Hong Kong

by Mel Odom

  “Shadowrunners, moonlight prancers.” Shenyang shrugged. “Who gives a crap? I got money and a job, and I don’t care who does it as long as the price is right. What’s more, I got a lotta friends around town, and a lot of ’em run in your circles, too. In fact, I was gonna hire a couple guys I’ve used before. A pair of street muscle runners named Bennett Flynn and Isane Konnair, but they’re busy. The good ones stay busy.” He looked around the table at us. “So what? We got a deal? You gonna do it?”

  “We have a deal,” I told him, and I couldn’t help but hope this mess was going to get us closer to finding out what happened to the old man.

  “Good!” Shenyang grinned, and the effort was the most genuine I’d seen. “That’s what I like to hear! When you’re done, drop Cheng a line. I’ll meet you back here and hand over the money.”

  Across the room, I knew Kindly Cheng heard about the money. She looked at me, smiled, and took another drag on her thin black cigar.

  Chapter 46

  Apartment 2

  The Repulse Bay Hotel took its name from Repulse Bay on Hong Kong Island. We took the MTR and a ferry over to the hotel, and got out from under rolling storm clouds that fought the toxic fog for air space. The place looked expensive, but it was perched on the edge of an impending natural disaster, judging from all the dark clouds swelled with toxic rain scudding overhead.

  We followed several well-dressed people into the hotel just as the clouds and fog momentarily cleared and let the blood red sun sinking into the west beat down on us. The elevator operator took us all to the second floor mezzanine, and the sounds of music and partiers slammed into us when the doors parted.

  Nobody paid any attention to us. We’d bought suits that fit in with the crowd and only carried light armament. After all, this was only supposed to be a fact-finding mission, and Shenyang didn’t want us spilling blood.

  The black and white marble flagstones covering the mezzanine floor gleamed under our feet. Potted plants and elegant seating lined the hallway in front of the plush dining room.

  Duncan pulled at the collar of his tuxedo and grimaced. “I’m kinda out of my element here. I’m not much of a party person.” He looked around. “How do you wanna handle this? Check the apartment first?”

  Gobbet looked at the dining room wistfully. “My vote is party first. Can we go to the party?”

  “The party is too high-visibility for my liking,” I told her. “Let’s try the apartment.”

  She sighed in disappointment. “All right. If you insist. Go on, lead away.”

  “Before you start leading,” Is0bel suggested, “maybe we could check out the computer terminal.” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder at the small office behind us. “I checked the building’s schematics before we came. There’s a jackpoint in that room that can get us info on the rooms. I’m betting Neville Ma didn’t leave his room open with a big Welcome sign hanging on it.”

  I told her to see what she could do while the rest of us remained on watch. She disappeared into the office.

  Gobbet walked toward a sullen-looking troll standing outside the dining room. “Hey,” she greeted him.

  “You’re out of luck if you came here hungry,” he told her in a booming voice. “No restaurant service tonight. The kitchen staff’s too busy with the party to serve anyone.”

  “That’s too bad,” Gobbet said. “It smells wonderful. What’s so special about this party?”

  “Guests only,” the troll said. “The guy throwing the party seems connected to the trid industry. There are tons of actors in there—some of them from Promises in Moonlight.” He looked at Gobbet. “You know the show, right?”

  “I’m afraid not.”

  “You need to see it.” The troll’s voice tightened with excitement. “It’s the best show on trideo ever!”

  Gobbet leaned back a little as he loomed over her, invading her personal space. I reached for my pistol and Duncan did as well.

  “I’ll, uh, get right on that,” Gobbet said. “Good luck with the kitchen, buddy.”

  The troll wandered away with his hands in his pockets.

  Is0bel reappeared at my side and spoke in a quiet voice. “Neville’s in Apartment 2 in the penthouse. The door code is 1635.”

  “Any problems?” I asked.

  She frowned at me. “Really?”

  I shook my head. “Forget I asked.”

