BLACK in the Box (25 page)

Her face didn’t change. “Next time, don’t lose my cat, and I’ll feel way better about it.”

They both watched her walk away, and Larry shook his head and gave a low whistle. “Is she always like that?”

Black smiled. “This is one of her good days.”

Chapter 49

Tom’s cell phone vibrated in his pocket as he watched with increasing alarm as the police arrived and met with the investigator. Fortunately it was just the pair of detectives from the other night, but the way things had been going, the uniformed officers wouldn’t be far behind. He’d gotten a message moments earlier from his boss, who had confirmed that there was a car in the rear lot waiting for Henry. If he was quick about it, Tom could get the security guard to the vehicle in time for them to make a getaway.

His superior had decided to have Tom disappear along with Henry – while his background papers were good, they wouldn’t withstand a thorough investigation.

Tom approached Henry’s office, his rubber-soled work boots silent on the hard floor, and spied the security man watching the monitors, his feet up on his desk, a can of caffeinated soda in his hand. Tom tapped on the door jamb, and Henry raised his head.

“You see the police and the owner are here?” Tom asked.

“Yes.” Tom eyed the shredded sleeve of Henry’s racing jacket and shook his head. “What happened?”

“The investigator’s cat got to it.”

“That’s a shame.”

“I loved that jacket.”

“The shipment’s ready for pickup?” Tom asked.

“Yes. It’s all staged and on the cart.”

“Excellent. Listen, I got a call from our mutual friend. He needs to speak with you. He’s concerned about the murder and wants a briefing.”

“I can do that. When?”

“He’s outside, waiting. He’s unsure about our shipment. You know how jumpy he gets. Reassure him – I don’t know enough about what the police are doing to tell him much.”

Henry stiffened. “Ling Hai is here?”

“I guess he watched the news, and it troubled him.”

“He wants to do this right now? Can’t he wait until my shift is over? We only have another hour to go.”

“You want to call and tell him he’s going to have to cool his heels? I’m not going to.”

“What if the police want to talk to me?”

“Have they asked for you? Called your extension?”

“No.”

Tom looked away. “He didn’t sound like rejecting his invitation was an option.”

Henry dropped his feet onto the ground and stood. “Fine. Let’s do this.”

Tom led him out the rear entrance and they stepped into the dim morning glow. It would be full light out in another fifteen minutes, which would complicate matters, but once Henry was in the car, it was no longer Tom’s problem. It had been decided that others would question Henry and then attend to him. He was merely the delivery boy today.

They moved to a Chevrolet Suburban, and the passenger door opened as they drew near. Henry climbed in and nodded to the driver. “Where’s Ling Hai?”

“He’s waiting for us a block away. Felt it wouldn’t be prudent to talk with police around.”

“I can’t be gone for more than a few minutes.”

The driver’s face was stony. “You can tell him.”

Henry barely registered movement behind him and then a length of yellow nylon rope snaked over his neck and pulled tight. His legs kicked as Tom closed the door, uninterested in Henry’s thrashing as the enforcer in the rear seat cut off his air until he passed out. The big motor started and the driver put the transmission in gear as Tom walked back to the employee entrance, his part in the affair now over.

When Henry came to, he was bound on the floor of an industrial area, seated with his back against a brick wall. He blinked and coughed, his larynx badly bruised, and winced as he swallowed.

A steel door at the far end of the space opened and Ling Hai stepped through, followed by two hard-looking men. Henry’s stomach sank at the sight – he knew them, and if they were here, this wasn’t some sort of misunderstanding. His only hope would be to insist on his innocence – which probably wouldn’t work. The realization that he wouldn’t live to see another night hit him like a hammer blow, and he closed his eyes and muttered a silent prayer to a deity he neither believed in nor had ever had any use for.

“So, Henry,” Ling Hai said, his voice silky and low, all the more menacing for its subtlety, “I thought we should have a talk. You can tell me how you haven’t been cheating me and selling drugs to your fellow workers, and I’ll listen patiently before having you ground up and fed to the dogs.”

“It’s not like that. I would never cheat you.”

