by Lee Weeks
CK looked at Mann and smiled.
‘Tonight we have two chefs to prepare the dish. One of them has been preparing the dish for years, the other has just started his training today.’ Barely a smile flickered across CK’s face. ‘Life is precious, but it is not worth living if it has no risk involved, don’t you think?’
‘I will always take the risk if it’s my life I stand to lose, but I don’t gamble on the lives of others. What do you know about the arson attack in London that killed twelve young women?’
‘I heard about it—tragic.’
‘Did you order it?’
CK met Mann’s stare. Mann picked up the convulsing fillet in his chopstick and dipped it into hot green wasabi and soy sauce. It shivered as he placed it into his mouth. He swallowed. ‘Twelve women and children burned to death—sex workers trafficked from the Philippines to Hong Kong and on to the UK. If you knew where to light the match…’ CK held a piece of fugu fillet suspended in his chopsticks and watched it twitch ‘…you must know who your enemy is. But by forcing their hand with the fire you may have caused the death of your daughter. Not everyone responds well to intimidation.’
CK’s eyes fixed on Mann. His face remained expressionless, but a light of anger flashed into his eyes.
‘If I knew the man who had my daughter I would strip the skin from his flesh in small sections and feed it to my whore’s lapdog whilst he watched. I know nothing of the fire. I heard about it but I did not order it. I agree it was bad timing. I would not have made such a mistake.’
‘So, someone else ordered it to please you. Did you release Stevie Ho from the Wo Shing Shing?’
‘Stevie knows what he has to do to fulfil his oath to me, then I will release him.’
‘The oath is for life. When was it changed?’
‘Times are changing, Inspector. We have to change with it. Many societies that were once enemies are now friends.’
‘They work together only when it serves a common purpose—that’s not friendship. I hear your members have been annihilating senior members of other societies.’
CK’s face was stony. He sat back in his seat and stared hard at Mann, who stared back.
‘Why did you involve me, CK, if you don’t intend to work with me? You are playing with your child’s life.’
The last dish to be brought to Mann was a soup made from the fish bones and head and anything else that could possibly be left. As Mann finished it he felt his tongue tingle and his lips go numb—a small amount of the poison had escaped into the stock. He felt nauseous and dizzy. The fugu was working its way into his system—the poison was giving him palpitations. He ordered a large vodka on the rocks. When it came he held on to the glass, felt the cool of the condensation. He looked over at the door. The bodyguards were still there. He saw CK watching him. There was no antidote, but if he hurried he might be able to empty his stomach, stop it getting worse. But he wasn’t going to do that. He wouldn’t give CK the satisfaction of seeing him squirm; instead he practised his breathing, held the ice in his mouth and hoped the poison would stabilise. He hoped he would be able to speak.
‘Let us conclude this meal with an understanding,’ CK said. ‘You are a man I trust, and I trust you to find my daughter in whatever way you decide, and…’ he sat back ‘…I will pay you whatever it takes…’
Mann could see that he was being studied. CK was watching him cope with the poison.
‘If I get your daughter back I would expect something else in return—not money.’ Mann felt his pulse stabilise, his lungs relax, his heat quieten—the poison was dissipating, just his mouth still tingled. CK inclined his head in an ‘I’m listening’ mode. ‘That the Wo Shing Shing ceases all human trafficking. That you shut down the whole chain right from recruiters to snakeheads.’
‘If I admitted to such a thing as the trafficking of human beings that would be a high price…’ CK lowered his head in a gesture of agreement. ‘You have three days—seventy-two hours from midnight tonight, Inspector. If my daughter is not returned by that time I will presume that she is dead, and I will wage the biggest war ever seen here. The streets of Hong Kong will run with blood.’ CK rose and bowed.
Mann stood and faced CK. He returned the bow. Even faced with a man he hated, etiquette had to be observed.
‘That is not all I want. There’s something else.’
