The Protector (32 page)

“What do you plan to do?” Stefan asked calmly. If nothing else, Dilaver was a very succinct man.

“Revenge. He took my girls. My man here found out where the fuckers keep theirs, so I’m going to hurt him where he hurt me.” Dilaver looked around. “And more. I don’t like double-crossers. Our deal is still on, if you’re wondering, only it’s without any Asian bastard as my partner. I’ll expect you to wire the money as soon as I release the weapons, as we’ve agreed. Contact me for a new time and place to meet.”

“Of course. And now, gentlemen, I guess I’d better gather my people and leave.”

“You do that.” Dilaver smiled coldly. “I’m going to have some fun with a certain bitch tonight. I knew there was something about her the moment I laid my eyes on her the other day. Wait till I get my hands on her.”

Vivi had spent almost her entire adult life dreaming of this moment—finding her lost friend. Her whole life had changed that pivotal moment when she had decided to leave Sia-Sia. They had always done everything together, dreamed about their future together, but during the darkest time of their lives, Vivi had taken off when her friend wouldn’t.

She had known deep down that Sia-Sia might have suffered, even been sold off. She had hoped to prove herself wrong, endlessly making up scenarios in her head of finding Sia-Sia a happy housewife with kids, living with someone who loved her.

However, Sia-Sia—Alissa—now stood before her, giving her the same silent perusal. Vivi recognized the girl in the woman’s face—the same heart shape, with the small lips that tilted at the corners. She was almost naked, her bustier showing off a beautiful figure, and she looked extremely comfortable, as if she walked like that on high heels all the time.

It wasn’t an image Vivi had of her long-lost friend. The
last time she saw Sia-Sia, she was a frightened young girl, clinging to her fiercely, very unsure of what they had chosen to do. Vivi had been the one who had been confident, the one who felt responsible for the both of them. Now she studied Sia-Sia as the other woman sat at her dressing table.

The tables had turned. It was Vivi who felt uncomfortable in this place, unsure of her next move. Another thing. Stefan being here in this room had meant one thing—Alissa was his connection to the Triads. The latter had looked at him with a mixture of anger and yearning before he left the room; Vivi realized now that she had just interrupted Stefan’s assignment. Alissa was her agency’s filter to the inside.

There was no way around the truth, that she and Sia-Sia had literally grown worlds apart. “I’ve been looking for you for a long time.”

Something hard flashed across Sia-Sia’s face. She turned away to check herself in the mirror. “Looking for me?” She shrugged. “I’ve been right here.”

She was right. She had been here all along, right under Vivi’s nose. “Everyone in the village said you ran off with your mother. No one knew where you were,” Vivi said.

“Of course not. Why do I care whether they know where I am or not?” Sia-Sia—Alissa—wiped her face with a tissue. “It’s been…eight or ten years? You look good, all tall and sexy. I wouldn’t have recognized you. What’ve you been up to? As you can tell, I’ve been doing very well for myself.”

Vivi bit her lower lip. This wasn’t how she’d envisioned the reunion at all. No hugs. No joy. Instead, a tension stretched between them. It was magnified by the way they were dressed—the contradiction of her casual clothing with Sia-Sia’s tightly laced red bustier and fishnet stockings. Now that she had time to look around, the room, with its silk screens of nude couples and the huge bed that dominated it, only emphasized their differences more.

What did one say to a woman who was living the lifestyle she opposed with every ounce of energy? “I have thought of that last night often,” Vivi finally said. “I wondered whether
you were okay. I never thought—”

Alissa laughed. “That look on your face says it all. You don’t approve. You’re shocked and horrified that I’m a madam. Is it because you remembered those childish talks we had about sex and how bad men were with their private parts, that we would never let them use their thing on us?” She looked mockingly at Vivi’s reflection.

“You’re right, I don’t approve,” Vivi said, “but I’m not here tonight to judge you. After a long search, someone led me here, and I wanted to make sure it was really you.”

“So you bribed and threatened my men. Sister.” Alissa laughed humorlessly. She put on fresh lipstick, rubbing her lips to smudge the bright smear of red. She turned. “You’ve always been very brave, Vivi. That was what has driven me since the night you left, you know. Be brave, you always said. Then I decided I would have a new motto. You want to know what it is? Be smart. Be very, very smart. My mother had my new stepfather as a protector. She was treated like a queen. So I knew what to do. I needed to get one of my stepbrothers to be mine. It isn’t something you would do, is it? You’re dressed like one of those office workers, so I don’t think you’re in the same business I am.”

