by S. E. Smith
“Don’t lose them,” Brian ordered.
“I’m tracking her, Brian,” Kevin assured him. “Turn left and take the stairs down to the first level. I have them getting into a Black Audi.”
Brian cut to the left and took the stairs down to the first level. He came out near the exit. Raising his gun, he listened to the sound of squealing tires approach. His eyes locked on Ren Lu. His finger squeezed the trigger. The car swerved, turning sharply before straightening. Brian barely had time to roll to the side before it roared past him and out onto the street.
Brian stood up and stared after the car. His heart thumped with fear and anguish while his mind raced. He needed to get to his car. As long as Makayla was wearing the watch Kevin had given her, he could track her.
“Brian, did you get Makayla?” Helen’s voice echoed in his ear.
Brian touched his watch and raised it to his mouth. “Negative,” he answered in a hard tone. “The gunman?”
“Dead,” Helen replied. “We’ll meet you at the car.”
“Affirmative,” he responded, sliding his gun into his pocket when several visitors to the park passed him talking excitedly about what was happening.
*.*.*
Tyrell pressed a tissue to the cut at the corner of his right eye. His other hand gripped the strap of his camera. He dropped his shoulder and reached for the black bag he was carrying so he could store the remains of his camera in it. He grimaced when he saw the bent angle of his two thousand dollar lens. It was shot.
He unzipped the bag and removed the lens with a press of a button and a twist. Staring down at it, he released a sigh before he dropped the bloodstained lens into a nearby trash can. It would be a little difficult to explain to the insurance adjuster that he had broken the lens upside someone’s head. Sliding the camera into the bag, he quickly zipped it and applied pressure back to the cut near his eye which was beginning to swell.
“Thank you,” he muttered to Helen.
Helen glanced at him and gave him a tight smile. “It is my job,” she replied before releasing a sigh. “You’re welcome.”
Tyrell grunted an acknowledgment. He was lucky he had just walked away with some bruises and a cut above the eye. If Helen hadn’t shown up when she had, he would be the one being removed in a body bag, not the gunman. Helen had entered the room in time to shoot the bad guy who was doing a pretty good job of kicking Tyrell’s ass.
Tyrell had surprised the man and struck him with his camera. He was pretty sure getting hit upside the head by a hundred and sixty millimeter heavy-duty telephoto lens would have knocked most men out. Unfortunately, the man Tyrell had confronted had already looked like he’d been hit upside the head by a Mack truck and was still going.
The man had kicked him from one end of the room to the other. He was just turning the rifle on Tyrell when Helen stepped into the room and shot the man in the shoulder. The force of the impact had caught the assassin off-guard and he had tripped over the gun case on the floor and fallen out of the second floor window to the sidewalk below. In the meantime, Tyrell was still trying to capture all the damn bats in his belfry that the man had stirred up in Tyrell’s brain from the last blow to his temple.
He turned and followed Helen when she stepped across to a less used path. His gaze swept over the policemen running by them. Brian, Makayla, and Helen were still fugitives, as far as they knew. He listened to Helen when she reached out to Brian.
“What happens now?” Tyrell asked when they neared the cars.
“We split up,” Helen said, turning to watch Brian stride toward them at a brisk pace. “Brian goes after Makayla, I go after Henry, and you go find the second piece of the puzzle.”
Tyrell stopped and looked down at Helen. He glanced around. On the corner, there was a small shop set up with motorbikes out front for rent. They were going to need another vehicle.
“I want both of you to go after Henry,” Brian instructed, pulling his gun out, changing the clip, pulling a silencer out of his jacket pocket, and attaching it before holding it out to Tyrell. “I’ll go after Makayla.”
“What about the second piece to the puzzle?” Tyrell asked in surprise.
“To hell with the information. I’m not leaving Makayla or Henry to die for some….” Brian bit off the rest of his statement. “Go after Henry. After I get Makayla, she and I will go find the next piece.”
