False Witness Read Online Free PDF Page B

Shealy. But missing a deadline has consequences. At forty-eight hours, we start cosmetic surgery on Mrs. Shealy. The first day, we work on that beautiful smile. The teeth appear to be a little crowded, so we’ll be extracting four teeth from the front. Without novocaine, of course, since we don’t have a certified anesthesiologist.”
    Clark blistered the phone with more cursing. Empty threats, he knew, but he couldn’t control the anger. He wanted to strangle Huang Xu with his bare hands—slowly, painfully. He vowed vengeance, whatever the cost.
    â€œThe next day, at precisely seventy-two hours, we start the incisions for her face-lift—a little slash here, another cut there. We think you’ll find it quite an improvement.”
    Clark pounded his fist on the roof of the Taurus, then shook the pain from his hand and tried to think. The world spun—fury and the lingering effects of the tranquilizer taking their combined toll. Jessica needed him calm. He inhaled. He clenched his teeth.
    â€œThe next day, at ninety-six hours, we start with the breast reduction—”
    â€œStop!” Clark shouted. “That’s enough. What do you want from me?”
    There was another pause, and for a brief moment Clark thought Xu had hung up. “I thought we already covered that,” Xu said. “But I did neglect to mention one other deal breaker. If you contact Dr. Silvoso or go anywhere near him, your wife dies. Just so you know, Silvoso didn’t double-cross you voluntarily. We applied the same kind of pressure to him that we’re applying to you.”
    Clark grunted his assent but made a mental note to circle back and exact his revenge on Silvoso once Jessica was safe.
    â€œDo we have a deal, Mr. Shealy?”
    Clark swallowed hard. Hesitated. He pictured Jessica duct-taped hand and foot, surrounded by leering men. They would be dead men soon. So help me God.
    But for now, he needed time. These were events he couldn’t control; an unfamiliar sense of helplessness and panic threatened to overwhelm him.
    â€œYes, we have a deal.”

4
    Clark opened the folder he’d found under the car seat and flipped through the information on Professor Kumari, his hands trembling with rage. He couldn’t pry his thoughts away from Jessica—what Xu and his cohorts might have already done to her. He thought about ways to trace the phone number he had just dialed but knew it would only lead to a stolen cell phone or one registered in a bogus name.
    His mind began to clear. Why did they leave a cell phone instead of just a number to dial? He realized that the phone itself was probably planted with some type of tracking device—an electronic leash of sorts. He thought about tossing it but didn’t want to make a move that might result in retaliation against Jessica.
    He looked around the parking garage for signs of suspicious activity. Nothing. It was now 1:45 p.m. He set the timer on his wristwatch. Things had suddenly turned frenetic. Time was the enemy. Each second wasted could mean the difference between Jessica’s surviving or not. He had less than forty-eight hours.
    It took every ounce of will to focus on the documents in front of him. He needed to do something. Race down the road, fight the bad guys, crack somebody’s head. Anything. The frustrations and tension knotted every muscle. The adrenaline demanded action .
    Instead, he read. From the plane tickets, debit card receipts, and other data in the file, Clark quickly reconstructed Kumari’s most recent activities. The man entered the United States on a research visa exactly twenty-five days earlier. He landed at Newark, spent a day on the East Coast, and then flew to Las Vegas, leaving a trail of debit card receipts in and around Sin City for four days.
    He bought twenty-four desktop computers, top-of-the-line models with the fastest processing chips and maxed-out RAM. He bought cables and routers