“Mei shi,” I manage. It’s not important.
I steady myself, take a deep breath, cough a few times, and hobble off.
Up ahead there’s a big signboard with arrows pointing in all different directions: imperial palace, prince’s garden, ming street, old guangzhou. No sign of Betty.
“Shit,” I mutter. If I had something to throw, I’d throw it.
But I’ve got time. She’s here with Gugu. Where’s she going to go?
She can’t run forever.
Chapter Twenty
★
I take advantage of the walk back to Gugu’s set to call John. He picks up on the third ring.
“You are okay?” he asks.
“Fine. You?”
“Xing.” Good enough.
“Did you find out anything about who killed anybody?” I mean, I’m not picky at this point.
“A little. The girl, the second one, she died from some drug. Baifen.”
“Heroin?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“What about Inspector Zou? Have you seen him?”
A pause. “It is complicated.”
“Complicated, how?”
A longer pause.
“I think maybe Yang Junmin interferes with the case.”
I feel a prickle of cold sweat. Not that it’s a surprise. You’d expect a guy with his clout to try to control the investigation.
That’s not the part that’s got my heart thumping hard right now.
“Did you go to see Zou? Does he know who you are?”
Because you also have to figure that Uncle Yang’s keeping a close eye on things. That anyone coming around asking about the case is going to get noticed.
“No. I have some contacts in Beijing PSB. They cannot say who. Only they hear Zou Qishi no longer controls the investigation.”
“Good.”
“Good?”
“I mean, that you didn’t see Zou.”
“I will speak to him when it’s time.”
I shouldn’t have to lay it out for him. If anyone knows this stuff, he does. But he’s the one who blew everything up that night at dinner, when he met Yang Junmin.
“John, look… you need to stay away from this.”
A snort. “That is a funny thing for you to say.”
“Yeah, hilarious. Okay, I don’t know what faction is what and who’s fighting who, or any of that. But I do know this guy’s a da motou, that there’s a leadership transition coming up, and if he finds out you’re with the DSD? That’s not stirring the pot, that’s throwing dynamite in a firecracker factory. Do you want that kind of shitstorm coming down on your head?”
Another pause.
“Not yet. I have to first line up the ducks.”
This just gets more awesome by the minute.
I recap in my head as I limp up the Qing Village street toward Gugu’s production.
John is on some crazy crusade to bring down Yang Junmin. Why, I don’t know, and I’m not sure I really care. What I do care about is my ass, and though he swore on a stack of Little Red Books that he’s going to fix my PSB problem, and I think he believes that he means it, the shit John’s stirring up could swamp both of us.
I’m going to have to handle this on my own somehow.
I look at it this way: Sidney asked me to investigate his kids. To find out if any of them are involved in a murder.
Sidney’s a powerful guy, and even if he can’t control Uncle Yang, he might have the pull to get me off the PSB’s list of convenient suspects.
So I’m doing what Sidney asked me to do. I’ll try to figure it out. If I do what he wants, then the way I look at it is, he owes me.
Okay, he’s sort of holding my mom as a hostage, and that was a total dick move. Or maybe he’s keeping her safe from Uncle Yang. I’m guessing it’s a combination of both.
But knowing Sidney, either way, if I help him, I think he’d be willing to do me the favor.
Speaking of.
I swap SIM cards and call him.
“We have a wonderful time! First today we golf.”
“Golf?” I don’t think my mom has ever played golf.
“Yes. Her friend likes to golf. Your mother give it a good try. It was very much fun. Tonight we can sing some karaoke and watch movies. My home theater is very nice.”
“That’s… great. Listen, I just want you to know, I’m with Gugu and Meimei now. So I’m doing what you asked me to do. Spending time with them.”
“What have you learned?”
Don’t snark at the homicidal billionaire kidnapper, I tell myself. “I just got here,” I say. “I’ll call you as soon as I find out something important.”
“What about Tiantian? Will you see him?”
“I, uh… yeah. I will. Soon.”
“Good.”
How I’m going to handle the whole Tiantian issue, I have no idea. I don’t want to go anywhere near him. Because with Tiantian comes his wife, Dao Ming. And with Dao Ming comes Uncle Yang.
My mom swears that everything’s fine. Golf was fun, “and tomorrow I guess we’re playing paintball.” She lowers her voice. “I think Sidney might be a little lonely.”
It’s possible, I guess. Though he could afford to buy himself as much company as he wants.
“How much longer do you think…? I mean, we’re having a nice time and all, but…”
“Soon,” I tell her. “I just need to… line up the ducks.”
They’re shooting in a different place when I get back to the set, around the shops in the village street. The crew moves light stands and diffusers, checks makeup and wardrobe of the actors. I don’t see Marsh. Maybe he’s done being an evil imperialist for the day.
What I do see, up ahead in the “town square”: a parked black BMW sedan. Standing next to it is Tiantian.
I skid to a stop. Turn and walk as fast as I can without running until I reach the alley that goes alongside one of the “shops.” Turn the corner, hug the wall, and peek around it.
Tiantian’s talking to a guy with a clipboard. I look for Yang Junmin and Dao Ming, but I don’t see them.
I do see a guy by the driver’s side of the car: buzz cut, military vibe, plainclothes, doing a slow survey of the set.
I don’t know if he’s one of Uncle Yang’s helpers, but I can’t afford to assume that he isn’t. I scurry down the alley and then around a corner along the back side of the shops.
Now what?
I’m hiding out in one of the courtyards of the “Imperial Palace,” just inside a big hall with red columns and a gold-painted throne up on a dais, surrounded by carved screens, brass incense burners, and giant character signs. Tourists dressed in Qing costumes pose for photos-there are racks of costumes to the right of the throne and a small line of customers waiting to change and have their pictures taken.
Who narked me out to Tiantian? I figure his showing up here is no coincidence. I’m guessing Meimei-she’s the one who knew I was coming, who even made a joke about inviting Tiantian along.
But she might have called ahead. Marsh and Gugu didn’t seem surprised to see me. Either one of them could’ve called Tiantian.
If Tiantian’s brought Uncle Yang’s soldiers with him, there’s no way I can stay here.
But if I leave and I don’t have any answers for Sidney… that’s not going to go over very well.
Though I can’t exactly figure out what Sidney’s game is.
If I tell him that one of his kids is a murderer… what would he do with that information?
I watch a young guy slip a robe over his Paul Frank-branded jeans with the little monkey face on the back pocket.
Betty, I think. She knows something. If I can get her to tell me what it is, maybe that will be enough for Sidney.
I dig out my phone, the one I haven’t turned on since I left Uncle Yang’s place. I’m going to have to risk it to retrieve Betty’s number. I assume it’s been hacked, but I don’t really know what that means. If I turn it on, will he instantly know where I am?