The yacht — actually a small ship — was moored to a pier, the last of three large yachts on the north side. Three more were moored against the south side of the pier, which was at least two hundred yards long.
At the head of the pier stood a wire fence with a closed gate. On the quay itself were pallets of boxes, some Dumpsters, stacks of fifty-five-gallon drums, forklifts, trucks, some people walking… Ocean-going general cargo ships were berthed at piers to the north and south.
“Over the quay.” Grafton pointed out the direction he wanted to the pilot. He had to see how he was going to get onto the quay from the street.
In the last of the light he got his landmarks.
It was completely dark when he tapped the pilot on the shoulder and jerked a thumb toward Victoria. The helo turned and dropped the nose and accelerated out over the harbor. The pilot didn’t turn on the exterior lights until he was approaching the shoreline of Hong Kong Island.
“Where did you see China Rose!” Jake Grafton asked Tiger Cole as they hunted through the clothes littering the floor of the truck for a pair of pants that might fit him.
“At a pier in Kowloon. Across from the yacht of a friend of mine, the Barbary Coast”
“For Christ’s sake, why didn’t you say so two hours ago? I damned near didn’t find it before the light faded.”
“It just slipped my mind, until you asked. I saw it but paid little attention.”
“Well, it’s still there, on the end of a pier. If we had the time we could get a delivery truck, fake up some invoices, drive through the gate at the head of the pier and motor right up to Wong’s gangway. No time, though. We gotta go as fast as we can get there.”
“Why don’t you land on my friend’s yacht? Nikko Schoenauer. He’s right across the pier. Has a helo pad on top of the salon.”
“This guy German?”
“American as a hot dog.”
“It must be nice having all these filthy rich friends.”
“Nikko Schoenauer flew A-4s in Vietnam. He told me that he decided to get into a business that would always be popular, didn’t pollute or use up scarce resources, with a product that people paid for with discretionary income, something nice to have but not necessary. His yacht’s a whorehouse. He fills it with Japanese businessmen and sails off for week-long parties and writes a fat check to a bank on the first of every month.”
Jake glanced at Cole, who looked absolutely serious. “Whores ‘n’ More, eh? Tiger, you never cease to surprise me.
Jake pulled the shoulder holster containing the Colt on over the black shirt. Tommy Carmellini was waiting outside the truck with two silenced submachine guns and five magazines of ammo for each. He also produced a couple of marine fighting knives, one for each of them, and two sets of night-vision goggles. “First-class stuff,” Jake said to Cole after he gave them a quick brief on the goggles.
Jake and Tommy put on the goggles, turned on the power. Idly Jake asked Tiger, “So you were visiting Schoenauer last week?”
“Yeah. The girls are kinda cute.”
“I thought you were dating China Bob’s sister?”
“Naw! China Bob was a snob. He wanted his sister married off to a decent husband. I was just another dude he was doing business with.”
“Schoenauer’s got a floating whorehouse, huh?” Carmellini asked. He had been standing outside the truck listening to Grafton and Cole.
“California girls mostly,” Cole said. “They come and go. Refugees from suburbia and bad marriages. When they’ve gotten their batteries recharged, off they go back across the pond.”
“Live in a yacht at the side of the road and be a friend of man.”
“Something like that.”
“We’ll land on his boat and troop across the pier,” Jake said, “if you don’t think we’ll be interrupting anything.”
“I’m sure he won’t mind,” Tiger rejoined. “He can’t get underway until he gets another load of clients, which won’t happen until the airport reopens. Tell him I sent you.”
Jake Grafton looked at his watch. “You ready?” he asked Tommy Carmellini.
“Yes, sir. Let’s do it.”
They stowed the weapons, ammo, and night-vision goggles in a drawstring bag, which they slung over their shoulders.
“When does the war start?” Jake asked Cole.
“In about two hours,” Tiger replied, “unless the PLA kicks off the ball sooner.”
“We’ll be back by then,” Jake muttered.
“Or dead,” Carmellini added.
“You still got a handle on the electrical grid?”
“Yep.”
“How about killing all power to that pier, or that area, in twenty minutes?”
“Sure. Hang tough, shipmate.” Cole shook both their hands, then went back into the museum exhibit trailer.
“You scared?” Carmellini asked Jake as they walked to the helicopter, which was sitting in the street with the engine off.
“Hell, yes, I’m scared,” Jake shot back. “That’s a fool question. Why’d you ask it?”
“I wanted to make sure I wasn’t the only one.”
The helo pilot made sure both men were strapped in, then he pushed the starter, and the Bell’s engine wound up with a whine.
Jake lied to Carmellini; he wasn’t scared. He had been too busy worrying about Callie to be scared.
“Rip, Mother isn’t here.”
Rip Buckingham looked up from his PC. He was doing an in-depth piece on the revolution for the Buckingham Sunday editions.
“The maid said she left this morning and hasn’t come back,” Sue Lin said.
“Maybe she’s at the cookie company.”
“I called there. No one answers.”
“Well…”
“Rip! She could be killed out there. If the government finds out she is Wu’s mother, they’ll throw her in prison. She’d die there. Rip!”
“For God’s sake, Sue Lin, she’s a grown woman, this is her town. She can take care of herself.”
“But she can’t!” Sue Lin sagged into a sitting position and began weeping. First her brother, now her mother. She was trying to be brave, but she just couldn’t.
Rip cradled her head in his hands. “Sue Lin, your mother wanted to help. She wanted to be a part of what was happening.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you say no?”
“What right did I have to tell her no? She’s Chinese — this is her country. These are her people.”
“I’m your wife.” She struck his hands away.
“Indeed. And it’s time you realized that the future of China is more important than we are.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean it’s time you realized that your happiness is not the most important thing in your mother’s or brother’s life.”
“Is it the most important thing in your life, Rip? Answer me that.”
“Don’t ask me a foolish question, woman. You may not like the answer.”
She rose from the floor and walked to the window. With her back to Rip she said, “You had no right to let her go without telling me.”
“You would have said no. She wanted to go. What would you have me do?”
“If you love me, you will find my mother and bring her home.”
He turned off the computer and stood. “You don’t under-stand what love is. You think it is possessive, and it isn’t. Sometimes you have to let go of the things you love the most.”
He took a few steps toward her, then changed his mind. “I will try to find Lin Pe and help her do the job she volunteered to do. When it’s over, if we’re alive I’ll bring her here.”