  “I also found out there were six unclaimed invitations to the party. I took the liberty of downloading them.” Is0bel smiled mischievously. “In case we need them. Or if we get hungry after we’ve cased Neville Ma’s suite.”

  “I’m hungry now,” Gobbet said, smiling.

  “No,” I said, and headed for the elevator.

  Gobbet trailed after me, saying things beneath her breath that I was certain weren’t complimentary.

  The elevator let us out in a narrow hallway that ran the length of the top floor. No one else was there. They were probably all at the party.

  I walked down to Apartment 2 and entered the code on the keypad, sliding my pistol into my hand as the door opened. Duncan had his pistol ready as well.

  We walked into the empty room. A display case to the right held some knick-knacks and two potted trees stood on either side of a door leading to another room. A second room was to our right by the display.

  The door closed behind us, and we waited a few seconds to see if anyone would respond to our entrance. When no one did, I assumed no one was in the suite and we turned on the lights.

  “Spread out and toss this place,” I said as I headed to the room on the right.

  “It’s cold in here.” Gobbet rubbed her arms as she walked to the back of the room. “Or is it just me?”

  “It’s not just you,” Is0bel replied. “It’s freezing in here.”

  “I can see my breath,” Duncan added.

  I ignored them, but it was cold in the suite. I didn’t see how anyone could stay there and be comfortable. Inside the room, I found racks of tailored suits, boxes of fashionable shoes, and men’s accessories that looked brand-new off the shelf. Ma spent a fortune on designer wear.

  “Got a locked room here,” Duncan called.

  I joined him and the others in the neatly appointed dining room and living room in the back. To my left, a conversation area occupied half the room in front of a fireplace. A large dining table and chairs occupied the right side. Behind the table, a wet bar stood against the wall.

  “Take a look around,” I said. “Let’s see what we turn up. Is0bel, see if you can do anything with that door.”

  I walked over to the wet bar and went through the liquor bottles, looking for hiding areas or bottles that might not contain alcohol. One of the bottles held a crimson liquid that caught my eye. I drew it out and it felt solid, heavy.

  I uncapped the bottle and sniffed it. The scent was a mix of copper and salt, and it smelled somehow familiar. Curious, I tipped the bottle up and took a sip, and almost gagged because it was far saltier than I’d expected.

  “You okay?” Duncan asked.

  “Yeah.” I put the cap back on the bottle and put it away. “That stuff is really bad.”

  He snorted. “Teach you to go around drinking other people’s liquor stash.”

  I wiped my mouth and looked at Is0bel as she turned to me.

  “I can’t crack the door,” Is0bel said. “It’s heavy. Wall’s been reinforced to fit it, and the work is fairly recent. Those maglocks are all top-of-the-line commercial-grade and are equipped with an RFID reader. We’d have better luck breaking through the walls, and I can’t guarantee they haven’t been sheeted as well.”

  “It’d be too noisy anyway.” I glared at the door, willing it to open.

  It didn’t oblige me.

  “We need to get through there.” Gobbet came over to stand beside me. “You know, chances are good that someone down at that party, maybe someone other than Ma, has a key to that door.”

  I scowled at her.

  “I’m
just saying it wouldn’t hurt to go take a look.” She nodded toward the door. “If you put up a door like that, you’re protecting something.”

  She was right, and we all knew it.

  So we headed back down to the party. I wanted a drink anyway, something to clear out the foul taste in my mouth.

  Chapter 47

  Party Crashers

  A small but efficient looking sec detail stood in front of the doors to the balcony overlooking Repulse Bay. Lights from buildings across the harbor made a courageous effort to pierce the scudding clouds and rolling smog.

  “Private party, pal,” one of the sec men told me as I approached.

  I handed him four of the invitations Is0bel had downloaded from the computer. I pointed to my companions and smiled. “Here you go.”

  He examined the invitations and I read the disappointment in his flat gaze when he realized they were legit. He waved to his companions, and they all stepped aside.

  “Enjoy the party, sir.”

