“Now I regret it—now that my sister has been abducted from China and sold into slavery,” Kau said. “When I realized all this, I vowed to save her, even knowing that it is certain death.” The strength in his voice had fled. He looked defeated, and exhausted.
Riot did not trust himself to read the man, a source of terror for so long. Too much history clouded his judgment. And this hatchet man in particular was feared in the Quarter. That kind of reputation did not come easy.
“What were you doing on the dunes?” he asked.
“I sent a message to the mission on the hill. I asked the White Devil to save Mei. I watched as the police and white woman raided Chung Lee’s home, but he must have suspected me, he must have moved her. It took many weeks for me to find her again. I discovered that he had placed her in a brothel—Chi Gum Shing—The Forbidden Palace. She now made money for him. But when I tried to enter, tried to hire her so I might speak with her, the guards were suspicious of me.
“Eventually I arranged to have a message delivered to her through another prostitute. I hoped my note would ease Mei’s despair. To know that her brother Kau was searching for her. When I returned, the woman told me she had delivered the message, but Mei had been moved again—to a brick house near the ocean.
“I watched the building night and day, living in a hole in the sand. I tried to disguise myself as a grocer, a cook, and a groomsman, but each time I was turned away.” His hands clenched the blanket, white-knuckled, fierce with frustration, although his face revealed nothing.
“Does your tong own the Forbidden Palace and the brick house?”
“No—I had never heard of the brick house before. But I know that Hip Yee does not own the Forbidden Palace, nor do we collect money from it. I hear it is owned by a white man.”
“Did your leader sell her?”
“I do not know,” he said. “But on the night I decided to enter the brick building by force, I saw her face in a window. I thought it must be a sign of good fortune. The next thing I knew, she and a small girl were climbing from the third story. They ran, and I chased them, but men from the brick building were chasing them, too. One of the men grabbed Mei, and I attacked. But I was shot during the struggle.”
“And then you buried a hatchet in his skull,” Riot said.
“Yes.”
“He’s dead,” Riot said.
Kau nodded. “Good.”
Isobel bristled, and a flash from her steely eyes chilled the room. “Why shouldn’t we hand you over to the police? How many girls have you destroyed? How many innocent grocers and laundrymen have you threatened and beaten? And yet you have the gall to judge that man?”
Riot translated, and Kau jerked his head towards her. “Who is that woman?”
“You’re not in any position to ask questions, Mr. Wong,” Riot said calmly. He kept his voice low, and did not translate. “Treat her with respect, or I won’t hand you over to the police. I’ll hand you to your tong.”
Kau paled. “It was only a question,” he said quietly. “I have already lost face—mien tzu—a severe loss. I saw it in the eyes of my Hip Yee brothers while I was searching for Mei. Sing Chung Lee suspected me already. Shooting you brought me much honor, and now I have lost it with you here. It is fate, the yin and yang, the way of life. Perfectly balanced.”
“Why didn’t you finish the deed three years ago?”
“I would have,” Kau said. “If it were not for your friend.”
“My friend?”
Kau’s eyes twitched with surprise. “Your friend disguised as a beggar waiting in the alley that night. He threw a knife, and hit my arm as I pulled the trigger.” Kau pointed to a long scar on his arm. “He attacked me, and, thinking that I had killed you, I left.”
Riot kept his expression neutral, waiting to see if Kau would say anything else, but the man’s mind wasn’t on three years before. It was on his sister.
“I do not care what happens to me now—only that Mei is safe. That my mother and father do not know of her shame.”
“The only people who are neck deep in shame are the men who abducted and abused her,” Riot said. “What do you know of the young girl?”
“I know nothing of her. After I was shot, Mei told her to help me.” Kau swallowed, his lips dry. Riot poured him a glass of water, and loosened one of his bonds. When he had finished drinking, he plucked the glass from his hand, and tightened the ropes.
