The line went dead.

There was silence around the worktable.

Then, softly, from Selma: “Well, he sounds a tad peeved.”

Her gross understatement broke the tension. They all broke out in laughter. When it died away, Remi said, “The question is, if we follow through on our promise, will King end up in prison or a rubber room?”

THISULI, NEPAL

Colonel Zhou had agreed to the late-night meeting partially out of curiosity, partially out of necessity. His arrangement with the strange-faced American zazhong-half-breeds-had thus far been lucrative, but now that he knew their true identities, and that of their father, Zhou was anxious to change the terms of their partnership. What Charles King was doing in Nepal didn’t bother Zhou. What annoyed him was how little he had charged them in . . . handling fees, as the Americans say. Getting the fossils to Lhasa and through customs was easy enough, but finding and securing trustworthy distributors for such banned merchandise was far trickier-and, as of tonight, much pricier.

A few minutes before midnight, Zhou heard the growl of an SUV engine outside. The two soldiers behind the colonel rose from their chairs and brought their assault rifles to the low ready position.

“I’ve ordered them searched this time,” he told his men. “Still, do not let your guards down.”

One of the exterior guards stepped across the threshold, gave Zhou a nod, then disappeared. A moment later Marjorie and Russell King stepped out of the darkness into the flickering glow of the kerosene lantern. They were not alone. A third figure, a willowy, grim-faced Chinese woman, stepped into the room. The King children’s body language told Zhou this new woman would be speaking for the trio.

And then he saw it, the similarities in the eyes and nose and cheekbones. Mother and children, Zhou thought. Interesting. He decided to play out the hand. He rose from his seat at the trestle table and nodded respectfully at the woman. “Shall I call you Mrs. King?”

“No. Hsu. Zhilan Hsu.”

“Please, sit down.”

Zhilan took the bench, her hands folded neatly on the table before her. The King children remained standing, mirroring the at-attention posture of Colonel Zhou’s soldiers. Zhou sat down.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked.

“My husband requires something of you.”

“Does he?”

“Yes. First he requires that you understand this: we know that your name is not Zhou, and you are not a colonel in the People’s Liberation Army. Your name is in fact is Feng, and you are a general.”

General Feng felt like his stomach had turned to a block of ice. It was an act of will to keep the panic from showing on his face. “Is that so?”

“It is. We know everything about you, including all of your other illicit activities: small-arms dealing, heroin smuggling, and so on. We also know who in your chain of command is an ally of yours and who is an enemy. In fact, my husband is on quite good terms with a certain general named Gou. Do you know the name?”

Feng swallowed hard. He felt his world crumbling around him. He managed a barely perceptible, “I do.”

“General Gou is not fond of you, is he?”

“No.”

“Have I made my point?” Zhilan Hsu asked.

“You have.”

“Let’s talk about our partnership. My husband, in fact, is pleased with the services you have provided and would like to offer you a fifteen percent increase on all transactions.”

“That’s very generous.”

“My husband is aware of that. He also asks a favor of you.”

Even as the words were leaving his mouth, Feng was cursing himself. “A favor suggests no compensation.”

Zhilan’s hard obsidian eyes stared at Feng for a few moments before answering. “I misspoke. Perhaps ‘task’ is a better word. Of course, he is happy to compensate you in the amount of two hundred thousand U.S. dollars. But only if you succeed.”

Feng struggled to keep the smile from his face. “Of course. That is only fair. What’s the nature of this task?”

“There are people-two of them, to be specific-who are threatening our business interests here. We expect that they will be traveling along the border in the coming weeks, perhaps even crossing into the TAR,” Zhilan said, referring to the Tibet Autonomous Region. “We want you to intercept them.”

“You will need to be more specific.”

“Captured and held for us or killed. I will give you the order when the time comes.”

“How close to the border will they be traveling?”

“In some places, less than a few miles.”

“The border is many hundreds of miles long. How would one find two individuals in all of that?”

“Don’t be obtuse,” Zhilan said, her voice taking on a harder edge. “You have under your command fourteen Harbin Z-9 helicopters equipped with infrared radars, night-vision cameras, and missiles, both anti-air and anti-tank.”

Feng sighed. “You are extraordinarily well informed.”

“Your command also maintains seventy-nine observation posts along the border. Is this also correct?”

“Yes.”

“We suspect the people will have to use a helicopter to transit some of the more remote areas. There are a limited number of charter companies in Nepal that offer such services. In order to make your task easier, we will be monitoring these companies.”

“Then why not intercept these people before they board?”

“We will allow them to . . . complete their mission before you take action against them.”

“What is their mission?”

“They are looking for something. We want them to succeed.”

“What are they looking for?”

“You do not need to know that. General, I have explained what is required of you; I have given you all the information you need to make a decision. So decide, please.”

“I accept. I will need information on the targets.”

Zhilan reached into the front pocket of her parka and withdrew an SD card. She slid it across the table to Feng, then stood up. “Make sure you are ready when I call.”

JOMSOM, NEPAL

Acutely aware that, in Charles King, they’d enraged a lion that had thus far only been annoyed, Sam and Remi had instructed Selma to find them an alternate route to Mustang.

Everyone involved knew the Theurang was somewhere in the Himalayas, and King now knew that the Fargos, possessing a significant lead in the race, would have to return to Nepal. Sam and Remi had no doubt that Russell and Marjorie King, along with their mother, Zhilan Hsu, would be on the lookout for them. Only time would tell what other forces King would bring to bear, but they intended to walk very carefully until this odyssey was over.

A series of marathon flights eventually took them to New Delhi, India, where they drove two hundred fifty miles southeast to the city of Lucknow, where they picked up a single-engine charter flight another two hundred miles northeast to Jomsom. They’d left the trekker’s hub less than a week earlier, and as the plane’s wheels squealed on the airstrip tarmac both Sam and Remi felt a sense of deja vu. This sensation was only heightened as they headed for the terminal amid throngs of trekkers and guide service reps vying for their business.

As Jack Karna had promised, they slipped through customs unmolested or questioned. Waiting for them at the curb outside the terminal was another blast from the past: a Nepali man standing beside a white Toyota Land Cruiser and holding a sign bearing their name.

“I think you’re looking for us,” Sam said, extending his hand.

The man shook both their hands. “I am Ajay. Mr. Karna asked me to tell you, ‘Selma’s newest fish is called a Apistogramma iniridae.’ Have I pronounced that correctly?”

“You have,” Remi replied. “And its name is?”

“Frodo.” In their lengthy discussions, Selma and Jack Karna had discovered they were both avid fans of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. “Yes? Okay?” Ajay asked with a smile.