False Horizon - Alex Archer [74]
Guge looked up at Annja. “You don’t understand what’s happening here. You don’t get it.”
“That’s our point. You’re going to tell us now.”
Guge shook his head. “She’ll kill me if I tell you.”
Annja leaned in closer to his face. “And I will kill you right now if you don’t tell me exactly what I want to know.”
Guge looked at her and then nodded. “Very well.”
Annja leaned back. “First, where is Tuk’s cell phone?”
Guge gestured at his right leg. “In my pocket. The cargo pocket halfway down my leg.”
Annja felt around for the phone and found it. She handed it to Tuk. “Call Garin. Find out where he is and if he’s any closer to finding a way to get through to this place.”
Guge laughed. “He’ll never find it. It’s too well hidden.”
“You thought I wouldn’t be able to find the cell release for Tuk and I found that easily enough. Garin’s a pretty sharp guy. Something tells me he might just figure it out even without our help.”
Guge looked up at her with hatred in his eyes. “You’ll never leave here alive, Annja Creed.”
“Why not?”
“Because this is all about you. From the top down, this is all about you. Don’t you get it yet?”
Tuk looked up from the phone. “I’m not getting a signal.”
Annja frowned. “I thought that thing could get reception anywhere?”
“I thought so, too. But the walls of this place must be extra thick or something.”
Guge laughed. “They are thick. You’re inside a mountain. You won’t be able to reach anyone by phone while you’re in here.”
“We need to get outside,” Annja said. “You’ll get a signal out there.”
Guge moaned. “Good luck. The alarm will have already gone out and you’ll get a very different reception than the one we staged for you this evening.”
“What do you mean this is all about me?” Annja asked.
Guge shrugged. “Well, in truth, it’s not all about you. You are just one person, after all. But combined with everything else, we thought this would be a very nice way to take care of some loose ends all at once.”
Annja regarded him for a moment. She needed Garin here. But Tuk couldn’t reach Garin unless they went outside. But outside meant more troops presumably. At the very least, Hsu Xiao would be waiting for them.
Annja made a decision and dragged Guge to his feet. Instantly, as weight came down on his hobbled knee, he shrieked. “I can’t walk on that leg.”
Tuk looked up. “What are you doing?”
“We need him to keep us alive. If we go outside without him, they’ll shoot us. At least with Guge, we can keep them from unleashing a lead shower on us.”
“You think that will work?”
Annja shrugged. “I really don’t know. But I’m running out of ideas.”
Guge leaned against the computer desk and gritted his teeth. “They won’t hesitate to kill me to get to you, Annja. You’ve got too high a bounty on your head for them to even blink at taking me out.”
Annja shoved him toward the doorway. “Well, maybe we’ll just go outside and test that theory of yours, shall we?”
“It will be the last thing you do.”
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that before,” Annja said. She looked at Tuk. “Better grab some firepower. Bring both rifles and the magazines. This thing could get really hot.”
Tuk bent and scooped up the guns and ammunition. When he was ready he nodded at Annja.
Annja shoved Guge forward. “All right, old man, let’s get going. Something tells me things are about to get interesting. And you can spill all your secrets on the way out.”
28
Annja led Guge into the corridor and back down the slope toward the opening near the prison cell. As they walked, Tuk brought up the rear, with the two AKs dangling from his shoulders.
“Tell me what this is about,” Annja demanded.
“It’s about you dying, Annja Creed,” Guge said. “We’ve known about you for a while now.”
“Who has known about me?”
“Various members of the Chinese intelligence service.”
“You mean the whole of the Beijing political apparatus?”
Guge laughed. “Of course not. Only a few select members. Can you imagine how crazy it would look if we went with this before the premier