Page 72 of Devil
Devil quickly recalled all the intel they had. From what Tina had said, Highborn was lead, and he’d played all the women involved. But why? That part still didn’t make any sense to her, and it bothered her. But even as the question danced in her head, she recognized she’d have to tackle it later. At the moment, their priority was finding the virus and stopping the plan.
“I think we need to go to the airport,” she said, looking at Darius. Without a second’s hesitation, he nodded. “Any chance you have a change of clothes for us?” she asked Stella with a wry smile. Darius’s tux and her sapphire-blue silk gown weren’t exactly the right attire to stop a bioterrorism attack.
Stella grinned. “It’s a shame to waste those clothes, but yeah, we’ll find something for you.” With that, she gestured for them to follow her and Hunter.
Less than twenty minutes later, they were dressed in more appropriate clothing and speeding toward the private entrance of the airport where the president’s plane waited. They arrived in record time and, thanks to the call she’d made to Franklin, were waved in after showing their IDs. Rather than parking in front of the open hangar housing the president’s plane, though, she directed Chad, who’d driven them, around the back. Without a concrete idea of what the plan was, she didn’t want to alert anyone to their presence yet.
The three of them slipped out of the car and approached the back entrance. One of the president’s security team, a man Devil knew better than she wanted to, stood waiting.
“I heard you were coming, cousin,” he said in Cantonese. “It’s good to see you have some loyalty left.”
She didn’t bother responding to Li Wei’s taunt. He’d always been jealous of the fact that she’d been chosen to attend St. Josue, and that wasn’t going to change tonight. However, despite the personal issues he had with her, and she with him, he was a damn good agent and would be on their side. Of that, there was no doubt.
“What were you told?” she asked, speaking in English. His eyes darted to Darius, then to Chad. He had little love for Americans, but they were with her and so he’d show them at least a modicum of respect. To not do so would be dishonorable.
“To let the Americans have free rein over the plane and that you’d explain everything. We are wheels-up in less than four hours. Once the Americans are done, we’ll need to re-perform our standard protocols.”
“Are they alone in there?” she asked, nodding in the direction of the plane.
Li Wei shook his head. “It would be odd to give them that much independence. There are two Americans in the plane with three of our agents and two on the ground with another four of ours.”
“I assume you have cameras?”
In response, Li Wei pulled out his phone and opened an app. A second later, Highborn and Crawford came into view. They were inside the massive body of the plane, accompanied by three of the president’s detail. Highborn was running a long-handled mirror under the seats while Crawford was opening cupboards. Protocol had the two teams working together so that in the event something happened, neither country could blame the other.
“Are the pilots in?” she asked, not taking her eyes from the small screen.
“Two are, one will arrive in a few hours,” Li Wei answered.
“Have the pilots lock themselves in and turn up the temperature on the ventilation system,” she ordered, moving toward the door that would lead them into the hangar.
“Not without you telling me what is happening,” Li Wei said, though he followed her in.
She ignored him. “Order your agents out of the plane. Once they are out, I’ll go in.”
“We’ll go in,” Darius interjected.
“No one is going in until I say so,” Li Wei said. The fact that he hadn’t guessed was proof of what little credence the president’s team had given her intel. Something she’d think about later.
She paused in an area that looked to be an office. She didn’t want to take a chance that Highborn or Crawford would see either her or Darius through the windows of the plane. She debated for half a second what to tell Li Wei. If she told him that one, or maybe both, of the agents, were trying to assassinate the president, Highborn and Crawford would be dead before she could finish explaining. On the other hand, she had to tell him something.
“I believe there is a biological weapon of some sort on the plane,” she said, keeping her eyes steady on her cousin. “I know what it is, but not who put it there or what form it’s in.”
“And why pull my agents out and not the Americans?”
“Because like it or not, your agents are my agents, too. The president is on US soil.Itsagents can assume the risk and help me find it.”
Li Wei eyed her. “Or one of those agents on board the plane is involved,” he said, watching her closely.
She inclined her head. “Possibly. It’s not likely to be anyoneotherthan someone from the inside, is it?” she countered, casting doubt on both the Chinese and the Americans. “Gather our people and I’ll work with the Americans to see what we can find. If it’s one of them, you’ll know it. You may not have sound, but you’ll know it.” She tapped the phone he held in his hand. The one that would let him watch her while inside the belly of the plane.
“Once again,wewill work with the Americans,” Darius said.
Li Wei turned an assessing eye on him, and Lily didn’t miss the speculation in his gaze. “And you are?”
“Commander Darius Washington,” Devil answered, willing Darius to stay silent.
“Which answers exactly nothing, Lily,” Li Wei said in Cantonese.
