Lights Out (27 page)

Lam looked through the window separating the interview room and one
of the main offices. This room had no secret two-way mirror or glass and it
even boasted a small window that let in just a small shaft of natural light
into the room. This is where they placed low-risk people that were not likely
to escape or cause harm. Lam felt that Ryan had earned his place here.

She tapped on grey metal door out of courtesy, which made Ryan jump a
little. He must be so tired. She knew his world had been turned upside down in
the space of a few weeks. His colleague and friend murdered in front of him
forcing him on the run. He had done well to keep things together as well as he
had, she thought. She looked at his clothes. His attire hadn’t much improved
since she had seen him last. He wore the same outfit that she had given him and
it now looked almost as dirty as the first set of clothes that she had found
him in. He’d even managed to get some of Jimmy’s blood onto his shirt, which
had dried now to a reddish brown. She entered the room silently and gave Ryan a
wide smile. It was good news for him. Based on what Ryan had told her in her
apartment, the police had managed to confirm his story of how the bank robbery
took place and how he was blackmailed. They verified the kidnapping of Robert
Black and Ryan’s innocent involvement with a female triad member, Lily. Which
of course was not her real name. The pieces missing were surrounding Ghost
Face. He was a threat to the police, the triads and Ryan and seemed to be the
missing piece to the puzzle. Jimmy
Luk
would be the
one to shed more light on this character. From Ryan, all that Lam wanted was
loose ends tied up.

Lam pulled out a chair and sat down facing Ryan.

“I didn’t think I’d be so happy to be sitting in an interview chair
again,” he said with a crooked half smile. He was too exhausted to offer anything
else.

“Well, you get a window this time, so things are looking up”, Lam
replied.

“Thanks for earlier” he said earnestly. “I was starting to lose the
will to live there.”

“How’s your cheek?” he said motioning to her face. With the ice bag
now gone, the swelling had reduced leaving a bright red scratch, but the skin
was not broken.

“I’m lucky”, Sarah replied. “Had he been a good shot, it would have
been a different Detective sitting here right now,” she said, touching her
cheek.

“We’ve followed up on everything that you told me previously. The
way
in which you described the bank robbery, this was
validated by our team as well as John McIntyre from the bank. The money has not
yet been recovered. As for Robert Black, unfortunately we have not been able to
find his body yet. By the time our team arrived at the warehouse, someone had
sent in a cleaner. There was nothing there, no prints, debris or sign that
someone had been killed. Our teams are still investigating the surrounding
area”. Lam continued.

“There are two people that we still need to find. One is Lily. She
has managed to disappear into thin air. As far as our records show, she doesn’t
actually exist in this Country. We followed up on the company that she owns and
it never existed, she did a good job of covering her tracks. We have no way of
tracing her or her movements. When you told us that she met Black whilst in the
states and that she attended M.I.T, we contacted the authorities there, and
we’ve been unable to trace her, she definitely would have been under another
name. Lily is clearly a very intelligent woman, who has managed to not only
pull off a sophisticated bank robbery, but also engineer a state of the art
security system enabling her and her team to enter and rob a major bank undetected.
Then, just when things were going well for her, you decided to wake up and
run.” Lam paused and looked at Ryan for a moment to make sure that he was
taking everything that she said in.

“Do you need a coffee or something, or am I good to continue?”

“No, keep going, the coffee can wait.” Ryan said, suddenly far more
awake than he had felt for hours.

“I am guessing that Lily engineered this crime, so long as it didn’t
involve any unnecessary deaths along the way, which is why she probably
negotiated that you were knocked out and left in your apartment for the police
to find, rather than killed after the robbery was finished. It was a risky move
on her part. She knew that you would be able to identify her if caught, and
would also be able to tell the police how the robbery took place. So she
couldn’t have been too concerned about that. What did concern her was the use
of her good friend Robert Black, who she believed would be released as soon as
the robbery was executed successfully. I truly believe that she would never
have negotiated her friends’ life over this otherwise. I think that this is
where her plans began to change significantly, as well as her relationship with
Ghost Face.”

