Red Phoenix (35 page)

I didn’t reply. I was reading the front page. There was a huge colour photo and a headline:
LOCAL BUSINESSWOMAN ARRESTED
. It was a photo of
Kitty Kwok.
My old boss from the kindergarten. She took up most of the frame. She was wearing huge designer sunglasses and scowling away from the camera, obviously being escorted by plainclothes police.

The bottom fell out of my stomach. Walking behind her, grinning right at me over her left shoulder, was our favourite demon,
Simon Wong.

I read the copy.

Local businesswoman Kitty Kwok Ho Man Yee was today arrested in connection with what police have described as ‘illegal activities’. Sources say that she has been arrested as part of a money-laundering cleanup operation. There are suggestions that she has been using her chain of kindergartens to fund underworld activity.

Miss Kwok’s husband, Cedric Ho, died in a mysterious boating accident in 1985, leaving her extensive corporate and property investments. A coroner’s inquiry ruled the death of the tycoon ‘death by misadventure’.

As well as the kindergarten chain, Miss Kwok has extensive agricultural holdings in China, and is a major shareholder in Tautech, a bioengineering company with laboratories in China, Australia, Hong Kong, the US and Europe.

Miss Kwok refused to comment.

I dropped the newspaper and cast around for the Chinese one. It was still on the table. I could only understand about one character in five, but that didn’t matter. There were huge glossy photos all over the front
page. The Chinese newspapers were always very good about having big, spectacular, and often explicitly gory colour photographs with every story.

The Chinese-language newspaper had large colourful photos of the raids on the biotechnology labs in Dongguan. People in white lab jackets being herded into vans, and cages of animals and birds being loaded into trucks.

The bottom photo showed the interior of the lab. It wasn’t the shiny clean laboratory expected in the West; it was a large dirty room with peeling green paint and rusty window frames. It was full of aquariums. The aquariums didn’t have any water in them; they were full of
snakes.

‘I have to go and talk to your dad, Simone,’ I said absently. ‘If you need anything, ask Monica.’

I didn’t even knock on his office door. I went in and flopped into a chair opposite him.

‘You still have it in your hand,’ he said mildly.

He was right. I threw the newspaper onto his desk.

‘She gave you my number in the first place,’ I said.

He didn’t reply, but his eyes blazed.

‘She lured you away at that first charity thing, so he could have a go at me,’ I said.

He remained silent and unmoving.

‘She kept ringing me after you made your pledge, John. She kept asking me to go to her house.’

‘Before then,’ he said. ‘She called you even before we went to Guangdong.’

I remembered. ‘Yeah.’

He remained motionless.

‘
How can you stay so calm
?’ I shouted. ‘She was
working for him
!’ I ran my hands through my hair. ‘She
planted me here
!’

‘I don’t think so, Emma,’ he said. ‘I really did ask her if she knew of a good English teacher. She gave your
number to other people, didn’t she? She was rather proud of your ability. Every time I saw her, she took full credit for your talent as a teacher.’

I leaned across the desk to speak intensely. ‘When did they first know who you were?’

He leaned back and retied his hair. ‘Michelle let it slip, at a charity function. She complained to Kitty that I always wore black, despite her best efforts to make me wear other colours. I think that’s when they put it together. That was not long after we were married and I moved down here.’

‘So she knew who you were when she sent me here,’ I said. ‘She was a total bitch to me at that first concert. Then she turned all sunshine and butterflies, asking me to go and visit her.’

‘I like that, “sunshine and butterflies”. I must remember that,’ he said, amused. ‘One Two Two had just left the Mountain after learning there for two years.’

‘He knew you had to stay here to care for Simone after he’d killed Michelle, and took advantage of it,’ I said.

‘Then they saw how close we were becoming. They saw their chance to cultivate a spy. Too bad you had already joined me.’

‘Those labs were full of
snakes.’

‘And birds. I wonder if they built the fire things there.’

‘Simone saw me as a
snake,
John. What if this has something to do with it?’ I sighed with despair. ‘I don’t know how you can keep me around, knowing what you do about me.’

He shot to his feet and banged his hand on the table so hard that I jumped. ‘
Don’t you even think about leaving me
!’ he roared. ‘
We need you
!’ He sat down again, his voice still fierce. ‘I know everything there is to know
about you. I have seen inside you. I have loved you. I have seen all of your body and all of your mind. I have seen you, shen, ching and chi. There is nothing I don’t know about you. You will grow with time, but you will never hurt any of us.’ He studied me intensely. ‘Trust yourself as much as I trust you, Emma. Look inside yourself.’ He smiled. ‘Study the nature of serpents, and do not be concerned.’