Her expression was mocking, her smile brittle. She stood up and ran her hands down her figure, as if she enjoyed making Vivi uncomfortable. She sauntered forward. “You really caught me at the wrong time, you know. I’m in such a horrible mood. The man I’ve set my heart on just told me he didn’t give a fuck about me but he still liked this body just the same. Do you remember how we always compared ours? How we loved to dance? Well, I still do that, except I think it’s a bit racier than what we did. What do you think?”

Vivi watched as Alissa started to hum an old tune they used to sing and gyrate sexually to emphasize the beat. The other woman was mocking her with her sexuality. Vivi understood that it was her weapon in life, since she had used it to get where she was now. She thought about the Dan Nhat that she had bought for her friend. Somehow, she knew she
would never give it to Alissa.

“When I think about you, Sia-Sia, I think about our friendship. I felt bad leaving you that night and when I was in a position to look for you, it became my goal.” Vivi took a deep breath. “I made the mistake of not thinking how you would think of me through the years.”

Alissa laughed and continued her dancing. “Of course I think about you now and then. In fact, I can sum up my thoughts through the years. Look at me, Vivi, I know these things.” Her body swayed rhythmically to each punctuated beat. “Look at me, I’m powerful. Look at me, I can make a man melt in my arms.” She stopped, a frown forming. “Except him. I can’t get him, no matter how much I pleasure him. He wouldn’t even kiss me. Do you know what it’s like to have a man who doesn’t want you back?”

“No.”

“I have my pick of men and yet, I want him. Are you married?”

“No.”

“Do you have a lover?” She looked at Vivi curiously. “Many lovers? Do you have one you want for your own?”

Vivi thought of Jazz but she didn’t answer any of Sia-Sia’s questions. She suddenly realized that she had to let go of her past, that this would take her nowhere at all, but she couldn’t leave without some sort of closure.

“What are you doing here, exactly?” Sia-Sia continued. “You can’t tell me you’re all alone here searching for me. I’m not that naive kid anymore, you know. You aren’t here to ask me for a job, are you? Because I’m too busy right now. I do have some girls who might teach you how to dress better. I can even teach you different ways to pleasure a man.”

“Alissa.” She couldn’t call this person Sia-Sia, not when she was telling her about her bordellos. “I volunteer for a women’s group that helps women and children in trouble, sort of the way we were. We find them safe houses. If there had been these places in the past, we would have gone to
gether, found sanctuary somehow.”

Alissa stared at her, then shrugged. Her smile was catlike. “Somehow I don’t think you’re going to like the things I teach my girls. I buy them now, my dear old friend. I buy them and I teach them myself. They all learn in the end.” She laughed again. “And if they don’t, a little drugs can be persuasive.”

This time, Vivi didn’t hide her disgust. She didn’t want to stay here any longer. Sadness welled up inside her. “You’ll always be my special friend,” she said in a low voice, patting her heart, “in here. But you stand for everything I work against, Alissa. So I have to say goodbye and if we meet again, I won’t let our past friendship stand in the way of saving those girls you lock up.”

“You and who against my brothers?” Alissa asked. “Who are you to judge what I do? My girls are saved from hunger and begging on the streets. Your stupid organization can’t take them all in, anyway. And if they are smart like me, their lives aren’t that bad. Come by anytime you want to learn something, Vivi. I can teach you how to be powerful.”

“That’s not the kind of power I want.”

“Here, you’d better take these things with you. I don’t need them. I made my choices a long time ago.”

Vivi took the old picture of Sia-Sia and her bracelet from Alissa. For an instant their fingers touched and their eyes met. Emotion tightened her chest. She had found her friend and lost her all the same.

“Goodbye,” she said. Tomorrow she would be going after the Triads more than ever. “Stay…safe.”

“Goodbye,” Alissa said. Her chin went up. “I would never have survived the dark jungles with you. I have a better life this way and don’t regret it. Not one bit.”

“By destroying other girls’ lives? You’re living off some other children’s future.”

Alissa dropped her hand, her gaze turning cold and ruthless. “Ah well. What can I say. A girl has got to survive the
best she can. So, go. The next time my men won’t be this friendly with you, old
friend
.”

Vivi turned. The door behind them opened at the same time. It was Stefan.