Kau nodded his thanks, and continued. “As the small girl supported me, Mei ran back to the men who were still following. She knew they were after her. She did it to save us. Otherwise, I would have been killed, and the small girl taken again. And without the girl’s help, I would have died from my wound, but I am already lost. Mei can still be saved, though.”
“I was trying to save slave girls when you murdered my partner. I’ll find Mei, but not for you,” Riot said.
A shudder of relief shook Kau’s body, and he nodded.
“You told me that your tong didn’t kill my partner.”
“We did not.”
“Why should I believe a word you say?”
“I swear to you that no Hip Yee hatchet man was given the task,” said Kau. “But believe me there were many who wished for that honor after you invaded our headquarters.”
“Your tong broke into my home, planted dynamite, and hung effigies from the chandelier with notes threatening to kill us both.”
“Yes, we did. To scare you,” Kau confirmed. “But we did not kill him.”
Riot stared him straight in the eye, and Kau held his gaze without deceit, without guile. “If Hip Yee didn’t kill Ravenwood, then who did? Was it Gee Sin Seer?”
“I do not know.”
“I don’t believe you,” Riot said through clenched teeth.
“Do you think we would have let you live? Do you think we would have been so unprepared to meet you? You came into our headquarters, and caught us off-guard while we were celebrating. No one was expecting it. Even now, no one knows who killed your partner.”
He slapped his palm against the knob of his stick, turned and walked out of the room, and headed straight for the stairs.
“Riot?”
The voice brought him up short. It stopped him just inside the stable, and he waited, staring out into the crisp night. It was cold and clear, and the moon hung low. The scents of simple hay and leather grounded him. And the fingers that lightly touched his arm.
“Another walk?” Isobel asked.
“Maybe,” he said hoarsely, placing a hand over hers.
“You don’t actually believe him, do you?” Tim asked when he caught up.
“I don’t know what to believe,” Riot snapped.
Tim froze, his eyes widening a fraction.
Riot took a steadying breath. “There was a beggar in that alley.”
“It might explain how you got to an undertaker’s,” Tim said in a quieter voice. “I always wondered that.”
“It might.” Riot tried to remember the beggar’s face, but it had been dark, and the man had been clothed in rags and filth.
“I don’t see why he’d lie about the beggar,” Isobel said. “Kau has more reason to say he spared your life out of mercy in hopes you’ll offer him the same.”
Riot had to agree.
“As far as the present, there was a note,” she reminded. “Miss Cameron showed it to you.”
“But that could have been sent by someone else,” Tim argued. “For all we know this Mei was abducted by another tong, and Wong Kau was sent to get her back.”
“Could be,” Riot acknowledged. “It still doesn’t change the fact that there’s a woman being held against her will.”
“According to him.” Tim spat. “Are you planning on charging into that place with guns blazing?”
Riot didn’t answer his old friend.
“You sure you want to walk into this, A.J.? Even if it’s not a trap, it’ll take you into a viper’s nest.”
“I’m afraid I’ve alread
y fallen into that nest,” said Isobel. “And I’ve dragged Riot in, too.”
Tim snorted. “No, you haven’t even come close. You’re not in it until they bring out the hot irons.” The old man spat again, and stomped back upstairs.
Riot removed his hat, and rested his head on wood, closing his eyes. He felt a hand on his back. “I didn’t even ask for a description of her,” he murmured.
“Beautiful. Answers to the name of Mei. It’s a start,” Isobel said softly.
He straightened. There was no question in Isobel’s eyes. She knew what he’d do. And he knew that if he didn’t look for this girl, real or fictional, she would continue without him.
“We’ll be looking for a needle in this viper’s nest, Bel.”
“Which viper should we start with?”
“I intend to talk to Jin. Now that we know more, perhaps she’ll confirm his story, or at least deny it.”
“That’s harsh, Riot. I wouldn’t call her a viper, precisely. She’s more like a red-eyed rabbit with a good kick and large teeth.”
He looked sideways at her. “I think you’re growing fond of your stray.”