Ryan nodded for Lam to continue.

“What we have on Ghost face is very limited. Thanks to our friend
Detective Jimmy
Luk
, Ghost Face has successfully been
under the radar for what we now assume is years of criminal activity. Until we
have
Luk
in a condition where he can be interviewed
we only have what you can tell us.” Lam said as she leaned back in her chair
and crossed her arms. Indicating that it was now Ryan’s turn to add some meat
to the bones of Ghost Face.

“OK, well I only spoke to him just a couple of times before the
robbery, and then for the first time face to face at the Café, when he showed
me the picture of Rob tied up. I got the impression that Lily was not very
happy about Rob, but by now she was in far too deep to alter the course of
events. Ghost Face was definitely the muscle and the driving force behind the
robbery; Lily was the tech in this case.

The next time I saw him was when I tried to get Rob out. This time
things had clearly gone sour between him and Lily. Had we stayed there, for
sure all three of us would have ended up dead. He wanted no loose ends, and that
also included her. He was angry and violent. We only had minutes with Rob
before he died. He said that he was sure that the police were involved, that
he’d heard conversations through the door. That’s all I know. I’ve had no
contact with Lily since then. I don’t know where she went. I don’t know where
Ghost Face is. But for sure he knew I was coming in to see you. Jimmy would
have handed me over, and I would have been killed, I feel sure about that.”
Ryan said flatly.

“Lily is in far more danger than I am right now.”

Lam picked up the thread.

“If she’s a triad member, then she’s a new one. Probably enrolled for
her expertise in engineering and computers. Ghost Face is old school. We’ve
seen his type before. He will stop at nothing to complete a task. He’ll have
powerful allies and friends that he can call upon. He’ll be able to threaten
and bribe his way out of anything.” She said, disappointed at the thought of
losing this fish.

“I need you to try and contact Lily. She’s our only link with Ghost
Face.”

Ryan nodded. “Unless he has managed to get to her first.” He said.

Lam walked back to her office and sat down heavily in her chair. She
needed a lead, just something small that would give her the break she needed.
Something to sink her teeth into.

Just then her ancient computer did it’s usual sound as the screen
came on bringing it out of it’s hibernation. An icon flashed in the top corner
of her screen telling her that there was a message on the internal intranet.
Lam clicked on the icon and entered her six-digit password to allow her to gain
access to the site. Once in, she saw a message waiting for her from Detective
Wong, who she knew was trying to crack the prostitute murders. It was normal
for detectives to share information about cases and also to cross-reference
between departments. In this instance it was relating to footage just in of the
serial murderer. Detective Wong was asking all departments to review the
footage and to brief their Detectives that if they come across this man, then
they would need to bring him in. Lam clicked on the large play icon, and the
short thirty-second footage began to play. It was black and white and grainy
and she had to squint to make out what she was looking at. Eventually it became
clear that a street CTTV camera was positioned towards a shuttered shop front,
which then lead into a narrow side street. The first few seconds played and
there was nothing to see. The top right hand side of the video displayed the
date and time in green. Just when Lam was wondering why Detective Wong had sent
her the footage a figure emerged into the streetlight. It was momentary, and
fleeting. But it was clear. A man dressed in a dark suit walked down the
alleyway toward the shop front. Lam felt the hairs on her arms stand up. She
quickly rewound the footage. She pressed play again. This time she leaned in
closer to try to get a better look, but there was no mistaking the face, she
would have recognized it anywhere. She watched as the smooth white-faced man
walked down the alleyway again. His skin so pale against the dark night, that
he could have been a ghost.

Breathless Lam grabbed her desk phone and punched in the Chief’s
number, tapping her fingers impatiently on the desk.

“Chief Inspector’s Office”, the female voice spoke politely on the
other end of the phone.

“Where’s the Chief”, Lam barked, more forcefully than she meant.

