Dragon Head

by James Houston Turner

  “I can’t hold on,” cried Su Yin.

  “Lean against me,” Kai shouted, hunching forward to brace his shoulder against his sister’s back.

  They reached the bottom of the steps, bounced over the curb and began pedaling downhill toward the corner, where a feeder street ran parallel with an elevated freeway that ran perpendicular to the street they were on. The roar of traffic could be heard on the freeway and cars could be seen flowing past.

  At the corner, Kai swung right onto the feeder street, then left onto a sidewalk that cut beneath the freeway. Massive pylons supported the freeway like a gigantic bridge. When Kai emerged on the other side, he glanced back.

  The Shí bèi fighters were gaining.

  Ahead was an old pickup truck. It was white with a faded red quarter panel. The truck hadn’t been driven in months. That’s because it had no battery. Kai knew this because he had stolen the battery. He also knew there was a driveway in front of the truck that led to a small block of apartments, where there was a sidewalk that connected to an alley, which connected to a street that would take them all the way downhill to the Sour Dough Pizza Parlor.

  “This way!” Kai shouted, whipping into the driveway.

  Jingfei overshot the turn but looped back and followed Kai. When she did, she glanced to her right.

  The Shí bèi fighters were almost upon her.

  CHAPTER 26

  Sitting beside a donut shop in the shadows of some overhanging trees, Xin Li could see the pizza parlor from where she was parked. She was close enough to see who came and went, yet far enough away not to be noticed. It was imperative she not be noticed until those wretched kids were in custody. Their relationship to Babikov was unclear but that did not matter. The photos showed them to have some kind of a close relationship and that was all that mattered. That meant Babikov – and Talanov, by extension – would care what happened to them.

  She knew the kids were headed this way. Of all the places they could have fled, they chose the restaurant, obviously because Talanov and Babikov were there. Straw Sandal and the Shí bèi fighters were in pursuit, and may well have captured them by now, although she was not counting on it. The Shí bèi fighters were young and strong, but the kids were on bicycles and knew the streets. This is why she had chosen to wait at their destination, just as she had waited for Wu Chee Ming at his. This time, however, she would not fail. This time, she would accomplish her mission.

  The front door of the restaurant opened and Talanov stepped out onto the sidewalk. He was laughing and the pretty dark-haired woman accompanying him was laughing, too.

  Xin Li placed her hand on the pistol beside her just as Dragon Head’s words echoed through her mind. Alive, do you understand? She resented the order because Talanov deserved to die. But Dragon Head was right. They needed him alive. Talanov would die, but not tonight. Tonight was about taking a hostage.

  Half a mile away, Jingfei glanced behind her again and saw the killers were gaining. They were just seconds behind her now. She wondered how anyone could run this long and hard, then remembered how Native American Indian warriors used to capture horses by running them down. Horses were faster in the short run, but the warriors could outdistance them, never letting up until the horses collapsed from exhaustion.

  Well, you will not capture me!

  Jingfei stood up out of her seat and began pumping faster. Her heart was pounding and she was gulping air, and her thighs were aching and burning. But she couldn’t quit, not now, and certainly not this close to the restaurant. She looked over at her brother. She couldn’t see his face because the street was so dark, but she could hear him groaning and straining.

  In the distance was the lighted intersection where the pizza parlor was located. It was around the corner to the left, and at this speed, they would need to first swing wide to the right in order to make the turn. Thankfully, the intersection was a four-way stop, and traffic tonight was light, so the risk of getting hit was minimal.

  Twenty yards from the intersection, Jingfei and Kai swung right in preparation for the turn, looking left, anticipating the turn.

  Suddenly, Straw Sandal’s SUV raced around the corner and sped toward them before doing a skidding quarter turn and coming to a stop in front of them. Kai attempted to swerve around it but lost his balance and fell, sending Su Yin tumbling across the pavement. Jingfei broadsided the vehicle, where she bounced off the driver’s door and fell.

  Straw Sandal and four Shí bèi fighters jumped out just as the other fighters arrived on foot. Like attacking ants, they swarmed over the kids and began dragging them toward the SUV. Su Yin was scuffed and crying, while Jingfei and Kai were shouting and kicking.

