“Look, you asked for me to be here, not the other way around.”
“Answer my question. Why did you come to Hong Kong?”
“Business.”
“You don’t look like a businessman.”
“What does a businessman looks like?”
“He can afford a better hotel.”
“How do you know what hotel I’m staying at?”
“How? You mean––”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Why?” I put my cup down on the table and looked right at her. "Here’s a question for you: Why do you know so much about me?”
“My name is Li Li.”
Chapter 83
She had me at Li.
I couldn’t believe Li Li was alive and sitting right in front of me. Never in a million years did I think I would actually find her. “Do you know Fu, the one who was a member of the Wo Shing Wo about twenty-five years ago?”
She nodded. “How you know so much about Fu?”
I wasn’t sure if telling her he was alive was a good idea just yet. But how else would I know all of this? “Well, I know him.”
“He’s alive?” Her expression was pure amazement.
“Yeah and he’s in pretty good shape too.”
Li Li turned away from me and brought her hands to her eyes.
“What’s going on here? I mean, I know you guys had a relationship.”
This little bit of information caught Li Li’s attention. She turned back to me quickly and composed herself.
I waited for an answer.
“Twenty-five years ago, Fu disappeared. Like a ghost. No one ever saw him again. After a few years had passed, I accepted the fact he may never return or worse––was dead. Since then, no one has spoken his name in my presence until you came to my parlor.”
My eyes widened. I had basically turned Li Li’s world upside down by bringing Mr. Fu back from the dead. “He’s not dead, Li Li. He’s alive and living in San Francisco. He owns a restaurant and I eat there almost every day. That’s how I heard about you and the Crimson Dragon. How else could I know?”
Again Li Li turned away from me. It made me feel uncomfortable and wish I hadn’t brought this up.
“All these years…” Li Li turned back to me. “Are you sure?”
“He told me the two of you were together, you managed the parlors for him and his cousin Wi.”
I watched the tears well in Li Li’s eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said as she wiped them away, “It’s just the thought of Fu alive––it’s overwhelming. We supposed to leave all of this,” she said, motioning to the parlor around her. “Fu told me we would leave when he had enough money and live happily together.” She laughed as she wiped more tears.
I laughed with her.
“I sorry for being a silly old woman.”
“Don’t be. I’m confused as well, because he certainly remembered you and spoke fondly of your relationship. What happened? Do you know why he might have left like that?”
“You don’t know about the fire?”
“No, he never mentioned it.”
“The entire building where Fu and Wi conducted their business was destroyed. Do you know Wi?”
“Mr. Fu mentioned his name. They were cousins, right?”
Li Li nodded, “Yes. Inseparable. After the firemen put out the fire, they found a body. It was mostly bones, but there was a watch that belonged to Wi.”
“What about Mr. Fu? He escaped?”
“Everyone thought he started the fire and killed Wi, because he disappeared.”
“I’m sorry, Li Li. I don’t know why Mr. Fu left or why he never told you he was alive.”
The two of us sat there for a while not saying a word.
“Do you want me to pass a message on?” I offered, breaking the silence.
Li Li stared quietly into her teacup. “I…I don’t know.”
“Maybe he doesn’t know you’re alive.”
Li Li looked at me with a glassy glaze. “Is that what you think?”
“I’m just saying…It could be possible. You thought he was dead. Maybe he had to leave for some reason and had every intention of coming back but somehow thought you had died or something.”
Li Li said nothing.
“What do you have to lose?” I said.
Li Li nodded slowly. “Come here tomorrow. I give you something.”
All I could think about after leaving the parlor was reuniting Mr. Fu with Li Li. It was a crazy thought, and as uncomfortable as the conversation was, I imagined the reunion being a positive experience. Would they be able to pick up where they left off? I didn’t know.
Before I could daydream about the reunion, someone grabbed a hold of me from behind. Big hulking arms collapsed around me, pinning my arms against my body. And then a second later everything went dark.
Chapter 84
Usually I’m not afraid of the dark. However, I am afraid of instant dark. A bag of some sort had been slipped over my head. It was cotton, maybe, and had a musty smell. I couldn’t see a thing. A large hand grabbed the back of my neck and pushed, forcing my body down. I realized I was being shoved into a car. I fell face forward into the seat. Something hard hit the back of my head. A club? A fist? Was there a difference?
The same large hand continued its grip on my neck, holding me against the car seat. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t see anything. And then I felt the vehicle accelerate.
My heart hammered the inside of my chest. Sweat poured down every surface of my face as my breathing stoked the oven-like conditions inside the hood. Whose idea of a joy ride was this?
A pathetic, “Who are you?” was all I could manage.
There was no response––only intense pressure on the back of my neck. The force was incredible. With my body pressed so tightly against the car seat, it was hard for my chest to expand. According to my seventh grade science teacher, pressure like this made breathing hard.
“Where are you taking me?” Before I could get another word out, the same strong hands that forced me down were now yanking me up into a sitting position.
Then, the undeniable screech of duct tape pierced my left ear. I felt it wrap repeatedly around my head, slipping between my lips and making it impossible to whine from that point on. The bag was rough against my tongue. Burlap.
