man, as I said before. But Shi Meihua…maybe not so much. She’s met many men who are just as handsome, and some who are more powerful. And Lin Jong did not seem to notice her either way.”
“Mr. Ren…where did Miss Shi grow up?”
Ren looked puzzled by the question, and he took his time in answering. “I believe she is from Hong Kong, or immigrated there.”
“Are you sure she’s not from Shanghai?”
“She knows Shanghai as well as many people who work for me but who do not live there, Detective Ryker.”
“Is there any chance her family might have been from Shanghai?”
Ren looked at Ryker directly now, but he listened to Chee Wei’s question intently. He took some time to answer, searching his memory for the information Ryker requested. At last, he shook his head. “I’m sorry, I just don’t know the answer to that question. Why is this important?”
“James Lin oversaw the purges in Shanghai. More than a few innocent civilians were sent to hell by that man. There are more than a few reasons to hate him.”
Ren said nothing.
“Can you call your office to find out if someone can get that information on Miss Shi? Regarding her parentage, where she was born, so on?”
“Of course. I’ll do it immediately.”
“Last question. Where’s Lin?”
“He left early this morning, with his guard Manning. Where they went, I do not know.”
“Left with Manning, huh?” Ryker thought about that for a moment, then shrugged. “Has Lin spoken to you about the deaths of his sons?”
“Of course.”
“And?”
Ren reached for his pack of cigarettes but didn’t shake a smoke from the pack. Yet. “He is upset. His sons were all he had. His wife died years ago. He is a lonely man, now made even lonelier by an assassin who won’t attack him directly.”
“Mister Ren…did Lin ever tell you anything about the circumstances of his son’s death?”
“I know everything about Lin Jong’s…demise. Lin Yubo informed me Lin Dan met with an identical fate. The mutilation. The desecration.” Ren stirred uncomfortably, and Ryker found his discomfiture hypocritical at best. From what he had seen, Ren had participated in the deaths and displacements of thousands, perhaps millions. And here he sat, uneasy discussing the particulars of two deaths he hadn’t even partaken in.
“What else do you know about the murders?” Ryker asked instead.
“Nothing.”
Ryker nodded and checked his watch. Mid-afternoon was afoot, and he wanted to get to the downtown hotel in San Francisco and start tracking Meihua Shi. He wasn’t convinced she was the best candidate for the murder of Danny Lin, but she was the only lead they had. He rose to his feet.
“Thanks for your time. If you could check with your people in Shanghai about Shi’s background, that might be very helpful. Please contact Detective Fong with the information, whenever it arrives. Chee Wei, give the man your card.”
Chee Wei repeated what Ryker had said, and then handed Ren his card as instructed. His face was a blank mask, and Ren accepted the card with a similar expression. Chee Wei pointed out the telephone number, and turned to Ryker.
“You want to tell him anything else?”
Ryker considered it for a moment, then shook his head. “No. Tell this cock-sucking, dog-fucking, inbred son of a whore I don’t have more to say to him.”
Ren’s eyes widened slightly, and Ryker laughed. Some words truly had international meaning.
On the way back to San Francisco, Ryker called in a phone warrant giving him the ability to search the hotel room registered to Maggie Shi. He then called Morales, still on babysitting duty with the Zhu woman and gave him a quick brief. Morales wanted to meet them at the hotel, but Ryker told him to stay put. He didn’t know where Baluyevsky was, and until he got a handle on that, he didn’t want Xiaohui Zhu left unguarded.
“Man, this isn’t exactly easy duty over here,” Morales said. “This woman’s a hundred percent bat-shit crazy.”
“That’s a high-maintenance woman for you,” Ryker said, and then disconnected.
Chee Wei drove as fast as before, but wasn’t quite as reckless about it. He signaled his lane changes, and didn’t hit the brakes like he was trying to stop a speeding airliner on a short runway. He kept his eyes rooted on the freeway before them, and his chin was set.
“What’s wrong?”
Chee Wei didn’t look over at him. “That motherfucker threatened my family.”
“Ah. Yeah, he did. You should give your cousin a call, and let him know. I don’t think Ren is the kind of guy to make an empty threat, you know?”
“It’s four in the morning in Hong Kong. He won’t even answer the phone.”
“So leave a message?”
Chee Wei nodded, checked his mirrors, and merged into another lane. “You think this woman killed Danny Lin?”
“That’s what we’re going to find out.”
“Are we going to arrest her, or shake her hand?”
“What the hell do you think?” Ryker’s cell phone buzzed, and he checked the display. It was Spider. “This is Ryker.”
“What’s shaking, Hal? I just got a pulse from the DA’s office. You phoned in a warrant?”
“We have a lead. Not sure how hot it is, but it measures up with some new intel Fong picked up.” Ryker gave Furino the short version, elaborating only when Furino asked. It didn’t take long, and the more he talked about it, the slimmer it felt.
But at the same time, it felt
Spider didn’t comment right away when Ryker finished, and for a moment, he thought he’d lost the connection as the Lexus sped down the freeway toward the Golden Gate Bridge. “Spider, you there?”
“I’m here. That sounds a little thin, Hal.”
“I’m following up a lead, not bringing in a collar and typing up the arrest report for the DA to use at trial.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. But Jericho’s going to be hearing about this, he’s got the DA’s office spooled up to contact him if there’s any official actions required on the Lin case. That’s how I got the call myself. The only difference is that Jericho’s probably on the golf course, while I’m sitting at home watching my ten-year-old clear a room full of zombies on his Xbox.”
“So what do you want?”
“I want you to loop me in if something develops. And track your time, both you and Fong qualify for OT compensation.”
“Oh, you got that.”
Ryker disconnected and looked over at Chee Wei. The younger detective’s face was almost expressionless, as if carved from stone. Ryker didn’t have anything further to say to him, so he just tightened his seat belt and leaned back in the seat.
CHAPTER 25