“Let’s start with your sideline. I know you’ve been selling product to some of the workers. Tom has overheard their discussions. Apparently you’re well known for having ‘good shit.’ A commendable business philosophy, were it not my shit they were praising.”

“No. I get it from somewhere else.”

“Has it not given you pause to question whether taking on the additional risk of being a known dealer might jeopardize our arrangement? For which you’re paid handsomely, I might add.”

“Nobody can prove anything.”

A sad smile played across Ling Hai’s face, and he shook his head as though speaking with a child. “One of your best customers died yesterday. And our sources tell me the woman, Mary, your boss, was killed only a few hours ago. Do you not understand that because they were both buying their product from you, the police will eventually come for you?”

“There’s no trace of anything.”

“Except for how many kilos sitting in the loading area as we speak, you mean. If they discover that, they’ll want to know who it belongs to. There aren’t many candidates that have the keys to access that area. You’re one of them, you idiot. So, yes, you’re exposed.”

“But it will be picked up today.”

“Perhaps. Or perhaps not. Neither of us knows that. What I do know is that if you are arrested in connection with the murders, you only have one bargaining chip – and that’s your arrangement with us. Can you guess how willing I am to allow that to happen?”

“I’d never talk. I swear it,” Henry insisted, sweat beading on his face.

“Was our money not enough? Why would you do this and put us all in jeopardy? For what? An extra…five hundred dollars a week? A thousand?” Ling Hai shook his head and glanced at the two men standing in the shadows. “It was not a good bargain, my friend. You have been loyal and helpful, and we returned that with our trust. You violated that trust, and now you will pay the ultimate price for it.”

“No. You don’t have to do this.” Henry’s eyes narrowed. “I have incriminating material that would reveal everything. If I disappear, the police will find it.”

“Oh, do you mean the file you had in your apartment safe? It took my men ten minutes to open it. Nice collection of guns there, by the way. In that, at least, you had good taste.”

“Please don’t. I made a mistake. I needed more money for…for something that could make us all rich.”

“Really?” Ling Hai asked, his curiosity apparently genuine. “And what would that be?”

Henry told him about his investment. Ling Hai stared at him in disbelief.

“You’re a fool, and a dangerous one at that. I’m fortunate to be rid of you.” Ling Hai sighed. “You will answer my men’s questions. How honest you are will determine how agonizing your last moments will be. That, at least, is in your hands. Choose wisely, because in the end they will still learn all you know.”

“No…please. You don’t understand. We’re talking many millions.”

Ling Hai gave a small hand signal and the pair approached Henry, one with a blowtorch, the other with a pair of pruning shears. Ling Hai inspected the torch and nodded, and then considered Henry’s hapless form a final time. “We will cauterize each wound so you don’t die too quickly.”

Henry’s eyes widened in horror as Ling Hai headed out the door. Ling Hai didn’t look back, even as Henry’s tortured shrieks split the silence like an air raid siren. Business was business, and if you cheated the triads, you could expect no mercy. Henry’s remains would be disposed of from a boat Ling Hai enjoyed his weekends aboard, the turncoat providing at least some useful purpose in feeding the fish as his final act.

Chapter 50

Roxie left the men to their business, now exhausted after pulling the all-nighter but determined to find Mugsy before she went home. Her heels’ staccato popping on the floor sounded like gunfire in the empty store as she marched to the first aisle, crooning his name softly.

“Mugsy? Mugsy, angel baby, where are you? Come to Mama. I’ve got treats!”

She stopped every twenty yards and knelt down to peer beneath the pallets loaded with cartons, on the lookout for the cat’s form. Failing to see him, she repeated the process as she moved up the aisle, slowing as she neared the carpets. She knew Mugsy’s tastes, and cozy ranked high on his list. Find someplace soft to snuggle and she’d find him, she was sure.

“Mugsy? Come on. Mugsy…”

Kyle and Kristen turned the corner and Roxie straightened. They eyed her outfit and flamboyant hair without comment, and Roxie didn’t say anything. She wasn’t in the mood for explanations, and if they couldn’t figure it out on their own, well, that was probably why they were working in this dump for chicken feed.

Kristen eventually spoke. “Still no sign of him, huh?”

