White Ginger (17 page)

“I'm the
souxun
.” Bai brought the gun up to point it in his face as she ratcheted back the hammer. The chatter of the automatic weapon managed to grab his attention. He froze. “You, Sammy Tu, have been found.”

Tan shoved Sammy Tu into the room and threw him up against the wall to check for weapons. Sammy Tu wasn't carrying, which suggested he was either very trusting or a fool.

Bai kicked the door closed behind her. “Take a seat, Sammy.” She waved the gun in the general direction of a desk chair. “We have some things to discuss.”

Sammy Tu's eyes dodged from side to side while his tongue licked his lips nervously. He looked like an animal caught in a trap as he feverishly looked for a way to escape his predicament.

The room was a hotel standard: a double bed, two upholstered chairs, and a small writing desk against the wall. Unless Sammy Tu was willing to take a header out the window and drop seven stories to the ground, he had no place to go.

She scowled. “Just sit down, Sammy, before I shoot you.”

He stared at her. Her words didn't seem to penetrate his bewilderment.

“That's not to say I won't shoot you anyway,” she informed him as she raised the gun to point it at his chest.

Tan put a hand on Sammy Tu's shoulder and pushed him down into the chair. He kept a hand on Sammy Tu to dispel any notion of his getting up again.

Before she could question him, Sammy Tu started to blab. “I knew, I knew it, I knew it! That asshole Shan set me up, didn't he? He used the girl then sold me just like a whore. I'm a fucking whore. That's what I am. I'm nothing but a fucking whore.”

She couldn't entirely comprehend Sammy Tu's rant, but reference to the girl got her attention. “Tell me where Jia Yan is.”

He shot her a furtive look. It was obvious to Bai that lies were running through Sammy Tu's head like shoppers on Christmas Eve. Reaching into her sleeve, she pulled out Jason's knife and handed it to Tan.

“See if you can prick Sammy's memory,” she suggested.

Taking the knife, Tan quickly sliced through Sammy Tu's ear. He tossed the bloody trophy into the pimp's lap before Sammy Tu even realized what had happened.

A howl erupted from Sammy as he stared at the severed ear in horror before grabbing at his bleeding head. Every foul word in his vocabulary spewed from his mouth, including a few Bai hadn't heard. As Sammy ranted, she watched him dispassionately, surprised at her own detachment. Her reasoning told her she should have been horrified by the callous violence. Oddly enough, she wasn't, and momentarily wondered why.

She waited until the cursing subsided to incoherent whimpering. “Where's the girl, Sammy? If I have to ask again, Mr. Tan will be obliged to cut off something even more sensitive.”

He twisted around to stare fearfully at Bai. Tears streamed down his face. “What's left of her is through that door.” He nodded at the access door to the adjoining room. “Shan's been at her since yesterday. I'm not sure there's much left.” He wept and his face crumpled. “He said he was going to pay me for her. But he never gave me a fucking dime. It was all lies, nothing but lies.”

The pimp folded up and whimpered.

Bai looked at Tan to catch his attention. “Keep a close eye on him. Cut him if he tries to run.”

Tan grimly nodded in response.

She walked around the bed to open the door to the adjoining room. It was unlocked from the other side. She couldn't see much. The lights were off and the curtains drawn. She found the light switch next to the door and flipped it on.

Jia Yan was curled into a fetal position on the bed. She was naked, bruised, and covered in blood. Bai walked over to lean down and touch the girl's wrist to check for a pulse. Jia mewled like a kitten. She was alive, but just barely.

Standing there, Bai felt like a failure. Tears filled her eyes as she stared at the broken child. She was afraid to touch her again for fear of hurting her. There was no way to tell how many broken bones or internal injuries Jia suffered. Bai couldn't fathom the cruelty inflicted on her.

Anger quickly replaced guilt. She hated Shan. She trembled with rage as a molten fury exploded within her. For the first time in her life, she really wanted to kill someone.

She stormed back into the room where Sammy Tu and Tan waited. Tan looked at her with apprehension. Words spilled from her mouth in anger. “I'm going to find that son of a bitch and I'm going to kill him.”

“The girl?” Tan asked.

Bai stared blankly at him and realized she'd lost it for a moment. “Right . . . ,” she nodded, reordering her priorities, “the girl's alive, but she needs medical attention.”

He looked to her for instructions. His questioning presence forced her to stop and think. It wouldn't do her or the girl any good if she flew into a rage. She needed a plan.

“First,” she said, “I want you to get on the phone and arrange for an ambulance. Have them come through the back. There must be a facility
Sun Yee On
uses.”

“Yes, there's a private hospital, a good one,” said Tan. “No questions asked.”

“Good. After that, I want you to call Shan. Tell him that I'm in the room next door with Sammy Tu. Tell him you listened at the door. Tell Shan you heard us say the girl is dead. I want you to tell him I've bought Sammy Tu. You heard us negotiating a wire transfer for a million dollars. We plan to pin Jia's murder on him. That should bring him running—and alone. He won't want anyone else to know about the girl or the money.”

Tan looked worried. “Are you sure you want to bring him here? You shouldn't underestimate him. He's dangerous.”

“Don't worry. Just make the calls.”

She walked over to put the barrel of the gun to the side of Sammy Tu's head. She played with the idea of pulling the trigger. The pimp continued to weep. When he felt the barrel of the gun against his temple, he jammed his eyes closed with fear and cringed.

After a tense moment, she decided he wasn't worth the bullet—or the burden on her soul. She settled for slamming the barrel of the pistol down on the back of Sammy's head. He slumped forward, unconscious. Bending over, Bai pulled the laces out of his shoes and used them to bind his hands and feet. She didn't want him going anywhere until she'd had another chance to question him. She still needed to find out who'd hired him. And why.

