Not only was I a step closer to saving my job, but I was on track to heavy-hitter status.
Chapter 52
San Francisco, California
I left my heart in San Francisco and my moneymaker in Hong Kong. I was ecstatic when I entered the Teleco building. Even though the morning fog had a strong grasp on the city, I felt like the sun was out and the birds were singing a song in my honor. Today, I begin my rise to greatness.
As I exited the elevator to my floor, the murmur of bottom feeders cold-calling filled the stale air of the office. Was I ready to be back? Just the thought of having to pick up a phone and call some pizza joint made me nauseous. Luckily, I didn’t have to.
Why? Because I had just closed a deal––that’s why.
Tav was already sitting at his desk hunched over his computer. I tapped him on the shoulder. He nearly jumped out of his seat.
“Damn, Darb, you scared the shit out of me,” Tavish said, half-smiling, half-angry. Then he hugged me man-style, with a handshake. “So, how was it? Tell me everything.”
“Ssshhh,” I said. “I was supposed to be at a funeral.”
“Oh yeah, cool. I hear you. So what man? Did you do the Kong up right?”
I liked that about Tav, his genuine enthusiasm for what I did or had to say. He was always interested. Ever since we were little kids, I had someone I could trust with my thoughts. Someone who would get excited and never judge me, no matter how idiotic the words coming out of my mouth.
“A lot of soapy massages, a lot of happy endings.”
“No way.”
I smiled and let his imagination take care of rest.
“That’s awesome, man.”
“That’s not all. I met someone over there.”
“A local?”
“Yeah, she was local and she was hot. I mean out-of-my-league hot. It was unbelievable.”
“You met her at the massage place?”
“No, no, she wasn’t a massage girl. She was an ordinary girl I met on the streets. I bumped into her, literally, down by the waterfront one day. The heel from one of her pumps got stuck between two pieces of wood and when she tried to free it, it broke off sending her flying into me. I caught her and offered to fix her shoe with Krazy Glue.”
“And then you asked her out?”
“No, we talked for a bit. I guess there was a little something going on. She could have left right away, but she stuck around. Anyway, I remember thinking she was amazingly hot and very interesting. And then she said bye to me and was on her way.”
Confusion appeared on Tav’s face. “That’s it? I don’t know if you can consider that meeting someone.”
“We bumped into each other again, later that night.”
“Oh, okay, now we’re getting somewhere. Go on.”
I told him all about the wonderful world of Leslie Choi. About how she saved me from a food vendor scam and cleared up the difference between fried pork balls and fried monkey balls. I told him how we spent the rest of the evening talking about the most random of stuff. And lastly, how we ended the night at my hotel room.
“No way. You got action?” Tav held up his hand for a high five. “That’s awesome! I never thought you could close like that.”
“Come on, I’m not that pathetic am I?”
“Well, you did kind of have a dry spell for the last, oh, I dunno, three years.”
“What about my neighbor?”
“You jacked off to her sunbathing. That doesn’t count.”
It’s true. I hadn’t had so much of a coffee date for about three years. I was monogamous with my hand. Geesh.
“So anyway, did you guys hang out every day and have massive Asian-influenced sex? Did she get down on her knees and perform the little praying mantis?”
I had tried to keep the conversation semi-serious, but I finally cracked and let out a laugh. Tav always had a way of breaking me down. Of course there was the other half of the story that Tav had yet to bring up: my real reason for traveling all the way to Hong Kong––launching Get Organized. Tav was still peppering me with demands for details of the trip and it didn’t seem like he was going to stop anytime soon.
“Look, why don’t we head over to Li Po after work and toss back some Tsingtaos. I’ll tell you all about it then.” In the meantime, I went ahead and got the paperwork going on my new client. Before leaving Hong Kong I was able to set up a bank account for LC Toys, Inc., the front for the Fan Gang. I thought it was pretty ingenious. LC stood for Leslie Choi of course.
