Tiger by the Tail (15 page)

Katya took the Chinese hooker to a door guarded by two Keldara. She snapped a command at one of the guards, who unlocked and opened the door. The mingled stink of sweat, piss, and blood drifted out of the room.

“
Bundun!
” Soon ran inside the room. “Could one of you release him, please?”

Jace threw a questioning glance at Katya, who nodded. Taking out a SOG Spec-Elite folding lockblade, he flipped it open and stepped inside.

The stink was much stronger, combined with an underlying odor of burned flesh. The room was almost bare, containing only a chair and single bed. Although a tarp had been spread out underneath the chair; rusty, dark brown spatters marked the carpet and walls. A narrow doorway led to a tiny bathroom that had been stripped of any accouterments, and contained only a sink, toilet, and shower stall.

The prostitute was bent over the man, murmuring something Jace couldn’t quite hear. “Step away, and keep your hands where I can see them,” he said in Mandarin. She moved aside, and Jace got his first look at the captive.

The pirate was a fucking mess. His face had been severely battered, with his right eye swollen completely shut, and one ear missing, replaced by a stained red bandage. Trickles of dried blood crusted his mouth, and one side had a sunken look that Jace recognized as being caused by several missing teeth. He bent to cut the zip-ties restraining the man in the chair, freeing his feet first, then his arms. When he cut the last one, the Malay nearly fell over.

“Get out!” Soon Yi hissed. “He won’t listen to me if any
gwai-lo
s are here!”

“Don’t try anything stupid,” Jace warned as he headed for the door.

“You’re not staying in there?” Katya asked as he walked into the hallway. “What if she tries to kill him?”

“She wouldn’t be stupid enough to off her meal ticket.” Jace shook his head as he closed the door. “You said you guys are willing to try this her way; it’s best to let her do it how she wants. He’s already been brutalized by other men, and if he’s seen relying on a woman to save him now, it just emasculates him further. Besides, you have the room wired for cameras and sound, right?” He continued off her nod. “So, if she can get what you want in private, what does it matter if she’s watched or not?”

“I don’t trust her, that is what matters. We shall see.” Katya turned to the door and crossed her arms.

“Yeah, I bet you get that feeling a lot.” Jace did the same with his arms and leaned against the wall.

* * *

The moment the door closed, Soon Yi’s demeanor altered completely.

“Come on, come on, get up!” Appearing to care for the beaten pirate, she roughly hoisted him up, slinging an arm over her shoulder as she half-carried, half-dragged him to the bathroom. Yeung Tony’s head lolled on his shoulders as he moved.

“What . . . what’s going on?” The words were muffled, partly from his swollen jaw, partly because he was half-conscious.

Still holding on to him with one arm, Soon turned the cold sink tap on with the other. “What’s going on is that you’re going to set up this meeting with Arun Than for the
gwai-lo
!” she hissed.

“What are you—”

Before he could finish, she bent him over and plunged his head under the tap. The pirate twisted and tried to squirm away, but Soon Yi had twisted his other arm up to his shoulder blade. It was the one the man had worked on with the hammer, and she noted the broken fingers had been expertly splinted and bound. After ten seconds, she let him up.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Tony gasped after spluttering and choking for a few seconds.

“Trying to save your worthless life, dog,” she muttered into his ear, just above the running water. “Just do what they say and set up the damn meeting.”

“Why should I do that? So that
setan
can put a bullet in my head? Why are you here? Are you working for them now?”

Soon twisted his arm higher, making the man gasp in pain. “I’m working for myself, no one else. If you give them what they want, I can ensure that you will not only get off this boat in one piece, but you’ll be extradited to Indonesia, or maybe even back to Malay, rather than standing trial for armed robbery and murder in China—”

“What? What are you talking about? Why wouldn’t they try me for piracy?”

“Because, you stupid pig, China doesn’t have any antipiracy laws! Instead, they try a person for the related crimes committed during an act of piracy. You stand trial for those multiple counts of kidnapping and murder, and you won’t get a slap on the wrist—you’ll go to prison for life if you’re lucky, or receive the death sentence if not. But take their offer, and I can get you out of Hong Kong and into an easier court to the south.”

