Her visits with the psychologist continued, which she didn’t mind. The lady asked fun questions, and she got to talk about her birth parents, and how much she missed them. A few times, the lady had asked her why she yelled at Casey, but she never knew how to answer. She loved Casey, but in certain moments she hated her, mostly when she said things that should have been said by her birth mother. The psychologist assured her that this was normal, but that she should try to count to ten whenever she felt like lashing out at her new parents.
Matt had bought her a child’s size plastic work helmet and safety goggles. They would both dress up like builders and go to the old house to order around the workmen who were putting wooden planks down over the old concrete floor. Lu Lei loved the smell of the wood. The workmen, who were all tai chi students, would laugh and smile at her when she barked orders at them. Matt always told her what to say; usually crazy things like: "You, go and whack that one on the head. He is being lazy," or "You, go and take a break. You look very, very tired." Matt was funny, and she loved him because of it.
The Master showed up one day to observe, and to talk to Lu Lei.
“Young Lu Lei, this tai chi studio is a work in progress, much like you,” he said to her. “Notice how solid the structure is, what a strong floor, and what sturdy walls.”
Matt made a funny face at her and added, “and a toilet.”
Tai chi continued to be her favorite thing. She loved it. She missed the meditation at the end of class, but the Master still gave his speeches and assigned homework. She had asked the Master several times if she could join Wei Bao’s kung fu class, as they were friends now, but the Master always told her that she was already a very busy girl and that she needed to focus.
Casey sat at a table facing the window. Matt watched from across the street for the virologist to enter the bar.
“He’s here.”
Casey felt reassured by her husband’s voice in her ear. The virologist approached the bar. She watched his face for signs of betrayal. Tension, darting eyes…
“All clear out here. I think you can go ahead, honey,” Matt said.
Casey joined the virologist at the bar.
“Do you have a cigarette?” she asked, eyebrows raised.
He slid the box over to her, and she picked it up and put it in her bag. The bar was empty. The barman had yet to come over.
“Good?” she asked.
He nodded. “Many photos. Everything they need. Tell them that we are still a long way off.”
“Outstanding work. Did you have any problems at all?” Casey looked at him closely as he answered.
“It was easy. I would make a good spy, don’t you think?”
Casey waited and kept watching his eyes, mouth, hands...
“You make a decent spy,” she said and gave him her nicest smile, which never failed to put a man at ease. “Mention this to anyone, there will be consequences. Not just for you, but for your family. Just a reminder.”
He nodded, his smile evaporating.
“We will look after you, but only if you do your part. There will be more jobs in the future, and more money, of course. Maybe one day you can go to America.”
“You could help me do that?”
“If you are a good boy. Sure we can.”
She could hear Matt laughing in her ear. She relaxed. The virologist was probably going to work out.
The sound of Roet’s voice made her scowl. “Casey, I hope you have something for me.”
“I do. First, I want to mention that the leader of the Falun Gong is worth picking up for a chat. He knows a lot of names and might fill in a few blanks for you guys.”
“We picked him up a few weeks ago when he was coming through immigration. His passport was flagged. He passed his lie detector test and gave us his story. Interesting, but not very useful. We set him loose, but we are keeping tabs on him. We gave him citizenship and a genuine passport. The counterfeit passport he entered the States with was actually pretty nice work. We are keeping tabs on him now. We can pull him back in if we need him.”
Casey stopped him. “Just hang on a second.... Lu Lei, turn that television off and go back to bed. Matt, would you come here, please?”
She handed the phone to Matt, who held it up with his shoulder as he wiped the gun oil off his hands with a paper towel.
“Marcus? Matt here. It often gets rowdy around here these days. It’s tough to find a moment to oil your pistol.”
“Not sure what that’s supposed to mean... But what do you two have for me?”
“We now have the head virologist on the payroll. It pains me to say it, Marcus, but that’s going to cost you.”
“Fine, and what has he done for the money so far?”
“All good stuff, Marcus. No need to get your panties in a bunch. We will bring you photos of files from their lab. All their most up-to-date work on a SARS virus. Worth every cent, I imagine.”
“That’s good news. US bank account?”
“Yes, set it up. Casey will give you his details. Casey!”
Matt handed the phone back to Casey without saying goodbye and picked up the camera lying next to the cigarette box. He wound the film back and pulled the tiny roll of film out, put it in its plastic canister, and took it to the safe.
Casey was listening to Roet talk as she watched Matt go to the safe. Matt had the safe's door open and was bending down to put the film inside and saw a brown folder on the shelf. Picking it up, he looked at Casey quizzically. Matt opened the folder. Casey grimaced and watched him while he worked out what it was.
Casey stammered into the phone, “Marcus, I really have to go, so if there’s nothing else?”
Matt was now on the couch, staring at the file.
“Bye, then.” She hung up, looking guiltily at Matt.
