Dangerous Journey (13 page)

And now, if she were to give in to what she wanted, he would find out…and how completely pathetic she would seem to him!

“Don’t patronize me!” she said between clenched teeth.

He dropped his hands, giving up. “There’s something good between us, Cleo. As much as you try to ignore it, you know there is. You feel it every bit as much as I do.”

She folded her arms. “Fun’s fun, but we have work to do,” she tried to keep her voice light, uncaring. “I don’t want another lover. And we can’t lose track of what we’re here for—to help my brother. So, if you want sex, look elsewhere, and I’ll do the same.”

He stepped back as if slapped. “I’m not looking for ‘sex.’ Clearly, I misread you. I apologize.”

She turned her head away from his, unable to meet the soft green eyes that seemed to penetrate to her soul. “I like everything just the way it is.” She couldn’t look at him, couldn’t allow herself to realize how strongly she felt about him. How much she wanted him. “Go back to your hotel, jungle man.” She walked to the door and opened it for him. “It’s late. You’re raving.”

“You never cease to surprise me, Cleo. You never do.” With a shake of his head, he left.

She shut the door and then leaned against it as if to force herself not to fling it open, to throw herself at him. She drew in a shuddering breath.

“My God,” she whispered as the morning with Alan, the afternoon in Yeng’s cellar and the evening with Darius drifted through her thoughts. “For a girl from Columbus, what a day!”

Chapter 11

She couldn’t ignore the loud ringing in her ears, and realized it was her telephone. The early light of morning brightened the room.

“Hello?” She was surprised to find that her voice worked.

“It’s me,” said the quiet voice on the other end.

She clutched the phone and sat up. “Alan!”

“C.J., I need your help.” Alan sounded desperate.

“Where are you?”

“I’m…I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. I can’t stay here. I’ve got to go. I’ve got to run.”

“Run? What do you mean, ‘run’? What’s going on?” she cried.

“I can’t explain now. Meet me.”

“Sure. Where?”

“There’s a big old movie house called the Empire on Market and Eighth. It opens at noon. Buy a ticket and go to the balcony, top row. I’ll be there.”

“Okay, but—”

A soft click told her that the connection had been broken.

“Alan? Alan?” As she placed the receiver back into its cradle, the realization that Alan hadn’t told her the truth about any of this settled over her, filling her with despair and worry.

Almost immediately, she heard a knock on her door.

“What’s wrong?” Darius said by way of greeting. He wore light gray slacks, a close-fitting black pullover, and his leather jacket. He was truly a man of surprises.

“Good morning to you, too.” She raked her fingers through her hair. “I must look wretched,” she said.

“Not to me.”

“Why are you here?” she demanded.

“I think it’s for the same reason I see a worried frown on your face,” he replied. “I figured that since Alan didn’t contact you last night, he’d try this morning, or not at all. I take it, he must have called you.”

She saw the concern in his eyes. Although she knew that his real goal was the bounty on the White Dragon, still, in some crazy, inexplicable way, he was the only one who helped her, who comforted her, and who was there for her to lean on. For that she was grateful, and for so much more. Later, she would be strong again. Later, she would take on the whole world if she had to—and do it alone, as always. Later, she would be practical again. But not now.

She reached out to touch his hand. “Sometimes I think you’re the only one who’s been right about any of this. Thank you for being here. For helping me.”

He stared at her then, as if stunned by her heart-felt comments.

She wished she could take them back, hating that she revealed as much of herself to him. She had never done that with anyone. “Of course,” she said finally, falling back on her old flippancy. “I’m sure you’re that way with all your women.”

“All my women?” He grinned. “I’d like to know where they are. I’ve been missing something.”

“There must be at least a half dozen in Hong Kong alone.”

“Sorry to disappoint you. The only one who cares about me in Hong Kong is Jimmy Lee. And I assure you, it’s not physical.”

She smiled. “Good. Anyway, I’ve got to shower, dress, eat something and then meet Alan downtown at noon.”

“That sounds fine. I haven’t eaten yet either.”

“You aren’t going with me.”

“Of course I am.”

As she picked up her clothes and headed for the shower, thoughts of being locked in Yeng’s basement came back to her and she had to admit she was glad for his words. “Okay,” she whispered.

