Kiss and Die

by Lee Weeks

  Ruby felt a pang of sadness. Her eyes became blurred. A tear fell. She hid it from her dolls and wiped her face, annoyed. For the first time she realized she was afraid of dying. Her world spun at that thought and she let out a small cry from deep in her chest. Maybe it wasn’t too late for her to run away, start again? She looked around at her dolls and shook her head. They needed her. They relied on her. She was their mummy. They belonged together in this room. Every day she heard the news that the police were searching the Mansions, coming nearer to her. They were closing in. One day they would find her. But…Ruby took a deep breath and stood tall, she was the mistress of her own destiny. She would let them find her but, by then, it would be too late and she would not die alone.

  Chapter 78

  Shrimp set his bag down at the reception desk in Vacation Villas. ‘My name is Ian Townsend. I have a reservation for three nights.’

  The receptionist scanned down her computer screen. ‘Yes, Mr Townsend, we have you here. You’re in room sixty-one on the sixteenth floor.’

  Shrimp knew he would be-they had requested it. It was the same floor they had found Max Kosmos’s body on. This was the floor for businessmen on large company expense accounts.

  ‘It’s our executive suite. Morning paper, wake-up call?’ She passed over a form for Shrimp to fill in. He gave it back along with a credit card, false documentation that had been rushed through.

  ‘Neither, thanks.’

  ‘Do you need help with your luggage?’

  ‘No. I’m good, thanks.’

  Shrimp took the lift up to his floor. The piped music was playing a mix of classical and what sounded like Bavarian folk music. He came out of the lift and followed the room number signs, took a right at the end and found his room. He put his card key in the slot, opened the door and stepped into the suite. It was the opposite layout to Max Kosmos’s room, this room had the bathroom to his left and the wardrobe to his right, the lounge area was straight ahead, and the bed to his right. Shrimp laid his case on the space provided. He walked around, inspecting every part of the room, behind the curtains and under the bed. He checked the minibar. What was it about minibars and the fascination for stale Mars Bars and expensive packets of nuts? When he was satisfied he knew every inch of the suite he knocked on the adjoining door. After a delay of three seconds there came a knock back. It was faint, but it was there. The two undercover operatives were in place.

  He phoned Mia. ‘I’m in, Boss.’

  ‘Okay. You know the brief. We don’t think she will operate in the day so your work starts from five. The rest of the time you can carry on as usual but we’ll keep you off the streets in the day. You can help Ng in the incident room; he’s inundated with dealing with the crossover between the crimes. Did you get anywhere with Mahmud?’

  ‘No, but he’s very fragile. He’s been beaten badly. I don’t think he is guilty of Tammy’s murder. Someone handed him the knife. I don’t know why he went there to the market that night. Now with Hafiz dead I was hoping he might not feel the need to cover for him any more, but he still refuses to say any more about what happened. I am hoping Daniel Lu might come up with something that might help us. Unless he talks no one else will.’

  ‘Yeah, the facts are pretty plain. Tammy was stabbed with the bundi knife Mahmud was carrying. Chase it up tomorrow with Ng. Don’t forget the wedding ring. Keep safe, Shrimp.’

  ‘Okay, Boss. If nothing happens I’ll see you back at the office in the morning. Has Mann checked in today?’

  ‘No, not yet.’

  Shrimp unpacked. He’d brought with him the usual striped blue and green shirt that the businessmen seemed to favour, even with jeans. He laid out his toiletries in the bathroom. He lined his hair products up. He had studied the businessmen abroad. A lot of them liked their hair. It seemed to be the one thing they spent money on-that and their glasses. They liked expensive specs. He checked his mike and got an affirmative from the men who were waiting for him downstairs and the ones in the room next door. Shrimp checked himself once more in the mirror and then prepared to leave.

  At the same time, Ruby slipped into Vacation Villas with a group of tourists.

