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“So you believe the financial motive is sufficient?” the Dalai Lama asked

“It ht help if you offered the his silver bullet for the last

The Dalai Laston, but in this case your information is faulty The Golden Buddha was stolen when I went into exile The governer has it to offer”

The sun was finally appearing over the horizon and it illulow To the rear of the plane a steas preparing a light breakfast of juice and muffins The time had come for Overholt to show his hand

“The United States has a plan to liberate the Golden Buddha,” he said “We should have it in a few days”

The Dalai Larin “I must say that is very unexpected news Now I can see why you have flown halfway around the world with me”

Overholt smiled and nodded “So you think the Chinese will accept the icon as payment when combined with the threat of war?”

The Dalai Lama shook his head “No, my CIA friend, I do not The true secret of the Golden Buddha is inside…a secret the Chinese would pay dearly for”

10

EXITING the bridge, Truitt steered the van through the cloverleaf The thousand-rooht as they drove west on Avenida Dr Mario Soares To the right, the Bank of China soared into the air, a pink granite-and-glass structure whose top levels allowed the occupants a view across the border into China

“For anticapitalists, they build a nice bank,” Meadows said quietly

No one replied; they were enae mishmash of new and old, European and Asian, traditional and modern Truitt reached Rua da Praia Grande and turned left

“From what I’m told, this used to be a beautiful drive,” Truitt said, “until construction started on the Nam Van Lakes Reclamation Project”

The road was clogged with construction trucks, cement mixers and piles of materials

Driving farther, the road became Avenida da Republica and skirted Nam Van Lake