Lights Out (5 page)

Fifteen miles away, a car pulled up outside of the Water Margin
Chinese Restaurant on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong. At first glance the
passenger that stepped out of the black Mercedes-Benz looked unremarkable, his
black hair was slicked back neatly against his head. He was dressed in a black
suit with a black tie, and looked like so many other Chinese businessmen from
the City. The only thing that stood him apart from everyone else was his
unusually white skin. If it wasn’t for his dark hair and black eyes, he could
easily have been mistaken for an Albino.

In his right hand he held a newspaper. As he approached the entrance
of the restaurant he tucked the newspaper under his arm and opened the door.

Once inside, a pretty Chinese hostess was waiting to greet him. She
was dressed in a full length pale yellow silk Cheong Sam covered with delicate
embroideries of plum blossoms and oriental birds. Her thick black hair was
plaited and sat over her right shoulder almost reaching her waist. She gave him
a gentle nod of recognition before averting her eyes and motioned for him to
follow her.

They walked in silence to the back of the bustling, noisy restaurant
and down a narrow corridor with a large fish tank situated against the wall.
The décor was dark and ostentatious with red and gold patterned walls.
Traditional Chinese artworks, vases and dragon sculptures sat on pedestals
lining both sides of the corridor.

The air smelt both perfumed and smoky. The Chinese man could detect
the aroma of incense burning in a room somewhere. It’s distinct smell giving
the restaurant an air of tradition and mystery.

As they reached the end of the corridor there was a dark wooden door
to the left. Here the hostess stopped and knocked once, then swiftly turned and
left the Chinese man waiting. The door promptly opened from the inside
releasing cigarette smoke into the corridor. The pale Chinese man stepped
inside and the door closed behind him, leaving the smoke hanging mid-air
momentarily before it rose up to the ceiling and dissolved.

Upon entering the room, the Chinese man observed the large, centrally
placed circular table covered with a heavily embroidered red silk cloth, typical
in private dining rooms. On top of the cloth was a round piece of glass protecting
the fabric from spills and stains. Each chair around the table was upholstered
in extravagant jacquard silk fabrics set into intricate wooden carved frames.
Along the back wall hung heavy deep red velvet curtains, draped from floor to
ceiling and closed, shutting out any daylight. A chandelier was set high above
the
centre
of the table directing the main pool of
light into the middle of the room whilst casting ominous shadows into the
corners.

Only two people sat at the table facing the Chinese man.

A slim elderly Chinese woman, slightly hunched with age, sat
gracefully at the table. Her white hair was pinned up in an extravagant
oversized bun, held into place with a single gold pin. She was wearing a dark
gold silk jacket with a high mandarin collar and matching long straight silk
skirt that touched the floor. She sat on a chair that had been placed parallel
to the table making it easier for her to sit. Her walking stick was propped up
against the side of her leg. She had light transparent skin, delicately folded
with age. Pale blue veins and brown sunspots scattered her features, poorly
hidden by her thick make-up. Her left hand was calmly resting in her lap,
whilst she leaned with her right arm on the table. She was smoking a cigarette
through a long black cigarette holder reminiscent of another time. She had a
distinct yellow gold and jade ring on her right index finger and wore a long
jade pendant in the shape of a dragon around her neck and dainty jade drop
earrings.

A young Chinese woman sat next to her. She was good looking, with
long straight black hair that tumbled down her back. She wore very little
make-up with just a hint of mascara around her large almond shaped eyes. She
wore a simple black dress with a round neck and no sleeves, showing off her
lean tanned arms. She wore the same yellow gold and jade ring on her index
finger as the elderly woman. Both women exuded an air of confidence and
impatience, indicating to the late arrival, that it was time for their meeting
to start.

“You’re late ”, the young
Chinese woman broke the silence. Her voice was clipped and sharp.

“I had a unavoidable stop to make on the way” the Chinese man spoke
softly, promptly pulling out a chair and sitting down across from the two
women. He threw his newspaper onto the table allowing it to slide across the
glass towards them.

