Lion (22 page)

Lin Tan stepped out into the rain holding a large pistol. Clean bandages crisscrossed his otherwise bare torso.

“Fancy seeing you here, Ryan,” he said. “Why aren’t you racing? Couldn’t handle the heat, so you had to get out of the kitchen?”

“No,” I replied. “I couldn’t focus on crushing a bunch of riders, so I came here to crush you.”

“Very funny.” He pointed the gun at me, and I watched it bob up and down as the boat bobbed with the current.

Up.

Down.

Up.

I slammed the heel of my palm into Lin Tan’s gun-hand wrist. The pistol flew from his hand, into the bay.

“Why you little …,” he said, and he swung a fist at my face.

I spun sideways and lifted my arm to deflect the blow. His fist hit my forearm, and my forearm hit the side of my head. I saw stars, but I didn’t go down.

Lin Tan stepped in close to me, and I responded with the only close-distance move I knew. I raised my right knee
and stomped my reinforced shoe into the side of Lin Tan’s left kneecap with a knee-trap kick.

He wailed and teetered sideways, and I pounded hammer fists onto the bridge of his nose until it erupted with a crimson bloom that covered both of us. His eyes crossed, and he stumbled toward the boat deck railing and the dock beyond. He gripped the railing, then slumped, unconscious, with half of his body in the boat and the other half draped over the railing.

I ran into the cabin and found Peter bound to a kitchen chair that had been screwed to the floor. He was gagged, and his arms and legs were tied, but he was alert. He nodded to his left, and I saw a small galley counter. I opened a drawer beside the sink and found a large knife; then I cut Peter free.

“Thank you,” Peter said with a sigh.

“No, thank
you
,” I replied. “Do you have wheels?”

He shook his head. “No, but I don’t need them.”

Peter dropped out of the chair and began to army-crawl toward the door. I hurried ahead of him to hold the door open and froze.

On the dock was DuSow.

DuSow stood alone
in the rain, the light of the warehouse’s new security flood lamps illuminating him and the dock. I glanced back at Peter. “DuSow is out there!”

DuSow laughed. “All aboard!”

I stepped back into the cabin and closed the door, fumbling for the lock.

“No use,” Peter said. “It’s DuSow’s boat. He has a key.”

“Can we block the door with something?” I asked.

“It’s a boat, Ryan. All the furniture is nailed down.”

I grabbed the large knife I’d used to cut Peter free and flung the door back open, ready for DuSow. But he wasn’t there. He was at the side of the deck, examining the still-unconscious Lin Tan’s shattered nose.

“You did this?” DuSow asked.

“Yeah,” I said.

“Impressive. Want to try to do that to mine?”

“No. I just want to leave with Peter.”

“I thought as much. When I noticed that you weren’t with the other riders, I got suspicious and came here. I’m missing the race because of you. That disappoints me.” He removed his right glove. “It appears Lin Tan has disappointed me, too.”

DuSow placed his right hand on Lin Tan’s broken face, and Lin Tan began to shiver and shake, and then he went still.

I raised the knife. “Back off. I’m warning you.”

DuSow snickered and stepped over Lin Tan. In a blur, he kicked the knife out of my hand.

My eyes widened. I couldn’t believe he moved so fast. It had to be the dragon bone.

He removed his other glove and took a step toward me, and I saw him stumble. At first I thought it might be the slick deck, but then I noticed Peter’s arm. He’d reached through the doorway and had grabbed DuSow’s pant leg. DuSow leaned down to grab Peter’s bare wrist.

“Peter! Let go!” I shouted. “Don’t let him touch you!”

Peter didn’t let go. Instead, he jerked his massive arm sideways, and DuSow hit the deck.

I tried to soccer-kick DuSow’s head, but he was too quick. He rolled away, breaking Peter’s hold. Peter army-crawled onto the deck and over to the railing. He began to pull himself up as DuSow stood.

I heard an engine roar, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a speedboat approaching at high speed. I thought it might be one of DuSow’s associates, but the driver, some random jerk, never slowed. He cut the steering wheel an instant before colliding with us, and I heard a chorus of
laughter beneath the boat’s protective awning as someone called out, “Since you guys seem to like playing in the rain so much, here’s some more water!”

A huge rooster tail washed over the deck, knocking me to my knees. The boat heaved from side to side, and I heard Peter shout, “Ryan!”

SPLASH!

He’d fallen overboard.

DuSow rushed toward me with the fingers of his deadly right hand splayed. I stood and made a move to leap over the railing after Peter, but I slipped and fell. I landed on my back, and as DuSow neared, I grabbed his foot firmly with both of my hands. I rolled backward, and as DuSow began to fall, I wrapped both of my legs around his one leg. His foot was still locked in my hands, and as he crashed to the deck, I clamped my legs together and twisted his foot in a complete circle like Hú Dié had taught me.

CRUNCH!

DuSow howled in pain, and I let go, jumping to my feet. I scrambled clear of his deadly hands and hopped the railing, onto the dock.

“Peter!” I shouted.

“Down … here!” he replied, sputtering.

I peered down and saw him treading water beneath the dock. He had a dangling dock line in one hand.

“The current is strong, but I’m fine,” Peter said. “Do what you have to do!”

I looked back to the boat to see DuSow climb over the railing, onto the dock. He limped toward me, his foot dragging.
I turned to run and slammed straight into DaXing’s gigantic chest. He smothered me with a bear hug, lifting me clear off the ground. I kicked and writhed and beat my forehead against his sternum, but it was no use. Most of my face was smashed up against his heavy raincoat, making it difficult for me to breathe. I managed to twist my head to one side, and I saw DuSow hobble up to us.

