Lights Out

by Stopforth, W. J.

  Lam rushed over to Lily and giving her some dignity threw her jeans across her naked lower half. She was disoriented and confused as she cut the rope with a bloody knife and removed the duct tape as gently as she could from her mouth.

  “Sorry.” Lam whispered as she removed the tape pulling some of Lily’s skin with it.

  She wrapped Lily in the quilt with her good left arm and left her propped up against the headboard.

  “It’s OK, he’s dead.” She soothed. “You’re safe now.”

  Lily looked at Lam and nodded silently. She turned and looked at the body on the floor next to her. Looking back toward Lam she mouthed, “Thank you.”

  “I just need to make a call,” Lam said stepping out of the room, “I’ll be right back.”

  She slowly walked out of the room and pulled out her cell phone.

  She dialed the Chiefs number, and holding her arm tightly, waited for him to pick up.

  “Lam”, the familiar voice warmed her.

  “Chief” she said as she slid down the wall and rested her back against it. She could feel the loss of blood had made her weak.

  “We’re almost there”, he said. In the distance Lam could hear the faint sound of sirens. She liked the sound.

  “Good” she replied and closed her eyes.

  Chapter 40

  When Sarah Lam woke up, it was to light pouring in behind a closed white blind. The sun seeping around the edges making it too bright for her eyes. She turned on her left side with her back to the window to try and darken the room, only to be tugged back by the drip still attached to her hand. She sighed heavily remembering why she was there and absentmindedly stroked her heavily bandaged arm with her free hand. The morphine was doing its job for now, but she knew that once removed, she would be on her own. She sat up in bed as best she could, trying to work out which of the electronic buttons was the correct one to press, and waited whilst the bed slowly whirred and moved her into a sitting position. Just then her door opened the Chief walked in. He was all smiles and carried a large bunch of flowers, which he sheepishly placed on the table at the foot of the bed.

  “I didn’t expect to see you up and moving so soon.” He said happily sitting himself down heavily on the plastic visitors chair next to her bed.

  ‘You look better, you have a bit of colour.” He stated giving her a good once over. His eyes moved to the morphine drip next to her bed.

  “Looks like you’ve used your quota for the night.” He chuckled signaling to the empty plastic bag.

  “Thanks for coming Chief, you’ve brightened my day.” She said dryly returning the banter.

  “Actually I don’t feel too bad. My arm’s a bit stiff.” She said trying to maneuver her arm and wincing. ”But I’m OK”.

  “Well, there’s no rush. You’re signed off until you are fit to come back, and that’s an order.”

  “What time is it?” Lam asked scanning her nightstand, remembering that her watch had been removed.

  “It’s 10am.” He said. “You’ve been here since last night. Do you remember what happened?” He asked, his face now suddenly full of concern.

  “Only up until speaking to you. After that, I have nothing. Sorry to leave you such a bloody mess.” She stated.

  “You did a good job, Lam, I’m just sorry that we didn’t get to you sooner.”

  “And Lily, how’s she doing? She was in a pretty poor state by the time I got there.” Lam said, remembering the blood stained pillow and bruises around her neck.

  The Chief shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. It was a trait of his that Lam had picked up on over the years, which normally signaled bad news.

  “She vanished.” He said simply.

  Lam’s heart sank.

  “We arrived minutes after talking with you. We found the two dead Officers by the entrance, and then Ghost Face. We searched everywhere, but she managed to slip by us.”

  “We nearly lost you Lam. You had lost so much blood by the time we reached you. You needed two transfusions during the night, and thirty stitches, you were in surgery for two hours. You’re lucky to be here.” He said, and for a moment rested his hand on hers, like her Father would have done.

  He moved it way quickly, and she looked at him.

  “Have you been here all night?” She asked, noticing for the first time that his shirt looked wrinkled and his eyes tired and bloodshot.

  “I thought you wouldn’t make it.” He replied, his voice now quiet and gave her a weak smile.

  “Chief, I’m OK.” She said to him.