  We walked out onto the balcony and into the open air. Static charges from units mounted on the wall and on the low railing that surrounded the area on three sides kept the smog particulates pushed back. The air outside was more acrid than inside, but it was tolerable.

  Several tables were scattered around the balcony, and a U-shaped wet bar occupied the center. Dozens of people stood around, chatting and trying to impress each other with what they’d done and who they knew.

  I didn’t feel comfortable out there among them, but I put on my best face and acted like I belonged. Gobbet easily mixed in with the throng, while Duncan and Is0bel hung back.

  Recognizing Penelope Wong from Shenyang’s file on Neville Ma, I slowly drifted over to her. Her brown hair held red accents that gleamed in the light. Her little black dress showed off every curve of her lithe body. She was beautiful and she knew it, and I was instantly aware of why Shenyang wanted to steal her away from his competitor.

  I walked over and smiled. “You’re on Promises in Moonlight. Love the show.”

  She smiled back at me, but it was just a reflex, something she’d trained to do. Like I’d trained to use a heel-palm strike on an opponent’s nose. Like the strike, the smile was designed to be instantly lethal.

  “Good evening,” she said. “Penelope Wong.” She took in the cut of my tuxedo. “But, please, call me Penny.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Penny. Name’s Argyle.”

  She lifted her drink and took a small sip. “What brings you to our little soiree, Mr. Argyle? I don’t believe I’ve seen you around the studio before.”

  I’d scored a flute of champagne from a passing server and took a drink, grateful when it washed away most of the salty taste from the bottle in Neville’s room.

  “Just business,” I said. “I’m surprised Mr. Ma’s up and about so soon after his accident. I have friends who are worried.”

  “Your friends have nothing to worry about.” She looked at me appraisingly. “I must admit, I nearly died of fright when I heard what happened.” She glanced across the room where the studio exec was holding court with a group of people. “But to look at Neville now, you’d never guess he’d been hurt.” She smiled. “It’s miraculous, isn’t it?”

  “I’ll keep his secret if you will,” I said. “It’s a shame the rumor mill’s caught wind, though.”

  She blinked at me. “There are rumors? I haven’t heard any rumors.”

  I decided to take the kid gloves off. I didn’t know how much time we could pull off crashing the party. “Word around the Matrix is he’s been skimming off the top to pay for his treatment.”

  “That’s ridiculous.” Penelope’s face reddened with anger. “The studio’s doing better than ever. We’re even expanding. No money lost there.”

  I shrugged. “Well, I wouldn’t put any stock in Matrix rumors anyway. Especially the ones about new investment partners.” That had been another little tidbit Shenyang had given us to work with.

  “Someone…new?” Penelope looked at her boss and wrinkled her brow. “No, I don’t think so. But…Neville did make some new friends while he was in Guangzhou.”

  That was where the accident had taken place. “What friends?”

  The frown deepened. “There was a woman…can’t remember her name…who now visits Neville regularly. I hear she’s quite the fashionista.”

  “This a business or personal relationship?”

  Penelope hesitated for a moment, and I knew she was wondering how much to tell me. Of course, she was also wondering how much I knew, and she couldn’t just leave it alone.

  She shrugged. “They seem to get on well. I’m a little sad he’s never introduced us, though.”

  “Never?”

  “She’s supposed to make an appearance tonight. I’m very much looking forward to meeting her.” Penelope looked past me then, and her eyes narrowed. Then she smiled, but it wasn’t directed at me. “Oh, please excuse me. That’s Mr. Yao, and I promised him I’d say hello tonight.” She touched my arm briefly. “Enjoy the party!”

  “One last thing before you go, Penny.”

  She stopped, but I could tell she wanted to leave as soon as she could. She just wasn’t sure how much influence I had on her career.

  “Do you have a key fob for Neville’s security door?” I asked. From what I knew of Neville Ma, I suspected he had really close relationships with some of his stars.

  “I do.” She looked puzzled again. “But…how do you know about that?”

  “Neville asked me to grab something for him from upstairs, but his door’s locked,” I explained. She hadn’t been tracking my conversation with her too well, so she had no idea how well I knew her boss. “I’d ask him for his fob, but he’s busy chatting with some guests right now.”