“Look, Matt, I just figured it would be easier if I got my cop to steal the entire file.”
“Stealing from the Beijing Police department? I thought we agreed that it wasn’t worth the risk, and you did it behind my back?”
“Oh, come on Matt, it was a simple job.”
He yelled back, “You went to a meet with a dirty cop without having backup. That was an unnecessary risk, and I don’t like it when you do that. It’s my job to keep you safe, and I can’t do–”
“You know perfectly well that I can look after myself just fine.” Casey saw Lu Lei appear with her pillow and her Barbie Doll.
“Lu Lei. I’m sorry we were shouting. Let’s get you back to bed.”
Casey placed her hands under Lu Lei’s armpits and lifted her up, her little body warm from her interrupted slumber.
“What’s that?”
“What’s what, honey?”
Matt grimaced, without needing to look.
“Honey, that’s one of Matt’s tools. He was just cleaning it on some newspaper. He really should put his tools away, shouldn’t he?”
Lu Lei nodded as Casey carried her back to bed.
Matt felt mortified. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Still, no real harm done, at least for now. Casey would scold him in a few minutes. He kept reading the accident report.
“The report says here ‘no skid marks,’ indicating he didn’t touch the brakes. What else do we have?” he muttered to himself. “Witness statement at the scene. Pretty damning. Estimated speed, between 80 and 100, from the side.”
Casey called from Lu Lei’s bedroom, “I’m coming, honey.”
Matt fantasized about beating the Chief to death with a baseball bat. Casey returned from Lu Lei’s room.
Matt whispered, “We have to sit on this until we find some sort of leverage. He’s pretty much untouchable from our perspective.”
“Afraid so,” Casey whispered back. “Maybe you shouldn’t clean your gun when she’s home.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. That was stupid of me. No more solo missions, okay?”
“Okay, Matt.” Casey could see that underneath his gruff mood, Matt seemed impressed with the fil
e.
16
Wei Bao's Mother
Lu Lei awoke before Matt and Casey. Dreams of white birds in cages had left her with a sore jaw from gritting her teeth. The psychologist lady had explained that this was normal and that she should try to remember the dreams and tell her about them. The Master also liked to hear about her dreams and sometimes told her what they might mean. The scariest one from last night was of a beautiful, enormous white owl that stared at her with its gigantic eyes, then the owl suddenly changed color to red and then vanished, leaving her alone in a dense forest.
This afternoon she would tell the Master and the lady about her bad dreams, but she also wanted to talk about Wei Bao, how they had become friends.
During class, Lu Lei stole frequent glances at Wei Bao. Now that they were sitting next to each other, she could watch him. Looking at his face made her feel warm. His ugly haircut had begun to look cute to her. Something about his sulkiness made it hard not to look at him. Sometimes he would catch her and scowl, which now, instead of scaring her, made her giggle.
Sitting with him at lunch had been awkward the first time, but his friends had not teased either of them about it. Now they always sat together, and he would usually eat some things from her tray that she hated. He didn’t talk much, but he answered her questions, and often gave away other personal information.
“Do you want my spinach?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“What’s your favorite food?” She usually had to wait a few seconds for him to answer.
“I like pork, but my mother made it the best.”
“Where’s your mother?” Lu Lei had never thought of him as having a mother.
“She went away somewhere when I was four.”
After that one, he went quiet, staring into the distance. She left her interrogation for another day.
Matt held the door open for Casey and the Master to exit the psychologist’s office. He waited for Lu Lei to get up off the floor and go in for her session. As she passed him, looking up to say thank you, she looked so tiny to be carrying so much trauma.
Matt returned the psychologist’s concerned smile as she closed the door.
The Master glanced sideways at an exhausted-looking Casey. “Shall we walk?”
Matt was feeling guilty about the amount of arguing that had been going on recently at home. Seeing how tired Casey looked reminded him of how hard it had been lately, dealing with Lu Lei and her moods. He and Casey were a great team in the field, but parenting had proved to be divisive at times.
Outside the building, the three of them walked at the Master’s casual pace. Matt looked at the Master, noticing his hands clasped together, a giveaway that he was worried about something. Matt asked, “Does Lu Lei seem angry?”
“She has been more physically aggressive in class than I would like, but we are making progress. You can encourage her to meditate at home before breakfast. We cannot risk it at the studio. Our young class spy is a good boy, but he has a job to do.”
“Do you think that they will come after you?”
“I have a few friends in high places.” He smiled, eyes twinkling. “As you know, the government can tread lightly when the right people wish it. I believe that I am in no immediate danger. My students, however, all have connections to the Falun Gong. Parents, cousins. This puts them in jeopardy.”
Casey had been keeping quiet as she walked next to the Master. When he turned and looked at her expectantly, she spoke up.
“Lu Lei said something about Wei Bao’s mother.”
