Page 66 of No Time Off

One of the Chinese guys grabbed my arm roughly. I didn’t resist. I let myself be turned around, sparing a fleeting, final glance at the statue with the recorder on the desk.

I hope you’re listening.

Ifthe phone connection was still live,ifManny had escaped, andifLexi was listening, there was enough evidence to blow this whole operation wide-open. But I couldn’t depend on that. I needed to get out of the compound and find a way to escape. But how? Armed guards, a locked combination door, and the entire compound on high alert. All created a formidable barrier, and my time was running out.

Back in the cramped closet, the stale, humid air weighed on my lungs. This time, they didn’t untie me, and the tight bonds were making my hands numb from the lack of circulation, so I sank back against the wall. I could not be on that plane tomorrow. I had to come up with something. Whether that involved covert cunning or a risky confrontation, I didn’t know. I just knew under no circumstances could I board that plane.

I took a few measured breaths, trying to center myself. I imagined the world outside—the real prime minister in hiding, waiting for a miracle; the puppet government tightening its grip on power day by day; the Cook Islands’ future held hostage by China’s ambition. And somewhere out there, Lexi was in extreme danger.

If the US wouldn’t interfere without proof, and if Lexi had been listening and was able to get the transmission out to the US government, I had just delivered a treasure trove of evidence, straight from Jiang Shi’s mouth. Still, there were a lot of ifs, and I didn’t like depending on others to get me out of tough situations.

In less than twenty-four hours, noon would come, and with it, the plane. I made a silent vow. No matter what, I would stop Shi. Because if fate had, indeed, brought us together again, Shi had it wrong. It was for a greater, more noble purpose.

To right a wrong.

Jiang Shi had to lose everything, for good, and I would do whatever it took to ensure that coin landed on the side of justice.

THIRTY-TWO

Lexi

We listened and heard people speaking softly in Chinese. There was some shuffling noise, the swish of the door, and then a voice in English. I quickly hit the record button again.

“Slash? Am I dreaming? What are you doing here? You’re the last person I expected to see in this godforsaken place.”

Multiple emotions swamped me at the same time. Relief, first and foremost, because Slash was in that room, talking, and he was alive. That was followed by gut-punching fear because who would recognize Slash all the way out here in the Cook Islands? Whoever it was, it couldn’t be good.

Then I heard Slash say, “Jiang Shi.”

I gasped aloud, slapping a hand over my mouth. Manny and the prime minister looked at me in alarm. “Who is Jiang Shi?” she whispered.

I shook my head, putting a finger to my lips, needing to hear the conversation. As the conversation continued, I became more and more horrified.

What crazy twist of fate had brought Slash and Shi back together again? The situation had become far more dire than I had ever imagined. Shi was supposed to be in some Chinese prison after Slash and I destroyed his plans to start an international cyberwar, but here he was, moving pieces around the board of China’s chess game in the South Pacific.

What in the world happened?

We listened as Slash manipulated Shi into bragging about his role in the area, my jaw tightening with disgust as Shi denigrated the Cook Islands, calling them and other nearby island countries pathetic and fourth-rate.

Petra’s expression got angrier the more Shi revealed about his actions here on the island. Her hands tightened into fists; her eyes narrowed into furious slits. I would have put my money on her if she and Shi ever got into a fight.

At some point Maivia strolled in, interrupting the interrogation, not even realizing what was going on. He started whining and complaining about not being able to find the prime minister. I hadn’t been sure I could dislike him more, but I found that I actually could. The guy was a pathetic piece of work.

I wanted to leap through the phone line and strangle Shi as he threatened Slash, promised to hurt me as part of his sick torture, and called us both terrorists while promising to plaster our photos across the islands as Most Wanted fugitives. Now I imagined fighting Shi, too, and I knew the first place I’d kick him. Really, really hard.

But what Shi said next chilled me to the bone.

“I intend to extract him from the Cook Islands tomorrow,” Shi said to Maivia. “I’ll take him to China—to an undisclosed location. One of our more discreet facilities. He’ll be…cooperative, given enough time. I’d like to have the woman, too, but?—”

There was sudden silence.

For a second, we all just stared at each other around the table.

“What happened?” Petra finally exclaimed, leaping to her feet.

“I don’t know,” I said, panic setting in. “The audio just cut off.” I grabbed my phone and then Manny’s. A quick glance confirmed that neither of them was connected to Slash’s phone anymore. I hit the stop record button and began to immediately download the audio file.

“Damn,” Manny said, slamming a fist on the table. “We lost the connection.”

---