Hollow Dolls, The (29 page)

She didn’t wear any panties. Same as her.

Kim Li squeezed the trigger.

A hole appeared in the woman’s head.

How organized she was!  Maybe she had been in the clockwork with
the munchkins. The man’s smooth skinned chin must have rested perfectly on Kim
Li’s pelvic bone. She was able to ride him sufficiently close to orgasm being
stimulated by his pointy nose. Kim Li placed the tip of her silver Ruger to the
man’s forehead after she was finished. Melanie turned back toward the foyer to
make sure it was clear. She could hardly take her eyes away. Kim Li was doing
exactly what she would have done. Except for the blood. There would have to have
been more blood if she were doing it. With the Ruger pressed to the man’s skull
Kim Li rocked back and forth against him then a small hole appeared in the
man’s forehead and a bit of blood dribbled out. Kim Li must have had an orgasm.
Like the blood was her cum. Her and Nigreda were watching closely like
students.

Kim Li and Melanie reconned back in the foyer. They scanned the dual
staircases to the second floor. Melanie took the left. She stepped quickly to
the top and they made their way down the hall to an ornate doorframe with a
porcelain white rose decorating its center. Inside the room was a naked
Caucasian man on a bed with a aged erect penis. There were naked oriental
prepubescent girls on either side holding each of his hands. Kim Li pulled a
blanket over the man’s face and plugged him with two. She pointed to the girls’
clothes. They dressed quickly and Kim Li spoke to the girls in Chinese after
which the four of them scampered down the hall to another room that had a
master key hanging on it. Kim Li opened the door to a barrack style setup with
over twenty young girls loitering about. She gestured toward them with her
finger on her lips.
Shh!
She ushered the two girls in and closed the
door, leaving all the girls in one place.

Back down the staircase on the right. A security man popped out at
the bottom like they were in a video game. Melanie reacted quickly. She saw her
shot make a hole in the man’s forehead as soon as she squeezed the trigger. Kim
Li went tumbling down the stairwell. Melanie caught up to stop her, turned Kim
Li over on her back and looked for a wound. There. Two holes in the vest. The
security man had gotten two shots off. Kim Li was choking trying to breathe and
then she opened her eyes.

“Told you we needed vests,” she groaned.

Melanie got her up and they retrieved Kim Li’s Ruger from the
stair. Melanie calculated as they walked down the rest of the way. The security
guy had tapped Kim Li twice in the chest. His next shot would have been to her
head and judging by the accuracy of the first two, she estimated that he would
have successfully made the kill shot.

“That’s two you owe me,” said Melanie.

“I’ll give you one point five, said Kim Li not missing a beat.
“The Bloods might have handed me back for the ransom.” What a comeback!
 
She
adored Kim Li for being so sharp under the circumstances.

Down by the front door they stopped at a phone table. Kim Li
dialled 911 and laid the brass and porcelain handled receiver back down by the
phone. The began making their way back toward the kitchen.

There was very little sound that could be heard during their visit
to the mansion besides the peeps and whispers by the girls and the security
guard’s two shots. Now a voice from the tiny speaker inside the telephone
handle cracked the silence and for Melanie, it seemed to make everything real
again.

“Hello, this is 911,” said the voice. “What is the nature of your
emergency? Hello 911, is anybody there. Are you able to speak?”

Melanie and Kim Li watched as one of the girls who had
courageously followed them stepped through the foyer in her bare feet. It was a
nymph. A magical creature moving through a vast mechanism of karma and bending
space and time. Clutching a virgin white pillowcase on her front to cover her
nakedness, the nymph walked toward the voice that cackled out into the
voluminous space. Upon arriving at the source the nymph stood staring into the
handle of the fancy white telephone that articulated phrases over and over like
a broken pull string toy doll.

The table top was at the girl’s eye level. She stood on her
tiptoes craned her slim powdery white neck inching her chin over the grey and
black marble ever closer to the receiver. She parted her tiny popsicle pink lips,
then froze for a moment not sure if she ought to.  

“Help pwease!”

~*~

All the next day there was ongoing news reports showing children
being led  from the Dentowne mansion into an emergency vehicles. Sidebar
stories told about all the participants arrested in the operation.

... where trouble has risen at a mansion in Shaughnessy which once
housed the Ku Klux Klan. Police have reported what looks to be a gangland-style
slaying. The mansion was assumed by the community to have been a safe house for
troubled girls which has turned out to be a cover up for a child smuggling
ring.

A total of twenty-three girls between the ages of six and twelve
were discovered in the mansion, along with one female and two male murder
victims. The deceased males are suspected to have been involved in the smuggling
ring. Six arrests were made—police have no comment on who is being charged or
with what.

The mansion was acquired from the Dentowne estate in the nineties
by a subsidiary of  Li International, a large conglomerate with head offices in
China. Attempts to contact representatives of Li International have been
unsuccessful so far. Police report they have  no suspects for the murders at
this time.

Melanie sat on the bed with Kim Li and put her hand on her
shoulder gently massaging it. Kim Li was in an instinctive post-operational
mode, debriefing herself.

“Chest okay?”

“M-hmm.”

“I got that place. Did you get my text?” said Melanie.

“Um, no. What place?” said Kim Li.

“A loft over in the east end just off Commercial. I think it will
work fine for the four of us.”

Winnie was writing an entry in the memoir out in the living room. 
Kim Li put her gun back in the bag and zipped it up.

“We should tell her,” she said.

“She already knows everything. Don’t you Win.” Melanie didn’t
bother raising her voice. She knew Winnie would be listening.

“Knows what?” said Winnie. She walked in the room with her laptop
in her hand. It was opened glowing back in her face like she was attached to
the thing.

