Take A Thousand Cuts

by TERESA HUNTER

  They followed the driver to a comfortable-looking VW Santana. Ziggy opened the door for her to climb in the back. He got in beside her, and leaned forward to speak to the driver in Chinese.

  As the car pulled away, Julia turned to Ziggy. “Remind me again why you came to Guangzhou?”

  “To visit a colleague at the university. We run an exchange programme together. He sends me about 1,000 students a year and I place them in campuses around Britain. So you see – it’s all worked out most conveniently.”

  It sounded plausible, but Julia still didn’t trust him. Her eye caught the tattoo on his arm. Didn’t magpies mean bad luck?

  Guangzhou followed the pattern of other Asian cities. Vast, modern, high-rise conceptions knitted through with multi-carriage highways, looping round, up and down like runaway balls of wool.

  “I thought Canton was an ancient city?” Julia said as she stared out the car window.

  “It is – goes all the way back to pre-history. Prominent destination on the maritime silk route. During China’s long isolation, Canton was the only port allowed to trade with the outside world. Shamian Island still boasts splendid Portuguese architecture. Maybe later, we can take a tour.”

  After twenty minutes, the car swung into the broad drive of the modern International Hospital, and came to a halt at the entrance to Reception.

  The driver got out and opened Julia’s door. Ziggy didn’t move.

  “This is where you wanted to visit, isn’t it? Dr Lippert’s expecting you, I understand. I’m off to the University and will return in an hour. Is that enough time for you? See you back here then.”

  Julia laughed. “Are there no secrets in this country?”

  Ziggy shook his head, a wry smile on his lips. “Julia, this is China. We are nothing, if not a land of secrets. Now go!”

  THE HOSPITAL was vast, ultra modern – a magnificent institution worthy of the best from Dallas to Dubai, Tokyo to Sydney.

  “Can I help you?” a woman at Reception asked in perfect English – unencumbered by the mask she was wearing.

  I’m here to see Dr Lippert.”

  “His office is on the twenty-third floor. The lift is through there,” she pointed left.

  The lift swished rapidly skywards – doors opening in a blink. Julia found herself standing at another Reception desk, where she asked for Dr Lippert – again.

  JAMES LIPPERT was a feast for the eye. The very sight of him cheered her. Entering his office was like a warm homecoming – easy on senses and nerves. He was young, engaging and super-bright.

  “It’s Julia, isn’t it? Can I call you Julia? You can take off your mask while you’re here. I’m virus free – natural antibodies, I’m glad to say.”

  She took off her mask and held out a hand.

  “It’s wonderful to see a friendly face. China’s such an...” she hesitated, “interesting country, isn’t it?”

  “Absolutely! That’s what brought me here.”

  “And you’re enjoying your time?”

  “Couldn’t ask for more. The research opportunities are world class. Plus it’s an international hospital. I fancied a stint abroad and this hospital is a United Nations – staff from all over the globe. So much to learn, but enough of me. How can I help you?”

  Julia cleared her throat and took in the room. Like James, it was bright and airy.

  “I’m looking for a Hong Kong doctor, Laura Wan Sun. Some colleagues in the Duchess of Kent Children's Hospital said they thought she might’ve come here to work on the Avian flu virus.”

  “From Sandy Bay?” he nodded. “Laura did come here, but we’re not an epidemiology hospital so she was quickly reassigned to a viral unit across town.”

  Julia relaxed, an enormous weight lifting from her shoulders.

  “That’s brilliant. Can I visit her?”

  “I can’t see why not. I’ll tell you how to get there.”

  “That’s very kind. I have a car and driver. If you could write the address down. That’d be great.”

  James chuckled as he scribbled.

  “Smart move. Get instructions in writing. Here,” he slid a card across the table.

  “Just a warning,” his face darkened slightly. “Don’t expect this place to be like here, or hospitals you’re used to. It’s not. It’s a Government hospital, struggling to cope with many very sick patients. There may be some initial suspicion or hostility. If she’s there, they should be able to find her.”

