Brad looked at the President. Lines of worry were evident. Brad felt sorry for the guy. Brad said, "Have you any idea where they might have taken her?"
"Logic tells me she is not in the city or any city for that matter. People would talk and word would get back to me. No, she is somewhere in the mountains, but who knows where."
"We have to assume she was transported by air. I've researched the sanitarium where your wife is and a small airport is nearby. I presume you've already checked that end of things?"
"No Brad I haven't for two reasons, one I don’t want to scare the person off and to investigate would open up the whole mess to security personnel. I'd rather have you do the initial investigation. As you westerners say, 'I might just muck it up.'"
"We have help coming and will need a few bedrooms sir."
"I lost count how many bedrooms are in this place Brad. There is lots of staff here to make your stay comfortable. I have a private room where the latest in computers are just for the asking."
"The Master is coming with one of our team and a student who will work as an interpreter for our team. Also, coming in on a flight from Washington DC is another member of our team. Mike here will ride along with a driver to pick her up. I'll meet the Master."
"All this talk makes me feel much better Brad. I'm convinced they won't harm her and I'll play along with their game. Even if I go public, my government is solidly behind me. Now I know you must be hungry and in the dining room is a side board of various kinds of food to eat. Be my guest and help your selves. Also when your other team members arrive extend my hospitality. I have some work to do and I'll be back in a few hours. My secretary speaks good English and she will stay with you to do your bidding."
After chowing down Mike left to get Nancy and Brad left to meet Billy, Sandy and the Master.
Mi Ling didn't know it but she was located near Mt. Tai, near Tai'an. She fed the fire when it died down but didn't want anyone to punish her for using too much wood. The soup didn’t last long as hunger took over again. She been up walking trying to work out the effects of the drugs she was given. Once again she heard the lock being opened. The same monk woman came in followed by a masked man dressed in hiking clothes. The old lady sat a bowl of rice and a plate of fish down; picked up the old soup bowl and left. The hiker sat down and watched her eat not saying a word.
"Why did you kidnap me,"
"It's an end to a means. I'm really not sorry you got caught in the middle, but as the American's say: shit happens."
"What do you want? If you tell me I can probably give you an answer."
"Simply put, we want your father to stop pounding the idea of devaluating the yuan to the dollar."
"He is just a voice from the Politburo. They give him orders and he follows the directives. And as the American's say: you're barking up the wrong tree." She really tried to sound brave, when in fact she was scared to death.
He stood up and walked to the door. Then he turned and said, "Enjoy your stay as you'll probably be here a very long time. It's up to your father now. I'm thinking we might send him one of your little pinky fingers to show him we mean business. Or maybe one of your cute little ears." The door locked behind him. She heard laughter fading as he walked away.
Mi Ling came from a very strong family. Her family had thousands of years of hardship down the river of life. It was time, she thought, to escape if she could. What do I know about where am I. She only knew somewhere in the mountains because it was July and cold. Her jail was made of wood. No windows and one door. She had candles and firewood. Also she had a wooden bench privy that smelled horrible, but if she kept the door closed, not so bad. Her woman monk delivered food in containers made of pottery. Did she have the will power to hit the old lady over the head with a soup bowl and run out the door?
Where would she run to? The most logical thing to do would be to run downhill. Maybe she would fool them and escape up hill and then side hill for awhile until she felt safe in going downhill. Of course all of this was presuming she knew where she was going.
She put another log on the fire and thought about what Brad Pratt might do under these same circumstances. What advice would he give? He would probably tell her to stay put and wait for help to arrive. Tears tried to seep down her cheeks, but she realized tears wouldn't help her one bit.
It was time for her to practice her mediation. Before she started her deep breathing she thought of Billy Ricker. If there was one guy in this world who was not a phoney it was Billy. She reached out mentally to him: Billy come find me please.
~+++~
At the very moment Mi Ling sent a message to Billy he was walking down the sidewalk with his boss Brad Pratt. With him were Sandy, the interpreter and of course the Master. They entered a government van with a driver and sped to the Presidents residence. Inside the van was quiet as they were saving their conversation for later when Mike and Nancy were there.
Brad noticed Billy wasn't smoking and gave some thanks for that blessing. Billy did say, "Boss, this is terrible news about Mi Ling. She's new generation Chinese; much like Sandy here. They are so nice and show genuine hospitality."
"I agree Billy. I don't think they will harm her. In any case, we must do all we can. I see we're here now. I hope we can come up with a plan of some sort. That's not an easy thing to do in a foreign country."
After everyone had filed by the long side bar of prepared food, all sat down to eat. The President was back and sat at the head of the table, but not touching his food. Billy was happy to see such an abundance of food since the meager meals of the compound.
Brad filled Nancy in the best he could. She was to chase the airlines or private planes on the day of the abductions. The President, using his nickname Ben, provided each team member an English speaking interpreter. That proved its weight in gold to all of the team members.
Mike was going to play a rich man looking for property to invest in. He would get an appointment with an upper level person from Everground. By the time Everground ran a check on him, it would show he was more than what he represented.