29
In the morning Mann could still feel the tingling from the fugu when he ran his tongue around his lips. He rolled over and studied Miriam. Classically beautiful, her porcelain skin was hardly touched by the sun. Her dark hair splayed out in waves across the pillow. She smiled sleepily, aware that she was being scrutinised.
‘Mmm, morning.’ She sighed contentedly.
‘I have a present for you, Miriam.’ Mann slid his arm beneath her and pulled her closer. ‘I brought something back for you that I picked up at the restaurant last night.’
‘Is it flowers?’
‘No.’
‘Chocolates?’
‘Not quite.’ He turned her on her back and pulled her down the bed a little. ‘You’ll enjoy it, though.’
Becky climbed out of the rooftop pool and stood drip-drying in the gentle breeze. The sky was milky blue. Hong Kong was just waking up. All around her were other rooftops, some with helicopter pads, others with pools or roof gardens. Immediately below her, people were playing tennis and practising Tai Chi in the green spaces. Further away she could see glimpses of the narrow streets already filling with morning traffic. In front of her was the deep-water harbour, dotted with container ships and fishing boats, and then came the glittering ocean all the way to the horizon.
It was a magical sight. The ocean and the land faced each other, defiant and yet harmonious at the water’s edge. Giant tower blocks threw up their arms to the heavens and tried to reach higher than all the others around. Each building was unique; a thing of beauty, created with the elements in mind, sculptured and multi-faceted like cut diamonds, now touched by the first rays of morning sun that turned their mirrored sides golden.
She stood gently drying in the warm breeze and watched the world come awake. She finally understood how you could fall in love with a vertical city. She felt like she was on top of the world. She was suddenly glad Alex had come. This might be just the space they needed to find the fun in their marriage again. They hadn’t made love for over six months. That thought shocked her, she hadn’t realised it was that long until she calculated it—then she remembered that the last time was after a drunken bonfire party. They had stayed up to watch the fireworks and they had drunk too much scotch. She smiled to herself when she thought about it. They had giggled like teenagers. She had let things slide for too long, thought Becky. She had to make more of an effort to make it better between them. After all—she had signed up for life—no one said marriage was easy. Her parents had had it rough sometimes and they stayed together. Becky had never invested so much in someone else before. She wasn’t about to admit it had been a mistake. If they had it good once they could have it again. But then Alex had to want it too, he had to make an effort and she wasn’t sure he was capable. She didn’t know how to please him anymore and he never tried to please her. Then a thought flashed into her head that maybe Alex was having an affair. The very idea stunned her. Becky shivered as the breeze got up. She pulled the towel closely around her and went back inside to their room. She found Alex in the bathroom, shaving. No time like the present she thought and slipping out of her bikini, she put her arms around his waist and pressed her cold body against him.
‘I need warming up.’ She looked over his shoulder at them both in the mirror. ‘It’s early. Coming back to bed for a while?’
‘I need to finish shaving.’ He held his hands away from his sides. ‘I have a busy day.’
Becky released him at once, almost as if he were too hot to touch. She went into the bedroom and lay naked on top of the bed. The rays of sun filtered in through the open curtains and flittered acr
oss her. She sighed heavily.
‘I can hear you,’ Alex called from the bathroom. ‘Stop sighing. Make sure you’re around later then we’ll have time to spend together, okay, baby?’
Becky didn’t answer; instead she lay back on the pillow and stretched out on the cool cotton sheets and enjoyed the warmth of the sun on her naked body—warming her through to the bone. Alex came into the bedroom.
‘I thought you were getting dressed?’
‘The car isn’t arriving for another hour. I have plenty of time. I am going to get some breakfast in a minute—I’m starving. Aren’t you eating?’
‘I’ll grab something later.’
She watched him get ready. He was always so meticulous. His attention to detail was frightening. ‘You look very smart,’ she said, as he finished getting ready and put the final adjustments to his hair.
‘It’s important here; people care what you look like. They judge you by what you’re wearing.’
‘Oh shit!’ she giggled. ‘I’m stuffed then.’
