Master of Rain

by Tom Bradby

  Field took a pace toward them.

  “Both of you.”

  Field leaned over and placed his gun beside the bed. Chen, standing directly behind him, bent down slowly and slid his weapon along the floor.

  Field’s heart was beating so hard he could hear it. He took another step forward.

  Without a word, Geoffrey moved the knife from Natasha’s throat and cut swiftly across the top of her right breast. She recoiled, giving a strangled cry. Field watched, frozen, as a rivulet of blood ran down the side of her breast and blossomed where it touched her camisole.

  Natasha closed her eyes and, very softly, began to cry, her mouth shut tight, her teeth grating against the pain.

  Geoffrey pressed the blade against the soft skin of Natasha’s neck. “She is as good as dead, Richard,” he said.

  “I saw you as a father,” Field said quietly. “I saw you as a hero.”

  “There are no more heroes, Richard. Did your father’s suicide teach you nothing?”

  “I don’t think he felt he had a choice.”

  “His much-lauded integrity didn’t take him to the front, though, did it?”

  “He wanted to go. He failed the medical.”

  “Is that what he told you?”

  Field didn’t answer.

  “You and your father are so alike it makes my skin crawl. That same insufferably sanctimonious sense of moral probity that you seek to impose upon the world.”

  “I grew up with the story of your sacrifice. It was your example that taught me there were things worth fighting for.” Field searched for some humanity in his uncle’s eyes but saw only the accumulated bitterness of the years.

  “There’s nothing left worth fighting for,” Geoffrey said. “Open your eyes, Richard. Take a look around you.”

  Field moved closer, and Geoffrey sliced the blade once more across Natasha’s chest. This time he did not even glance at her as she whimpered and writhed, the tears running down her cheeks.

  “Don’t do that again,” Geoffrey said.

  Field tried not to look at her, either. “This is because of what happened to you in the war?” he said.

  Geoffrey went completely still. “Do you know how many men marched into Delville Wood that day?”

  “Yes I do.”

  “And how many of us came back?”

  “I understand.”

  “No you don’t. You can’t possibly understand. Nobody survived that day. We all died in Delville Wood.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Life goes on, of course. It goes on and on and bloody on. But people forget, Richard; they confuse meaningless sacrifice with nobility. The Great War? Oh yes. That was the war to end all wars. But Delville Wood? It’s just a place on the map.”

  “I said I’m sorry.”

  “Spare me your pity. I’ve seen the look in your eyes when you watch me dragging myself through another roomful of bloody beautiful people. It’s the same way Penelope looks when she’s just been with someone who can fuck her—”

  “What harm have these girls done you?”

  Geoffrey’s face twisted. “They despise me. They judge me. You all dare to judge me.”

  Field shook his head. “You’ve got it wrong, Geoffrey. My father destroyed himself by trying to prove himself worthy of you, of your family. So did Mother. She couldn’t bear to incur your disapproval. They felt they couldn’t measure up. The fact that you came back a hero was just . . . It made my father even more haunted by the mess he thought he’d made of our lives. He hated me for admiring you.”

  “So I’ve let you down as well?” The anger burned deep within Geoffrey’s eyes. “You’re disappointed, like your mother, that I’m not the man I was, that I am somehow diminished by my journey through seven versions of hell? Damn you, Richard. Your arrogance disgusts me. You’ve been in this city for little more than a heartbeat, and yet you believe you can lord it over us all.”

  “I’ve never believed—”

  “Get out of my sight. And just see how long you last. This is my city, Field. It dances to my tune.”

  “Let me take the girl—”

  A look of complete incredulity crossed Geoffrey’s face. “She’s a Russian.”

  “She’s got a little boy to look after. Natalya’s son.”

  “Get out, Field.”

  “It’s not too late.”

  “Don’t insult me further.”

  “It’s not—”

  “Get out. I’m damned if you’ll lecture me. You cannot save the girl.”

  “Why?”

  “Because of the look in her eyes,” Geoffrey exploded. “Because of the promises she makes but cannot keep.”

  Natasha twisted suddenly, unbalancing Geoffrey, and Field lunged across the bed, grabbing hold of his knife arm. His momentum took them both crashing onto the floor.

  Geoffrey managed to wrench himself round as they fell, forcing Field onto his back. The pain burned through Field’s shoulder as he tried to keep his grip; Geoffrey was astonishingly strong. He looked up at the long blade closing on his neck and felt Geoffrey’s free hand scrabbling at his face, fingers searching for his eyes.

  Field let go with his right hand and hit him as hard as he could on the underside of the jaw. As Geoffrey’s head snapped back, Field grabbed and twisted the knife, watching the blade disappear into Geoffrey’s stomach as the bullet from Chen’s revolver thumped into his uncle’s chest.