No one moved.

“What happened to your face?” DuSow asked DaXing. DaXing didn’t reply.

“What are you waiting for?” DuSow said. “Finish him, you big ape!”

“
You
finish him,” DaXing said. “He’s only a kid.”

DuSow shook his head and closed the gap between us. He raised his hands, and DaXing suddenly flung me to the dock. He gripped DuSow’s neck between his mighty hands, and I saw that DaXing was wearing heavy rubber gloves that went all the way up to his elbows.

DuSow choked once, and his face instantly turned blue. He raised his hands and grabbed DaXing’s wrists, but his poisons had no effect through the rubber. DuSow began to kick DaXing and beat on the giant’s arms, but DaXing didn’t release his grip. In fact, it looked as if he began to squeeze tighter. Within a few moments, DuSow’s arms hung limp at his sides and his eyes began to bulge.

I turned away. No amount of dragon bone was going to help him. I heard the thump as DaXing dropped DuSow to the dock, and I turned back.

“Thank you,” I muttered.

“He had it coming,” DaXing said. “Remember the man he killed the first time you saw me?”

“The guy with the panther tattoos?”

“Yes. DuSow said, ‘Take your failure of a friend with you and dispose of his body.’ Panther was more than my friend. He was my cousin. Let’s help yours.”

I hurried to the dock’s edge, half expecting Peter to have hauled himself up, but he hadn’t. He was still in the water. He wasn’t holding the dock line, either. He’d tied it around his upper body.

“Peter!” I called down. “What’s wrong?”

He didn’t answer.

DaXing joined me and stared down at Peter. “Help me with the rope,” he said.

DaXing began to haul the rope up, groaning under the strain of Peter’s dead weight. I helped as much as I could, and we soon got Peter onto the dock. He was barely conscious.

“You’ll understand if I leave now?” DaXing said.

“Yeah,” I said. “Thanks again.”

DaXing nodded and hurried off.

I knelt beside Peter.

“Thanks, Ryan,” he mumbled.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“My heart. The dragon bone. I—”

His voice trailed off.

A huge lump formed in my throat. “It’s the dragon bone, isn’t it?”

He nodded.

“And your heart hurts?”

“I have palpitations. I overheard Lin Tan and DuSow discussing the heart failure concerns they had. Swimming in the current and trying to climb that rope, I … overexerted. I’m sorry.”

I roared.

“Noooo!”

I jumped to my feet. There had to be something I could do! My
dan tien
quivered, and I remembered the dragon bone antidote. Would it work on the manufactured version?

“Hang on,” I told Peter. “I have an idea.”

I ran to my bike and grabbed my cell phone from the gear pouch beneath my seat. I shielded it from the rain as best I could and dialed Hok’s number. She answered on the first ring.

“Hello?”

“Hok!” I said. “It’s Ryan. We have an emergency.”

“What is it?” she asked. “I’m watching the race. I noticed that you had dropped out. What happened?”

“I rescued Peter, only he overexerted himself. He’s having heart palpitations! DuSow’s manufactured dragon bone still doesn’t work. We need to try the antidote. How fast can you get here?”

“I don’t know, Ryan. Traffic is gridlocked around the entire race area because of the streets they’ve closed off. It’s all over the news. I’d jog if I could, but I’m rather old for that.”

“Wait!” I said. “My bike! I’ll ride to your place, then ride back. I should be able to do it in time.”

“We must try,” Hok said. “You do not need to come all the way here. I can drive part of the way, or walk. Can you make it to Chinatown on your own?”

“I can get to the Dragon Gate.”

“Perfect. I’ll meet you there. Hurry, Ryan!”

I hung up the phone and climbed onto my bike. “I’ll be back, Peter!” I screamed, and tore off into the night.

I raced along the waterfront, then up the extremely steep hill. My light cut a path through the rain, and I pushed myself to reach the top faster than I’d hoped. My body began to cramp, and my
dan tien
danced, but I shoved the pain aside and focused on Peter.

I heard a bullhorn siren wail for just a second, and then a chorus of cowbells rang out in the distance. The race was drawing to a close. It was the last thing on my mind.

After cresting the hill, I caught my first glimpse of the street. Bumper to bumper didn’t even begin to describe the traffic. It was bumper
on
bumper. I veered onto the sidewalk and began to hammer between umbrella-toting pedestrians. Most of them saw me coming and leaped out of my way, but I had to shout at the more clueless ones.

The pavement was pockmarked and not all of the curbs had pedestrian ramps, so I did a lot of bunny hopping. I wished I’d had my ’cross bike or even my mountain bike,
but I did what I could with my road bike, using my knees and elbows as shock absorbers. Miraculously, the bike and I made it to the Dragon Gate in one piece.

Hok was waiting for me.

“I can’t believe you got here so quickly!” she said.

“Had to,” I replied, sucking wind. “All my fault. Need to make it right.”

“Not your fault,” she said as she strapped a small backpack onto my back. “Give Peter one mouthful of the antidote. Now go!”

I spun my bike around and returned the way that I’d come, riding faster than before. I passed many of the same pedestrians for a second time, and they were even quicker to get out of my way.

It was also a straight downhill run for me when I reached the obnoxious hill. I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t looking forward to it. I hit sixty-five miles per hour before I finally tickled the wet brakes, and I was probably going thirty when I took the turn at the bottom.

I raced along the waterfront and made it back to Peter, who was now lying on the edge of the parking lot. I was overjoyed to find him still coherent.