Drawn in Blood (38 page)

In the office of his palatial Hong Kong mansion, Johnny Liu’s private telephone line rang.

He lifted the receiver and, as was his custom, said nothing. If the person at the other end was one of the select few who’d been given this number, he or she would know to speak first.

“Liu? It’s Keong.”

It was Sergeant David Keong, Liu’s best and most loyal contact at the Hong Kong Police Department.

“Yes. Go ahead,” he said, using the Loong Doo dialect the two men shared.

Keong fol owed suit, stating his business in the same prided dialect. “The FBI has been on the phone with our department al weekend. Many questions about Meili were asked. Answers were supplied by others beyond my influence. The death certificate was located. They are on the verge of figuring things out. I thought you should know right away.”

“You thought correctly. My thanks.”

Liu disconnected the cal .

Then he dialed Xiao Long on his throwaway phone.

Xiao answered instantly, greeting his Dragon Head with the utmost respect and, as always, in Loong Doo.

“I just heard from Keong,” Liu said without preamble. “The FBI has made the connection to Meili. It’s time to finish what we’ve begun. You did good work with Leary. Go on to Martino.”

Sloane met Derek at a smal café near her parents’ apartment.

“You summoned. I obeyed. Here I am.” She sat down across from Derek at the private corner table he’d requested—but not before giving him a long hel o kiss and scrutinizing his face. “You look wiped,” she noted.

“Nothing a little rest won’t fix.”

A teasing smile curved Sloane’s lips. “I have to admit, the five o’clock shadow is kind of sexy.” She reached across the table and rubbed her knuckles against his jaw. “In fact, al of you is kind of sexy. I missed you this weekend.”

“Don’t tempt me. Or we’l be banished from this café for life.” Derek kissed her fingertips. “The good news is I’m coming home tonight. So you’l have a chance to show me just how much you missed me. Plan on an al nighter.”

“I’m up for it.” Concern flickered across Sloane’s face. “But I’m not sure you are. Did you get
any
sleep since Friday?”

“A catnap here and there. But Rich and I final y got our answers.”

“I’m al ears.”

Derek leaned forward, speaking in a hushed tone despite the fact that they were very much alone. “You were right. There’s a major connection between Cindy Liu and Meili.

They’re cousins. Meili was Johnny Liu’s daughter.”

Sloane let out a whistle. “That puts things in perspective.”

“Yeah. Also, I ran that background check on Cindy. She’s squeaky clean, from top grades at the best schools to a prestigious job at a major architectural firm. Interesting side note—she and her uncle are very close. As a kid, she traveled with him, grew up at his knee. She was more interested in his world than in the traditional one her parents wanted for her.”

“So she and her uncle planned this.” Sloane gave a rueful shake of her head. “Cindy is part of the retribution Liu has planned for Wal ace. He capitalized on his niece’s striking resemblance to Meili, asked her to play it to the hilt and make Wal ace fal in love with her. And it worked. What’s more, I doubt it’s more than the tip of the iceberg. If Liu’s hatred has been festering for two and a half years, a broken heart for Wal ace is only the beginning.”

“I agree. There’s no doubt that, in Liu’s mind, Wal ace is the vil ain in this tragedy.”

“Liu seems to have selective memory,” Sloane responded drily. “He’s the one who turned his daughter away and virtual y disowned her when she came to him, pregnant and alone. I’d say that played a major role in her suicide.”

“No argument. It’s much easier for a proud, stubborn man like Liu to put al the blame on Wal ace than to assume any of it himself. But Wal ace’s affair with Meili isn’t the only issue here. It’s what Liu sees as instigating it.”

“My father’s art partnership’s lowbal ing her on the second Rothberg, and forcing her to sel it way below value. Pushing her closer to destitution.” Sloane sighed. “And then the icing on the cake—that stupid bet they made about when Wal ace would get her into bed.”

“You got it.” Derek spoke gently but candidly with Sloane. “Al five partners were involved in the two events that, in Johnny Liu’s mind, pushed Meili over the edge. We’ve already discussed what he considers to be Wal ace’s sins. Ben and your father were the most vocal when it came to intentional y under-valuing the worth of the Rothberg Meili tried to sel them.