Alex finished looking at himself in the mirror and turned to her.
‘Maybe you should buy yourself some clothes whilst you’re here. Actually, I don’t think you’d find anything to fit you. They’re all size zeros here.’
‘Ah well, shan’t bother trying then.’
As soon as she said it she knew it was the wrong thing to say. He closed the wardrobe door abruptly and came to stand at the end of the bed.
‘That’s your philosophy for life, isn’t it, Becky?’ Alex picked up his jacket and briefcase. ‘I’m off. See you later.’ He didn’t wait for a reply. He was gone.
30
Mann was sitting next to Ng at his new desk when he saw Becky walk into the main PC area, escorted by the young policeman who had picked her up from her hotel. She didn’t see him straight away. The way the open-plan office fanned out from the central rectangle of PCs made it impossible to distinguish one area from another.
She looked lovely, thought Mann. She had swapped her trousers for a cream-coloured cotton skirt that ended just above her knee, and she had on a white open-necked blouse and carried a blue jacket.
‘You ready for a day’s work?’ He greeted her and thanked the young policeman who was steering her towards him. ‘Meet the team…Detective Sergeant Ng…’ Ng stood up to shake her hand. ‘Watch him—he has a way with the women—I’ve never worked out what it is.’
‘I’ll tell you later.’ She winked.
Shrimp walked in at that moment. ‘And this is DC Li—we call him Shrimp. Speaks English like a Yank, dresses to impress, but we haven’t worked out who.’ Shrimp looked very seventies today with his tight black stretch shirt and his black trousers. ‘He’ll be catching the plane over to join your team in the UK later tonight.’
‘Pleased to meet you, yes, I’m looking forward to it…Nice outfit, by the way. Love the shoes.’
‘Pleased to meet you too…Thanks.’ She looked down at her feet—she’d got it right by accident—they matched. ‘I’m amazed everyone speaks such good English here.’
‘English is still the main language in here for police work,’ said Mann.
‘That’s handy. What have we got planned for the day?’ she asked.
‘I’m going to give you a tour and we need to take in a couple of stops. We’ll start by buying some luggage. We’re going to need it.’ She looked at him, waiting for an explanation.
‘We need to go to the Philippines. We don’t have a lot of choice and time is not on our side. If we want to discover who has Amy and what they want in return we need to go where it all seems to be kicking off.’ Mann paused and looked at Becky. ‘What about Alex? How will he manage without you?’
She thought about it for a second and then shrugged and Mann could see she couldn’t resist a little smile. ‘Perfectly well, I’m sure. He has loads to get on with here. Anyway, the thing is, it’s work…If we have to go, we have to go. I’m ready.’ She could barely conceal her excitement at the prospect despite a short-lived twinge of guilt that the thought of heading off with Johnny Mann was much more appealing than spending any more time with Alex.
‘Okay then, all I have to do is convince that man in there…’ He nodded in the direction of the Superintendent’s office. ‘Ng—fill Becky in on what we found out this morning while I go and have a chat with my friend in there.’
Mann knocked on Wong’s office and went straight in. Becky sat down to listen to what Ng had to say.
‘Stevie Ho left England just after you,’ Ng explained. ‘He was seen at the airport changing his ticket. So something unexpected must have come up. He went straight from Manila to Negros. We know there is a triad stronghold on that island. We think he will check in there, then head up to Angeles where the main traffickers are based. The answer must lie in the Philippines—it’s the only reason for Stevie to move so fast. He must be under new orders.’
‘Yeah!’ added Shrimp, who was emptying his bag of drink tins and lining them up on his already untidy and cluttered desk, ready for the day. ‘Stevie is putting some deals down. He knows Mann has come back here and he hopes to slip through the net and get his business done quickly before we can catch up with him. We’re sure he’s going to lead us to Amy Tang’s kidnappers. Now, Mann just has to convince the Super.’
