Authors: Mark Dawson
White Devil - A Beatrix Rose Thriller: Hong Kong Stories Volume 1 (Beatrix Rose's Hong Kong Stories) (9 page)
“Seriously?”
“I have another bag if you would prefer.”
She took it from him. “You’re a funny guy, Chau, anyone ever tell you that?”
“All the time.”
She slung the bag over her shoulder.
“You do not want to count it?”
“I trust you, Chau. You know it would be stupid to short-change me.”
That was the truth.
“I have spoken to Mr. Ying,” he said.
“I hope he was pleased.”
“He was very pleased. And impressed.”
“Well, that makes me very happy,” she said sardonically. “And Donnie?”
“Gone.”
“What are people saying?”
“Many things. That he has been killed, of course. Or that he has been chased away. Some have even suggested that he is working with the police. Much speculation.”
“None of which can be traced back to you.”
“No. Ying knows, of course, but it is not in his interests to reveal his hand in it.”
“Then it’s done.”
She turned to the door again, about to go. Chau needed to broach the subject now or he would lose his chance. If she left without him speaking to her about what he had in mind, there would be no second chances. She would be gone forever; he knew that for a fact. He would never see her again.
“He said something to me that I thought you might like to hear.”
“That’s probably unlikely, Chau.”
“Will you hear me out?”
She rubbed her palm against her cheek, and, exhaling, leant back against the wall. “One minute. Go.”
“Good,” he said. “Good. A cup of coffee? Something stronger? I have a bottle of sake.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Fifty seconds. Get on with it.”
He nodded and spoke quickly. “As I said, I have spoken to Mr. Ying. I will be working for him from now on, as you know. There is a lot to do. A man like Mr. Ying, the organisation he works for, well, you understand business is brisk.”
“Depressing, Chau. Twenty seconds. Get to the point.”
He flapped his hands. “Yes, yes, of course. Mr. Ying explained that, most times, the people that are in the way of the triad’s business are easy to reach. But, other times, people can be more difficult. They are cautious, they take precautions. Perhaps they have guards, or they rarely move away from places that can be defended. He said Donnie Qi was easy—”
“Then he should have done it himself.”
“—and that others would be more of a challenge. They need someone who would not be suspected.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “He have anyone in mind for this?”
“You have made an impression on him, Beatrix. The men in the bar. The men in your hotel room. And then Donnie Qi. He wants me to introduce you.”
“
That’s
not going to happen.”
“No. I said you would not be prepared to do that. But you still need money, yes?”
She shrugged, declining to answer, but Chau could tell that she did need more.
“Then perhaps I have a proposal. I will work with Mr. Ying. Front man. He will supply me with the name of the person he is interested in, and I will supply it to you. We can consider each person on their merits. If they are acceptable, then it can be as it was for Donnie Qi. You can do what needs to be done and I will make them disappear.”
He stopped, watching her face. She was inscrutable.
“The Chinese have an expression, Beatrix. ‘Life is meat.’ Life is temporary. Life comes and goes, it is brutal and it is hard. The men and women who have crossed Ying know that this is a consequence that might come to them. Life is meat. There are no innocents.”
She was silent.
“Beatrix?”
She pushed herself off the wall and stooped to collect the bag of money. “I’ll think about it.”
“We will be able to ask for more,” he said. “Thirty thousand is low for something so professional.”
“I said that I’d think about it.”
She left the office and started down the stairs.
Chau followed.
“Do you want to know what he called you?”
“Not particularly.”
“He called you
gweilo
. You know this word?”
She stopped and scowled. “Foreigner. It’s not a compliment.”
“Yes, that is right. But it also means something else. It means white devil. It is as I say, Beatrix. You have made an impression on him, and he is not a man to easily impress.”
She continued on without answering, but he saw the flicker of something across her face. Interest? Curiosity?
Maybe.
“Mr. Ying will want an answer,” he called down after her.
“I’m sure he will.” She reached the Triumph, took the helmet from the seat and settled it over her head.
“How will I know?” he said.
She turned to him, the visor hiding her face.
“How will I find you?”
She slid it up, her blue eyes flashing beneath it.
“You won’t,” she said. “I’ll find you.”
BEATRIX ROSE returns in the second Hong Kong Story
NINE DRAGONS
OUT NOW
Building a relationship with my readers is the very best thing about writing. I occasionally send newsletters with details on new releases, special offers and other bits of news relating to the John Milton, Beatrix Rose and Soho Noir series.
