Red Phoenix: A Thomas Caine Thriller (The Thomas Caine Series Book 2)

by Andrew Warren

  “Guess they weren’t so lucky.” Sean spat out the words, despite the obvious look of fear on his battered face.

  “You think destiny will favor you over them?” Fang asked. “Shall we find out?”

  Sean looked back at Fang. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he opened them. A look of calm descended across his face.

  “You’ll find out about destiny soon enough. Trust me.”

  Fang began to speak, but stopped. An electronic chirp echoed through the unfinished room.

  Lewis pulled his cellphone from his pocket. He stared at it for a moment, a look of uneasy surprise on his face. Then he answered.

  “Wei?” he said into the phone. He was silent for a moment, then held the phone out towards Fang. “It’s for you.”

  Fang cursed and pushed down with his foot, steadying the chair. “Get him back in here,” he snapped as he strode towards Lewis. The two enforcers scrambled over to Sean and pulled the chair back from the ledge.

  Fang snatched the phone from Lewis’s outstretched hand.

  “Who is this?” he asked. “How did you get this number.”

  “You know who I am.” The voice was cool, confident, and cold as ice.

  “It’s you," Fang muttered. "The American. The one who broke Sean out of prison.”

  “My name is Thomas Caine. I’m sure a man like you has friends in the Ministry. Ask them about me. I want you to know who I am. I want you to know what I will do to you if you hurt Sean.”

  “A man who makes threats only betrays his own weakness,” Fang answered. “Is that why you called? You think you can frighten me with words? You think I would cower at the mere mention of your name? Do you have any idea who you are dealing with?”

  “I’ve crossed paths with plenty of men like you,” Caine said. “Most of them are in the ground now. And I’m sure I’ll bury plenty more. But that’s not why I’m calling. I have something you want. I have the key to TANGENT.”

  Fang sucked in his breath. “You are but one man, Mr. Caine. I am Lu Long. We are the Triad behind all Triads. As soon as one of my men finds you, what is yours will be mine.”

  “Some of your men found me a few hours ago. You can scrape what’s left of them off the pavement.”

  “And what of the woman, from the prison? I assume she is with you as well?”

  “I had to cut her loose. Turns out she was working for the Ministry. Those who betray me … well, let’s just say I've got trust issues. Things didn't end well."

  “So what do you propose, Mr. Caine? A trade? The key for this kebei friend of yours?"

  “See? It’s not so complicated. We both get what we want, and Sean and I leave China for good.”

  Fang looked at his watch. “Very well. Lewis will text details to this number. We make the exchange tonight. Here in Shanghai, my building, Fang Plaza. Come alone, Mr. Caine. Or both you and Sean will join my brothers.”

  “That’s not a problem. I prefer to work alone. But know this. If you betray me, or hurt Sean … there is nothing on this earth that will stop me from choking the life out of you.”

  Fang laughed. “Again with the impotent threats.”

  “That’s not a threat,” Caine said, his voice still perfectly calm. “That’s professional courtesy. From one killer to another.”

  There was a click, and the line went dead.

  Fang turned to Iris. “This man, Caine … Does he have what I seek?”

  Iris ran her fingernail across the groves and markings in her I-Ching sticks. She looked up at Fang with her wide, uncanny eyes and smiled. “Joyous Lake above Clinging Fire. Supreme success shall be furthered by perseverance. Remorse shall disappear.”

  Fang handed the phone back to Lewis. “Summon Tan Sying. Operation Dynasty commences tonight.”

  “Shi de, long dei fuquin,” Lewis said as he began dialing numbers on the phone. “It shall be done, Dragon Father.”

  “Tonight my destiny shall be fulfilled. We must let nothing stand in our way,” Fang said. He narrowed his eyes as he watched Iris slip her bamboo sticks into her purse. She marched towards the elevators. “Where are you going?” he asked.

  “I just want to freshen up, darling,” she said. Her voice dripped with a sultry tone. “I must prepare for the evening’s entertainment.”

