Читать книгу Out Of Time - Cliff Ryder - Страница 16

Alex gritted his teeth as the small plane touched down at the airport in Beijing. Jin was a terrific pilot, but Alex’s legs ached all the way to the bone and his head had begun to throb. The flight had been uneventful and smooth, but he still longed to stretch his legs. There was simply no way to get comfortable in the small space of his seat.

Smaller aircraft landed in the back of the airport, where most of the freight lines came in. There was a customs office right there, and each plane was inspected before anyone or anything was released. Jin unbuckled and grabbed his clipboard. He stretched for a moment, and then opened the hatch.

“We must stay on board until the customs officer has signed off on the cargo.” Jin sat down at the edge of the gangway and let his legs swing.

“What about my bag?” Alex asked.

“They won’t look. They are only interested in inspecting the cargo. Your bag is in the middle of all those boxes. They will test a few boxes from the front, a few from the rear, and then they will sign off and move on. I have an excellent reputation.”

“How long does it usually take?” Alex stood and stretched a bit, then paced from side to side, trying to walk off the pain in his legs.

“Not so long. There are only a few planes here today.”

The gangway creaked and Alex’s eyes turned toward the hatch. A heavyset Chinese man stood in the doorway, a clipboard in one hand and his hat in the other. He and Jin exchanged words and clipboards and then the customs officer began slitting open boxes.

Once he had inspected four boxes, he paused at a fifth, going so far as to remove the back from the television, checking inside for something. He nodded, satisfied, and then wrote something on his clipboard. Alex stayed casual. Jin knew to expect this and how to handle it so there should be nothing to worry about.

More words were exchanged and Jin turned to Alex and said, “He needs to see your passport.”

“Oh! Sure!” Alex whipped out his passport and presented it to the officer. Of course, his real name wasn’t on the form. For this trip, he was Donald Vance, living in South Korea on a work and education visa.

The officer stamped the passport and handed it back to Alex. “Thank you, Mr. Vance,” he said in heavily accented English.

A small truck drove up and a large man jumped out, walking purposefully toward the plane. Jin stepped toward Alex, but kept his eyes on the new arrival. “We must be very cautious now,” he hissed. “Don’t do anything unless I tell you.”

He spoke rapidly to the customs inspector, but his voice only carried far enough for Alex to catch a couple of words. Alex eyed his bag in the middle of the larger boxes, knowing that it would take him precious time to get to it and make some use of it if the situation turned violent.

“That’s Yau Sin,” Jin whispered. “Chinese Mafia. They run the inspection ports. You can get most anything in or out if you pay their fee.”

Yau pulled a semiautomatic pistol from a holster beneath his suit and pointed it at the inspection officer, directing him toward one of the televisions.

“If you don’t pay their fee,” Jin added, his voice hushed, “then very bad things happen to you.”

The inspector walked over to the TV he’d examined. He nodded to the back and Yau looked inside. He looked back up and without another word shot the inspection officer point-blank in the chest.

He raised the pistol and pointed it toward Jin and Alex. Alex knew he could never reach a weapon in time. Yau walked closer and pushed the pistol into Jin’s side.

“Leave the box, get rid of the body,” he said in Mandarin.

Jin nodded his understanding, never saying a word.

Yau slipped the gun back into its holster, crossed over to his truck, got in and drove off of the tarmac.

Alex looked at Jin and said, “What the hell was that all about?”

“The inspector hasn’t been paying them their fees. Nothing crosses the border without their okay.”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing,” Jin said. “As soon as the truck gets here, we will have to unload the televisions. You will go with the driver when we are done. He is your asset for this trip and he knows far more about the facility than I do.”

“Is that the truck we’re waiting for?”

Jin looked past Alex to the tarmac beyond. “That is the truck, yes. It will only take us a few moments to load the boxes. Then you can be off.” He nodded curtly and waved at the truck.

A man climbed out of the truck and met Alex and Jin at the bottom of the gangway, walking past the body with barely a glance. He shook Jin’s hand and smiled. “This is Donald Vance,” Jin said, stepping to the side. “He’ll be leaving with you when we’re done.”

“Pleased to meet you,” the man said, giving a slight bow at the waist. “I am called Liang.”

“Thank you for your help, Liang.” Alex sized the man up quickly. He was much larger than Jin and appeared to be only part Asian. He was well muscled and had an economy of motion that reminded Alex of Brin and the way she moved about the lab when she was working. There was something else in his movements, too. Liang moved like a trained martial artist, and Alex knew that he would be a dangerous man in a fight. And yet there was something in the man’s eyes that appeared gentle. His gaze made Alex trust him instantly.

True to his word, it didn’t take any longer than twenty minutes for the three of them to move the boxes into the large panel truck. Alex tossed his duffel bag into the truck and offered a handshake to Jin.

“Thanks for the ride, my friend. I’ll see you again soon, I hope.”