Black Karma Page 16

  Chapter 24

  Bo fidgeted behind the wheel of the SUV as they sat in morning rush-hour traffic. More than half a million people commuted to work in the city. Bumper-to-bumper, cars lined Bush Street, a major thoroughfare.

  Resigned to the crawl of heavy traffic, Bai leaned back into her seat to relax and wait with her eyes closed. When she reopened her eyes, the SUV had come to rest in front of her building. Song held the rear door open for her. She smiled in apology for her drowsiness. He bowed as she swung her legs out of the vehicle.

  The doors to the lift opened on the third floor to the aroma of fried bacon. She found the girls sitting at the dining room table finishing a late breakfast with Elizabeth. On the table rested bowls of rice, scrambled eggs and potatoes, along with plates of bacon, sausage and toast. In anticipation of her arrival, a place setting waited for her at the head of the table.

  “Good morning,” she said cheerily.

  The girls turned to her as Elizabeth said, “I’ve already given them the good news concerning Lee.”

  Bai nodded and took her seat to spoon eggs and potatoes onto her plate before topping the pile with bacon and sausage. The girls remained quiet. From their expressions, no one had slept much the night before. After taking a few bites of bacon, she poured a cup of coffee from a carafe sitting on the table next to her. “Has Elizabeth explained we’re going to the country for a few weeks on vacation?”

  The girls turned to her with expressions ranging from confusion to delight. Elizabeth responded first. “I thought I’d let you surprise them. From the looks on their faces, you’ve succeeded.”

  Bai smiled. Everyone but Dan looked happy. Dan put her fork down and stood. “I won’t leave Lee. He’s hurt. He needs me. He’s my shifu.”

  “Your shifu is doing fine,” Bai replied, secretly pleased Dan saw Lee as her mentor. “I’ve just come from the hospital. He’ll be released in a few days to join us. He’s the reason we’re going someplace nice to recuperate. We’ll prepare everything for when he arrives. As a matter of fact, Dan, we’ll be staying at the estate your father bought for you as an early inheritance. He wanted you and the family to have a place outside the city where you could enjoy your summers.”

  Dan sat down to stare at her mother skeptically. Bai’s little girl showed signs of growing up. A time would come far too soon, she feared, when spinning the truth to her daughter would no longer suffice. She dreaded that day. She wanted to shelter Dan from the harsh realities of life as long as possible.

  “The house has acres and acres of vineyards as well as a swimming pool,” Bai continued enthusiastically. “I understand horseback riding lessons are also available. That is, if anyone is interested.”

  She dangled the bait and waited to see who would take the line.

  “When are we leaving?” Jia asked with a smile splitting her face.

  “We’ll leave as soon as we’re packed. You won’t need much. We’ll shop for Western wear and bathing suits on the way. Just take the essentials,” she advised, sensitive to the fact Alicia only possessed the clothes on her back.

  Jia didn’t wait to finish breakfast. Excusing herself, she dashed to her room to pack. Dan looked suspicious but resigned. Alicia looked uncomfortable.

  “Dan,” Bai said, “if you’re finished, would you see to packing? I’d like some time with Alicia.”

  Dan looked aside at Alicia and smiled in encouragement. Bai could see that a bond had already formed. Dan left the room, and Elizabeth stood to excuse herself.

  “Please stay, Elizabeth. This is just girl talk,” Bai said.

  Elizabeth took her seat and sipped tea from a porcelain cup.

  Bai continued. “I know everything is new to you, Alicia. I just want to make sure you’re doing all right and you’re not uncomfortable. I want you to think of this as your home. You don’t have to feel like a guest. You can be sad when you’re sad, angry when you’re angry, and happy when you’re happy.”

  The teen looked at her and nodded wordlessly.

  Bai wondered where the cocky Latina from yesterday had gone. She worried. “Is there anything you need?”

  Alicia shook her head. “Everyone’s been really nice. That’s the problem. I’m not sure how to act.”

  “You don’t have to act. Just be yourself.”

  The girl smiled wryly, obviously amused by the thought. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I’m not sure I like who I am.”