  “So what will happen to Lily now? She asked, moving the conversation back to the case and away from anything personal.

  “It was a no deal. We’ll keep looking for her, but I’m guessing that by now, she has a new identity. She’ll either be abroad, or, if she’s here. It will be like looking for a needle in a haystack. The money has still not been traced, so we’ll continue with the search. We may have to wait until the notes begin to circulate, but we can at least satisfy the Commissioner and the Bank that we caught and killed the ring leader.” He reasoned.

  “And Harper, what will happen to him now?”

  “Well, he co-operated well and has told us everything that he knows. He has the chance to go back to his old job, John McIntyre and the Board have been very sympathetic. We don’t see Lily as a huge threat to him any longer, and with Ghost Face now gone, he should be free to carry on as before. Although he did say that he had plans to go back to England. A fresh start for him, which is understandable.” He said.

  “And Luk?” She asked.

  “Oh we still have him.” The Chief said with a wry smile. “He’s willing to talk. He’ll be good for us in that way. He’s trying to negotiate which prison he’ll serve his time in, but he’s squealing like a pig, so we’ll let him carry on for now, we have a few years of ground to cover.”

  A nurse bustled in and checked Lam’s blood pressure and changed her morphine bag. She gave the Chief a stern look and tapped her watch with her finger, indicating that the Chief’s visiting time was over.

  Once she had finished and left the room, the Chief stood and collected his jacket from across the back of the chair.

  “I’ll come and see you tomorrow”, he said, we have a lot to talk about.

  Lam smiled, and reached across to his hand and touched it.

  He turned and looked at her. As tough as he knew she was, she looked so fragile in this room.

  “No more partners for a while boss.” She said with a sincerity that touched him.

  “No more partners,” He replied as he left the room.

  Lam lay back against the bed, her head nestled in the soft white pillow. She moved her hand to the tube that connected the morphine bag to her hand and pressed the self-dosage button. It beeped once, flashing a green light and she closed her eyes as she felt the cool liquid enter her vein sending her into a deep and dreamless sleep.

  Chapter 41

  Lily thought that she was dreaming when she felt the pressure on her body release, and again still dreaming when she heard two voices. One was a woman’s voice, she thought to herself in her foggy state, and then silence again. She was still in darkness, her eyes closed and the buzzing now replaced by a ringing in her ears, broken from time to time with the same two voices. Her body now forced her to breathe. She sucked in air, filling her lungs to the limit, aware of the burning in her chest and throat. She gasped again, this time coughing and wheezing, her body needing more air. Lily tried to open her eyes. As she blinked against the harsh light, she could feel something being thrown over her legs, then the voice of a woman.

  “Sorry” The woman said softly as she leaned toward Lily and tugged at the duct tape across her mouth. She hardly noticed the short stab of pain as the skin on her upper lip tore, or felt the trickle of blood in her mouth.

  Her arms now free, Lily was aware that the woman was wrapping her in her quilt. She saw that she was badly injured. Blood was oozing quickly from a wound on h
er arm. Lily tried to help as the woman shifted her body into a sitting position on the bed.

  Then the woman spoke again.

  “It’s OK, he’s dead.” She said gently to Lily, as though she was a child. “You’re safe now.”

  Lily looked at the woman, a surge of pure gratitude welled in her chest. She couldn’t speak. Her throat was too sore and felt like sandpaper when she breathed. She nodded to the woman and mouthed, “Thank you.”

  Lily sat, numbly aware of the body lying on her bedroom floor. She forced herself to move, her brain slowly catching up with her, forcing her to acknowledge the reality before her. She listened for a moment to the woman in her hallway and heard the tail end of a conversation. In the far distance she could hear the faint sound of sirens. Realising that she only had minutes, Lily stood, slightly shaky and scanned the room for the rest of her clothes. She saw that her mobile phone had fallen out of her pocket in the attack and reached for it, quickly slipping it back into her jeans. She finished dressing quickly. Grabbing a pair of shoes, she carefully stepped over Ghost Face’s motionless body and slid open her balcony doors.