“He’s in a meeting this afternoon. Is that Detective Lam?” The voice
purred, knowing full well that it was.

“Yes, yes. Please ask him to call me the second he comes out of his
meeting. It’s urgent.” Without waiting for a reply Lam had replaced the
receiver and tried to gather he thoughts. She had been waiting for this moment
for a long time. She knew that she would recognize his face again if she saw
it. She had dreamt about what she would do if she ever found herself face to
face with the man that killed her partner and left her for dead. More than
anything she wanted Wong to find this man. Not for the number of women that he
had murdered, not for the safety and protection of others, but for her.
Her own selfish vengeance in its purest form.

Lam dialed Wong’s extension number and was tapped through to his
voice mail. She left him a message to call her, and leaving her cell number
replaced the receiver again. This time she was calmer. Needing a distraction,
she stood and grabbed her jacket and car keys. She decided that it was time to
pay Jimmy
Luk
a visit and see whether he was out of
his anesthetic and ready to talk to her.

Ryan held the mobile phone to his ear and listened to the ring tone,
this was the fifth time that he had tried Lily’s number in the last two hours,
but with no answer. It didn’t click on to voice mail, it just rang out, until a
recorded message asked him to try and call again later. Thinking that perhaps
Lily would be screening her calls, he tried to text her.

Lily, it’s Ryan, I really need to talk
to you, please call
me or text
me. Thanks Ryan.

He didn’t expect a response. She was probably long gone now, probably
not even in the Country. The phone disregarded or destroyed, her traces well
covered. If he were in Lily’s shoes, he would probably do the same, so he
couldn’t really blame her. He somehow didn’t see her as the big villain
anymore. Ghost Face had filled that position quite well, and made anything that
Lily had done look positively minor. His feelings right now were not as he had
expected and he wanted nothing more than to see her again. To sit with her and
listen to her side of the story, learn what had driven her down this path, and
why things ended as they had. He knew, the second that Lily came within
distance
of
Sarah Lam or the police, that she would be
arrested immediately. She would be charged with masterminding the bank robbery,
kidnapping, manslaughter on two counts, then there would be charges of
extortion and money laundering and black mail. The list would go on and on. If
she
was
loyal, then she would be the one to shoulder
all of the responsibility. He didn’t put her down as the type that would allow
other people to take the blame. She wouldn’t negotiate a lighter sentence, he
thought, she would just accept it all.

Suddenly he didn’t want her to get caught. He wanted to warn her and
protect her. But he didn’t know what he could do or offer.

He grabbed his phone again and started typing.

Lily, I have some information about
Ghost Face, you really need to call me.

He hoped that if she did read her messages, that she would be curious
enough to contact him.

Lily sat on the edge of her couch looking at her mobile phone. She
kept it switched off most of the time, she didn’t want her location tracing,
and tried to keep the time short. It had been a few hours since she had last
checked her messages. She pressed the black on button at the top of her phone,
and waited patiently for it to go through its start up sequence. Eventually the
phone was on, and she had a good signal. Within seconds her phone started
beeping as messages began to come in. She scanned the small screen. She had two
from the same number and one from a number that she didn’t recognize.

The first two she read were from Ryan. She knew that he’d been picked
up by the police and suspected that he had been interviewed already. They would
have a good description of her by now and would have done their homework on her
business activities and past history. There would be a warrant for her arrest,
so getting out of the Country would be more difficult that her Grandmother had
perhaps anticipated. She didn’t even know if the messages were really from Ryan,
or whether they were simply from his phone, and the police were trying to catch
her out by typing on his behalf.

The third message confused her. She read it again for a second time.

I need your help to catch Ghost Face.
We can do a deal.

Lily switched the phone off again and sat back on the couch.
That’s strange
, she thought. If the
third message is from the police, then the first two messages must be from
Ryan. She thought through her options. Lily needed Ryan to get close to Ghost
Face. She would have to take a few risks, she knew that, but if she was
arrested before she had the opportunity, then for sure there would be a triad
war, and she would have failed her Grandmother.