Billy and Sandy were to play tourist within a few hours flight from Beijing. It was Brad's thinking that instead of placing her in a remote area, a better place would be right under the public's eye.
Brad and the Master were going to visit the sanitarian airport to see if any trace of a small plane was still available. Maybe a gum wrapper; a drop of oil; a tire print.
After a question and answer period, they all went to bed very jet lagged and tired.
The next morning as Mi Ling was waking up stiff and cold, her keeper was at the door lock. When the door opened a blast of cold air rushed in. The grey of dawn was just approaching. With the monk woman was her handler. He had his black mask on. He said, "Come with us. You're going to be famous on a video. But first this dear old woman is going to give you a bath and some fresh clothes." He turned and left leaving the old woman with Mi Ling.
The old woman took her by the arm. Mi Ling yelped in pain as the grip was like a vise on her thin arm. She drug Mi Ling out the door. Mi Ling tried to look around but the whole area was in a morning fog. Quickly she was led around the back of a large stone building down into the basement area.
The room was somewhat warm with a fire burning heating some water. In the middle of the floor sat an old fashioned bath tub. Steam rose from the tub of water. Three very similar women monks were either chopping vegetables or cooking rice. Mi Ling was told by gesture to strip down and get into the bath. She was reluctant to undress in front of anyone; much less some old monks.
Slowly she stripped down and stepped into the tub. It felt really nice. A bucket of water was poured over her head and a vigorous shampoo was preformed. While that was going on another set of hands raised a leg and in just a few minutes she was clean again.
She was given some strange looking under clothes and what appeared as pajamas only much thicker for her dress. Her hair was roughly combed out and tired with a string. A
pair of sandals was provided and then a hood was placed over her head. She was led up the stairs and up some more stairs. She stuck her hand out and felt rock as the old woman pulled her along by the arm.
A squeaky door was heard and male voices were also heard. Then all turned quiet as she entered a warm room. The hood was removed and she blinked several times to adjust to a bright lit room. She saw a video camera and a stool. Her keeper told her to sit down on the stool. She did as she was told. Against one wall she saw two men with hoods on, but dressed in suits. She saw the hands of one man with a large ring with a red stone. Then she was directed to read what was on the easel. She quickly read it and knew better than to argue with these people. She nodded to the keeper.
She read, "Dear Father. I'm well and unharmed. For my safe return you must rescind any and all efforts to devalue the Chinese yuan. You have 24 hours to publicly advertise what is required for my return. If you have not publicly rescinded what is demanded, parts of my body will be sent to you on a regular basis. Do not under estimate my resolve." Before she had finished tears were streaming down her cheeks. Then without hesitation she was roughly pulled to a standing position, hood placed over her head and led back to her cell.
Brad and the Master were driven to the sanitarium where the abduction took place. A lot of traffic had driven in and out by then so they proceeded to the small airport. It was a grass and dirt runway designed for smaller prop planes during World War Two. It was rarely used but still functional. The driver parked well back as per Brad's instructions. The Master got out and Brad held Rocky in place.
Slowly like a blood hound the Master peered at the ground. The closer he got to the runway, the lower his eyes went to the ground. Brad watched as he dropped to his knees and inspected the ground. Brad recalled reading Sherlock Holmes and him doing the very same thing. One thing was very different and that was the Master had no idea who Sherlock Holmes was.
Then as the driver would explain it to his friends later, the Master sat down in the lotus position and stared down the runway.
Brad sat down close to the van. It was a warm morning in July. The monsoon rains had come and gone leaving behind some taller grass. Brad thought about Mi Ling and his heart went out to her. Children were pawns of their high powered parents. Kidnapping was a regular happening all over the world. Be that as it may, evil was at work here and Brad was hired to stop evil wherever it raised its ugly head.
Brad saw the Master look at him. He rose to join him. The Master told him that a small one engine plane had taken the young woman away. One man and the pilot. His shoe size was very common for a Chinese man. However, the heel of one shoe was a little crooked. The plane was fairly old as it dripped oil and the tires were almost out of tread. He went on to say the plane probably didn't go far and to check other airports for an old single engine plane.
Back at Ben's residence, Brad told Nancy what to look for. It was a good possibility that another plane was involved not so far away. Nancy said, "I've discovered that Everground has a private jet. When it's in Beijing it's parked at Capital Airport. My new friend called them and indeed it was in and out on the date Mi Ling was abducted. However Brad, we checked and no flight plan was filed. We’re trying to get a line on the pilots now."
"Good work Nancy and helper. Did you get Mike ID and LC from a bank yet?"
"Yes, sure did. He's into recycling precious metals and looking for some land to set up business on. He called in and said he was flying to Shanghai to meet a salesman from Everground."
Brad looked at his watch and it was about six pm. The President walked through the door and asked all of them to come to his office to see the TV. He said, while walking quickly down the hallway, "I got a message saying to watch the six o'clock news."
He turned the TV on and the announcer said, "We have received a video of the President's daughter. We also have discovered she has been kidnapped. We will play the video now and replay it again after that."
Brad, Nancy, and Nancy's helper sat eyes glued to the TV. The President was standing just off to the side. The video began and the President gave off a quiet sigh seeing his daughter sitting on a stool dressed in pajamas. The Master was sitting on the floor watching with keen interest.
