“Rudi thinks Ann was abducted with the motor. He and Hiram found a cryptic e-mail she sent you over the NUMA website indicating she was in Kentucky.”

“Then she’s still alive.”

“Rudi thinks so. They believe she was telling them the motor was hidden on a hay truck. Rudi speculated they were trying to avoid the eastern seaboard in their attempt to get it out of the country. He believes they shipped it down the Mississippi, and Hiram actually found video from the Horace Wilkinson Bridge in Baton Rouge that shows a barge passing by with a hay truck aboard.”

“Seems a bit tenuous,” Pitt said.

“Less so when it was discovered that Bolcke’s ship, the Salzburg, was in New Orleans at the same time—and departed a day later.”

“The Salzburg,” Pitt said. “So Bolcke has been behind the Sea Arrow thefts from the beginning.”

“But what does he plan to do with it?” Summer asked.

Pitt thought back to his encounter with Zhou and the response he gave when asked why he was there.

“Business,” Pitt said. “He plans to sell it to the Chinese, perhaps as part of a deal related to their combined rare earth holdings.” He looked at Summer. “How long ago did you say the Salzburg left New Orleans?”

“About four days.”

“Recon showed it heading south at the Mississippi Delta,” Dirk said.

“Why hasn’t the Coast Guard or Navy tracked her down and boarded her?” Pitt asked.

“They would have but for one thing,” Dirk said. “The ship has vanished.”

Chapter 65

65

WITHIN CLEAR SIGHT OF THE CANAL AUTHORITY Administration Building, a rust-covered grain ship sat at anchor, absorbing the gentle waves of the Pacific. Named the Santa Rita, she was flagged in Guam, though the government of Guam would have been surprised to learn as much. Aside from never filing papers there, the Santa Rita had never once carried an ounce of grain.

She was in fact an aging resource of China’s Ministry of State Security. Originally configured as a spy ship to monitor the Taiwan Strait, she later carried missiles to Iran in her grain-hauling configuration. Retired to less clandestine duty, she had been under contract to haul a shipment of Mexican pharmaceuticals to Shanghai when Zhou took her over off Costa Rica.

The tired agent was resting on the bridge, just a short time after returning from his nighttime foray into Bolcke’s camp, when his cell phone rang. As he checked the number, his stoic face registered a hint of surprise.

“Zhou,” he answered bluntly.

“Zhou, this is Edward Bolcke. I have to inform you we will be making a slight change in the rendezvous plans.”

“I was expecting the transfer to occur within the hour.”

“There’s been a minor security delay, but there’s no cause for alarm. The shipment is safe. We will, however, need to postpone the rendezvous for another six hours.”