To get the bank account going, I had maxed out all of my credit cards with cash advances. Thirty thousand dollars worth of seed money is what I call it. With all this debt piling up around me, there was no turning back now. Nope, it was full steam ahead. Next stop, the good life.
Harold wouldn’t be able to hold his salary over my head anymore. I couldn’t wait to see the look on that smug jerk’s face when the orders started rolling in: especially since each one meant a fat commission check for The Darb.
Tav actually found out how much he made: $75,000. That’s it. Topped out and in a dead end job was really what Harold had. He wasn’t in sales, so he was pure salary. Same paycheck day in and day out.
Payback was going to be awesome.
Chapter 53
Between the two of us, we had put away ten beers. Tav pushed me for details about every kiss, every use of a finger…he practically had me break down the entire night by the minute. But there was still the other discussion to be had.
“Tav, we’re best friends, right?”
“Sure, man. Forever,” Tav said with a raised beer bottle.
“And we stand by each other no matter what, right?”
“Yeah…”
My eyes narrowed in on Tav. I did this whenever I was serious. He knew the look; the tell on his face gave it away. No more lovemaking details were coming this evening.
“Well, there were other successes in Hong Kong.”
“I was afraid of this….you’re alive, so obviously it didn’t go bad in that respect. Just tell me it didn’t pan out. Tell me it fell through.”
I smiled at Tav.
Tav slowly shook his head side to side. “No…”
“Yes.”
“Oh, no, no, no.”
“Oh, yes, yes, yes.”
Tav picked up his beer and drained the last half of the bottle. He didn’t say anything after. He couldn’t even look me in the eyes. Staring off into the distance, he finally managed a few words.
“So it’s a go, huh?”
“Yup, Get Organized is a go.”
“Is it with that fanny gang?”
“You mean the Fan Gang? Yes, it’s with them.”
“And they agreed to pay you and everything?”
“The case study, the money––they’re fine with it. They have no choice. The gang is dying. I had some product on me while I was out there and could show them instantly how it helps their operations. Within two hours I had increased the content footage on their porn site.”
“Porn site?”
“Yeah they’re trying to get into the up-skirt market. Apparently it’s huge right now. You should check it out. It’s called Up-Skirt in the Mong Kok.”
“I can check it out to make sure it delivers on its promise.”
“Do that, Tav. It’ll help with the numbers.”
Tav smiled and then gave me a here we go again look. I wanted to look away but I didn’t. I held my ground.
“Darb, I may not understand everything you do. I may not agree with everything you do. And for the record this is one of them. But you’re my best friend, so whatever happens, I’ll be there.”
I smiled and then signaled the bartender for two more bottles. There was nothing more to say tonight. Sooner or later Tav would get involved. He always did.
Chapter 54
The morning after Leslie slept with Darby, she didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye. In fact, she didn’t want to leave at all. But her phon
e kept buzzing, insisting she give it some love. She laid there for a minute watching Darby sleep. So innocent, so cute. Another buzz. Someone was trying to get a hold of her in a fierce way. She grabbed the phone and saw multiple voice messages from her brother-in-law, Andy Funn, as well as a couple of text messages. They all said to call as soon as possible. That was it, no other information, just to call.
It was unusual for Leslie to hear from Andy. Normally she would hear from Sheila, her step-sister. Leslie and her sister weren’t exactly close but her relationship with Andy was cordial at best. Why didn’t she call? That worried Leslie.
The news was bad: Sulyn, Andy and Sheila’s daughter, was officially missing for about a week. But the call to the police only went out three days ago. Three days? Who waits that long to report someone missing? This got Leslie’s lip quivering. But Leslie was more worried than angry. Andy and Sheila thought Sulyn had been staying with a girlfriend. She had gotten in a terrible argument with her mother the day she went missing and they assumed this was her way of acting out; staying away from home. She had done this in the past.
