Cheryl joins Noah as he surveys the open body of salt water. “I never tire of this. There’s a peace, a serenity that only the ocean affords. It’s a perfect medicine for the troubled mind.”
“Troubled mind? Insulting your client by saying he has a mental problem is hardly good for customer relations,” says Noah amusedly.
“Noah, it doesn’t take a genius to see on your face that you are carrying the universe on your back. And Master Wu? I don’t have to be a doctor to know that anytime someone is immobile, it’s a grave concern. Let me take it a step further. He should be in a hospital. That he’s not tells me there’s an item on his bucket list that he wants to see fulfilled while he still has time... How am I doing?”
“Perhaps you should consider being a psychotherapist,” says Noah with grudging admiration.
“Mind games are hardly my specialty.” Cheryl pauses and then says contemplatively, “Give it to the ocean. Water is the source of life. And of healing.”
Cheryl sidles closer to Noah, not as a sexual come-on but it could lead that way if...
Noah doesn’t move away, but he doesn’t move closer either. Truth is, he’s happy to have someone take an interest in him. After all, he is a virile young man with active hormones.
“I like principled men,” murmurs Captain Cheryl.
“Then you got the wrong guy,” says Noah.
“I like those kind even better,” says Cheryl as her fingers dance up Noah’s arm and playfully tap his cheek. “Get some rest. We can play a little later.”
He turns to her. God, she’s gorgeous. Almost as pretty as... “That might be nice.”
“Might be?” asks Cheryl in mock askance.
“Would be. Definitely.”
Chapter Fifteen
You would think that eight hours on the East China sea on a luxury yacht would get you a lot of soothing, but that’s not entirely true. Yes, Sam’s found a spot relaxing on the Ever Ready, but the only reason Noah’s crashed on a lounge bed on the upper deck is that his eyes refuse to stay open because of utter exhaustion and worry.
Master Wu’s case has proved perplexing. His patient, lying on the bed in the sun, causes great consternation for Dr. Tang. According to his tongue and his pulse, there is nothing wrong with him. However, he remains unable to move about, although he’s completely able to converse. But during these times of conversation, disconcerting are his intermittent emotional outbursts about his “terrible sins,” “going home,” and “heaven.”
Lisa is proving a consummate actor. Her worried face belies her inner satisfaction at how well this “clinical trial” of her creation is working. Feigning concern, Lisa methodically taps acupuncture needles, providing electricity to Master Wu’s system.
Realizing his friend is devolving into a state he is unfamiliar with and feeling confident in Lisa’s abilities, Dr. Tang wants to try something new and goes back to his stateroom to get new supplies.
However, something is wrong. Consternation is on Dr. Tang’s face as he appears back on the upper deck. “We have to go back. Somehow, I have misplaced the suitcase that has all my needles and medical supplies.”
Noah, roused from his sleep, groggily says, “Can’t go back. We’re almost halfway there. You sure they’re not here somewhere? I can help you look.”
“I’ve searched everywhere.”
“Always knew you were a quack,” grimaces Master Wu, “You should be eating those awful memory pills you make for me.”
“It’s hardly time for joking, my friend,” worries Dr. Tang.
“We can call to shore and get new supplies within an hour,” says Noah.
Dr. Tang shakes his head. “The suitcase contains medicines and rare herbs that are not easily found, including those that I grew or created myself. More immediately though, I want to start with a new regimen of fresh needles.”
“I don’t have the extent of medicine that you have, but I do have much of what you taught me to make... and I did bring acupuncture accessories. Shall I bring up what I have?” offers Lisa.
Dr. Tang exhales a sigh of relief. “Yes, yes. Of course. Thank you,” says Dr. Tang. “I’ll start cupping while you go.”
As Lisa makes her way to her stateroom, she indulges in a moment of self-congratulations. She of course dropped Dr. Tang’s suitcase into the ocean when everyone was pre-occupied about transferring Master Wu onboard from the Ever Ready. All part of the plan.
She enters her room, locks the door and puts her suitcase of supplies on the bed.
It contains an assortment of regular Chinese medicines, herbs, acupuncture and cupping paraphernalia. She takes out one packet of needles, takes out six of them and then places them on her bed. She then carefully pushes several buttons on the inside of the suitcase. Because the color and texture of the buttons blends in so perfectly with the lining of the suitcase, they are barely detectable. There is a comforting clicking sound and Lisa then carefully opens a false bottom, revealing two small medicine bottles, two micro-syringes and a small plain packet.
She opens the packet and inside is half a dozen acupuncture needles. Outwardly, they appear indistinguishable from the 5-cent needles that every acupuncturist uses, including the regular needles she has placed on her bed. However, these are no ordinary acupuncture needles. They were specially modified to be hollow inside, no easy engineering feat considering the five-inch needles are less than a tenth of an inch in diameter. Designed to be filled with tiny amounts of fluid, body heat and a little more pressure upon insertion of the needles into a patient’s body, triggers the release of the toxin.
After removing the tops of the special needles, she places a micro-syringe tip into one of the medicine bottles and it sucks in one of her designer potions. With surgical precision, she deftly places the tip of the syringe into an acupuncture needle and pushes the liquid inside. She repeats this process four times and then screws the tops back onto each of the needles.
