BLOOD DRAGON Read online

  “What would Ollie have seen that was worrying him?”

  “The way to engineer genetic manipulation. He was very good at building complex information systems to manipulate all the data that is required to understand the genetics of viruses, and how they interact with the human body. He extended that expertise to understanding and mapping how human genetics could be modified to fight virus-induced diseases.”

  Jack looked at his watch. It was already 10.30am and he had made little progress with his attempt to convince Hunter he had something concrete against Viro-Tech.

  “Would Ollie have tried to save data in the same way as you did?”

  “I’m sure he would have done. We both started talking about the issues we faced a couple of months back, because we knew we could trust each other.”

  “But he did not confirm that he had done so to you?”

  “We discussed preserving the data. But it was complicated to speak and Ollie was concerned he was being followed. I guess he was right.” Randy slumped against the headrest of the bed. He pulled an old tissue from his back pocket and blew his nose into what was left of it.

  “I’m sorry, pal … I didn’t mean to get to you.” Jack grabbed a chair and came to sit next to Randy.

  “I know. It’s just been a tough few months for a guy like me. I’m a biotech researcher … not a marine.”

  “And you’ve done really well. But is there anything else that could help me bring down this bastard Turner?”

  “Perhaps … perhaps … Ollie got the feeling Turner wanted to export the lab research to China. I don’t know where that lab would be located but Ollie was certain that that was the only way Viro-Tech could get away with their development plans.”

  Jack nodded. “How big would that lab have to be?”

  “Could be part of a bigger complex, but it would require the right specialist equipment … still I don’t know where that place could be.”

  It didn’t matter now. Jack knew where to look … Jared Turner had been making regular trips to one distinct location in China for the past few months.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  His Ducati was parked at the side of the building. Pole moved closer to the bike rack and parked in such a way that he could drive off quickly.

  Cora had done an excellent job at relaying the news. Ollie had woken up from his coma. It was unexpected, but the doctors were very positive about his progress. Even Branning was convinced. The discovery of the USB key had perhaps helped Cora to feel the joy she might otherwise have found difficult to summon.

  The registrar at UCH had also been most helpful. He called Cora at the time agreed beforehand. She played the game of surprise, and then of delighted.

  Pole rested the bike on its stand and leaned against it. He kept his helmet on. The intercom headset within it was connected to Andy’s radio. Everyone was in position: Andy in the hospital lobby, Mandy on the ward where Ollie was.

  Cora had planned a visit as soon as the ward was open, it was almost time. She had told as many friends as she could manage. She was hoping to visit him and speak to him in the morning.

  None of her friends had been told the truth: neither Charlie, Johnny, Beth nor Nat. All of them had taken to their Facebook page and other social media accounts to share the good news.

  Pole checked his watch again. Branning had just called in. They were on their way. Cora would be walking through the hospital doors within 20 minutes. Pole moved to the corner of the street. If something was to happen, it would be now. A couple of women matching the description of the woman they were tracking had entered the entrance to the tube at Balham an hour ago. His headset crackled a little as Andy’s voice came through.

  “The nurses are changing shift.”

  “Who is inside Ollie’s room at the moment?”

  “No one … PC William has stepped away as agreed.” Mandy’s voice was low. “I’m two doors away and I have a good view of the corridor that leads to his room.”

  “I have some movement …” Andy’s voice interrupted. “I see a tall woman that matches the description entering the building … she’s wearing a biker jacket and a rucksack. She’s just taking off her helmet.

  Andy closed his laptop, stood up and made his way to the bank of lifts. The doors closed before he could reach them without arousing suspicion. The woman had already stepped in, and disappeared behind the closing doors.

  “She’s going down to the basement.”

  “Mandy – did you get that?” Pole’s voice sounded a little fuzzy.

  “I have … is there anywhere she can change down there?”

  “Probably the toilets … From what I could see she is blonde with a short bob … but she may change her hairstyle.”

  More people came out of another lift. Andy hesitated. “I’m staying put on the ground floor.”

  They all remained quiet for a long 10 minutes. Pole checked his mobile a few times. The woman needed time to change clothes, and would need to wait for all the people who might have seen her entering a cubicle, to have left.

  “A new nurse is coming my way.” Mandy’s voice was the first to break the silence.

  The registrar had provided Pole and his team with photos of the female staff who would be coming on duty for the morning shift. No one had called in sick, there would be no new faces on the ward.

  “Damn … it’s one of the regular nurses.”

  “Patience. She’ll turn up.” Pole’s voice pacified everyone. He was not so sure himself. It had to work, but it was still a gamble.

  Branning’s voice came in to confirm that he and Cora were now on Euston Road, approaching the UCH building.

  “Come on …” Pole mumbled.

  “Sir … most of the nurses have arrived … all regulars.”

  “Shit … this is cutting it fine. She’s got to act now, otherwise it will be too late.”

  “She’s here … she hasn’t changed her hair … blonde, short bob, really tall … and not on the registrar’s list.”