  Penelope opened the small clutch she carried. “Oh! In that case, please, take mine. Just bring it back when you’re done, okay?”

  I took the key. “Thank you, Penny. You don’t know how helpful you’ve been.” I tipped an invisible hat to her as she waved and made her way in the direction of Mr. Yao.

  Hoping she didn’t get a chance to compare notes with Neville anytime soon, I waved to the others and headed for the door. With a canapé halfway to her mouth, Gobbet was the only one who looked disappointed.

  Chapter 48

  Ku Feng

  “I’m just saying,” Gobbet said, arms folded over her chest and her attitude showing for all to see while we rode up in the elevator, “a few more minutes wouldn’t have hurt anything. A chance to go to a party like that doesn’t come along every day.” Her nose wrinkled in displeasure and several rats bulged beneath her suit as they squirmed around.

  “If it did, with all the chances we had of getting slotted while hanging around down there,” Duncan said, “you wouldn’t last a week.”

  “At least I’d die on a full stomach.”

  The elevator dinged as we arrived at the penthouse. I stepped out onto the floor and headed down to Neville Ma’s suite. The hallway remained empty of guests. I wondered if he’d rented the entire floor.

  Inside the rooms again, I walked back to the reinforced door and used the key fob. The light switched from red to green just before locks thunked. The door slid open, and air even colder than that in the outer room gusted over me, raising goose bumps and a strong feeling of trepidation.

  “Shit!” Is0bel exclaimed. “What’s he doing? Hoarding ice in here?”

  “Only one way to find out,” Duncan replied.

  Holding the pistol level before me, I advanced into the room, moving slow so Duncan could stay close on my right flank. Recessed lighting pushed back the darkness, exposing the bed on a pedestal ahead of us. A bathroom with a sunken bath was off to our right. A small office was also on that side.

  A large-screen trideo was mounted on the wall on the other side of the bed. To one side, a high-end computer sat on a small, expensive desk. The screen displayed wallpaper featuring Penelope Wong from Promises in Moonlight.


  I nodded Is0bel forward and she sat down in front of the keyboard. Her fingers flew across the keys. “I can log in as a guest.”

  “Find out what you can.” I paced the room, keeping an eye on the door we’d come through.

  “He’s got a lot of spam,” Is0bel commented. “He needs a better filter.”

  “Maybe when we get finished here, you can offer to upgrade his computer,” Duncan said.

  She ignored him. “Neville exchanges a lot of email with a woman named Ku Feng. Got a lot of thinly veiled innuendo here.”

  “The status of this slot’s love life isn’t any more interesting than his spam,” Duncan said.

  “That’s ’cause you’re not reading it. Neville’s been dropping a drekload of nuyen on her to show his affections. I got receipts here for gifts, rent, and some truly awful poetry.” Is0bel made brief gagging noises.

  “Any idea who she is?” I asked. “Wong mentioned that he’d made some new friends from Guangzhou.”

  Is0bel nodded. “Rent checks are to a property there, and Ku Feng’s name is on the rental agreement.”

  “What about the hospital bills?” Duncan asked. “One thing I learned at Lone Star was always follow the finances. Who’d he pay at the hospital?”

  “A few docs, but—” Is0bel flipped through screen after screen of financial records, “—he didn’t pay more than chump change. If the accident was as bad as Shenyang thought, there should be a lot more cred involved.”

  Duncan looked at me. “Something’s not adding up here. Doesn’t make sense. That guy looked like he hadn’t even been in an accident when I saw him.”

  I looked at the office door on the other side of the room. I had found a keypad, and I didn’t even see any maglocks, so it was locked from inside. “Is0bel, got anything on this door?”

  “I can unlock it with the computer.”

  That was different. I stepped back and raised the Ingram. “Open it up. Let’s see what’s behind it.”

  She tapped keys. A second later, mechanisms clicked and snikked inside the door. Then it slid to one side.