“How the fuck are you going to do that? Who are you?”

“That’s not important. What’s important is how badly you want to live.”

Soon kept him bent over the sink for a few moments, letting the thug think his situation through. After a few seconds, he nodded. “All right. I’ll do it.”

“And not a fucking word to any of the
gwai-los
or I’ll feed you to the sharks myself. Just smile and do whatever they say, you got it?”

Tony nodded again, then jerked as Soon tore a strip of cloth from his tattered shirt.

“All right, let’s get you cleaned up a bit, so it looks like I actually took care of your worthless ass.” She began wiping the dried blood and snot off his face. After a few minutes’ work, she led him back to the chair and sat him down. “Remember, no bullshit, no funny business. Set the meeting, and tell them both you and I will be there. I’ll handle it from there.”

Cleaned up, Tony seemed to have gotten a bit of his fire back, even as beaten as he was. “Why should I trust you?”

“Because you do not have any other choice.” She turned from him, walked to the door, and knocked. It opened to reveal Katya’s unsmiling face.

“He will make the call,” Soon said.

* * *

A few minutes later, Jace, Vanner, and Katya were all hunched over a computer, trying to watch the conversation between Soon Yi and Yeung Tony.

“Can you remove the running water?” Jace asked. “With them talking in the bathroom, I can’t see her lips move. Not that I’d be able to read them speaking Mandarin or Cantonese anyway, but I also can’t hear shit over it.”

“We’re trying, but she wasn’t speaking very loudly in the first place, so the water’s drowning out their conversation. We’re lucky we picked up anything at all,” Vanner replied.

“Wait a minute. Tony is speaking normally there.” Katya replayed a snippet of the feed. “What did he just say?”

Jace listened to it twice more to be sure.

“He’s asking her what the fuck she’s doing. He sounds surprised. An odd reaction, particularly if they’re supposed to be as close as she claims they are.”

Katya glared at the frozen picture of the woman on the monitor.

“Something about this woman is not right, but I cannot put my finger on it.”

“Maybe you should chemically interrogate her,” Vanner suggested.

Katya shook her head.

“That is too unreliable. If she is another operator, she will have been taught how to nullify the effects. And besides, she has gotten us what we wanted. I will simply keep a close eye on her during the operation.” She smiled tightly. “It looks like the Kildar will have me on retainer for a few more days.” Katya headed for the door. “Keep trying to wash the audio, and send me the best version you can get.”

Jace exchanged a look with Vanner, both men sharing the same thought:
Oh, boy.

* * *

A few hours later, Jace walked down the hall to the Kildar’s office. The door was ajar, and he heard two voices inside; Mike’s, and another woman’s. It sounded like a logistics meeting, but from the flow of the conversation, it seemed that the young woman was doing most of the talking, with the Kildar providing “yesses” and “no’s” when appropriate. Jace stood a respectful distance away, and waited for them to finish.

A few minutes later, the door opened and a tall girl walked out, maybe twenty years old if she was a day, and just as model-gorgeous as the rest of them. “Mr. Morgan,” she said as she passed him in the hallway. Once again, Jace had to almost pinch himself at the scenario he’d found himself in.

Fuck, what’s her name?
Vanner had introduced her to him earlier as the Kildar’s administrative assistant. As with all admin personnel, Jace figured he’d better get it right, or he’d be screwed in the future—and not in a good way.

“. . . Hello, Daria,” he got out just in time as she walked down the hall.

“Come in, Captain. Something I can do for you?” Jace walked in to find Mike wiping a smile off his face.

“Something humorous come to mind, sir?”

Mike shook his head once.

“No, it’s . . . I just realized with your rank, well, ‘Captain Morgan.’ I’m sure you got enough hell from your fellow team members.”

“It was all in fun, sir—and it did get me more than a few rounds of free drinks. But everyone on my teams was always mission-first and foremost.”

“Of course. What did you wish to see me about?”

“I have that update on the Chinese black market operations, including a focus on Hong Kong. I can send the file to your tablet if you wish, or we can go over it here and now.”