  “Get them into the vehicle!” Straw Sandal barked in Chinese over a clap of metallic thunder. Except it was not thunder. It was footsteps on the hood of her SUV. Straw Sandal and the fighters looked up to see two shadows descending upon them.

  Landing on their feet, Talanov and Zak began hurling fighters away like ragdolls. Some skidded across the pavement. Others landed on their stomachs. Most hit the concrete and rolled up onto their feet.

  “To the restaurant! Find Ginie!” shouted Talanov. “Tell her to call the police!”

  Grabbing Su Yin by the hands, Jingfei and Kai looked one way then the other, not knowing which way to run. Talanov and Zak were in front of them like a wall, but the Shí bèi fighters were racing back and forth in front of that wall, like wolves circling for the kill.

  “This way,” Jingfei said, opening a door of the SUV and crawling across the back seat.

  Straw Sandal yelled a command that sent the Shí bèi fighters forward in a massive attack. The flurry of fists and feet was dizzying. But Talanov and Zak responded with reflexes and counterattacks that were equally dizzying.

  A leaping front kick by Zak caught one fighter in the chin. The fighter staggered backward and toppled to the pavement.

  But the numbers were overwhelming and weariness began to set in. Talanov and Zak were strong and experienced, but they were also decades older than the Shí bèi fighters, who trained daily and whose stamina and ability was almost beyond description.

  With Talanov and Zak occupied by the Shí bèi fighters, Straw Sandal did an acrobatic leap over the hood of her SUV just as the kids emerged out the other door. In the distance, she could see a crowd of spectators at the intersection. Crowds meant witnesses and protection.

  And that she could not allow.

  A leaping chop dropped Jingfei, allowing Straw Sandal to yank Su Yin away from Kai. Kai flew forward to protect Su Yin, but Straw Sandal landed a pair of stunning blows that dropped him where he stood. Grabbing Su Yin around the waist, Straw Sandal rounded the rear of the SUV and began running back up the darkened street.

  Zak heard Su Yin screaming. “Go after her!” he shouted over the yips and yelps of fighters.

  Talanov sprang forward with a series of punches that allowed him to burst through the line. Two fighters gave chase but Talanov dropped them with backfists.

  Straw Sandal glanced back and saw Talanov closing in. Knowing she could not outrun him, she dropped Su Yin and leaped at Talanov with a flying combination of punches and kicks. Talanov sidestepped Straw Sandal’s barrage to deliver a roundhouse kick to the back of her head. Straw Sandal flailed briefly before landing face down on the street, where she lay groaning.

  Talanov ran over and lifted Su Yin to her feet. “Run!” he said. “Find Ginie.”

  Ginie had just finished helping Jingfei and Kai to the curb when she saw Su Yin running toward her.

  “There she is!” shouted Ginie. She ran to Su Yin and scooped her up. “Are you all right?”

  With a quivering lip, Su Yin nodded and began to cry.

  Ginie brought Su Yin’s face to her shoulder and carried her toward the corner, where Jingfei was bent over, vomiting, and Kai was bleeding from his nose.

  Suddenly, blinding headlights came roaring toward them and Ginie froze at the sound of skidding tires. The veh
icle stopped a few feet away from where Ginie was standing. The driver’s door swung open and Xin Li got out, a pistol in one hand, a cell phone in the other.

  Xin Li walked to the front of the SUV, looked at Ginie, then fired into the crowd of onlookers. Single shots. Dead aim. Flesh wounds for the sole purpose of creating panic.

  With screaming people running in all directions, Xin Li approached Ginie and backhanded her with the pistol. The blow sent Ginie sprawling to the asphalt, where she lay bleeding and dazed.

  Grabbing Su Yin around the waist, Xin Li put the phone to her ear. “I’ve got her,” she said in Chinese. “Get everyone back to the plane and ready for takeoff. I’ll meet you there. Once we’re in international waters, we’ll be safe all the way to Hong Kong.”

  Turning toward the screams, Talanov did not hear Straw Sandal’s cry for the others to get back to the plane. He was focused on the brown Suburban parked in the intersection. That meant he almost didn’t see the roundhouse kick coming straight for his head.