Leslie was very close to her niece, like sisters. It was unlike Sulyn to do anything drastic and Leslie not to hear about it. They talked to each other weekly through Facebook. Leslie was “the cool aunt” Sulyn had told her the last time they chatted on Facebook. But if this was true, why then had a week of not hearing a peep from Sulyn gone unnoticed by Leslie? It was all so troubling.
As soon as Leslie landed at San Francisco International Airport, she checked Facebook on her phone. She had messaged Sulyn before boarding the flight and hoped to hear back. There was no answer.
On the cab ride into the city, Leslie went over what she knew. Chinatown was the last place Sheila saw Sulyn. She had given her a ride so she could meet up with friends. Of course they argued before parting. By the second morning, Andy and Sheila were contacting Sulyn’s friends. They each said the same thing: After hanging out, Sulyn left them to catch the bus home like she had always done. The third morning, they called the police and filed a missing persons report. Lastly, they waited a couple of days before contacting Leslie.
It was Leslie’s decision to take the first flight to San Francisco. Her sister told her the detective on the case would be interested in talking to her because of her close relationship with Sulyn. Leslie had been waiting patiently for fifteen minutes at the North Beach Central Station when she heard someone call her name.
“Chief Inspector Leslie Choi.”
Chapter 55
“Thanks for making the trip to San Francisco. Sulyn must have been really important to you. I’m very sorry.”
“She is. We had a bond. I was the cool aunt…” Leslie trailed off but quickly composed herself, “Sulyn and her mother didn’t get along much. Probably the reason why we did.”
“Why is that? I mean why you and not someone close by, in the same country at least?”
“I don’t know. Look, Detective––”
“Please, call me Kyle.”
“Okay, Kyle. Sheila and I aren’t close. We’re really half-sisters by marriage. My mother married a businessman from San Francisco when I was a young teen. He also had a daughter my age but I had no interest in moving to SF. I had a life in Hong Kong and decided to stay and live with relatives. Eventually I got to know her over the years when I would visit, but our relationship never took.”
“I see.”
“Sulyn warmed up to me at a young age for some reason.”
Kang grabbed a pen and a pad of yellow notepaper. “Follow me, please.”
She studied the back of his head, as she trailed him down the hall. He looked young for his age, if you ignored the salt and pepper hair. She knew he had to be at least thirty though to make detective in a city like San Francisco.
As Leslie watched him, Kang mentally reviewed what he knew about her. When Sheila said her sister was a Chief Inspector with the Hong Kong police, Kang had tapped a cousin who was an officer with HK Police for the low down. He discovered Inspector Choi was well-respected in the OCTB––Organized Crime and Triad Bureau. She had enough distinguished service medals to fill a closet.
Also adding to her resume was the capture of the notorious Lam Kwan, who terrorized the Tsz Wan Shan district a year ago. This sicko picked up prostitutes and tortured them for hours until they died. The media dubbed him the Hangman because he dismembered his victims before hanging the parts from buildings with fishing line.
Information on Leslie’s personal life was scant. Her coworkers spoke highly of her and she was arguably the best-looking inspector in Hong Kong, but very few knew more than that. From all outside appearances, she was routinely single, dated occasionally, and never carried a long relationship. Most cops can’t. One interesting tidbit did come up, though: When Leslie was five, she saw a Triad gang member kill her father.
Leslie followed Kang until they reached an interrogation room.
“I’m not a suspect, am I?” she asked jokingly.
“No, it’s my desk. It’s out in the open area, and I thought it might be better if we talked in here,” he said pulling a chair out for Leslie. “Inspector Choi––”
“Please, now it’s my turn. Call me Leslie.”
Kang chuckled and let a smile go. “You got it Leslie. Can I get you something to drink? Some coffee? A soda?”
“No, thank you.”
“Tell me about your relationship with Sulyn.”
“We talked a lot through Facebook, mostly through wall postings, sometimes with email and every once in awhile through messenger.”
“Anything unusual? Change of personality? Depression? Anger?”
“No, that’s something I would have picked up immediately.”