  Fang nodded and waved his hand in dismissal. When her back was turned to him and his men, her face went pale. She remembered the sensation of her fingers traveling across the grooves of her sticks. She had neglected to mention the tiny dot she felt between the two hexagrams … the change line. The marking that shifted the pattern to Joyous Lake above Arousing Thunder.

  Once again, the pattern of a new, dark destiny had revealed itself.

  She stepped into the elevator and forced herself to smile as she turned around to face Fang. She could not tell him now. She was afraid, afraid of what he would do to her when he learned she had hidden this omen from him. The doors slid shut, blocking his handsome face from her view.

  As the elevator descended, she turned and looked into the mirrored wall of the car. She reached out and touched her reflection.

  “Joyous Lake above Arousing Thunder …” she whispered. “Starting brings misfortune. Perseverance brings danger.

  “Haste and ruthlessness shall bring disaster.”

  Chapter Forty-Two

  It was dark when Caine’s taxi pulled up outside Fang Plaza. The Pudong skyline sparkled in the distance, bathing the city in a dim, electric glow. Coronas of light reflected in the mirrored sides of the Shanghai World Financial Center. To the east, pinpoints of glowing purple danced up and down the Pearl Tower. They circled around the massive spheres like a curtain of amethyst jewels.

  Inside the lobby, five men stood waiting. They were dressed in dark, ill-fitting suits. Even from across the street, Caine could detect the bulge of weapons beneath their rumpled jackets.

  Caine looked up at the building. The lower half of the skyscraper was a stark, angular design. Its sleek, modern architecture was similar to the other structures in the area. Long, crimson banners flowed down its sweeping polished metal sides. Yellow Chinese characters on the banners proclaimed the opening date for the plaza.

  The upper stories of the tall building were incomplete. Steel beams and glass panels stretched up into the dark night sky, like a skeletal claw grasping at the shadowy heavens.

  The taxi driver squinted at the men in the lobby and shook his head. “Bu haokan. No look good. You sure you want to get out here?”

  “This is my stop," Caine answered. He handed the driver some yuan notes. The driver took the money and gave Caine one last worried glance. Caine slipped out of the car and shut the door. The taxi sped away and was soon lost in the lights and traffic of the city.

  Caine reached into his jacket and slipped out a small, silver case. He held it up in his hand and marched across the street towards the building. The men in the lobby leapt to attention, and their hands darted inside their jackets. Caine grinned as they drew a variety of pistols and weapons.

  He stopped a few feet in front of the building. The men peered at him through the glass. Caine stood still for a moment, then shrugged.

  Finally, the men opened the door and walked towards him, surrounding him. One of the men patted him down for weapons. A short but muscular man with buzzed salt and pepper hair stood silent, watching. The man frisking him turned to the shorter man and barked a few words in Chinese.

  The shorter man stared at Caine. He nodded towards the slim silver case Caine held in his hand.

  “Is that the key?” he asked in English.

  “It is. I’ll give it to Mr. Fang when he gives me what I want.”

  The man leveled his pistol at Caine and held out his free hand. “My name is Lewis. I work for Mr. Fang. Give it to me, now.”

  Caine shook his head. “Not until I see Sean. And Lewis, you should know this case contains a processor and a file-shredding program. All I need to do is press the button on the side, and th
e key gets deleted, gone forever. So if you’re going to pull that trigger, you better be sure you can drop me with one shot.”

  Lewis stared at him for a second, then lowered his gun. He gestured to the other men. “Dai shasng tai. Bring him.”

  Caine felt the barrel of a gun press into his back. A strong hand clamped down on his shoulder. “Move,” a deep thick voice commanded. “Now.”

  They led him into the building's lobby. Lewis pressed a button and summoned the elevator and the doors slid open with a chime. Caine, Lewis, and one other man stepped in. “The rest of you take the next car,” Lewis said as the doors closed. Caine clenched the silver case in his hand as the elevator began to ascend. For the second time that day, he found himself rising above the skyline of Shanghai.

  His eyes darted to a towering yellow construction crane that stood next to the building. Its mechanical claw hovered motionless in the air, a short distance from the unfinished structure. The twin prongs of the claw grasped a massive section of metal industrial piping in a vise-like grip.

