The Stone Monkey (Lincoln Rhyme 4)

* Regained consciousness, now in INS detention.

* Beretta 9mm, Uzi. Unable to trace.

Sonny Li Murder Crime Scene

* Killed by new Glock 36, .45-caliber. (Gov't issue?) * Tobacco.

* Flecks of yellow paper.

* Unidentified plant material (herbs, spices, drugs?).

* Magnesium silicate (talc) under fingernails.

Chapter Forty-four

The Ghost involuntarily flinched, half-expecting Yindao to shoot him without warning--which is what he, of course, would have done had the circumstances been reversed.

But the muzzle of the black weapon traveled past him in a blur and came to rest on the man in the backseat.

"Not an inch, Coe. Don't move an inch. Keep your hands where I can see 'em."

"What . . . What is this?" Coe asked, rearing back in shock.

"Don't move," she snapped. "One hand disappears and you're dead."

"I don't--" The agent blinked.

"You understand me?"

"Yes, I fucking understand you," he spat out angrily. "You better tell me what this is all about."

"On the phone a minute ago? Lincoln had a little more to tell me than just directions to the Changs'. He looked over the evidence a second time and made some phone calls. You thought you covered it up pretty well, didn't you?"

"Put that down, Officer! You can't--"

"He knows all about it. How you're the one working for the Ghost."

The agent swallowed. "Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"You're his guardian angel. You're protecting him. That's why you fired that shot at the Wus' place on Canal Street: you weren't trying to hit him. You were trying to warn him. And you've been feeding him information--you told him the Wus were in the Murray Hill safehouse."

Coe looked around nervously, glancing outside. "This's bullshit."

The Ghost struggled to control his breathing. His hands shook. He was sweating furiously. He wiped his palms on his slacks.

"Don't worry, John," Yindao said to him. "He's not going to hurt anybody else." She continued speaking to the agent, "And you got the Ghost a nice new gun--a Glock. A new .45. Which happens to be the issue weapon in the INS."

"You're crazy, Officer."

"We've had reports all along that the Ghost was bribing people in the government over here. We just never thought it'd be an INS agent. Why all the trips to China, Coe? According to Peabody, none of the other field agents travel over there as much as you do. Sometimes apparently on your own nickel too. You were meeting your boss's snakeheads."

"Because my informant disappeared over there and I wanted to get the asshole who did it."

"Well, Rhyme's contacting the Fuzhou security bureau right now. He wants to look over the evidence in that case too."

"You're saying I killed my own informant? A woman with children?"

"We'll look at the evidence," she said coolly.