Cullen had said to phone if she stumbled across any new development in the case. Was this one bona fide? She agonized all the way across town. What if she was wrong? What if her brother was innocent? Leaking any suspicion to Cullen meant he’d have his Interpol contact investigate the Hong Kong gallery immediately.
Even if the investigation turned up nothing, the stigma would ruin Ling’s reputation. How would that make her feel—to have wrongly blown the whistle on her brother? Plus, was it truly a coincidence that Cullen’s ex just happened to be vacationing in the right part of the world? Or was that a clever ruse set up by the Archers? If so, she’d be handing Cullen the perfect scapegoat.
By the time Mei Lu reached her next destination, which was the nightclub, she’d effectively talked herself out of sharing her misgivings too hastily. At the academy, Catherine had stressed the importance of thorough investigation before jumping to conclusions about a suspect’s guilt or innocence. In her six-year career Mei had never felt a greater need for taking that advice to heart than she did now. On this, she needed to be absolutely sure.
CHAPTER SEVEN
MEI LU MEANDERED in and out of establishments near the club. She got the sense that people were afraid to talk to her, and even speaking Chinese didn’t loosen tongues. The one time she showed her badge, hoping to convince a woman she was on the right side of the law, the people in that shop not only wouldn’t say a word, they vanished.
As she’d said to Cullen, her assumption about the waitress was on the money. The young woman did quit her job. An older relative, who’d shown up to replace her, stared straight through Mei Lu as if she didn’t exist.
It was well after dark before she emerged from an equally fruitless interview with the bartender. Her cell phone rang as she unlocked her car. Feeling hostile eyes watching from the gathering dusk, she slid inside and locked her doors before she answered.
“Hey, good. You do have your phone turned on. Two more rings and I’d have given up. It’s Cullen,” he added unnecessarily.
“Hi. You caught me crawling into my car to go home. How are Belinda’s ears? Are you still in Austin?”
“We’re almost home. The pediatrician changed her medicine and after one dose she’s better. The doctor said she can’t go swimming the rest of this week, though. Now she’s sure Bobby’s going to have more fun. How did your day go?”
“Disappointing,” Mei said without hesitation. She’d definitely decided that until she had real facts she’d leave her brother out of any conversation with Cullen.
“Did you see your father?”
“Yes. You’ll be happy to hear no one’s approached him with photos or requests to find buyers. I wish you could’ve seen his shock when I named the items floating around on the black market. He also brought up a good question.” She started the Toyota and backed out of her parking space, catching the eye of a couple climbing into the adjacent car. As people had been doing all day, they avoided direct eye contact. But maybe she was reading more into it than was warranted. New immigrants often tried to appear invisible.
“Are you going to tell me your dad’s good question?” Cullen prodded.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. I’m navigating out of the nightclub parking lot. Dad wondered how anyone could get those artifacts through Customs.”
“We’ve got no proof they’ve actually come through yet. It’s not against the law to bring letters of introduction or photographs of art treasures into the country.”
“Wouldn’t you bet money that those two statues are here? Or at least that they were? Why else are two men dead?”
“I’ve had time on this trip to try to put the puzzle pieces together, Mei Lu. They just don’t seem to fit. Which makes me wonder if maybe the couriers were accidental victims.”
“I don’t buy that theory, Cullen. It’s too big a coincidence.”
“Maybe, but why wouldn’t someone savvy enough to know the net worth of those pieces not be savvy enough to destroy the photographs? They’re the damning evidence. Without them, Houston PD would have nothing to link the two deaths.”
“You’re right. According to my friend Crista, knife fights are a common weekend occurrence, especially here on the east side. But the killing on the dock—the new security measures taken since 9/11 make it harder to believe it’s a random act, don’t you think?”