“What if something happens?” Helen asked in a quiet voice.
Brian looked at her. “Then, you and Tyrell know what to do,” he said, walking over to the car.
“Does Kevin have a fix on Makayla, yet?” Tyrell asked, watching Brian pull a bag out of the trunk of the car and open it.
“Yes,” Brian replied with a hard edge to his voice.
Tyrell watched Brian pull out several guns and check them before concealing one in his jacket pocket and two more at his waist. He also pulled out a knife and clipped it to his belt. Tyrell swallowed. This was a man who knew what he was doing and did it with a calm that left no doubt that he was ready to do whatever was necessary to get Makayla back – even if it meant killing.
“Good luck and let us know once you get her,” Tyrell muttered, turning when Helen pulled open the door to the other rental car.
Brian didn’t answer. He was already in the car and pulling out by the time Helen started the one they had climbed into. Tyrell stared down at the gun in his hands. If getting his ass kicked wasn’t enough to tell him he was in way over his head, holding a gun with a silencer attached was.
23
Makayla shook her head and silently stared out of the window. The wind blew into the car from the shattered back window behind Ren Lu. Her head was beginning to clear with the cool breeze. Thank goodness whatever the man sitting next to her had given her hadn’t lasted very long.
“You know, anyone can do bad things,” she said in a quiet voice, not really expecting him to listen to her.
He shot her a puzzled glance before turning down another busy road. Silence followed her statement and she turned her head to stare out the window. Behind her, she gently rubbed her wrist to make sure the watch she was wearing was still attached. A relieved sigh escaped her when she felt it. She didn’t think she was fortunate enough to have retained the earpiece, though. There was no way to check it with her hands tied behind her back.
“What do you mean?” Ren Lu finally asked, glancing at her again.
Makayla blinked in surprise at the curiosity in his voice. She turned to look at him again. He was older than she had originally thought, perhaps in his early thirties.
“It was just a random thought,” she replied with a shrug. “Anyone can do something bad. It takes someone stronger to do something good. It’s something Henry once said.”
Ren Lu frowned and slowed down a little to Makayla’s relief. She wasn’t buckled in and didn’t relish going through the windshield if he were to have an accident. She could feel the muscles in her legs relax a little.
“The old man, you call him by his given name instead of grandfather. Why?” Ren Lu asked.
Makayla stared out over the water. They were traveling along the bay again. She felt a sense of déjà vu strike her. She had definitely seen more of Hong Kong in the last forty-eight hours than she had the first two days.
Makayla’s lips curved into a rueful smile that didn’t reach her eyes. If anything, she could feel the sadness deep inside threatening to drown her. She lowered her head, her eyes locked on the gun sitting on the seat between his legs.
“You wouldn’t be interested,” she muttered.
“Tell me. I read about you. You stole your grandfather’s sailboat when you were sixteen. Why? The place you wanted to go was two hours by car and much safer. Why would you do something so reckless?” He demanded, turning on his signal and pulling down a narrow road lined with warehouses.
Makayla groaned and leaned her head back against the seat. “I swear I’m never going to live that down. Robert Ballard once said he wished h
e could find a UFO at the bottom of the ocean so people would quit asking him about the Titanic. I can totally appreciate why now,” she muttered, staring at the buildings. “Are you going to kill me? If you are, I think I’d like to know first.”
Ren Lu’s lips twitched. He drew the car to a stop in front of a building. It looked like they were at one of the commercial ports. She could see a glimpse of water ahead of them.
“No, I do not plan on killing you,” he replied, turning the car off and shifting toward her to study her mutinous expression. “I find you attractive.”
Makayla slowly lifted her head and turned to look at him with a disbelieving stare. She knew her mouth had to be hanging open and she forced it closed. Shaking her head, she tried to see if she was in some delusional state brought on by whatever drug he had injected into her. She didn’t feel weird, but this was definitely one of the strangest moments of her life.
“I beg your pardon?” She muttered, blinking and frowning at him.
