Read Online Hong Kong by Stephen Coonts - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Stephen Coonts
Tags: Fiction, Suspense, Americans, Thrillers, Espionage, Political, Conspiracies, china, Grafton; Jake (Fictitious character)
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Bank of the Orient debacle and his summary of Governor Sun's statement.
"The statement was really an order telling you how to write the story, wasn't it?"
"Yes, I suppose." Rip took a big swallow of beer, then stared glumly at his toes.
"The government may shut down the newspaper. You've been expecting it."
"I know. I just kept hoping it wouldn't happen." He swept his hand at the city before them. "This is our city, our place. We have done nothing wrong. The paper merely prints the news in a fair, unbiased manner. What's wrong with that?"
Sue Lin didn't reply. "Perhaps they won't shut you down."
Rip sipped some more beer. "It's time we thought about leaving."
"We can go anytime," his wife responded without enthusiasm. They both held Australian passports. "But I don't want to go without Mother. You know that. And Mother won't leave Hong Kong."
"She always said she wouldn't leave, sure, but this place is going to explode," Rip argued. It was hell trying to use logic on women who didn't want to hear it. "This isn't the city that it used to be. She must see that! And she had money in the Bank of the Orient. In the middle of listening to the reporters and writing the story, that thought ran through my head."
"Money or no money, she won't leave without my brother. Absolutely not."
"I guarantee you he won't leave alive. Not a chance in hell."
"He's all she has from her early life."
"Bull! She has both of you! I know there were three other children, but that was thirty-some years ago. They are adults with children of their own or they're dead." "Rip, you don't understand."
"I do understand. And I think it's time your mother listened to reason. When this place explodes, your brother is going to be leading the revolution. The government is going to figure out who he is—who his mother is, who his sister is, who his brother-in-law is. While Wu is busy answering destiny's call, the Communists are going to put you, me, and your mother against the wall and shoot us dead. We're running out of time! If we don't leave we'll die here. We've got to get the hell out of China!"
"Don't be ugly."
"Why don't you listen to reason?"
Sue Lin held out her hand. He took it.
"Our world is coming apart," Rip told her. "Everything is cracking, breaking, shattering into thousands of pieces. I feel helpless, doomed. At any second the great quake will come and this little world where you and I have been so happy is going to cease to exist."
Tears ran down her cheeks. She turned her back on him and wiped them away.
They were sitting side by side, holding hands and looking at the city, when the cook called from the greenhouse and told them dinner was ready.
CHAPTER FOUR
Tommy Carmellini was waiting in their hotel room when the Graftons returned after dinner. He was sitting in the darkness well back from the window.
"Did the maid let you in?" Jake asked sharply.
"No, sir. I let myself in. I didn't want the staff to know I was here."
"Next time wait in the lobby."
"Right."
"Callie, this is Tommy Carmellini."
"Mrs. Grafton, you can call me Jack Carrigan. That's the name I travel under."
"So you have two names, Mr. Carmellini?"
"Sometimes more," he admitted, grinning.
"Most people are stuck with only one," Callie said, "the one their parents picked for them. It must be nice to have a name that you pick yourself and can toss when you tire of it."
"That is one of the advantages," Carmellini agreed cheerfully.
"I brought the tape player." He gestured toward the bed, where the device rested. "I don't speak Chinese. To me it just sounds like a bunch of birds twittering."
Jake flipped on the rest of the lights as Callie seated herself on the
bed across from Carmellini. She eyed the tape player distastefully. "What's on the tape?" she asked.
Carmellini leaned forward and looked into her eyes. "A CIA officer was murdered just hours after he planted two bugs and a recorder in the library of a man named China Bob Chan. Two nights ago China
"The statement was really an order telling you how to write the story, wasn't it?"
"Yes, I suppose." Rip took a big swallow of beer, then stared glumly at his toes.
"The government may shut down the newspaper. You've been expecting it."
"I know. I just kept hoping it wouldn't happen." He swept his hand at the city before them. "This is our city, our place. We have done nothing wrong. The paper merely prints the news in a fair, unbiased manner. What's wrong with that?"
Sue Lin didn't reply. "Perhaps they won't shut you down."
Rip sipped some more beer. "It's time we thought about leaving."
"We can go anytime," his wife responded without enthusiasm. They both held Australian passports. "But I don't want to go without Mother. You know that. And Mother won't leave Hong Kong."
"She always said she wouldn't leave, sure, but this place is going to explode," Rip argued. It was hell trying to use logic on women who didn't want to hear it. "This isn't the city that it used to be. She must see that! And she had money in the Bank of the Orient. In the middle of listening to the reporters and writing the story, that thought ran through my head."
"Money or no money, she won't leave without my brother. Absolutely not."
"I guarantee you he won't leave alive. Not a chance in hell."
"He's all she has from her early life."
"Bull! She has both of you! I know there were three other children, but that was thirty-some years ago. They are adults with children of their own or they're dead." "Rip, you don't understand."
"I do understand. And I think it's time your mother listened to reason. When this place explodes, your brother is going to be leading the revolution. The government is going to figure out who he is—who his mother is, who his sister is, who his brother-in-law is. While Wu is busy answering destiny's call, the Communists are going to put you, me, and your mother against the wall and shoot us dead. We're running out of time! If we don't leave we'll die here. We've got to get the hell out of China!"
"Don't be ugly."
"Why don't you listen to reason?"
Sue Lin held out her hand. He took it.
"Our world is coming apart," Rip told her. "Everything is cracking, breaking, shattering into thousands of pieces. I feel helpless, doomed. At any second the great quake will come and this little world where you and I have been so happy is going to cease to exist."
Tears ran down her cheeks. She turned her back on him and wiped them away.
They were sitting side by side, holding hands and looking at the city, when the cook called from the greenhouse and told them dinner was ready.
CHAPTER FOUR
Tommy Carmellini was waiting in their hotel room when the Graftons returned after dinner. He was sitting in the darkness well back from the window.
"Did the maid let you in?" Jake asked sharply.
"No, sir. I let myself in. I didn't want the staff to know I was here."
"Next time wait in the lobby."
"Right."
"Callie, this is Tommy Carmellini."
"Mrs. Grafton, you can call me Jack Carrigan. That's the name I travel under."
"So you have two names, Mr. Carmellini?"
"Sometimes more," he admitted, grinning.
"Most people are stuck with only one," Callie said, "the one their parents picked for them. It must be nice to have a name that you pick yourself and can toss when you tire of it."
"That is one of the advantages," Carmellini agreed cheerfully.
"I brought the tape player." He gestured toward the bed, where the device rested. "I don't speak Chinese. To me it just sounds like a bunch of birds twittering."
Jake flipped on the rest of the lights as Callie seated herself on the
bed across from Carmellini. She eyed the tape player distastefully. "What's on the tape?" she asked.
Carmellini leaned forward and looked into her eyes. "A CIA officer was murdered just hours after he planted two bugs and a recorder in the library of a man named China Bob Chan. Two nights ago China
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