Darby Stansfield Thriller Series (Books 1-3 & Bonus Novella)

by Ty Hutchinson

  “Why? Why? Why? So many questions. You should have chosen me, Li Li. I was the powerful one. I had the money. What did you see in Fu?”

  Tears ran down Li Li’s face. It was a lot to take in. Wi, who she thought was dead all these years, now stood fully alive––telling her that her one true love, Fu, was the body in the fire and that he had murdered him. Not in a million years would Li Li ever have thought this would be the outcome of writing a letter.

  From the beginning, she had had a dislike for Wi. He had pursued her hard, even when she was with Fu and even though she always refused his advances. His mood, his ways––they all conveyed something evil about him. She never trusted him.

  “You knew,” Li Li said softly. She turned to Wi and spoke more loudly. “You knew.”

  Wi stared at Li Li, but gave no response to her accusation.

  “You knew we were going to leave, didn’t you? That’s why you killed Fu.”

  “Fu’s greatest weakness was to underestimate me. I knew for a long time what his plan was. I had many eyes and ears. Do you think the Wo Shing Wo would let him leave? Do you think I would deal with the mess by myself? I had no choice. I had to get rid of him.”

  “You planned it all. You set him up.”

  Wi laughed. It was a horrible, deep bellowing laugh. “I wasn’t going to take the fall. Looks like I was the smarter one.”

  The police had been almost certain that Wi was behind the rash of gruesome, non-gang-affiliated murders throughout the city. He needed to escape. Killing Fu and assuming his identity took care of both his problems. Though he wished he could see the look on Li Li’s face when she discovered her perfect man had left her. It was his only regret. But seeing her now was priceless.

  Li Li looked Wi straight in the eyes. “You are wrong. Don’t you see you lost? Until now, I thought Fu was alive. My love for him never wavered, even after all these years. Even now, knowing he’s dead and didn’t run out on me––it makes me love him more. Isn’t that what you wanted from me? My love? Didn’t you grow to hate Fu because I chose him and not you?” Li Li laughed a little and then a bit more. A smile appeared on her face. “Even in death, Fu has me and you do not. Now do you see? You lost.” She threw her teacup at Wi, narrowly missing his head.

  In an instant, Wi exploded towards her. He clamped down on Li Li’s neck. She struggled to yell, but his grip was strong and cut off her airway. She struck him over and over again with balled fists, but it didn’t help. His grip only tightened. His eyes pierced hers with daggers full of hate. He had come back to kill her.

  Li Li clawed at Wi’s face. That was enough for him to pull away. But she didn’t take the opportunity to yell for help. “You were always the weaker one. I love Fu. I always will,” she gasped.

  This only fueled Wi. His breathing grew so heavy that he snorted like an animal in attack mode. Wi regained his grip. With a quick movement he twisted Li Li’s head sharply to the side. He took intense pleasure in the snapping of her neck.

  Wi threw her lifeless body to the floor. It was done. The cycle was complete. The taste of revenge made him feel alive, but he needed to leave the parlor quickly. He had already dispatched Mei-Lien. By now, her body should have bled out entirely. Wi hurried out of the parlor, locking the door before he left.

  Chapter 95

  The restaurant turned out to be a bust. The gang wasn’t there and none of the staff knew where they were. I waited for fifteen minutes before leaving. I assumed everything was under control if they didn’t feel the need to have me tag along.

  With nothing else to do, I headed back to the Crimson Dragon thinking I could still get in on the celebration. I was about five minutes away from the massage parlor when I spotted Mr. Fu traveling quickly on the other side of the street, quicker than anyone would have thought a geezer like him could move.

  “Mr. Fu,” I shouted.

  He kept moving.

  I had to up my speed walk into a slight jog so as not to lose him. I called out again, “Mr. Fu. Hold up, it’s me, Darby.” Is this guy deaf?

  I finally caught up to Mr. Fu and grabbed him by the shoulder. He shook my hand off forcefully and spun around. His arms flew up in an aggressive position.

  “Whoa, calm down. It’s me, Mr. Fu. It’s Darby.”

