apparatus obeyed Xian Yang’s will, and they backed Chairman Hong with greater enthusiasm than ever.
“Tell me, Guardian Inspector. Do you stand behind this report?” Xiao tapped a single paper on his otherwise empty desk. There were no portraits or mementos on it, no pens or computer styluses ready or cell phones or even trays. The Police Minister’s scrupulously clean hands rested on either side of the paper, which was aligned precisely with the edges of the desk.
“I do, sir,” Shun Li said.
“Hmm, interesting,” he said. He didn’t glance at the report, but continued to study her.
Shun Li didn’t smile or nod. She stared at the distant, unseen point. She was petrified and berated herself for taking things too far.
Several days had passed since she’d shot the East Lightning operative in El Paso, the one who had given her the Behemoth Tank Plant report. Shun Li had studied the report in detail. Several aspects of it had bothered her. First, she couldn’t believe the Americans made these war-winning tanks one at a time. It sounded preposterous. Yes, she knew none had appeared so far in the summer and autumn battles. It was something that deeply concerned Chinese High Command. Still, one tank each month—no, that wouldn’t matter to anyone. It wouldn’t frighten those in power enough. The danger must be greater if she was going to use the data as a steppingstone out of North America and away from the task of eliminating unhinged killers for the State.
Therefore, Shun Li had carefully doctored the report. She was an expert at such things. She’d become so by ferreting out forgeries and altered accounts from her underlings. Later, she had practiced deceit herself, knowing what to look for and knowing how to make a report seem genuine.
In her opinion—at least until now—the new Behemoth Plant information was a perfect piece of forgery. It was more logical and sounded more terrifying. Her discovery of this data therefore should go far toward attaining her new ambition.
Now, however, with Police Minister Xiao Yang staring at her with his crocodile gaze, with his stillness adding to his grim reputation—Shun Li wondered if she had gone too far. She should have adjusted the information, not turned the single plant into a full-fledged production facility able to mass-produce the giant tanks.
The question would surely arise. Why hadn’t any one else discovered what she had? Originally, she’d seen that as the report’s greatest flaw. Because of that, she had invented a host of American deception ploys, which until now had worked wonderfully to trick Chinese intelligence, and had only been discovered because of her keen insights.
Xiao Yang cleared his throat, and he touched the paper. “This is incredible,” he repeated.
Shun Li suppressed a shudder. The man spoke without inflection, without emotion. It confirmed her worst fear. He was a monster, the ultimate butcher sitting in his gigantic web. If she could have her way now, she would kill him with a shot to the heart. She had dealt with many blood-maddened individuals. The Police Minister struck her as the worst of the lot, a feral beast hidden behind his soulless inhumanity, a bloated alligator with a gargantuan appetite.
What made her sick at heart was that she had knowingly given herself into his hands. It would have better to live her life in North America. There, she had been the queen of her fate. Here, she was a pawn among ruthless, all-powerful creatures.
I have cursed myself.
“Do I have your attention, Guardian Inspector?”
“Yes, Police Minister.”
“You seem preoccupied.”
“I leave myself a blank slate in your presence, Police Minister.”
“Stop that,” he said. “You are a Guardian Inspector. You were chosen for your intelligence and your ability to act swiftly and decisively. I have studied your profile. You are a capable eliminator of waste and inefficiency. I approve of that.”
“Thank you, Police Minister.”
“This paper you have personally brought to my attention…It is incredible.”
Shun Li nearly groaned. She couldn’t tell anything from his voice or anything from his face. The man was a zombie, a mass murderer-in-chief. He was possibly the most dangerous man in Greater China, making him the most dangerous man in the world.
Why did I come here? I wish I were back in America.
Xiao Yang closed his eyes, then opened them again. To Shun Li, it seemed as if an obscene frog had blinked. She’d seen a YouTube video once of a bullfrog devouring a bird. That had been obscene. Maybe the Police Minister was such a creature that a princess had magically