False Horizon - Alex Archer [54]
Annja glanced at Tuk. He looked positively embarrassed. Annja sighed and waved it off with her hand. “All right, fine. Whatever. What’s he been doing for you, anyway?”
“Keeping track of you.”
Annja’s eyes flashed back at Tuk with murderous intent. “He’s been following me? So that’s why he was in the airplane. He told me he was a drunk and fell asleep trying to get over a hangover.”
“You were too smart to fall for that, Annja. You never believed it from the moment he told you so stop pretending to be angry now that I’ve confirmed it. It’s unbecoming.”
Annja felt her blood pressure rising. She glanced around and then decided that Shangri-La likely didn’t have any heavy bags hanging off of trees that she could pummel for a solid hour. “Why has he been following me? What’s the big deal?”
“I asked him to look after you so I could make certain you were safe.”
“I’m in danger?”
Garin laughed. “Annja, you are very rarely not in danger in that so-called life of yours. Most of the time, I believe you’re miraculously lucky to walk down the street without someone dropping a piano on you.” He paused. “It amazes me you even manage any type of social life at all.”
Annja smirked. “Who said I have one of those?”
“I’m being kind, my dear.”
Annja nodded. “You’d better explain yourself, Garin. I’m not liking the way this conversation is headed.”
“Tuk’s been with you since you landed the other day. I set it up well ahead of time, but it was necessary for me to keep tabs on you. I believe you’ve stumbled into something that you don’t fully understand. And for purposes best known to myself, I find it necessary to make sure you stay safe.”
“I thought it was because of my sparkling personality.”
“More likely your spectacular ass.”
Annja blushed again. “Garin, is there a point to this conversation or is all this just making you feel good about yourself?”
“I just informed Tuk that the woman you saw in Tsing’s apartment the other night works for Chinese intelligence.”
“Taipei or Beijing? There’s a difference.”
“Beijing.”
“Oh.”
“And she is an expert assassin. If she’s been let loose from her cage, you can bet that it is because there’s a major target in play. I have no idea right now who that might be. It could be you. It could be Tuk. It might be someone I don’t even know about yet. But considering that she was positioned near Tsing, it’s more than likely it’s someone involved in your little jaunt to discover Shangri-La.”
Annja frowned. She never truly trusted Garin because of all the times he’d conned her in the past. And yet, when he told her certain facts, there did seem to be an element of truth to them. The key with Garin was figuring out which nuggets were true and which ones were bogus.
“All right, so where do we go from here?” she asked.
“I need to see you.”
Annja smirked. “Here? You want to come here?”
“That would be optimal, yes.”
Annja shook her head. “I can’t tell you the first thing about getting here. As far as I know, we could have been taken here in a time machine.”
“You weren’t,” Garin said. “If there was a time machine on this planet, I would know about it.”
Annja raised an eyebrow. Was that just one of those things he said in passing or was there some truth to that statement? She shook her head. “What I mean to say is, I don’t know how we came to be here. I’m sure Tuk will verify this for you.”
“He did. Regardless, I need to get there. So I’ve instructed Tuk to figure it out and then call me back.”
“Where are you now?”
“Jomsom. I’m close. But for all I know, the assassin could be closer.”
“Great.”
Garin paused. “Listen to me, Annja. I know that we haven’t always seen eye to eye in the past. I understand that my motivations may not coincide with your own. Despite that fact, I am being very serious when I tell you that there is something going on here that I don’t fully understand.”
“All right.”
“Tuk tells me you were shot down by a missile. Is that right?”
Annja nodded. “I’m no