“Not yet. But I just started looking.”

“He did some damage over by the pet food section earlier,” Kyle said.

“I heard,” Roxie said. “But he wouldn’t eat dog food. He’s more of a steak and lobster kind of guy. Or at least a juicy burger.”

“Well, good luck. Our shift’s almost over. The store will be quiet for a few hours before the day crew arrives. Maybe it’ll be easier to find him then,” Kristen offered.

“Yeah, well, one way or the other. Thanks.”

“No problem.”

They continued on their way, taking their time, and Roxie waited until they disappeared down the next aisle before continuing her search. She arrived at the far end without any success and considered her strategy. She could eliminate appliances and canned goods – there was no way he’d opt for those if there was anywhere softer to sleep. That narrowed her options to clothing, bedding, and furniture.

And any food he could tear open. Fortunately there were only two aisles that might qualify – the majority of Home World’s limited edible inventory was canned or crated. She made her way down the first and didn’t find him, and then turned up the next with the same result.

“Damn it, Mugsy. Don’t make this hard. Come to Mama. Let’s go home.”

Silence greeted her plea.

She ran her fingers through her hair, adjusted her pants, and continued with the grim determination of a fighter in the tenth round, bloodied but unbowed. He had to be around there somewhere.

A thought froze her in her tracks. What if he’d slipped outside? The loading dock had been open for hours while accepting deliveries. What if her poor little guy had gotten frightened and bolted outdoors, unseen by the workers?

Roxie cocked her head. There was no way of knowing if he had until she’d eliminated all possible spots in the interior. Only then would she take the search into the lot, where it would presumably be safer in the full daylight of the morning. Criminals, like most vermin, preferred to work in the shadows, and it was unlikely she’d be jumped once the sun was completely up.

“Mugsy? Mugsy…come to Mama…”

She spied a carton with claw marks on it up on the third level of the racks – the unmistakable signature of a bored cat scratching that she’d seen on their office furniture too many times to count. Her pulse quickened. “You’ve been here, haven’t you?” she whispered under her breath. She cleared her throat and called out again. “Mugsy! This is getting old. Come out right now. I’m losing my patience.”

Roxie listened intently and heard a rustle in the distance – from the rear area by the loading docks. “Mugsy? Is that you?”

She hurried to the back of the store and nearly ran headlong into Matt, who was punching numbers into a tablet computer, a pair of steel-framed glasses perched on the end of his nose. He looked up at her in surprise. “Well, hello there. Who are you, and how did you get in here?”

“I work with Black. I’m looking for Mugsy.”

“Oh. Right. The lost tabby.”

“Have you seen him?”

“Nope. I’d have told Black if I had.”

“Right.” She eyed the papers Matt was holding along with the tablet as they rustled again, and her shoulders sagged. That was the source of the sound that had drawn her there. So she was back to square one in her search. “Are there any other areas that he might have snuck into, aside from the main store?”

“Loading area and, of course, the storage section. Where we keep excess inventory that won’t fit on the overhead racks, special orders, returns, that sort of thing.” He looked her up and down. “You want me to show you? It’s normally off-limits, but since the store’s closed…”

“I’ll get to it in a few minutes. It’s back by the loading docks?”

“Yes. Off to the left once you go through the double doors from the showroom. Pretty easy to find, and it should be quiet back there now. Everybody’s finishing up and getting ready to punch out.”

“Okay. Let me finish looking in the store first. I appreciate the help.” She glanced down at his name tag, which struck her as odd to wear given there were no customers, but she shrugged off the sense of dislocation. He seemed rather officious and there was a trace of condescension to his tone, which was the exact type of petty tyrant she’d have expected to brandish any symbol of his authority whenever possible. That explained it, she figured.

“No problem. Good luck,” Matt said with a smile and then resumed his work.

Five minutes of fruitless searching later and she’d exhausted all the possible hiding places she thought Mugsy might find appealing. Wherever he was, it wasn’t in the retail section of the store. She’d looked around when she’d climbed the racks to inspect the carpet stacked high on the third level, and she’d have spotted him from there if he’d favored height while hiding.