While Ryan and Lucy got ready, so did I. I asked both kids if they were hungry. I got two nos. I looked at the time on my cell phone; it was a quarter to seven. Leslie would be here at eight. Room service took about forty-five minutes in the morning based on our previous experience. We’ll pick up something on the way over to Po Po’s.
Leslie knocked on our hotel door a little early, but we were pretty much ready.
“Hey, everybody,” she said as she walked in holding a box. “Anybody hungry?”
Both Ryan and Lucy’s arms shot straight up as they shouted, “Me!” in unison. They weren’t hungry when I asked earlier, but suddenly when Aunt Leslie asked, it was as if I’d been starving them. The kids nearly knocked Leslie over trying to get to the box.
“Gee, Abby. Don’t you feed your kids?” she asked.
“I have you to do that,” I said, peering into the box and spying a mix of nuomici—glutinous rice dumplings dusted with dried coconut and stuffed with various sweet fillings.
“These are from Shen’s Bakery. They’re my favorite.”
Neither I nor my kids responded as we shoveled the sweets into our mouths. They may not be my biological offspring, but they eat just like I do. After we’d had our fill, we headed out.
“What did you tell the kids?” Leslie asked as we walked to the elevator. “They seem so excited to tag along.”
“I told them we’re hanging out with Aunt Leslie and she’s paying for everything, even souvenirs,” I said with a large grin.
She laughed. “And that’s why I love you.”
We fought the morning traffic and arrived at Liu’s apartment about forty minutes later. I was glad Leslie had brought the box of pastries or else hunger would have been added to the list of things to fight off. I knocked on the flimsy wooden door and waited a moment or so before giving it another wrap with my knuckles.
“Did they know we were coming?” Leslie asked. She moved over to the tiny window and tried to peek inside, but the curtain had been drawn tightly over it.
“No, I just figured that we would get here early enough, before they headed out.” I took my cell phone out and dialed Liu’s phone. We could hear her phone inside the apartment ringing.
“Is Po Po coming with us today?” Lucy asked.
“No, we just needed to talk to her for a little bit,” I said as I disconnected the call and pocketed my phone.
I tugged on the door. There was a lot of movement between it and the doorjamb. “Doesn’t seem like there’s a deadbolt.” I dug into my purse, removed a parking key card, and slipped it into the crack. I jiggled it a bit. “Whoops, the door’s open.”
“Holy moly,” Ryan blurted. “Abby just broke into an apartment. Aunt Leslie, are you going to draw your weapon?”
“What?” Leslie and I asked at the same time.
Ryan moved into an offensive stance and delivered two quick punches in succession. “I’ll lead the way.”
“Simmer down, Bruce Lee.” I grabbed him by his collar and pulled him back.
I led the way in. The lights were off, and the room was completely dark except for the light coming in through the door. I flipped the switch on a nearby lamp, and Leslie pulled the curtain open.
“Her bag is still here,” I said pointing at the brown carry-on near the small couch. “They must have just gotten an early start on the day.”
“Any idea where they might have gone?” Leslie asked.
I shrugged. “Maybe to get something to eat.”
“Does Liu or Po Po have a cell phone?”
“I’m not sure about Liu, but Po Po never wanted one. She does have my cell number, though,” I said as I moved over to the stove. “The kettle is still warm. We must have just missed them.”
Leslie frowned. “It’s important that I speak with her as soon as possible.”
“You’re not the only one,” I said out of the side of my mouth as I walked by. I removed a pen from my purse and left a note on the kitchen table for Po Po to call me.
We exited the apartment, and the kids got into the back of the SUV while Leslie and I remained outside to talk a bit more.
“What are your next steps?” I asked.
“I’ll have an alert issued for them.”
I nodded. “If she calls, I’ll tell her to stay put.”
“How are you holding up?”
I shrugged. “I’m trying to remain positive and think this is all one big misunderstanding, but it’s hard in lieu of what we’ve learned. My mind keeps going to the worst: that Peng and Po Po are actually tied into this mess.”
“We’ve gone over this. You’ve got to get that thought out of your head.”
“Yeah, but it’s hard not having answers to all the questions floating around.”
“We both need answers.”
“I just hope it doesn’t get any worse. I don’t want to spoil the trip for the kids. They’re having such a good time.”
“They have no idea what’s happened, do they?”
“Nope. And I’d like to keep it that way. Is there anything you need me to do?”
“Yes. Go have fun with Ryan and Lucy. Do whatever you had planned, and if something new develops, I’ll let you know”
Chapter 40
Jo sat in the half-circle booth farthest to the rear. He had a pot of green tea and a plate of almond cookies on the table in front of him. He had just removed the plastic strip off a new pack of cigarettes when Yong entered the bar and made his way toward him.
Yong bowed before taking a seat in the booth. “The man I have following Agent Kane has just informed me that he saw her and Inspector Choi break into an apartment this morning.”
Jo struck the top of the cigarette pack against the palm of his hands twice before tapping out a cigarette. “Break into an apartment? Are you sure?”
“He says he saw the agent pick the lock with a credit card. Then they went inside for ten minutes. Oh, and the children are with them.”