“Given our lack of leads and the dead ends we’ve hit, I really don’t know what to think. I almost hoped someone trying to sell Chinese antiquities in Houston would make overtures to Ling Limited. But since you’re positive Michael heard nothing—”
“I am positive.” Mei cut Cullen off. Even as the declaration left her lips, she felt heat creep up her neck. She was sure her father was innocent. The same might not be true of her brother or his fiancée. Maybe Li-li Yu had found a way to use Stephen. Mei was thankful she and Cullen were talking on the telephone and not face-to-face. Otherwise, he would’ve seen that she was holding back. Lies and half-truths didn’t come easily to her. But, until she had a chance to question Stephen, she owed her brother the benefit of the doubt.
“I’m just pulling into my driveway, Mei Lu. How about if I help Freda get the twins fed and into bed, and you and I meet somewhere for dinner?”
“Why?” The word exploded from her before Mei Lu realized how it sounded.
Cullen didn’t take offense. He laughed. “You haven’t eaten, have you?”
“No, but I’m nearly home. I’ve been gone all day, and I haven’t even stopped by the station to collect my messages. Plus there’s Foo. But…I suppose if you have ideas we need to pursue, then…sure, I guess I can rearrange my evening.”
There was a long silence on Cullen’s end of the line. Mei thought maybe the connection had broken off, until she heard him say haltingly, “I have no…uh…new ideas. I looked forward to our morning and hated like hell to cancel out the way I did. I guess I just…uh…hankered after adult conversation over a real meal, not the fast-food variety the twins talked me into all day.”
As she considered his explanation, Mei felt her heart beat faster. Was Cullen trying to say he missed her? Oddly, even though she’d made an effort to overlook the truth all day, she’d looked forward to seeing him, too—with an equal mix of excitement and apprehension. Tension crept in whenever she remembered how they had parted the previous night. If Mei was honest, she’d admit how much she’d enjoyed kissing him.
There, she’d admitted it. Remembering Crista and Abby’s admonitions about the bleak future she’d have to look forward to if she didn’t let go of some of her reserved attitude when it came to men, Mei allowed another half second of silence to go by, then said, “Where shall we meet? I’m in front of my house now. I can run in and let Foo out for ten minutes or so, and then feed him. If you know of a restaurant halfway between your place and mine, I can probably be there by seven-thirty.” She held her breath. If he had any clue what a step forward this was for her, he’d probably laugh. Most women her age were experienced in ways she wasn’t.
“How does Joe’s Crab Shack sound? Of the dozen or so around Houston, there must be one midway between us. Ah, good, according to my GPS, there is.” He gave the cross streets and the freeway exit number.
“I love seafood. That sounds perfect. I’ll see you as near to seven-thirty as possible.”
After they’d said their goodbyes and she’d sprinted into her house, Mei had second thoughts. Meeting a man for anything other than business was so unlike her. She wished now that she’d listened to the byplay when their group used to meet for happy hour or dinner. The six friends frequently discussed dating. During trainee days, Mei and Lucy had never had much to contribute. Neither of them had ever had a serious relationship. Risa warned them all off cops. Before Grady, Risa’s dates had been pretty disastrous. Boy, she hoped Risa was happy now. She deserved it if anyone did.
Unlocking the door, Mei tossed her keys and purse aside and dropped to her knees for her usual welcoming tussle with Foo.
M
ei’s mind returned to this impromptu meal with Cullen, then back again to whatever words of wisdom the others, namely Crista and Abby, had shared about their dating experiences. Catherine didn’t count. She’d been happily married, she always said. Only her in-laws had caused trouble. Mei’s own folks had never dated. Hadn’t even met before their arranged union. Mei knew that Aun had felt torn away from a family she loved. She talked about her brothers as if they were saints. But Michael Ling would never discuss such things as love and marriage, period.
Setting aside thoughts of her family, Mei let Foo out to run. She thought again of what her friends had said. Abby usually complained because Thomas was gone a lot. Mei couldn’t recall her ever saying anything negative about her first husband.
Mei had probably had more heart-to-heart talks with Crista, though. Bad experiences like those Crista had suffered at the hands of an abusive stepfather and ex-husband only fueled Mei’s belief that love was elusive, if not nonexistent.