  The claw hung from a heavy-duty steel cable. Caine’s eyes followed the cable up. It attached to the long jib arm of the crane, which was parked parallel to the upper floors of the building. A narrow walkway ran down the two-hundred-foot length of the jib arm. A small control booth sat above the slewing motors that controlled the crane.

  In the harsh glow of the halogen lights, the motionless crane seemed like a stark, lonely sentinel. It stood watch over the unfinished building.

  The elevator slowed to a stop, and the doors slid open. Lewis led Caine into a partially finished lobby, one of the upper levels still under construction. Plastic tarps covered gaps in the walls that surrounded the large, circular chamber. They whipped and rustled in the cool night wind. He could see the dark sky through the beams and girders above.

  A pair of huge, gold doors were set into a finished section of wall. Lewis pushed him forward. The other man stepped in front of him and pulled open the doors. The man grunted with exertion as the massive gold slabs creaked open.

  Caine stepped through the doors and found himself in a large, oval-shaped chamber. A line of green columns ran along either side of the room. Between the columns, terracotta statues of armored Chinese warriors stood at attention. Glass cases displayed jewels, artifacts, and scrolls from the Chinese Dynastic periods. At the far end of the room, in front of a vast panel of windows, a shimmering golden throne sat upon a raised platform. A handsome man in a white suit lounged on the throne, an embroidered robe of crimson silk draped across his shoulders. His hard, dark eyes followed Caine as he stepped into the room.

  David Fang.

  Lewis shoved Caine forward again. “Move!” he snapped. “Do not keep him waiting!”

  Caine walked towards the throne. Halogen lights illuminated the statues along his path. The eerie glow gave their features a grim, demonic cast. More lights surrounded the raised throne. Caine counted ten men standing around the base of the platform. They were armed with a variety of pistols, submachine guns, and swords. A large object, hidden under a black tarp, stood to the right of the platform.

  On the left side of the platform, a young man with spiked hair sat at a circular desk. The desk was covered with computer equipment, monitors, and cables. It looked similar to the computer setup Shirley and Edgar had used in the arcade.

  A figure emerged from behind one of the columns at the far end of the room. To Caine's surprise, a tall, attractive woman walked towards him. She wore a long, red silk gown, with ruffled shoulders and a plunging V-neck. Ruby earrings dangled from her ears, and a collection of orchids were pinned in her long, dark hair. Feathers of black and red mascara highlighted her intense, wide-eyed stare.

  She met him in the center of the room and stopped. The guards fanned out around them.

  “Welcome,” she said in a deep, husky voice. “My name is Iris. Mr. Fang and I are honored by your presence on this auspicious evening.”

  Caine smiled and looked around the ornate hall. “All this just for me? You really shouldn’t have.”

  Fang shrugged off his robe and descended the stairs of the throne platform. The pale ivory fabric of his suit reflected the glow of the halogen bulbs. He was almost blinding to look at.

  He clapped his hands together and chuckled as he approached Caine and Iris. “Don’t be modest, Mr. Caine,” Fang replied. “And please, forgive my theatrics. I couldn’t resist.” He gestured with his hands and looked up at the jade-inlaid ceiling of the vast chamber. “This room is my favorite in Fang Plaza. I made sure it was finished first. It’s my one concession to the past, in a building dedicated to the future. Dedicated to my future, I should say. My destiny.”

  “That’s a lot of significance to put on a bunch of steel and concrete,” Caine said. “After all, buildings, and destinies, fall every day.”

  Fang's black, intense stare met Caine’s emerald gaze. His lips curled into a thin smile. “I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, Mr. Caine, and assume that is not a threat. And as you said, I do have friends in the Ministry. I made some inquiries, as you suggested. You are quite an interesting man.”

  Caine shrugged. “Oh, I’m nothing special.”

  Iris smiled at him. There was something about her eyes, something that made him uncomfortable in her presence.

  “The superior man, if he must stand alone, remains unconcerned,” she intoned. “If he must renounce the world, he is undaunted. That is the wisdom of the I-Ching.”