  “That’s fantastic, I can’t thank you enough.” Dr James’ beeper sounded. “I’d better let you get back to work. Where did you train?”

  “St Thomas’s.”

  “Westminster Bridge Road,” she said, thinking of Cody.

  “Indeed, and where I’ll be going back.”

  ZIGGY WAS leaning on the car, arms folded across his chest, when she emerged from the hospital. His face lit up when he saw her.

  “How’d it go?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “Laura’s not here, but I’ve a new lead.” She handed him the card. “This is where we think she’s working. Is it possible...”

  “Pretty name Laura,” Ziggy nodded. They got in the car. The driver took the card and ranted loudly in unfathomable Chinese. Whatever it meant, the car was soon moving.

  Ziggy sat back and secured his seat belt. “It’s the other side of town, that’s all. Traffic’s heavy in the middle of the day, even on Sunday. It’ll take time.”

  They sat in silence watching modern China slip by as it went about its business.

  “How was your meeting?” Julia asked after a while.

  A veil descended. “Fine, thank you, it was fine,” Ziggy fixed his eyes firmly on the view out the window.

  Who did you really go to see? Julia wondered.

  The journey was slow, the view dreary. Thousands of vehicles barely moving on mass highways, winding through suburbs stacked with endless rows of gargantuan tower blocks.

  “Not the prettiest part of town, I guess,” Julia broke the silence.

  “No, but a miracle. Housing for ten million people built in just a few years.”

  “Oh shut, up,” she laughed, trying to lift his mood. “You sound like a People’s Republic broadcast. China undoubtedly suffered a difficult century in the 1900s, mainly at the hands of foreign powers and should be proud of its great achievements in overcoming adversity. There. Happy now.”

  “Very happy,” he smiled, his gloom lifting.

  They crawled through the traffic for another half-an-hour.

  “Julia, you haven’t told me why you’re so keen to find Dr Laura.”

  “I also didn’t tell you she was a doctor. It’s complicated.”

  “Confucius says life is really simple but we insist...”

  “On making it complicated,” Julia finished. “Yes, I know.”

  The driver accelerated sharply and sped off at an exit. They were heading into the country, leaving the City behind. The landscape changed as they raced along rural roads, the driver moving fast now, eating up the miles. Wide dry-looking plains stretched as far as the eye could see, with dark, austere hills rising steeply in the distance. So vast and so isolated, Julia thought, mesmerised, drifting away into a half-dream.

  She came back to earth with a bump, when the car slowed and then stopped sharply. A police roadblock was spanning the carriageway.

  “Let me deal with this,” Ziggy said, putting his mask on. “I’ve got a feeling this is as far as we’re going.”

  Julia stayed in the car and watched as Ziggy spoke to the officers in charge. His face was largely concealed by the mask, but his body language exuded charm and reasonableness. She noticed signs at the side of the road in Chinese.

  Damn – if only I could understand them, she cursed.

  The policeman pulled a phone from his pocket and seemed to be speaking to someone. Ziggy waited patiently. Conversation over, they exchange a few more words. It all seemed to be going well. Ziggy bowed his thanks and walked back to the v
ehicle. He climbed back beside her, leaned forward and spoke to the driver, who began manoeuvring the car around.

  “What?” Julia raised her palms questioningly as they set off back down the road, retracing their steps.

  Ziggy removed his mask. “We’re in a quarantined area. That’s as far as we can go. They were not unhelpful. They called the staff office and confirmed that Laura was here until about six months ago when she was sent to another viral unit in the Conghua district. It’s about an hour away. If we get moving we can get there and back before dark.”

  “Are you sure they aren’t deliberately sending us on a wild goose chase?” Julia rapped her thighs in frustration.

  “No, I’m not sure at all,” Ziggy replied. “D’you have a better plan?”

  What option do I have? Julia clicked her tongue and stared out the window. They drove steadily on empty flat roads, leaving the built up city far behind. The landscape was dust-dry and deserted. As they left mile upon mile behind, the terrain threw off its barren cloak. Scrubland gave way to verdant streams and twisting rivers, gnarled shrubs to fertile pastels and blossom. As the land became bountiful, so people returned.