Becky stood with Ng and watched Shrimp fire up his PC and bring up images of the Philippines, for Becky to get a glimpse of what she was going to. All three glanced surreptitiously towards the Superintendent’s room, trying their best to gauge what was happening between the two men. It seemed to be all over in seconds as Mann emerged looking nonchalant.
‘Can we go?’ Becky asked.
‘Yep!’
They all looked at the glass partition. Wong was shaking his head—looking a very worried man. Then he realised he was being watched and gave an embarrassed wave at Becky, who waved back.
‘We’ll leave on the night flight. We have to change at Cebu, a two-hour flight from here. Then we will fly to Davao and move up to one of the tourist resorts of Puerto Galera, before we head up to Angeles. There are a few places we have to go to, some men we have to talk to. We have to cover a lot of ground very quickly. We will be going as a married couple—Mr And Mrs Black. Shrimp will fix us up with our new identities and book the accommodation,’ he said, glancing at Shrimp’s face. Shrimp grinned. ‘Suitable accommodation,’ Mann added. ‘No three-in-a-bed romps with a couple of horny cockroaches.’
‘Leave it to me, boss.’
Mann escorted Becky out of the building and into the staff car park.
‘Let me see if I can guess which is yours.’ She scanned the half-empty parking lot. ‘I think it will be one of two things—either something sporty and vintage, or a mini with a big engine.’
‘Will a BMW convertible do?’
She smiled. ‘Good choice.’
They left Central, heading through the tunnel across to Kowloon and away from the harbour. They drove up Nathan Road, the Golden Mile, and into the small back roads of Mong Kok. It was a bustling old world of narrow streets and disappearing pavements, known by westerners for its markets: night market, jade market, bird market, they were all here, but so were the choppings—the attacks between triads using meat cleavers. Most tourists were blissfully unaware that the area was run by triad gangs. It didn’t affect them—triads killed other triads.
It was still early morning. The night market was packing up and the piles of the previous night’s rubbish were waiting to be collected. The shopkeepers were just setting up their stalls and opening their shutters in preparation. Although most of the shops would not open till ten, the street was still crammed with people. The office workers, in their smart clothes, were dodging the debris left on the pavement. A Caucasian business-suited man walked by with a Starbucks coffee in his hand. He stuck out like a sore thumb.
‘What was it like growing up for you?’ Becky asked as they were stuck waiting to move on a side road, inching their way along behi
nd moving stalls and street vendors.
‘The main divide here in Hong Kong is not the colour of someone’s skin, it’s how much money he has. I was lucky enough to belong to the “comfortably well off” race.’
‘Are your parents still here?’
‘My mother is. She lives out at Stanley Bay. My father was murdered by triads when I was eighteen.’ They stopped outside one of the old tenement blocks. ‘Here we are.’
He was already out of the car before Becky could question him.
‘What?’ Becky got out of the car and hurried after him. ‘So that’s what Micky meant. When I told him you were coming he called you the triad annihilator. He was right—this is personal for you.’
‘Yes, it’s personal.’
One day he’d tell her how he’d been held down by two men and made to watch every chop that brought his father to his knees and finally split his skull. How he’d looked into his father’s eyes and known that he had failed him. One day he’d talk about the part of him that blamed himself for not being able to prevent it.
They followed a man inside the building. He disappeared left. They headed right towards the elevator. Mann pulled at the heavy metal grid door for Becky to step inside. Four more people squeezed into the tiny lift. They alighted at the third floor and walked past open doors with the din of televisions blaring out and the sound of children being scolded, and then stopped at a door halfway along the corridor. Mann knocked. A few seconds later a woman opened it. She looked at the couple, smiled and bowed as she stood to one side and ushered them in. The place was stacked with cellophane bags. Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci, all piled high to the ceiling. The room smelt of plastic and new leather.
‘Come in. Come look…plenty good bag. Good price. Make me offer. Give discount. What you want?’ She beamed eagerly at Becky.
Mann glanced around the room, at the mountain of counterfeit bags, purses and suitcases, all wrapped in cellophane.