She switched the phone on again, and waited for the signal to show.
As soon as the seven signal bars were showing on the screen, she pressed the
call button and held her breath whilst the call connected and the dial tone
rang in her ear.

She didn’t have to wait long. By the second ring, Ryan had picked up
the call.

“Lily, is that you?” He said, a little surprised that she had called.

“Yes, it’s me. Where are you?” She asked quickly, not wanting to stay
on the line too long.

“I’m at the station. Lily, they want me to help to get Ghost Face,
and I need you to help me. But the second you come anywhere near they’ll arrest
you. You can’t come in. The police are corrupt too Lily. One of the Detectives
was working with the triads, no one can be trusted.” He was talking quickly
now, his voice staying low, so that his conversation could be private.

“OK, I understand, but I also need Ghost Face. He is a traitor and he
killed my friend. I will find him.” She said, sounding more courageous than she
felt.

“You don’t need to call me again. I’ll call you if I need anything.”

“Watch your back Lily”. Ryan said.

“I will.” With that she finished the call and switched off the phone.
The call had lasted thirty-five seconds. She didn’t know exactly how long it
took to trace a call. Landlines were instantaneous these days, since the
telecom world had switched to digital, so when she renovated her house she had
decided to keep everything remote, including her phone. For cell phones, she
knew that the speed of a trace varied greatly depending on the phone unit, as
well as the location where the call was coming from. Even though her home was
remote, her signal was strong which meant that it was easier to trace her
calls, and quicker. She estimated that it would take well under a minute, and
she would need to keep calls under forty seconds to protect herself.

She switched her phone on again, this time to call whoever had
offered her a deal. She would need the help of the police to get Ghost Face,
and maybe this person would be able to help.

She dialed the number and waited. This time the call rang through for
a long time, until eventually the call connected and a
womans
voice answered.

“Detective Lam”, was the response. Lam sounded impatient as though
she didn’t have time to be taking unimportant calls.

“This is Lily, you sent me a text message.” Lily said simply.

There was a moment of silence whilst Lam scrambled to her feet and
signaled through the glass to her colleague to trace the call. She took in a
deep breath and sat down in her chair.

“
Lily,
thanks for calling me. I’d like to
talk to you for a moment about Ryan Harper.” She said, thinking of ways to keep
the call going until she had the green light from the other room.

“Please keep it quick, you have twenty seconds.” Lily responded.

Lam rolled her eyes and signaled for the team to speed up the trace.

“Do you think I can persuade you to some into the station? We need
your help to catch Ghost Face and I’m prepared to cut you a deal. You know him
better than anyone, and we need inside information to catch him.” Lam’s voice
was genuine.

Lily looked at her watch, just five seconds to go.

“We can switch to email.” Lily said.

“[email protected], that’s Lily with a y.” Lily clicked the
off button and closed down her phone.

Sarah sat for a moment with her mobile still against her ear.
Clever girl
, she thought. There were so
many untraceable emails these days that even leading FBI and CIA agents had
been unable to hack into these sites. Their security was so tight and so
complicated that they had become
favourites
within
criminal networks.

This website was one of the big ones. Given that a member didn’t need
to offer any information and that it was an
internet
site, it made the whole process utterly remote. Lily could be in a café, at the
airport or out of the Country and feel safe corresponding by email.

She turned in her chair and pulled up her email.

Her colleague leaned in through the door. “Sorry Lam, we were five
seconds short of getting her location. She’s still in Hong Kong, that’s all we
know.”

“OK” Lam said indicating that there was nothing more to say as she started
to type to Lily.

Lily.

We know that Ghost Face is responsible
for all of the murders. We know that your involvement was purely to rob the
bank, and that you had no intention for Robert Black to be killed. I know he
was a good friend of yours.

If you come in and help us catch him,
we can reduce your sentence and cut you a deal. We can remove the manslaughter
charges. But you will have to face the bank robbery charges. With good
behaviour
, you’ll serve ten years at the very most.