  Bai tried to comfort her. “Everyone tries to be the best person they can be. We don’t always succeed. All we can do is keep trying to be better by being kinder, gentler, and more forgiving. Just remember you’re not alone. Everyone struggles to find themselves.”

  Alicia’s expression remained doubtful.

  Bai added, “I’m here for you. We all are. You’re not alone anymore unless you want to be.”

  Alicia nodded. “I like Dan and Jia. I’d like to stay, at least for a while.”

  “Good,” Bai replied. “Liking is a good start,” she said, standing. “On a lighter note, I think we should hurry these ladies along so we can hit the road. We have a million things to do today, not the least of which is to buy you a wardrobe.”

  She pulled the girl to her feet. “Let me change my clothes then we’ll go spend some money. Nothing cheers a girl up like shopping.”

  In less than an hour, a caravan of cars rolled across the Golden Gate Bridge headed for Healdsburg. Two triad soldiers led the procession in a black SUV. Behind the lead car, Bai drove her MINI Cooper with Alicia in the passenger seat next to her. Elizabeth, Jia, and Dan followed in Elizabeth’s black BMW, chauffeured by Song. In the rear trailed a black SUV driven by Bo.

  They stopped at a mall in San Rafael to shop. Outfitting the girls for a vacation took longer than expected. In addition to a wardrobe for Alicia, they bought Western riding boots and outfits for everyone with the exception of the triad soldiers, who seemed content with their black suits. Alicia needed a phone and tablet to match those Dan and Jia carried. Conscripted as bearers, their bodyguards carried armloads of packages.

  When Bai’s credit card started to show signs of fatigue, they all piled back into the cars to drive north another forty minutes.

  They pulled into the long drive leading up to the house on top of the hill. She’d called ahead to let the Corazons know they were coming. The couple met them in the parking court with smiles and waves.

  As soon as they disembarked, Bai conducted the necessary introductions. Fausto and Coleta seemed to take special delight in the children, whom they helped with luggage before showing to their rooms. As everyone finished unloading the cars, a very long, very sleek motor coach rumbled up the drive to park on the edge of the property. A black limousine followed the coach to stop next to the black SUVs.

  Jason stepped out of the limo with a sober look on his face.

  “What’s this?” Bai asked.

  “Delighted to see you, too,” he replied. “When I heard you were leaving the city without notice,” he hesitated to emphasize what he’d said, “I realized my men would need a place to sleep. The bus has bunks and communications. This way they won’t be imposing on you.”

  “Thank you,” she muttered, not completely sure she wanted the presence of bodyguards.

  “I want to make sure Dan and the girls are safe. My men will stay until I know there’s no danger.”

  Coleta stepped out of the house to beam at Jason. “Will you be joining us for lunch, Mr. Lum?”

  Jason’s expression changed like a flipped switch as a smile brightened his features. “I’m sorry, no, Coleta. I have business back in the city.”

  Bai understood Jason wouldn’t stay because of Elizabeth.

  Not privy to the family rift, Coleta naively pursued the matter. “When you phoned to say you were coming, I sent Fausto to get ribs. I thought we’d have a barbecue. We have plenty for everyone. I planned for a dozen big appetites.”

  At the mention of barbecue, the triad soldiers lit up like
Christmas trees. Bai determined she needed to find the tan man quickly, or she and her bodyguards might end up looking like Coleta’s husband, Fausto, with stomachs large enough to provide shade for their boots.

  Coleta beamed at Jason. “Lunch will be ready in an hour.”

  “Another time, perhaps, Coleta,” Jason said, turning to face Bai. “I’d like a chance to show you the communications inside the bus, if you have a moment.”

  She looked sharply at him. “Fine.”

  They walked to the edge of the drive. He stepped around her and held the door to the motor coach open. She walked past him and up the two steps to the interior.

  The front section of the bus, behind the driver’s console, held a table and four high-backed chairs secured to the floor on round swivels. Backing the table and chairs were cabinets holding electronic equipment bristling with cables. A command chair had been secured in front of the cabinets facing three flat-screen monitors positioned in a semicircle.