To top that off, Ben initiated a bet that centered on Meili’s virtue. The sum total of results? Your father’s office has been ransacked, your mother has been beaten up, then kidnapped and nearly kil ed. As for Ben, he’s been pushed to the point of self-destruction. Phil was kil ed. That leaves Leo and your father.” Anxiety tightened Sloane’s features. “You don’t think that what Xiao’s thugs did to my mother, and the knife assault on me, were enough retribution when it comes to my father?”

“Not compared to Ben’s bankruptcy, total alcohol dependence, and possible jail time. Not compared to Phil’s cold-blooded murder. And not compared to whatever vile plan Liu has in store for Wal ace. Your mother’s assault at the apartment wasn’t planned; she interrupted the break-in at their apartment. As for her kidnapping, it was aborted before Liu could have her kil ed. The fact that she’s stil alive is a thorn in his side. And the SOB Xiao sent to slash your palm? That was Liu’s idea of a warning for you to back off. Otherwise, he would have sent Xiao himself, or Jin Huang, not some scrawny kid. No, none of those incidents targeted your father’s core, or destroyed him in the fundamental way Liu seems to be aiming for.”

“You’re right,” Sloane replied grimly. “Liu is going for each man’s Achil es’ heel and using it to destroy his life. Especial y Wal ace. I shudder to think what Liu considers brutal enough for Wal ace…” Sloane broke off, al the color draining from her face. “Oh God.”

“What is it?”

For a long moment Sloane didn’t speak. And when she did, it was in a strained, sickened tone. “My father said Meili ended the affair with Wal ace around Christmastime 2005.

What’s the date on Meili’s death certificate?”

“January 2006.” Derek’s eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out Sloane’s anguished reaction. “The dates make sense.”

“Maybe too much sense.” Sloane squeezed her eyes shut, and when she opened them, there was pain reflected in them. “Derek, the unknown hit-and-run driver who kil ed Wal ace’s daughter, Sophie…” Sloane swal owed hard. “The crime was committed on April 11, 2006. Three months after Meili kil ed herself.”

“Shit.” Derek felt bile rise in his throat. “That sounds like a hel of a coincidence to me.”

“It sounds like an eye for an eye. Or, in this case, a daughter for a daughter. And if it’s true…Derek, I’m not sure Wal ace can survive this.”

“And Liu’s not finished. His plan seems to be coming to a head.”

“Why now?”

“I’m not sure. But I intend to find out. Meanwhile, Phil was just murdered. Cindy Liu is about to tear out whatever’s left of Wal ace’s heart, with God knows what to fol ow.” Derek seized Sloane’s hands. “Listen to me. I’ve already arranged for extra security on Ben, Wal ace, Leo, and your father. But they’ve got to be warned that their worlds are about to be blown apart.”

“I agree.” Sloane met Derek’s gaze. “I’l talk to my dad. I’l also
try
to get through to Ben. For Wal ace, this news also has to come from me. I’l see how he handles the part about Meili before I decide if I should mention my theory about Sophie’s death. Right now, it’s pure speculation. But he has to be prepared just in case it turns out to be fact. How and when I tel him…I’l have to play that one by ear. In the meantime, I don’t want any of the other men to know.”

“I agree.” Derek nodded. “In the meantime, leave Leo to me. He’s met Cindy, and I’m sure he’s seen the resemblance to Meili. So don’t be surprised if, once I fil him in on the kind of danger he’s up against, he figures out that she’s part of this plot. In the meantime, I want to confront him head-on about what he was searching for the night I caught him rifling through your file. I’m hoping that my warning about Liu and Xiao Long, together with what he figures out about Cindy, wil rattle him enough to tel me. And if we’re lucky, his answer wil give us a clue about Liu’s agenda.”

“Are you heading over to Leo’s studio now?”

“Right after you promise me you’l be careful. You should know that I also put extra security on you.”

“Over and above what you’ve already provided—why?”

“Because it’s probable that you and your mother are Liu’s ultimate targets when it comes to punishing your father. You’re both what means the most to him. I’m not taking any chances—especial y since I’m sure Xiao’s stil keeping an eye on you and wil be alerted by his punk kids the minute you walk into Wal ace’s gal ery. Wal ace is back in the city, by the way. He and Cindy drove in from the Hamptons a few hours ago. They’re each at work. So you can catch Wal ace alone.” Sloane was quiet for a moment. “Even if I don’t tel him about Sophie, the rest of this is going to tear him up. Not just Cindy’s betrayal, but that Meili was pregnant with his child, that her father disowned her when he found out, and that she committed suicide. Wal ace was deeply in love with her. And he knows nothing about her life since the day she ended their affair.”