“It didn’t go as planned”
he said now motioning to the front page. A large picture of the Asia World Bank dominated the newspaper followed
by the headline
;

Bank security prevents robbery bid.

“But of course you know
that already”, he said with a trace of sarcasm toward the young woman. “We
hadn’t anticipated that the security guards would be armed with live rounds,
and we’ve since learned that the swipe card that we had been given was void.”
He flashed an accusing look toward the young woman. “We can afford to lose one
man.” He continued, “He was not important, a simple fool. We can use someone
else, a real worker from the construction company, but this time we’ll ensure
that he’s discreet, fast and successful.”

The old woman slowly positioned her long cigarette holder against the
ashtray allowing the smoke to twist and spiral upwards instead of putting it
out.

“It does not matter if the cat is black or white, Ghost Face, as long
as it catches mice.” Her voice was hoarse with age and smoke. She continued,
looking directly at him.

“But there is no time to repeat any mistakes. This was an unnecessary
error, which has cost us valuable time. If there are strong Generals, Ghost
Face, there should be no weak soldiers. A poor selection on your part I
believe.” Her crooked gnarled fingers moved across the table to a slim wooden
box. Drawing the box closer to her body, she proceeded to gently drum her
fingers across it.

Ghost Face, nodded respectfully in the direction of the old woman.

“Understood” he said, his voice now calm. “I will not fail you a
second time”.

She turned towards the young Chinese woman sitting next to her.

“Lillian,” she allowed herself a small smile, bearing browned old
teeth as she spoke her name, “your news?”

“The man that we plan to use for the security access for the main
bank entrance and the vault is almost on board”, she replied with confidence.
“I don’t see that it is going to be a problem”.

Ghost Face interrupted her thread.

“In case there is a problem” he interjected, “We have something that
will ensure that he’ll become a willing participant.”

“And security?” The elderly woman asked. “Are you going to be ready
this time?”

“There’s no doubt that security will be a focus for the bank for the
next few days. It’s nothing that we can’t handle. All of the new cameras will
be in place and operational by next Monday. I have the five men that I need for
the job, all experienced, and all trusted members.” Lillian said.

Ghost Face spoke to both women.

“My police contact tells
me that they have nothing on the old man, it’s a cold case for them. They have
nothing to link him to us and so I feel that we can still proceed with
confidence.” He finished.

The old woman continued to drum her fingers on the slim wooden box.

“There can be no more mistakes.” Her voice was calm but firm. “I will
not accept failure on any level. Any mishap could be very damaging to our
business.”

The old woman stopped drumming her fingers and spoke to them both
;

“We don’t need to meet again now until after the event.”

“You can take one of these phones”, She said, as she opened the lid
on the wooden box and took out two brand new white mobile phones. She pushed
the white phones toward the
centre
of the table.
Continuing, she said, “It is now the only phone from which you can contact me
and each other, these, I am told, cannot easily be traced.” “There is one for
each of you.”

Lillian reached forwards to take her phone and slipped it immediately
into her bag.

“You can now leave”, the elderly woman said to Ghost Face and Lillian
as she drew again on her cigarette, and exhaled blue smoke into the air between
them, confirming that the meeting had indeed finished.

They looked at each other in silence and nodded. They swiftly
collected their belongings and exited the room, leaving the Chinese woman
sitting alone at the table.

When she was sure that they had gone, she leaned forward and placed
her cigarette against the ashtray.

“You can come out now”, she said.

There was a rustle behind her and from behind the heavy red curtain
stepped a Chinese man. He was tanned and sinewy with shoulder length greasy
black hair, slicked back and tied into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. He
wore a plain black t-shirt, denim jeans and black trainers. His forearms were
covered in tattoos depicting a tiger on one side and a dragon on the other,
both animals wrapping themselves up the full length of his forearms and
disappearing into his sleeve. His face was pot marked and scarred and his features
motionless. He stood before the elderly woman as silent as he had behind the
curtain.

“I don’t trust Ghost Face. I want you to follow him and report back
to me. I want to know everything that he does, every move that he makes and
every person that he sees. Now go”.

Without saying a single word the man bowed and slipped silently out
of the room.

