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head. “I have no choice. I can’t go back to father’s farm. His cousin has been running it since we left. He had no love for my parents, and even less for me.”
    “ What about my aunt’s family?”
    “ They owe me nothing,” Shopei said. “The only person my mother stayed in touch with was your mother. When your parents fled to Hong Kong after you were born, Mother was left with no close family in China.”
    “ My mother was pregnant with my younger brother,” Randy said. “They left to avoid paying the second child penalty.”
    “ They made the right decision. You look as though you have fared well in America.”
    “ We made out all right.” Randy knew better than to boast about money, especially to his cousin. In fact, his family was well off. His mother taught high school and his father was a top engineer for a large aerospace firm. “My brother and I have a good life. I don’t think Rolland would have done so well in China.”
    “ Life is not easy in Shanghai for the disabled,” Shopei agreed.
    “ Nor for the ‘abled’,” Randy said. He immediately regretted his flippancy when Shopei lowered her head.
    “ Come,” she said. “We must hurry if you are going to get tickets for the flight.”
    “ I’m not going home,” Randy said. “Dahui and Auntie Sui are dead. I have to finish what your father started.”
    “ It will get you killed.”
    “ Don’t worry. I’ll just play the dumb American. No one will bother me.”
    “ The killers took Dahui’s computer,” Shopei said. “They will know from his photos what you look like.”
    “ They probably already do. The government has been monitoring email communications for years.”
    “ In that case,” Shopei said, “my life is worthless. If we make it out of this airport alive, I will take you where you need to go. But we must hurry. If we don’t finish in Shanghai and get you to Beijing in time, it will all be for nothing.”
    **
    Jiu Kaiyu watched Yi and Ng-zhi shouldering their way through the busy airport. The situation was unacceptable. All of the intercepted communications indicated that Tan Dahui was supposed to meet his cousin, Randy Chan from America. It should have been an easy matter to find the foreigner Chan waiting for Dahui and approach him with a cover story about a work emergency. The plan was for Jiu to pretend to be a friend of Dahui’s family. Of the three men, Jiu was the only one who was able to speak English.
    They found Randy Chan waiting for his cousin exactly where they expected. Jiu recognised Chan immediately from the photos he had emailed to Tan Dahui. Before Jiu could approach him, though, a young woman pushed her way through the throng. Jiu watched as the woman grabbed Chan’s hand and spoke in a rush before disappearing with him into the crowd.
    Who was she, and how did she know enough to intercept Chan? Jiu did not like mysteries. None of the emails between Dahui and his cousin Randy Chan had referred to a girl, and her sudden appearance was an unexpected element. She had come from nowhere, warning Randy Chan and pointing at Jiu and his men as if she recognised them.
    How was that possible? The security on this operation was top level. There was a distinct chain of command on all information surrounding the elimination of the Tan family. Jiu had confidence in Ng-zhi’s discretion. He was an old pro, a bear with no agenda other than protecting the State from its enemies.
    Yi, though, was another story. Jiu barely knew the little bastard, and what he knew he didn’t like. Ever since Yi had wiggled his way into the division, Jiu had been looking over his shoulder, anticipating criticism at every turn. Yi’s uncle, the old political tiger Ho Lon-shi, had manoeuvred his nephew onto Jiu’s team, announcing the move in a meeting of the top brass as a done deal. There had been no discussion of the matter.
    Jiu found Yi to be seriously wanting in the key elements required for the job: intelligence, intelligence