Tangled Vines (30 page)

C
alli breathed a sigh of relief when Jet pulled his car into the parking lot of the government building and turned off the ignition. Her left hand clenched the door handle so hard she wondered if she’d be able to open her fingers to let loose. Benfu reached over and patted her leg.

“You can breathe now, m’love. We made it.”

“Well, it’s a miracle,” she muttered back at him. “Jet drives like a maniac.” She was glad she’d talked Linnea into staying with the store, as she didn’t want her girls anywhere near the treacherous highway between cities. Widow Zu had stepped in to take charge of the house and younger girls, leaving Calli the freedom to go without worrying so much.

Jet jumped out and opened her car door. “Sorry about that, Lao Calli, but in this kind of traffic you either have to play with the big boys or get run off the road. In town I won’t have to be so aggressive. It’s only on the highways that we have to go so fast.”

Calli climbed out and Benfu followed. Jet led them through the parking lot to the entrance. They climbed the stairs, moving past the security guard and into the building.

“Let me do the talking.” Jet turned and whispered to them. “They’re expecting me. My father called ahead.”

Calli looked at Benfu and saw the scowl cross his face. He hadn’t wanted to ask anyone for help once he found out that Dahlia was alive. She and Linnea had spent hours convincing him that Jet’s connections were the only way to track the girl further. They only knew her last official foster home was outside of Suzhou, so if luck would have it, she would have moved into the city. But Suzhou was growing and there were millions of residents, Chinese and foreigners. Finding her without any help was like locating a needle in a haystack.

Jet obviously knew his way around the building as he led them up a flight of stairs and down another hall. He finally stopped in front of a door marked with a sign that read
WANG QIANG
.

He turned to them. “This is it. Now please, Lao Benfu, let me do this. I’ve grown up around these offices here and in Wuxi and I know how to handle this.” Benfu nodded. Calli hoped he’d keep his silent agreement. Jet turned the knob and opened the door. Inside was a small inner office. A young secretary sat at a desk, typing at her keyboard. She turned to them.

“Yes? Can I help you?”

Jet gestured for Calli and Benfu to sit on the polished teakwood settee as he approached the girl.

“We have an appointment with Wang Qiang.” Calli watched as the girl’s cheeks turned rosy under Jet’s attention.

“Of course. I’ll let him know you are here.” She got up and went to the other side of the room and tapped on the door. She entered and shut it behind her.

Jet turned to them. “Let’s hope he’s in a good mood. He probably won’t remember me but I attended a fancy dinner party at his house a year ago.”

Calli nodded and she waited for Benfu to say something, but he didn’t. This was so far out of their comfort zone. Both of them disliked official environments after what they’d experienced at the hands of the government so many years ago.

The girl reappeared in the door and waved at them to come in. Jet waited for Calli to enter first; then he and Benfu followed. The girl rushed in with an extra chair and the three of them sat down in front of the huge desk.

Across from them sat a portly older man. His buttons on his white dress shirt looked as if they were barely holding on as the man leaned back in his chair and took a deep drag from his cigarette. His secretary moved over to the buffet cabinet and began to set up a tea tray.

“Sur Jet. You have grown into a handsome young man, I’ll say.” He smiled at Jet, showing his yellowed teeth. “You look just like your father when he was your age.”

Jet nodded. “I’ll take that as a compliment, Lao Wang.”

“And to what do I owe the honor of your visit?” he asked, looking over Jet at Calli and Benfu.

Calli pasted a smile on her face. He was going to make them go through the entire story, even though Jet’s father had obviously told it to him already. She watched the girl nervously bring the tray to the desk and pour four tiny cups of what smelled like jasmine tea; then the girl scurried out of the room. The official gestured toward the cups for them to take one.

Jet picked one up and took a sip, then set it back on the desk. “Lao Wang, I’m sure my father told you what is going on. I’d go into it more but it’s truly a family matter of extreme confidentiality. The bottom line is that Lao Zheng here, and his wife, Calli, are searching for their daughter. My father said you were going to have your people run a search to see if she had applied for anything in the government system that would show us she’s been here.”

The old man nodded and picked up his own tea. He slurped it loudly.