“A fire has been started downstairs. It’s time to leave,” he said. He looked at Vivi with those strange eyes, as if he could see right into her. “Now.”

“We can’t tell whether this is all there are,” Zone
said. “All the other hostiles are down.”

Disgusted, Jazz turned away to look at the prisoner they had tied up next to the building. “Listen, I’m going to leave you here and if there are any charges left, you’ll blow up with it.”

“No, no, please! Please get me out of here.”

That alone told Jazz that there was something still missing. “Where is the timer?”

“Dilaver. Dilaver has gone inside. He paid to find out where the girls are and he’s going to make sure the Triads lose them. Revenge, he said.”

Vivi.
Jazz was about to charge to the front of the building but found himself blocked by Cucumber and Dirk.

“Sorry, sir, can’t let you go in there when it’s about to explode. Hawk’s already inside.”

“Precisely,” Jazz said coldly. “We have to go in and find Dilaver and stop him.”

“One of us will do that. You have to be out here.”

“You’re kidding me, right?”

“No, sir. Protocol. You can see the targets from out here and direct the rest of Plan B,” Dirk said firmly.

“There isn’t going to be any fucking Plan B if everyone
gets blown away,” Jazz pointed out. He didn’t push forward. He had learned to listen to his teammates during times when his emotions were involved. Vivi was inside. Everything in his heart was urgently commanding him to rush in there and get her out.

“What are your orders, sir?”

Think, Zeringue.
Jazz took a deep breath. He pulled out his cell again. “I’ll let T. know what’s happening. Dirk, keep an eye on the front, and the moment Dilaver or Hawk shows up, let me know. The bastard would give himself some time to get away. Joker and Zone, get in position to take out Dilaver’s sidekicks for Hawk. Cucumber and Mink, come with me. We’ll check out that back way and see whether we can get in through there.”

“What about the prisoner, sir?”

“Secure and gag. Keep him out of sight. T.? It’s me. Any news from inside?” A little of the tension eased as he listened. Someone was with Vivi and getting her out. He told T. what Dilaver’s plans were. “The sick son of a bitch just wanted to do a tit-for-tat. I don’t think he really cares about attending any peacemaking meeting tomorrow.”

“Not likely, when he found someone else for his weapons,” T. said. “Jazz, I’m communicating with Armando right now. I’ll alert him about the girls in the back. Hang on.”

Jazz had been wondering how on earth the man was going to escape with his sister. But he was a Triad sibling, Vivi had said, so he must know all the different exit points.

“Jazz, he said someone has started a fire. It’s his chance to get behind the guards and release all the girls. The guards will be running out the back door with them.”

“Affirmative. We’ll take out the guards, make them think it’s Dilaver.”

“Good. And Jazz? I know Vivi will get out safely. The person I sent will do his job.”

“I hope so, T. And for the record, you didn’t make me trust you with your voice thing, did you?”

There was a slight pause. “Darling, despite the rumors, I
can’t make people do what they don’t want to do, or some males I know would be less pigheaded. Now go.”

“Sir!” Dirk’s voice was urgent. “People are rushing out in panic out front.”

“Any sign of Dilaver or Hawk?”

“Not yet.”

“Okay. I think our side started the fire and Dilaver’s caught by surprise. Stand by and be ready. Plan B is about to play out, men.”

“Standing and Ready!”

“Hooyah!”

Jazz checked his weapon one final time. No need to be so stealthy anymore. All he needed was Vivi out of there. Now. Damn it. There was no time to call T. back and warn her. Whoever was with Vivi had better haul her over his shoulders. By now he knew how the woman he loved thought. She was going to try to save the girls, of course.

Vivi could hear the melee downstairs. The sounds of yelling and stomping feet were strangely muffled through the walls.

“It can’t be fire. I don’t see any of the guards,” Alissa said. “Stefan, what’s going on?”

“I saw Dilaver downstairs. Not too long after that, I heard the first shouts.”

“Dilaver?” Alissa stopped at the top of the stairs. “But…tomorrow…I have to call
Yeekoh
! He should be here.”

“Alissa, we have to go down now,” Stefan said.

“My cash! And jewelry! Help me while I call—”

“Alissa,” Vivi interrupted, sensing urgency in the air, “there’s no time. Let’s go.”

Alissa pushed away Vivi’s hand. “No one’s getting my cash and jewelry,” she said angrily. She looked back, her mind on her belongings. “You go. I can get away on my own.”