“Ah yes. A sad story. For two years she has been imprisoned. It is said that she is in a re-education camp. She was unhappy in her marriage to the Chief. He was very jealous. He had her followed by one of his officers, and it came to light that she was seeing someone else. One of my adult students, in fact.”
“Oh… not good. I guess he had her locked up. By the way, I noticed that we have a tail.”
Matt watched Casey drop her scarf so she could get a good look behind them.
Matt kept facing forward. “Blue shirt, rolled-up sleeves?”
“Yep. Where’s the other one?”
The Master answered, “I am down to just one now. I am so old they don’t need a team for me. It is most comforting to have some company on my walks.”
“And tell me, Matt, how are Lu Lei’s renovations coming along?”
Matt smiled back at him. “Inside the house is like a building site still. A lot of work to be done. We have a few monks who have come in to oversee the wooden floor. They seem to be good with wood, eh? A little slow, though. I guess that’s the price of quality workmanship. Wu Feng’s students are helping a lot though.”
“That’s wonderful, Matt. It appears to me that you both have everything under control. Lu Lei is in safe hands. Before long she will start finding her own way.”
“Thanks for being there for her. We couldn’t do it without you.”
17
Plan B
Standing under a street lamp outside the Master’s studio, the Chief’s face twitched at the taste of the end of the cigarette. Since starting up with his own training at home, the desire for tobacco had waned, but he was still smoking out of habit.
Why am I nervous? I’ve done this many times this month. This will be just like the others.
He watched the large police van pull up in front of him, followed by an empty police bus. The driver saluted him as the back door opened and six young officers stepped down to the street.
The commanding officer asked, “All of them, sir?”
“Make sure you get their old teacher too.”
“Sir. Orders are to leave him alone. It came from the Ministry, sir. That is all I know.”
The Chief scowled at the officer and lit another cigarette.
“Very well. Go. Get the students. Remember that one of them is ours. Be careful. The Tai Chi’s can defend themselves quite well if they are provoked.”
The Chief nodded in a sinister way at the Master who had appeared in the doorway of the studio watching his students, all but one, step peacefully up into the bus. The student spy paused, letting the other students pass ahead of him. He turned and looked at the Master, and bowed deeply before walking away.
The Chief grinned, meeting eyes with Master. It wasn’t a perfect outcome, but it had done a good amount of damage. It was time to call in a favor and put Plan B into action.
The smell of Beijing’s morning rush hour smog hung heavily in the air as Casey took off her helmet and balanced it on the handlebars of her motorbike. She’d been expecting to see more people working on Lu Lei’s renovation.
“Matt. I have coffee.” She held up the metal thermos, noticing that Matt looked perplexed. “Is this everybody?” she asked.
“I really don’t know where they all are. Yesterday we had fifteen, plus the monks working on the place. Today we just have the monks. Did you manage to get Lu Lei to school on time? It wasn’t looking too promising when I was on my way out.”
“She threw a tantrum this morning after you left. She does not like taking orders from me these days. I was just trying to hurry her up. She only just squeaked into the school building as they closed the front door. Oh, and by the way, I crossed paths with the Chief there. He was looking very smug about something, but didn’t say anything.”
“Do you think he’s sleeping with his housekeeper?”
“Mmm, thanks for that image.”
“Should we organize a meet today with the Master? Maybe he knows what’s going on.”
“Good idea. Remember that he has a tail.”
“I’ll just have a quick chat with the monks and see what they want to do. I’ll see you in half an hour. Teahouse?”
Casey nodded as she got on the bike.
Casey cruised past the Master’s house, revving the engine three distinct times before continuing down the street and toward the teahouse. She found an out-of-the-way place to park and walked back and found a table in
the back.
The tea arrived shortly before Matt walked in and sat down.
“No sign yet. Maybe he wasn’t home. Where did you park the car?”
“Three blocks to the south. Let’s give him half an hour. Anyway, it’s nice to have a little quiet time with you.”
Casey patted his leg and relaxed back into her chair.
Matt said, “This is some awful tea you ordered. What’s it?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve never had this one before. I don’t mind it. You just like your coffee. Are you missing home, my love?” squeezing his leg, smiling.
“When are we going to take Lu Lei to the States? Roet is waiting on the files and we should get that evidence processed. Maybe they have some gear updates for us too.”
“Here he is.” Casey saw the Master in the doorway.
“Thank you for riding by. I am sorry it took me a little longer than it should have. I had to go the long way around.”
Casey and Matt both smiled at the Master’s disguise.
He chuckled. “Yes, I look like an old opium addict.”
Casey laughed. “We thank you for going to the trouble. It really is best that we are not seen together without a valid excuse.”
The Master’s face turned serious. “My friends at the Ministry tell me that there have been many thousands of intakes at re-education camps all over China. Last night they took my entire class of older students. Unfortunately, I must stop teaching now.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Surviving Spies (Irving Waters, Spy Fiction Series) Page 15