  Mr. Fu didn’t say anything. He was breathing hard and his eyes were searching all around. It was then I noticed the red scratch on the side of his face, like he’d been clawed. I thought of mentioning it, but I had a good idea of how he might have gotten it.

  “Darby. We have to go.”

  “Wait, what happened?”

  “No good.”

  I didn’t press the issue. Clearly the meeting had gone badly with Li Li. Mr. Fu and I walked in silence back to the hotel. He didn’t look as though he felt like talking. I didn’t feel like prying.

  Chapter 96

  Shortly after Wi left the Crimson Dragon, Jo Woo stopped by to make his weekly pick-up from Li Li. He thought it was strange for the front door to be locked. He understood when he found the bodies. A quick search of the parlor confirmed the body count for Jo, just the two. He observed the area around each body. No notes, no signs of any struggle…what had happened here? When he was sure he had committed all things important to memory, he focused on clean-up.

  Jo did two things right away. First, he made a call to the Foo Brothers. They were the ones the brothers called when they had a body or a scene that needed to go away quickly. They were fast. They were the best. Second, he moved quickly to Li Li’s office. He took out his keys and unlocked a metal cabinet. Inside was ground control for the ten closed-circuit cameras hidden throughout the parlor.

  He unhooked the hard drive from the set-up, placed it in a bag, and left, locking the front door behind him.

  Chapter 97

  It was nearing 11 p.m. when Chu and a couple of brothers arrived at the Wan Chai pier on Hong Kong Island. The red double-decker Star Ferry looked like a tugboat, but the fifteen-minute ride across Victoria Harbor was beautiful at night. With the colorful skylines on Kowloon and Hong Kong Island illuminated, it was an amateur photographer’s wet dream. Chu kept to himself, away from the tourists snapping pictures. The last thing he wanted was to become the de facto cameraman for every couple craving a picture with the skyline.

  Chu felt the side of his jacket. The bulge containing HK$100,000 was no longer there, all of it given away freely minutes ago in exchange for enough firepower to equip the entire gang and then some. Between skimming and a couple of personal side operations, Chu was able to raise the money in no time. Every brother would be required to carry from now on. The gang was still a target as far as Chu was concerned.

  With the deal done, they were now heading back to Kowloon. Chu leaned against the railing and looked out across the harbor. He took the last pull on a cigarette and flicked the butt overboard. He was thinking about his last conversation with Sing. It didn’t go well.

  With the deal done, though, Chu’s mind was made up. Sing was no longer an effective leader and something would have to be done about that. He was that something.

  Chapter 98

  San Francisco, California

  Mr. Fu and I touched down at San Francisco International Airport around nine in the morning. The awkwardness from the day at the massage parlor, unfortunately, had stayed with us throughout the rest of our trip. Luckily we were seated in different rows on the plane. I couldn’t imagine having to have another one-sided conversation with this ungrateful prick.

  An hour later I was back at my apartment. It felt like ages since I had been here. The fridge was empty, but all I needed was caffeine. Looking around, I suddenly realized my days here were probably numbered. With a future promotion to heavy-hitter land, the money would be rolling in. It would be stupid not to upgrade the bachelor pad to something more fitting. Something bigger, at least two bedrooms…and a view of the bay, from a deck––that would be nice.

  I got a pot of coffee going and then called Leslie.
>
  “Leslie Choi.”

  “Vhere iz zee exchange taking place?” I asked in my best Russian accent.

  Leslie laughed. “Hello, Darby.”

  “Darby? That iz not zee zecret vord.”

  “I miss you.”

  “I miss you, too. How have you been?” It was good to hear her voice. So sweet and girly, and the best part was, she liked me.

  “I’m fine, but the case isn’t. We’ve run into a wall. Now Kang is convinced our guy has gone underground for good. Part of me says he’s got a point. The other part of me doesn’t want to believe it––Sorry I’m babbling about the case. Are you back in SF?”

  “I got back this morning. I’m really sorry to hear that. And for the record, I don’t mind your babbling. A terrible thing has happened––you need an outlet.”

