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“And betray my country, betray my family,” he said.
“It seems to me your country and your family have already betrayed you. Your life is not yours to live as you want. Your future has been decided for you, denying you freedom and happiness. The Chinese government condemns who you love, calling it wrong. I’m sure your mother and father already have a nice loyal Chinese woman picked out for you to marry.” She knew this was true from his emails she’d read that had been translated. “One word from you, asylum, and all that goes away.”
“How will you make them believe I’m dead?”
X-Ray
The seven men detained since the raid on the house Jin Ma lived in had been kept separated, with no contact between them allowed. They were given very little information regarding their disposition, not even that they were about to be deported back to China. Xi Laing was the only one who had been told what was about to happen.
The State Department was held off by both Shepherd’s and Whiting’s clout with the D.C. powers that be, long enough for two things to happen. One, the death of Xi Laing in front of the other detainees had to be planned and two, a raid had to take place on the home of Cheng Zhou.
Xi Laing identified Cheng Zhou, a wealthy Chinese businessman, as the next level of the organization. It was in his wall safe inside his home office that their passports were kept. He lived in a sprawling estate home in the exclusive Wilton neighborhood, northeast of downtown Richmond, where the median home price was a staggering three million dollars.
Laura Lee and Garcia sat in the FBI pre-raid briefing. Dupont and Yvette at HQ listened in as well as Shepherd and Whiting. At first, Garcia and Saxton were to be kept out of the raid, but Shepherd insisted they be included. After all, it was the Shepherd Security Team that not only performed the raid on the campus house that netted these seven, but they’d also gotten Laing to talk. Not to mention Garcia had taken two rounds to his vest during the fucked-up turnover of Liu, West, and Geiger to this FBI team. But Shepherd did mention it. Whiting approved it as this team was down several men from that shooting and the assistance of two extra agents may be needed.
“In addition to cameras and motion detectors on the property and in the house, our informant advises that there are always a minimum of six-armed guards shadowing Zhou at all times,” Agent Fletcher said.
Laura Lee and Garcia knew that Xi Laing was that informant. Only four of the other agents in the room knew who had provided the intel, which both of them wished wasn’t the case. They still had no idea if there’d been a leak from the FBI side regarding the arrest of West, Liu, and Geiger.
“We go in the front with a warrant, knock and enter. At the same time, we’ll have agents moving in from the back to apprehend any runners. The safe is in the wall behind a painting of the Forbidden City in Zhou’s office on the first floor,” Fletcher continued.
“Do we believe there are any drugs on the premises?” Grant asked.
“We’re told that is extremely unlikely. He keeps that side of his business separate. But if we do find drugs, Agent Garcia with the DEA will take charge of it and he’ll call in backup for the handoff,” Fletcher replied. “We’re looking for the passports in the safe. We want to check all electronic devices and their IP addresses against the list Agents Garcia and Saxton provided, and we want any business records we can get our hands on.” He paused and his gaze swept the room. “Any other questions?”
There were none.
“Okay, this is a nice neighborhood we’re going into. The mayor lives there, for Christ’s sake. Keep it professional at all times,” Fletcher said. “We roll in five minutes.”
Laura Lee turned her head to look directly at Garcia. “This is a nice neighborhood. Are you freaking kidding me?” she whispered. “This guy is a major player in the Chinese mafia, and they’re worried everyone won’t mind their P’s and q’s in this nice neighborhood.”
“Welcome to the crap we deal with every day,” Agent Grant, who sat beside Garcia, said.
“You weren’t supposed to hear that,” Laura Lee said with a smile.
“You two can ride with me,” Grant said. “I’m told you need vests and to make sure you’re outfitted with them.”
“Yes, thank you,” Laura Lee said. They followed him to the equipment room.
“Were you ever medically cleared by Doc?” Garcia asked as she put her vest on.
“Maybe,” she said.
Garcia raised an eyebrow.
“Or maybe not. Look, I feel fine. He just didn’t have time to do the exam for me to pass it. Besides, we’re going into a nice neighborhood. I shouldn’t have to run after people, right?” she added with a smile.
“Just be careful,” Garcia said. “You tear a suture open, and Doc will fucking have both our heads.”
Laura Lee smiled to herself. He wasn’t going to stop her from participating in the raid.
Laura Lee watched out the side window as the convoy of black SUVs turned into one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Richmond. Lush, manicured lawns and mature trees were in front of large estate homes that were set back from the road. It was a quiet neighborhood with no noise, no screaming kids, no lawnmowers running. She was sure all of these homes had lawn services that came in the morning at a decent hour and were gone long before the dinner hour, which was approaching.
Three of the six SUVs turned off to cover the street behind Zhou’s home. There were no fences, so the agents would be able to easily circle from behind and wait just in case someone tried to leave through the rear of the house when the FBI politely knocked on the front door.
By the time the three SUVs pulled into his brick paver driveway, it was dusk, and the shadows beneath the many trees in Zhou’s yard made it feel darker than it was. The lights on either side of his garage doors were lit, as were the two matching lights on either side of his front door, an ornately carved white wood double door with inlaid leaded glass.
There were six of them in total who approached the front door. Agent Fletcher rang the bell. Chimes could be heard coming from inside the door. Even the doorbell sounded expensive. An Asian woman in an actual maid’s uniform answered the door. Her English was perfect.