“Hmmm, very interesting.” Jo struck a match and lit the end of the cigarette. He inhaled deeply, and the red tip glowed brightly. “Are they still there?”
“No. Once they left, he called me.”
“Find out who lives in that apartment.” Jo exhaled a plume of grey smoke. “Gauging by the look on your face, you seem confused by my orders.”
“I mean no disrespect. I merely want to learn.”
“Inspector Choi can be an ally and an enemy. Because of that, it’s important we keep her close. And if she is talking to an FBI agent, it’s even more important. If it’s true that they did break into this apartment, I would like to know why. Even the police are not above the law.”
“I understand. They watch us. We watch them.”
“Keep me informed,” Jo said before taking another deep drag.
Chapter 41
Since we’d had an earlier start than usual, I asked the kids what they felt like doing. They both shrugged. “Come on, Mr. Hong Kong,” I said to Ryan. “I thought you had everything worth doing mapped out.”
“We did everything I could think of,” he said, His brow crinkled as he removed his map from his pants pocket and unfolded it.
“Why don’t you guys take a day trip to Macau?” Leslie suggested. “I can drop you off at the ferry. It’s only an hour ride.”
“The Las Vegas of the East,” I touted.
“Well, yeah, there are big casinos there, but there’s also a lot of culture as well. Abby, you’ve been there before, right?”
“Once when I was a little girl, but I never did make it back.”
“What’s Macau?” Ryan asked.
“It’s an island that was formerly a Portuguese colony,” I answered.
Heading to Macau had never crossed my mind, mostly because in the last decade or so it had been heavily developed, largely with extravagant casinos. I had forgotten all about Macau’s tiny historic city center and the beautiful ruins of St. Paul’s Cathedral. “I actually think Macau would make a good day trip.
”
“Of course,” Leslie said, patting her own shoulder. “Aunt Leslie has all the good ideas. Right, kids?”
“Yes!”
“And being that you’re paying for everything today, I would also have to agree.” I smiled and held out my hand.
The rush of making it on the next ferry was a great distraction, but as soon as we pushed off and the kids were settled on the boat, my thoughts went back to Leslie’s case. As much as I tried to heed her advice, it was hard to stop. It just seemed that the more Leslie investigated, the more Po Po and Peng became a part of the mix.
I tried to focus on the scenery, but I just couldn’t stop wondering what Po Po knew. How many more skeletons are in that building or any of the other buildings?
“She’s lying. She has to be,” I said quietly.
When I finally heard myself say out loudly what I had desperately tried to avoid, it all clicked. Po Po needed to be treated like a suspect in a case. We couldn’t continue to coddle her. My reasons were different from Leslie. She had a case to solve, but I wanted the truth. It seemed as though getting to the bottom of all this would satisfy both our needs.
I also had to ask myself if I honestly wanted to know the truth. Was I prepared for the worst, that Peng could be a murderer? The man I fell in love with, shared a bed with, and whose children I was now raising? What if he had been nothing more than a lying sociopath? Could I live with that? Could the kids?
If that were the truth, the only saving grace I could think of was that he was dead. He couldn’t do any more harm to others or me and the kids. But Po Po…what if she were just as involved? She lived with us. It would be easy to hide the truth from the kids about their father but not about Po Po. What would I tell them? Hey, listen up. Po Po was involved in a double-murder. She’ll be moving out and into a Chinese prison. How about we turn her room into a home gym? What do you say?
“Mom!” Lucy cried out, putting a stop to my pondering. “There’s My Cow!”
I grabbed hold of Lucy’s hand. “Its Macau, sweetie.”
They’re the innocent ones, and they’ll be hurt the most. Peng, you bastard. What did you do?
Chapter 42
Leslie had just gotten off a call when Lee appeared in her doorway. “Go away,” she said, pointing at him. “Every time you show up, you have bad news.”
“There is no bad news—only news that helps the case,” he said sagely.
She rolled her eyes. “Well, I just got off the phone with the officers waiting at Liu’s apartment. Still no sign of the two.” She glanced at her watch. “It’s almost five p.m. What could two old women possibly be doing all day?”
“Avoiding us,” Lee answered.
“Very funny.”
“I’m serious. Has that thought not crossed your mind?”
“I don’t think they’re avoiding us.”
“Where are you on this? Do you or do you not believer her? Because you seem to be flip-flopping back and forth.”
Leslie shrugged, palms up. “Well, of course I don’t want her to be involved.”
“I don’t either but that’s not what I’m asking,” Lee said pointedly.
“I think she’s in the dark, just like the rest of us. She has no reason to hide the truth. Her son’s already dead. It’s not as if we can prosecute him.”
“Maybe it’s more about preserving his legacy. You yourself said he was a mama’s boy. She must have believed he was perfect—a son who did no wrong. She could be delusional about the whole thing.”
Leslie chuckled a bit. “You obviously don’t know Po Po all that well. She’s a lot smarter than she looks.” She paused. “I know what I just said feeds your argument. Let me make myself clearer. She’s not stupid enough to get herself in trouble. As much as it pains her, I think if she honestly knew what her son was up to, she would say so.”