  Almost.

  And with a last-second pivot, Talanov ducked beneath the arc of the kick, grabbed Straw Sandal by the ankle, and with a full-circle spin, slammed her against the side of a parked car. After denting the car door with her head, Straw Sandal slid to the pavement.

  Talanov knelt and checked for a pulse.

  Alive, but unconscious, he thought, staring down at Straw Sandal’s ghostly white skin.

  The sudden screech of tires pierced the night and Talanov stood and looked toward the corner.

  The brown Suburban was gone.

  CHAPTER 27

  The remaining fighters fled. Two were unconscious and had to be carried away, but within minutes, they had melted away into the night.

  “Who were those guys?” asked a winded Zak.

  “No idea,” Talanov replied, looking toward the sound of screams coming from the corner.

  “That sounds like Jingfei,” said Zak, looking toward the noise.

  “Go,” said Talanov. “I’ll bring our prisoner. Find me some duct tape, if you can.”

  “You got it,” said Zak. He rounded the front of Straw Sandal’s SUV and ran to the corner, where Jingfei was crying uncontrollably. Nearby, Ginie’s bloody face was being tended by Emily, while Kai was seated on the curb, staring absently down at the pavement. On the sidewalk in front of the corner grocery store were three wounded people. They were being given first aid by Marcelo and his waiters. Spectators were standing around them in small groups, taking pictures and whispering.

  Jingfei saw Zak and ran over to him.

  “We’ve got to get her back!” cried Jingfei, whose face was red and streaked with tears.

  “Get who back?” asked Zak. “What happened?”

  “Su Yin! Some woman took her!”

  Jingfei buried her face against Zak’s shoulder and began crying again.

  Zak blinked several times. Su Yin was gone? Who would do this? Why?

  After a quick glance toward Talanov, with imposed calm Zak gently pulled away from Jingfei and tenderly wiped her face with his thumbs. “I need you to tell me what happened,” he said. “Everything you can remember.”

  But Jingfei couldn’t speak. All she could do was bury her face against his shoulder again.

  “The woman who took Su Yin was at the community center,” said Kai, standing. “She was leading the guys who chased us.”

  “They came to the center? You saw them?”

  “Yeah, in the front office. The tall woman who kidnapped Su Yin is the one who killed Amina. I saw her do it, but I didn’t see who killed Ramona. She was dead by the time we got there.”

  Zak’s mouth fell open and he could not speak. All he could do was stare open-mouthed at Kai. Ramona and Amina were dead?

  “They were all Chinese and they wanted to know where Alex was,” Kai continued, speaking calmly, without emotion, almost mechanically. “But Amina wouldn’t tell them. So the tall woman smashed her in the face with her pistol. It looked like she had been hitting Amina a lot, because her face was already bloody. I knew we had to do something, like call the police, so I crawled into Emily’s office and got her phone. But they saw me, so the tall woman killed Amina and then they started chasing us.” Kai paused and looked down at the pavement. “Amina would be alive if I hadn’t done that.”

  “Kai, this isn’t your fault,” said Zak.

  “Yes, it is. I’m the reason for all of this trouble. I’m, like, this problem that can’t be fixed.”

  “Kai, you’re not a problem.”

  “Yes, I am! Emily said so. I heard her. I heard her say she wanted to send me to juvie because you’ve got no money. Look at how you two fight. So go ahead and ditch me, Zak. I know you’re going to, anyway. But, please, get Su Yin back. Don’t punish her. Punish me. I’m the one they saw. I’m the reason they chased us. I’m the reason they took Su Yin.”

  Emily touched Kai on the arm. “Kai, that’s not what I meant.”

  “Leave me alone!” shouted Kai, knocking her hand away and scooting closer to Zak.

  With sirens growing closer, Zak wrapped an arm around Kai and drew him close while Jingfei continued to sob. He could tell they both felt responsible. Jingfei, the oldest, felt as if she had failed to protect Su Yin. Kai, a broken boy already carrying an unbearable burden of guilt, felt as though he were the main cause of the tragedy.

