What is going on here?
“My poor boy,” she says. “My chest and ribs still hurt from the three wound squibs I was wearing when I last saw you … but you’re hurting even more, I’m sure.”
She kneels on the concrete floor, takes his hand, kisses it. “I only have two minutes. A girlfriend of mine who went to Columbia is controlling the surveillance system. She promised me she’d screw up the system long enough for me to get in and out to see you.”
“But Lin … why? The fake shooting …”
She squeezes his hand. “They wanted to frighten you, scare you so much that your resistance would weaken, make you more malleable.”
“No, I mean—”
“Why did I betray you?” she asks, voice flat. “Because I was following orders. They found out I had reached out to you, andthey made threats. They had a whole script for me to follow, and I had to do it. Or … Mother.”
Lin’s eyes water. “She has an aggressive form of leukemia. If I cooperated, then she gets the travel documents to fly to the States and go to Sloan Kettering. If I didn’t cooperate … she’d have to make do with a provincial hospital.”
He squeezes her hand back.
Is she telling him the truth? Or something else?
Despite the pains and aches, he still holds on to his training.
“That I can understand … but why me? I’m just a field operative. No special talents or knowledge. The equipment I had was standard trade items. Why did they use you to get me to South Africa?”
She gets up from the floor, releases his hand, gently kisses him. The kiss brings back so many wonderful memories and hopes and desires …
But what is really going on behind those sad brown eyes?
Is she still following orders, coming here to talk to him?
To lighten his mood, give him hope, give him …
What?
“I don’t know,” she says. “But they wanted you, wanted you in their custody.”
“The other man who talked to me …”
“Yes, the station chief. Han Yuanchao.”
“He told me that they weren’t contacting Langley for an exchange. Or anything.”
She shakes her head. “Don’t know that, but know this. I’m getting you out of here.”
“Lin …”
“Trust me on this. I love you, Ben.”
The slightest of hesitations.
Who is talking to him at this moment?
Chin Lin, Stanford student?
Or Chin Lin, operative for China’s Ministry of State Security?
He says, “I love you, too, Lin.”
She reaches into her slacks pocket, takes out something, presses it in his hand.