TENDER BETRAYAL (Mystery Romance): The TENDER Series ~ Book 3

by H. Y. Hanna

  She knew she was crossing open space again to get there, and for all she knew the man would see her and come after her again. But she had to take that chance. She arrived back at the edge of the crowds and searched frantically again for the familiar black-and-white of the policeman’s uniform. Nothing. But then she saw someone else standing by the side of the road, talking to a couple of middle-aged women. It was Ah Song.

  Leah ran up to him, nearly sobbing with relief. His back was to her, and when she grabbed his arm and swung him around, he jumped in surprise.

  “Missy Leah!” he cried.

  “Oh God, Ah Song… I’m so glad it’s you,” Leah gasped. “I need… I need… There’s a man after me…” She trailed off as she realised that the two women were staring at her in shock. She remembered what she must look like—even more dishevelled now, her face flushed, her hair damp with sweat, hanging in a wild tangle around her face. She looked down and realised that she had bits of white cotton wool clinging to her clothes. It must have been from the float, perhaps to simulate white foam around the fish. She flushed. “I’m sorry…”

  “This is my wife,” said Ah Song, indicating the plumper of the two women, who gave her a shy smile. “And this is her friend, Mrs Kim.”

  “Um… nice to meet you.” Leah felt an absurd desire to laugh suddenly and had to bite her bottom lip hard to stem the hysterical urge. It just seemed too surreal to be standing here exchanging pleasantries when not two minutes ago, a man was threatening her life.

  “Missy Leah, are you okay?” Ah Song asked, looking at her in concern.

  Leah took a deep breath. “Yes. I… I just need to go home.”

  Ah Song furrowed his brow. “But you get taxi from my office, no?”

  “Um… yeah… I had a bit of a problem with the driver…” Leah said lamely, deciding not to go into the whole story in front of the two women, who were still looking at her askance. “Ah Song, I’m so sorry, but do you think you could call another one of your taxis—?”

  “No problem, I drive you home myself,” said Ah Song with a smile.

  “Oh, but your wife…” Leah protested.

  Ah Song waved a hand. “Is okay. She is going with Mrs Kim to monthly meeting for her ladies group. I pick her up later.” The two women bobbed their heads and smiled and agreed.

  Leah was too grateful to argue. “Thank you.” She threw a look over her shoulder, then back at Ah Song. “Um… do you mind if we leave right away?”

  He gave her an odd look, but said, “Okay. Come, this way… I park the car here…”

  Leah followed Ah Song across the road, pushing through the crowds until they reached the other side and then went down the side road that she had run through earlier. For an old man, Ah Song seemed very fit and moved pretty fast, and Leah had to hurry to keep up with him. The sounds of the crowd faded behind them. She glanced over her shoulder again but saw no one following them. A wave of relief washed over her. She had been worried that if the driver came after them and she was with Ah Song, then the old driver would try to protect her, and the last thing she wanted was for him to come to harm. She felt her shoulders relax slightly, her heart rate slow, and her breathing become more even. Her legs, though, seemed to be trembling and she felt suddenly tearful. Reaction… setting in.

  Suddenly Leah remembered something and she groped for her handbag. She had slung it over her body earlier to enable her to move more easily. She opened it to check for the pouch, breathing a sigh of relief as she pulled the small red bag out.

  Ah Song had walked ahead and was now waiting patiently beside a black Lexus parked under a street lamp. He looked curiously at her as she came up to him, holding the red pouch.

  “Missy Leah, are you okay?” he asked again, worry puckering his brow.

  “Yes,” said Leah with a sigh. “Ah Song, you’re not going to believe it, but the taxi driver tried to kidnap me.”

  He made an exclamation. “My taxi—?”

  “No, no, not yours,” Leah assured him. “I don’t know what happened to yours, but there was a different taxi waiting for me when I came out of the fishing shop, and I thought it was fine, but then the man locked me in… but I managed to escape and run away… that’s why I’m such a mess.” She gave a wry laugh, looking down at herself. “I was running around like a maniac, trying to get away from him.”

