Har paid his check, went back to the reservation desk and asked if his cousin had come in yet. With another negative response he requested for a room of his own, registered, and took his suitcase up to his room on the third floor. Kicking off his shoes he sat in the easy chair to finish reading the Geneva paper. A little before five, he turned on the television and found the news. After a report about a U S Air Force named Scott O’Grady who had been shot down over Bosnia and Herzegovina while patrolling the NATO no-fly zone being rescued by U.S. Marines, and a story about A powerful earthquake, registering 6.2, that hit Aigio, Greece, resulting in several deaths and significant damage to many buildings. After a commercial, the newscast switched to news in Switzerland with Peter Jennings reporting on the Bilderberg Conference being held in Zurich. Another commercial and a lovely blond newscaster came on with the news of the Canton of Geneva. She reported that the man who had been injured in the automobile crash in Northern Geneva had been identified as a Mr. Tam Stanton from Hong Kong. Nothing any more was known about the man or why he was in Geneva. She went on to say that he was severely injured and had been transported to University Hospital where he was undergoing surgery.
Har couldn’t believe it. What was Tam doing driving around Geneva with that emerald in his car? After mulling over the news account, he decided better tell this to White Paper Fan. Using the cell phone given him just before he left Hong Kong he punched in the number he memorized. He waited, nervously, and when he heard the high squeaky voice, he reported to Fan everything about the auction and what had happened to Tam.
“No. There was no mention of the emerald in the newspaper,” he replied to Fan’s question.
“Har Yat, go immediately to that hospital and get him transferred to the Munich Municipal Hospital. I don’t care how you do it. Just do it. Yes, you can pose as a relative…a cousin? Yes, a cousin is fine, if you’ve already used that. Give them my number to confirm it.” Fan was screaming, “Just get Tam to Munich, and Dr. Yang will take care of the rest. You’ll get your bonus when Tam is in Munich and not sooner. Then come back immediately when you’ve gotten him there. Goodbye.”
With White Paper Fan’s sharp instructions ringing in his ears, Har now had business to attend to. Later that day, outside the intensive care unit the doctors conferred with Har about his cousin’s condition. They informed him that moving Tam would not be possible for another seventy-two hours, or at the very minimum forty-eight hours, depending on his condition. Only then could they tell if he would even survive such a transfer. Har said he understood, but wanted it done as soon as it was possible. He left the consultation and went down to the main waiting room to call Dr. Yang.
When Yang answered, Har told him who he was and asked that he call the hospital in Geneva to see if they could hurry up the process. Dr. Yang said he’d already heard from White Paper Fan and he would contact University Hospital right away.
Dr. Yang told his receptionist that he would take a rest for half an hour in his office and did not want to be disturbed. Then he would take the next patient. Chen Yang lay down on the couch in his office, his mind wandered back to those days when he won his so-called freedom from the Triad, at least in Hong Kong. His freedom, however tenuous it seemed, was still better than living and working under the Triad’s thumb in Hong Kong. Dealing with Tam was a small part of the price he paid for that hard-earned freedom, and taking care of the man now also defined the constraints of his freedom.
He could remember back almost ten years ago as if it were yesterday. Chen held the position of one of the five directors of the Triad. The pay and power proved not as fulfilling as he had supposed, even though he obtained enough money for a lifetime. After serving four years, he wanted out, but he wanted to live too. Until now, all Triad members were in for life. No one left alive. He studied for quite some time how he could get out. Chen finally came up with a proposition that worked. He convinced the others that he needed to be back in public practice. He knew each of the directors well enough and was trained so highly that he could convince them that this was the best way to go and even would strengthen their position and that of the Triad. Chen was tired of doing only gunshot wounds and patching up stab wounds. That was a waste of his skill and talent as a physician. In addition, he secretly knew that in a few years, he would not be able to do much more surgery, at least not the highly technical kind, because of the beginning slight tremor in his left hand that so far, no one had noticed.
He wanted to move back into internal medicine and enlarge his diagnostic skills, maybe even do some firsthand lab work for research because of his personal preferences, and the field was so wide open with the advent of new drugs. He wanted to continue his studies in Germany, so he made them the offer. He would be their contact physician for any Triad members in Europe or other continents if the patient could come to him, if they allowed him to set up his practice in Munich and live there. There were other physicians in China they could use and who wanted the opportunity to work with the Triad. He had to feed this idea to them in bits to get them to accept it. He convinced them this gave the whole organization better protection and increased their scope, and finally they had agreed…but he was still a Triad member. Almost a year had gone by since his last Triad patient, but he would keep to his word and the bargain they had made. He got up from the couch and placed the call to Mercy Hospital and arranged to have Tam airlifted to his Munich Municipal Hospital after forty-eight hours.
Back in his chalet, Hans awoke early the next morning still furious at losing his emerald, turned on the TV hoping see details about the accident, especially where the emerald might be. But the accident wasn’t even mentioned and that made him suspicious. He telephoned the Hospital posing as Dr. Julius Wong, Tam’s personal Physician calling from Hong Kong and convinced the resident in ICU to share Mr. Stratton’s condition and prognosis. Han’s learned that Tam was out of surgery and seemed to be doing as well as expected. Then the resident mentioned that there seemed to be some urgency to transfer the patient to a hospital in Munich, Germany, and was that all right with Dr. Wong? Thinking quickly, Han’s thought that probably meant Dr. Yang’s already involved and answered, “Yes that would be a very good thing as Dr. Yang has dealt with a number of Mr. Stratton’s medical situations in the past. He thanked the resident for his professional help and quickly hung up.
He was pleased with the news because he was ready to return to Munich anyway. He would be better able to kill the man named Tam Stratton in Munich, after he got his emerald from him. He was sure the man’s personal effects would come with him. Things were beginning to come together again. He quickly packed and left for Munich.
CHAPTER 20
“I can’t believe we’re going back to Munich already, we just left there a couple of days ago.” Miriam said as she began packing.
“Well, at least this time we’re flying.” David responded.
“What time is our flight?”
“Servette’s secretary said it a Lufthansa flight at 7:10 tonight. We can either get a early dinner at the airport or wait and get a late supper in Munich. It’s only about an hour flight. She said we have reservations at the Sheraton, near the airport. It has a good restaurant and bar and even an indoor swimming pool, if you’re so inclined.”