  “I think I read that in a fortune cookie once,” Caine said.

  Fang laughed. “Please, let us drop this silly posturing. We are both extraordinary men. We both have a role to play in tonight’s events. But while I am here to fulfill a great destiny, I’m curious … what caused you to cross my path?”

  Caine held up the slim silver case. He placed his finger over the button on side, without depressing it. “I’m just keeping a promise to an old friend.”

  “A promise? You have come all this way, risked your life, killed my men … all to keep a promise?”

  Caine smiled. “It’s that simple. But if you’d like to chit chat, we can reminisce about our past, Mr. Fang. Or should I say, Da-zu Huang?”

  Caine saw Fang stiffen at the mention of his other name, and the woman’s eyes opened wide. Two of Fang’s men stepped forward, raising their guns towards Caine. Fang shook his head and waved them off, then flashed Caine a wide smile.

  “You’ve done your homework. I haven’t gone by that name in a long time.”

  “I can imagine,” Caine said. “Might upset those friends of yours at the Ministry.”

  Fang shook his head. “Since you seem so interested, allow me to fill in the gaps in your knowledge. You see, I too am here to fulfill a promise. One I made long ago.”

  He turned around and walked towards one of the display cases. “Come, come, you’ll enjoy this.” Iris turned and walked behind him, her long red dress spilling across the floor like a puddle of blood.

  Caine looked at the guards to his left and right, then stepped forward, following Fang and the woman. They stopped next to a glass display case. Inside stood a detailed model of the Chinese countryside. A wide, blue river cut through the model, held back by a towering dam. A tiny hydroelectric power plant overlooked the reservoir.

  “As you say, I was born with the name Da-zu. I was from a tiny pi shi village. The name does not matter. It no longer exists. It lays buried under hundreds of feet of water … the Baishan Reservoir, as this model here shows. There was a dam constructed across the river, not too far from my home. China needed more power. Needed to modernize, to join the technological world, as quickly as possible.”

  “The price of progress,” Caine said.

  Fang glanced over at him. “Progress, Mr. Caine, is relentless. It is a boon for some, a curse for others. But either way, no one can stand against it. You can’t fight destiny. I learned that the hard way.” He sighed. “And so did my father. Or rather, he failed to heed that le
sson. When construction on the dam began, our village was scheduled for relocation. Families were ordered to leave their homes, bringing only what they could carry.”

  “Forced relocation,” Caine said. “Like the Three Gorges Dam Project?”

  Fang nodded. “Nothing on that scale, I assure you. But yes, forced relocation was once common. These days the PRC government is a bit more restrained. More eyes are upon them. Negative news coverage can upset markets, derail their precious trade agreements. Still, they usually find a way to get what they want.

  “But back then, the party’s word was law. Our house was just a shack. There was no toilet, or shower. Just a hose and a concrete stall in the back. But my father had built it with his own two hands. He had lived in the village his whole life, it was all he knew. And his mother, my grandmother, was too elderly and sick to travel. He refused to leave. He and some of the other villagers organized a protest, to fight the relocation.”

  “He sounds like a brave man.”

  Fang glared at him and shook his head. “Feihua! He was a fool. On the final day of relocation, the National Police swept through the town. Anyone who remained was beaten. They burned houses, forced people out at gunpoint. I was six years old, and I remember standing in the muddy street. My mother covered my ears with her hands. Her skin was warm, and I thought she did it because it was cold outside. Later I realized it was because she didn’t want me to hear. There were gunshots inside the house. Two of them. One for my father, and one for my grandmother. I heard them, despite my mother’s efforts.”

  Caine was silent. Fang looked down at the model. His ran a hand across the glass of the display case, as if trying to touch the plastic miniatures inside.

  “As we were led away from the village, I looked back. I saw the police drag the bodies from our house. My grandmother … I watched as they burned her. Then they hung my father from the roof of his pathetic shack. A warning to other protestors. For years, whenever I saw pictures of the Baishan Reservoir in books, I imagined his corpse, floating in the water. Suspended, just beneath the surface, just out of sight. Still tied to that old, rotting shack.”