San Francisco lent itself perfectly to walking. Like Hong Kong, it was hilly and offered beautiful views of the water. Casually, they strolled through the streets to a small coffee shop off Union Square where they had a light breakfast. They spent time wandering through the downtown area until the Market Street movie house opened.

Chapter 12

“I didn’t steal the jade,” Alan said.

“That’s obvious. It was a well-planned, very professional job,” Darius replied.

“But I know where it is.”

“That, too, is very clear.”

C.J. glowered at Darius. “Let him tell his story.”

“All right, Perkins.” Darius ignored C.J.’s angry look and concentrated on Alan. “From the beginning.”

C.J. looked from one man to the other. She and Darius were sitting in the back row of the theater, Alan directly in front of them. The two most important men in her life had taken one look at each other and instantly flashed hostile.

Maybe it was just the circumstances under which they had met, or the poisonous atmosphere in the bleak theater, that caused their ill feelings she thought hopefully. The theater was old and enormous, the kind that showed third-rate features to an audience of winos who needed to come in from the cold and teenagers who needed a warm place to make out.

As the two men warily eyed each other, C.J. thought how ironic it was. Alan needed Darius to help him out of this situation. Darius needed Alan to get the jade, yet both pretended to be there because of her. Darius had made it clear to her that, since his accident, the search for treasure and the rewards of finding it were what gave him purpose.

Alan coughed slightly, his eyes shifting from one to the other.

“I want the truth,” Darius said coldly.

“I know, but. . .“ He looked around. “It’ll take time. They might find us.”

“Listen, Perkins!”

“All right! I’ll tell you.... It started the way I told C.J. Did she tell you?”

“She gave me your version of events. We both know there was a lot you didn’t explain to her.”

“Well,”—Alan sounded embarrassed—“as I said, I was in Malaysia, on the beach, and in the distance I spotted something. I moved closer and saw it was a man. He’d been washed up, and was half dead.”

Darius leaned back in his chair and eyed Alan suspiciously. Alan noticed. “I know it sounds crazy. But it’s true! Look at me. I’m not the kind of person to get mixed up in an international jade theft, except by accident. It was a crazy accident that, God knows, I wish had never happened!”

“That’s true enough.” Darius grimaced. “Go on.”

“The man could barely speak, but he wanted desperately to talk. He knew he was dying. He knew his friends had been murdered. He told me a tale that made my blood run cold. He had to tell it.”

C.J. nodded encouragingly, willing him on, believing in his innocence.

“He was... I guess we’d call him a pirate. He and his friends were hired by a man named Chan Li.”

“Chan Li?” C.J. interrupted. “You mean Mr. Yeng’s friend?”

Alan looked sheepish. “They aren’t friends. I knew Yeng would recognize Chan Li as the man who stole the White Dragon, and when he heard the name, he’d know I have the Dragon now.”

“What!” Darius leaned forward and grabbed the front of Alan’s shirt. C.J. sat unmoving, shocked by Alan’s words. “You sent your own sister to Yeng spouting the name of a man like that!”

Alan made a whimpering sound as he tried to free himself. C.J. reached out and took Darius’s arm, although her mind and heart reeled with the knowledge that Alan had lied to her.

“Please,” she said.

Darius let go with a shove, then glared at C.J. “He’s not worth saving.”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t realize…” Alan mewled.

Darius snorted. C.J. remained silent as Alan continued his tale, but she couldn’t get rid of the sick feeling that had filled her.

“The pirate explained to me that Chan Li lived in Luchow, near Hong Kong. He was an underworld figure, a thief, and had come up with a way to steal the White Dragon. He needed help, however, and that’s where the pirates came in. They thought they were partners with Chan Li, but he had a very different plan in mind.

“They stole the jade, and Chan Li hid it behind the face of an antique grandfather clock he had. It had a secret compartment that looked like it housed clock workings—springs and all, but instead it was hollow. He even showed the pirates how the compartment worked.”

“Because he knew the pirates would never live to open it?” C.J. asked.

“That’s right.” Alan nervously eyed Darius before continuing.