Ren Lu reached out to touch her. Makayla drew back, her gaze moving from his hand to his face. She braced herself for his touch, unsure of what to expect. She was shocked when he barely skimmed his fingertips along her cheek.
“I find you attractive,” Ren Lu replied, slowly pulling his hand back. “I want to know why.”
Makayla raised an eyebrow and stared at him in silence. She didn’t want to touch that statement with a ten foot pole. In fact, she could think of any number of other things she would rather do – and places she would rather be – than dealing with a confused psychopathic killer who thought she was attractive.
“You don’t get out much, do you?” Makayla asked.
Ren Lu’s startled chuckle caused her to jump and scoot closer to the door. His eyes glittered with amusement. Makayla warily followed his hand when he reached down for the gun before he opened the driver’s door. It wasn’t until he closed the door that she released the breath she hadn’t been aware that she’d been holding. Like Henry, she had a tendency to open her mouth and insert her foot before her brain could stop her.
She watched Ren Lu walk around to the passenger side and open the door. She wanted to resist getting out, but knew it would be futile. Instead, she swung her long legs out and stood up. As long as she kept her head clear, her mouth shut, and waited for –
The image of Brian falling backwards, a dark hole in his chest, suddenly washed through her mind. She stiffened, jerking back when the world momentarily tilted sideways. Her legs suddenly felt too weak to hold her and she could feel her body sliding down the side of the car that she had just exited while she struggled to pull oxygen into her lungs.
“Makayla,” Ren Lu said, grabbing her by her forearms and steadying her. He knelt in front of her and lifted her chin so he could see her face. “What is it?”
Makayla slowly opened her eyes. Unexpected pain clenched her chest and her eyes filled with tears. The tears were caused by grief and rage. A guttural cry escaped her and she struck out with the only weapon she had – her body. She threw her body forward, knocking a surprised Ren Lu off balance. Kicking out, she tried to knee him while her teeth bit deeply into his wrist.
A soft grunt escaped him and he rolled, pinning her body under his muscular frame while she struggled to do whatever damage she could with her head, legs, and teeth. A sob escaped her before she drew in a deep, shuddering breath when he held her immobilized. She hiccupped inelegantly and tried to wipe away with her shoulder the tear that had escaped.
“What happened?” He demanded, staring down at her.
“Brian…,” her voice broke and she sniffed again, her gaze burning with grief and anger. “You had someone shoot him.”
Ren Lu’s face stiffened and he cautiously rolled off of her. She stared up at him before she sat up and rolled onto her knees. He didn’t help her when she struggled to stand. She couldn’t really blame him for that. She was a little proud of how much she had roughed him up with her hands tied behind her back. His pristine black pants and shirt were coated in dust and debris from the road. He was absently rubbing the arm she had bitten.
“I did not hire the gunman to target Jacobs – my employer did,” Ren Lu stated, staring at her.
“Oh,” Makayla mumbled, glancing down at the ground before she glared back at him. “You still deserved it for working for such a jerk, not to mention drugging me, kidnapping me, and tying me up.”
Ren Lu stepped forward and gripped her arm in a bruising grip. “I may not have hired the man, but I led him to Jacobs and Detective Woo. Men like us are not easy to kill, Makayla. Jacobs must not have been injured too badly since he was able to try to kill me in the parking garage. As for your other reasons, I will give you this one act of rebellion. But, if you try to attack me again, I won’t be so forgiving.”
Makayla stared back at him for several seconds before she finally looked away. The warning was clear: she needed to behave if she valued her life. Once again, her fingers caressed the watch on her wrist.
24
Brian slowly braked the car to a stop, turned off the engine, and slid out of the car. He looked down the long row of warehouses. In front of the last one, a black Audi sat...empty.
Several minutes later, he was standing next to the car. He pulled his cell phone out of his jacket and pressed the number he had programmed into it. Almost immediately, Kevin picked up.
“Where is she?” Brian demanded, gazing out across the water.