She then takes the other micro-syringe and fills the remaining two needles with a toxin from the other medicine bottle. Holding them up to her eyes, she does a visual check. Satisfied, she puts them carefully on the bed.
She carefully and quietly opens the stateroom window in her room and tosses out the medicine bottles and the micro-syringes.
Lisa then takes the needles that contain the first poison and puts them inside the package of regular needles, carefully noting their placement She tapes the two remaining needles to her leg.
There is a banging on her door. “Dr. Mah, Dr. Mah! Dr. Tang says to hurry. Master Wu has lost consciousness and Dr. Tang can’t revive him.”
“I’m ready.”
Thus far, everything has been working like clockwork. The staged timings of release of the initial poisons, Dr. Tang’s “missing” briefcase, the preparation of this next batch of needles.
She takes out her cell phone and sends out a three-word text. “Right on target.”
Moments later the one word reply comes. “Fantastic.”
As she walks out of her room, she allows herself a moment of indulgence to think about King. About the hours they spent together perfecting the right combination of venoms and chemicals, about how she is making herself indispensable to him, how he will need her... and want her.
***
King, like most bosses, is not at all confident in relying on others to do his work, even when they have repeatedly proven themselves. Trusting women, even professionals like a doctor or a sea captain, is even worse. Their emotions always get in the way and color their judgment.
However, in this instance, he feels that he has no choice. If he showed his face to either Wu or Noah, he would be instantly recognized as the son of Chin. No amount of Hollywood makeup or latex fakery could ever hide that. It’s good that Master Wu and Noah think his father is dead. But it’s more than that. If they had any inkling of suspicion that a family member of Chin was involved, neither would ever release any information about the whereabouts of the funds.
At
the same, he’s juggling cautiously and playing a delicate balancing act right now. Neither Lisa nor Cheryl knows each other or that the other is involved in the enterprise. They definitely don’t know he is sleeping with them both.
A further complication is that even if either woman is successful in carrying out her individual task, success of the mission is not guaranteed.
Lisa’s job is to have Master Wu fall onto the verge of death. She will then save him, which will ingratiate Noah to her. The hope is that she will gain his confidence and thus be able to find out where Master Wu has hidden the funds. The problem is that Lisa’s most recent new poison is unstable and unpredictable. It could just as easily kill Master Wu and then Noah will clam up. Or Noah might notice that the treatment she gives Master Wu is not normal and grow suspicious. Or Noah might be thankful but still not want to open up anything about the missing funds.
Cheryl’s job is simpler. There is shortly going to be an opportunity for her to save Master Wu and Noah from a “huge problem.” This hopefully will allow her to gain Noah’s favor and she will become Noah’s confidante. Or she might not.
He knows that in either case, he will only have one surviving mistress and maybe none. Not a terribly big deal personally—sex is sex is sex. It’s a natural physical act. Professional considerations are another matter. Both of them are tops in their fields and dedicated to him. That will not be easy to replace but the potential reward is so high... well anyone can do the math.
The bigger issue is that for success to happen, King is going to need a little luck or bad judgment on Noah’s part. To a control freak like King, having to rely on something other than himself is anathema.
However, given the circumstances, he feels these are the best options. He can do nothing but wait. Wait and hope.
Thank the gods for his snakes. At least their behavior is predictable and reliable.
***
Noah charges down the flight of stairs and heads toward the bridge. He’s so frustrated. They are not that far away from land but far enough away that no land-based cell phone tower can pick up the signal.
We would have been in Shanghai six hours ago if he had let me fly. Now we’re in the middle of nowhere.
He barges into the bridge where Captain Cheryl steers the boat.
“Please. Master Wu has collapsed into unconsciousness. Can you get someone here quickly?”
“No problem. Can you give me more details?”
She turns the marine radio to Channel 16. “Hello. This is the Tao Princess from Hong Kong. Can you read me?”
“Yes I can, Tao Princess. How can we be of assistance?”
She motions for Noah to speak into the microphone.
“We have an elderly Chinese male, early seventies, healthy although recent heart problems. Not responding to Traditional Chinese Medicine treatments including acupuncture and cupping. He was unable to move earlier but was able to talk. However, now he’s lost consciousness and there is slight foaming at the mouth.”
Cheryl jumps in. “That’s potential congestive heart failure. Can you get an amphibious chopper here ASAP?”
“Will do? Where are you located?”
Chang looks at the marine GPS chart plotter. “23° North, 121° 22' East.
There is a brief pause. “I’m sorry. No can do. We’re not licensed to go there. That’s too close to Senkaku.”
What the dispatcher is referring to is a group of uninhabited islands whose ownership has been long disputed by China and Japan. This collection of five islands and three rocks are less than five square miles in total but their proximity to valuable shipping lanes, rich fishing grounds and potential oil and gas reserves makes them much more valuable than their diminutive size.
Noah barks, “Just do it. We’ll pay whatever extra it takes.”
“Much as I’d love to take your money, I am not risking getting into a fight with the Japanese.”
“There’s got to be somebody that can do it,” says Noah.