  The drop was not too far, she thought as she looked down. Lily’s body ached as she landed heavily on the deck below. She was alert now and could hear the siren’s getting closer. Once outside she knew that the rest would be easy. She ran quickly now behind her house and into darkness, the wind whipping her hair into her face, the adrenaline kicking in. She didn’t look back. She kept pushing on, running as fast as she could across the open ground and down the hill toward the lights of Hong Kong.

  Chapter 42

  3 months later

  The China Club was full of activity as usual as the waiters busied themselves between tables serving guests, pouring water and wine and removing plates silently, without disturbing the course of conversation. The Matre’D stood at the entrance of the vast dining room scanning the tables until he located the one that he was looking for. He turned to the young woman waiting patiently at his side.

  “Miss Li your table is ready.” He announced with a broad smile.

  She followed him, weaving between the diners and gaining admiring looks as she did so until they reached a table for two by the window.

  Theatrically the Matre’D drew out her chair and bid her to sit, and then walked back to the entrance.

  She sat still whilst a waiter, dressed in a formal white high collared jacket and wearing white cotton gloves, delicately draped the starched white napkin over her lap, and poured her a glass of still water with lemon. With a silent nod she was left alone to take in her surroundings and browse the menu whilst she waited.

  Even though the restaurant was filled with chatter and noise she concentrated on the gentle music that played in the background. She listened again, straining her ears and then smiled. She turned in her chair and looked behind her. There, in the corner, sitting on a perch in a tall black bamboo cage that reached halfway from the floor to the ceiling, was a solitary bird. It chirped and sang to her from behind its bars, just loud enough for her to hear. She listened for a while and then turned back to her table. She took a sip of the lemon water and gazed out of the window. In it’s day the building where she now sat had been the tallest in Hong Kong, the original Bank of China. It boasted seventeen stories, of which she was on the fifteenth floor. The restaurant owners had followed the original styling and recreated an old Shanghainese tea house, updating it with a long bar, a gentlemen’s smoking room and private dining rooms. The sweeping staircase entrance was decadent and filled with a fine collection of Chinese modern and contemporary art. The floors, covered in hand tufted silk rugs that felt soft and plush underfoot. Inside the main restaurant the room had been sympathetically renovated, recreating a 1950’s China. The dark wood paneling that reached halfway up to the high ceilings, complimented the wooden square tables inset with white marble. The chairs were high backed traditionally styled with scrolled arms and the light fittings were a mixture of bold and bright lanterns in red and lime silks with gold, knotted tassels dropping from the centre. Overhead ancient metal fans spun slowly, a perfect finishing touch.

  She looked at the building opposite. It was such a contrast, she observed. From her elevated position she could still only see half way to the top of the building. It sprawled before her, a mass of modern metal and glass. The World Asia Bank had been constructed in 1985, a feat of architecture and a mere thirty-five years after the stone building where she sat.

  Considering this point, she was deep in thought when her guest arrived. She quickly stood as the Matre’D followed the same routine as with her, pulling out the chair and guiding her guest carefully into the seat.

  “How are you Lillian?” Her Grandmother said reaching over and placing her hand onto Lily’s.

  Lily could feel the warmth work it’s way up her arm until it reached her face and she smiled.

  “I’m good. Better now that I am seeing you”, she said with genuine affection.

  “I’m told that they serve very good Jasmine tea here.” Her Grandmother said with a wide smile, crinkling up her old face.

  “Then we have come to the right place.” Lily replied.

  -THE END -

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  W.J.Stopforth discovered her love for writing during long, quiet evenings in deepest China. She has spent the past twenty years working in retail providing her with the opportunity to explore, travel and live in some of the World’s most unique and interesting places; Hong Kong, Monaco, Cape Town and Vancouver. It was her 9 years in Asia that prompted her to write her first crime fiction novel, Lights Out, set in Hong Kong.

  She lives in West Vancouver, Canada with her Husband and two children.