White Tiger

Guides, more like.”

“I heard that,” Vincent called after him. “You only had to say the word, Roj. I would have taken them out. All of them.”

“To dinner?” Roger called from the kitchen. He opened the fridge, took out a beer bottle and popped the cap with a practiced downward stroke, spilling not a single drop.

Suzy spoke softly to the pink-haired girl in Chinese and kissed her on the cheek. It took Ryker all his will power to tear his gaze away from them. “Do you know where this Xiaohui is?” he said, rolling his tongue around the unfamiliar syllables. “Did you tell them?”

“I’m afraid our Juicy Lucy has gone up in the world,” Roger said, passing the beer bottle to Vincent. “We don’t see much of her any more. Just a couple of months ago she lay on that very bed with her legs wide open. What was the name of that film, Vincent?”

“I dunno,” Vincent said. He swallowed a mouthful of beer. “But she was a right good little actress. Then she met some bloke. Must have had money. Suddenly two hundred and fifty dollars is chicken feed to her. She turned down the next job too, and it was a sequel. They always do well.”

“At least she wasn’t bitchy about it or anything,” Roger added. He delicately touched his nose and inspected his finger. “We told Arnold bloody Schwarzenegger he should ask someone at the Snake Bite if they knew where she was. She used to work there, as a dancer.”

Ryker knew the bar, a waterfront dive popular with tourists looking for a good time.

“Forget the dolly bird, what are you going to do about this?” Vincent said, using his beer bottle as a pointer to indicate the fallen camera and broken light. Almost as an afterthought he also indicated the pink-haired girl. “Can’t let the buggers get away with it. Why don’t you get on the blower and call in a SWAT team or something? Put a cap up their arses. Serve them bloody well right.”

“All right. But you can’t touch anything before forensics photographs the evidence. And the investigators will want to talk to all the witnesses.” Roger and Vincent both looked at the pink-haired girl, who rested her head on Suzy’s shoulder while Suzy stroked her hair. Friends again.

“Ah, well,” Roger said. “That could prove difficult. Our little Lotus Blossom here doesn’t speak a word of English.”

“I’ll be happy to translate,” Chee Wei said.

Suzy shook her head almost imperceptibly. The gesture was intended for Roger but Ryker picked it up and knew the matter wouldn’t be pursued with the police.

“Oh, I don’t think that’s necessary. The damage really isn’t too severe. And we’ll pay our lead actress danger money to make up for her discomfort. Won’t we, Vincent?” Vincent nodded eagerly. “So, detective sergeant, now that you have the name of the person those thugs were after, what will you do?” Roger asked, smoothly changing the subject.

“I think we need to find her before they do,” Ryker said. “For her own protection.” Suzy got the message. She said something to the other girl, then got up off the bed and went out into the hallway. “We’ll see ourselves out.”

“Our pleasure to have met you, I’m sure,” Roger said.

Ryker followed Suzy into the hallway. She was waiting for them by the front door. Chee Wei was only a step behind him. “Fucking gays,” he said, his whisper every bit as loud as his normal voice. “All that pussy and they don’t know what to do with it! She’s a minor. We can close them down.”

“People gotta eat,” Ryker told him.

“Would you say that if she was white?”

Ryker stopped so suddenly that Chee Wei almost ran into him.

“Okay, hold on,” Chee Wei said. “I’m gonna be picking shoe leather out of my teeth for weeks. I shouldn’t have said that. Dumb fuck thing to say. Forget it, will you?”

But Suzy was waiting to hear his reply, so Ryker gave her one. “The question is would I rather she sold her ass out on the street? The answer’s no. She’s better off here, doing tricks for a pair of queers more likely to mother her than do her harm.”

He stepped up to Suzy. Their eyes were almost level thanks to her boot heels. She was undeniably beautiful but her friend back there in the makeshift film studio had drawn his attention to Suzy’s age. Looks were deceiving; she could be young enough to be his daughter, which was the biggest turn off he could think of on such short notice.

“What else can you tell me?” he said.

“Her name is Zhu Xiaohui,” she said. “She has an apartment. It’s not far. She could be there. But if she knows someone is looking for her? Maybe she’ll stay with her sister.”

Ryker took out his notepad, flipped it open and offered it to her along with a pen.

CHAPTER 8

Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

There were advantages to owning a multinational corporation that dealt in advanced electronics, chief among which was the near guarantee of totally secure communications. Somewhere above the world a satellite owned wholly by Lin Industries looked down upon them and beamed encoded signals from continent to continent. New compression techniques meant that delay was almost non-existent and both parties could speak in real time without any irritating pauses. Sound quality was also enhanced, so that every nuance of tone and emotion came through clearly. They might as well be sitting in the same room, Chen Gui thought, as Lin Yubo’s voice lashed him from 6,000 miles away, and rightly so, considering what might easily have gone wrong and how much they could have lost in Japan, in terms of both wealth and face.

The tirade continued for nearly two minutes. Chen Gui feared his boss would faint because of lack of oxygen to the brain, but he went on without pause and apparently without the need to draw breath.

“-And that nephew of yours,” Lin Yubo said. “How much of this unnecessary confrontation with the Fujianese was his doing?”

Chen Gui resisted the temptation to blame it all on Chen Song. That might possibly lead to unfortunate and fatal repercussions. Chen Gui didn’t particularly like Chen Song’s mother, but she had a tongue that could cut through silk and a vindictive streak that was to be feared. She would never give him a moment’s peace if anything were to happen to her beloved son. Even though, if there was anyone on the Asian continent who deserved to suddenly disappear without trace, it was the incompetent wretch Chen Song whose foolishness had almost cost Chen Gui his reputation, his position, and his life.

“Many factors contributed to the situation, Lin Yubo,” Chen Gui said, pushing the temptation aside. “Some were beyond our control. Of course our people in Tokyo should have assessed what was happening, and reported this so we had more time to prepare an appropriate response. And the yakuza, aiyah. So much distrust there. They gave us no warning, even though they must have known something was amiss.” He waited for his boss to comment but the speakerphone was as silent as a tiger stalking its prey. Chen Gui wiped his forehead with his handkerchief and said, “Thankfully the matter has been resolved with only minimal loss. I was able to take steps to avoid the bumbling Fujianese peasants, and also inflict irreparable damage upon their Tokyo organization.”

Lin Yubo said, “What are you talking about?”

Chen Gui savored the moment. “Our limited resources in Tokyo had already been decimated by the time I arrived. While my nephew organized a retaliatory strike to distract and delay the Fujianese, I engaged the services of a professional. An outsider, who has no connection with us and cannot be traced.”

“You know my feelings concerning mercenaries.” Lin Yubo’s disapproving tone made Chen Gui imagine an executioner stepping up to a wooden chopping block, an ax gleaming in his hands.

“I have used this man before, Lin Yubo, and knew he could be trusted. Also, he was available immediately. He lives in Tokyo but is above suspicion. Neither the police nor the intelligence services have any interest in him, his cover is entirely legitimate. While the Fujianese foundered like fish out of water, he spirited us safely away from