Speaking heatedly into the phone, Tan arranged for an ambulance. Then he called Shan. She listened as he sold the story convincingly.

When he hung up, he nodded to her. “He's in the elevator now.”

“Good.” Her anger had grown cold—but no less potent. “I'll be in the hallway waiting.”

“Don't you want me to come with you?”

“No. Stay here.” She cast a glance at the doorway to the adjoining room. “You take care of the girl. If I don't come back, get her out of here and let Jason know what happened. If he doubts your story, you tell him I swore on my daughter's life. He'll understand.”

She could see that he wanted to argue with her, but she didn't give him the chance. She handed him the gun. He looked at the weapon and then bowed deeply from the waist, demonstrating the respect he'd neglected earlier.

She pulled Tan's hatchet out of its resting place in her belt. “Don't shoot Sammy, no matter how tempting it is. I need him.”

Her feet carried her swiftly across the room. She looked back once as she closed the door. Tan's eyes followed her with a worried expression.

Turning the corner in the corridor, Bai ran toward the elevators, her body racing with adrenaline. The lights above the elevator doors informed her it was on its way up; the number 4 was lit. She skidded to a stop fifteen paces from the elevator and waited. Her life would depend on her sense of timing.

As a child, Bai had practiced with hatchets as part of her martial schooling. She recalled throwing the heavy blades and the resulting feeling of satisfaction upon hearing the crack of wood when the hatchet split a target. She hoped her muscles remembered the experience as well.

She held the ax at her side as she wiggled her arms to loosen her shoulders. She flexed her legs by bouncing in place. The elevator dinged to signal its arrival at the seventh floor. She took three fast steps as she swung the hatchet behind her. On the fourth step, her arm arced the hatchet over her head. She released her grip with the fifth step and watched the blade spin away as she slid to a halt.

The hatchet somersaulted through the air with a whirring sound.

The elevator door started to open. Through the widening crack of the door, she glimpsed Shan waiting impatiently. He looked up to see her bent over, her hands on her knees. She notched her head up to meet his gaze.

Their eyes met. She witnessed the hatred on Shan's face before his expression flicked to surprise. He'd seen the hatchet. His eyes became saucers. Hands flinched up to fend off the blade. Too late.

The hatchet barely cleared the opening doors before it slammed into his forehead. The impact snapped his head back violently. His feet flew out from underneath him. He flopped on his back in the elevator with his arms and legs splayed. His body twitched for a moment before going completely still, the hatchet protruding from his forehead.

Bai walked up to the elevator to stop it from closing. She didn't want Shan's body traveling from floor to floor with a hatchet covered with her fingerprints embedded in his head. Pushing the “open” button inside the elevator, she grabbed the cuffs of his trousers and pulled. He was a big man. She strained as she tugged on his pant legs. His body was halfway out of the elevator when the doors tried to close. They caught Shan at the waist and rebounded while the elevator bell dinged repeatedly in protest.

She jumped at the sound of a voice. “Could you use a hand with that?”

She turned frantically to find Jason flanked by four men, some of whom she knew from San Francisco. He smiled. The other four men looked concerned by her activities.

“And this, gentlemen,” Jason pronounced, addressing those standing around him, “is what happens when you piss off the
souxun
. I want you to keep this in mind the next time you're tempted to mess with her.”

He gestured with his hand, and two of his men moved to gather Shan up and drag his limp body down the hall toward the back stairwell.

She grabbed Jason's arm to lead him back down the corridor. “Your timing is a little off. I could have used you about ten minutes ago.”

He looked at her and shook his head in frustration. “I thought you were safe in the restaurant. It wasn't until we saw Shan bolt for the elevator that it occurred to me you might do something stupid, like follow me.”

“I didn't follow you. I drew Shan and one of his men away. I thought you might be in trouble.”

He turned aside to look at her. She could tell he was exasperated. “You're a hard woman to protect.”

She smiled at him. “I never said the job was easy.”

She stopped in front of room 724 and knocked. “Tan, it's me, Bai. Open up.”

A few seconds later, the door swung open to reveal Tan. The automatic weapon still rested in his hand. It was pointed at the ground. Tan recognized Jason behind her and stepped away from the door to bow low as Jason stepped into the room. Jason's men followed like shadows.

She looked across the room and saw Sammy Tu was coming around. He was drifting in and out of consciousness, his head lolling.

She pointed at the pimp. “Meet Sammy Tu.”

As Jason stared at Sammy, she turned to Tan. “What about the ambulance for the girl?”

Tan seemed shaken. His face looked pale. “They should be here any minute.”

“Did you look in on her?” she asked.

He nodded in response and took a deep breath. “I wish I hadn't. Is Shan dead?”

“He's dead all right,” offered Jason, interrupting their conversation, “but that doesn't explain what you're doing here with a gun in your hand, Tan.”

She jumped into the conversation by placing herself physically between the two men. “He only served Shan to protect his daughters. He helped me escape and worked with me to kill Shan. He did what he had to do until the time was right. He should be forgiven. After all, ‘a courageous foe is better than a cowardly friend.'”

The look Bai bestowed on Jason didn't brook any argument. While looking at Tan, Jason's expression remained unreadable. Sammy Tu moaned softly in the background as Jason stared. No one moved.

Finally, he relented. “I'll expect full cooperation on weeding out any of Shan's followers.”

The question wasn't rhetorical. Everyone in the room waited for the answer.

Showing respect, Tan again bowed low. “You'll have it,
Hung Kwan
.”

“In that case, welcome back, Brother. You can thank Bai for your life.”

Jason turned to one of his men and nodded. The man pulled a phone from his jacket pocket and made a connection. The call would take Tan's name off the list of those to be hunted down and killed.