Black Karma (24 page)

She'd lost Song in traffic and had called to let him know she had a meeting at
Sun Yee On
's headquarters. He'd naively agreed to meet her there. She stopped at her building long enough to change clothes and create a disguise. The result was a navy-blue cashmere blazer with matching pants and closed-toe navy flats topped by a beige Hermès raincoat. The outfit made her indistinguishable from thousands of other women in the Business District.

To complete the disguise, Bai donned a pair of large plastic-rimmed sunglasses and a brown wig, giving her shoulder-length hair. Her reflection in the mirror resembled someone a bit stuffy and bookish. The glasses helped to camouflage her Asian ancestry. With a quick nod in the mirror to bolster her courage, she was on her way.

Walking to the Business District took about fifteen minutes. When she reached the corner of Montgomery and Clay near the coffee shop where Lee had waited for the tan man, she stopped to watch the flow of traffic on the sidewalk. Most of the buildings did a brisk business. 645 Montgomery didn't appear to be an exception. People entered and left the building in a steady flow. Perhaps as a consequence of serving bad coffee, very little activity took place at the café across the street.

She walked toward the coffee shop while looking a little lost. Standing in front of the café, she looked up and down the street before pulling out her cell phone to look at the display. She shook her head and frowned as she thrust her phone back into her coat pocket and marched into the café.

The man behind the counter smiled at her. “May I help you?”

“What do you recommend? I have an appointment in a half hour and could use something to perk me up. The audit could take all afternoon. I don't want to be drowsy.”

“A double espresso should do the trick as long as you're not sensitive to caffeine. It's pretty strong.”

“That sounds exactly like what I'm looking for.”

Bai smiled affably while looking around. Small tables rested against the wall on her right. A couple more tables provided a view out of the front window. She was the only customer.

“That'll be eight dollars.”

She paid that and a tip then took a seat at a small table along the back wall where she could see the shop as well as the street. The barista delivered her coffee and returned to his newspaper, ignoring her.

She noticed a number of oddities as she sipped her coffee. A camera under the front awning pointed out, not in. The blinking red light on the camera faced the street and 645 Montgomery, the building across the way. The cameras inside the café faced the window seats and not the counter, where any kind of dispute would likely occur. More importantly, the café provided the only convenient vantage point from which to watch the entrance of the high-rise across the street.

She sipped the espresso slowly. Lee had been right about one thing. Their coffee tasted like old cigarette butts. The only customers they could possibly hope to attract would be strangers to the area and anyone wanting to surveil 645 Montgomery.

She'd seen enough. Taking an alcohol wipe from her pocket she made a show of wiping her hands before surreptitiously wiping her cup to remove prints and DNA. Standing abruptly, she walked toward the front door. Stopping to look back and wave at the camera with her middle finger, she then turned to walk quickly back to Clay Street. Once around the corner, she ducked into the first entryway that provided concealment.

A man in a suit and trench coat dashed past her while looking furtively about. His eyes locked onto hers as he turned his head and spied her in the doorway. Smiling, she watched as he came to a sudden halt then turned around and walked toward her.

When he reached the alcove where she stood, he stopped and nodded. “You were expecting me.”

“I expected someone.”

He wore a smile that never reached his eyes. “Who are you?”

“You first.”

The smile fell away. “That's not the way it works.”

With fingers flexed rigid like a spade, her hand shot out to catch him in the throat. The sudden attack took him off guard. He reached inside his jacket with one hand as he gagged for air while grasping his throat with the other hand. She trapped the hand inside his jacket as she pulled him close to knee him savagely in the groin. He dropped to his knees as his face turned purple.

She knelt next to him on the sidewalk as people gawked. Looking as if she were trying to revive him, she slapped his face with one hand while she slipped her other hand inside his jacket to lift his wallet.

