Broken Wings - XIII -
Justin
I appreciated Dr. Lee's help, and I certainly wasn't going to insist that he give up his brother for anything. I knew Seattle was upset about not being able to contact his brother immediately, but one thing I knew from dealing with Jhondie is that you have to be careful with things like this. The last thing I would want to do was to have the Chinese government jumping all over the doctor because some Americans were trying to get him to abandon the work he was doing for them and come over here. Seattle was just too hot-tempered to listen, and just because she knew about it didn't mean she could understand the seriousness of secret government operations. I wouldn't be able to understand if it weren't for all of my dealings with Jhondie.
"Justin," Dr. Lee said. He looked like he was debating something very important. I sat back down and waited for him to talk. I didn't like the vibes I was getting. "My brother called me to consult on a case," he finally said. "It was a very unusual case, and I was going to contact you and Jhondie to discuss what he had said to me. Jhondie would be very interested in it."
"Manticore?" I asked. Wasn't his brother working in China right now?
"I do not know details of the project," he replied. "I do know he wanted more information about accelerated development of the brain. He was going to be doing a cochlear implant very soon on a child that is having gradual hearing loss due to unusual brain activity." He paused while that sank in. That didn't sound familiar did it? Bloody hell. If this kid was part of Manticore how did Seattle have her?
"You know for sure your brother is in China?" I asked, needing all of the information I could get. This couldn't have anything to do with Manticore. There could be more than one genetic engineering project going on. It was possible.
"He was in the United States when he called, but he had to take the child to China. He did not say why, but I gathered there was a great urgency in him leaving with the boy," Dr. Lee informed me. "He was leaving within the hour, and wanted to get the information I could send to him before he left. It would be easier for him to get it while he was here rather than wait until he was in China."
"Was he really part of black-ops in China?" I asked.
Dr. Lee nodded. "He never said so directly, but he is my brother and I know him well. I can hear what he does not say."
A sudden thought hit me. What if he had worked with Manticore in the past? That would explain how he knew now about an American project and why he was called in to help out. I knew for certain then that I could not let Jhondie get involved. If he were a doctor that had done things to her, she wouldn't be able to control herself. She still had never really gone into detail about what had happened to her at Manticore on the medical side, but I could read between the lines. She hated Lydecker. She loathed the doctors there. Whatever had happened had been beyond intense. She'd kill the guy before he could get the chance to help Seattle.
"If the boy he was helping has the same problems, maybe his research is still where he was," I said aloud.
Dr. Lee thought about it for a second. "It is possible the child was being taken to China for the physical therapy facilities there after the surgery," he suggested.
"Where did your brother call from?" I asked quickly.
"He did not say," Dr. Lee replied sadly. That wasn't a problem for me. I had some great contacts of my own. I grabbed my cell and dialed a number. Nikki answered on the first ring. We knew better than to ignore calls when each other's numbers came up.
"What's up?" she answered.
"Nikki, need a favor," I said. She laughed.
"Well, duh," she joked. "Hot story?"
"Maybe," I replied. She thought I was just a garden-variety free-lance journalist. My own published stuff was biting, but nothing like what I did for the boss. She didn't know about Eye's Only and I was going to keep it that way. "Anyways," I continued. "I need to find the origination point of a phone call." I covered the mouthpiece of the phone and asked Dr. Lee about what time the call came in. He told me and I gave the time and Dr. Lee's address to her.
"Okay," she said. I could hear her scribbling down the information in her notebook. She didn't have to worry about it ever being found and someone getting sensitive information off of it. Nobody could make sense out of her chickenscratch and cross-outs and circles with arrows. "I need to get with my people and I'll call you back when I have it."

"You're a lifesaver," I said. She laughed.

"I'll send you a bill." She would too. Trust me, she had done it before.

"Get bent," I said with a smile. "Later." We hung up. I looked over at Dr. Lee.

"I'll do everything I can to protect your brother," I told him, "but I have to know what's going on and if Jhondie is in any danger."

He nodded. "That is why I told you all that I did."

"I appreciate it," I said and stood. I needed to go hunt down Seattle. It went against my better judgment, but if there was a way I could help her get information that would help her friend than I was going to do it. I told Zack once that I was willing to help any of the Manticore kids, and he wasn't a guy I ever intended to lie to. If the little girl was connected to Manticore, then by default I was promised to help her. God help me if Jhondie ever found out I did this and didn't tell her. Ah hell, I'd just get some more grapes for her to steal.