I’m going to die. It was the only thought I had in my head. What I desperately needed, however, was thoughts of a plan to escape. Life under the hood wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. And now Mr. Kidnapper here shoved duct tape in my mouth, making breathing a pain in the ass.
Well, I wasn’t about to make this easy for them. With all the muscle I could muster, I threw my elbow back hoping to connect. I did. The sound of bone crunching told me so. So did the yelp.
And then a fury of fists pummeled my head. Sharp pains ricocheted back and forth. My brain felt like it was on fire. I threw another elbow but missed. Their fists didn’t. It was the last I remembered.
Ironically, a few slaps to the face helped me regain my consciousness, just in time to feel the car come to an abrupt stop. This is it, I’ll be taken into an abandoned warehouse and tied to a chair and tortured for hours like a toy before being killed.
I heard the car door open, and two large hands grabbed my arms and jerked me out of the car. I lost my footing and fell to the ground but was quickly propped back up and pushed forward. Both of my arms and the back of my neck were in a vise grip.
I was somewhere outside, in what sounded like a secluded location. I couldn’t hear any traffic or sidewalk noise. The sound of something large and metal scraped against the ground. I was pushed forward and the same large, metal object scraped across the ground behind me. Then I was inside.
The air around me was noticeably cooler. Wherever I was it had a damp, musty smell to it. Old seafood cannery maybe? I assumed they had taken me to one of the abandoned buildings down by the far end of the docks. There wasn’t a lot of foot traffic in the area, and I was free to scream all I wanted.
My captors forced me down onto a cold metal chair. Someone pulled my arms behind me and someone else decorated my body with duct tape. As the chair and I became one, I could sense multiple bodies standing around me. There was the occasional squeak of a shoe, but mostly heavy breathing. And then the sound of a switch…and then another.
I couldn’t help but think the Fan Gang was responsible for this kidnapping. Who else could possibly know me and want to kidnap me? Were they really capable of this? Had I so misjudged their ability? Yes, I probably had. In my eyes, they were a bunch of harmless, petty criminals.
Real fear began to set in. The nauseating thought that I could be minutes away from death was incomprehensible. Would they beat me and then put a bullet in my head? I sat quietly waiting for the pain to come. But it didn’t. The duct tape around my face was being removed. With the last bit pulled free from my mouth, I gasped at the air, sucking wind like a Hoover. After a few seconds, my breathing began to calm. It was strange but I could detect the faint scent of cognac. And then it was strong, as if a bottle were being held under my nose.
Next the duct tape wrapped around me was cut and my arms popped free. I rubbed my throbbing shoulders. Suddenly one of my captors lifted the hood off my head and cool air reintroduced itself to my face. It was absolutely refreshing.
Heavy-duty lamps were aimed at my face, blinding me. I blinked repeatedly as my eyes strained to adjust. I could see various individuals standing in a half circle in front of me. One of the figures moved toward me and slapped my face, strangely, in a playful way.
“Darby.”
I recognized the voice.
“Chu––? What’s happening?”
Slowly Chu’s face came into view. The smell of cognac was back.
“Take it,” he said.
He grabbed my hand and placed a glass in it and then brought it up to my face. Hennessey VO, no doubt.
Now I was thoroughly confused. My eyes had adjusted a bit more to the lighting. Standing in front of me was the entire gang, with smiles and glasses of Hennessy. One of them had a fat nose: the unlucky guy who caught my elbow. Sitting on a chair in the center opposite me was Sing. He held the bottle in one hand and a cigarillo in the other.
“What the hell is going on?” I shouted. “Is this some sort of sick joke?”
“Drink,” Chu said.
“To Darby,” the gang shouted in unison as they drank their whiskey.
The liquor burned a bit against my dry throat.
Sing sat forward. “Darby, we do you a favor.”
“What kind of favor involves kidnapping a man and leading him to believe he’s about to die?”
“Darby you needed to learn how to solve problems, too. Not just gang. You too trusting. Not paying you was a test. You came up with solution. You cut off our Internet.”
Sing was right about that. Earlier in the day, I made a couple of calls and temporarily shut off their wireless access heavily crippling the gang’s ability to operate, period.
“Not every gang you work with will keep their word and pay you. You needed a solution for that,” Sing said.
I didn’t think I needed a plan for what happens when my customer decides to mess with me. I had to admit though, as messed up as this was, now I knew I could always cut off Internet access if I needed to strong-arm a gang.
“Now you must figure out solution to second test,” Chu said.
“Second test?”
“Kidnapping.”
I laughed a little. And then started to laugh uncontrollably. The rest of the gang joined in.
“Yes, kidnapping. I will come up with a solution for that too.”
Chu gave me a paper bag. Inside was a wad of money. Back pay, I assumed.
“So you were always going to pay me?”
“I still think percentage too high. So I pay only twelve percent. Compromise.”
Before I could say anything, Sing stood up and walked out.
“But that’s not––”
Chu cut me off and filled my glass.
“Let it go. You lucky he pay. I convince him.”
“But what about the lesson here, the toast? We’re getting along, right?”
Chu waited until the rest of the gang was farther away.
