I sat up and slid across his chest. I shoved my right leg into the crook of his neck while using the other to pin his right hand down so I could grab his gun. My surprise move had him immobilized. The question was, for how long? I expected him to buck me off at any second, but instead, he squirmed under me like a little boy unsure of what to do. I had a sneaking suspicion he was nothing but a bully who thrived on picking fights with people who appeared weaker than he. You picked the wrong person.
Eventually, I knew he would come to his senses and fight back. I also kept expecting to hear the front door open, followed by the pounding footsteps of my partner making his way up the stairs. Nothing.
I took a chance and released my right hand from his. Raising my arm up high, I drove my elbow into his right cheek. I repeated the move. I had meant to break his face on the first try.
The blow sent him into a fury. He shot his hips up with enough force and sent me flying over his head.
I flipped over as soon as I landed. So did he. He brought his gun around. I kicked my left leg out. My heel blasted his face, snapping his head back and shaking the gun loose from his grip. I continued with a volley of cycle kicks that fought to slow his climb forward.
One by one, he wrapped his arms around my legs and pinned them beneath his chest. A smirk stretched across his pockmarked face as he crawled forward. “You’re dead, bitch.”
I propped myself up on my elbows and pushed away, but it was too late. He swung his left arm around toward my head.
<><><>
I looked up and found Kang staring at me. “What happened?” I asked while sitting up. The room spun, so I lay back down.
“I was about to ask you the same thing. I heard a gunshot. When I got here, you were knocked out cold, and this guy had a broken neck,” he said with a head toss.
Broken neck? I looked at the motionless body next to me. His head was tilted my way unnaturally, and his eyes were open, but I saw no life flowing from them. How? “The last thing I remember was kicking him in the face while he threw wild punches.”
“Maybe one of your kicks did him in.”
“I don’t see how… Wait. You said you found me unconscious?”
“Yeah.” Kang pulled out his cell phone and called for backup and an ambulance.
In the meantime, I replayed the events of the night in my head. I definitely remembered kicking my attacker in the head and face. Maybe I did get lucky. I have decent leg strength. He wasn’t a big guy—certainly plausible. As I lay there wrestling with my thoughts, a cool draft rushed across my face. I looked over at my bedroom window and saw the drapes fluttering in the breeze. That window had been closed earlier.
Chapter 15
Two hours after Kang had woken me up in my hallway, CSI wrapped up their portion of the investigation and allowed the medical examiner, Timothy Green, to remove the body.
Green and I had known each other for a few years. We had worked a couple of cases together and shared coffee once or twice. As head of the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s office, he almost never came out to a crime scene, but I suspected his decision to make an appearance had a lot to do with my being involved.
He had arrived wearing brown corduroys and a yellow and green T-shirt promoting medical marijuana. He had a moppy mess of brown hair with a scattering of white on his head. His left ear was still pierced, but the tiny diamond stud had been replaced with a black barb. The light patchouli scent I associated with him permeated the air around him. There was no mistaking that Green was more hippy than hip, and most would crinkle their brow upon hearing that he was the city’s chief medical examiner.
“I’m sorry they kept the body here for so long,” he said, adjusting the wire-framed spectacles on his nose. He spoke calmly and softly, as he always did.
I waved it off. “I know the drill.”
He smiled. “Yes, you do. Such the pragmatist.” His gray eyes lingered on mine longer than most would. I didn’t mind the attention, but I was mindful of keeping our friendship just that.
“I hope I’m not prying, but I overheard your conversation with Detective Kang earlier. Are you in some sort of danger?”
I pondered his question briefly before answering. Broadcasting my situation had been the last thing I wanted to do. I didn’t need to help the Suzi Zhangs of the world. “I’m chasing someone, and they don’t like it. They’re doing everything they can to stop me.”
“Is that what happened here?” He gave the crime scene a quick once-over. “You’re telling me this guy was sent after you?”
I nodded. “There may be more.” I decided to fill Green in on the details of the night and its connection to the Chasing Chinatown game. “We found the game app on his phone, and he had been logged into the game as Team Favela. We don’t know his true identity yet.”
Green took a deep breath and blinked his eyes repeatedly. “I don’t know what to say, Abby. This is serious. You could be attacked again at any moment.”
Just then, Kang appeared. “I just got word that the department will increase patrols on your street.”
“Increased patrolling? How is that supposed to keep her safe?” Green blurted. His raised tone even took me by surprise.
Kang towered above Green much as he did me. With his hands pocketed in his blue slacks, he turned toward the man who had boldly questioned him. “It’s called having a presence. It’ll serve as a deterrent.”
“Oh, well, in that case, Abby should be much safer, because apparently an officer in a passing vehicle is much more of a deterrent than an officer sitting in a parked car across the street.”
Ooh, a direct attack. This wasn’t the first time I had witnessed the alpha posturing between the two. I knew they had history, but Kang had never filled me in on the details. I guessed it had something to do with the crush Green had on me.
