Day Of Confession

'How do you know that?' Harry whispered.

'I saw him last summer at a private retreat outside Rome. He was there with another man, waiting to see Palestrina. Not many Chinese are invited to a Vatican retreat.' Da

'Adria

'What the hell is Eaton going to do with it? He's a minor embassy official.'

'Harry, he's Rome station chief of the CIA.'

'What?' Harry was dumbfounded.

Da

Both Harry and Elena could see Da

Da

Harry hesitated for the briefest moment, then his finger pointed off. 'There's a phone right there, Da

'He can't know where I am or you are…'

'Why?'

'Because I'm still a U.S. citizen, and because a threat to China is a matter of national security. He'll want more from me, and he'll do whatever he has to do to get it… Even if it means illegally taking all three of us into custody… If he does' – Da

Elena saw the look in Harry's eyes. Saw him stare at his brother for a long time before he slowly nodded and said, 'Okay.' She knew in her heart Harry felt what they were doing was wrong, even ill advised. But she had also seen him accept without a word Da

By going along, Harry had not only shown his brother how much he loved him, but in doing so had made – possibly for the first time in their adult lives – their mission the same: slip into the venerable city, free the prince imprisoned in the tower, and then escape alive. It was gallant, medieval, foolhardy, and would have been difficult enough even with Father Bardoni's help. But Father Bardoni was dead, and so his part of the burden rested solely on Harry. And Elena could feel him trying to work it out, to determine where they were now, where they could go from here. Suddenly Harry glanced at her, holding her eyes for a moment, then opened the door and left, still dressed the way he had been most all the time she'd known him, as a priest.

122

Beijing, China. Zhongnanhai Compound. Still Thursday, July 16. 3:05 p.m.

Yan Yeh spent the day in horror. The first reports had begun coming in from Wuxi just before ten that morning. A dozen serious cases of uncontrolled nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting had been reported to number 4 People's Hospital within a fifteen-minute span. At nearly the same time, similar reports came in from the number 1 and number 2 People's Hospitals. By eleven-thirty the Hospital of Chinese Medicine was coordinating an epidemic. Seven hundred cases reported, two hundred and seventy-one deaths.

Immediately the water supply had been shut down, and emergency service perso

By one in the afternoon there were already twenty thousand poisoned. And eleven thousand four hundred and fifty of those were dead. Among them were Yan Yeh's mother-in-law and two of her brothers. That much he had been able to find out. Where his wife and son were, or if they were dead or alive, he had no idea. Even the thundering influence of Wu Xian, general secretary of the Communist Party, had proven ineffectual in trying to find out. But what had happened was enough. Pierre Weggen had been summoned to the Zhongnanhai Compound.

Now, just after three, with still no news of his family, a solemn, deeply shaken Yan Yeh sat down with his Swiss friend at a table with Wu Xian and ten other grim-faced ranking members of the Politburo. The conversation was brief and to the point. It had been agreed to let the Swiss investment banker bring together the consortium of companies he had earlier proposed to immediately begin a leviathan ten-year plan to thoroughly and completely rebuild China's entire system of water and power delivery. Haste and efficiency were everything. China and the world must know Beijing was still in control and doing everything possible to protect the future health and well-being of its people.

'Women shenme shihou neng nadao hetong?' Wu Xian said to Weggen, finally and quietly.

When can we have the contract?

123

Harry's calls to Adria

Eaton had been a little more difficult, delaying Harry, talking around him, asking if he was with his brother and, if so, where they were. And Harry knew he was tracing the call.

'Just listen.' Harry had cut him off abruptly, then gone on to describe the piece of video as Da

'How do you know this? – Who's behind the poisoning? – What is the reason?' At the end Eaton's questions had been direct and rapid-fire. And Harry had replied that he was only delivering a message.

And then, as he had with Adria

'By train,' Da