Ruby walked in. She kept her head down as she walked to the far end of the bar and ordered a Coke from the young blond surfer type, his head a mass of springy curls. She took her drink and went to sit at a table in the corner. A cricket match was on. She made eye contact with a few of the older men. They were distracted by the match. Ruby drank her Coke and left. She didn’t have time to waste. Ruby was always in a hurry.
She walked back up the road and took a detour to check out The Western, a saloon-themed pub. Ruby peered through the window; Annie the patron was swinging her gun-toting hips down the empty bar. She moved on. She knew what she was looking for. Hong Kong had lonely businessmen arriving by the hundreds every few minutes. Ruby could afford to be fussy. Plenty of fish in the sea.
Ruby continued on Nathan Road to a four-star hotel right in the heart of Tsim Tsat Tsui. Vacation Villas was in a great location, right next to the metro in the heart of the business hub, Kowloon side, and it was always busy. Businessmen stayed from all over the world. It had seventeen floors, a business centre on top, a rooftop pool and a good gym. But the main reason the businessmen liked it was because it had a twenty-four-hour cocktail bar.
Ruby came into the hotel by the Nathan Road entrance, past the few shops there and walked straight to the lifts. It was just one floor to the cocktail bar. The bar itself was not one of the stark new types, it was dark enough so that you could be lost in the shadows, just part of the wood panelling and the heavy brocade curtains. It was a bar to be anonymous in. It was noisy, busy enough so there was never silence, with singers to stare at to occupy a frazzled mind. It suited lonely businessmen and cops.
Ruby looked around the bar. Here there were lots of opportunities for her. It was early but the place was already full of lonely businessmen sitting by themselves. Ruby didn’t risk going to the bar. The light was sharp at the bar, clear. It left her open to being recognized. She chose one of the tables at the edge of the bar. They were raised, two tall stools, perfect for showing off Ruby’s legs in her short skirt.
Her eyes focused on a sweet-looking man. She liked his blond curls. He had wire-rimmed glasses, an open-necked shirt. His broad forearms rested on the bar as he turned his phone over in his hands. He looked restless. Ruby turned in her seat so she could be sure he’d get a good look at her legs.
She stared hard. It took him a few minutes. Others looked at her but she ignored them. Her focus was on him. The thought of it sent a thrill through her stomach. It sent a pulse to her sex. It had a heartbeat of its own. It tightened in anticipation and felt warm and wet and plump with desire.
Fifteen minutes in she had done enough. He stood and walked over.
‘May I?’ He gestured to the stool next to her.
‘Please do.’
‘The name’s Steven.’
‘Hello Mr Steven.’
He laughed. ‘Steven’s my first name. Littlewood’s my family name. Friends call me Steve.’
Ruby lowered her eyes and smiled up through batting lashes. She glanced over his body. He was tall but not strong looking. She guessed he wasn’t a gym user. That was good. She guessed he weighed about one hundred-eighty pounds.
‘Hello Steve. We can be friends. My name is Ruby.’ Ruby turned to face him and looked up into his eyes, cocked her head to one side and said, ‘You have beautiful eyes – blue like the sea.’
He grinned stupidly as he leant forward and peered at her through his glasses. ‘They like what they see.’ He was slurring, embarrassed like a schoolboy at a village dance. He coughed to clear his throat and his head.
Ruby giggled as she smiled and slipped off the stool. ‘You hungry? I take you for something to eat and then we have fun. I have all night.’
He shrugged and nodded. He was starving. He hated eating on his own. ‘Yeah, sure.’
His phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out to see who had messaged him. It was his wife. He switched it off.
‘You ready?’ She smiled beguilingly at him.
‘Oh yes.’ He grinned inanely back at her.
‘Do you like Indian food?’ she asked as she led him through the lounge, down in the lift and out into Nathan Road.
‘Love it.’
‘I know the best Indian restaurant in Hong Kong. Very cheap too.’
He closed his eyes and put his hand on his heart. ‘I’d die for a good Indian right now.’
Ruby giggled. She put her hand over her mouth to try and hide it. He saw her and laughed with her.
She led him through the side entrance of the Mansions. She hurried him past the Indian supermarkets, porn sellers, Visa shops. She took his hand and led him up the stairs.
‘Christ, where are we going?’ He stopped and looked around him as they walked along a landing on the third floor that faced into the middle of the five tower blocks. ‘It looks like a prison.’ The opposite landing was so near you could almost have reached over and touched it.
‘This is the centre of the Mansions. This is the most famous place for Indian food. You will see.’
Wafting up from the vents was the smell of curry. They walked up a further two sets of stairs.
‘Christ, how many more? It better be worth it.’
‘Nearly there, big man.’
He wasn’t unduly worried. He was used to Asia. He was used to strange smells and dirty alleyways and heat and grime and he was used to places not feeling quite right. The small buzz of fear that he had felt when he first found himself alone as a foreigner on a faraway street had long since left him. Once every few months he made the same trip to Asia. He had lost his wonderment, his adrenalin rush at the fear of the unknown. He didn’t care for Chinese food any more. Now he longed for curry and a cold pint of beer. Now he just sat in cocktail lounges that could have been anywhere in the world. Ruby understood it. She knew he was used to being out of his comfort zone and he would not back out now. He had come this far. He would have it all now.
They reached her apartment door.
‘This isn’t a restaurant.’ He looked around, still smiling, a little less relaxed, a little less tipsy.
‘This is where I live, big man. Come in and I will ring the restaurant and get us the best table. While we wait I will get you a drink, make you happy…’ She smiled teasingly and brushed her hand over his crotch, softly, lingeringly. ‘I like you a lot. I am going to give you a real good time.’
‘Sounds good to me.’ He pulled her to him, held her by the bottom and thrust his hips at hers. She quickly opened the door and led him inside.
He stood just inside. ‘Are you boiling gammon? I haven’t smelt that since I was young. My grandmother always boiled gammon.’
Ruby didn’t answer; she led him past the kitchen where steam rose from boiling bones, now stripped of their flesh and rattling in the scummy water. The bones belonged to a man named Matt Simpson. His glasses were still on the side of the sink. His head was feeding the lobsters. His photo was sitting in the arms of a boy doll dressed in a blue bonnet and blue booties.
Ruby took his hand and steered him into her room, she closed the door behind him.
Five men had entered her room, stepped into her secret world. Five men had entered, none had left. He was the sixth.
Chapter 10
Mann took the MTR over to Central, Hong Kong Island. He walked up towards Soho (short for ‘south of Hollywood road’, an area of chic and not so chic wine bars, open fronted, pavement style, in cobbled streets and steep alleyways. Mann stepped outside of the noise and took out his phone.