“You and me, we get along. Sing is different. He likes results, but he resents your help. Sing is very dangerous. If not for me, this here would not happen. You would be dead right now. Don’t forget.”
I nodded. The seriousness in Chu’s voice was the only clarification I needed to remind myself. I’m in trouble the minute I don’t take this business seriously.
Chapter 85
I declined to party with the gang, opting to head back to the hotel. I’d had enough excitement for the day. I was resting in bed looking at the elephants on the ceiling when an idea popped into my head. Others would call it crazy, even irresponsible. To me it was brilliant.
Why not fly Mr. Fu over here to meet with Li Li in person? I was scheduled to leave Hong Kong shortly. If I brought him out here right away, the two could catch up for a couple of days and then he could fly back with me.
My rationale was simple. I could fetch a letter for Mr. Fu from Li Li and deliver it. I was positive Mr. Fu would react favorably to the letter and then what? The next time I came to Hong Kong I couriered a letter back? What would be the point of delivering messages? It would accomplish nothing. The two had been separated for almost twenty-five years. There were things that need to be said that a letter couldn’t do. Eye contact, body movements....plus, I was convinced they still had deep feelings for each other.
I’d already made up my mind––Mr. Fu should come to Hong Kong. The dilemma I faced was whether to tell them or make it a surprise. Who didn’t like surprises? I would pitch the trip to Mr. Fu as a vacation. A free trip to the homeland should be enough for him to put the spatula down for a few days.
As I patted myself on my back for my matchmaking moment, my cell phone rang. It was Leslie.
“Hey there Mystery Man.”
“Hi, Leslie.”
“You disappeared from my life.”
“I know. I’m sorry I haven’t called you. It’s been crazy getting the company up to speed, long days running late into the night––God, it’s great to hear your voice.”
“It’s good to hear yours, too. I miss you.”
“I miss you, too. I have some good news––I’ll be flying back to San Fran in a few days.”
“I can’t wait.”
“How are you? How are Sheila and Andy?”
“I could be doing a lot better with you here. My sister is coming around. She accepts what happened to Sulyn but…well, I think it’ll be a while before she’s back to herself. Andy’s been a real help, thankfully.”
“Good to hear. Any news with the case?”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have any. The killer struck again the night before you left, a teenage boy, coincidentally right across the street from where we had dinner. Since then, there’s been no action. Our psychopath is either laying low or has left town. My guess is we spooked him and he’s biding his time.”
“I’m really sorry to hear that Leslie.”
“I know. I appreciate the concern but until he’s caught, this isn’t anything but a time out. He’ll strike again and eventually he’ll make a mistake. They always do.”
“How much longer do you think you’ll stay in San Francisco?”
“Good question. There’s been some rumbling from Hong Kong. There have been a rash of killings in the city––nine so far.”
“Really? I haven’t heard anything about killings here.”
“It’s not getting a whole lot of attention because the victims are gang members. It’s not sensational enough for the media to run with it, even with the way they were killed.”
“What do you mean?”
“The last six victims died from Ling Chi, death by one thousand cuts.”
“You mean they were cut a thousand times?�
�
“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.”
“I can’t even imagine that.”
“If done the right way, the victim dies a slow and painful death. This was an execution technique used by the government during Imperial China’s rule. It’s been banned since the turn of the century. No one condones it.”
“I think I’m gonna be sick.”
“Sorry about getting overlydetailed.”
“It’s okay. Listen, I have to get going but I’ll call you when I get back in town.”
“I’m holding you to that.”
Chapter 86
The next day I arrived at the Crimson Dragon a little after noon. The street had a healthy crowd moving up and down it––that’s a lot of men in need of a soapy massage. It actually sounded like a good idea.
Inside the massage parlor, Li Li was manning the front desk, as usual. She stood and greeted me with a wave of her hand.
“Darby, welcome. Good to see you.”
“Hi, Li Li. You’re in a good mood.”
“Yes. I’ve given our last conversation a lot of thought. This is a good idea. Nothing to lose. Wait here.”
Seeing how excited Li Li was made me feel better about my plan to reunite the two. Earlier, I had invited Mr. Fu to Hong Kong. He would fly out first thing tomorrow. Surprisingly enough, it didn’t take much to convince him. No hesitation, only a prompt yes. The long-winded explanation I made up wasn’t needed. Mr. Fu said it wasn’t a problem to shut the restaurant for a few days. He was excited to visit his motherland again.
Li Li returned with a piece of parchment. The entire letter was handwritten in Chinese characters. It was very beautiful. I felt guilty. I hadn’t planned on giving Mr. Fu the letter. My plan was to push them both into the same room and see what happened.
I watched Li Li fold the paper into three sections and then tie a piece of string around it, like it was a gift. I felt even worse. I could tell by the look in her eyes, she had already envisioned how this fantasy would play out. Her eyes were warm and inviting. The frown on her forehead was nonexistent. I could actually see the beauty from her youth. I thought to warn her about the minute chance that things could get screwy but why burst her bubble? I got the feeling she rarely had one to burst. And besides, I had a case of the feel-goods.
Darby Stansfield Thriller Series (Books 1-3 & Bonus Novella) Page 19