  Jason sat in the chair and pushed a red button to the left of the screens. A low hum emanated overhead. “That’s the satellite dish on the roof deploying. If your cell phones are blocked, the direct satellite link will provide secure communications. Once the satellite is up, push this switch,” he said, indicating a green toggle. He did so then picked up the receiver of the desk phone next to the screens and held it out to her.

  She put the phone to her ear and listened to a dial tone.

  He nodded. “That’s all there is to it.”

  She handed him back the receiver. “Is this why you called me in here?”

  “Not really,” he said. “I want to know what happened this morning. I’m trying to keep you and the family safe. You’re not making it easy.”

  “I probably should have talked to you first before moving the family here. I thought we’d be safer away from the city.”

  “You may be right. Nonetheless, I want my men here as insurance. We still don’t know who this tan man is or his motive for killing Wen and shooting Lee. His actions might be directed at me, and you just happened to get in the way.”

  “I don’t know what to think anymore,” she admitted. “Lee had never seen the man before yesterday. He obviously realized Lee was following him. But killing someone on a crowded street for being nosy seems a little extreme. I can’t help thinking a game’s being played we know nothing about, a game with very high stakes.”

  “Did you get any indication he knew you?”

  “No. As a matter of fact, he asked me who I was, so I asked him who he was. Neither of us volunteered an answer.”

  Jason shrugged. “Did you get anything? A scar? An accent?—anything we might use to identify him?”

  She took the syringe in the plastic bag out of her pocket along with the tissue-wrapped throwing knife. “I have his prints and his DNA. I didn’t see any point in giving them to the police. The tan man and Kelly seem to already know each other. I don’t know whom to trust.”

  He held out his hand with a smile. “If he’s on file, we’ll find him. I have contacts inside law enforcement who can run the prints and the DNA for a match.”

  “I did good, didn’t I?” she said with a smile.

  “You did good,” he admitted. “And, in case you’re wondering, you do know whom to trust. You’re just too stubborn to admit it.”

  Chapter 25

  Afternoon and evening passed in a blur of activity. The girls swam and ate before Fausto and Jason’s soldiers rounded them up for a trip to the local equestrian center, where they arranged riding lessons. Elizabeth and Coleta, meanwhile, put their heads together to sort out how to provide meals for everyone. The four bodyguards demonstrated awe-inspiring appetites. Their party now numbered eleven. They’d have an even dozen to feed when Lee arrived.

  Pleading work, Jason returned to the city. He took the limousine with him. Bai spent the afternoon sleeping. Providing an encore to the huge lunch, dinner turned out to be a blend of Chinese and California cuisines: barbecued salmon steaks and fried rice.

  Exhausted after their all-night slumber party and an active day, the girls fell into bed without being prodded. Elizabeth followed them soon afterward, leaving Bai free to do as she pleased. She took a shower and dressed for work in basic black before donning her Kevlar coat to sneak out of the house quietly. Her date, Inspector Kelly, waited at the Sand Dab.

  She didn’t make it past Bo and Song. Both men wore night-vision goggles. They caught her trying to sneak into her car.

  “Seems like cheating,” she said as they intercepted her.

  “Jason told us to expect you,” Bo said with a resigned air.

  “What else did Jason tell you?”

  “To be more afraid of him than of you,” Song replied. “So far that doesn’t seem to be a problem.”

  After a bit of negotiating, they resolved that Song would follow her into the city and provide backup. Bo would stay with Jason’s other two men in Healdsburg to guard the children. And Jason would be kept apprised of her activities.

  Traffic remained light as she approached the Golden Gate Bridge. Fog enveloped the orange girders to form a hazy obscurity as the dense mist softened the edges of certainty. Headlight beams refracted off tiny beads of moisture in a lustrous glare that slowed traffic to a crawl. Cars groped their way across the metal span like moles.

  On the other side of the bridge, fog held the city in a moist embrace. She drove slowly through hazy streets where drivers edged along at a snail’s pace.

  A solitary bulb suspended from an arced metal tube cast a muddled glow over the entry to the Sand Dab. Barely legible letters spelled out the name in faded blue-on-white over the door. Plate glass, painted black, fronted the street to shield those inside from curious stares and the depredations of light.