If you don’t come in we will find and
arrest you. Then you’ll be charged for the whole thing, and it’s likely that
once the judge is done, that you’ll be looking at life.

Think it over.

Detective Sarah Lam

Lam signed off and kept the screen open. Within seconds a reply came
through.

Lam,

No deal, but I’ll help you to get Ghost
Face. I need Harper. Ghost Face wants him dead, he can identify him. We’ll set
up a meeting place with Harper. Ghost Face will come, and then he’s yours.

You should know something, if you
haven’t worked it out already. He murdered the three prostitutes. You’ll never
get anything else to stick with triad related charges, he knows that and can
implicate too many influential people, but for the prostitutes, you may have a
chance.

Trust no one.

L

Lam stared at the screen and read the message again. She could see
his face so clearly. His pale skin, his cold dark eyes and his cruel twisted
mouth. He had haunted her dreams for so many years, and now in the space of a
day, he had been thrust upon her a second time.

Lam had spent the last two hours with Jimmy
Luk
in the hospital pushing him for information. At first he was reluctant,
frightened even. He didn’t trust anyone, even her. But slowly he had started to
talk. He was in so deep now. It had started innocently enough, years before.
Lam believed that as a member of the police force there would be a time in
everyone’s career, where you could be compromised, and you would be forced to
make a decision and to choose a path. Maybe it would be something minor; using your
status for some form of gain, a better seat at a restaurant or a free bottle of
wine. Perhaps accepting a bribe that should rather be disclosed. Everyone has a
choice to either allow oneself to be drawn in, or be the bigger person and do
what’s right. She had always felt that the hardest path to follow is the
righteous one and she didn’t want to judge
Luk
too
harshly, but he had come to that fork in the path, and instead of standing up
to what was right, informing his Chief of what was happening, he had submitted
to fear and greed allowing himself to be corrupted. Lam had listened in silence
as
Luk
told her his story.

He had been sent down to a Wan Chai brothel after reports that a
triad gang was harassing a woman in the street. It was just at the time when
the Government had changed their laws and had banned whorehouses, only allowing
one-woman brothels in the City. This had left triad-run organizations in a
difficult position and the women, now seeing that they could legally sell sex
and from their own homes, were starting to leave their ‘illegal’ employment.
Even with the triads threatening their workers, it didn’t seem to make a real
difference and the Government was praised with its new policy and control of
sex workers. When
Luk
got to the scene, the woman was
still shouting in the street at three men. She had been badly beaten, her hair
crazy and knotted, her dress ripped and
Luk
could see
bruises fresh across her chest and legs where she had been kicked and punched.
One of the men was yelling back to her.

“You are so ugly, no one would pay for you now. Look at you, you are
nothing but trash.” The man shouting was laughing as he taunted the woman. “You
will starve on your own, how will you feed yourself? “ he jeered, “And when you
come back begging for us to help you, to take you in when you are at your
lowest, the door will be closed in your face.” He spat on the floor in front of
her.

Luk
didn’t like the scene that was unfolding. He and
his colleague stepped out from the shadows and
Luk
pulled out his badge. The sudden movement made the men turn. Seeing
Luk
immediately resulting in the men fleeing in different
directions. Shouting orders to his colleague,
Luk
targeted the man that had been doing all the talking. He made chase, following
him down back streets and between restaurants, over garbage bags and bins,
dodging people and cars. The chase led
Luk
towards
the Wan Chai playground. An open area in the middle of the city surrounded by
high rises, where kids could play soccer or basketball on hard grey tarmac. It
was a known area to the police for drugs and gangs. The walkways surrounding
the playground had pillars and high metal fences, making it hard for
Luk
to see clearly in front of him. He slowed down to a
fast walk and discreetly pulled out his gun, keeping it at his side to avoid
any panic from the public. He scanned the playground and the people walking
past him, looking at their faces. He walked towards the top corner of the
playground. As he drew close he felt the sharp point of a knife in his back and
a hiss in his ear.