“Thank you, Casey. Now, concerning Lu Lei. I feel we can move her to the less problematic art of kung fu. I have a list on my kitchen table of several good masters with excellent lineage here in Beijing. Her tai chi training will serve as an excellent basis. I am, as always, available to you both and to Lu Lei, and I am happy to sit with her when you need respite from the troubles of rearing such a strong-willed child. I know how demanding she can be. I think she should have one, final private class with me. A kind of… graduation.”
“She will love that, but the loss of the tai chi class will be disappointing for her.”
They all nodded.
“What’s happening with the renovations, Matt?”
“There’s one section of floor that’s been laid and is useable for private practice. It’s beautiful work. I guess we should get some outside people to finish the rest of it.”
“Yes, Matt. It may not yield the same quality, but it is better than leaving the work incomplete. All is not lost.”
The Chief opened the sliding doors and entered his studio to train, as he had done almost every night since killing Lu Lei’s parents. He was satisfied that his skills had returned, though he lacked a sparring partner. Cheng Li had once come over to spar, but he lacked proficiency. The Chief had tempered his skills so as not to humiliate him. He needed to keep him onside.
Cheng Li mentioned at the time what a pity it was that a friend of his was stuck in a military prison. He would have been the perfect sparring partner: a highly skilled fighter, along-side whom he had trained in the army. The Chief had thoroughly looked into him: a kung fu master, a celebrated army sniper, and, conveniently, a mass murderer. They had jailed him after he’d gone on a rampage, shooting more than fifty soldiers and police after the government forced his wife to have a late term abortion. She had died during the procedure along with the baby, a son.
The Central Military Commission had announced that he had been shot dead by police during the standoff. Meanwhile, they had been keeping him isolated until they could put him to use.
Right on time came the knock at the back door, the impolite knock of a cop. He opened the door, extremely curious to meet the sniper and to question him. He needed to evaluate his state of mind.
Two of the Chief’s own special officers escorted the sniper in and unlocked his handcuffs.
“Please wait outside. I’ll call you if we need you.”
The Chief noted that the army sniper was looking judgmentally at his red kung fu uniform.
“I understand that you have been mistreated by our government and you lost your wife?”
“You could say that. One could also say that I overreacted.”
“I have not brought you here to judge you. In fact, I am very impressed by you. As you can see, I have the power to get you out of jail temporarily. I can arrange a little excursion for you with very loose supervision. It would be easy for you to escape if you wanted to, but there is something I will need you to do in return. You can treat this conversation that we are having as a job interview.”
“You have my attention. What’s the job?”
18
Showdown
The next evening while his housekeeper began cooking dinner, the Chief, dressed in his usual dark red outfit, entered his studio and began warming up. Tonight was different, as he had told Wei Bao to come in with him and watch. Lately he’d been thinking about Lu Lei. Observing her parents’ classes seemed to have helped her advancement. Perhaps Wei Bao needs to be inspired.
The thought of Lu Lei and her clan of Tai Chis stirred up bad memories for him. He pummeled the punching bag with full force, pouring his anger into every movement, showing off to Wei Bao.
On the handlebars, Lu Lei’s hair blew sideways across her face as Matt peddled toward Wu Feng’s house. She was excited to have another private session with the Master, but felt puzzled about why it would be her last tai chi lesson and she was being switched to kung fu.
She watched Matt open the front door and turn on the lights. The floorboards were still in piles against the walls, with just one section of flooring in place. She drew in the aroma, remembering. She felt a jolt of sadness in her stomach, seeing that her old bedroom was now just an open space.
She was surprised by the sound of a bicycle outside, as she was expecting the Master, and she had never seen him ride. She ran to the open doorway to look out. The Master was leaning it against its stand, so she ran out to hug him, which he always allowed her to do. Matt walked out too and told the Master something about being back in ninety minutes, and waved goodbye to her, saying, “Have fun, Lu Lei.”
The Chief stopped his training to answer the urgent knocking at the back door. The plain-clothes officer, whom he’d assigned to the Master, was panting.
“Yes?”
“He is at the house about to teach the little girl, sir.”
“Good work. You may go home.”
The Chief went into the living room and picked up the phone.
Sitting cross-legged on the floorboards, Lu Lei gazed across at the Master. He was wearing a bright white uniform. She had never seen him wear it except at the funeral.
“Why is this my last lesson?”
“Lu Lei, there will be infinite lessons in your future if you choose to notice them.”
His smile was always so funny to Lu Lei. His eyes would almost close, surrounded by wrinkles. His laugh made her giggle.
“You are a very special girl. You are sensitive. And much like your father, you are quick to understand people. Your mother’s special gift is also within you. I want you to continue with your breathing, your private meditation and your attention to the present moment, whatever you may be doing.”
“Yes, Master.”
“We are here for tai chi. Let us begin.”
Thirty minutes went by as the Master took Lu Lei efficiently through the motions of all the forms she had learned. She felt an enormous power inside herself with the new tempo that the Master was setting.