  Chapter 79

  She kept her glasses on, her head down. Her hair was tucked up into a blond wig. The hotel was busy-no one noticed her. They had people coming in off the street all the time, sometimes they headed down to the bakery, sometimes they came into the small shopping mall at the entrance, but no one thought twice about a woman walking through the doors of Vacation Villas, straight into the lifts to the upper floors. Her mouth was dry, her bag heavy. She had Peter Thorne’s head in it. She got to the sixteenth floor. The lift doors opened. She stepped out to the Bavarian music and the floral spray that swamped every hotel floor.

  Shrimp stepped into the lift opposite.

  The landing was quiet. She came to the end, turned right and stopped outside Peter Thorne’s room. She checked her phone. She had a message. Ruby read it then shook her head. Didn’t Victoria realize it was too late now? She hovered for a moment outside the hotel room, unsure, and then she turned and walked back down the corridor. She smiled to herself as she patted her bag. She had thought of a much more fitting place to leave it. If Victoria was going to play a game then Ruby would up the stakes. Victoria would have to learn that the game had taken on a life of its own. When you start a fire you can’t always predict which way the wind will blow it. Ruby was seeing things differently now. She no longer cared for the promises. She no longer held the dreams she once had. It was all gone now. Ruby must prepare for the end of the game. She would go hunting tonight and this time it would be for someone very special.

  That night she headed to an Irish pub she knew. Ruby walked down the steps, past the Guinness posters, into a bar with dark alcoves and dark wood, shamrocks a plenty. The Pogues were playing. On the screen at the end of the bar Manchester United was playing Arsenal.

  Ruby chose a different table to last time. It wouldn’t do to form a pattern, a recognizable trait. She went to the left of the bar, beneath the TV screen. She could watch them as they watched the game. She tucked herself away with her glass of Coke. This place was good. The clientele was businessmen. There were several sat at the bar. Several more alone at tables, eating dinner; pub food that they found familiar, comforting when they were away from home. This was a good place to start the night’s hunting. She slid from the stool and took off her mac and then sat back down and crossed her legs.

  A group of three men were sat at the bar talking business and football. Well, two of them were, the third looked bored. He was dark haired, red faced. He looked a little bit the worse for wear. His eyes wandered round the room and came to settle on Ruby. She stared back and allowed a small smile as she sucked her Coke through the straw. The man continued staring. Ruby watched him staring at her legs. He was going to be easy, she thought. He had only one thought in his mind and it wasn’t business and it wasn’t football. Ruby was looking for someone specific tonight, she could spot a policeman a mile away and he wasn’t one. Ruby knew where she could find one.

  Chapter 80

  Mann didn’t draw the blinds that evening. The sky was clear outside. A plane blinked at him as it passed high above. Mann wished he was on it, he wished he was anywhere but there. He poured himself another vodka and took a slug. The liquor burnt as it made its way down into his empty stomach. Mann gave a drunken sigh, placed his hands against the cold window and leant his forehead against it, closed his eyes. Never had he felt so vulnerable or alone. He rolled his forehead over the glass. The more he thought about things, the less he understood. He had done as Mia had said and he stayed at home sorting his father’s papers. He stood alone in his apartment surrounded by the piles of communications from solicitors and accountants. On the table was the original deed to the Mansions. It had been amongst the last of the papers to be delivered to him. Victoria Chan was right, they had several shared interests whether Mann wanted it or not. He could see why she and CK
wanted him on board so badly. His father had made some shrewd investments.

  He picked up his phone and dialled a number.

  ‘Hello stranger,’ a deeply accented Dutch voice answered.

  ‘Hello Alfie. Sorry, meant to keep in touch but you know how it is-work took over. How are things? How is Jake?’ Alfie took his time answering. ‘Is he there?’

  ‘No. He is not here much now. I think he is not coping well. We all miss Magda more than I can say.’ Mann bowed his head and listened. He knew Alfie was choked. He knew just how Jake felt. He felt it too.

  ‘She was a brave woman, Alfie.’

