Peking & The Tulip Affair (3 page)

He lit a Canadian cigarette from his pack, caught a bus, and sat behind a middle-aged couple who discussed the bus strike in Canton.

Nick got off and found himself in a practically deserted part of the city. He walked through winding streets till he came to a small curio shop. He hesitated, looked around, and saw a figure standing in a nearby doorway. It was a girl. She looked at him, then looked away.

Probably a prostitute, he figured. But that didn't make sense. It was a deserted street; business would be bad. He didn't think any more of it and approached the door of the shop. There was a button in the jamb. He knew his contact lived in back of the shop. Nick was about to thumb the button when a sharp crack sounded — a gunshot. And it came from within the store.

He tried the knob and the door opened. As he walked in, another shot was fired.

Nick hurried through the store toward the back, where he could see a yellowish light seeping through the gaping door. He flung the door open, and a man craned his neck to look at Nick. The man was squatting near the body of a middle-aged Chinese. The man, also a Chinese, was dressed in western-style clothes and held a gun in his right hand. He started to rise, at the same time shifting his gun hand to cover Nick.

Nick dived at the rising figure, and they both toppled over, rolling against an old-fashioned rolltop desk. Nick brought his knee up sharply against the man's groin. There was a cry of pain and outrage. Nick gripped the man's right wrist and twisted it sharply. The gun dropped from paralyzed fingers.

Nick grabbed the gun, rolled the man over, pressed the gun against the man's back, and squeezed off a shot. The bullet shattered the aorta, and Nick got to his feet.

He started for the middle-aged Chinese and stopped, his back as rigid as plaster. A girl had materialized in the doorway — the girl who had been partly hidden in the shadowy doorway outside.

She ignored the gun Nick trained on her and ran to the middle-aged Chinese. She knelt by the man's side and started to weep. If it was an act, it was a good one.

Nick walked to the doorway and peered into the shop. There was no one else in the store. He leaned against the wall, watching the girl.

She finally stood up and faced him. She was young and good-looking. She was wearing a peasant-type pajamalike costume. Nick decided she would have looked good in a
cheongsam,
the dress that was so tight there had to be slits at both sides to enable the wearer to walk. But the
cheongsam
was forbidden in Red China because it was an example of bourgeois bad taste.

Nick nodded at the dead man who had been his contact. "You know him?" he asked the girl.

"He… he was my father." Her chin trembled and he was afraid she was going to cry again. "I am a coward. I am so ashamed."

"Why do you brand yourself a coward?"

She twisted her head to stare at the man Nick had killed. "I was outside when I saw Lum Fen enter my father's store. I recognized him. He is a well-known assassin. I couldn't do anything. I was paralyzed with fear. Then you walked by and there were the shots and I knew my father was dead. I almost ran away, but…" She shrugged her slim shoulders.

"You had to find out for sure, is that it?"

She nodded her head slowly.

Nick moved away from the wall, went to where the man he had killed was sprawled and searched his pockets. There were identification cards and a box of cartridges. He slipped the box into his jacket pocket and stood up. There was no sense in searching the man he had come to see, and no sense in going over the small office and living quarters. The man wouldn't have written anything down.

"You're an American, aren't you?" the girl asked.

"Does it matter?" He approached the girl. "Does it really matter? I mean, deep down inside?"

She saw his twisted grin. "You don't believe what I told you?"

"How do I know you re not allied with the man I just killed?"

"Then kill
me
now," she said defiantly.

"I may just do that. This is a dangerous business."

"I know my father was working for the Americans."

Nick stared at her. "Did he tell you all his secrets?"

She shook her head, no. "My father and I were not… very close. He learned that I — sold my body and he threw me out. Often I came to see him and try to make him understand. I did not like it, our not speaking to each other."

"Do you live far from here?"

"No, not far»

"Let's go to your place and talk."

"Yes. But first-" She went to her father's body, knelt, and took something from his pocket She straightened up and Nick demanded to see what she had. She showed it to him. It was a piece of jade.

Many Chinese carried jade in their pockets for luck. It was a Chinese superstition.

"It was my father's for many years," she said. "He would often put his hand in his pocket just to rub it. See how smooth it is."

"Yes. Now let's get the hell out of here."

They walked through the shop, out the front door. Either no one had heard the shots or people here, like everywhere else, just didn't want to mix in.

Nick put his hand on her shoulder when she wanted to walk faster. "Take your sweet time," he said. "You don't want to attract attention, do you?"

She told him she was called Lotus and she lived alone. Her father had been her only living relative and now he, too, was gone.

Nick only half listened to her. He felt the weight of the gun in his jacket pocket. He felt good, having a weapon. He hoped he wouldn't have to use it on the girl. She was too pretty to kill. He wasn't a hundred percent sure about her. She seemed genuine enough, but —

They reached the house where she lived. A young couple was embracing near the front door. "There is a back way," Lotus informed Nick. They half circled the building and walked through the back door and up one flight of stairs.

It was a nicely furnished apartment with deep inexpensive rugs and water colors on the walls. She quickly rummaged through a chest of drawers and brought out some snapshots and showed them to him. "Here are pictures of my father and me. You will see that I did not lie to you."

"Okay. I'm convinced" He handed the snapshots back.

"Would you like some tea?"

"I'd love some," he said.

While Lotus prepared the tea, Nick examined the pistol he had taken from the assassin who had killed Lotus's father. It was an Astra Firecat.25 caliber with a blue finish and plastic grips. It had four safeties and could be fired only when the grip safety was depressed. It was a Spanish pistol.

"You like guns?" Lotus asked, placing two cups of tea on the low table in front of him.

"It's possible to become very attached to a gun," he said, putting' the weapon aside. "Especially after it's helped you out of some tough spots. And a gun is not like a woman. It talks only when you want it to talk. When you want it to be silent it is silent."