“Call an ambulance!” she cried as she slipped the wallet into her jacket pocket. Pulling his jacket open and tilting his head back, she could see the shoulder holster and the Glock semiautomatic he'd been reaching for. As the man turned blue and started to lose consciousness, she felt his windpipe and pushed down to compress the sides and open the airway. He immediately drew a deep breath.

In one fluid motion, she stood and turned to walk away, swallowed by the gathering crowd. She headed back to Chinatown in a tactical retreat. The enemy had been flushed. Now she needed to make a clean getaway.

She walked home quickly and dropped heavily onto the leather sofa in her living room. Tossing the wallet she'd stolen on the coffee table, she went through its contents and found credit cards under two separate identities: a Thomas Walsh and a Thomas Gregory. Walsh had a key card identifying him as an employee of Hader, Incorporated.

Hader, she recalled, was the largest private army in the world. The multinational corporation contracted with the United States military and other NATO nations. They specialized in handling missions too politically awkward for legitimate armies to handle. Their ranks were filled with ex-military and cast-offs from clandestine organizations.

While the government boasted of downsizing the military, the privatization of war had grown at a corresponding pace. Hader had become rich and powerful at the taxpayers' expense.

As she sat to think about what to do next, Jason walked in. He wore a black silk suit and a white shirt with a red tie. His apparel bespoke power. She looked at him and couldn't help but feel a little intimidated—and more than a little attracted.

“Interesting look,” he said, noting her appearance. “I think I like you better with short hair.”

“Are you here to critique my fashion sense?”

“No. We need to talk.”

“About what?”

“About ignoring your security. Your bodyguards can't keep track of you if you keep ditching them.”

“I'm not ditching them.”

He looked at her.

“OK, maybe I did ditch them. But I'm sleuthing. That's what I do—I sleuth.”

“Your sleuthing worries me.” The look on his face changed. He sobered. “I'm sorry about Kelly.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“I'm sorry his death affected you. It couldn't have been pretty.”

“Death never is,” she said, then changed the subject. “I'm onto something. I need to move fast and stay mobile. I can't be bothered with bodyguards. Leave your men in Healdsburg to keep the children safe. I'm fine on my own.”

“I wouldn't worry so much if Lee were with you. He seems to have a calming effect.”

“I miss him, too, but I can do this on my own.”

He gestured at the wallet and the pile of cards on the table. “What are you looking at?”

“I flushed out one of the people I think ambushed Lee. He works for Hader, Incorporated.”

“How did you get the wallet?”

“I let one of them follow me.”

“Did you kill him?”

“No, but he's going to be talking and walking funny for a while.”

“You should have killed him. If he can identify you, you'll be fighting an army. If that's the case, I'm not sure even I can protect you.”

“I'm not asking for your protection.”

He looked frustrated. “I wish you'd be more careful.”

She paused to look at him before continuing. “Just to let you know, I'm thinking of getting married.”

He spoke in a soft voice. “That would be a mistake.”

“Why?”

“Howard is a little off. He seems normal, but there's something wrong with him. I wish I could be more specific, but I can't. It's just a feeling.”

“Your calling someone abnormal seems a little ironic. You kill people for a living.”

“I didn't say I was perfect. But I do have ethics.”

She smiled sweetly. “Your ethics seem quite flexible.”

He nodded his head. “True, but I do have them. I'm not so sure about Howard.”

“He seems nice enough.”

“He does, doesn't he? I'm sure you'll consider anything I say about him suspect. So I'll leave it to you to find out what kind of man he really is. At the moment, I'm more worried about the Hader Corporation than Howard Kwan. Howard will make your life miserable; Hader will kill you.”

“I'm going to assume Hader is running operations out of 645 Montgomery,” Bai said. “That's where Lee followed the tan man. I suspect he's either an employee or a government agent working with Hader. Either way, I need access to that building.”

Jason looked at her and scowled. “A high-rise building isn't easy to break into. If Hader has offices there, they'll be secure and heavily guarded. They run around-the-clock operations and never sleep.”