All around them, doors were opening and closing as news of the fire reached the girls upstairs. They came running out of their rooms, some half-dressed, some pulling their
drunken customers by the hand, and tried to rush down the stairway. In their panic, they pushed whoever was in the way. Vivi found herself separated from Alissa. A horrible thought occurred.

“Alissa! Sia-Sia!”

Alissa turned around impatiently. “What?”

“The girls that are locked up downstairs—you have to let them out!”

Alissa shook her head. “Who cares? Stefan! Come with me.” She ran against the wall of bodies. She turned and realized Stefan wasn’t beside her. “Stefan? Stefan!”

Vivi saw him halfway down the stairs already, helping some of the girls who had fallen. He looked up and beckoned. She glanced back at Alissa. But her friend was barely paying attention, calling out Stefan’s name as she slowly moved farther and farther out of hearing distance. Vivi squeezed her way forward until she reached Stefan.

“You’ll have to get Alissa. I’m going down to the locked rooms.”

“You don’t know where those rooms are,” he pointed out. When Vivi looked back up the stairs, he leaned forward so she could hear him amid the noise, and said, “You have to make a choice. Go back upstairs or save the girls? You can only do one thing.”

Vivi glanced up sharply. His face was a mask, except for those strange light eyes. He didn’t seem in a big hurry, as if he was willing to wait for her decision. But of course they were in a hurry—there was a fire. His presence was just oddly calming, even when everyone around them was getting hysterical. A part of her noted that he didn’t offer to go upstairs to get Sia-Sia.

“Downstairs,” she said. Those girls had to be freed.

He nodded. “Alissa can take care of herself.” He took her by the arm and put her in front of him. It took her a second to realize that this made it easier for him to talk into her ear as they moved forward. “The building has been wired with
explosives. I told one of my men to start a distraction to get people out. I guess a fire is the best scenario.”

Vivi stumbled as someone elbowed her out of the way. She found herself pulled back against Stefan’s chest, his arms around her. She was confused. Had Jazz wired the building?

But there was no time to ask anything right now. She smelled the acridness of smoke in the air. They had reached downstairs, and the place was definitely in exit mode. She stood there, trying to place herself before she continued. Before she could gather her thoughts, someone grabbed her roughly. Her world suddenly exploded into stars.

All the air in her lungs seemed to have left her body. She fell backward even as she vaguely realized someone had punched her out. Someone held on to her.

“She’s mine!” she heard someone yelling. He sounded very familiar. She tried to shake off the stars buzzing in her head. “I’m taking her with me. You coming, Stefan?”

“I’ll be right behind you. Don’t hit her again.” There was a pause. “You’ll have to carry her out. She isn’t going to make it on her own.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t let her escape me again. Better get out. Fast. You haven’t much time once I’m outside. I don’t wait for anyone. I’ll see you tomorrow, Stefan.”

Vivi felt herself swung around and then hung upside down. Oh shit. Dilaver. She could hear him yelling for his men but it was difficult to understand what he said with all the noise. She seemed to be hearing muffled echoes in her left ear. Lifting her hand, she touched the side of her face. It burned. The brute had certainly given her a wallop. Grimly, she counted the voices. Okay, Dilaver and maybe three…four men? She couldn’t hear Stefan among them.

She forced herself to ignore the blood rushing to her head, adding to her dizziness. As long as Dilaver was moving, she had time to think and come up with a plan. He was probably the one who had wired the building with explosives. Some
how he had caught sight of and gone after her. She recalled her earlier conversation with T. and how she had agreed that this mission was personal and that she mustn’t jeopardize their insider’s work.

When Dilaver snatched her up, Stefan obviously couldn’t just rescue her without revealing himself. Besides, the girls in the back—they needed rescuing more than she did. She had handled the thug once before; she could handle him again. If only she didn’t feel as if she was headless.

Jazz couldn’t believe it. He had been staring at the entrance, watching desperately for Vivi among the hordes of seemingly naked girls. The last thing he had expected was seeing Dilaver and Hawk coming out of the building with Vivi over Dilaver’s shoulder. Hawk was talking, gesturing. There were two others with them. The interpreter and a bodyguard.

“Are you getting Hawk’s signals, Cumber and Joker?” he spoke into the mike quietly.

“Affirmative. He wants those two with Dilaver put out. The one on the right not a problem from my angle,” Joker replied.

“I can take out the other hostile from my angle, sir.”

