Flower Net (Red Princess 1)

“For bear?” Hulan asked.

“Deer would be my guess,” Elizabeth corrected. “But you’re right, what Billy really loved to do was track bear. He got that from his father, you know. Give Big Bill and Billy a pair of rifles, a couple of orange hunting jackets so they didn’t shoot each other, and a few thousand acres of back country and they were as happy as could be.” Her eyes clouded as she said, “After all the years of trouble, that hunting business had finally brought those two together.”

“Where is your husband now, Mrs. Watson?”

Elizabeth’s head snapped up at the tone in David’s voice. “He went to Chengdu. I thought you knew that. We have so many American citizens there now that we opened a consulate a few years ago. It’s a good thing, too, if you ask me. Everyone’s jumpy over those nuclear triggers and nervous about what’s going to happen to their business ventures if the political situation doesn’t improve.”

David and Hulan stood. “Thank you for your hospitality, Mrs. Watson, but we really need to go.”

“But I thought you needed to see Phil.”

“That’s all right. We’ll catch up with him later. Thanks again.”

“Was it something I said?” she asked as she followed them to the door. “Is there something about Billy or the ambassador I should know?”

Hulan turned and took Elizabeth Watson’s hand, feeling sorry for this woman who thought she had experie

nced misery but was about to find out it was only just beginning. “If you need anything, later, I mean, please call me.”

Elizabeth Watson looked from Hulan to David and back again. “Tell me. I can take it.”

“We’re sorry, Mrs. Watson,” David said.

The tears that had been threatening to arrive since the beginning of their meeting overflowed now. Elizabeth Watson covered her face with her hands, turned, and ran up the stairs.

With brisk steps, David and Hulan began crossing the courtyard. They talked excitedly.

“No wonder Ambassador Watson didn’t want you to investigate his son’s death,” David said. “He knew exactly what had happened. And once the boys were dead, all he thought about was saving his own skin.”

“Remember when we last saw him?” Hulan asked.

“Yeah, that bastard wasn’t shocked that Billy wasn’t in school. He was shocked because we were so close to the truth.”

“And after we showed him the list of couriers…He must have panicked. He wanted Spencer Lee dead.”

“When we said Spencer was going to be executed, Watson said something along the lines of ‘Then this will all be over.’ We just didn’t understand what he meant.”

“Is stamping those passports really so bad?” she asked. “Was it enough to let things go so far?”

“He’s a former senator and an ambassador. He committed a federal crime. He might be sent to one of our country-club prisons, but his reputation would be ruined.”

They turned their attention to the others involved in the scheme. “Henglai must have financed the enterprise,” Hulan said. “Billy—and his father—had the Montana connections. Imagine them up there shooting bears and selling their gallbladders.”

“But I also think the boys did the meat-and-potatoes work of setting up the couriers. That’s why they went to the Black Earth Inn.” David considered, then said, “They all met there—the Watsons, Cao Hua, the couriers, the people from the Rising Phoenix. It was the perfect meeting place.”

“You left out Uncle Zai.”

“He was the muscle, Hulan. You accept that now, don’t you?”

Her exhilaration faded. “The entire operation was clean in the sense that each person had his own separate and clearly defined role,” she said. “They all had different friends, business associates, and spheres of influence. They relied on the assumption that no one would connect them.”

“But we did.”

Hulan came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the courtyard. “What do we do now, David? Who can we trust?”

They needed help, but Hulan doubted that they would get it from the ministry, nor could they expect much assistance from the embassy.

“We shouldn’t talk here,” David said as he came to the same conclusion. “How can we get out of here without being seen?”