With his neck craned back, Green showed no sign of backing off. In fact, he had leaned in, mostly to keep the conversation away from the other ears around us. My brain told me, Break up the little boys before it goes any further. But my ego countered, No, not yet. It makes me feel sooooo good. Maturity prevailed.
I stepped between the two. “Timothy, I appreciate your concern. You’re a good friend. Let me know what you find with the autopsy.” I steered him toward the stairs but disguised it as friendly pats on the back.
I watched Green descend the stairs and walk out the front door before turning back to Kang, who had a smug look on his face. “You happy?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, briefly looking away. “Look, in light of the situation, I think I should drive you up to Napa. You’re still heading there, right?”
“She’s not going anywhere.” We both turned to find Reilly making his way up the stairs. “We can’t risk you compromising the safe house. You’ll have to wait a little longer.”
“Wait, that’s not the deal.”
“I realize that, but the situation has changed. Anybody you come into contact with could be a potential player of the game. I’m locking you down right here, right now,” he said. “And that’s nonnegotiable.”
Reilly had done what I had feared he would do since that day the mastermind placed a bounty on my head: He had handcuffed me within my own investigation. “How am I to do my job?”
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
“This case won’t solve itself,” I continued.
Reilly looked at Kang. “Good thing you have a partner to help out.”
I let out a loud breath. “How long are you making me stay in my room?” I folded my arms across my chest and shifted my weight.
Reilly had both hands resting on his waist. He seemed at ease with his decision and undeterred by my sarcasm. “We’ll play it by day. I’ve assigned two agents to provide a security detail: Logan Knox and Steven Copeland. They’re familiarizing themselves with the property as we speak. You can introduce yourself to them later.”
“I really don’t think—”
Earlier, on the phone, I had filled Reilly in on what had taken place, but he had still insisted on coming over. He walked a little way down the hall, looking at the mess the CSI team had left. “I know a good crime scene cleanup crew,” he said as he turned and headed toward the stairs. “I’ll have them stop by tomorrow. The Bureau will cover the cost.”
“The lock on the back door is punched out,” I said in a huff.
“Add that to the tally.” His words faded, and that was the end of the conversation. I had become a prisoner in my home and, as far as I was concerned, an even easier target.
Chapter 16
Kang offered to spend the night. In fact, he insisted. I was too tired to fight him, and my head still throbbed from the smacking it had taken earlier. The two agents who were assigned to me had already appropriated the guest room for their sleep shifts. Lucy still had a youth bed, which wouldn’t work. Po Po’s was a queen, but Kang said he would feel better if he were on the same floor as me. That left Ryan’s room.
“I appreciate everything you’re doing, but—”
“I know, I know. You can take care of yourself, and there are two other agents on the premises,” he said. “But I want to do this.”
“What about your girlfriend? Won’t she mind?”
“She’ll have to understand. This is work, not a teenage sleepover.”
I opened the door to Ryan’s room. He had a double-sized bed with a navy-blue comforter and matching pillows. He had shed his Godzilla-themed bedding shortly after our move to the U.S.
Two Bruce Lee posters hung on the wall, along with a judo instructional poster that demonstrated forty techniques. His gi hung on the doorknob to his closet. A six-drawer dresser stood next to a wooden desk and chair. A low bookshelf housed his growing collection of martial arts books, a lava lamp, and a realistic figurine of Bruce Lee complete with yellow jumpsuit and black nunchucks.
Ryan had grown up fast over the last year or so. The toys of his earlier childhood were gone, replaced with a small flat-screen TV, a PlayStation 3, and a laptop. A skateboard stood upright in the corner, and glow-in-the-dark stars adorned the ceiling of his room.
“Looks like your boy has really taken an interest in the martial arts.”
“He’s been taking judo for a while and recently started with kung fu lessons. I take him to the gym with me when I can to teach him a few of my own tricks.” I flashed Kang a smile.
“I should spar with him one day.”
“That’s really nice of you. He would like that. Kung fu is where his real interest lies.”
“Does he still call you Abby?”
“Most of the time. Every now and then he’ll slip and say the ‘M’ word.”
“That’s gotta make you happy.”
“You know, I get it; he was old enough to remember his mother when she passed.”
“He’ll come around.”
I removed a few pieces of clothing from the bed. “You should be comfortable here.”
Kang nodded.
I let out a yawn as I exited Ryan’s room. “If you want a shower, there are fresh towels in the hallway cabinet. Help yourself.”
“Abby,” Kyle called out before I entered my bedroom, “we only briefly discussed this, but everyone, including your boss, seems to think a kick is what broke your attacker’s neck.”
“Maybe I did do it. We’ll see what the autopsy turns up.”
“But the open window—how sure are you of it?” he said, walking toward me.
I looked at the still-open window. CSI had dusted it for fingerprints but found none. “Pretty sure, but I guess I could be wrong. Maybe I opened it when I got home and don’t remember.” I shrugged.
Kang slipped by me and walked over to the window. He stuck his head out and looked around before pulling it back in. “There’s nothing for anyone to crawl down on, but the jump to the grass below isn’t terribly high. It’s possible to land without tweaking an ankle. Did the CSI crew check outside for prints?”
