“Chinese?” The General’s tone was eager.

“It looks like it.”

“Excellent. If this leads where I think it might, we are going to change the world, Jorge. Were you able to speak to the target?”

The elder Espinoza hadn’t explained what it was he was after, but the words of praise made his son swell with pride. “He was already gone when we got inside. We burned his house to the ground afterward. I doubt they will bother checking the body for any sign of foul play, so we’re clear.”

“Where are you now?”

“Seattle. Do you want us to return home?”

“No. Not yet. Tomorrow, I want you to overnight the rubbing to me.” The General paused. Jorge knew his father was considering angles and odds. He finally asked, “What do you think the competition will do now?”

“It depends if they extracted any useful information from the target. I checked the hood of their truck when we reached the house. It was still warm, so they hadn’t been there long.”

“They were interested enough to reach out to the target,” General Espinoza said, more for his own benefit than his son’s. “Will they continue on or have they had enough?”

“If I may hazard a guess . . . The men were obviously soldiers. I think it’s most likely they came here to tell the target about his brothers as a military courtesy. A Band of Brothers type thing.”

“You believe they will drop it?”

“I think they will tell their superiors what happened tonight, and it will be they who decide to drop it.”

“Yes, that’s most likely how the military would act. There is no obvious threat to national security, so the soldiers will be told to stand down. Even if they want to pursue it, they will have their orders to let it go. This is good, Jorge, very good.”

“Thank you, sir. May I ask what this is all about?”

General Espinoza chuckled. “Even if we were alone together here at the house, I could not tell you. I am sorry. I can say that in a few days an alliance is going to be announced that will forever change the world’s balance of power, and, if I am correct about your find, you will have contributed to its success. I sent you to hunt a wild goose and it may yet turn out to lay a golden egg.”

His father wasn’t one to use such a frivolous turn of phrase, so Jorge took it as a sign of his happiness. Like any good son, he was especially proud when he could bring his father joy.