The Master was feeling great joy as he watched Lu Lei keep up. It felt to him as if the two of them were about to take flight.
The Master’s attention whipped toward the sound of footsteps in the driveway. Too early for Matt to be back. He’d said, "an hour and a half."
Without a knock, the door opened wide. Standing there was the Chief, wearing a red kung fu uniform. The Master signaled for Lu Lei to sit on the floor near the wall.
“You are dressed for battle, Chief, or is it a more peaceful mission for which you are here?”
“It would have been much easier if you had just gone to the camp with your students. I thought you might even say hello to my wife in there for me.”
“Have you been keeping up with your training?”
“I have.”
“Whatever happens here this evening, I mean you no harm. My wish is to set you back on the righteous path.”
The Master turned to Lu Lei. “Young one, go to the back of the room and meditate, eyes closed. No matter what you hear, you must not open your eyes.”
Both the men’s eyes followed her to the back wall.
The Chief joined him on the floorboards and bowed briefly before letting fly with a powerful spinning kick aimed at the Master’s throat.
On the roof of the nearest factory, the sniper set up his rifle that a soldier had brought for him.
“You will act as my spotter? What’s your name, young fellow?”
“Jimmy Chin.”
“You already know mine, I assume. I am famous among you army boys.”
“You took out many soldiers that day. Many were my age.”
The sniper seemed to choose not to react, focussed on setting up.
“What is the job tonight, then? Some women and children, maybe some school teachers?” asked Jimmy, not bothering to hide his distaste.
“Almost.”
The Master saw the preparation for the Chief’s kick, and moved. The heel brushed his neck. With both hands open
, he shifted forward, planting them into the Chief’s torso, throwing him violently back off the floorboards, tripping backward to the cement floor.
“Forgive your wife. Free her from jail. You are only making your son suffer.”
On his feet again, with deadly intent showing on his face, the Chief stepped back onto the floorboards and walked in, striking with his fists at the Master’s throat. Shifting position, the Master felt the fist graze his beard. He took control of the Chief’s wrist, twisting it and holding it high, inducing what was likely a terrible, shredding pain shooting from hand to shoulder.
“Let go of your hate. It can never shield you from your pain.”
The Master’s feet slid forward, sending the Chief, once again, tumbling off the floorboards and into the stone wall with an ugly thump.
The Master saw Lu Lei standing in the doorway. The Chief was now struggling to his feet, grimacing.
The Master walked quickly over to Lu Lei and whispered, “Stay here in the house and lock the door. Do not follow us outside. It is not safe.”
He hoped the child would do as she was told. Turning his back on the Chief, he touched Lu Lei on the head as he walked past her, and continued out the front door, across the gravel, knowing that the Chief's wounded pride would force him to follow.
The thud of the bullet hitting his chest wrought more surprise than pain. The strength went out of his knees and he felt the cold gravel on his cheek. He thought only of Lu Lei, now alone with the Chief.
Jimmy wondered why the sniper was reloading. The target was down. The old man was dead, or dying.
“What are you doing? Let’s pack up and go.”
“Just one more.”
Jimmy raised the spotter scope to see what the sniper was targeting. It was a little girl, now running from the doorway to the old man.
Jimmy shook his head in disgust, but he continued, “Wait until she’s on the old man. Five seconds.”
Jimmy pulled his pistol and pointed it at the side of the sniper’s head.
“This is for killing my army buddies.”
Jimmy squeezed the trigger, sending the bullet into the sniper’s temple, through his brain and out the other side, taking with it a mess of pulp and skull.
“Children!” Jimmy scolded, looking away from the dead sniper to find the shell casings.
Matt and Casey drove casually toward the house, early. Casey had suggested that they go and watch the end of Lu Lei’s final tai chi lesson. The plan was to go out for dinner afterwards with the Master.
Lu Lei knelt by the Master’s head. His eyes were open, but he was not smiling. His white tai chi jacket was turning red, just like the big owl in her dream. The Master was making a strange gurgling sound.
“Why did you fall down? Are you okay?” she shook him. His eyes were closing.
“Little one, I am becoming a butterfly.”
“No. You can’t leave me.”
“Always remember Lu Lei. You are your own master. Ask your heart anything and it will answer, if you listen. It speaks not in words, but in feelings.”
Lu Lei felt the tears come. The Master’s eyes closed as he took a final shallow breath and whispered to her,
“Run.”
Lu Lei saw a shadow move and lifted her head. Through her tears, she saw the Chief approaching. She looked down at the Master. His jacket was now wet with blood, and his mouth hung strangely open. He didn’t look like the Master anymore. ‘Run,’ urged a voice in her head.
Lu Lei took off running. Turning left up the street, she saw headlights coming. She ran past the big black car that belonged to the Chief.
She heard his footsteps somewhere behind her as the oncoming car was nearly upon her. Lu Lei turned around to see why the footsteps had stopped. The Chief had paused next to his car, and he was getting in.
The oncoming car pulled up in front of her. It was Matt.
