sensation in his gut. He offered Morales commiserations and told him to sit tight.
He called Debbie Price at her desk and asked her to obtain James Lin’s telephone number, and to transfer him to Spider’s office.
“How’s Raymond?” Spider asked, reminding Ryker why he liked him. He’d had previous bosses whose first question would have been, “Haven’t you made an arrest yet?”
“Doc thinks she’s okay but we’re making sure,” Ryker told him. “The suspect put her down with one punch. If me and Morales hadn’t been there, no telling what might have happened.”
“What are you saying, Hal?”
“I think about what she did to Danny Lin, how she got in and out of the hotel, and the way she got past us- Lou, I had her in my sights. She jumped the rail and vanished into thin air. Uniforms didn’t even see her.”
Spider didn’t say anything right away. Ryker just waited. “Damn it, this is starting to sound downright spooky. Spit it out.”
“I think she’s had training. We know she’s Chinese. How about we put the two together?” An ambulance with flashing lights glided past Ryker, on its way to the E.R. entrance. He spotted Morales’s Ford fifty yards away, and was relieved to see it wasn’t causing a major snarl-up. “She isn’t some angry ex-girlfriend of Danny Lin’s. She took on a temporary job at the hotel so she could prepare the kill. When we got to her apartment she was blacked up. Think SWAT, only lightweight. Maybe we caught her in the middle of something — a training session. Or maybe she wears black under her street clothes. I don’t know. She was a shadow, Lou. I couldn’t tell she was human until she stopped moving for a split-second.”
Spider let out an explosion of breath. “Jesus. Are you suggesting she’s, what, a ninja?”
“Ninja are Japanese. But, yeah, maybe we’re talking the Chinese equivalent. There’s a name for them, I can’t remember what it is. The translation goes something like ‘tigers of the night.’“
“Sounds like something out of a bad Kung Fu movie. C’mon, you’re kidding-hold on a second.” Spider’s voice became muffled, evidently he’d clapped his hand over the mouthpiece to speak to someone else in his office. “Sorry, go on. The Chinese ninja theory.”
“Just how much do we know about James Lin? Who does he run with? You think he might have any rivals who’d like to see him dead?”
“We’ve been here already. This is a murder investigation, and the victim is Danny Lin, not his father.”
“And the chick who cut Danny’s dick off is still running loose in the city,” Ryker said. “I’d have to ask why. Me, I’d be on the first plane out of town, not hiding in Danny Lin’s hotel room, breathing blood and shit all night. Unless there was good reason to stay. Unless the job wasn’t finished.”
“Hold onto that theory if it helps you get through the day.” Spider’s skepticism came across loud and clear. “In the real world, what’s our next move?”
“If I think of one, I’ll let you know,” Ryker said. “Morales’s stuck at the apartment until the forensics team shows up. I’m going to check on Raymond. Anything changes, I’ll let you know. How long are you going to be at your desk?”
“I’ve got a meeting with the captain in an hour. At least I can tell him we know what Danny Lin’s murderer looks like.” Spider sighed again. “Your missing her at her apartment was bad luck. No way you could have known for sure you’d find the killer there. But still….”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You should have called in SWAT. You shouldn’t have gone in alone.”
“I wasn’t alone. I had two detectives and two street cops backing me up. We had enough firepower to bring down an elephant. Let me tell you what I think, Lou. I think SWAT wouldn’t have got us anything except more people in the hospital. Or maybe the morgue.”
“That’s strictly a matter of opinion.”
“Sure, and I’m giving you mine. Just between the two of us? I’m right. I’ll talk to you later.”
“If Jericho doesn’t shoot me first,” Spider said, and hung up.
Ryker called Debbie Price again. “I can’t find a number for James Lin,” she said. “You want me to call someone higher up the tree?”
He thought about it for all of two seconds. Last thing he needed was Jericho crashing into Spider’s office and biting his ear off about hassling James Lin. Or worse, Chief Hallis crashing into Jericho’s office and performing a rectal biopsy. Ryker was glad Debbie had sense enough to ask him first.
“Thanks but no thanks,” he said. “Let’s keep the bloodshed to a minimum. How’s Chee Wei doing?”
“There’s a black-and-white on sentry duty outside, and the older sister is making him dumplings.” Debbie chuckled. “Sounds like a real tough assignment.”
“Yeah, but Fong’s man enough to stick it out to the bitter end. Thanks Debbie, talk to you soon.”
Ryker headed inside, intending to find the hospital cafeteria, but his ringing phone stopped him.
“I hope I am not calling at an inconvenient moment, detective sergeant.”
He found a wall and leaned back against it, closing his eyes. Of course, he’d given her his card with his cell phone number. “Not at all, Mrs. Lin. If I sounded a little rude there, I apologize. It’s been an eventful day.”
“I didn’t notice.” She lied beautifully. Her voice was so clear that he expected to see her standing right there in front of him when he opened his eyes again. She wasn’t, much to his disappointment. She said, “You must be wondering why I’m calling you.”
“Yes. Yes, exactly.”
He sucked in a deep breath. “I hesitate to reveal details over the phone. There’s a possibility our call could be monitored.” Actually that was a certainty rather than a possibility, though he didn’t imagine Homeland Security’s ever-vigilant telephone monitoring and voice analysis software would tag them as potential terrorists.
“I understand perfectly. Perhaps, if you have time, you might consider coming over? To my house. Have you eaten?”
Ryker didn’t get it, not at first. It took time to sink in, and by then she was saying, “I apologize for my presumptuousness, detective sergeant. I had no right to suggest such a thing. I will leave you to carry out your duties. Please excuse me-”
“No, I haven’t eaten, not yet,” he said quickly. “Listen, Mrs. Lin. I’m at the hospital. The doctors are checking out one of my colleagues. I’m sure she’ll be fine, but I have to stay with her until she’s discharged. If it’s okay with you… if you have no objections… maybe I can call you when I’m free, and arrange to speak with you then?”
He held his breath while he waited for her response.
“Perhaps that would be unwise,” she said, her voice cold now, distanced from him. He could almost imagine shutters coming down, blocking his view of her. “I’m sorry for wasting your time, detective sergeant. Good day.”
On top of that, he hadn’t even had the sense to ask for her father-in-law’s phone number. Ryker threw back his head and laughed at his own stupidity. Two nurses on their way into the hospital looked at him, then exchanged smiles with each other. He wondered if they’d be kind enough to direct him to the psychiatric ward.
Okay, so he’d missed two open goals in a row. His immediate priority was still Sandra Raymond. He went to see how she was doing. He walked past a sign that pointed to the hospital cafeteria. He’d lost his appetite. His anger would sustain him for the rest of the day anyway.
The intern who’d examined Raymond was at the nurse’s station flipping through some charts. He recognized Ryker and beckoned him over. “You’re Detective Raymond’s boss?”
“Hal Ryker. How is she?”
“The good news, no broken bones. Bruising looks bad, but that’s just cosmetic, though it’s going to hurt like mad for a few days. We’ve prescribed a course of pain killers.”
Ryker couldn’t believe how lightly Raymond had got off. “Is there any bad news?”