  Pole could hear Mandy moving around. “She’s gone towards the nurses’ room … No, she just walked past it.”

  Mandy kept up her commentary. “I can’t see her now, so either she has gone into one of the patient’s rooms or … the medication room.”

  Pole moved back to his bike. “Is there any way you can get closer to the medication room?”

  “It’s at the far end of the corridor. If I do, I’ll lose sight of Ollie’s room.”

  “What now?”

  “Nothing … I can’t see her anywhere …”

  Branning’s voice interrupted. “We’re just walking out of the car park and entering the reception area.”

  “Just hold back a little, Branning, we have movement near Ollie’s room.” Pole cut in. “Mandy? … PC William?”

  “Yes, Sir,” Officer William responded.

  “Can you see Ollie Wilson’s room?”

  “I can’t … I’m standing away at the moment, as instructed.”

  “Has Mandy moved back towards the room?”

  “I can’t see her, Sir.”

  “DS Branning, where are you?”

  “We are just entering the building, but we can delay going up.”

  “Get there right now … Mandy is in trouble.”

  Branning didn’t answer. His large frame sprang into action. He placed his foot between the doors of the next lift about to leave for the upper floors.

  “Mandy … do you read?”

  “PC William … go back to Ollie’s room. Check he’s okay.”

  “I can get there too, Gov.” Andy had started to move towards the lift as soon as he heard Branning’s instructions.

  “Sorry, Andy … you stay put. We can’t let her escape this time.”

  “Mandy …” Branning’s voice was anxious. “Are you okay
?”

  “Sorry, Sir … she must have been hiding … she’s got into Ollie’s room.”

  The sound of broken glass and metal resounded in Pole’s ear.

  Someone was running. It had to be Branning.

  PC William’s intercom had gone dead too.

  Pole hesitated. He could ask Andy to join them but he needed him to identify the woman.

  “Branning, do you need backup?”

  “Stay where you are.” Branning was shouting. “You don’t need to do this … I said …”

  Movement, broken glass … people thrashing around, voices grunting in the effort of a fight. A body crashing down … the sound of footsteps running away and fading in the distance.

  “Andy … she’s getting away.” Pole straddled his bike and fired it up. “She won’t be taking the lift or going through the main door … where is the emergency exit from Ollie’s wing?”

  “At the back of the building … retrace your steps and turn right into Grafton Way.”

  “Branning is down. Take over the co-ordination inside the hospital … I’m going after her.”

  Pole turns the bike in one sweep against the oncoming traffic. He accelerates, cars sounding their horns at him. He moves into Grafton Way at full speed. There are a couple of bikes parked at the back of the building.

  A tall woman wearing a nurses’s uniform runs towards them. She has thrown away her wig and blonde curls are loose down her back. She has picked up her biker jacket, ready for escape. Her helmet is secured on the handlebar of her bike. With a controlled move she frees it and slams it on her head.

  She straddles the bike just as Pole has only a hundred yards to reach her.

  She has noticed his Ducati rushing towards her. She throttles up and launches back down the street taking a sharp left into the one-way system.

  Her bike only just misses a bus that brakes to avoid her. Pole accelerates too, driving against the flow of traffic.

  She’s driving down Tottenham Court Road against oncoming cars. This is complete madness. Pole has no choice but to follow. She swerves between lorries and buses with surprising ease. Pole’s Ducati is less manoeuvrable or perhaps he has less experience of escaping pursuit. He loses ground.

  The crossroads between Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street is approaching fast. From a distance Pole can see the lights have turned amber, within a few seconds the cross traffic will start flowing across her path … there is no way through.

  The woman throttles up.

  “Shit … she won’t make it.” But Pole accelerates too. In an instant he will have to apply the brakes if he is to miss the cars that are about to drive across his path.

  “No …” Pole shouts despite himself. Two buses following one another have moved across swiftly. Her bike spins round, attempting to squeeze into the small gap between the two buses. She avoids the first, attempts a U-turn to avoid the second … too late.

  Pole applies the brakes as hard as he can without risking being thrown over the handlebars. He too has waited too long. Pole throws himself off the bike, rolling onto his side, a human spinning ball.

  * * *

  “There is a stop in Shanghai, both ways.” Nancy had just finished a late lunch with Philippe. They had visited his Gallery in Hong Kong where the staff remained friendly but subdued, following Amy’s disappearance.

  Nancy had now returned to the Mandarin Oriental.

  Licot had agreed to take her to Sichuan. He hadn’t been sure whether it could be arranged so quickly. but it seemed whoever his contact was, their network had managed to help with the formalities.

  “I usually deal with people coming out here, and I visit regularly on my own account as well when I lecture, so an extra trip shouldn’t raise too much suspicion.”

  “And what is my storyline?”

  “You’re a collector – which you are – and I am introducing you to new emerging local artists with a view to purchasing some pieces.”

  “Very plausible …”

  “As long as they don’t ask why in Sichuan and not in Beijing … it will be fine.”