  “It’s beautiful,” Julia said softly.

  “Technically, we’re still in the city of Guangzhou – or rather Canton as you Brits used to call it – at least its urban region. Yes, it’s beautiful,” his voice faded, as if he too were hypnotised.

  Julia started to slip away. Their dawn muster and the rhythm of the car rocked her into a sleepy no man’s land. Her eyelids became heavy, and she could no longer fight tiredness surging in waves. She surrendered, closed her eyes, and dozed.

  “Julia, wake up,” she heard Ziggy calling through her dreams and woke with a start. The car had stopped at a gated complex, which looked like a high security prison.

  As before, Ziggy put on his mask, got out the car, and walked towards security on the gate. He spoke to them politely, judging by his body language. The response he got looked anything but courteous. From where she was sitting Julia could see Ziggy’s shoulders tighten.

  Something’s wrong, she sensed, sitting upright and straining to hear.

  Suddenly Ziggy was shouting and gesticulating with his arms. A car engine roared behind the taxi, approaching at high speed and braking hard to a sharp halt. Her door swung open, and two vicious thugs in police uniform grabbed her and wrenched her out, sending her crashing on the tarmac. She screamed, as she landed badly twisting an ankle.

  In an instance, Ziggy was at her side, screeching violently at the police, waving his arms authoritatively and in fury. Stunned, they backed off briefly, but soon resumed their shouting.

  Ziggy would not be bettered. He grabbed Julia by the arm and thrust her back in the car. Ziggy’s violent verbal tirade showed no sign of abating. He turned and hurled what seemed like some final abuse, and jumped in his side of the car, yelling at the driver to get out of there as fast as the hell he could. Julia didn’t need Chinese to understand that.

  They were all breathing heavily as they sped down the road in reverse gear, before turning and retracing their route the way they came. Julia turned to see if the heavies were following.

  “Don’t look back,” Ziggy ordered, his face flushed with anger.

  Julia sank back in her seat, rubbing her ankle. She watched Ziggy take a bottle of water out of his bag, rip off his mask and begin to sip. Slowly he regained control.

  His voice was calm when he spoke again.

  “I’m sorry Julia. Our adventure is over. Those goons are from police HQ. They’ve given you four hours to leave the province. We must catch the next train back to Hong Kong.”

  “What about Laura, we’re so close?”

  Ziggy took another swig of water and shook his head. “Laura isn’t there. They say no one of that name ever arrived at that viral unit. They say we’re mistaken.”

  “No, Ziggy. No. Someone’s lying.”

  “Whether someone’s lying or not, we’re out of options. If we don’t leave now they’ll throw you into jail. This is not the English Home Counties. I won’t be able to protect you. We have to go.”

  Julia slammed her back into her seat.

  “Fuck,” she said. “D’you think they’re lying? Is Laura there, but they didn’t want us to find her? Or did she really never make it there?”

  Ziggy slumped back in his seat and closed his eyes.

  “I don’t know and I’m tired. Let’s go back to Hong Kong. I’ve contacts. I’ll get my uncle to pull a few strings. See if we can get to the bottom of what’s happened to her. I’ll do what I can to help.”

  Julia’s heart ran cold.

  Maybe you’ve done enough already, Julia thought, gently massaging her swelling ankle.

  What really went on out there? If only I could speak Chinese.

  CHAPTER 38

  BACK AT GUANGZHOU station, Ziggy forged ahead to the ticket office to reserve seats on the next train. Julia texted Richard.

  Please meet me at Kowloon. Train arrives at 8pm.

  I’ll be there. His reply came through after a short delay.

  Julia shuddered as Ziggy emerged from the ticket office.

  I have to shake him off at the first opportunity, she thought. The very sight of him makes me feel ill.

  They walked in silence to the train. She needn’t have dreaded sitting beside him for the long journey back to Hong Kong. He didn’t speak a word as the train rumbled South – his face set hard in an unfathomable expression. Julia’s panic turned slowly to bewilderment.