Matt’s door opened, and he dragged her in over his lap and the car lurched around with a screeching sound and suddenly the engine was roaring and they were going fast. Casey helped her into the back seat. “Put your belt on please, honey. Quickly now.”
“Where’s the Master?” Matt yelled.
“He’s a butterfly,” Lu Lei sobbed.
Part III
19
Loss
Matt stood close, a hand on Lu Lei’s shoulder as tears flowed down her cheeks. She looked up at the police detective who had come to the apartment to ask questions about last night. Matt and Casey nodded at her to answer.
After she’d given her account of the fight, just as Casey had coached her to, she finished with, “That’s when Matt came to pick me up and we rushed to get help.” Then she began sobbing.
Matt patted Lu Lei on the head and said she could go to her room with Casey and play with her dolls.
He looked solemnly at the police detective. “Do you know the cause of death?”
“We believe it was a heart attack. He was very old. These things happen don’t they?”
“Yes, they do. And the chief of police? What did he say?”
“He had an appointment to spar with the old man, who, at some point, walked outside for some air and collapsed.”
Matt didn’t give anything away. “I understand. I suppose it must have been.. too much for him.”
“I believe that to be the case.”
It was after nine in the morning. Casey and Matt sat together on the couch after the police detectives left. They had both been up all night.
Matt broke the silence. “That was a pile of steaming crap. They are going to cover it up. Next they’ll tell us we can’t view the body.”
“Clearly a gunshot wound, from Lu Lei’s description of the bleeding. Pistol do you think? The Chief?”
“Lu Lei didn’t hear a shot. Must have been a long gun, possibly with a suppressor. Best position would have been the factory roof opposite.”
“Do you want to go and take a look?”
“I like the sentiment, but we have to stay clear. They were pretty aggressive with me last night when I was at the scene trying to get in to see the Master’s body. The Chief will be more careful with cleanup, after losing the evidence last time. The cover-up is already in motion. We don’t want Lu Lei to become a loose end. I think it’s time we took that holiday. Give them a chance to calm down.”
“Okay, honey. I agree, she’s our priority. It seems like our best play is to give the Chief enough rope to hang himself. Let him get cocky. Our dirty cop will be of use. You need some more coffee? You look tired.”
“I’ll make it. Go check on Lu Lei. Tell her she did a good job telling her story.”
The Chief struggled with breakfast. The shooting pain in his wrist made it difficult to hold chopsticks. Last night, before he went to bed, he’d checked his spine in the mirror. It was purple from the violent impact of the wall. Getting to sleep had required most of a bottle of whisky. His mind had gone around and around about Lu Lei, her escape and the implications it might have. Unanswered questions assailed his ability to be calm. Had the sniper suddenly grown a conscience? Had he killed the spotter as planned? Had he stuck to the plan to disappear, an apparent escapee from prison?
Giving up on the chopsticks, he switched to a porcelain soup spoon. He forced a weak smile at his son and attempted to sit up straight, trying to hide his pain, but the bruising over his spine caused him such discomfort that he winced and slouched over the table.
The shock of being tumbled like a rag doll by an eighty-year-old was humiliating. He hated the Master even more now, though he was dead.
He put his soup spoon down and moved to the kitchen and downed some painkillers. Bustling the housekeeper out, he asked, “Could you see to Wei Bao today? I’m not well.”
“Of course, sir. I hope you feel better soon.”
He called the precinct and told the sergeant to take charge, and then returned to bed.
Drifting off quickly, he dreamed that he was back in the army, seventeen again.
He felt himself pinned down on his bunk by men in uniform, face forced into his pillow as his pants were pulled down. It was the same nightmare he often had, a repeat showing of his first year in the People’s Liberation Army.
Waking up drenched in sweat, he returned to the kitchen where the near-empty bottle beckoned him from the bench.
Lu Lei looked around the psychologist’s office. Having waited outside for a long time for Matt and Casey to come out, it was finally her turn. Everybody had been talking to her in voices that were especially gentle, and acting the same way they had after her parents had died.
“How are you feeling about things, Lu Lei?” the lady asked, sitting with her on the couch.
“I am sad.”
“Can you tell me some reasons why you feel sad?”
“Yes.”
The lady smiled at her as Lu Lei mentally listed the reasons.
“My Master is a butterfly, my parents are butterflies, but I’m still a caterpillar.”
“Okay, what else?”
“I miss my own bed, my tai chi class is gone, and my tai chi friends have all gone away somewhere.”
“That is sad. You are right. Anything else?”
Lu Lei wondered what answer the lady was looking for.
“I am sad that my friend Wei Bao’s mother has gone away and his father is scary.”
On the other side of the office door, Matt and Casey sat in the waiting room, exhausted.
Casey said, “She seemed to think that a trip to the States with Lu Lei might be a good move. How long can we leave the factory running without us?”
“Let’s prep the books and brief the guys properly. If we go for two weeks, it will only be a minor shambles when we get back. A family vacation looks good for our cover, right?”
Surviving Spies (Irving Waters, Spy Fiction Series) Page 16
