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him.’
    ‘Bruises heal. He’s okay and probably awake now. He might be too embarrassed to check in. I left him his cell phone. Call
     him.’
    ‘You assaulted a CIA officer.’
    ‘And you used the names of your childhood pets for your team. Stupid.’ I glanced at the woman. ‘Lucky was the nice cat, so
     August says.’
    ‘Get in the van, Sam,’ he said. ‘Let’s talk.’
    ‘That might be an illegal action. You aren’t supposed to be operating on American soil.’
    ‘Go get yourself a coffee,’ August Holdwine said to the woman. ‘We’ll talk later back at the office.’
    ‘Your earrings,’ I said to her. ‘The blue is a shade too bright against the gray of the street and the buildings. Too memorable.
     But they do set off your eyes.’
    ‘Don’t be a punk,’ she said and she turned and vanished into the river of people.
    ‘Get in,’ August said. ‘Please.’
    ‘That would be stupid if the point of following me is to grab me.’
    ‘It’s not. It’s to talk to you.’
    ‘You could walk up and say hello.’
    ‘Not while you’re with that woman. Mila.’ He tossed his headphones on the computer keyboard in the back of the van.
    ‘No one’s here, August. Don’t lie to me. Are you thinking I’m going to lead you to her?’ But I needed to know why August and
     the CIA were interested in Mila. I needed to know now. So I got into the van. August moved up into the driver’s seat.
    ‘Where to?’ August said.
    ‘What about your guy?’
    ‘He can find his way home. Where can we go and talk in private?’
    ‘I know a bar.’

5
Amsterdam
    Jack Ming couldn’t sleep. He watched the clock tick toward midnight. He remembered reading once that there were eighteen million
     cellular phones in the Netherlands, and it frustrated himthat not a single one was within reach. With one call he could be out of the hospital, his bill settled, safe under arms.
     He should have asked Ricki to leave him hers. But her showing up had surprised him too much, and she’d left before he’d thought
     to ask.
    August. That had been the muttered name of the kind CIA officer who’d grabbed him, the one who stopped the others from beating
     him further. That was the name he was going to use when he phoned the CIA. He would call and ask for August. That was his
     ticket to safety, to money, to freedom.
    Ten minutes after Ricki left, Van Biezen reappeared in his doorway, looking tired and rumpled, looking ready to go home. ‘Your
     story checked out about being grabbed from the café. I thought you would want to know.’ He raised an eyebrow to see if Jack
     would speak.
    ‘Am I going to be released now?’
    ‘From the hospital or our protective custody?’
    ‘Both.’
    ‘I cannot speak for the doctors. But I think you should be careful. These smugglers were apparently part of a much bigger
     criminal enterprise.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘On ten Boom’s laptop we found evidence he had been hacking into police databases, downloading classified documents relating
     to far-ranging investigations. The sort of information that a criminal network would like to buy.’
    ‘I know nothing about whatever this man was doing,’ Jack said. ‘And if you are going to question me further along these lines,
     I would like to see someone from the embassy and I would like a lawyer.’
    ‘I wasn’t questioning you. I was warning you. These aredangerous people, Mr Jin.’ Van Biezen’s voice was measured and careful, sleek as a diplomat’s. Just like his mother. ‘Are
     you planning to return to Hong Kong? I understand you have not given the doctors a clear answer.’ Just a bit of a sarcasm
     in his tone.
    ‘I haven’t decided. I am already ruined for this semester. I have much work to do.’ He paused. ‘You said you were giving me
     a warning. Do you think I’m in danger?’
    ‘We have kept a guard by your room. He’s not for show.’
    Immediately after Van Biezen stepped out, a polite functionary from the Chinese