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Mark Dawson is the author of the breakout John Milton, Beatrix Rose and Soho Noir series. He makes his online home at
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if the mood strikes you.
Have you read them all?
In the Soho Noir Series
Gaslight
When Harry and his brother Frank are blackmailed into paying off a local hood they decide to take care of the problem themselves. But when all of London’s underworld is in thrall to the man’s boss, was their plan audacious or the most foolish thing that they could possibly have done?
The Black Mile
London, 1940: the Luftwaffe blitzes London every night for fifty-seven nights. Houses, shops and entire streets are wiped from the map. The underworld is in flux: the Italian criminals who dominated the West End have been interned and now their rivals are fighting to replace them. Meanwhile, hidden in the shadows, the Black-Out Ripper sharpens his knife and sets to his grisly work.
The Imposter
War hero Edward Fabian finds himself drawn into a criminal family’s web of vice and soon he is an accomplice to their scheming. But he’s not the man they think he is - he’s far more dangerous than they could possibly imagine.
In the John Milton Series
One Thousand Yards
In this dip into his case files, John Milton is sent into North Korea. With nothing but a sniper rifle, bad intentions and a very particular target, will Milton be able to take on the secret police of the most dangerous failed state on the planet?
Tarantula
In this further dip into his files, Milton is sent to Italy. A colleague who was investigating a particularly violent Mafiosi has disappeared. Will Milton be able to get to the bottom of the mystery, or will he be the next to fall victim to Tarantula?
The Cleaner
Sharon Warriner is a single mother in the East End of London, fearful that she’s lost her young son to a life in the gangs. After John Milton saves her life, he promises to help. But the gang, and the charismatic rapper who leads it, is not about to cooperate with him.
Saint Death
John Milton has been off the grid for six months. He surfaces in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and immediately finds himself drawn into a vicious battle with the narco-gangs that control the borderlands.
The Driver
When a girl he drives to a party goes missing, John Milton is worried. Especially when two dead bodies are discovered and the police start treating him as their prime suspect.
Ghosts
John Milton is blackmailed into finding his predecessor as Number One. But she’s a ghost, too, and just as dangerous as him. He finds himself in deep trouble, playing the Russians against the British in a desperate attempt to save the life of his oldest friend.
The Sword of God
On the run from his own demons, John Milton treks through the Michigan wilderness into the town of Truth. He’s not looking for trouble, but trouble's looking for him. He finds himself up against a small-town cop who has no idea with whom he is dealing, and no idea how dangerous he is.
In the Beatrix Rose Series
In Cold Blood
Beatrix Rose was the most dangerous assassin in an off-the-books government kill squad until her former boss betrayed her. A decade later, she emerges from the Hong Kong underworld with payback on her mind. They gunned down her husband and kidnapped her daughter, and now the debt needs to be repaid. It’s a blood feud she didn’t start but she is going to finish.
Blood Moon Rising
There were six names on Beatrix’s Death List and now there are four. She’s going to account for the others, one by one, even if it kills her. She has returned from Somalia with another target in her sights. Bryan Duffy is in Iraq, surrounded by mercenaries, with no easy way to get to him and no easy way to get out. And Beatrix has other issues that need to be addressed. Will Duffy prove to be one kill too far?
Blood and Roses
Beatrix Rose has worked her way through her Kill List. Four are dead, just two are left. But now her foes know she has them in her sights and the hunter has become the hunted.
Standalone Novels
The Art of Falling Apart
A story of greed, duplicity and death in the flamboyant, super-ego world of rock and roll. Dystopia have rocketed up the charts in Europe, so now it’s time to crack America. The opening concert in Las Vegas is a sell-out success, but secret envy and open animosity have begun to tear the group apart.
Subpoena Colada
Daniel Tate looks like he has it all. A lucrative job as a lawyer and a host of famous names who want him to work for them. But his girlfriend has deserted him for an American film star and his main client has just been implicated in a sensational murder. Can he hold it all together?
To Mrs D, FD and SD.
Thanks, as usual, to my wife for her support (especially with regard to one very important decision). Thanks to my editors, Martha Hayes and Pauline Nolet, and the members of Team Milton who stomped on typos and checked facts until this book is as shiny and pristine as we can make it. You know who you are, and you all rock.
AN UNPUTDOWNABLE ebook.
First published in Great Britain in 2015 by UNPUTDOWNABLE LIMITED
Copyright © UNPUTDOWNABLE LIMITED 2015
Formatting by Polgarus Studio
The moral right of Mark Dawson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.