“What’s not to love?” Isobel asked dryly. But when they poked their heads into Tobias’ fort and found her missing, the look of worry in Isobel’s eyes was unmistakable.
45
Jail Break
“I don’t think this is a good idea.”
Jin glanced at the dark boy. All she could see were the whites of his eyes, and an occasional flash of teeth. “I did not ask you to come.”
“I agree with Tobias.” There was a tremor in the older girl’s voice. Already, Sarah had nearly fallen off the back of the streetcar that they’d hitched a ride on. And when the conductor confronted them, she’d nearly spilled everything before Jin dragged her into the dunes.
“I did not want you to come,” Jin reminded.
Tobias blew a breath past his lips. “Well, we’re here now.”
“I still think you should have told Mr. Riot,” said Sarah.
Jin sniffed, and turned her gaze back to the brick house. They were on their bellies behind a dune, looking over its crest. Windows spilled out light, and horses came and went. The shutters were closed, save for one set. It prickled the back of Jin’s neck, and made her think of a mouse trap.
“So your friend is in there?” asked Tobias.
“Yes,” Jin said, firmly. She did not know for certain, but she had to believe that she would see Mei again.
“Why don’t we just knock on the front door, and ask if we can see her?” asked Sarah.
“It is a house of shame, with bad men. The only children they take inside are—”
Sarah gasped, and Jin rolled her eyes, thinking the girl must be related to Faan Tung. But Jin did not say more. She would not be like the women who had tormented her. “It is a bad place,” she said instead.
Tobias shook his head. “My Ma is gonna whip me.”
Jin glanced at the boy in surprise. “Miss Lily whips you?”
“She hasn’t yet, but I’ve never done nothing like this.”
Jin smirked. “I did not think so.”
“Think what?”
“Your mother seems very nice.”
“You haven’t seen her mad.”
“I’m sure.” Jin shifted, trying to ease the discomfort of the scars on her back. It made her think of Mei, of her herbs and ointments that soothed the pulling flesh. Mei had seen her, not as a house slave to be thrown away, but as a friend. Mei had shown her kindness—and no one had done that in a long time.
Jin roughly wiped the stinging sand from her eyes. Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself up. Trap or no, she would go. “If I am not back before dawn, tell Mr. Riot and that other woman.”
Before her companions could protest, Jin darted across the sand, and scrambled over the fence. The open window called; one way or another, she would find Mei.
Tobias watched Jin run to a corner of the building, and use two walls to shimmy her way up to a second-story window. She slipped inside, but he didn’t like it. Not one bit.
“I don’t like this,” Sarah confided in his ear.
The children looked at each other. Tobias crinkled his nose. Sarah huffed, and they darted towards the iron fence as one. Tobias blew out all his breath and squeezed through the gaps, but being older, and taller, Sarah couldn’t manage. She jumped towards the top of the fence, but it was too high.
“I’ll be back,” Tobias hissed. Just as he turned, a screech flew out the window, and a shadow passed over its front. The window slammed shut, and the interior shutters followed with a bang.
Tobias dropped to his stomach with a word that should have led to a mouthful of soap. Tense, and ready to run, he watched that window and held his breath. But the only thing he heard was the crashing surf. He looked over at Sarah, who had dropped to the sand, too. Her eyes were wide under the moon.
Before he thought better of it, Tobias exploded towards the house with a burst of frantic speed. He darted across the carriage yard, and shimmied up the corner. Only Jin had made it look easy. Tobias slipped, and frantically lunged towards the windowsill. He caught the ledge on the tips of his fingers, his boots scraping against the brick for purchase. He stuck out one leg, stretched his toes, and braced himself on the opposite wall.
Tobias slowly pulled his head up an inch, and peeked through the window. There was light creeping through the slats, but he couldn’t see much. A bed, a chair, and a door. The room looked empty.
Below, a door opened. And Tobias froze. Heart thundering, arms shaking and fingers aching, he held on for his life, as a man strode quickly across the yard. He disappeared into the carriage house. A second later, the door opened again.
