The Red Heart of Jade (12 page)

“That man in there may have contributed to Owen’s kidnapping and my assault. Black market thieves, Dean. An inside job. And now they’re stealing those mummies.
Stealing them. “

“No,” he said, eyes going distant. “I don’t think they’re stealing them, Miri. I think they’re destroying them.”

Her mouth fell open. “You’re not serious. Dean—oh my God. I have to stop them.”

“Maybe you should be thinking about running instead. Whatever is going on here is bigger than just some black market buyout. You don’t hire a guy like Robert for a simple snatch and grab, you don’t kidnap archaeologists over old pieces of rock, and from looking at your face, you sure as hell
don’t
destroy something like those mummies out there unless you got a hard-on for crazy. “ Dean hesitated. “And maybe my Chinese is rusty, but I could have sworn I heard that guy say the word
instruction
. They’ve got a time line. They’re working for someone.”

“What are they doing now, Dean?”

He hesitated. “We should go, Miri. The only one left in the other room is the woman.”

“What aren’t you telling me?”

But instead of answering, he shook his head and said, “You’re not going to pull some shit on me, are you? I know you’re angry about what they’re doing.”

“Kevin is a weenie. I can kick his ass on the way out and not even break stride.”

“Good times. Resist the urge.”

“Spoilsport.”

“Miss Gung Ho. I thought you were an intellectual now.”

“With you, I’m all crazy.”

“Wooo,” he said, and reached under his shirt, revealing a nice hard stomach that was far more muscular than she remembered. No longer sixteen and scrawny, that was for sure.

“Now is not the time to fondle yourself,” she said.

“I might not get another chance,” he said, unclip-ping a gun from the rig beneath his shirt. He stuck it in the back of his pants, alongside Robert’s stolen weapon. Miri stared. So many firearms. It made her uncomfortable, and not just because she had once been shot. Getting caught with a gun in Taiwan was a crime almost equivalent to drug possession—which usually meant jail or the death penalty.

Worse, she couldn’t imagine the kind of life Dean led that would make him need or want that much fire power within easy reach.

Not the boy you knew
, she told herself again. And maybe her face showed her doubts, the question. Dean reached out and slid his hand, warm, against the nape of her neck. Miri stopped breathing, her entire focus narrowing to the feel of his skin, the strength in his fingers as they entwined, ever so gently, in her hair.

“I’m no criminal,” he said in a low voice. “I grew up good, Miri.”

“Yeah?” she breathed, finding it difficult to speak. “What happened to you, Dean?”

He hesitated. “A lot.”

His hand lingered. Miri touched him, holding his hand, being held, trying not to shiver as his fingers transferred from her neck to her wrist, tracing a path over her palm.

“Dean,” she whispered, unable to pull away, but afraid, so afraid of what would happen if she did not. His eyes were so pained that for an instant she believed he had missed her, that the past twenty years had been just as difficult on his own heart.

“I’m not going anywhere this time,” he said quietly. “You’re stuck with me, Miri. Call me psycho, a stalker, whatever you want. I’m here.”

“I don’t believe you,” she said. “You left me before. You
died. “

“So did you.”

“Then it’s been too long. Twenty years, Dean.”

“That’s not long enough to forget your best friend, Miri. Some things don’t fade.”

“Maybe not,” she said. “But they do change.”

He let go and smiled, lopsided, which was enough to transform his face into something rueful and exquisitely boyish. “I can live with that,” he said, and then leaned in quick and kissed her cheek. “Come on, babe. Let’s get into trouble.”

He opened the door, and pushed Miri through.

He was not, however, anywhere to be seen. The lab was a mess; Miri saw flakes of the mummified remains all over the floor, which was enough to make her dig nails into her palms and contemplate the swift removal of Kevin’s body parts. Maybe there were men with guns hunting her, men who would not die, and maybe it was stupid to be so angry with all of that behind her and more, but Miri had her limits, her principles, and this was one of them. The dead had to be treated with respect. And the very ancient dead, treated with a great deal more than that.

But the bodies were gone and there was only one other person in the lab. A woman. Miri recognized her.

It was one of the assistants, a graduate student who called herself Ku-Ku. She sat at a computer, typing fast, but she broke off as soon Dean and Miri entered. Her pigtails swung as she turned around, little plastic Hello Kitties clacking around her shining black hair. She wore street clothes, latex gloves. She did not look happy to see them. Miri saw a thin flashing bar on the computer screen. Deletion program. Already in progress.

Calm, calm, calm.

Ku-Ku pushed away from the desk and stood. She had a pink purse slung around her slender body and her purple tennis shoes had platform soles that made her taller than Miri. She held herself straight, with a tense line in her arm that suggested she was ready to move, fast. Good. Because if Miri got a hold of her, hell was gonna be paid like, whoa.

Miri said, “Hello, Ku-Ku. Late night?”

Ku-Ku said nothing, which was unusual. She was the bouncy member of the department, always cheerful, with a sly word, a smile. But now her eyes were wary, her mouth set in a hard line, and when she glanced down the hall toward the exit, Miri thought,
You are so in the
shit, little girl
.