“Yeah, they didn’t find any. They also got up on the roof but didn’t find any noticeable disturbances, as they put it, but that doesn’t mean anything. Even a skilled burglar can avoid leaving a trail.”
Kang shut the window.
“So now you’re thinking there was another person?” Up until that point, I had been the only one buying the second-person theory.
“The odds of you kicking him and breaking his neck at the exact same moment he knocks you out, well, I think you’ll have better odds with a lottery ticket.”
I crossed my arms across my chest and leaned against the doorframe. “Okay, say there was a second person. Why would they break my attacker’s neck and then flee the scene?”
“Competition? Another team wanted a crack at you?”
“Another team? Interesting, but why not then finish me off? The job’s halfway done. Why wait and then have to make another attempt?”
“Maybe they had a different plan. You talked about a theme earlier—movies that take place in San Francisco.”
I thought about what Kang had said. There could be a little truth in it, especially if the other team’s gratification for killing stemmed from a very specific act or procedure. “We’re stretching, but let’s continue. Say this other team arrives here after us. They would have to enter my home without alerting you, my attacker, or me, right?”
Kang nodded.
“Only then to discover that they were too late when they see that Team Favela has already engaged me. Again, this happens without alerting either one of us.”
“Or they got here before we did, saw the other team, and decided to wait it out.”
“Eh, I feel like if they did arrive before us and spotted Team Favela, they would have either left or taken out the other team.”
“But then there’s a body unless they attacked them in the backyard. Doesn’t seem likely, though.”
“I agree. Still it all feels very Silly Putty to me... You know what it could be? Maybe he did have a partner, and that partner got greedy.”
“Still, why not kill you, snap the picture, and be done with it?”
We were chasing our tails, grasping at anything to make the second-person theory work. None of it did. We had talked ourselves into an empty corner. I yawned again and looked at my watch. It was nearing midnight. “Let’s continue this conversation later.”
“Good idea. Rest might bring us a bit of clarity.”
After parting with Kang, I opted for a quick shower instead of the lingering bath I had been thinking of. Thirty minutes later, I was under my covers, makeup free, with minty fresh breath courtesy of a thirty-second burning gargle.
<><><>
I don’t know how long I had been asleep, but I remember opening my eyes briefly as I turned over to my side. That was when I saw movement. At least, that was what I thought it was. I had already closed my eyes when I mulled that thought.
Was that movement a shadow from the tree branch outside?
Were the drapes drawn over the window before you went to bed?
I’m pretty sure they were. That would disqualify the tree.
Eye floaters?
Now that’s a likely culprit.
Were your eyes open long enough to register them?
Hmmm, good question.
Why not open your eyes and take a look?
Why? Because I don’t think I can stomach yet a third attack in one day.
So if you keep your eyes closed, somehow whoever is in your room will disappear?
Wait, at what point did we graduate to someone being inside my bedroom?
There’s only one way to find out, right?
I opened my eyes and didn’t see anything, but my
window was open. Again.
Chapter 17
I sat up in bed and stared at the window. I was pretty sure Kang had closed it earlier. I was certain it was shut before I slipped under the covers. And yet there it was, open, with the curtains flapping in the breeze.
I slid my legs over to the side of the bed and stood up. I usually slept in the buff, but seeing as there were three men under my roof whom I wasn’t in a relationship with, the conservative part of me had me sleeping in a light tank top and cotton athletic shorts.
I walked over to the window and moved one of the curtains off to the side for a better look outside. The nightly fog was absent, so my adjusted eyes fared better in the darkness. I looked down at the single-sloped roof of the enclosed patio. The lights were off, and I heard nothing, but I assumed one of the agents was sitting inside there.
I scanned the yard, not looking for anything in particular. Or maybe I was—a reason for my window to be open. I shifted my eyes over to the top of the tall pine tree and slowly traced downward the outline of the trunk and its arched branches. One of the branches, a straggler, jutted out close to the house about a foot to the left of my window. I had thought of hiring a landscaping service to trim it but had never gotten around to doing it. I stared at it, wondering what a trim would cost. That was when I saw a slight movement in the tree.
I blinked my eyes and leaned out the window a bit. I had already questioned my memory, and my imagination seemed to be getting the best of me, but dammit if I wasn’t sure I had seen something un-tree-like move.
The dark shape moved again. This time it wasn’t brief; it slowly traversed along the branch toward me. It was too big to be a raccoon. I could see that much. It stopped just as a slice of moonlight beamed down in front of it. Out of the patch of darkness and into the light, a hand appeared. I swear it looked as though it waved at me.
In an instant, I drew a sharp breath, and the knock of my heartbeat slammed against my chest. I spun around and reached for my holster that lay on top of my dresser. As I drew my weapon, I turned back toward the window, but the mysterious person had disappeared. I knew then that I wasn’t imagining things.
Coit Tower (Abby Kane FBI Thriller - Chasing Chinatown Trilogy Book 3) Page 7
