Free Shadow Train by J. Gabriel Gates

they are all liars, detective?”
    â€œWell, okay, sure,” Z stammered. “We noted some trees had been knocked down in the area. You’ll see that in the reports. Probably some stupid teenager’s cherry bomb or something. What does this have to do with your case, anyway? I thought you said this was a manhunt.”
    Hackett’s voice lowered in volume, so that Nass had to inch toward the source of the sound in order to hear him.
    â€œDetective, I’m sure you’ve heard in the movies where a spy says, ‘I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you’? Well, I’ll tell you this, but it’s absolutely classified. So if you repeat it to anyone . . .”
    â€œUnderstood,” Z interrupted gruffly. “I just want to be in the loop so I can cooperate with you, Agent Hackett, that’s all.”
    There was a pause and then Hackett continued. “The guy we’re looking for is a Chinese secret agent, specializing in advanced energy generation and weapons system technology. He works completely off the grid, and his men are insanely loyal. According to our reports, they operate almost like a cult. Now as lovely as Middleburg is, I don’t think Feng Xu and his agents are here looking to take a five-star Kansas vacation.”
    â€œSo what are they after?” Z asked. “It’s not like we have any advanced energy generation equipment or weapons systems in Middleburg—do we?”
    â€œThat’s what I intend to find out, detective. One thing all these kids’ stories have in common is some treasure—a ring—that exploded, releasing so much energy that it was detected from space. Whatever it was, it sounds like it vaporized this Raphael Kain kid. And before this ring surfaced, Chinese agents were combing the town looking for it. I think you can connect the dots.”
    â€œSo . . . what? You stopped the demolition in the Flats because you think the ring is still hidden there someplace?”
    â€œMy mission isn’t to find the ring,” Hackett said. “The witnesses all say it was destroyed in the blast, anyway. All I care about is capturing Feng Xu. He’s clearly here because he’s after something. Maybe it’s some technology associated with the ring, maybe something else. Whatever it is, I won’t allow one scrap of evidence to be destroyed until I’ve got him. That means nothing gets bulldozed, nothing gets renovated, and no one leaves town. I’ve already got more men en route, and we’re setting up checkpoints on all roads in and out of Middleburg.”
    â€œWhat about the Flats kid?” Z asked.
    â€œI’ll worry about him. Your job is now PR. As the investigation unfolds, residents are going to call with questions. Your job is to BS them until they stop asking. Got it?”
    â€œWhatever you say, Wade. I’m a team player.”
    Nass heard a groan of chairs scraping across the floor, as if both men had stood up from a table. A second later, he heard the door open, and Agent Hackett entered and flipped on the lights.
    Nass looked over and saw where the voices had been coming from: there was a hot-air vent in the floor right next to the spot where he’d passed out. The voices must have traveled to him through the heating duct. He was glad he’d heard the conversation, but he still wasn’t sure what to make of it—or what it would mean for him now.
    Hackett sat down in the room’s only chair once again and calmly flipped through a file as Nass sat up and squinted at him, his vision adjusting to the sudden glare.
    â€œWhat time is it?” he asked.
    Hackett ignored the question. “The statements of several witnesses mention a glowing ring of some kind that was seen on the night that Raphael Kain disappeared.”
    â€œYeah, there was a ring,” Nass confirmed.
    â€œAnd where is it now?”
    â€œIt disappeared. In the