“Yes, and I have an address here for an apartment she leased, if it is the same girl. It’s been over a year ago and who knows, if she is such a wanderer, she may be gone by now.”

Calli could see the nervous tic start up in Benfu’s jaw, the one that only came when he was trying to keep his patience. The man was walking a fine line and Calli hoped for his sake he didn’t step over it.

Jet smiled brightly at the man. “That’s wonderful. It will be a start, Lao Wang. We are so grateful for your help.” He looked to Benfu for agreement.

“Yes, thank you for your assistance. Can we have the address now?” Benfu added in a low voice.

The man ignored Benfu and turned back to Jet. “I believe we have one more matter to settle first.” He pointed at the door. “If you’d be so kind to ask your friends to step out for a moment.”

Jet stood and went to the door, then held it open. Calli gathered her bag and followed him with Benfu behind her. She had a feeling what the final matter was but she wasn’t going to say a word. She just prayed she could get Benfu out before he exploded. The door closed behind them and Jet disappeared again.

They were once again standing in the secretary’s office and the nervous girl beckoned for them to sit. Calli breathed a sigh of relief when Benfu did so. They stared at each other wordlessly while they waited.

Jet soon emerged with a triumphant look and a scrap of paper in his hands. Calli wondered how much he had paid for it and knew Benfu would find out later and insist on giving him the money.

“I have an address.” He led them out of the office and out of the stuffy building. “It’s across town in the older part of Suzhou, but we’ll get there in less than an hour if traffic isn’t too bad.”

Calli felt weak with relief as she and Benfu followed Jet back to
the car
and to the lane she hoped would lead to their daughter.

Calli looked around as Jet drove slowly up the street. They’d crossed through town and she was shocked at how much Suzhou had changed since she’d last been there years before for a New Year’s festival with the girls. Jet explained that Suzhou was now one of the top cities for foreign businesses, and all around the landmarks had been changed or removed to make way for new buildings and industrial parks—even a few new hotels that Calli didn’t recognize. Jet had told her that the city boasted at least a dozen top-of-the-line gated neighborhoods that catered strictly to foreigners. She was glad to arrive in the older part of the city where it looked more like real China with familiar houses and brown faces. The difference between the newly updated modern parts of town and old Suzhou were a world apart, just like in Wuxi, she supposed.

Jet slowed in front of an old bridge and pointed opposite it to a line of two-story houses.

“That’s it. The houses have been remodeled to have second-story apartments. I’m guessing 2A is at the top of that one.”

They stared at the modest concrete building. It wasn’t much but it could turn out to be the most magical place in China. Calli felt her palms sweating and she reached over to grab Benfu’s hand. His touch always brought her a sense of calmness she couldn’t achieve without him.

“Dahlia could be in there, Benfu. We may see our daughter today,” she whispered, fighting against the lump in her throat. She was so overwhelmed. And nervous! What if her daughter didn’t like her or was angry? She scolded herself.
Of course she’d be angry
.
She thinks she was abandoned. She probably thinks we’re evil and heartless parents!

Benfu patted her hand. “I know your imagination is running amok and don’t get your hopes up, my Calla Lily. She may not live here any longer.”

Jet pulled the car to the curb and shut it off. They all climbed out and stood on the sidewalk. It was overgrown with weeds and looked crooked and unkempt, but the small yard still beckoned to her. Calli followed the walkway to the stairway that ran up the side of the building. Jet let her take the lead. Calli noticed an elderly lady peering out her window on the first floor and the woman gave her a friendly wave as she passed by.

The three of them climbed the staircase and found themselves in front of a door marked 2A. This was it. Calli looked at Benfu and he nodded his encouragement, then put his arm around her shoulder protectively.

With her hand shaking, she knocked lightly on the door, then held her breath with anticipation.

Calli still couldn’t get over the fact that the tall, white man who’d opened the door was her daughter’s boyfriend, as he’d claimed when she asked him what he was doing in an apartment rented in her daughter’s name. She was sure her look of shock was as obvious to him as his was to her when she’d declared herself Li Jin’s mother.

“Li Jin told me she didn’t have any family,” he’d said, looking at them suspiciously. Even more shocking than his pale foreign looks was his ability to speak Chinese. Though hard to understand, he had enough of a grasp of the language that they were making do.