  Looking left, Zak saw Talanov dragging an unconscious body toward them. Looking right, he saw Ginie sitting on the curb, her face a smear of dried blood. Filling the street around them was a churning mass of people.

  Several horn blasts sounded as an ambulance arrived. Close behind were two police cars. Their flashing lights made Zak squint. The ambulance pushed slowly through the crowd and parked near the wounded victims, who were still on the sidewalk being attended by Marcelo and his staff. Paramedics jumped out with emergency kits, while police officers piled out of the squad cars and gathered around their sergeant, Arcus Hill, who began issuing orders. Two officers began herding the spectators away from the victims. Others began directing traffic that had backed up for several blocks. The final two officers began cordoning off the area with yellow tape.

  Hill saw Zak and hurried over. “What happened here, Zak?” he asked.

  After motioning for Hill to wait, Zak gathered Jingfei and Kai in front of him. “This is not going to be easy, because we’re all upset, but I need you to tell Officer Hill what happened. Tell him everything you can remember. Do you think you can do that?”

  Kai nodded while Jingfei shrugged. Zak motioned for Hill to join them, and while Kai told Hill what happened, Zak walked over to Marcelo and asked for a roll of duct tape.

  “One of my waiters will bring it to you,” answered Marcelo.

  Zak thanked Marcelo and headed for Talanov just as a nondescript gray sedan parked across the street. Wilcox was the driver and he had just shown his identification to one of the uniformed officers, who allowed him to park on the sidewalk in front of a dry cleaning shop.

  Wilcox sat in his car for a moment and watched the activity. Paramedics were tending the injured and there were several, by the looks of it. Behind him, two more police cars arrived and parked at various angles. Their red and blue lights lit up the night.

  After climbing out of his car, Wilcox spotted Talanov, who had stopped in the middle of the street to catch his breath. The body of a woman was on the pavement beside him, face down.

  Talanov gave a start when he saw a Hawaiian shirt hurrying toward him. “Bill?” he asked with surprise. “What are you doing here? I thought you were on vacation.”

  Wilcox knelt beside the body and adjusted her head so that he could see her face. “My God, it’s her,” he said.

  “Do you know this woman?” asked Talanov.

  Wilcox stood. “We need to talk.”

  “And I asked if you knew this woman.”

  “And I said we needed to talk. But not here. Someplace private.”

  Zak arrived with a roll of duct
tape and tossed it to Talanov, who glared briefly at Wilcox before kneeling beside Straw Sandal and using the tape to secure her knees.

  Wilcox turned to Zak. “I didn’t know you were in our country, Major Babikov,” he said while Talanov ripped off a strip of tape and placed it across Straw Sandal’s mouth.

  Zak did not reply.

  “How’d you get in without anyone noticing? Without setting off alarm bells in Washington?”

  Zak shrugged and did not reply.

  Both men watched Talanov pull Straw Sandal’s arms behind her and began securing them with tape.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Hill called out, running toward them.

  After a quick glance at Hill, Talanov finished taping Straw Sandal’s wrists with crisscrossing loops.

  Hill paused when an announcement crackled over his intercom. “Your one-eighty-seven is confirmed at the Hilltop Community Center. Two bodies. Necks broken. Coroner’s on the way.”

  Talanov stood and stared questioningly at Hill, who turned away to speak quietly into the microphone strapped to his epaulet.

  “What bodies?” asked Talanov.

  After a steadying breath, Zak said, “Ramona and Amina have been murdered.”

  “What?”

  “By the same woman who kidnapped Su Yin,” said Zak.

  Talanov stared dumbfounded at Zak.

  “And she’s one of them,” said Kai, who had now joined them. He looked down at Straw Sandal, who was beginning to protest with muffled cries, then at Talanov. “They killed Ramona and Amina because they wanted to know where you were. But Amina wouldn’t tell them. So they killed her. Who are they, Alex? What did they want to find you? Why did they kidnap Su Yin?”

  “Untape that woman,” said Hill.

  “No!” cried Kai. “She needs to tell us where Su Yin is. And why they killed Ramona and Amina.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll make her talk,” said Talanov, pulling Straw Sandal to her feet.