Melanie looked at Kim Li, “Dog ears,” she said. “Winnie’s writing
our story. We’re calling it
The Man-Rabbit
.”

“Cool,” said Kim Li.

“You’ll have to send me your stuff too,” said Winnie.

“My stuff?”

“Your journals. About whatever happened that day for you.”

“Here, let me see,” said Kim Li.

She held her hand out and Winnie handed over her the laptop a
little reluctantly. Kim Li sat with it on the bed. The moment Kim Li’s fingers
touched the keys both Winnie and Melanie were in awe. She was probably
overheating the thing as she nuclear typed paragraph after paragraph. Winnie
leaned over to Melanie and whispered, “It’s
folie à trois now.”

“Let’s make coffee,” said Winnie, taking Melanie by the hand.

Winnie stopped her by the kitchen counter and whispered in her
ear.

“We’re still besties aren’t we?”

 “Always and forever.”

“There. That’s yesterday’s,” said Kim Li, walking out into the
kitchen. She held the laptop out to Winnie and nudged her while she was nom
nomming Melanie’s neck. Winnie felt like Kim Li was butting in. She turned and
glared at her, then took the laptop.

“You’re fast,” said Winnie, deciding to keep it friendly.

Kim Li ignored her and asked Melanie, “How do we contact Jack?”

“That’s the thing, I don’t know. Everything just happens when it
does.”

A knock at the door snapped everyone to attention. They looked at
one another. Winnie shrugged. “Maybe wrong room?” she whispered. Melanie put
her hand over Winnie’s mouth. Another knock, firmer, louder.

Melanie held a finger up to Winnie in the ‘Shh’ position, then
opened the door a crack.

“Hello, I’m Detective Marty Reuben and this is my partner
Detective Frank Barnes. We’d like to speak with Melanie Willow.”

“What’s this about?”

“May we come in. We just need to ask you a few questions.”

“I’m sorry this is really a bad time.”

Melanie inched the door closed to block any view. Frank stopped
the door with his foot.

“It’ll only take a few minutes Miss Willow and we’d really
appreciate your help.”

“Look. If you have a warrant fine.”

Frank moved his foot and Melanie pushed the door shut and locked
it.

Marty and Frank looked at each other.

“She’s no choir girl,” said Marty. They walked down the hall
toward the elevator.

“Is it worth getting the warrant for the Li house?” said Frank.

“Against Ben Li, to search his house. We’d never get one. Hell,
we’ll never get one against this chicky either,” said Marty. “Something’s off
here, am I right?”

“Why waste time we could spend on other cases.”

“True, Denton was scum. Whatever pond he’s in—good riddance.”

“Strippers,” said Frank. “Tough little angels some of them, eh?”

They stood at the elevator watching the numbers and then looked to
one another nodding. “She’s hiding something,” said Marty.

“Oh yeah,” said Frank.

“What was that about?” said Kim Li.

“They’re probably looking for Vic.”

“Well that money I got yesterday is for the new place,” said Kim
Li.

“Walter said he’d pay a third,” said Melanie. “That’ll save you
some money for whatever... bullets.”

“Done deal I guess,” said Kim Li.

“I made a deposit. Ten grand,” said Melanie. “We have to make
arrangements for the mortgage next week.”

“ I think we should go over this,” said Kim Li.

She pulled some papers out of her pack and handed them to Melanie.

“Huáng hacked that from the Li server. Slave trade
operations—headquarters is in Guangdong, China. Let’s find our next target.”

“Where do you thing we should start, personnel or financial?” said
Melanie.

“Double tap,” said Kim Li. “Always.”

~*~

Workers were all about the new apartment, decorating as instructed
by Kim Li’s mother. The door opened and Walter appeared holding several bags of
groceries. “Anybody home?”

“Hi Walter.” said Winnie.

“Excuse me sir.” Walter moved in and out of the way, dodging a
large box with a pair of hands clutching the front. The men didn’t pay much
attention to him or Winnie. One man jotted on a clipboard marking off inventory
as it arrived through the door. Furniture, lamps, side tables, boxes, boxes and
more boxes.

“Winnie, have you seen Melanie?” asked Walter.

“Her and Kim Li went out.” She spoke with such disappointment that
Walter gave her a hug. Winnie cringed.

“I’m so glad that you’re here!” he said. Walter leaning over some
morning glory flowers on the counter and took a sniff. Winnie offered Walter a
muffin and went back to the butcher block where her laptop and notes were.
After a few bites while he watched her type, Walter asked her how her book was
going.

“It’s crazy. That’s all I can say,” said Winnie.

 “You know,” said Walter, wiping a bit of tangerine icing from the
corner of his mouth. He looked at the dab on his finger and licked it off. “You
might be the mastermind of this whole thing.”

He rustled her hair a bit and she didn’t mind. Just not the
hugging. In fact she liked him. She missed her dad. Walter took his coffee to
the couch which some men had just placed in the living room against the wall.

“Oh, how nice.” He sat gingerly and the coffee table showed up
moments after.

“Cheers gentlemen, fine job. Carry on!”

Walter was excited. He had no idea how it was happening, only that
it was good. He set the cardboard cup of coffee down just after the table was
set in place in front of him.

Winnie felt alone and betrayed. She tried hard not to let it
affect her writing of the memoir. Sitting up straight she worked herself into a
more positive space and continued.

“I’m sure it’s nothing, just a little infatuation,” she said
aloud.

Walter bid Winnie goodbye while the men continued bringing in one
thing after another and the empty rooms slowly transformed into a furnished
home. Walter felt it was as though they’d won it all as a prize on one of those
game shows he’d been watching.