Outside the restaurant Ghost Face lit up a cigarette. The air around
him felt humid and sticky. He was distracted. He didn’t like it when things
didn’t go to plan and he found working with Lillian insufferable.

He put his hand into his inside pocket and pulled out the new white
mobile phone.

He punched in a number and waited.

“Yes” a male voice replied.

“We need to talk”

“OK, tomorrow morning at ten, the usual place.”

Without responding Ghost Face tapped
the off button on the screen and slipped it back into his pocket.

Ryan sat in the restaurant waiting for Lily to arrive. She was late,
more than fashionably late. He pushed back the cuff of his shirt and checked
his watch again.

He had opted to sit facing the entrance so that he would be aware
when Lily arrived, as well as offering him a good view of the other diners.

He shifted in his chair to try to get more comfortable.

To Ryan’s immediate right sat two women in their mid-thirties, very
well dressed and clearly close friends. They were leaning towards each other
across the small round table in deep conversation, broken only by the
occasional raucous laughter and a pause to take a sip from their wine glasses,
oblivious to anyone else around them.

Ryan passed his gaze across the rest of the large room. She’d chosen
well. The restaurant was a well-known hot spot in Hong Kong popular among
Thirty-
Somethings
. A combination of rich dark wooden
floors and off white walls with high ceilings gave it an air of sophistication
without being too formal. The seating and couches dotted around the restaurant
were filled with squashy velvet cushions making it a comfortable and relaxed
setting. Black and white framed photographs of old Hong Kong filled the walls
with hardly space to spare in between each one, which gave Ryan something to
look at whilst he waited. Individual candles on each table glowed softly. In the background a
mixture of jazz and lounge music played. He approved, it was all very well
chosen.

The waiters all wore the same black Mandarin collar shirts with large
black wrap around aprons with the restaurant name embroidered in white into the
corner. All were local Chinese with the exception of one convivial red haired
woman, who appeared to be keeping ‘front of house’ and greeting everyone upon
their arrival with air kisses, hand shakes, and lots of ‘good to see you again”
as people entered. Ryan wondered fleetingly if she was the owner.

Just past the entrance, Ryan could see out onto the busy road and
into the restaurants on the opposite side of the street. People were walking
past quickly and determined, heads down, unaware to the social world
surrounding them. Perhaps they were heading home after a long day in the office,
or maybe just starting their work. Clusters of people were standing outside on
the pavement holding their drinks and smoking. Post-work drinks, he thought. If
he looked hard enough he’d probably recognize some people from the bank.

Ryan returned his observations back to the inside of the restaurant.
He noticed two men on his left having dinner. The man closest to Ryan was
western, with thick blond hair and wore a well-cut suit; he was fixated on what
the man sitting opposite him was saying. The man that he was listening to
looked Indian. Ryan thought. His complexion was a rich dark olive, his hair
thick and black. He was leaning back casually in his chair with one leg crossed
over the other at the ankles. He was wearing a black full-length wool coat over
a pinstripe suit, which Ryan supposed was more for a look that he must have
been trying to achieve rather than for the current temperature. Unable to hear
their conversation, Ryan quickly lost interest and looked around again. Other
tables held larger groups of friends and colleagues, people were laughing,
talking over one another and having a great time.

One table caught Ryan’s attention. Situated close to the entrance was
a table with just one occupant. Ryan continued to study the man sitting there
quietly. He was smartly dressed and sat looking out of the window with an open
book in his hand. He wasn’t reading. He looked distracted, or in deep thought.
He had smooth porcelain-like skin, with the ethereal light of the restaurant
highlighting his high cheekbones and sinking almond shaped eyes. His demeanor
was one of a man on edge, waiting for someone or something to happen. With the
single place setting, it was easy for Ryan to assume that he was alone. After
watching him for a few minutes Ryan noticed that his attention was suddenly
drawn to the entrance.

Ryan followed his gaze to see Lily walk in. He watched her scan the
restaurant, and then finally
rest
her eyes on him. She
smiled and waved and rolled her eyes mouthing ‘sorry’.