‘God, I hope you’re right,’ I said.

‘Do you want me to call the Lady? You want to throw yourself onto a demon’s sword again?’

‘No, I think I’d better move and take Simone and Michael to school.’

He checked his watch. ‘You’d better go. If they’re late for school I’ll dock your pay.’

‘Try me,’ I said. ‘I’ll dock yours. I have more control of the finances anyway.’

‘Good,’ he said as I went out.

Halfway down the hallway I froze. Oh my God.
April.
Kitty had arranged for April to have the baby at a clinic in
Dongguan.

I called April’s apartment in Discovery Bay, but the domestic helper didn’t know anything. April’s mobile had been disconnected. I didn’t know Andy’s number, and it wasn’t in the phone book.

There was no way I could contact April or her family. There was nothing I could do.

T
hat Saturday the intercom on my desk popped and I pressed the button. ‘Emma, it’s me.’ Leo’s voice was thin and tinny. ‘I need you, I’m in a hand-to-hand on the third floor. Come and help out, please.’ ‘Okay, on my way.’

When I arrived at the third floor I entered the room quietly. Some of the students saw me and moved to stop working, but Leo ordered them to continue. I stood next to the door and watched them. They didn’t talk to each other as they worked; obviously my presence was intimidating. They didn’t even give each other tips.

Leo moved silently down the middle of the group then stood beside me at the back of the class and crossed his arms over his chest.

We spoke to each other quietly without looking away from the students.

‘You see the problem?’ he said, his voice soft and even.

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘What’s his name?’

‘Nguyen,’ Leo said. ‘Vietnamese. Really talented.’

‘I can see that.’

Nguyen was lightning fast. Incredibly fast. Leo had paired him up with an African girl who was also fast, but he was light years ahead of her. He had an arrogant grin on his face as he blocked her punches with ease.

‘Let me show you,’ Leo said under his breath without turning away from the students. ‘Swap!’

Nguyen and the African girl swapped. Now he punched and she blocked. But he was through her. It didn’t matter what she tried to do, his fist always ended up a couple of centimetres from her nose.

‘Is he human?’ I said.

‘One hundred per cent. That’s the first thing I checked. Watch him.’ Leo’s voice remained soft as he studied the young man. ‘He’s so damn cocky that his moves are all over the place.’

Leo was right. Nguyen was incredibly untidy. He was so fast that he thought it didn’t matter that he was doing it wrong most of the time.

‘Did you try having Mr Chen sort him out?’

‘He knows that he won’t ever face a goddamn
god,
so it didn’t worry him that Mr Chen is faster,’ Leo said, still low enough that the students wouldn’t hear. ‘He knows I can take him, but that doesn’t worry him either. He knows that with more training he’ll be able to take me too.’

‘I’d dearly like to do this in front of the whole class, but at this stage probably just him and me would be enough to sort him out,’ I said. ‘Let’s do it.’

Leo nodded without moving. ‘End it there!’ The students stopped and faced us. ‘Dismissed!’ All of the students saluted us neatly and turned to go. ‘Nguyen,’ Leo said as the students filed past us, some of them smiling shyly at me.

Nguyen came and saluted Leo and me.

‘What class do you have next, Nguyen?’ I said kindly.

‘Saturday extra study group,’ he said with a sly grin. ‘Doesn’t matter too much if I miss it, my Lady.’

Leo didn’t shift beside me but I knew he was thinking the same thing I was: arrogant little bastard actually thought he’d been singled out for special training because he was so good.

‘Do you know who I am, Nguyen?’ I said, still being very kind.

‘I know who you are, Lady Emma, and I’m honoured by your attention,’ he said, the sly grin not shifting.

‘Good,’ I said, and moved forward to the centre of the room, waving for him to accompany me. ‘Do you know what I am?’

He seemed confused. ‘I’m sorry, ma’am, but as far as I know you’re an ordinary human being, just like Master Leo.’

‘That is perfectly correct, Nguyen,’ I said. ‘Leo tells me that you are one of the fastest things he has seen in a long time. Do you think that’s true?’

‘I know I’m fast,’ he said confidently, and Leo made a soft sound behind me.

‘Are you the fastest human you’ve ever seen?’ I said.

‘I am,’ he said with complete confidence.

‘Oh, very good,’ I said. ‘You’re faster than Master Leo?’

The kid just nodded.

‘Good,’ I said. ‘Have you heard that I’m fast?’ The kid nodded again.

‘Answer the Dark Lady’s questions when they are asked of you!’ Leo snapped.

For a fleeting instant Nguyen’s face screwed up into a grimace of rebellion, then the smile was there again. ‘Yes, ma’am.’