When it had finished, Brad asked the president to record it. In a flash he had a disk inserted into a CD player. After a short commercial break, the video was played again. Brad felt really sorry for the President. He knew his back was up against the wall on this one.
The Master looked at Brad and Brad said, "Nancy show the Master how to operate the replay. He will watch it many times. Let's move to another room Mr. President and talk about this some more. It wouldn't surprise me if the Master has seen something we haven't."
The group went to the dining room. The table was set with plates and bowls. A steaming soup pot was sending out a spicy clam smell. It almost felt not right to eat good food when Mi Ling was probably being half starved. The President sat at the head of the table with his hands on his face with elbows on the table. Nancy wanted to get up and give him a hug. Even Rocky felt something was very wrong here. He went up to the President and laid his head on his leg. The President gave him a head rub and smiled at Rocky.
Then he said, "I'm ordered to respond publically to the kidnapper's demands. I'll tape a speech tomorrow morning agreeing to their wishes."
"Do you think they will release Mi Ling," asked Brad.
"Not for awhile; if ever. The Committee could really care less. She is a girl and in our society, women are just an end to a means," he responded looking and sounding really sad.
Brad really felt for the guy. Sure he had a son, but if it had been a girl, that would have been just fine with him. But times were changing as parents of the one child law were educating the females so they could find a good job.
Brad said, "We'll find her sir. We've already got a lead or two. Give us a couple days and let's see what develops."
"I hope so Brad. Our security is not trained for this type of crime. I'm going to see that a new type of training can be made mandatory for all of our policemen to combat kidnapping and other things."
While her father was talking to Brad, Mi Ling licked her bowl of rice. She'd been given a little bread this time. Sadly she was becoming more depressed all the time. Hope was fading. She was smart enough to realize victims of kidnappers rarely survived. Escape was her only option, but even if she got out where would she go? Slowly she stood up and put another log on the fire. Then a thought struck her mind: what if I hit the old lady over the head with a log and then ran out the door? She decided to give that some thought.
Billy and Sandy came in late from a day of making the rounds of some travel agencies for tours and such things. Billy said, "We check the top ten sites around Beijing and found none to our liking. We'll have to broaden our search tomorrow. Is there any news about Mi Ling?"
"Not really Billy. Her father did what they asked, but in would take a really stupid person to know that it's just lip service. We need to find her and eliminate the perps. Nancy has a line on the corporate jet and the Master described the small plane at the sanitarium airport. We are doing very well, but who knows if we will rescue her in time."
Mi Ling was wondering the same thing. Her stomach told her it was dinner time, but so far no old woman with her bowl of water downed soup. Also her water jug was low. She used half of it to wash after the privy and drank the other half. She put another log on the fire as night was upon her wooden cell. Then her heart raced as she heard the lock being opened. As usual a cold wind followed the old woman in. a bowl was set on the table and the lunch bowl removed. Mi Ling said, "Please can I have some more water?"
The old woman glared at her, snatched the water jug and left. Mi Ling wishing the old woman wouldn't lock the door; but she heard the sounds of the lock being secured.
She ate soup until the very last drop. No bread this time. This was the first time in her life that she was honestly hungry. She never realized
what an easy life she had being pampered since birth. She vowed, if she got out of this mess, to change her ways and find some way to help her people. Mi Ling fell asleep dreaming of her nice bed at home safe and sound.
Billy, when he woke up at the crack of dawn, was determined to find Mi Ling. He'd grown to like her after their walk in Union Square. She was easy to talk to and he felt she had a genuine interest it what he said. Of course nothing romantic would ever come about, but stranger things have happened.
By mid morning Nancy had traced the Everground corporate jet to Jinan Airport on the day of the kidnapping. Nancy passed that news on to Billy and Sandy.
The Master had determined the room was at an old temple. When he was told the jet had been reported at Jinan Airport he automatically said, "Mt Taishan."
Mt. Tai was one of the most scared mountains in China. Tourists flocked to the mountain climbing the over seven thousand steps or taking the cable car to the summit. Brad was hopeful that they would find Mi Ling.
Brad and the Master would fly down in a government helicopter. So as not to spoke the kidnappers, Brad sent Rocky with Billy to locate Mi Ling and then wait for help to arrive.
Billy, Sandy and Rocky flew in by helicopter to Feicheng. From there a taxi took them to the mountain. It was close to noon when they exited the cable car on Mt. Tai. Billy was amazed at how many buildings and temples were around. Sandy had one of Mi Ling's shirts for Rocky to smell.
Billy and Sandy both had a hard time keeping up with Rocky as he was in and around everything. At last he stopped and put his nose to the sky. It was at that time the old monk woman was taking lunch to Mi Ling. When the door opened and the wind swirled around, Rocky caught a sniff of Mi Ling.
By the time Billy and Sandy found Rocky he was sitting back from a wooden door with his eyes never leaving the small wooden shed. Billy and Sandy slowly and cautiously walked up to where Rocky was sitting. The door had a new padlock on it; from what Billy could see.
Peking Assassin Page 4