Dean touched Miri’s elbow. He edged her with his hip in the direction of the hall. His fingers thrummed against her arm, three times in quick succession. Their old code.

Hurry
, he said. Hurry, get out. Hurry, run. Hurry, stop talking.

Miri heard voices at the end of the hall. She met Ku-Ku’s gaze for a brief instant, and it was as though all those lunches and long hours and occasional girl talk meant nothing, jack squat, just notches on a belt of betrayal. No one in Miri’s life was safe. She was surrounded by liars and thieves.

Not Owen
, she thought.
And not Dean. Not him. Not to you, ever
.

If only that were true. Or maybe it was. Maybe. She hoped. Once upon a time, most certainly. And now...

She felt him, strong and warm beside her, a twenty-year miracle come to life, and for a moment she was young again, sixteen, full of a wild rush that came with knowing she could do anything, be anyone, and that at her side, always with her, would be her best friend, her right arm, the eyes in the back of her head. And feeling that—the old love, the old loyalty—she thought,
Yes
.

Ku-Ku made a noise low in her throat. Kevin appeared around the bend in the corridor, accompanied by two younger men Miri did not know. He looked like a different person than she remembered, which was some feat, considering she had seen him only days before. Short, yes. Overweight, yes. Shrewd and intelligent and petty, most certainly.

But his eyes, like Ku-Ku’s, were now cold and hard and utterly unforgiving. Dead eyes. Eyes like the old Chinese gangsters who had lived on Miri’s street back in Philly, men who watched over their flock like embittered kings.

He looked at Miri and in English said, “You should already have been taken. “ Simple, easy, quiet, and she thought,
This night cannot possibly get any weirder
. But that was a lie and she knew it—could only look into the faces of these people, two of whom were distant colleagues, and know that yes, weird had come, and come screaming. Danger, too. All kinds of wicked bad, all of which she could never have anticipated existing— at least not in the life she had now.

Dean grabbed Miri’s hand; she felt his strength coil between them, warmth settling hard between her breasts. It was an odd sensation, like the simple act of holding Dean’s hand was allowing him to sink a limb deep into her soul. Something edged her mind, like memory: deja vu, maybe. Standing here, linked with Dean, two against the world.

“And who are you?” Kevin said to Dean.

“Her sex slave,” Dean replied. “At least, that’s my goal in life.”

Kevin blinked. Dean pushed Miri toward the door, keeping her behind him. They did not get far. Ku-Ku pulled a pistol out of her purse and aimed it at Miri. Yes, deja vu. Miri stared at the young woman, wondering why she was doing this, but Ku-Ku’s gaze gave her nothing in return.

“The man is armed,” said the girl in English. “Two guns at the small of his back. Two more around his ankles.”

“What?” Dean asked. “You got X-ray vision or something?”

Kevin held out his hands. “Your weapons, please.”

“Um, no. Really.”

“Even at risk of death?”

Miri watched Dean hesitate, and edged sideways— barely a step, more of a sway. She knew he noticed. Dean’s fingers twitched. But even as she got ready to run, an odd thing happened. Her vision narrowed and she felt a tremendous pressure all around her, a darkness that blocked out the lab and seeped into her vision until all she could see was Dean—and suddenly he was gone as well, and she found herself staring at brown skin, darker than her own, a body both familiar and strange. She smelled rain, the richness of a wet forest, old and layered and hanging dark with wildness, and felt between her breasts a haunting warmth that was an open flame, throbbing to the beat of her heart.

Remember
, whispered a voice.
Remember who you are
.

But all she remembered was guns and Dean and the lab, and she pushed hard against the images inside her mind, writhed against them with all her strength, and suddenly she could blink again, move, and the pressure eased up like an iron vise unscrewed from her head.

But only for a moment. Something else touched her, cold and hard, pressing against the back of her skull. Dean swore. Miri drew in a very slow breath. In her most controlled voice, she said, “You call that a threat? I know you want me alive.”

“Alive, yes,” Ku-Ku said, behind her.
How did she get behind her
? “But brain function is optional. Your friend should keep that in mind.”

Miri slowly turned. The barrel of the gun moved with her, dragging across her scalp until it rested between her eyes. Ku-Ku did not look like she felt particularly guilty. Her gaze was flat, empty. Miri smelled bubblegum.

“Get that gun off her,” Dean said. “You get that gun off her face right fucking now.”

“No,” Miri bluffed, still trying to stare down her former assistant. “Shoot me. I dare you.”

Dean took a step toward her. Ku-Ku’s finger tightened on the trigger and Kevin said a sharp word. She didn’t immediately respond, although her gaze slid sideways to look at the older man. Her finger did not relax.

“Your guns,” Kevin said, and even Miri thought he seemed uneasy.

“Just leave her the fuck alone,” Dean said, pulling out both his guns. He held the stocks between two fingers, and Kevin quickly took them while another man stepped forward to retrieve the weapons from Dean’s ankle rigs. Only when he was completely disarmed did Ku-Ku remove the gun from Miri’s head. Dean grabbed her hand and tugged her close; she felt a fine tremor race through his body, smelled the acrid scent of his fear. He tapped a message onto her arm, a simple
You ‘re
crazy
.