‘Well, then,’ I said, ‘let’s see exactly how fast I am. Left guard.’

Both of us moved into a guard stance.

‘I want a face hit right, chest left, left uppercut, then another right face. Got it?’ I said. ‘Measure up.’

‘Yes, ma’am,’ he said, the smile still there as he measured out the length of his reach and moved back into the guard position.

I realised with a shock that he thought he could take me. He must have heard them talking about me. The level of arrogance this kid displayed was disturbing. I hoped we wouldn’t have to throw him out; he was really very good.

‘Go,’ I said.

He moved through the series of punches and I blocked them easily. His grin didn’t shift; not going full speed.

‘Faster,’ I said.

He moved faster. I blocked them. His smile was still there.

‘Faster!’ I berated, trying to goad him.

He threw himself into it. Obviously the goading worked: he started to move untidily again. Again I blocked his punches with ease.

‘Right,’ I said after we had done the series a few times, ‘I want to see this all out. Go as fast as you can. Come on, I know you can go faster than this.’

His fists were a blur. His grin was still fixed on his face. He was very, very fast.

I blocked his moves easily and his face fell. He tried again; I blocked easily again. He tried to go even faster but he slightly lost control and I blocked him without difficulty.

‘Swap,’ I said brusquely when I had made it completely obvious that he wouldn’t be getting through me.

We measured up again, and both moved into guard stances.

‘Ready?’ I said, and he nodded.

I moved through the four punches slowly, letting him block me. His grin returned.

‘Now,’ I said, ‘I will do the series slightly faster each time. Let’s see how fast you can go.’

When I was up to about half-speed he began to lose it. The third punch was getting through.

I sped up again, and I was through him. I could do all four punches and have them end up less than a centimetre from the end of his nose. His face froze into an expression of disbelief.

I did it full speed. His face shifted to bewilderment. He couldn’t even see them coming. All he could see was me readying myself, and then the fist right in front of his nose.

‘You’re not human!’ he choked.

‘Yes, I am,’ I said quietly as I pressed the advantage home. I did the four punches, but I didn’t stop. I kept the punches coming, finishing each one right at the end of his nose.

‘Stop anything you can,’ I said as I continued the flurry of punches. His face became a mask of horror as he tried to block the punches, always ending up miles behind them.

I stepped back, did a spinning kick that knocked his feet out from under him, flipped him onto his belly, grabbed one arm and twisted it behind him, and put my knee in the middle of his back. I tapped him lightly on the back of the neck.

‘You are now officially
dead,
Mr Nguyen.’ I released him. ‘Stand up.’

He stood and faced me, stunned.

‘Am I fast?’ I said.

‘You are amazingly fast, ma’am,’ he said, his voice full of wonder. ‘You’re the fastest thing I’ve ever seen.’

‘Leo can take me. I can only handle up to about level thirty demons bare-handed. Once you’re past level fifteen, demons are faster than any human alive, even me. How many levels of demons are there?’

‘One hundred, the King himself is at level one hundred,’ Nguyen said with a touch of humility. ‘Snake Mothers start at level fifty. You can only take level thirty?’

‘What level have you faced so far?’

Nguyen glanced, disconcerted, at Leo.

‘None yet, they’re too junior,’ Leo said.

‘Tell me, Nguyen, how far do you think you need to go,’ I said, trying not to put any emotion into my voice at all, ‘before you are ready to face your first demon?’

‘I need to go through the basics again,’ Nguyen said. ‘I need more than just speed if I want to be able to handle anything at a reasonable level.’ He looked up at me. ‘I think with a few more weeks of training with Master Leo I may be able to face something at a very low level.’

‘Thanks, Emma,’ Leo said behind me, and I nodded without turning. Leo moved to stand beside me. ‘I can defeat the Lady Emma in hand-to-hand without difficulty,’ he told Nguyen. ‘I can take up to level forty bare-handed. Speed isn’t everything, Nguyen. That was the whole point of this lesson.’

‘You are not being singled out for special training, Nguyen, just because you’re fast,’ I said compassionately. ‘Leo brought me up to teach you a lesson, and I hope you’ve learned it.’

Nguyen saluted us both, the smile gone. ‘I have learned a valuable lesson, Masters, and I thank you. I will work harder at the basics and improve my style.’

‘Dismissed,’ Leo said softly. Nguyen saluted us again and went out.

‘Your own style is incredibly untidy and you really need some work,’ Leo growled, his brown eyes sparkling. ‘You’ve been concentrating far too much on the energy stuff lately, Emma. When was the last time you did some hand-to-hand with Mr Chen?’

