Medusa (NUMA Files 8)

“Sounds like Chang,” he said, “the one I talked to. He’s in charge of the gang network worldwide, guys like the Ghost Devils. Do you know him?”

Austin ignored the question.

“Who are the other leaders?” he asked instead.

“C’mon, Charlie,” Caitlin Lyons said with impatience when Yoo hesitated, “we know about Wen Lo being the front man for Pyramid.”

“Maybe,” Yoo said. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Tell me about Phelps,” Austin said. “He was in charge of the gang at the warehouse.”

“The Ghost Devils are the local D.C. gang. They meet at the fortune cookie place. That’s where major orders come through from the boss. You never know whether it’s going to be a man or a woman. But, hey, that hologram is pretty cool, isn’t it?”

Yoo looked around at the unrelenting stares and his grin faded.

“Okay,” he said, squirming in his chair. “Phelps is a mercenary, a hired gun. I don’t know much about him, he comes and goes. He does big important jobs for the Triad.”

“Is it unusual to have a foreigner at such a high level?” Austin asked.

“The upper leadership doesn’t fully trust anyone Chinese. They don’t even trust one another, which is why they use the holograms. That way, they can just pop in anywhere around the world and give orders without even being there.”

“Why did your bosses want to kidnap Joe and me?”

“They don’t like you. I told Phelps we were playing with fire, snatching someone from a big government agency like NUMA. He said that didn’t matter, it was orders from the top. They hoped you’d both show at the same time, but Joe worked as bait.”

“How could you be certain I’d be able to find Joe?”

“Phelps was going to call, saying he was an FBI agent, to give you Joe’s location. Guess you didn’t get the message.”

“Guess I didn’t.”

Austin then lobbed a question from left field.

“What do you know about Bonefish Key?”

Yoo gave him a blank look that couldn’t be faked.

Austin believed Yoo knew more than he let on and was higher up in the Triad than he admitted, but he ended his questions.

“I’m done for now.”

“Can I go home?” Yoo said.

“After we talk some more,” Lyons said, “we’ll bring you back to D.C. But it doesn’t end there.”

“I can deal,” Yoo said. “Let’s talk.”

“Good,” she said. “You are going to spy on the Triad for us. If we think you’re jerking our chain, we’ll let it be known through our people in Hong Kong that you are a turncoat.”

“That wouldn’t be healthy,” Yoo said. “I’ll do it.”

They questioned him further until deciding there was little more to gain. They taped him up again and drove back to the Hoover Building. There, they removed the tape and dropped him off on the sidewalk. Then they drove back to NUMA.

“My head is spinning,” Caitlin Lyons said. “What just happened?”

“The Pyramid Triad has developed an influenza virus that they want to use to bring down the Chinese government,” Austin said. “They hijacked the lab working on a vaccine for the virus, and, once the Triad topples the government, Pyramid will market the antiviral around the world and make billions.”

“Hundreds of thousands of people could die before that happens,” she said.