  “You’re such a sweetie. I can always count on you.”

  It felt nice hearing her say that. I wanted to be her rock. “How’s your sister doing?”

  “It’s a Chinese custom to mourn the deceased for one hundred days. So we’re giving her space and time. I’ve been helping Andy out as much as I can around the house. Grocery shopping is on my to-do list today.”

  “You free tonight?”

  “I am for you.”

  “Great. Let’s grab something to eat. I’ll call you later, cool?”

  “Yup. Talk to you then.”

  I sat down in my lopsided recliner. It felt good. I hadn’t slept much on the plane, thought I’d grab a few hours before checking in at the office.

  Chapter 99

  Leslie called Darby twice to confirm their plans, but both times she got put into voicemail. But she didn’t think much of it until eight o’clock rolled around and she still hadn’t heard from him. I guess dinner isn’t happening. She had cleared her schedule in anticipation of their dinner date but now it looked like she had the night off. No dinner and no sister duty. Rather than waste the night, she decided to work the case a bit over a bowl of Ox Tail soup. Andy was the master at making it, and she happily helped herself to some leftovers.

  Looking at the case from every angle she could think of, Leslie was intent on making sure every possible lead was thoroughly exhausted. If the killer had indeed gone underground, then all that was left to go on were reports and evidence collected to date. Regardless, she still believed their guy had multiple personalities that were fighting for control, and the bad, murderous side had been winning. Did the absence of any new murders mean something? Was the good side back in charge? Maybe. Hopefully.

  Leslie was getting frustrated. She had gone over the reports what seemed like a thousand times and kept coming up empty. What next? A walk might stir the creative juices––and the exercise won’t hurt either.

  She headed out the door, and like clockwork found herself back in Ross Alleyway. She was convinced Sulyn was abducted there. Stagnant air filled the city, causing the fog to be sloth-like in its movements. The moon was nowhere to be seen, tucked behind heavy cloud cover. None of this made Leslie’s late-night walk attractive. The alley was especially dark. To make things worse, she’d left her piece at home. Stupid.

  Nonetheless, she walked the alley end to end repeatedly, examining every door and window, the brick walls, even the dumpster. If one didn’t know she was a cop, they’d think she was a crazy. But despite her careful reexamination, no new ideas jumped out at her.

  Leslie popped out on the west side of the alley, on Washington Street. She walked down the street a bit, trying to judge how far someone could carry a body without being noticed. If they had a fog like tonight’s, they would be practically invisible. When she stopped to turn around she found herself standing right outside of Mr. Fu’s restaurant, where she’d met Darby and Tavish for dinner.

  Leslie pressed her face against the glass and peered inside. There wasn’t much to see. All the lights were off. Closed for the night. She vaguely made out the kitchen and could sort of see the stairs leading up to the second-floor dining room. The furthest back part of the kitchen was completely dark, pitch black. She couldn’t make out anything.

  The upside? Wi could see Leslie clear as day.

  Chapter 100

  Nothing moved. Not a single muscle. Wi kept his body pressed up tightly against the back wall of the kitchen while Leslie looked inside, directly at him at times. You fucking nosey cop. Clearly the restaurant wasn’t open, yet there was Inspector Choi peeking inside. What could she want? Wi wasn’t sure. He had hoped the investigation would die down after his three-week hiatus. And it did, until tonight.

  Not wanting to give her any reason to shine a light inside the dark restaurant, he remained still. The last thing Wi wanted was this pesty detective discovering his secret. Wi had pried open the two heavy metal doors on the kitchen floor and was about to descend the steep wooden steps when he saw movement in front of the restaurant’s door. He wanted to check on the room, make sure it was ready for another round of horrible fun. Wi had mostly forgotten about Leslie and was interested in getting back to his spoiled brats. That is, until she showed up tonight.

  It was clear to him that Leslie was not going away. It was time to sharpen the cleaver and burst someone’s bubble. I’ll kill her like I killed her father.

  Leslie pulled back away from the door and started walking back up the hill.

  Now’s the time––do it now!