  Ah Song still looked shocked. “But… but why…?”

  “I think he wanted this,” said Leah, showing him the pouch. She opened the drawstring and shook the contents out into her palm. “This belonged to Beng Chew Hoon. He had a Ru-Yi talisman that the driver of the accident left behind…” She poked the items in her hand with one finger. The coin charms gleamed dully and a couple of the talismans clinked against each other as she moved them around. “Ah! Here… I think this is it!”

  Leah picked up the small jade piece. It was in the shape of a miniature sceptre, with a curved S-shaped handle and a head shaped like a flattened mushroom. She turned eagerly to Ah Song. “D’you know, I remember now—you told me about the Ru-Yi when I was a girl. This top end is a lingzhi, isn’t it? The spiritual healing mushroom in Chinese folktales. I remember you telling me that some people believed there are special wild lingzhi growing in China which, when eaten, could give you immortality…”

  Ah Song smiled at her. “You have a good memory, Missy Leah.”

  She laughed. “Yes, and actually, now that I think about it, I remember you had one of these Ru-Yis hanging from the mirror in your car too. I used to watch it swinging from side to side, in the back seat.” Leah turned the talisman over in her hands. “There was a dark vein in the jade on the left side which I always thought looked a bit like a Chinese dragon and I used to imagine…”

  Her voice trailed away as she stared down at the jade piece in her hands. In the yellow light from the street lamp she could see, clearly, a dark vein along one side of the talisman, twisting like the serpentine body of a Chinese dragon.

  Her heart began to thud with slow, sickening jerks in her chest. Leah raised her eyes to see Ah Song looking at her.

  He smiled again, but this time, he no longer looked kind. “You have a good memory, Missy Leah.”

  CHAPTER 31

  The drive back across Singapore during rush hour had been a nightmare and Toran was tired, hungry, and fed up as he unlocked the door to his apartment. His spirits rose at the thought of seeing Leah. She would probably have started cooking something for dinner—he looked forward to catching up with her as they ate together.

  In spite of how hurt and furious he had been when he found out that she had lied to him, he had missed Leah with a fierce, aching hunger during the days when they were apart. There was nothing like “coming home”, knowing that she would be there, looking forward to seeing her smile, her soft laugh as she teased him about his day, the sensual promise of her touch on his skin, the sweet taste of her lips against his…

  Toran pushed the door open eagerly, then stopped in surprise. The apartment was dark. Leah was not back yet.

  He frowned. It had taken him over three quarters of an hour to drive back—surely Leah should have been back by now? He felt a prickling of unease, then pushed the thought away, telling himself that he was being paranoid. He was sure she would be back soon.

  Toran went through the apartment, switching on lights and lowering the blinds. Then he poured himself a drink and got himself something to eat. But he found that he seemed to have lost his appetite and, after a few mouthfuls, he pushed the plate away.

  Something wasn’t right.

  He got up and went to retrieve his phone. I’m acting like a neurotic boyfriend, he thought with a wry smile as he punched in Leah’s number. But the smile faded from his face as her phone rang and rang with no answer. He hung up, waited a few minutes, then tried again. Then again. And again. Unable to ignore the knot of worry in his stomach now, Toran brought up Julia’s number and called Leah’s best friend.

  “Hey, Toran!” Julia greeted hi
m with her usual exuberance.

  “Have you heard from Leah today?” asked Toran without preamble.

  “No…” Julia said. “Why?”

  “I can’t reach her. She’s not answering her phone. And she should have been back home by now.”

  “Where’s she gone?”

  “To fetch something. I got a lead on the driver of the car in my parents’ accident,” Toran explained. “It was something he left behind that night by mistake—something that could identify him, I think. A Ru-Yi talisman. That sugar cane stall owner in Lau Pa Sat had it and I think that’s why he got murdered. It looked like someone tried to force him to tell them where it was, there was a struggle, and he got killed. Anyway, we worked out that he probably kept the Ru-Yi with his fishing gear and I tracked down this fishing shop in the city, where I think Beng kept his stuff. Leah went to retrieve it.”

