Free Insider X by Dave Buschi

tucked in her clothes.
    She knew what was going to happen.  Or could imagine it, at least.  These men were like wolves.  And she was just a meal to them.  To be used for sport and fun.  And when they were done with her they would get from her everything she had: other names… who she was working for… whatever they thought she had… or whoever they thought she knew.
    After that—after she told them everything and anything to make them stop—she would just disappear.  She knew it when they turned onto this construction site.  They probably had a holding place here, possibly with others already “detained”.  Others facing the same fate as her.
    It was common knowledge in Brave New China: jobsites were often the disposing spots of choice.  So many buildings going up… so much concrete being poured.  The opportunity to transform the cities in more ways than one was not lost on the PLA.  They rounded up the dissidents that wouldn’t be missed.  Those whose voices were too small, or too insignificant to count.
    She’d disappear here.  Never to be heard from again.
    The car came to a stop in a cloud of dust.  There was a towering grey building in front of them.  The building appeared to be finished, or close to being finished.
    The men on either side of Na opened their doors.  One of the men held his door open for Na.  Na felt her legs go weak.
    “This way,” one of the men said.
    Be brave, little bird.  Na stepped out onto the dusty site.

 
     
    9
     
    Tower 9, Facility 67096
     
    THEY ENTERED AN empty lobby area that appeared to be almost finished.  Na smelled fresh paint and the wall to her right looked recently grouted.  The three men escorted Na through the large space over to a central bank of elevators.  Four sets of ornately detailed elevator doors in shiny chrome were either side.  There was no plastic sheeting on the floor in this section.  One of the men pushed an button.
    Na considered making a break for it, but the men were too close and all three looked to be in shape.  Even if she managed to dart away, Na didn’t think she could outrun them.  These weren’t the usual overweight enforcer types the PLA sometimes employed.  These men were younger and hadn’t packed on slabs of muscle and fat, yet.
    But she knew this might be her only chance to escape.  She tensed as the elevator arrow lit above one of the sets of doors.  The man next to her suddenly took hold of her arm.  His grip was firm; painfully firm.
    “You’re very lucky,” he said.  He extended his other hand, palm up, towards the open elevator cab.  “After you.”
    She stepped in and he released her bicep.  Maybe he’d sensed she was about to bolt?  Or maybe it was just to show his power over her.  Like he was saying with his grip:  You are nothing, little bird.
    He stepped in behind her.  The other two men didn’t enter, but stayed in the elevator lobby.  The man with her pulled a magnetic keycard from inside his jacket and swiped it over the reader.  He pushed the button for the top floor.  The doors closed and the elevator began to ascend.
    A pit formed in Na’s stomach as she looked blankly at the buttons designating the floors.  The buttons were all done as was customary for most tall buildings in mainland China.  There were no buttons that had the number four.  4, 14, 24, 34, 40 thru 49 and 54 were all missing.  So was ‘13’.
    Tetraphobia.  Fear of ‘4’.  Four when spoken in most local Chinese dialects sounded like the same word for “death”.  Pinyin.
    (x_x)
    Unlucky number, pinyin.  Omitting ‘13’ was a westernized thing that had taken root, as well.  Also unlucky number.  So skip that too.
    The superstition had an added benefit for some.  It was good for developers and real estate agents.  Not having those numbers always made buildings taller.  And the taller the better.  More money for them.  People liked to be up high and paid more money for units on higher