Yes
, she thought.
Very much so
.

Kevin pushed his glasses up his nose; sweat covered his brow, the edge of his slick receding hairline. He stared at Miri and she matched his gaze, defiant, until he broke the silence with a simple, “Where is the artifact?”

“I don’t know,” Miri lied.

“But you came here looking for it. “ His voice was brittle, his eyes cold.

“I came here looking for Owen,” she said.

“He’s long gone. Tucked away some place safe. It was for his own good, Dr. Lee.”

“Really? And how does that explain the blood in his office?”

“An accident. “ He smiled grimly. “Those happen, you know.”

“You bet,” she said sarcastically. “Accidents during a kidnapping are par for the course.”

Kevin shrugged, his fingers lingering on his round waist. “Yours was supposed to go very smoothly. How terrible that it did not.”

“So I guess you’ve planned this for some time,” Miri said, feeling sick. “Though I don’t know how you could have known the jade would be found when it was.”

“We didn’t know,” Kevin said, voice eerie, flat, not at all slick and fake with the charm she remembered. “But we are always vigilant. We planned for this day longer than you think, longer than all of our lives put together. Dr. Wills unfortunately stumbled upon something that should have remained buried.”

“Jealous?” she asked him. Dean pinched her wrist.

A grim smile touched Kevin’s mouth. “I am not a perfect man, Dr. Lee. So yes, I have been jealous of your mentor. But not about this. His... discovery has been, and will continue to be, the cause of much pain. Much death.”

“Fifteen dead already,” Dean said in a hard voice, and Miri was shocked to see Kevin’s eyes narrow.

“The fires,” he said quietly. “You know about them.”

“You could say I had a personal encounter.”

“And do you know who set them?”

Dean smiled. Kevin glanced at Ku-Ku, whose mask seemed just slightly cracked. Miri imagined fear in her eyes—that, or a deep wariness. Some sharp anticipation of danger.

It bothered Miri that Dean knew something that connected him to Kevin and Ku-Ku. It bothered her more that she had no idea what he was talking about.

“You said fifteen,” Ku-Ku murmured. “Only fourteen have died. “

“You haven’t missed him yet. It only happened a couple of hours ago. I found him at the very end.”

“Where?”

“He was number fourteen’s neighbor.”

“And was it a bad death?”

Dean hestitated. “I would say he suffered.”

Ku-Ku rolled her left hand into a fist and cracked her knuckles along her thigh. Kevin, watching her, said, “He’ll be coming here next.”

“He’s killing you off because of this jade,” Dean said. “Tell me that’s not true.”

“It’s not your concern.”

“If you want Miri, then it most certainly is my concern.”

“And I should listen to you?” Kevin’s mouth curved into a sneer. “You are nothing to me.”

“Then who
does
matter?” Miri shot back, throwing herself into the conversation, uncaring if she didn’t understand, if she was in the middle of another mystery. “Who set you up to this? And why the jade? Why Owen and me? Is it money?”

“Money. “ Kevin managed to look even more disgusted. “Money means nothing when compared to faith, Dr. Lee. Money is an insult compared to our duty.”

“And is that duty to an idea or a person?”

Kevin smiled. “Do you believe in something larger than yourself, Dr. Lee?”

Miri refused to answer. Kevin’s smile widened, though it was not happy. Bitterness clouded his eyes, a deep discontent that did not enter his voice as he said, “I believe, Dr. Lee. I believe in so much. But more than anything, I believe that there are creatures on this earth that are not gods, but who are still worthy of worship, who work to change this world, to make it better. I believe, too, that we are nearing, as a race, a profound end to our current existence, and that no one will survive unscathed. Not even those who ally themselves with the unearthly. Something bad is coming. The jade is just one part of that. A sign.”

“An apocalyptic omen? Are you telling me that’s what this is all about?”

“And if it is,” Dean added, “then how does it involve Miri and Owen? Because really, I can think of better harbingers of evil.”

Kevin did not immediately reply, which surprised Miri, given his demonstrated willingness to wax poetic about his so-called mission. She glanced at Ku-Ku— who maintained a perfect polished empty mask—and then the young men, who did not, who fidgeted and sweated and stared at their hands and her face.

And Miri suddenly knew the answer to her question.

“You don’t know why, do you?” she said. “You don’t even know that much about the jade, just that you’ve been given some spiel that you can recite every time you begin to doubt your actions. But that doesn’t have anything to do with me. You were given orders, that’s all. You don’t know shit.”

“I know enough,” Kevin said. “Anything more would get in the way.”

“You sound like a member of a cult.”

“I prefer religion. “ He smiled. “And really, the irony of this situation is a better reward than the truth. I have been wanting to rid this department of you and Dr. Wills from the very first day, and now I have the perfect excuse.”

“Wow,” Dean said. “Great evildoer speech. You gave me chills, man. Totally sexy.”