  “When did she go?” asked Julia.

  Toran glanced at his watch. “I spoke to her about an hour ago. The thing is… I would have expected her to call me or text me when she finished at the fishing shop, just to let me know how she got on. I know Leah—that’s what she would do.”

  “You think something happened to her?” asked Julia, beginning to sound worried.

  Toran gave a laugh which sounded forced, even to himself. “I’m sure I’m probably worrying for nothing. She’s probably just stopped to pick up something for dinner—or something prosaic like that—and is on her way back already.”

  He expected Julia to laugh and agree with him, but instead there was a long pause, then she said: “I’m coming over.”

  “There’s no need—”

  “I’m only around the corner from your place anyway,” said Julia. “I’ve been doing some shopping and having a manicure. Arnold’s out with some business associates tonight and I’ve got nothing special planned. Don’t worry, if Leah’s back when I get there, I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone and go home,” she chuckled.

  She hung up before Toran could say anything else. He sighed. Trust Leah’s bossy friend to want to stick her fingers in immediately. Still, he decided that he would be glad of her company. He and Julia had had a rocky relationship in the past—he had never liked her when they were at school together and he hadn’t trusted her for a long time. But ever since she had helped him rescue Leah from the cult, showing great courage and endurance, his respect for her had grown. There was a warm, genuine person underneath that spoilt society princess exterior. Besides, he knew that Julia was probably the only other person who cared about Leah as much as he did.

  When the buzzer rang on the intercom, Toran jumped up eagerly before he remembered that it couldn’t be Leah. She knew the code to get in and she wouldn’t be asking for entry. He walked over to the intercom and answered. It was Julia. He buzzed her in and a few minutes later she was at the front door.

  “You haven’t heard from her?” Julia said as soon as she stepped into the apartment.

  Toran shook his head.

  “I was hoping she would be here when I got here,” said Julia, following him into the living room.

  “As I said, we could be worrying for nothing,” said Toran. “She could just be delayed somewhere; there could be a perfectly logical reason why she’s not answering her phone…”

  “No, I trust your instincts,” said Julia, sitting down on the sofa. She was wearing a designer dress in patterned silk and her red nails gleamed as she clasped her hands around her bare knees. She rocked back and forth worriedly. “Maybe we should call the police—”

  “And tell them what?” said Toran. “We can report it, but unless it’s a child or a vulnerable adult, the police are unlikely to do anything for twenty-four hours. Leah is a grown woman and so far, she’s late coming home a few hours. It’s not like she missed a definite appointment or that she has a normal routine of always being home by a certain time. All I have is my gut instinct, but at this point, I don’t think the police would take me seriously.”

  “But you think something happened when she went to this fishing shop, don’t you?”

  Toran nodded. “There must be something about the Ru-Yi that can identify the man who was driving my parents that night and I think he’s desperate to get it back. I think he even followed you to London, thinking that Leah had it in her possession.”

  Julia shuddered. “That doll. It was horrible.”

  “Doll?” Toran looked at her quizzically.

  “Didn’t Leah tell you?” Julia recounted their experience at Harrods.

  Toran’s mouth tightened. He knew that it was just an attempt to scare Leah but it was still disturbing. “No, she didn’t tell me. She mentioned that she got a threatening message, but she didn’t tell me the details.” He began pacing the room.

  “Why did Leah go to the fishing shop instead of you?” asked Julia.

  “She was closer,” said Toran. “She’d gone to see her old driver, Ah Song, and his offices are just round the corner from the shop.”

  “Oh yes, I remember Ah Song,” said Julia with a smile. “He used to drive Leah to school every day and pick her up to take her home. He was a really sweet guy. He must be pretty old by now, no? I remember he was like in his fifties or something when he was Leah’s driver.”