“Send me the report, but why don’t you give me the highlights right now. In particular, is there anything we need to be concerned about going into the city?”

“Yes, sir. The primary issue will be the firearms. Hong Kong has very strict gun control laws, with heavy prison sentences for anyone convicted of possessing an illegal firearm.”

“Well, ours are legally obtained and licensed, as far as that goes.”

“Yes, as a militia in Georgia, you’re fine. In Hong Kong, not so much.”

“But let me guess—criminals in the city have little to no problem obtaining black market guns whenever they wish.”

“Like most of China, just about anything can be obtained if a person is willing to pay the price. Depending on the sort of officer or bureaucrat we encounter, we might be able to bribe our way out of a simple possession charge. But if we are caught pulling the trigger, getting away with it will be almost impossible. Given your connections with the U.S. government, if we are detained on a weapons-related charge, kicking this to higher-ups could be as much hindrance as help—”

“Particularly when the red tape starts spinning. The Chinese would love that; semi-rogue American ex-military running amuck in Hong Kong. I’m very aware of the bureaucracy issues. Along with news coverage, that’s one of the things they pay me very well to avoid whenever possible. I only bring in the big government dogs in a situation that I cannot handle, or I suspect might spin out of even my control. Not that that ever happens, of course.”

Jace smiled and nodded.

“Regarding our meeting, it looks like the on-site team will have to go in soft, with the assault team held in reserve nearby,” Mike continued. “Besides, there are plenty of ways to obtain guns from the other side—sometimes even while they’re carrying them. Anything else?”

“Not so much. As we are foreign tourists, we are supposed to report to the police within twenty-four hours of our arrival. However, I expect that you will want to forgo that little request.”

“You expect right.”

“Okay then. As to your other request: Arun Than. Not a lot to say about him on the record. He’s what’s called a fixer in local parlance: he brokers deals between parties looking to buy and sell for a cut of the payment. Usually he never holds anything for either party, just serves as the go-between. He’s well connected throughout the entire Asian region, from Shanghai to Mumbai, and points north and south as well. He can move just about anything: currency, gems, gold, merchandise, cigarettes, even vehicles. His latest claim to fame was organizing the transport of a brand-new fifty-foot cigarette boat from the western side of China to Shanghai by truck, with absolutely no record of it ever happening. Everyone I’ve spoken to vouches for him, says he’s a stand-up guy who will deal straight with parties on both sides of the transaction.”

“And here I thought there was no honor among thieves,” Mike said.

“Yeah, well, that and ten yuan will get you a cup of green tea in Shanghai. The most important thing to remember, sir, is that
mianzi
, or ‘face’ counts for a lot in this area of the world.”

“I am aware of that.”

“Of course, sir, however, what you may not be aware of is just how much of an Asian’s very psyche is tied up in both it and
guanxi
, their version of social networking, which works very differently than for us Americans. For example, they might say ‘yes’ to a request, or defer it to a superior, although their manner and body language might be clearly saying ‘no.’ That means that the request isn’t going to happen, but they feel the relationship is worth keeping enough to at least pay lip service to whatever is being asked for.”

“I understand that the Chinese and Japanese almost never say ‘no’ straight out.”

“Exactly. They’ll tell you just about anything else, from ‘we will take that under consideration’ to ‘I’ll have to discuss this with my superiors’ or ‘that may not be very convenient.’ The reason I’m bringing this up now is that I have heard that you are, well—the best way to put it is direct when you want to get something done.”

“My reputation is preceding me again. Yes, since I find it’s often the best way to handle a situation.”

“Yes, sir, and in many cases I would agree. After all, we Marines are also typically not known for our delicate cultural sensibilities.” Jace grinned. “However, Recon does things a bit differently. That’s why we were so successful here during the Vietnam Conflict compared to other branches of the military. From General Tony Zinni’s experiences as part of the Marine Advisory Group in country to his work during operation Provide Comfort after the first Gulf War, our mindset has always been to learn from and work with an indigenous populace whenever possible.”

“Which I agree with completely,” Mike replied. “Typically, I am polite as long as they are. When they are not, neither am I. Satisfactory?”