Lotus lifted her cup of tea and sipped. "It cannot keep you warm on a cold night," she reasoned.

"No. But it can make you feel comfortable just knowing it's nearby when you want it You can trust it; you can't trust a woman."

"You never met a woman you trusted?"

He sipped some tea. "I can't say no to that But women are too damn emotional, and even when you feel you've met one you could trust you still have to be on your guard."

"You can trust me."

"Can I?"

"Yes," she said, almost vehemently. "I want to avenge my father. You must give me that chance."

Nick studied her for the first time. She was slender and virginal-looking, with a slim long throat and black black hair that came down to her shoulders and curled inwards at the ends. Her smooth skin was ivory-tinted. Her lips were full and blood-red and her eyes were dark and almond-shaped. Around her neck was a strand of Mikimoto pearls.

Oriental girls look innocent, virginal, and calm, but underneath that veneer is a passionate nature that would put western women to shame.

Nick couldn't help it; he started to think of Lotus in a sexual way, and his senses tingled with desire.

As if she could read his thoughts, Lotus lowered her eyes like a blushing bride and then raised them again. "You want me?" Her voice was low and husky. Her teeth were tiny pearls.

"Yes. Very much."

She was in his lap and her arms snaked around his neck and her mouth was pressed hard against his. His hands found her small, firm breasts under her clothing.

The bed was firm, sturdy, and it didn't creak.

Later, much later, they talked. Lotus was adamant about helping Nick. Fear had paralyzed her, fear had kept her from helping her father. Now she was angry at herself for her disgraceful behavior. She had to redeem herself. Nick had to give her that chance.

Nick tried to explain. "I'd have to take you into my confidence. I can't afford to do that. Too much is at stake. If you're caught you'll be tortured."

"You're afraid I'll talk?"

"Yes," he answered bluntly.

"Are you here because of the Germans?"

Nick sat up, reached for a cigarette and lit it. "You claim your father didn't tell you any of his secrets and yet you know of the Germans. Are you trying to confuse an old man?"

"You are not old." She touched his arm with slender fingers. "Some of the Germans are my customers," she said without embarrassment They are quartered in the Imperial Palace."

That decided it Nick hated to use her, but it was necessary. And she did want to avenge her father. "Do you know exactly where the Germans stay in the Imperial Palace?"

"Yes. In the left wing, which almost circles the courtyard. Each man has his own bedroom."

"Do you know anything of their leader?" Nick asked.

She took the cigarette from him, puffed at it, handed it back. "I have heard of a man who never smiles because his face is frozen. When my German customers talk of him they have respect in their voices, and sometimes fear."

"Do the Germans talk to you a great deal?"

"When they are drunk. They like to drink. They talk of a new Germany, a more powerful Germany."

Nick killed the cigarette. "You really want to help me?" he asked, studying her face.

"Oh, yes."

"I don't have to tell you of the danger involved."

"I will do anything."

He asked her if she could get him into the Imperial Palace. She nodded her head. It would be a very easy matter.

"Tomorrow night," he said. "Can you make me a costume? A black costume? Something that will blend with the night?"

"Yes. I suppose so. But what is the purpose?"

"You spoke of the man who never smiles. The man with the frozen face. I want to kill him. It is as simple as that."

"Is that your mission?"

"One of my missions, Lotus."

"But how do you know where he will be? How will you know which room is his?"

"That's a chance I'll have to take," Nick said. "If I goof up the mission I won't be losing much. The Germans will know something is amiss when they find their Chinese assassin dead. So I may as well go all out and try to kill our friend with the frozen face."

"If you shoot him, you'll wake the others," she pointed out.

"I have a more subtle weapon than a gun," he said, thinking of the drug in his pen, the drug called Store. If he found Bormann he would inject the drug. When the others found Bormann they would think he was dead and either bury him or cremate him.

"Be careful of Stryker," she warned in a tiny voice.

"Stryker?"

"He is called Captain Stryker. He answers only to their leader. He has been with me once. He is brutal He never drinks. He is not human."

"I'll watch my step," Nick promised. "I'll have to be going soon. I'll see you tomorrow night."

"It is almost dawn."

He laughed. "Then I'll see you tonight."

"You can spare a few more minutes," she said boldly, her fingers tracing patterns on his chest.

Their bodies met and became one.

A cool breeze came through the half-open window and bathed their naked bodies.

They kissed with the final thrust.

Her fingers ran through his hair, feeling his scalp. "It was very nice," she whispered.

Lotus stood by the window and giggled. "I can hear them. They are making love, I think."

Nick was dressed. He walked to her side and put an arm around her waist. "Isn't that rude? Listening to other people making love?"

"I don't think they care. The girl confides in me. She is not ashamed to tell me things. Listen carefully. You can hear them."

Nick scowled. "I don't want to hear them. I'm ashamed of you, Lotus. Would you like it if someone listened to us making love?"

Lotus suddenly covered her mouth with her palm to suppress her giggles and came away from the window. Nick heard a moaning from below the window. He walked away and lit a cigarette. "Is that how you spend your leisure time?"

"Of course not." She pretended to be indignant. "Why should I excuse myself to you? I do not harm anyone. Aren't we all curious to some degree? Aren't there people who look at dirty pictures so they can be stimulated or just out of curiosity? Are they terribly awful people? Don't people listen to other people's private conversations?"

"All your arguments are weak." Nick sat on the bed. "People have a right to privacy."

"You aren't fooling me," she said, sitting down on the bed beside him. "You are just as curious as I am." There was a thoughtful wrinkle in her forehead. "You are an agent for your government. Haven't you ever listened in on someone's conversation? With electric devices?"

"That's something else again. Entirely different." He brushed her arguments aside with a wave of his hand.