  Bai stood on the sidewalk outside to check her weapons. She lifted her butterfly knives to ensure they moved freely then reached around to the small of her back to check the grip on her pistol. She didn’t know what to expect. Her faith in Kelly, the little she’d had to begin with, had disappeared along with the tan man. Nonetheless, Kelly had information she wanted. She was determined to make him talk, one way or another.

  Song stood at her back. She turned to him. “I want to talk to the inspector privately.”

  “I go where you go.”

  She smiled tightly. “Like I was saying, why don’t you join me? Just stay out of the way.”

  He nodded. “Not a problem.”

  She stepped inside and waited to allow her eyes to adjust to the gloom. Song followed her and took a position just inside the door.

  Acrid smoke hazed the silent room. Sconces along the walls emitted barely sufficient light by which to navigate. Empty, high-backed booths lined the right side of the room while the left wall remained bare. The smell of cheap cigars and damp mold permeated the air. In the back of the room curved a long wooden horseshoe bar with stools, half of them occupied.

  She approached the bar and saw the broad back of Kelly’s stained trench. He sat with his shoulders hunched and his head down. She needn’t have worried about sneaking up on him. He wouldn’t have noticed an elephant slipping onto the stool next to him unless the pachyderm had tried to steal his peanuts. She took the stool next to him as men, or what was left of them after a lifetime of drinking, turned to eye her blearily. A skinny fellow with pockmarked skin and long, limp hair stood behind the bar polishing a glass while scrutinizing her.

  “What?” Bai asked. “You’ve never seen a woman?”

  “Not recently,” he replied with a gap-toothed grin. “You’re a little high-tone for this place. Are you with him?” he asked, nodding at Kelly.

  Kelly raised his head and slowly turned to look at her. He managed to make the effort appear exhausting. When he recognized her, he scowled and went back to studying the drink sitting on the bar in front of him.

  The bartender smirked and continued to polish the same glass, the rag in his hand stained an unhealthy shade of brown. “What can
I get ya?”

  She looked at the rag, then at the man. “A tetanus shot.”

  “You want that over ice?”

  She ignored the question. “Is your back door unlocked?”

  The man scoffed. “I’d be outta business in a week if it was. Do I look stupid?”

  “That’s a loaded question,” she replied. “What time did Kelly come in today?”

  “Around one,” he answered then seemed to catch himself. “Kelly who?”

  “No. But I do look a little like her, don’t you think?”

  The bartender stared at her vacantly.

  She smiled. “Apparently not.”

  His expression remained blank.

  She threw a thumb over her shoulder toward the men’s room. “I feel a sudden urge.” Pulling Kelly up by the collar of his coat, her firm grasp steadied him as he stumbled to his feet to stare at her blearily.

  She addressed the bar. “If anyone feels compelled to follow me, I won’t be pleased.”

  The bartender didn’t look happy but nodded. “Knock yourself out.”

  She didn’t get any reaction from the dissolute patrons at the bar, who were probably too immersed in their own despair to take notice. Pushing Kelly toward the men’s room, she followed him inside where they could talk in private.

  The men’s room held a single stall and a stained urinal shoved up against the wall next to an equally brown sink. Grime-gray tiles covered the floor. Fragrant eau d’sewer discouraged loitering.

  She shoved Kelly up against the wall. “You can’t hide forever, Kelly,” she said in exasperation. “Talk to me. Tell me what you know about the tan man.”

  “You might be surprised what I can and can’t do,” he mumbled sullenly. “If I was you, I’d be gettin’ the hell outta’ here before I lose patience.”

  “If you were me, I’d kill myself. That not being the case, tell me what you know while I’m still asking nicely.”

  He sneered at her, his voice full of contempt. “What’s a sweet little piece of ass like you gonna do?”

  Without thinking, she punched Kelly in the gut. Her hand sank into soft belly flesh nearly to her elbow. The big cop folded like tissue as she stepped back. He gasped for breath and slowly sank to the floor with his legs splayed out in front of him.