  ‘Yes.’ Mann could hear Alfie dragging on a joint.

  ‘What is going on with Jake?’

  Alfie sighed. ‘I don’t know. He is drinking, taking drugs. He is getting out of my reach. He stays away for days. He doesn’t want to go to university in October any more. I have tried to talk to him about Burma, about what happened but he will not.’

  ‘You have to give him time, Alfie. He’ll be all right.’

  ‘I hope so, Johnny. I hope so. He needs his family.’

  Mann showered and dressed. He couldn’t think in the flat. He had to get out. He had already drunk enough to render most people unconscious but the alcohol had little effect. He walked across the shopping mall and down to the MTR station, getting on the first train that came.

  Chapter 81

  Ruby waited until she saw Mann leave. She smiled sweetly at the doorman who was sitting behind his front desk. He got up to let her in. It was a different man than last time. He wouldn’t have remembered Ruby anyway, but they changed buildings on a rota and she hadn’t seen this man before. ‘Sorry, I’ve forgotten my key.’ He looked at her and hesitated. She felt in her bag for her purse and discreetly handed him two hundred Hong Kong. ‘Silly me. I’m so forgetful. I hope you don’t mind?’

  ‘No, no, of course, miss, please come in.’ He was delighted with the generosity of her tip. She took the floor up to Mann’s apartment and let herself in. She gently closed the door behind her. She opened her bag. She had a special surprise to leave Mann this time. This would really freak him out. She looked at her watch; she hadn’t time to stop longer. She had much to achieve before the night was over.

  Chapter 82

  Mann stood in the stark light of the carriage holding on to the handrail. He felt as if every person in the carriage was staring at him. He felt that he was falling off the end of the world.

  He walked into the Cantina. Miriam was talking to someone: a European, a businessman, by the look of him, he wasn’t a local. He was Miriam’s type; tall, fifty-ish, a hint of Cary Grant about him. Mann listened to her laughter, it filled the bar. He smelt her perfume. He watched the curve of her waist, the smoothness of her dress as it rounded her hip.

  She came over. Mann looked over to see her friend putting on his jacket.

  ‘Hello, Miriam. Thought we might pick up where we left off the other night.’

  He saw the look in her eyes as she stared deep into his, then he realized the rules had changed.

  ‘Not tonight, Johnny. I have a date.’ The European was waiting for her.

  ‘Okay. No problem but, if you change your mind,’ he smiled, ‘there’s always a place for you on my pillow.’

  She kissed his cheek. She turned back to smile at him at the door. He knew she was waiting for him to say something else. She wanted more from him. He understood, the way he always did, that their relationship had run its course. She was pushing him, even though she knew in her heart that pushing him just pushed him away. She knew but she couldn’t help it.

  He turned back to the bar and finished his drink then he took a taxi across town. He turned his phone off. Mia was trying to reach him. He didn’t want to be found. He had a lot to think about.

  He walked into the Blue Velvet lounge, just before midnight. It was a place he hadn’t visited in a long time. It had once been a trendy nightclub on the edge of town, now a hostess bar with pole dancers and dwarves serving drinks, dark corners, and private booths. Enigma was playing: haunting erotic music.

  He sat watching the stripper. She wore a long blond wig and a shiny red bikini. She squatted in front of him and her thighs opened as she held on to the pole and leant back, crotch in his direction. He smelt the aroma of cheap perfume and stale sex and as he held his drink on his chest he felt the ice-cold glass penetrate into his heart. He looked across at the other punters in this lowlife club, a Triad hangout. It was a place that the bosses like CK kept a tab open for their officers’ entertainment. Ice was laid out in white lines on one of the tables at the side of the room. A noisy group of 49s were out of control at the far end of the bar and grabbing at the dancers, drinking each other unconscious with shots.

  Mann was aware that someone had come to stand next to him-too close to be anything but a friend or an enemy. He turned. It was Lilly.

  ‘You buying drinks, Mr Rich Policeman?’ The pole dancer left for pastures new.