At least, that was her belief before this past year, when one by one she had watched each of those friends do a one-eighty over a man. Except for Risa, since Mei had had virtually no contact with her after the IA investigation started… With the others she’d witnessed the overt changes caused by love. They swore their lives were complete, and better, because of that certain, special man.
But doubts flitted through Mei’s head as she changed clothes. Perhaps it was more of a question: how did her friends know Grady, Jackson, Alex and Thomas were the men they wanted as husbands, lovers, fathers to their children?
Mei pulled on a short black skirt and a red silk blouse that was comfortable and that friends said looked good. Black, high-heeled boots and a shoulder-strap purse big enough to hold essentials like car and house keys, and her Taser, completed her metamorphosis from cop to woman headed for pleasure.
She bent to pet Foo, who’d come to find her. The dog obviously thought Mei was getting ready for bed, and had staked out his usual spot. He raised his head and barked at the ceiling.
“Sorry, boy.” She rubbed his ears. “I’m leaving you again. This is one time I’m really glad you can’t ask me why. Because I just plain don’t know.”
Mei did know, though. The prospect of seeing Cullen again filled her with an inexplicable joy. Did she only imagine that the night air smelled fresher and the moon looked brighter?
Her cell phone rang, and for a heartbeat, Mei’s stomach dived. She was certain it was Cullen phoning to cancel dinner.
But the airwaves crackled with a hollow static of the type she associated with international communication. Stephen’s voice, sounding distant, surprised her.
“Mei Lu? I’ve been away and only returned today from a five-week buying trip to Qiqihar in the plain of Manchuria.” He pronounced it Manzhou as the Chinese did. All Mei Lu remembered about that region was that it was historically known for shamanism, opium…and tigers. The first courier had had a tiger tattoo on his hand. But was she looking for significance where none existed?
“Five weeks,” she muttered. “Who ran the office in your absence?”
“Why do you care?” Stephen snapped. “You left Ling Limited without a concern about me. Father refuses to replace you, yet I can’t very well be in two places at once.”
“That’s not fair. You said you could handle the office alone. And it’s not my fault Father chooses not to replace me. After six years, he ought to realize I’m not changing my mind about returning to Hong Kong.”
“Forgive me for biting your head off, Mei Lu. I’m really tired. And…I could use your help now.”
She felt an immediate surge of her old love for him. “You should’ve waited until after you had a good night’s sleep to phone me.”
“I thought maybe your attempt to reach me was urgent. Sang Chi gave me the messages she took at the gallery. You’d called there twice. Then I came home to find three calls from you on my recorder.”
Her brother seemed in such a cross mood, Mei Lu lightened her approach. “I phoned when I learned congratulations are in order. Sang Chi should have said you’d be away for five weeks. I called again today because I visited Mother and Father. Mother showed me a picture of your bride-to-be.”
“Oh. What do you think?”
She thought he sounded strained. “Of you getting married, or of Li-li’s picture?”
“Either, or both.”
“Honestly? I’ve always assumed you and I would remain single forever. She’s beautiful, but…not exactly your type.”
“You can tell that from a picture?”
“Come on, Stephen. The women I saw you date were sophisticated products of the twenty-first century. Li-li is…very young.”
He spoke tightly. “Father disapproved of every other girl I had any interest in. Li-li comes from the same province as Mother. I figure that should please them both. When’s Father coming over to meet her? I’ve asked him to. As well, I want his approval to train her for the position you left.”
“Stephen Ling, you’re marrying that poor girl to get an office manager?”
“How totally westernized you’ve become, Mei Lu. Father married because he needed a wife to entertain clients, and to produce sons who’d eventually help run the business.”
“Oh, I think there was more—” Mei Lu stopped, asking herself whether she really thought there was more to her parent’s almost sterile, brokered marriage.
Her brother didn’t appear to have heard her swift intake of breath. He continued talking. “I’ll do what I have to, Mei Lu, to keep this end of the business afloat. And I don’t need lectures from you. You let me down, not the other way around.”
