while still in motion, like a getaway driver grabbing his accomplice from a heist. A deafening blast of Bruce Springsteen – a Kovic favourite though not at that volume – hit him like a wall, the sound waves causing the shop fronts to shudder.
‘Take it down a bit, can you?’
‘What?’
‘TURN IT DOWN !’
Wu grinned. ‘These are nine channel, 825 watt amps with sixteen speakers and exclusive neodymium magnet drives to produce crystal clear acoustic fidelity.’
‘You’re talking to yourself, man. Just drive.’
Where he had found or borrowed the million plus yuan for this sleazemobile Kovic didn’t want to know. It couldn’t be what they paid him. He climbed in and inhaled the aroma of leather.
‘Why are you here anyway? I didn’t ask for you.’
Wu was Kovic’s security detail, which might have seemed ridiculous since Kovic was both taller and more heavily built. One of the few perks of the Shanghai posting was supposedly the local muscle. Initially, Kovic was having none of it. He didn’t want anyone shadowing him and attracting unnecessary attention, and preferred to take care of any pursuers himself. The candidates on offer were all lumbering thugs who had come out of sedentary jobs in the military, liabilities in any kind of fight. Wu was different, and his own choice. Lean, bright, committed, and an Olympic standard marksman, he had been invalided out of Zhōngguó tèzhŏng bùduì – the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Special Forces – after an eye injury. Kovic happened on him when he was acting as security detail cum interpreter for a Russian arms dealer Kovic was hoping to turn. The sting went badly wrong when Kovic tried to apply some blackmail and in the ensuing struggle Wu, trying to intercede, inadvertently killed his boss. Impressed by Wu’s defensive skills, as well as his remorse, Kovic had also witnessed his terrible shame. Without thinking about it he made him an offer. Come and work with me and we’ll never speak of this again . How could Wu refuse?
Kovic eased himself inside. He was still feeling fragile. Wu frowned at him in awe.
‘Oh man, your face looks like the fruit left at the end of the market that no one wants to buy.’
‘To the Consulate – hurry.’
Music to Wu’s ears. He stepped on the gas and the BMW surged forward.
‘Zero to sixty-two in only five point four seconds!’
‘And zero to ER if you don’t take it easy, man: it all aches. And you don’t want any of my bodily fluids on your precious black leather.’
Wu slowed right down.
‘It must have been big, big hangover.’ Any trouble was explained away like this, by mutual agreement.
Kovic looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Wu raised both hands off the wheel in surrender.
‘Oh sorry. A big hangover.’
‘Yes, a major hangover.’
Wu thought that was hilarious. ‘Major Hangover. I like that very much! And Colonel and General Hangover even worse?’
‘ Are even worse. Yes, very much worse.’
The downtown skyline reared up in front of them, like a crazed architect’s proposal for a city of the future, only this one had already been built, the tallest, newest and shiniest blurred by the low hanging smog. Even after six years it still took Kovic by surprise, the relentless drive skywards at a pace that put the US to shame. A century ago Detroit had experienced the same breathless progress. Would Shanghai suffer the same fate? It reminded him of plants in his father’s greenhouse that had bolted in their eagerness for the sun, only to wilt, having grown too fast to support themselves. Under all the glass cladding there was something fragile about Shanghai’s foundations.
‘I’ll take Fuzhou. There’s a protest starting in People’s Square.’
‘What protest?’
Wu prodded the touch screen on the dash. The sat nav disappeared and up came local TV; an ad for a pet hair-perming product modelled by a shih tzu whose coat was frozen in tiny ringlets. The animal looked startled,
‘Take it down a bit, can you?’
‘What?’
‘TURN IT DOWN !’
Wu grinned. ‘These are nine channel, 825 watt amps with sixteen speakers and exclusive neodymium magnet drives to produce crystal clear acoustic fidelity.’
‘You’re talking to yourself, man. Just drive.’
Where he had found or borrowed the million plus yuan for this sleazemobile Kovic didn’t want to know. It couldn’t be what they paid him. He climbed in and inhaled the aroma of leather.
‘Why are you here anyway? I didn’t ask for you.’
Wu was Kovic’s security detail, which might have seemed ridiculous since Kovic was both taller and more heavily built. One of the few perks of the Shanghai posting was supposedly the local muscle. Initially, Kovic was having none of it. He didn’t want anyone shadowing him and attracting unnecessary attention, and preferred to take care of any pursuers himself. The candidates on offer were all lumbering thugs who had come out of sedentary jobs in the military, liabilities in any kind of fight. Wu was different, and his own choice. Lean, bright, committed, and an Olympic standard marksman, he had been invalided out of Zhōngguó tèzhŏng bùduì – the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Special Forces – after an eye injury. Kovic happened on him when he was acting as security detail cum interpreter for a Russian arms dealer Kovic was hoping to turn. The sting went badly wrong when Kovic tried to apply some blackmail and in the ensuing struggle Wu, trying to intercede, inadvertently killed his boss. Impressed by Wu’s defensive skills, as well as his remorse, Kovic had also witnessed his terrible shame. Without thinking about it he made him an offer. Come and work with me and we’ll never speak of this again . How could Wu refuse?
Kovic eased himself inside. He was still feeling fragile. Wu frowned at him in awe.
‘Oh man, your face looks like the fruit left at the end of the market that no one wants to buy.’
‘To the Consulate – hurry.’
Music to Wu’s ears. He stepped on the gas and the BMW surged forward.
‘Zero to sixty-two in only five point four seconds!’
‘And zero to ER if you don’t take it easy, man: it all aches. And you don’t want any of my bodily fluids on your precious black leather.’
Wu slowed right down.
‘It must have been big, big hangover.’ Any trouble was explained away like this, by mutual agreement.
Kovic looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Wu raised both hands off the wheel in surrender.
‘Oh sorry. A big hangover.’
‘Yes, a major hangover.’
Wu thought that was hilarious. ‘Major Hangover. I like that very much! And Colonel and General Hangover even worse?’
‘ Are even worse. Yes, very much worse.’
The downtown skyline reared up in front of them, like a crazed architect’s proposal for a city of the future, only this one had already been built, the tallest, newest and shiniest blurred by the low hanging smog. Even after six years it still took Kovic by surprise, the relentless drive skywards at a pace that put the US to shame. A century ago Detroit had experienced the same breathless progress. Would Shanghai suffer the same fate? It reminded him of plants in his father’s greenhouse that had bolted in their eagerness for the sun, only to wilt, having grown too fast to support themselves. Under all the glass cladding there was something fragile about Shanghai’s foundations.
‘I’ll take Fuzhou. There’s a protest starting in People’s Square.’
‘What protest?’
Wu prodded the touch screen on the dash. The sat nav disappeared and up came local TV; an ad for a pet hair-perming product modelled by a shih tzu whose coat was frozen in tiny ringlets. The animal looked startled,
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