Sandstorm

Sandstorm Read Online Free PDF Page B

Book: Sandstorm Read Online Free PDF
Author: James Rollins
Tags: thriller, Suspense, Science-Fiction, adventure, Historical, Fantasy, Mystery
showing her empty fingers and palms to the security cameras hidden in the black mirrored domes in the ceiling.
    “Fifty thousand dollars even,” she finished.
    The pit boss nodded. The dealer counted out the amount in thousand-dollar chips. “More good luck, sir,” the boss acknowledged.
    Without even a nod, Zhang departed with his two bodyguards. He had been gambling all night. Dawn already glimmered. The CyberCrime forum would resume in another three hours. The conference covered the latest trends in identity theft, infrastructure protection, and myriad other security topics.
    In two hours, a breakfast symposium put on by Hewlett Packard would commence. Zhang would make the transfer during that meeting. His American contact was still unknown. It was one of the main objectives of the ops here. Besides securing the weapons data, they sought to flush out Zhang’s stateside contact, someone tied to a shady network that traded in military secrets and technologies.
    It was a mission that must not fail.
    Painter followed the group. His superiors at DARPA had personally tapped him for this mission, in part for his expertise in micro-surveillanceand computer engineering, but more importantly, for his ability to blend in at Foxwoods.
    Though only half-blooded, Painter had inherited enough of his father’s features to pass as a Pequot Indian. It did take a few trips to a tanning salon to enrich his complexion and brown contact lenses to hide his mother’s blue eyes. But afterward, with his shoulder-length hair the color of a raven’s wing, presently tied back in a tail, he did look like his father. To finish his disguise, he wore a casino suit with the symbol of the Pequot tribe embroidered on the pocket, a tree atop a knoll framed against a clear sky. Who looked beyond a suit anyway?
    From his position, Painter remained wary as he followed Zhang. His eyes never focused directly upon the group. He watched peripherally and used natural cover to the best advantage. He stalked his quarry through the neon woodlands of blinking machines and wide glades of green felt tables. He maintained his distance and varied his pace and direction.
    His earpiece buzzed with Mandarin. Zhang’s voice. Picked up by the microtransceiver. Zhang was heading back to his suite.
    Painter touched his throat microphone and subvocalized into the radio. “Sanchez, how are you picking up on the feed?”
    “Loud and clear, Commander.”
    His co-agent on this mission, Cassandra Sanchez, was holed up in the suite across the hall from Zhang’s, manning the surveillance array.
    “How is the subdermal holding?” he asked her.
    “He’d better access his computer soon. The bug is running low on juice.”
    Painter frowned. The “bug” had been planted yesterday on Zhang during a massage. Sanchez’s Latino features were dark enough to pass for Indian. She had implanted the subdermal transceiver during a deep-tissue massage last night, the prick of penetration unfelt as she dug her thumbs in deep. She covered the tiny puncture wound with an anesthetic smear of surgical bond. By the time the massage was over, it had sealed and dried. The digital microtransceiver had a life span of only twelve hours.
    “How much time left?”
    “Best estimate … eighteen minutes.”
    “Damn.”
    Painter focused his full attention back on his quarry’s conversation.
    The man kept his voice low, meant for his bodyguards only. Painter, fluent in Mandarin, listened. He hoped Zhang would give some indication when he would retrieve the plasma weapons file. He was disappointed.
    “Have the girl ready after I’ve showered,” Zhang said.
    Painter tightened a fist. The “girl” was thirteen, an indentured slave from North Korea. His daughter, he had explained to those who even thought to ask. If this had been true, incest could be added to the long list of charges to which Zhang was guilty.
    Following them, Painter skirted around a change booth and set off down a long bank of
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