The Shadow Circle

Chapter-31

Kai had taken everyone and left. He told them the truth about me being with the FBI, thankfully I wasn't around to witness that. So I sat there at the airport, playing Pokemon GO on my cellphone.

Some kind of flaming bird I didn't know about was somewhere here. China, being the only country where Marxism thrives, had very narrow constraints with the internet. Thankfully, they were no match for Julian.

I followed the bird thingy around the airport, accidentally hitting a wall once or twice before I hit it again.

"What the—" I scowled and rubbed my forehead.

"Seran."

I looked up. "Oh hi, Agent Evans!"

Evans has fared ten times better than Kai. There was not a single wound on him while...

"What happened to your finger?" He asked, pointing at the lump of flesh and blood.

"Nearly got severed off," I said. I felt my temper rise. What right did that bastard have to leave me mutilated for life?! Well, I guess it was a small price to pay if Kai was going to take away his.

"What's going on?" He asked, inspecting my finger. "We need to get urgent medical attention!"

True to his word, Agent Evans got me medical attention. One of his men was a certified doctor and he tended to my injured hand.  I turned to him and addressed him directly.

"Dian Mu is a front for arms dealing," I said. "It's close to an ammunition dump, as you know."

He nodded. "We figured that out, we heard rumors of some guns being stolen."

"There's also a warehouse somewhere there for human trafficking, he's keeping girls there, he was going to take me there but Kai saved my life—"

"Kai?"

"Kaito. The assassin."

"You've been getting to know him, I see," he commented. My cheeks turned red.

"The warehouse," I said.

"Right. The warehouse."

"Can't you do anything?" I asked.

To my dismay, Evans shook his head. "He's in China. Too much influence."

"Well, Agent, then you're in luck. He won't be in China tomorrow," I smiled. "He'll be trafficking the arms through Nathu-La."

"So?"

So?! FBIdiot.

"So," I said carefully. "So he has no power after he crosses the border into India."

"What about Shah?"

"What about him?"

"Even if I can get the Indian authority to help, Shah will interfere."

"He won't. I'm going to give him bigger problems to handle."

"You're going to introduce yourself in person?" He asked.

Actually yeah, I was going to introduce myself in person.

"Oh shit," he groaned, reading my silent reply.

The glass vial felt heavy in my pocket. Yep, I was going to go knock out a board member for a few hours. And then have a nice long chat where I convinced him not to kill my sister and I.

"Trust me, I can get Shah out of the way," I said. "Get me a flight ticket to Bombay."

"Maybe you should come back with us."

"No," I insisted. The promise of being safe was tempting but if I left Arianna, Kai, Elizaveta, Julian and Ryo to their fates, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

I sighed. "Look, Agent. I came here to get you this information and I gave you this information. Do what you want with it but I'm warning you that the arms will be lost beyond Nathu-La. I don't know the routes."

"That's no biggie. We can trail them."

"On Indian grounds? It will have to be the Indians that arrest him."

"And they will," he said and looked at me strangely. "Are you sure you can do this?"

"No," I replied honestly. "But I don't have anything more to lose. Neither do you."

He seemed to consider it for a moment before taking my phone and sending himself the pictures I took.

"The pictures are enough evidence to take him into custody?" I asked.

"More than enough."

"Okay then," I sighed. "I guess I'll have to leave soon. So do you."

He nodded and tapped on his phone for a while. My phone beeped. "That's your ticket to Bombay via Shanghai."

"Okay."

"Be careful," he said. And with those words, he walked outside the room.

I waited there for a while. The room was a private waiting lounge for government officials.

I fired off a text to Julian.

Did you find it.

He replied after about five minutes.

Yep.

So Kai had come through after all.

Did you send it.

Yep.

I switched off the phone. The PA system cackled to life. An announcement in Chinese preceded one in English. My flight was being boarded.

I put the phone back in my backpack, tightened my ponytail and washed my face in a small sink. I took a deep breath and braced myself for a boring six hours before I picked up my backpack and headed to the terminal.