“You questioned her once, and she said she didn’t know.”
“That’s right, but I’m thinking maybe she might know something that can point us in the right direction, she just doesn’t know it. I need to question her like I do every suspect.”
“I agree with you there. She used up her courtesy pass the first time around.”
Leslie leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. “So what is it you want to tell me? Let’s hear it.”
“We’re already discussing it. I’m here to tell you we need to escalate the search for Po Po. There’s been a new development.”
She frowned. “What did you find?”
“You know I’m an information guy, right? I try and gather as much as possible, even if it doesn’t seem like I should be gathering it. It’s about supporting you and the case.”
“I know the nature of your job, Lee. Get to the point.”
“So I’m looking into Peng’s past, trying to collect everything I can. On a whim, I think to take a look at his birth certificate. I make the requests at the Ministry of Health. Mind you, I’m pretty much just going through the motions here. I didn’t think anything would come of it—”
“Well, obviously something did. Now spit it out.”
“Okay, so I pull his records. Ethel Yee, Po Po, is listed as the mother, but there’s no father listed.”
“So?”
“Yeah, that’s not strange. There are a lot of kids born out of wedlock. I’m not judging the woman, but I decided to check if her name showed up on any other birth certificates, besides hers of course.”
“And?”
“It did. Peng has a brother. His name is Rong Yee, and he’s a year older.”
“Okay, that’s interesting.”
“Wait, I’m not done. The record also has the father listed as unknown. I’m guessing Abby knows nothing about this.”
“I’m pretty sure she didn’t because she would have told me. She tells me everything.”
“That’s what I thought. I don’t know if Po Po held back that information when talking to you or if she just didn’t think about it or maybe didn’t think it was important.”
“Is this brother even alive? He could have died at birth, which would be good enough reason for Po Po to stay mum on it.”
“I knew you would ask, so I checked. Turns out Rong didn’t die at birth.”
“And you know this because?”
“He’s got a long list of priors with the department, most of it petty crime: scamming tourists, pickpocketing, shoplifting, that sort of stuff. He was, however, detained for a year and half in a boys’ home.”
“Okay, so he’s alive. Let’s find Rong and bring him in for questioning. He could be the guy we’re looking for, not Peng.”
“Except, he’s not. I paid a visit to the boys’ home. Turns out he visited the in-house dentist. Rong had a full set of dental x-rays sitting in his file.”
“Don’t tell me,” Leslie said, shaking her head.”
“We already have Rong Yee in custody. He’s the first skeleton we pulled out of the building.”
Chapter 43
Mr. Chan sat on a teak rocker inside the screened-in porch at the rear of his home. He sipped hot tea while listening to the gurgle of the tiny waterfall that fed a small pond filled with colorful koi fish.
Despite the tranquility surrounding him, his right leg bounced as he gazed ahead at nothing in particular; the visit from Inspector Choi occupied his thoughts. After all the hard work that had gone into putting the past behind them, it still managed to rear its ugly head in their wonderfully rich lives.
“Are you still worrying about yesterday?” Mrs. Chan asked as she appeared on the veranda. She held a plate of Chinese butter cookies in her hand. “You’re worrying too much.” She put the plate down on the wooden serving cart, which also held a teapot and two bottles of sparkling water.
He finally broke his stare and turned to her. “Did you not hear what that woman said yesterday? She practically accused us of having something to do with the skeleton they found. I tell you, that Yee family is nothing but bad news. I knew that the first d
ay I met Ethel and Peng. Two rotted peas in a pod.” He shifted in his rocker so he could face her without straining.
“I agree, but let’s not jump to the worst conclusion. We’ve haven’t had any contact with Peng since we made the decision about Mei.”
“She was a disappointment. She could have had a wonderful life, but she threw it all away by messing around with the trash.”
“She made the decision for things to be this way, not us. We told her to stop seeing him. She disobeyed.” Mrs. Chan took a seat in the rocker next to her husband.
He crossed his legs and grumbled, “She should have had that baby taken out. If she had, we probably could have paid off Peng to leave our daughter alone. But no, she insisted on having that bastard child. I worked too hard for my life. No way I would allow her to put a black stain on it.”
“We made the right decision. And you were also right about what people would think when they no longer saw Mei with us.”
“Of course. Eventually I knew she would cease to be a topic of conversation. What’s that saying? Out of sight, out of mind. But telling people that she wanted to spend time in Africa doing charity work was brilliant, Edith. That was a good idea,” he said, pointing a finger.
“We did good.”
“If people discovered that our daughter had a child with the likes of someone like Peng, it could have ruined us. I just hope this nosey inspector doesn’t dig up the past.”
“They can’t tie any of it to us. We have an air-tight alibi—no contact.”
“I hope not. A scandal is the last thing we need in our lives.”
“I, for one, am not worried.” Mrs. Chan took a sip of her tea. “I think Inspector Choi left knowing no more than when she arrived. She came here seeking information. She doesn’t think we’re responsible. According to the news, they haven’t been able to identify the body. We’re fine.”
Kowloon Bay (Abby Kane FBI Thriller Book 3) Page 13