“There has to be a way in.”

“If the tan man is coming and going from the building on Montgomery, you'd have a better chance of grabbing him off the street.”

“He does seem comfortable walking the streets,” she said as she considered his suggestion. “When Lee followed him, he didn't resort to riding in cabs, which may suggest he actually prefers walking. But assuming he's a professional, he won't walk a reliable route to or from anywhere since the first rule of evasion is to avoid patterns and schedules. So, grabbing him off the street will require a team.”

Jason interrupted her. “I'll snatch him for you if you'll do me a favor.”

His offer sounded tempting, but there was always a catch. She regarded him warily. “What do you want?”

“If he turns out to be either a government operative or an employee of Hader, I want you to back off. I'll make him pay for what he's done because Lee's my friend. That will finish it. I don't want you to declare war on the government or on Hader. Those are battles you can't win.”

She stuck out her lower lip and considered his offer. That he was probably right made accepting his offer more difficult. Doing so would mean admitting she was wrong. In the final analysis, however, she really didn't have any other options. She didn't have the manpower or the equipment to kidnap the tan man.

“You win,” she finally said.

He looked at her and frowned. “That's one way of looking at it. If Hader gets wind of what I'm up to, they'll kill me. I'll save the victory dance for later.”

Chapter 29

Jason departed with a stern warning to be careful. She forced herself to get back into her car for the drive back to Healdsburg. She'd promised to be with her family for dinner. If she hurried, she could beat the commuter traffic leaving the city.

Arriving at the house in Healdsburg, she met Bo in the motor court.

He opened the car door for her with a frown, obviously unhappy with her activities as he said, “Everyone is in the kitchen.”

He looked like he wanted to say more, but he gritted his teeth and held his counsel.

“Tell Song I'm sorry when you see him,” she said as a peace offering.

He nodded and closed the door of the car.

As Bai entered the house, the sound of laughter guided her steps. She walked across the living room to observe her family through an open doorway. Lee walked a short distance from the kitchen to the dining room and back again while Dan hovered behind him like a hummingbird. Jia and Alicia helped Elizabeth and Coleta prepare dinner. Bodyguards stood around looking useless but content.

When she walked into the kitchen, Jia descended on her with a hug and a smile, a welcome that made the long drive worthwhile. Dan stood back to stare at her mother with a wary expression. Alicia observed the interplay with apparent interest.

Jia grabbed her attention. “You wouldn't believe how much fun it is to go riding. The horses are really big. There's a white horse named Lucky I really like. And, there's this guy who says we can ride for free when we're better riders. They have all these horses people bought who don't ride them, so we can exercise them and even get paid to ride them. Is that cool or what?”

“That is cool,” Bai replied.

“The people at the stables are really nice,” Alicia added. “They take really good care of us. So far, we only ride in the arena, but with the bodyguards that's probably a good idea. Nobody's figured out how to get one of these guys on a horse.”

Shifting uncomfortably, those same bodyguards avoided eye contact.

Bai smiled at the girls' dilemma. “The bodyguards are temporary. They won't be with us for more than a week or two. It's looking more and more like Lee's assault was a case of mistaken identity.”

“Is that right?” he said as he made his way gingerly into the kitchen. He looked around for a place to sit. Dan turned to run into the dining room to retrieve a chair she placed behind him.

“Thank you,” he said as he lowered himself into the seat.

“Can I get you anything?” Dan asked him.

“No. I'm fine. Why don't you rest? I'll stay here for a while.”

She nodded and turned to leave without looking at her mother. Bai shot an inquiring look at Elizabeth, who shook her head as a sign questions could wait until later.

Lee captured her attention by saying, “There's something of interest you should look at when you have time.”

“Can it wait?”

He nodded in response.

Elizabeth interrupted before Bai could speak. “I've made appointments for you and the girls to get facials, manicures and pedicures at a local spa on Friday afternoon. I thought the outing would be a good bonding experience.”