  ‘Finished your homework, Lilly?’

  ‘I don’t need to learn anything else, Mr Policeman. I could even teach you a few things. You look like you need a friend. You want to buy me a drink and I’ll tell you all about it?’

  Chapter 83

  Shrimp came out of the lift and walked through the lounge bar. The place was rowdy and full. The evening was in full swing, the atmosphere loud as the drink took the voice levels up and the inhibitions down. He spotted at least one of his colleagues, sat on a lounge chair reading a guide book. The large television screen at the end of the lounge had changed from showing sports to catwalk models. Shrimp walked on through to the bar. The place had a liberal sprinkling of sex workers, small groups of guffawing businessmen and then the lone peanut eaters at the bar. He spotted another colleague looking suitably melancholy on a stool at the far end.

  Shrimp found a space in the middle of the bar. He could see the girls in the band from there. No Michelle, she was still being held by the cops, just Cindy and Sandy, their repertoire severely cut down from not having Michelle. He looked about to see if there was anyone else he recognized. No, he was pretty sure no one would know him. He had chosen just the right look to blend in: open-necked shirt, high-waisted jeans, wire-rimmed glasses. His hair was parted differently, roughed up a little but not quite stylish. His wedding ring was large and loud.

  He looked at the few lone girls sat at the tables around the bar. He made eye contact with one of them. She got up and walked away. For a moment he thought it was Lilly with a caramel-coloured long wig and short skirt. She disappeared somewhere behind him. His eyes settled on another. They played the game: look up, look down. Shrimp fiddled with his fake wedding band. He made sure he kept up the staring. He had to look desperate. He pretended to check his phone and then placed it on the bar. He ordered a Coke from the barman with the gelled hair. He put Shrimp’s drink on the beer mat and scribbled the amount on his tab.

  ‘Thanks for your help, buddy. You’re doin’ a great job.’

  Shrimp looked up to see a girl watching him from one of the side tables. She had thick black hair. In the subdued lighting it was hard to see her face. He smiled. She smiled back. He looked away and looked back to make sure the signals were loud and clear. She was still looking his way. She’d kept her eyes focused on him. She was pretty, thought Shrimp, she was keen. He slid from the stool and walked over to her at the same time as he whispered into his wire, ‘Contact made, am on the move.’

  Shrimp’s heart hammered. ‘Can I buy you a drink?’

  ‘Okay,’ the girl tilted her head to one side and giggled.

  Chapter 84

  They walked to the lifts. The girl obviously knew the layout to the hotel. She knew where the lifts to the rooms were. She kept her head down. She didn’t make eye contact with him; instead she turned her back on him and read the adverts on the walls of the lift. Shrimp tried to engage her in conversation. She wasn’t keen on doing anything but hiding her face and giggling. Ev
en if they had cameras in hotel lifts, which would cause a riot if they tried, the amount of businessmen who played away, they still wouldn’t have caught a proper look at this girl. He opened the door for her to walk in before him.

  ‘Shall I make you a drink?’ she asked, hovering by the minibar.

  ‘A Coke will be great.’

  Shrimp watched her closely. If she was going to try and drug him, this was her chance. He watched her open him up a mini Coke and pour it straight into a glass. If she had managed to get anything in his drink she would have had to be some magician. Still he didn’t touch it.

  She was looking ill at ease now. She sat on the bed and stared at him, a sickly smile stuck to her face. Shrimp wasn’t sure if she was nervous or smug.

  ‘Do you want me to pay you now?’ he asked.

  She shook her head, embarrassed, and smiled shyly. ‘That’s okay. You can give me a present later.’

  Shrimp needed to push her on a couple of vital points. He felt his face heat up. Now, alone in the room with her he was struggling not to show he was a novice and he was acutely embarrassed. ‘Do you want me to use a condom?’ She giggled behind her hand and nodded. ‘Do you do any bondage, you know, S amp; M?’