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turned around and saw her pursuer approaching. He was Asian and dressed in a black suit, and he held a gun equipped with a silencer.
    She ran in earnest now, charging down the gravel path next to Sheep Meadow. She was fast, a former star of her high-school track team, but the gunman was faster. He gained on her as she raced toward the Central Park Loop. The road had been closed to traffic hours ago, and no cyclists or dog-walkers or strolling couples were in sight. But another guy on inline skates was speeding down the Loop, a daredevil in spandex pants and a motorcycle helmet. Layla opened her mouth to call to him, but then she thought of what had happened to the guy in the basketball jersey. She was still agonizing over what to do when the skater went into a crouch and made a sudden turn. He barreled past her and smacked into the gunman. The tall Asian man tumbled backward and his gun went flying. Layla ran to the fallen man and kicked him in the head for good measure. He lay on his back, unconscious.
    Meanwhile, the skater took off his helmet. He was also Asian. He wore a windbreaker over his spandex outfit and carried a backpack. “Layla Pierce?” His accent was thick. “I’m Wen Sheng.”
    “Wen Sheng? I don’t know—”
    “Yes, you know me. My code name is Dragon Fire.”
    Oh shit, she thought. Her anonymous source. “I thought you were in China.”
    He nodded. “I was. But the Guoanbu discovered what I did.” He pointed at the unconscious man on the ground. “They came after me. And they’re after you, too. They sent a team of agents to New York to find you. I’ve been shadowing them.”
    Layla’s throat tightened. “They know about the backdoor?”
    “Yes, and they know you downloaded the files. The documents about Tài Hé . Have you decrypted them yet?”
    “Yeah, I just forwarded them to InfoLeaks for translation.”
    He nodded again. “Good. Now I have two new files for you. I downloaded them before I left the Operations Center.” He took off his backpack, unzipped it and reached inside. “The documents are on the flash drive. And I have something else for you, a specimen.”
    He pulled a small zippered pouch out of the backpack and handed it to her. Layla started to open it, but Dragon Fire stopped her. “No, not here. We have to leave.” Putting his hand on her back, he led her down the path, heading toward the park entrance on West Seventy-second Street. “I saw two other Guoanbu agents in the park. They’re not far.”
    Layla reached for her phone. “I’ll call the police.”
    “No!” Wen grabbed her cell phone and tossed it into the grass. “The American intelligence agencies are also looking for you. They’re scanning the communications bands.”
    “But once we tell them—”
    “Listen to me. The CIA and the Guoanbu are working together. You can’t trust any of the American authorities.”
    “Wait, how do you know that?”
    “I was also an agent with the Guoanbu. But no more. What they’re doing is wrong. You have to give the new files and the specimen to InfoLeaks, so the whole world can see them. Make sure—”
    He stopped talking and stood absolutely still. Layla heard rapid footsteps. Two more men in black suits stepped onto the pathway behind them.
    Dragon Fire pushed her toward West Seventy-second Street. “Go,” he whispered. “I’ll take care of them.”
    “Hold on, what are you—”
    “I said go! ”
    Confused, Layla ran west, clutching the pouch. Behind her she heard shouting in Mandarin. Then more metallic clicks, the sound of muffled gunshots.
    She ran like mad until she reached the park entrance about a hundred yards away. Then she dared a look over her shoulder. Through the screen of trees, she saw the two men in black suits bending over Dragon Fire. He was sprawled on the pathway, motionless, his legs and arms akimbo.
    She faced forward and kept running. Leaving the park, she raced down Seventy-second Street, dashing past the puzzled residents of