Ryan grinned back. Suddenly everything else in the restaurant
evaporated. As usual Lily looked stunning. Effortlessly chic in a simple ivory
silk tunic shirt and black slim fitting pants and heels. Her long, black glossy
hair tumbled onto her shoulders.

As she worked her way between the tables Ryan couldn’t help but
noticed that she was receiving admiring glances from every table that she
walked past. It made him feel very proud that she was with him and not at all
troubled that she was late.

She slid into the chair opposite Ryan, slightly breathless her mouth
pouting naturally.

‘Would you like a drink Miss’? A stealth waiter was already standing
next to their table armed with a wine list.

“Thank you”, she nodded to Ryan’s almost empty glass, “I’ll have the
same, I’m sure it’s very good.”

Ryan smiled, and turned to the waiter, “I’ll also have one more
glass. Thanks.”

The waiter thanked them and noiselessly withdrew from the table
leaving them alone.

Taking Lily by surprise, Ryan unexpectedly stood up, his chair
scraping the wooden floor loudly as he did so, causing a few diners close by to
look up to find the source of the noise. He leaned over the table and roughly
planted a kiss straight onto Lily’s lips. Ryan promptly sat back down in his
chair, grinning at Lily’s stunned expression and felt suddenly very pleased
with
himself
.

“Sorry”, he said in a whisper. ‘You just looked perfect and your
lips…well, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity’.

Lily shuffled uncomfortably in her seat for a moment, glancing around
her at the other tables, her eyes darting back and forth for a moment to see if
anyone had seen the display of affection. She pulled a loose strand of hair
from her forehead sweeping it deftly behind her ear.

Composing herself, she finally flashed Ryan one of her best smiles.
“Hopefully there will be more opportunity for that later’, she whispered back.

Ryan smiled to himself, he loved that she was a little sassy. But he
also loved that he had caught her off-guard and was sure that she had blushed
slightly.

The waiter promptly returned with their wine, and they took a silent
sip, watching each other across the top of their glasses.

Finally Ryan spoke.

‘So, this is date number two, officially.” He said, his mouth curling
up into a smile.

“And I still don’t know that much about you yet”

“OK” Lily countered, “ask me anything, whatever burning questions you
have, now’s your chance.” She sat back with an amused look on her face and
crossed her arms in anticipation.

“OK, fine, let’s do the boring stuff first”

“Where did you grow up?” he asked.

“That’s easy… Hong Kong”,

“OK, can you expand on that, did you go to school here, overseas…you
know.”

“OK, I was born here and completed my primary & secondary
education in Hong Kong, then my parents decided that I needed to get a more
rounded life-education, and as I’d done well, I was shipped off to the States
for my University career. I’m a bit of a tech nerd so managed to get a place at
MIT.”

“Wow, impressive,” Ryan said, genuinely impressed. “So you are both
beautiful AND smart.” He teased her, exaggerating the ‘and’.

“What captured your attention at M.I.T, what was your major, or
whatever they call it in the States.”

“Well I decided to do Electrical Engineering and Computer Science,
and I loved it. I ended up doing quite well, so my family backed me and I set
up my own Company in the US and earlier this year set up a small Hong Kong
company, just to test the water. That’s why I’m back here, but I travel back
and forth quite a bit.” Lily took a break to take a sip of her wine.

“Umm, this is nice,” she said referring to the wine and taking
another sip.

“What does your company do?” Ryan continued with his stream of
questions.

“This is where I may lose you”, she said with a rueful smile.

“Try me,” Ryan countered, “I can be a bit of a tech nerd myself
sometimes.”

“I set up an IP Video Technology Company. We saw a need for something
to replace CCTV cameras and had the know-how to develop digital versions, which
incorporate features that analog cameras are unable compete with. Things like
enabling the camera to pan and zoom, audio surveillance that can be used later
for voice recognition, motion detectors, alarm integration…I could go on, but I
think you’d fall into a deep sleep.”

“No, no, this is actually bizarre. You know what I do right? “ Ryan
asked a little excited.

Lily shook her head, “well I know you work at the bank, but just
assumed that you did the same as Rob”. She said shrugging her shoulders
innocently.

