The Project 01 - White Jade

to crush her against him but her words brought an odd sense of relief. Maybe he wanted more than casual sex with Selena. The thought unsettled him.
    " It's okay. It's like you said. Sometimes people end up in bed after something happens."
    Th e tension went out of her face.
    "You mind if I use the bathroom first?"
    "No, go for it."
    She went into the bath closed the door. H e thought about tomorrow. Harker would have a plan. She always did.

Chapter Twenty -One

    T hey ate a mediocre breakfast in the cafeteria and at seven were in the Director ' s office. Stephanie was there, sitting at a computer console set off from Harker's desk. Steph had a wide, pleasant face and dark hair cut in bangs. She wore a black and red combo that concealed a few extra pounds . Gold bracelets jangled on her wrist.
    She looked like the sort of person you'd see standing at the edge of a soccer field cheering on her kids. Stephanie didn't have any kids. She had a Glock 40 millimeter in a speed draw holster tucked high on her waist . She had the Project.
    Harker said, " There's a new twist on Yang. " She pushed a piece of paper and her pen across her desk to Selena. "Before I get into it, I need you to sign this."
    "What is it?"
    " I'm upgrading your security clearance . You sign that and you go to jail if you rep eat anything you hear in here. You can't talk about it with anyone except us."
    Selena said nothing. She signed.
    Harker put the paper in a drawer. She said, "Deng Bingwen defected. Langley's got him. "
    Carter was stunned. " He's been building bombs for them for years. Why would he come over now?"
    "Yang wants a war and Deng wants no part of it. Or so he says. He says Yang heads up a group called the White Jade Society . According to him it's a cover for a conspiracy to seize power. Langley is listening to what he says about China's nukes, but they don't believe him about a coup . They don't think anyone could pull that off , or would even try . If he's telling the truth, the money Yang stole could help fund a takeover . "
    Selena said, " The White Jade Society? White jade symbolizes immortality in Chinese culture. Maybe that's why they wanted the book . B ut it's just an old formula. No one could take it seriously. "
    Carter tugged on his ear. "Who's in this group ?"
    "Colonel Wu is one, but he's small fry. It wasn't hard to get a list . T hey're heavy hitters. The head of their naval forces, two of the missile base commanders, the Minister of Railways and several senior generals from the PLA, including two armored division commanders. There are other government and military leaders."
    She tapped her pen. " A coup would destabilize the entire region. Pakistan, India, Russia, Iran. All those countries over there ending in 'stan'."
    "You call Afghanistan stable?"
    "Don't be a pain in the ass, Nick. You know what I mean."
    Harker was definitely in Director mode. He decided to keep quiet.
    H er intercom buzzed .
    " Special Agent Jordan is here."
    "Bring him up."
    Jordan wore a blue suit and blue silk tie with gray accents that matched the color in his close cropped hair. The collar of a crisp, white shirt cut a deep crease in his thick neck.
    He remind ed Carter of pictures of Leadbelly, the famous blues singer. Big, hard, with a life of being black in America written deep inside his face . Jordan was a serious man .
    Harker settled back in her chair. She said, " W e identified one of the men who came after you in California from prints on the wine bottle . He ' s Wu ' s gofer. "
    S tephanie tapped on her keyboard . A picture came up on the big monitor .
    " That ' s him, " Carter said, " the one who tossed the grenade. U gly bastard, isn ' t he? "
    Jordan cleared his throat and pointed at the screen . " His name is Choy Gang. He's a real piece of work. The night you were in that mine a CHP patrolman made a routine stop outside San Francisco . He wrote up a safety violation . W hen he gave it to the driver he noticed something and went for his gun. The driver blew him away, three shots, nine mil. The camera in the cruiser taped the whole thing. "
    On screen, the video played. A n arm and part of a face came out of the driver ' s window . T here were three flashes as the gun fired and the officer went down. The video was badly lit but the hard looking face behind the gun was Choy 's .
    Jordan continued. " We got lucky and found a print on an empty casing. They usually burn away, but we've got a new process that sometimes can bring them