Smoke and Shadow by Gamal Hennessy Page A

immobilized when EMS got to him. Preliminary news reports
suggest paralysis, but that hasn ’ t been confirmed by the hospital or
Mrs. Maas. ”
     
    Baker resumed his
pacing, laughing to himself. “ Paralyzed? That ’ s a shame. I ’ m sure Mrs. Maas will be crushed
when she finds out her husband can ’ t express his particular brand of
affection anymore. ”
     
    Kean tried to get
in on the joke. “ I
doubt it. This might be the best thing that could have happened to
her. ”
     
    “ It
is. ” All at once,
Baker turned to give Chu a curious look. “ We might be fucked, but Maria is
very lucky things turned out the way they did,
isn ’ t
she? ”
     
    Chu tried to
maintain his innocent posture as Baker continued. “ Smoke, where were you
when Maas took his tumble? ”
     
    “ I peeled off
after I passed him to Ganesh. I ran my SDR and headed back to the
OP. ”
     
    “ But you got
back after Ganesh. Normally the off man gets back before the
shadow. What happened? ”
     
    Chu tried not to
sound like a liar. “ I thought I picked up a tail, so I took a couple extra turns
to make sure I was clean. ”
     
    “ Did anybody see
you? ”
     
    “ It was a false
alarm. No worries. ”
     
    “ No
worries. ” Baker ’ s echo
had the hollow ring of disbelief, but he dropped the subject and
turned to his other witness.
     
    “ Ganesh, you
said you didn ’ t
see or hear anything when Maas fell down the steps,
right? ”
     
    “ I ’ m sorry,
Mr. Baker. I didn ’ t see anything. ”
     
    “ And because of
the fall, Maas is crippled. Right, Stanley? ” Chu could see the pieces falling
into place for him.
     
    “ It ’ s too
early to tell, but he definitely suffered a spinal injury.
There ’ s a good
chance he ’ ll never
walk again. He might even be a quadriplegic. ”
     
    “ Never walk
again, ” Baker ’ s echo
prickled the skin on Chu ’ s arms. “ If he never walks again, then he can
never abuse his wife again, right? That ’ s good news for her, but bad news
for us. ”
     
    Baker knew. Chu
could see it in his eyes. During their long friendship, they shared
a lot of conversations about the War of Chu and all the suffering
of his mother. Baker had intimate knowledge of
Chu ’ s skills in
ambush and concealment. He counted on Chu to be his invisible
weapon. Baker pieced together Chu ’ s motivation, his opportunity and
his ability. He understood what Chu did and why. But would he
approve? Could he accept Chu ’ s decision with so much money and
professional reputation riding on this op? Chu decided to speak up,
before Baker had to choose between their friendship and his
business.
     
    So he shrugged,
trying to make his words sound spontaneous for the benefit of Kean
and Privti. “ Maybe
not. There might be a way for us to catch the same fish with
different bait. ”
     
    “ Really? ” Baker leaned against the plywood dresser and gave Chu a
conspiratorial look. “How do you suggest we salvage this snafu,
Smoke? ”
     
    “ We ’ re
working on the theory Beijing wants Maas ’ s technology, right? They
don ’ t really want
him. His ability or inability to walk doesn ’ t change their
goal. ”
     
    Baker shook his
head, but didn ’ t
interrupt. He probably knew where this was going.
     
    “ Maas is
crippled, which gives China a new form of leverage.
Maas ’ s medical
bills are going to skyrocket. With no job and a wife who
doesn ’ t work,
he ’ s not going to
be able to cover them for long. He might try to sue the bar, but
that could take years and there ’ s no guarantee he ’ ll win. Maas needs money. The
Chinese could put themselves in a position to pay his way in
exchange for the data. ”
     
    “ But how will
they make contact with him in his condition? ” Privti wanted hope, but he
wasn ’ t ready to
buy in yet.
     
    “ Maria is the
key ” Baker said
without taking his eyes off Chu. “ She ’ ll have to deal with insurance
agents, doctors, lawyers and any number of people