  Wi moved to the glass door and watched Leslie as until she disappeared into the fog. Wi exited the restaurant and followed in her footsteps until he caught sight of her again.

  She stopped and headed into the alley.

  Perfect.

  Chapter 101

  Leslie didn’t realize how close Mr. Fu’s restaurant was to the alley. While she was peeking inside she noticed the restaurant hours on the door. He usually stayed open late, to midnight. She checked her watch: quarter to twelve. Why was he closed tonight?

  It was getting late, it was dark, and the fog was incredibly heavy tonight. Even though she was tired, she decided on one last stroll through the alley before heading home. Counting the steps from Mr. Fu’s to middle of the alley made her realize how close Mr. Fu was the night of Sulyn’s abduction. Sulyn was last seen right around that time. There was nothing in Sulyn’s investigation report suggesting Kang’s men interviewed Mr. Fu. The more she thought about it, the more excited she got. Leslie wanted to talk to Mr. Fu as soon as possible. If the hours on the sign were right, he might have seen or heard something. It was worth exploring.

  She took out a pad and pen and jotted a few quick notes. A new angle, finally. Hopefully. She kept flicking the button on the ballpoint pen, unconscious of the annoying habit that came to life whenever she was deep in thought.

  Click, clack. Click, clack. Click, clack. The noise from the pen must have matched the footsteps because she didn’t hear them. There was nothing signaling her that she wasn’t alone in the alleyway except for the soft pitter-patter of footsteps rushing up immediately behind her. Pit, pat. Pit, pat. Pit, pat. He struck fast, the same way he struck Sulyn. A large powerful hand clutching a rag clamped down over Leslie’s face. The rag was wet. Chloroform? Leslie had enough presence of mind to hold her breath. How long she could keep it up, though, was debatable.

  She knew immediately she was in trouble. The attack was unexpected. Her guard was down––in fact, it had taken the night off. Rookie move, Inspector. Twisting to escape, Leslie felt another arm wrap around her waist and hold her with unbelievable force. She needed to make a move, and fast. Her lungs were beginning to burn and she desperately wanted to breathe.

  Then Leslie remembered the pen in her hand. She gripped it tight and stabbed backwards behind her. The first two strikes missed, glancing off his leg. The third didn’t. She got him. Keep stabbing. She could feel his grip loosening. She was winning this. She was going to get out. And then suddenly, it hit her. She was no longer stabbing. When did this start?

  Leslie could feel her attacker slowly letting go but so did her legs. She co
uld no longer stand on them. No, no. Hold your breath. Keep stabbing. His hand relaxed on her face as her entire body began to give way. Leslie knew then she had lost.

  Chapter 102

  My arm woke me up 3 a.m. It lay trapped under me, devoid of all feeling. At first I was confused. Why was I sleeping in a recliner? What happened to my hotel room? What happened to the elephants? Finally I realized I wasn’t in Hong Kong but back home in my apartment.

  My throat was raspy and my tongue a raisin. Still dehydrated from the flight, I attacked the kitchen sink faucet and scooped some of SF’s finest into my mouth. It was cold and heavenly.

  I could hear my cell phone beeping, telling me someone thought enough to call. I had eight messages: two from Leslie and six from Tav. Turns out I had slept right through my dinner date with Leslie and Tav kept saying, “Call me, bro.” I must have entered coma territory sometime yesterday while watching TV.

  I was sure Leslie would understand and Tav would keep calling until I answered. But now I was wide awake at a time when everyone else was asleep. I tried lying down, hoping for a relapse. No dice. My body wasn’t having any sleep forced upon it. I got some coffee going and settled back in front of the television set. Tell me more about ShamWow Vince.

  By the time I had gotten my shit together that morning and headed into the office, it was close to eleven. Tav looked up as I walked toward our cubicle.

  “What? A brother can’t get a call?”

  “Sorry, I was comatose.”

  “When did you get back from Hong Kong?”

  “Yesterday morning.” I unloaded my briefcase and sat down. “So what’s so important you had to leave six messages?”

  “There’s been some talk about your client in Hong Kong….”