“Off the record, there’s a private helicopter that can handle the gig, but he’s expensive and his chopper can’t land in water. But these guys are damn good. He might do it for 50k.”
Noah doesn’t think twice. “Done. Can you coordinate for us?”
There is a pause.
“I’ll pay you five thousand bucks when I get back.”
There’s a bright spark in the radio operator’s response. “Of course. He’ll also get there a lot faster. His chopper is almost military grade. I will get someone there within the hour.”
“Thank you.”
***
King smiles at the VHF radio that he has set up in his office. One of the tasks completed when his group took over the Tao Princess was an alteration done to the marine radio, directing all the vessel’s radio calls to King in Hong Kong. The ship was in fact nowhere close to the Senkaku Islands but mentioning that they were gives a genuine reason for any craft not to approach the Tao Princess.
He makes a call.
“Time to rock and roll.”
***
Lisa re-appears on deck to see Dr. Tang frantically using Tui Na bodywork massage on Master Wu’s cup-filled body. Tui Na is a special kind of Chinese massage that seeks to establish a more harmonious flow of qi throughout the body. Dr. Tang is pushing his fingers and thumbs into Master Wu’s body channels, hoping to increase the flow of the cold into the cups. While there is an increase of the bloodlike liquid, Master Wu remains unconscious.
“There was a sudden change. He and I were debating about whether martial arts or Chinese medicine were more spiritual, when suddenly he lost consciousness and started foaming at the mouth. I have never seen anything like this,” says the worried Dr. Tang. “My fingers have done as much as they can. I need the new needles.”
“Yes of course,” says Lisa, as she takes out two packages of needles, one Japanese and the other Chinese.
She opens the package of Japanese needles.
“Not those ones,” says Dr. Tang.
“But these are made from surgical grade stainless steel wire,” protests Lisa.
“I have never used anything but Chinese ones.”
“But they’re not working right now. You know that I’ve had success with these Japanese needles.”
“They lack the right feel. The other ones, Lisa.”
Exactly what I hoped you’d say, you jingoistic bastard.
Lisa hands him the Chinese brand of acupuncture needles. Now that he has the “right” needles, Dr. Tang will never notice the alteration of several needles.
Lisa starts removing the cups from Master Wu’s body as Dr. Tang starts injecting needles into the appropriate meridians.
“These needles are perfect. I really thank the gods that you are here, Lisa.”
“Everything I know, I learned from you.”
“I stopped being able to teach you long ago but I appreciate you staying on. Every man needs...”
Dr. Tang suddenly stops and quickly pulls out the last needle. “There’s something wrong with this one.”
“Doesn’t seem like there’s anything wrong to me.”
“Not the look, the feel. I’ve put in more than five million needles in my life and there is something wrong with this one.”
Dr. Tang picks out another one. “This one too.”
He turns to her, alarmed. “Did you...”
Before he can finish his question, Lisa whips out the needles taped to her leg and jabs them into Dr. Tang. She sticks one in behind his left ear. She forces open his mouth and jabs the other into his tongue. Two places that if someone were to ever check, they would never think of examining.
“I despise you, you lecherous old man.”
The poison works quickly. Dr. Tang begins to shake violently. He collapses to the deck. “For years, I’ve been teaching you everything I know.”
“And I paid for it with every second of your smelly breath and farts and groping my body from leathery hands.”
“I n
ever did anything to you.”
“That’s because I switched medicines on you. You think this is the first time I’ve done something like this? Every time we had tea, I made sure that there were plenty of anaphrodisiac Vitex leaves in it.”
“That’s why...” gasps Dr. Tang.
“That’s why you could never get hard. That’s why I never had to endure a night in bed with you.”
Paralysis has set in. Dr. Tang, crumpled on the floor, is unable to speak.
Lisa completes the task that Dr. Tang started by placing the remaining Chinese acupuncture needles into Master Wu.
No one will ever suspect anything because these needles are known to be Dr. Tang’s favorite brand of acupuncture needles.
She kneels down and leans over the doctor. “Asshole.”
Chapter Sixteen
“If it’s not amphibious, how are they going to land?” asks Noah.
“Depends on how big the chopper is and how good the pilot is. If it can fit onto the sundeck, we’re good but if not, the helicopter will have to hover over the boat. We’ll load up Master Wu and they’ll pull him either manually or with a winch if they’ve got one.”
Lisa’s voice breaks the air. “Help! Help!”
Noah and Cheryl bolt from the bridge and back up onto the upper deck. There are now two unconscious elderly men―one expected, one unexpected.
The unconscious Master Wu has acupuncture needles and suction cups in his body from head to toe. That was expected.
Unexpected was to see Lisa leaning over Dr. Tang, frantically putting acupuncture needles into his head and legs.
Lisa keeps her head down as she begins tapping the needles. “We were both working on Master Wu. I was doing the cupping and Dr. Tang was tapping the new needles for electricity, when without warning Dr. Tang keeled over and blacked out. His heart is beating crazy fast. Sudden cardiac arrest.”
The Noah Reid Series: Books 1-3: The Noah Reid Action Thriller Series Boxset Page 32
