the visitor on his way. This was more intrigue than Yin cared for and he would be glad to put it all behind him.
Cheng, though, had demanded one more thing. It was eleven hours from Columbus to Boston, and he expected Yin to do the driving.
Having Yin drive would allow him to sleep and keep his timetable moving forward. His body clock was already upside down from the time difference between China and the U.S. If he didn’t rest, he could very well make a fatal mistake. He needed to be sharp.
Cheng was not happy to have been sent to collect the PSC’s precious little princelings. He had never met a single one of them who wasn’t spoiled and arrogant, but those were his orders. He would do as he had been commanded. It was exactly what he had told Yin when the man tried to make excuses about why he couldn’t drive him to Boston.
Cheng had been quite terse. His stress levels were mounting. There would be multiple radiological sensors along the East Coast. Allegedly, the shielding for the device he was carrying was 100 percent effective. The technology had been developed by the Americans, and stolen by the Chinese, to protect spacecraft from radiation. Colonel Shi had attempted to reassure him that they never would have been able to get the devices into the United States in the first place, much less keep them hidden, if the containers were not perfectly suited to their task.
It was easy for Shi to downplay his concerns. He was safely ensconced back at the Second Department in Beijing. He didn’t have to drive around with the device in his trunk.
They had driven cautiously, but not overly so. Yin had set the minivan’s cruise control appropriately and they stopped only for gas or to use a rest-area bathroom.
Despite his fatigue, it had been difficult for Cheng to fall asleep. His mind kept running through all of the things he had to do and how he would have to handle any contingencies. It was only through sheer force of will that he finally silenced his thoughts and was able to get some sleep.
When they arrived in Boston, Cheng asked Yin to conduct a few errands for him and then he let him go. He had kept him in the dark on everything, except the destination. Yin had no idea why he was in the United States, why he needed the minivan, what was in the large, hard-sided case, or what he was doing in Boston. It was better that way for both of them.
Cheng had encouraged him to pay cash for a bus ticket, return to Columbus, and forget everything that had transpired since his phone had first rung. He watched Yin get in a cab and disappear.
Once he was gone, Cheng got back in the minivan and headed for Boston’s South End. After finding a parking spot, he climbed into the back and, using the bicycle locks Yin had purchased, secured the device to the tie-down eyelets in the cargo area.
He packed his laptop and the other items he didn’t want to risk leaving behind in the backpack he’d had Yin pick up and stepped out of the minivan.
Locking the doors and turning on the alarm, he put the hood of his sweatshirt up, threw the backpack over one shoulder, and walked toward Chinatown.
CHAPTER 47
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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
It’s called Unit 61398,” said Nicholas as he sat back from his computer screen and rubbed his eyes. “It’s one of the PLA’s best hacking groups. They’re based out of Shanghai.”
“You’re sure?” Harvath asked.
“As sure as I can be without tipping them off that we’re on their trail.”
Harvath leaned back in his chair. They were all exhausted and had caught only bits of sleep here and there. With the Chinese engaging in such risky behavior and the speed with which things were escalating, everyone was convinced the cells had likely gone operational, and whatever the attack was, it was imminent. If they didn’t catch a break soon, it was going to be game over. Nicholas’s finding was not what Harvath had been hoping for.
What Harvath wanted was a path to the handler—the person who had been watching the engineering students’ Facebook accounts from somewhere in Idaho. He had hoped that it would be the same person who had hacked the CCTV system and keypad log from the self-storage facility. That would have been a nice way to tie the strings together, but now he