  Who is this man? she puzzled – not for the first time. Who’s he working for?

  HER SPIRITS LIGHTENED when she saw Richard waiting at Kowloon station. She said a cold goodbye to Ziggy. He bowed, the inscrutable Chinese gentleman.

  “I’ll be in touch,” he said, without smiling.

  “So you had a travel companion after all?” Richard smirked. “Though from the vibes I take it the journey didn’t go so well.”

  “No, it didn’t go well. He’s someone I know from London. He was in the seat beside me on the plane over. Then he was sitting next to me on the train.”

  “Ah!”

  “Yes Ah! He’s the London Ambassador’s nephew and teaches at the School of Oriental and African Studies.”

  “Come on, we can walk to the flat from here. Have you eaten? Maybe pick something up on the way.”

  “That would be great. I’ll have to get back to the hotel though – a lot to think about and resolve.”

  “You’re limping, are you hurt?”

  “Yes I am hurt. But it’s not the ankle causing me most pain.”

  “Lean on me,” Richard said, taking her arm. “I’ll look after you.”

  JULIA DIDN’T STAY long at Richard’s, just long enough to put some ice on her ankle, devour supper and outline the strange events of the day.

  Richard scratched his head with a chopstick. “So, you reckon James Lippert’s genuine?”

  “Absolutely!”

  “That means either Laura never set off from that first viral unit, and is still there. Or she did set off and was intercepted and redirected elsewhere. Or she did make it to the second unit, but they didn’t want you to know that.”

  “It’s a puzzle. Worse, a dead end,” Julia sighed heavily.

  Richard grinned. “Sleep on it. Things always look different in the morning. The pieces of the jigsaw fall into place in your dreams, I find. Don’t worry, you’ll get your mojo back. How’s the ankle?”

  “Much better. Swelling’s going down.”

  He placed the chopstick in a perfect vertical line, and stared with intense concentration.

  “The thing that puzzles me is where those other police came from?”

  “They appeared from nowhere.”

  Richard nodded. “They don’t seem connected to the viral unit. Someone doesn’t want a foreign journalist sniffing round. I get that. This is China – always paranoid and secretive.”

  “How did they know abou
t me? Is that what you’re getting at? How did they know who I was or what I was up to?”

  “Unless someone tipped them off?”

  “Who?” A look of fury flashed across her face. “Ziggy. It has to be Ziggy.”

  “You said he had a fight with them?”

  “More a very aggressive argument. If only I could understand some Chinese. I’ve no idea what the fight was about.”

  Richard stood. “More puzzles. Come on, I’ll take you back to the Metro. You’re only a few stops from your hotel. You’ll have to get used to it if you’re staying. It’s cheap and simple, once you get the knack.”

  RICHARD WAS RIGHT. Navigating the Metro was easy and Julia reached the Pottinger without mishap. She was glad to pick up her luggage and unlock her room – the same she had vacated that morning. She unpacked her case, changed into a nightshirt and was about to go into the bathroom to clean her teeth when her phone rang. It was Cody.

  “Good time Julia?”

  “I can’t tell you how great it is to hear your voice,” she said with a slight catch in her own.

  “Things not going well your end?”

  “You could say that. How about you? Where are you? What time is it?”

  “I’m in the office. It’s afternoon here, err… 4.10pm,” she visualised him stretching across his desk to check the time on his computer. Suddenly she badly missed home, her office, her flat.

  “I’m just getting ready for bed.”

  “OK, I won’t keep you long. I’ve been checking out Halamanning. Found a connection you might be interested in. Had to plough through hundreds of documents to find it, but very glad I did.”

  “Go on.”

  “Years ago, he too worked in Hong Kong. For the old Hemmings, before it went bust. Finance director. Come down in the world since, I’d say. Guess who worked for him?”

  Why do I feel I know what you’re going to say next, Julia thought.

  “A young Warwick Mantel,” Cody burst out. “Looks like he gave him his first big break.”

  “That’s certainly one hell of a connection.”

  “There’s another. Jonathan Silverman...”