“Good. Stand by for clearance.” The screams were louder now as thick smoke whirled out of the windows. “What’s happening in the back, men?”

“Situation under control. As expected, the guards are running out through the secret exits, leaving the doors wide open. We got them. We made sure those who fought and escaped think they were being shot at by Dilaver’s men. There were a couple who had taken off with a dead hostile, sir. I think they’re going to show the body to their boss.”

“Good.”

“We have women running out too but they need help. Stumbling and acting funny, sir.”

“Help them. They’re the locked-up ones Armando freed, probably drugged.” Jazz heard the sirens of the fire depart
ment in the background. “You have to stay out of sight as soon as the authorities arrive. Do you hear them?”

“Affirmative. Ten-four.”

Hawk was signaling again. Jazz froze. His friend had a message just for him, using signals that only he would understand. He wanted two shots in his direction. One to hit him in the arm, the other for Dilaver. He wanted Jazz to shoot both of them. As if Hawk was aware of the thoughts running in his friend’s head, he looked up at their direction, his gaze direct, fierce.

“What’s Hawk saying?” Cucumber asked quietly. He knew about their secret language.

“He wants me to nick his arm first, and then get Dilaver.” He had no problem with the latter. But shooting Hawk…

“Shit. Why wouldn’t it be better just to get that bastard the way we had planned? I thought he was going to help Dilaver when he’s down. Why shoot him too?”

“Because…” Jazz swallowed. “Vivi’s in the way. When Hawk reacts to being shot, Dilaver will turn toward him and that’ll give us a clear shot at him without risking Vivi.”

And he had to be the one. His best friend trusted his aim.

“We have to get away fast. I hear the fire engines. That means the authorities won’t be far behind.”

Vivi frowned. Her hearing must be playing tricks with her. That sounded like Hawk speaking another language. She peered to the left. Dilaver shifted her like a sack of potatoes and she winced as everything whirled in her head.

“You should just leave the girl.”

“No! She’s probably working with them. That’s why she was at the bridge. She has a lot of questions to answer.” Dilaver cursed rapidly. “Where the hell are the others?”

“We can’t wait, boss.” That was somebody else…not Hawk. Maybe she heard wrong.

This time she managed to slowly turn her head without becoming dizzy. She craned her neck to glimpse the man
next to Dilaver. It
was
Hawk. She frowned. Wasn’t Jazz’s team going to be here tomorrow, too?

“Well, where is your boss?” Dilaver was asking the man who looked like Hawk.

“He’s probably gone already. He doesn’t stand around waiting for trouble. I’m going to—” Hawk groaned in pain, fell on one knee, holding on to his arm. Vivi could see blood streaming between Hawk’s fingers. He had been shot.

“What’s the matter?” Dilaver quickly turned toward Hawk and this time Vivi closed her eyes to avoid being dizzy again. When she opened them, she was facing the other way.

“Fuck!”

“Who—” Vivi heard a thud and Dilaver’s body jerked under her. He shouted in surprised pain and toppled forward.

With all the screaming and yelling around them, they hadn’t heard any gunshot. The sirens sounded closer and closer. Vivi tried to move but her legs were trapped by Dilaver’s weight. He moaned as she groped and grabbed at clothing and limbs, wrenching herself free. Someone pushed at her back until she was finally able to crawl away from the fallen man on her own. She turned around. All of Dilaver’s men were down—dead. Dilaver—no, he was alive, howling in pain. She caught sight of Hawk beside him. It must have been him pushing her just now. He was looking in the direction of the trees behind her and signaling. Then he looked down at Vivi and winked.

“Dilaver, are you all right?” he shouted as he got on his feet, still holding on to his arm. “We have to get out of here. Come on! We’re being shot at. The Triads are after us.”

Vivi watched Hawk haul the injured big thug up on his feet. He urged him to put a hand over his shoulder, helping him along. “Let’s go, come on, man. The police are almost here.” As they passed her, Hawk winked again and dropped a small piece of paper next to her.

Jazz rushed toward the scene, his eyes glued on Hawk. His shot had hit him exactly where he had intended, but it was
still tough to see his friend go down. He pushed people out of the way as he hurried forward but Hawk was already back on his feet and helping Dilaver up. He was on his way out of there. His mission had started. Just before he disappeared into the crowd, he paused and half turned. Dilaver appeared to double over in pain. Hawk took that moment to signal. Two taps to his heart.