“Psst, Bill.”
The first man stuck his head back out of the carriage house.
“Tell him to hitch up the wagon, she’s too lively for a horse,” the second man ordered. This one had a cigar between his lips. He inhaled slowly, blew a puff of smoke out into the night, and disappeared back inside the brick building.
As soon as both men disappeared, Tobias’ fingers slipped. He hit the sand with a thud, and crumpled. Arms and legs trembling with fear, he scrambled towards the carriage house just as a thin man led a horse from the barn. Tobias made himself part of the bricks, dropping to the sand and pretending to be a board.
Could they hear his heart? He was sure of it—sure he’d be snatched, and then his Ma would find out, and he’d be in a whole heap of trouble.
Minutes passed as the men hitched up the wagon. The first man was loud and muttering, complaining about heathen whores, but the thin man was quiet, never answering or commenting in return. He was watchful though. And Tobias swore those eyes focused on him more than once.
The back door opened again, and the cigar-smoking man walked out, carrying a bundle over his shoulder. It was dark, but the moon was bright, and Tobias could see the sack squirming and writhing on the man’s shoulder.
The man tossed his bundle into the back of the wagon with a hollow thud, and yanked the tarp over the bed, cinching it tight. “Take her back to those incompetent chinks, and tell them they best stick her in one of their hospitals, or we’ll be displeased. I don’t want to hear about this little shit again.”
The cigar-smoking man stalked off, and slammed the back door. Bill climbed into the driver’s seat, and picked up the reins, and Tobias slithered forward, bracing himself to run. The wagon rolled off, and the quiet man stood, watching it roll away.
Tobias had to take his chance. He darted forward—hoping the quiet man would stay that way—and ran for the back of the wagon. If there was one thing Tobias White excelled at, it was hitching rides on anything with wheels.
46
The Brick House
A shadow moved on the moonlit road. Isobel and Riot reined in their mounts, and squinted into the night. The horses danced as they watched the shadow. It was a girl—her braids flying behind her as she ran.
“Tobias… Jin…men… the building.” Sarah was wheezing, panting, and near to collapsing, and her words came out in desperate gasps. A run from the brick building was over two miles.
“Calm down, Sarah,” Riot said. “Take your time.”
“Is someone chasing you?” Isobel asked, as she grabbed Riot’s horse by the bridle.
Sarah shook her head, and Riot holstered his gun as quickly as he had drawn it. He placed his hands on her shoulders, and held her at arm’s length, looking into her tear-filled eyes.
“What happened?” he asked.
Sarah quivered. “I shouldn’t have gone. I’m sorry—”
“You’re not in trouble, Sarah. Just tell us what happened.” As usual, Riot pinned her panic, and she calmed enough to tell them.
As she listened to Sarah’s story, Isobel clenched her jaw, and, sensing her anger, her horse danced to the side. She should have pressed Jin, should have watched the girl more closely, should have sent the police into that damn building. She slapped the regrets out of her mind. There was no changing a chess board once the pieces were in play. The only path was forward.
“Why a hospital, Riot?” she asked.
He looked at her, and gave a slight shake of his head. Not here; not now.
“Can you ride?” Riot asked Sarah.
“I’m from Tennessee. Of course I can ride.”
Riot took his reins, and swung up into the saddle. And Isobel caught his eye. “I know a safe place she can wait.” It was an odd sensation, knowing what he was thinking. She had only ever felt that way about her twin.
Riot reached down, offering Sarah a hand.
“I’m not wearing a proper riding dress, sir.”
“It’s dark enough that no one will notice.”
Sarah gripped his hand, and he swung her up into the saddle behind him, before urging his horse into a run. Soon trees gave way to sand dunes, and distant lights along the shoreline. Puffs of warm air billowed around the horses’ nostrils, and Sarah shivered behind Riot as they trotted past the brick house and its electric lights.
Record of Blood (Ravenwood Mysteries #3) Page 34