I shrugged. ‘Last time we tried, we were only five minutes into the lesson when he had to run out the door. We’ve given up.’ I had a brilliant idea. ‘Find time in your schedule to work with me, Leo, we’ll brush me up together.’

‘Waste of time, my Lady,’ Leo lisped softly, and I winced. ‘Ask one of the more advanced Masters to teach you; you’re already way past me. I lied. You could probably take me now.’

‘No
way
! You have always been better than me at hand-to-hand!’

Leo went into a guard position. ‘Let’s see.’

I raised my hands. ‘No, Leo, you can take me, don’t waste your time.’

Leo performed a magnificent roundhouse kick straight at my head and I ducked underneath it.

‘Chicken,’ Leo said.

‘Oh, come on, this is a total waste of time,’ I said. ‘I have things I need to do. I was in the middle of my thesis.’

Leo threw another roundhouse at me. I ducked. He spun and did it again. He kept coming at me, forcing me back as I ducked under the kicks.

‘Stop it, Leo!’ I said, becoming irate.

Leo stopped, then stepped forward and lightly tapped me under the chin with his fist.

‘Ouch. My face still hurts, you know.’

‘Come on, Emma, good practice. What’s wrong? Frightened you’ll beat me?’

‘No,’ I said as I took a guard position, ‘I’m frightened I’ll hurt you.’ I grinned. ‘You’ll cry like a little girl.’

‘No, I won’t,’ Leo said as he went for my head with his foot again. ‘You will.’

I didn’t duck under his foot this time. I blocked his leg with my left, swept it down, gave it a good push in the direction it was already going, and then kicked his other foot out from underneath him.

He jumped with my movement and somersaulted backwards. He was incredibly lithe and graceful for such a big guy. He landed neatly on his feet and came right after me again, this time with his fists.

‘Wasting your time, Leo,’ I said as I blocked the blows. ‘You’ll have to be cleverer than that, I really am faster than you.’

He suddenly spun under me and tried to take my feet out, but I leapt right over the top of his head, somersaulted, and landed facing him.

‘Whoa,’ Leo said. ‘Good one.’ He came at me again, this time with both fists and feet. He threw everything he had at me.

He was through me. He hit my feet, and I could feel myself falling forwards. I put my hands out, landed on them hard, and then pushed away from the floor with them. I did a handspring, but I didn’t stop. I used the energy centres and lifted myself until I hit the ceiling. I bounced off it, somersaulted, and landed lightly on my feet behind Leo. He still faced the other way. I spun and quickly took his feet out from under him.

He fell with a thud. He obviously wasn’t expecting it. He didn’t even know where I was.

I stopped and stared at him with wonder.

Suddenly a round of applause burst from the doorway. At least two dozen students of all levels were grinning and clapping. There were even a couple of Masters watching as well.

Leo pulled himself up and performed an elaborate bow for the audience. They cheered and wolf-whistled.

I didn’t say anything. I went to the door, pushed through the students and took the lift back up to the top floor. I went into my office and fell into the chair behind my desk. I put my head in my hands.

Leo came in after me and sat in the visitor’s chair, which protested under his weight. He studied me silently. Eventually he said, ‘I thought you’d be pleased.’

‘Leo.’ I looked desperately up at him. ‘I really should not have been able to do that.’

‘Why not?’ Leo said. ‘You’re damn good, you know that. I’m not surprised you can take me.’ He grinned. ‘But I won’t cry like a little girl.’

I turned away. ‘How long has Mr Chen been teaching you?’

‘Nearly eight years.’

‘Did you do self-defence in the Navy? And when you were a bodyguard? And a bouncer?’

‘Yeah. Sure. I did about six years of martial arts before I came to Mr Chen. But what he’s taught me is light years ahead.’

‘How long has he been teaching me?’

Leo paused. ‘Damn, Emma, you’re really talented. Only about…what? Fourteen months? Is it really only such a short time? You’re incredibly good. Damn.’

‘I am
inhumanly
good, Leo. Before I met John, I’d never done anything like this.’

Leo leaned back without speaking.

‘You are the greatest human warrior of your generation, Leo. Mr Chen told me that himself. It’s taken you fourteen years to get this good, and you’re almost as good as an Immortal. Look at me. Fourteen months, and I can take you.’

Leo still didn’t say anything. I could see what he was thinking.

‘Simone saw me as a
snake.’

Leo flinched.

‘Leo, can I confide in you?’ I said softly. ‘What are you going to tell me? I’m not sure I want to know.’

‘I have these dreams. All the time.’ ‘What, Emma?’ he whispered.