“No, no, I’m a security consultant, I work for a company called RSG
in the UK, and they transferred be out here six months ago to work for the Asia
World Bank.”

“What’s the name of your company, I probably know it.” Ryan laughed
at the coincidence of it all.

“You will know it, we won the contract for upgrading your CCTV
camera’s, this is totally weird,” Lily exclaimed.

“IP Holdings?” Ryan interjected, and Lily nodded “Oh my god, that is
weird. I work with some of your colleagues and I’ve been managing and advising
on the new camera installation.”

“How come I’ve never had the opportunity to deal with
you
?” Ryan said, pulling his face into a
frown with mock disappointment.

“Luckily, I don’t have to do the day to day. I help negotiate some of
the contracts, but I generally let my right hand man handle all of the accounts,
it frees me up to work on other projects.”

“Wow, OK. Let me think, what else can I ask you?” Ryan said
playfully.

“I know,” he continued, “Tell me how you met Rob.”

Lily smiled a big smile at the question.

‘I’ve known Rob for a long time now. We met in Boston whilst I was
studying. He was on a weekend away from New York with some of his friends, and
I was out with my University friends.” Then, laughing to herself Lily said,
“Gosh it’s funny now. He tried to hit on one of my girlfriends and failed dismally,
but I found him so entertaining that we just got chatting and became firm
friends”. Lily’s face then turned dark. “We lost touch for quite a while,
around the time when my parents died’. Lily trailed off, suddenly losing the
moment. She smiled ruefully at Ryan. ‘Sorry, not a happy time in my life.”

Ryan reached across the table and touched Lily’s hand. She’d pulled
her fingers into a tight fist, and now Ryan was gently smoothing them out one
by one.

“It’s OK,” Ryan said. “I didn’t mean to bring up any bad memories”.

“They were killed in Hong Kong while I was away studying. A car
accident, my Grandmother told me. It was quick, so they didn’t suffer. I came
back for the funeral, and spent about a month here. Then went back to finish my
studies. That was my focus. That’s really when Rob and I lost touch.” Lily was
silent for a moment, trying to shake the sad feelings that were welling up
inside her. She hadn’t expected it. It still rolled over her like a wave,
crashing against her and pulling her under until she almost couldn’t breathe.

Lily leaned forward and picked up her wine glass. She took a full
slug of wine, and as she swallowed, she forced the lump in her throat down
along with the liquid.

Feeling as though the worst was over, Lily tried to get the conversation
back on track.

“Rob isn’t one for taking no for an answer, so he managed to track me
down. Then shortly afterwards he transferred to Hong Kong. We lost touch again
until I came back a few months ago, and then he introduced me to you…and….’,
she trailed off seductively, slowly removing her hand from his and sliding it
back onto her lap.

‘And?’ Ryan responded with amusement, relieved that the sadness
appeared to be gone now.

“Well, let’s just say, the rest is history”, she finished.

The man that Ryan had earlier observed sat at the restaurant entrance
watching the couple intently. He was feeling irritated and impatient. He had
better things to do than sit here.

He had been monitoring Harper for three days now. Studying his
routine, his friends and his habits.

He watched Harper and Lillian together at the table. Their body
language was obvious. Harper had fallen more quickly than he had anticipated.
Or maybe it was just how Western men were with Chinese girls. No respect, only
thinking of one thing.

He looked at Lillian with contempt. She was the end result of good
Chinese breeding mixed with a filthy American upbringing. He hated everything
about her and what she represented. He still hoped that soon there would be an
opportunity to remove her from the society. It had been so easy to get rid of
her parents, he mused. It would be
as easy to get rid of her, when the time came. Having Lillian in between him
and Guan Yin made him uncomfortable. He was ready to take the lead as soon as
Guan Yin could no longer continue, or until she was no longer around, not
Lillian. She was not ready to take the lead. She would never be ready. When he
looked at her, all he saw was a young, impulsive woman, not a leader. The only
thing that she had was the same blood as Guan Yin, nothing else. A Master only by
descent, that was all.