  “And as long as they don’t connect me with my father … I get it.”

  “They will, but it will take a few days. You haven’t set foot in China ever since you left so we have a bit of extra leeway.”

  “I’m happy for you to pretend you didn’t know I was his daughter.”

  “Trust me, if they make the connection, they’ll soon locate the articles I’ve written about him. Anyway, no need to panic … yet.”

  “Are you certain you need to come with me?”

  “Positive … and I haven’t been to Sichuan for a while.”

  “Very well … I’ll meet you at Hong Kong International Airport tomorrow, at 7am.”

  Nancy stood up from the seat she had chosen in the hotel’s lobby to make her call. She had half a day to get ready for a trip back to a country she had not visited for over 40 years. She reached her suite, flashed the key card in front of the electronic eye of the door and pushed open its heavy wooden panel.

  The maid had drawn the curtains open across the spectacular views of Hong Kong Bay.

  Nancy dropped her rucksack in the corridor and strode towards the windows.

  A large hand fell over her mouth and an arm wrapped itself around her torso.

  “Please, don’t scream … I need to speak to you … about Viro-Tech.”

  Nancy slammed her elbow into the man’s stomach. He grunted but only eased off his hold slowly. She freed herself in a sharp move.

  “Who the bloody hell are you?” Nancy’s voice shook with anger. She scanned the room for a possible weapon.

  “We have a common acquaintance and a common target …” Jack raised his hands to show he was not armed.

  “I’m listening.” Nancy retreated towards the bar where she had spotted a few heavy bottles that might do nicely if she had to put up a fight.

  “Inspector Jonathan Pole and Jared Turner.”

  Nancy frowned and ran a critical eye over Jack.

  “I’ve seen you before … you were on the flight from Heathrow to Hong Kong.”

  “That’s right.” He gave her an appreciative nod. “Well spotted.”

  “Flattery will get you nowhere … you could have picked up those names from a multitude of sources, not necessarily friendly to me.”

  “Perhaps Inspector Pole has mentioned a British connection in a particular agency …”

  Jack’s bluntness surprised her. “Yet again … no real evidence you are connected even loosely to that agency.” Nancy wondered whether the price MI6 would be asking for the information she had received, was due.

  “You’re looking for your father who disappeared 30 years ago on a trip back to mainland China. You have been given information by a couple of contacts at MI6.”

  “And there is no free lunch, of course?”

  Jack smiled. “There never is in this business, but at least I can tell you a lot more about the Ollie Wilson case. Randy Zhang is now safely on his way back to the US.”

  “That’s not going to go down very well with Jared Turner.” Nancy relaxed a fraction.

  “He won’t discover that just yet. Still, we haven’t got enough to nail him for what he’s done … We need … I need harder evidence before my government agrees to grab this guy.”

  “Viro-Tech is a private company … so unless you can show there is …” Nancy stopped, pondered for a moment and shot Jack a sideways look. “You want to force the US and UK governments to recognise that the research Ollie and Randy were doing is of national interest … in other words, no longer suitable for transfer to an external power.”

  It was Jack’s turn to be surprised. “I’m … impressed.”

  “I have represented very many different types of interests in my career, Mr …?”r />
  “Jack.”

  “Jack … and I’m pretty good at getting to the crux of a matter quickly.”

  Jack nodded. “So I’ve been told … but it’s good to see it first hand.”

  Nancy straightened up and gave up the idea of throwing a bottle of Scotch or two at Jack. She indicated they should sit down.

  “What do you need from me?”

  “I believe you are on your way to Sichuan.”

  Nancy paused on her way to the couch. “Do I need to be concerned that agencies around the globe are aware of my travel arrangements?”

  “Nope. You’re not being tracked by the Chinese … of that I am pretty certain.”

  Nancy breathed in slowly. This was not entirely reassuring but it would have to do.

  “The only way we are going to convince our respective governments to take the implications of the Viro-Tech research seriously, is to find out details about their planned operation in China.”

  Nancy sat down opposite Jack, listening.

  “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not taking a scenic tour round that country. I am in and out as quickly as possible and I am certainly not going to Beijing. The only place I intend to go to is Chengdu.”

  “And Chengdu is exactly the place we are looking at.”

  * * *

  His entire body screamed in pain. He could hear through his helmet someone speaking to him. Pole sat up and raised his visor. He nodded to the man who had crouched near him, trying to help. The comms with his team were shattered. He stood up on unsteady legs.

  “Perhaps you should wait until the ambulance arrives.”

  “I need to check that woman.” Pole staggered to the scene of the crash. His bike was now trapped underneath the front of one of the buses and the woman’s bike had lodged itself underneath the other bus. Pole hobbled as quickly as he could over to the place where her bike was now immobile.

  A crowd of pedestrians were assembled around a body that had rolled near the curb, lying on the ground motionless.

  Pole took out his police ID and asked people to give way. She was on her back, her jacket had been turned almost inside out and the nurse’s uniform was in shreds.