“I see.”
“Maybe I could be of help if you fill me in on what you have discovered so far.”
“Sorry, you know the drill. I have to ask the questions and rule out possibilities first,” said Kang.
She relaxed a little. “I know you’re only doing your job. Do continue.”
“Did Sulyn mention anything that was out of the ordinary? What about a trip or an outing with friends?”
“There was nothing strange or unusual at all about her emails to me. Everything was normal.” Leslie had a good fifteen hours on the flight from Hong Kong to rehash every conversation the two had had on Facebook. She tore apart every exchange, no matter how trivial. Oftentimes the answer can be found in the details. Not this time.
“Of course there was no correspondence from her at all this week. And for some reason, I didn’t pick up on it until I got the call.” If this wasn’t a sign pointing to abduction, then Leslie didn’t know what was.
“I know what you’re thinking, but right now we’re treating this case as a missing person. There’s no indication foul play was involved but we’re not ruling it out either. Sulyn may have been abducted––”
“ May? Clearly this is an abduction.”
“––there are no signs of foul play or witnesses so far.”
“Look we both know the evidence doesn’t clearly point to abduction because of Sulyn’s past with running away. But this behavior, this disappearing for a week––that’s not her.” Leslie knew she was out of her jurisdiction but that wasn’t going to stop her from working the case. She had already cleared the time with her superiors back in Hong Kong. She was unofficially on the job.
Because she was family, she knew Kang would worry about her judgment if he gave her any sort of indication she was welcome to work alongside them. Leslie figured she would go through the motions anyway and offer her help. She expected to be brushed off. The sooner they all could get through the pleasantries, the sooner she could get to work.
“Look Leslie, I know you want to help but right now you have to let us to do our job. Go be with your family. Put the case out of your head for a bit. And if you’re going to ignore everything I’m saying, then keep us informed of your findings.” He grinned.
“I
will. Thanks.” Leslie said.
Like a magician, Kang made a business card appear. “If you think of anything else, call me.” He had said all he wanted. Well, maybe all. There was still the nasty bit about a killer with a cleaver running around.
Chapter 56
The next morning, Leslie went for an early run. As usual, the fog was thick and hours away from burning off. At least no one will see me struggling. She loved running in the city during this time, with its famous camouflage drifting alongside her as she avoided the challenging hills. Feeling an extra push of energy, Leslie extended her route down Market Street and along the Embarcadero. Surprisingly, the fog had mostly burned off near the wharf.
Leslie’s thoughts were on Sulyn for most of the run. She recalled all the silly conversations they had over the years. Her niece was such a sweet girl, and she always made Leslie laugh. It was unbelievable that she had vanished.
Leslie slowed to a walk as she approached Pier 39, the star of Fisherman’s Wharf. Leslie had been here many times before and never tired of the area. It was always fun to walk around amid the tourist-trap shops and games. She stopped to stretch her calf and noticed a parked black and white police cruiser. San Francisco’s finest. Yeah, sure.
Leslie was still a little irritated by the brush off she’d gotten from Detective Kang. Must be a donut convention nearby, she said to herself as she passed two more cruisers. Leslie stopped laughing at her own joke when she noticed the tech van. She spun around looking over the crowds of tourists and finally spotted what she was searching for. Leslie headed in the direction of the police tape.
A large area in front of a Pier 39 had been cordoned off and was being manned by a few uniforms. Though Leslie could tell the real action was down the dock farther back. A perimeter this big could only mean one thing. There was a body. Sulyn!
Leslie approached the tape with hesitation. Her emotions took over. Could the center of attraction be Sulyn? Could they have finally found her sweet niece? Leslie tried to keep a straight head. This could be about other things. A boat accident, or perhaps a suspicious package had been found. There are other reasons for a perimeter this large, except she noticed a coroner’s car. And that narrowed the possibilities considerably.
Darby Stansfield Thriller Series (Books 1-3 & Bonus Novella) Page 13
