Free Shadow Soldier by Dana Marton Page B

her—the fluidity of her stride, the easy flow of limbs with which she accomplished even the most ordinary tasks. Probably came from her Tai Chi practice. He wondered if she’d gotten into the habit of her daily morning exercise while she lived in China.
    She moved on to the kitchen and, to his regret, out of sight. Pots rattled. Dinner? He’d forgotten that neither of them had eaten since lunch, eight hours ago. Now that the noises filtering in from the kitchen reminded him, his stomach growled for attention. After countless months of existing on MREs, he would have given anything for a home-cooked meal.
    He fought the urge to go in there to watch her. Instead, he went outside to check on the sensors he’d set around the perimeter of her property and added a few extras, wishing the Colonel would call with an update. He would have liked to know more about what the captured gunman had said.
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    T HE G ENERAL SET DOWN his teacup and turned his head to escape the pungent odor of its contents. The mixture of Chinese herbs was great for his headaches, but the taste was hard to tolerate. But then,one often had to put up with a certain amount of unpleasantness to get results. “Are you sure?”
    â€œYes, General.”
    Was it a trap? He had hoped his plan would work, but hadn’t expected Nicola back so fast. She’d been hidden somewhere near. They committed their first mistake—underestimated their enemy. Good position for him to be in. “Must not miss this time. Move as soon as you are ready.”
    â€œYes, General.”
    He pushed the cup away. He wouldn’t need the rest of his herbal tea tonight. Good news was the best medicine.
    Soon victory would be his, and China would be free. He regretted that things had to come this far, but it wasn’t his fault. The U.S. government was to blame. He had asked for help nicely, he and thousands of other Chinese. But the U.S. refused to help the Chinese people to break free from the tyranny of their communist government.
    There was too much money invested in China by American businessmen. The last thing they wanted was political upheaval and uncertainty. And powerful businessmen had powerful lobbies. They paid for elections. They owned senators. And for that, help was withheld from his people.
    He was done begging.
    If the U.S. had taught the world one thing in thepast few years, it was that countries that harbored terrorists and were the source of terrorist activity, would be dealt with swiftly, their governments deposed, their people liberated.
    He knew what he had to do. Orchestrate a terrorist attack of such magnitude that the U.S. government would have no choice but to respond to China, the source.
    Nicola Barrington was just the beginning.

Chapter Five
    With the sun finally down, the air felt marginally cooler in the backyard, although still far from comfortable. But despite the luxury of a running air conditioner in Nicola’s house, Alex didn’t want to go back inside. Or rather, he wanted to go back too much and was smart enough to know it wasn’t a good idea. He needed something to distract him from Nicola.
    It was just like Spike to have taken her skimpiest clothes to the safe house to tease him. She was still wearing the shorts and a tank top from that batch, completely covered by the too-large Kevlar vest. With not an inch of clothes showing, she looked as if she was naked underneath. Might as well have been naked altogether. His overactive and over-starved imagination provided him with tantalizing details.
    Maybe she’d change. Probably not, though. It hadto be pushing a hundred degrees outside; he couldn’t see her putting on long sleeves and pants anytime soon.
    He took a deep breath, then another. They didn’t help. The air was as hot as the woman inside.
    The yard secured, he checked out the street and the neighboring properties as he fiddled with his phone. A quick call. He punched the