  “Probably in his mid-sixties,” said Toran. “I know Leah got back in touch with him after she moved back to Singapore and she wanted to go see him again after you guys returned from the U.K. She wanted to speak to him again about her father—and her mother.” He saw Julia’s face change and added, “Leah told me what you learned in London.”

  Julia raised her hands to her face. “I couldn’t believe it when I heard it. What a horrific story… her poor mother…” She looked up at Toran. “Did Leah think that Ah Song had more to add?”

  Toran shrugged. “I don’t know. She didn’t elaborate. She just said she wanted to ask him about something. But I think she’d already finished seeing him by the time I spoke to her. She told me she was going straight to the fishing store.”

  Toran let out a breath of frustration and dropped down on the sofa next to Julia, running an agitated hand through his hair. He glanced at the coffee table next to him. There was a crumpled piece of paper on it—one of Leah’s father’s letters. In fact, it was the letter—the one she had shown him—in which David Fisher had talked about the accident and seemingly confessed to his involvement. Toran remembered Leah’s stubborn defence of her father’s innocence and felt that familiar surge of irritation.

  He picked up the letter and scanned it idly again. Then he paused and sat up, leaning forwards with his elbows on his knees, reading that particular passage once more:

  …when it’s late and I’m alone, I hear your mother’s voice, Leah. She talks to me. She wants to know why. And I can’t tell her why. I don’t know why myself. Ah Song brought the news last night and all I could think was: what have I done? I made a terrible mistake with Black Buddha—I didn’t realise the price I had to pay—but it’s too late now. Nothing can bring them back and no one can know the truth about the accident. It’ll be buried anyway—the riots are keeping everybody busy—and by the time he gets back in the country, it’ll be forgotten. But I can’t forget, just like I couldn’t forget the first time. And she still keeps asking me why! What do I say? I don’t know what to say to her… and yet I want to answer her, to keep her beside me. Anything to keep her beside me…

  Toran took a sharp intake of breath.

  “What?” asked Julia, looking at the letter as well.

  “There’s been something that’s been niggling me…” said Toran, his eyes riveted on the letter. “It was bothering me this morning when Leah was recounting the sequence of what had happened… She said that Ah Song was the one who brought the news of the accident to her father. But look at the date on this letter: it’s dated the day after the accident—which means when it says ‘Ah Song brought the news last night’—it means Ah Song told him about the accident on the same day that it happened. But how c
ould he have known about it? The police never made an official announcement or revealed my parents’ identities until the next day, the day after the accident. Which means that there is no way Ah Song could have known about my parents being the victims… not unless he was there.”

  Julia stared at him. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying Ah Song was the driver of the car that night,” said Toran, springing up from the sofa. “And now, he’ll do anything to hide that fact. He’s made a name for himself now as a successful businessman—the owner of an up-and-coming company, nominated for a business award, a pillar of society… He can’t afford any scandal coming out now, especially one which suggests that he could have been responsible for a fatal car crash.” He paused, then said, “And if Leah now has the one thing which could identify him, he would need to seize her and prevent her spreading the truth…”

  “What will he do to her?” asked Julia in alarm, springing up as well.

  “I don’t know, but we need to find him,” said Toran, grimly.

  CHAPTER 32

  “We need to go to the police!” Julia cried. “Maybe they can track him—”

  “I’m not wasting time with the police,” said Toran shortly. “Ah Song is a respected member of the community, a Singaporean poor-boy-made-good; he’s practically a local hero. By the time we convince the police to take us seriously and investigate him, it might be too late for Leah. No, we need to find him ourselves.”

  “But how?” demanded Julia. She waved her hands frantically. “We can’t just sit here! We need to get out there and look for them! Maybe go back to that fishing store! Maybe—”

  “The fishing store will be shut now,” said Toran. “And there’s no use just running around in a panic.” He took a deep breath. “Look, I know you’re terrified for Leah—so am I—and I understand your need to do something. But we’ll waste more time if we don’t have a plan. We need to calm down and think of a way to locate Ah Song—”