“Chan Li gave the pirates a sealed container they believed contained the Dragon. They were to carry it to Singapore, where Chan Li said he would meet them, and then sell it to his connections and split the proceeds. But in the middle of the South China Sea, a hidden bomb caused the boat to blow up.

“My pirate was the only one to survive the bomb, and he realized Chan Li had duped them. He got onto a raft, and it brought him to the island. He knew he was dying. I was his only hope of getting even with Chan Li, so he told me where to find the White Dragon and how to open the grandfather clock’s secret compartment. Soon after that, he died.”

“And then?” Darius asked impatiently.

“I went to Luchow and found Chan Li’s house. I hid, watching it for several days, hoping to find it empty at some point. Then, one night, something strange happened. Lights were on, but there was no movement whatsoever.

“I sneaked up to the house. It was unguarded, so I entered. What I saw was so horrible it still gives me nightmares. A bodyguard was dead, shot to death, just beyond the doorway, and a little farther into the house was another. Then, in the main room, I found Chan Li, his blood splattered around him.

“The rooms had all been torn apart. Even the grandfather clock had been knocked on its side and the workings torn out of it, but no one tore into the unit that housed them. So, although the face had been smashed, the secret compartment wasn’t discovered. I opened it the way the pirate had said, and inside lay the White Dragon. I grabbed it and was out of the house in a matter of minutes.

“I had planned on turning everything over to the police the next day. But then I started thinking. The reward would be big, but Chan Li would have sold the jade for more. And, I figured, his buyer must be in Hong Kong since he didn’t try to smuggle the jade out of the area.

“So I hid the Dragon in the only place I knew where it would be absolutely safe for a long time. Then I started to leave little hints here and there around Hong Kong, clues, to indicate that if anyone was interested in the jade, they should talk to me. No one did.”

Alan sighed before continuing. “People were afraid because of Chan Li’s murder. Everyone knew he was connected with the theft. He had become wealthy by smuggling goods in and out of Communist China. That’s why he lived in Luchow near the border.”

“Wait,” Darius interrupted. “Where did you learn that?”

“I don’t remember. It just seemed to be general knowledge.”

“I see,” Darius said thoughtfully.

C.J. looked from one to the other. She didn’t fully understand what was going on, but she didn’t want to interrupt.

“Well, anyway,” Alan said, “a few people mentioned a wealthy man living in San Francisco named Yeng. They indicated that he might be interested in the jade. I was getting more and more nervous in Hong Kong, so I decided to play it safe. I went to San Francisco.

“I was picked up by the police as soon as I stepped off the plane. The Brits in Hong Kong had contacted them, expecting I’d show up at the airport. I hired a lawyer, who said my situation sounded dismal—something about a paper connecting me, the Dragon and Luchow.”

“I’m sorry, Alan,” C.J. said. “It must have been the note I found in your room. I showed it to a number of officials, starting in Singapore. Now I know why none of them would answer my questions about it.’’

“It’s not your fault,” Alan said bleakly.

“Why didn’t you just go to Yeng when you were released from jail?” Darius asked.

“It was because of something C.J. told me you said—that Yeng was dangerous. I didn’t want to believe it, but you were right. I had stupidly hoped Yeng would be some honest, trustworthy fellow willing to spend close to a million dollars for a very hot Chinese artifact. Who was I kidding? Even the people who told me about him never said he was a nice guy. Getting involved in all this, God, I was a fool!”

“Um hmm,” Darius murmured in agreement.

C.J. gave him a scathing look.

Alan continued, ignoring them both. “I don’t know why the police let me go. I don’t know if it was due to Yeng, or if the British decided they had nothing to hold me on, or what. I went to Yeng’s house and watched the kind of people who went in and out of it. They’re gangsters, no doubt about it. I’m afraid of Yeng, of him finding me. My sending him the name Chan Li could be my death sentence. I sent it thinking he would want to negotiate, but I’m afraid negotiating wouldn’t be on his mind. Now that he knows I have the jade, all he has to do is find me, and force me to tell him where to find it.”

“Oh, Alan.” C.J. grabbed his hands in hers.

He pulled his back as soon as he felt the bandages. “God, C.J., what did you do to yourself?”