“If it’s too much for you, I can talk to him,” Derek offered.

“Thanks, but no. This is something I have to do.”

Ben was slumped over his desk, head lol ed to one side.

One eye cracked open. The whiskey bottle was almost empty. It didn’t matter. He couldn’t reach it anyway. His arms wouldn’t work. None of him would work. Except his goddamned mind. Dul ed to the point of unconsciousness, it stil refused to shut up.

Murderer. He was a murderer. Directly. Indirectly. He was kil ing the people he loved.

Flashes of memory. Blanks he couldn’t fil in. Images he’d never forget.

Is this how Phil had felt when the spray of bul ets tore through him? No. Phil hadn’t had time to remember anything. No cherished memories. No moments of joy. Unlike Ben, Phil had never harmed anyone but himself. His soul had been free of guilt, and yet Ben had deprived him of the precious flashbacks that defined his life. So what had Phil felt? Pain. Sharp, life-draining pain. Then, death.

Al Ben’s fault.

And Sophie. Beautiful, little Sophie. With the purest of souls, and not enough years behind her to have begun forming the priceless memories she deserved. At the very start of her young life. Gone in an instant. Had she been afraid? In pain? Had she cal ed out for her daddy? Or had death come quickly?

If the gates of heaven were strewn with stars, then Sophie was the brightest star in the sky.

The daisies. Had he picked the daisies? Was it the eleventh yet? Or had it slipped by while he was inside a bottle? He’d never missed that date, not since the first one. He couldn’t see the calendar, couldn’t remember what day, what month, what year it was.

Dear God, why couldn’t he just die? Hel could be no worse than this.

“Martino.”

He heard the voice, but it was muted and very far away.

“Martino.” This time it was accompanied by thick hands around his neck, and a powerful jerk, yanking him up. “I come for money.” The face swam in front of Ben’s drunken gaze. Jin Huang.

“No money,” he croaked out. “No girls. No work. No money.”

Jin Huang’s emotionless gaze flickered across the factory floor below. It was unnatural y stil . No workers. No activity. No production.

No surprise. Xiao Long had pul ed his girls from Martino’s place the day the government found out Martino was employing il egals.

“Take whatever you want,” Ben muttered into the desk. “Take it al . There’s nothing left.”

“Xiao Long not happy.”

“Tel him he’s welcome to kil me. I wish he would.”

“Good idea. He’d enjoy. But maybe he not come in time. Maybe you kil you first,” Jin Huang replied, his words as stilted as his English. “Or maybe Johnson kil you. Xiao. You.

Johnson. Al have reasons. No matter what, you die. Soon.”

Sloane felt physical y il as she opened the door to Wal ace’s gal ery and stepped inside to the tinkling of the bel .

Talking to her father had been a cinch compared to what she had to do now. And talking to Ben hadn’t happened. He’d been so out of it when she cal ed, she’d given up and agreed to let her father try getting through to him.

But Wal ace. Poor Wal ace. This was going to be one of the hardest conversations Sloane had ever had.

Thankful y, his gal ery was quiet, with just two or three patrons browsing around. One of Wal ace’s assistants was helping them. When he saw Sloane, he held up his index finger in a “one minute” gesture, then excused himself from his potential customer and went into the back office.

When he returned, Wal ace was with him. He was tan and relaxed, looking happier than Sloane had seen him in ages.

She was about to blow al that newfound joy to bits.

“Sloane, this is a pleasant surprise,” he greeted her. “Are you ready to select some paintings for the cottage?”

“I wish that’s why I was here,” Sloane replied soberly. “Unfortunately, it’s not. Can we please talk privately?” Wal ace’s smile vanished, and his forehead creased in concern. “Is it Ben? Did something happen over the weekend?”

“No, nothing like that.” Sloane’s gaze flickered to the rear of the gal ery. “Is your office empty?”

“Yes. Come in. Let’s talk there.”

Once they were inside the office with the door shut, Wal ace gestured for Sloane to take a seat. “What can I offer you—coffee? Water? Soda?” Sloane glanced over at the smal fridge in the corner. “Water would be great, thank you.” Requesting the water served two purposes. To ease the mounting tension. And to give her something to keep her hydrated so she didn’t pass out during what promised to be a long, draining conversation.

Wal ace got out two bottles and handed one to Sloane.

He uncapped his and stood beside his large teak desk, watching her.