The city lights were beginning to light up the sky in the growing dusk. The wind coming off the water was cool, but Brian didn’t feel it. It was a little over an hour since the shooting at the park. It had taken longer than Kevin or he had expected to reach the location where Kevin had tracked Makayla and Ren Lu. The area around the park had been practically shut down, creating a gridlock with people traveling home for the night.
“I have her showing up in the middle of the water on the maps. Not like in it, but you get what I mean. I’m not talking fish food like Sun’s last Head of Security,” Kevin hastily muttered in his ear. “I won’t have an exact location until the other satellite I’m waiting for comes within range so I can activate it. I didn’t want to report until I knew for sure where she was at. I was hoping she was there.”
“How long will that take?” Brian asked in frustration, walking toward the edge.
“Twenty-two minutes, forty-six seconds, if you want to know the exact time,” Kevin said. “Whatever I find, you’re going to need a boat.”
Brian glanced around. The only thing here was an old tugboat. He raised his hand and ran it through his hair in frustration, staring across the bay.
“Brian, in case you have forgotten, I’ve got plenty of them here,” Kevin gently reminded him. “By the time you get back here, I’ll have everything you need.”
“I’ll need one fully loaded,” Brian replied, dropping his hand to his side.
“I wouldn’t give you anything less,” Kevin promised.
Brian turned and strode back to his car. “Have you heard from Helen and Tyrell yet?” He asked in a tone fraught with tension.
“I’m listening and watching, but keeping silent,” Kevin admitted. “They are going in now.”
“Keep me posted,” Brian instructed.
“I will,” Kevin replied. “See you in forty-five.”
Brian hung up the phone and slipped it into his pocket. He unlocked the door to his car and slid in behind the wheel. Within seconds, he was making a wide U-turn and cutting through the back streets, back to Lei Yue Mun and Kevin’s place.
His fingers tightened on the steering wheel and he quickly shifted. He couldn’t erase the image of Ren Lu pulling Makayla away from him. His mind kept replaying the last few days. It hadn’t mattered that he had stayed away from her. It hadn’t mattered that he had gone halfway around the world. His way of life had still tangled with Makayla’s, unwittingly endangering her.
A soft curse slipped from his lips when he remembered something that Harrington
had said to him. It hadn’t made much sense to him at the time, but that might have been because he didn’t have anything comparable to what Harrington was talking about then. Now, he did and Harrington’s sentiments made perfect sense.
“You only get one shot at this life, Brian. When you find something as perfect as the woman you love, you realize that some things are worth the risk. Besides, you never really know when your time will be up. I could do this for thirty years and never get hurt. If there is one thing I’ve learned about living here in Hong Kong, it is that life is to be lived and appreciated every day as if it were my last.”
Harrington hadn’t let his job keep him from having a life. He didn’t know if the man had ever told his wife what he did for a living, but deep down, Brian hoped that the other man had. If Harrington’s wife was anything like Makayla, he imagined that she would have supported him.
Once again, it dawned on Brian that he had underestimated Makayla. She had not questioned what he was doing, complained, or had a meltdown. In all honesty, it hadn’t been his fear of her doing any of that, but his own fears that had held him back.
One thing he didn’t want was to end up like Harrington. Once he had Makayla and Henry safe, and the information in the proper hands, he was requesting a reassignment. He wanted that life with Makayla. He wanted the happily ever after, and, he didn’t want to go to work wondering if he might never come home again. There were other things in life that were more important, and Makayla was at the top of his bucket list when it came to everything else. He’d screwed up once, he wouldn’t do it again.
A flash of memory swept through him of Makayla’s face the afternoon Tyrell and she had sailed into Tampa Bay. The sun had been shining down on her and she had handled the Defiance as if she were one with the sailboat. He’d never forget her face when she had seen all the people lining the pier cheering for Tyrell and her. Her eyes had flashed with confusion and a touch of fear until she had seen Henry, her mom – and him standing on the dock waiting for her.
