jennifer squinted, and I said, “I’m just kidding.”

I grabbed the phone off the desk and we left the office, going up the short staircase of the Gulfstream jet. I entered finding “Mr.Chin”—the name he’d asked to be used—sitting in the same chair I’d left him in last night, a tray of wrappers for Big Macs and fries on a table to his front. Jennifer had let his arms free to eat, but his ankles were still handcuffed to a couple of hidden bolts in the floor, put there specifically for that purpose.

He lowered the straw from his drink out of his mouth and said, “McDonald’s? That’s what you give me?”

I saw a bit of humor in his eyes, and it aggravated me, a match flickering next to a fuse. I said, “You complain again and it’ll be the last meal you get for a while.”

I took a seat in the chair opposite him, and he said, “We both know that isn’t true. You have no authority to torture me.” He pointed at Knuckles and said, “His presence here is wasted on me, because I know you will not harm me.”

“And how would a simple businessman know anything about what I’m authorized to do or not do?”

“I read the papers.”

I said, “You know and I know that you’re not a businessman. Let me tell you what I think. The Ministry of State Security somehow found out that India had located significant reserves of rare earth elements and had tapped Riva Thakkar to extract it. You were sent here—as a member of the MSS—to prevent that from happening. You chose to eliminate Thakkar as the easiest route, and you hired some local thugs to do the work, to give you plausible deniability. How am I doing so far?”

He remained mute. I said, “Okay, so here’s where it gets a little iffy. Somehow, those local thugs left the chain and went berserk. Instead of just eliminating Thakkar, they torched an entire wedding party andthen started screaming about the Khalistan Commando Force. Now, I don’t know if that was part of the MSS plan, or if you just lost control, but that’s where we are. My job is to rescue the hostages they’ve taken. Your job is to help me, if you ever want to see the light of day again.”

He said, “We went through this last night. I told you I’m just a businessman.”

I set his cell phone on the table and said, “You wiped this phone last night with a sophisticated program. Something beyond what a businessman would have. Something an intelligence service would use.”

“How would you, a government flunky, know what a Chinese businessman would have on his phone?”

“I’m a businessman too, and trust me, I deal with some very sensitive information, and I don’t have that on my phone.”

He leaned forward and said, “Yes you do.”

Chapter66

His answer surprised me, as it was his first indication that he was playing a game. He was telling me he knew I had the software, because he knew what I was, and he and I were the same. It threw me off my game.

I said, “You’re right, I’m not authorized to start waterboarding your ass. Yet. But maybe your own people won’t be so nice. If you don’t give me anything about the terrorists or the hostages, I’ll have to assume youaresimply a businessman, and I’ll drop you off at the Chinese embassy.”

He leaned back, saying nothing. Which was something in and of itself. Last night, he’d stated over and over that he had no knowledge of the terrorists or the hostages. Now he wasn’t denying it.

I thought maybe I was on to something and said, “They seemed to not like you so much the last I checked. If I were to keep spitballing, I’d say they’re embarrassed by this entire debacle, and they’re cleaning up loose ends, just like you did with the bodyguard in Jaipur.”

He said, “That is true. Nobody is more surprised than me. The question I have is, What areyouauthorized to do?”

Breakthrough. I was beginning to think my idea of letting him sweat his fate was paying off.

I said, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, if I were to know something about this awful terrorist attack, and I were to tell you, what would prevent you from still dropping me off at the embassy?”

Is he asking for asylum?

I said, “Nothing, I suppose, but if it were true information, I wouldn’t do that. Right now, all your people know is that you escaped. They don’t know we have you. They think you’re in the wind, and I can keep it that way.”

“You would just let me go? On my own?”

I slowly shook my head and said, “As long as we’re being honest here, no, I’m not going to let you go. That, as you say, is something above my pay grade. I will, however, keep you out of your enemy’s hands.”

He thought for a moment, then said, “I don’t know what enemies you’re talking about. Those men who attacked me were complete strangers. I’m just a businessman.”

He’d decided it wasn’t worth it and had reverted back to his cover. We were going backwards, and he didn’t care one whit about the lives in the balance. The gamesmanship cracked open my scab and I felt the rage start flowing through my body.

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