“I didn’t,” she said in defense. “Surely you haven’t forgotten why we quarreled?” Mei decided their conversation was breaking down. If she expected to seriously question Stephen, she had to jump in and do it fast.
“Three silly combs.”
“Three illegal combs carved from ivory and inlaid with non-exportable black pearl,” she shot back.
“I didn’t export them, did I?”
“No, but I found them in our warehouse. They weren’t on the manifest of items you brought in from Hangchow.”
“I see you’re still sanctimonious. In spite of what Father says, it’s clear to me that leaving Ling’s and becoming a crime-fighter is your calling. We should’ve said goodbye following your congratulations. Like I told you, I’m tired. I have my job. You have yours. Leave me alone, okay?”
Mei Lu felt the vibrations of Stephen hanging up in her ear. She gripped her phone so hard her fingers ached, but let it fall to her lap when the car behind her honked, startling her. It was then that Mei saw she’d passed the exit Cullen had told her to take. As a result she had to drive on to the next one and backtrack along unfamiliar streets.
Her phone rang again. This time, since she was late, she was sure it’d be Cullen. Again she was surprised.
“Lieutenant Ling? This is Sergeant Marshall. Chuck,” he added, his words rushing together. “I’m phoning for Captain Murdock. He needs you on an undercover assignment. He said to tell you straight away that he cleared this with Chief Tanner. She gave permission to have you attend a big shindig tomorrow night.”
“What’s the case, and where will I be going?”
“The captain asked me to leave all the particulars in an envelope on your desk. I stuck it in your center drawer. Can you pick it up tonight?”
Mei saw that it was seven-forty. She was already ten minutes late to meet Cullen. “I’m on my way to a prior appointment,” she said. “I’ll swing past the station before I head home. I hope everything’s in the envelope. Who do I talk with if I have questions?”
“Ma’am, I’m just the messenger. I suppose you’d need to track down the cap’n.”
That was the last thing Mei wanted to do, but she wouldn’t tell the sergeant that. “Okay. If you speak with him, Chuck, tell him I’m on for whatever the mission is.” She signed off, thinking the assignment was probably a cockt
ail party. Mei had never kidded herself into believing Shel Murdock had requested her for his unit to diversify his all-male bastion. It was well-known that he needed someone better able to infiltrate gatherings of corporate bigwigs. Mei had hated leaving her old unit—Fred Benson was the best captain, but she’d been up for lieutenant and deserved the promotion, and Benson had no opening.
A night spent working another case might be just what Mei needed to help her refocus and decide how to proceed with Stephen.
As soon as she rolled into the parking lot, she saw Cullen’s car. Someone was just pulling out of the space next to him, and Mei swung into it. She couldn’t help noticing how out of place her Toyota looked as she locked it. She laughed, wondering why she bothered. Surrounded by sports cars, his BMW, and a Mercedes or two, Mei was again reminded of how badly she needed to make time to find a new car. At least she didn’t have to worry about a car-jacking tonight.
Cullen stood in the restaurant foyer jiggling the change in his pants pockets as he examined a line of Houston wharf photographs on the wall. Spotting him, Mei walked straight up and said, “I hope you haven’t waited long. I missed the exit and had quite a time working my way back here.”
Spinning, he let his eyes cruise over her from head to toe before murmuring, “It was worth the wait.” Taking her arm, he turned them toward the hostess. “They announced my name a minute ago,” he said. “If we’re lucky, she hasn’t given our table away.”
“Oh, there you are.” The hostess smiled and handed two menus to a hovering waiter.
The interior of the restaurant pulsed with raucous music and laughter. As they wound between tables, Mei noted that a majority of the patrons were young, maybe college age. That surprised her because of the cars in the parking lot. Which brought to mind Abby’s recent admonition that she wasn’t likely to get rich on a cop’s salary.
“Is this table all right?” the waiter asked Cullen, who deferred to Mei Lu with a little quirk of his eyebrow.
She Walks the Line (Harlequin Super Romance) Page 12
