she stood up. Smoothing out the wrinkles gathering on her jeans, Layne paced around the large, enclosed area. “What did they tell you about the Chinese, Matt? Anything?”
He lost some of his humor and sobered. “Let’s put it this way: The lao-pan isn’t a very nice guy. If the pirates don’t like you, they get rid of you. They don’t have many morals.”
“Oh, they have morals; it’s just that you wouldn’t agree with them—or with how they see the rest of us.”
“I get the feeling the Chinese don’t like Americans.”
Layne did a few minor stretching exercises to loosen her muscles. “It extends beyond Americans, Matt, so don’t feel alone. The Chinese feel no one but their own kind can understand them. And anyone invading their country is considered a ‘foreign devil.’”
“Is that stigma ever erased?”
Layne shook her head. “No. As much as the lao-pan respects me, I’m sure he still distrusts and dislikes me because I’m not Chinese.”
“And yet, he made you part of their clan.”
“It’s an honor, to be sure.”
“The alternative isn’t particularly inviting.”
“Yes, they’d lop off my head.” She rubbed her arm, feeling goose pimples forming. “Kang is very clear about his rights as leader of his clan. They don’t regard killing someone with the same horror or outrage that an American would.”
“I suppose that’s all tied up with their Far Eastern philosophy of reincarnation?”
“Partly.”
Matt sat up and folded his hands between his thighs, a serious look on his face. “Are you sure they won’t hurt you, Layne?”
Layne stopped her pacing, giving him a startled look. His voice held a depth of worry and protectiveness that sent her heart reeling. “As long as I play by their code and laws, the lao-pan wouldn’t harm me. Why?”
He cocked his head, a cobalt darkness in his narrowing eyes. “Because there’s no way in the world I’m going to lose you, Layne. This mission is dangerous at every turn.” He briefly clenched his hands together, the knuckles whitening.
“I’ll be okay,” she assured him. “But it would help to know something about the mission, Matt. Can you tell me anything?”
His features became closed and unreadable. “Believe me, Layne, I’d tell you if I could.”
“Don’t give me that compartmentalized policy!” Her eyes grew amber with fury. “If I’m sticking my neck out on the same line as you, I should know what I’m walking into!”
Matt nodded. “Under any other circumstance, I’d agree with you, Layne.” He motioned for her to come and sit down next to him. At first, she just stared at him, then finally acquiesced. “Look,” he began in a quiet voice, “British Special Intelligence is in on this. And so is the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Not to mention the other side of the coin, which consists of KGB and People’s Republic of China agents. Then we have the unknown entity in the guise of the pirates. As you said before, they live by their own codes and laws. They owe allegiance to no one.”
“Except to themselves. You’re sure that People’s Republic of China has agents trying to find whatever we’re after?” Layne asked.
“Positive.” He leaned back, closing his eyes momentarily. “Right now we’re walking into the biggest game in football.”
Layne tilted her head. “The Super Bowl?”
Matt opened his eyes, staring directly at her. A wry smile surfaced. “I’ll be the quarterback and you be my wide receiver. We’ll win this game.”
Her returning laugh was soft and lilting, stroking him like the delicate brush of a flower petal against his flesh. “Remember, I grew up in the Orient. I’m afraid I never liked football. Mind telling me what it’s about so that I have a more complete picture of what we’re getting into?”
Matt warmed to her team spirit. Layne could have said “what I’m getting into,” instead, she’d automatically included him. That was good. It might save their lives at some point in the future. “As a kid I played football. I was a quarterback in high school.”
“Sounds like you’re good at being a quarterback.”
“I am.”
“And were you a state champion?” Layne guessed. With his natural athletic grace, she imagined him being highly competitive.
“I usually won my games.” Matt grinned, then sobered. “And in this game, it’s you and me on one team and the pirates on the other. Only they’ll be throwing bullets or knives instead of a harmless ball.”
Her flesh grew cool, and Layne lost her smile. “What are our chances, Matt?”
He heard the tremor of fear veiled in her husky voice. “Better with you along, that’s for sure.”
“Don’t evade my question. That’s a Company tactic.”
Matt winced inwardly at the pleading in Layne’s voice. “All right,” he began grimly, “we stand a thirty-seven percent chance of completing this mission.”
“That’s what the computer has projected?”
“Yes.”
“That still doesn’t answer my question entirely.”
His gaze rested on her. Again, Matt saw the flicker of a woman who could possess great leadership ability if she chose to bring it out and utilize that facet of herself. “We could get killed by KGB or PRC or the pirates.”
“Not the pirates.”
Grimly, Matt pursed his lips into a thinner line. “Look, we’re not even sure if your lao-pan has what we want. There are other pirate clans out there in those hundreds of islands. And not all of them are friendly with one another. If it has fallen into other hands, we may need the lao-pan’s help in getting it from another of his factions. That would mean exposing ourselves to yet another enemy. It’s not a pretty picture, Layne.”
“Dammit, tell me what ‘it’ is, Matt! I’m tired of this pussy-footing around the object or thing we’re supposed to get or find.”
“You’ll know soon enough after we contact the lao-pan, Layne. But not until then.”
She glared at him. “Well, I’ve got some of it figured out. You’re a pilot. Someone who’s testing state-of-the-art aircraft. The Company wouldn’t be sending you over here unless a plane of some sort was involved. I haven’t seen anything in the paper to indicate that one of our aircraft has been shot down. So, it must be a reconnaissance aircraft. Or something our government was secretly testing that couldn’t be tracked by radar. The RAVEN bomber is such a plane.”
Matt gave her a grudging look of admiration. “Your father didn’t raise you to be a dummy, did he?”
“My