  Geoffrey’s body went slack, his eyes widening in surprise, the knowledge of his own imminent death creeping across his face.

  Field pushed Geoffrey off him and got to his feet. As he did so, Geoffrey began to convulse, at first violently, and then with diminishing force as the life drained out of him.

  Field knelt and watched his uncle slip away, watched the cold anger disappear from his eyes, to be replaced by a sadness more profound than he had known.

  The man who had sacrificed himself at Delville Wood searched Field’s face, then fumbled for his hand. “Don’t remember this,” he said.

  He tightened his grip, his hand slippery with his own blood. It was as though the Geoffrey that Field had once known was trying to summon himself back from the past, before it was too late. He struggled to speak, his mouth opening and shutting, but could not enunciate the words.

  Field leaned nearer. Geoffrey closed his eyes. Field felt the dying man’s breath on his cheek as he finally managed to whisper, “Don’t—remember—this.”

  The pain ebbed from Geoffrey’s face and his grip on Field’s hand weakened. He did not open his eyes again. His breathing was now almost inaudible, the room suddenly quiet.

  The silence was broken by the sound of footsteps pounding up the stairs. Chen was on one knee in the doorway. For a split second, Lu’s bodyguards did not see them. Chen fired twice at Grigoriev, who fell back into the man behind him.

  Chen stood, firing at the second man as he was still trying to scramble clear. The first shot punched a hole in his forehead, the second buried itself in his neck, spinning him back into the corridor.

  Chen moved forward to check that they were dead, his shoes scuffing the wooden floor.

  Field looked for a moment more at his uncle’s face, then got slowly to his feet.

  The keys to Natasha’s handcuffs were on the table, next to the candle. Field wiped the blood from his hands on her sheet, then picked them up and sat on the bed beside her. When he had released her, she clung to him, her head on his chest, her fingers digging deep into his back. She sobbed quietly as he held her, her blood seeping through the front of his shirt.

  Field gently prized her away and bent to examine the gashes across her breasts. He stood and looked about him, then moved to the closet and pulled it open, ran his hands through the clothes that hung there, and pulled out a white cotton shirt and dress. He tore the material into strips and gently raised her chin. Her mouth was swollen and the skin around her right eye was already discolored.

  Field folded a strip of the shirt. �
�Put your head back.”

  She did as she was told, closing her eyes as he placed the makeshift bandage across the first of the gashes and pulled it over one shoulder and under her arm, kneeling on the bed as he tied the two ends tightly behind her back. She caught sight of the blood seeping from the bullet hole in his shoulder. She touched his cheek with her fingers, her eyes on his, but he lowered her hand and continued to dress her wounds as best he could.

  As he finished, she tipped back against him. His arms were around her, her hair in his face and mouth. “It’s all right,” Field said. He closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of her. “It’s all right.”

  He held her tight, until her breathing began to ease. He ran his fingers through her hair, wiped the tears from her cheek.

  Chen stood in the doorway. It was a few moments before Natasha seemed aware of his presence. She pulled away and walked to the corner of the room, where her raincoat was draped across a chair. She drew it around her, then reached into the pocket and threw a thick sheaf of paper onto the bed beside him.

  “They said they had been looking for me. They made a telephone call. I only had a few minutes . . . less. I took as much as I could.” She paused, the fear returning to her eyes. “Where is Alexei?”

  “He’s hiding in the car.” Field stood. “We must go.”

  He leafed through the pages until he found the most recent entry: SS Saratoga, then today’s date and the sum of $750,000 Shanghai.

  Beneath it was a list of names and opposite each, a figure. Field ran his finger over the characters as he tried to decipher them.

  She moved alongside him.

  “Macleod,” he said.

  “Yes.”

  “Five thousand dollars.”

  “Yes.”

  “Geoffrey Donaldson, twenty-five thousand.”

  “Yes.”

  “Commissioner Biers, ten thousand.”

  She nodded.

  “There is no mention of Lewis.” Field handed Chen the pages and watched as the Chinese detective cast his eyes over them.

  “Lu will not sleep until he gets these back,” he said. “We must go now.”

  Field did not move.

  “His men will turn the city upside down.”

  They heard a vehicle screech to a halt outside, followed by the sound of shouting and running feet. Chen ran to the window, Field half a step behind him. He saw Sorenson getting out of the front of a truck, in full protective gear, helmet on and a Thompson machine gun by his side.

  A black Buick pulled up behind him, and Macleod stepped out onto the sidewalk. Another car stopped in the middle of the street, disgorging four of Lu’s men, each also armed with a machine gun.

  Chen opened the door to the balcony, stepped out, and fired twice in Macleod’s direction, scattering the men below as they darted for cover. Then he walked past Natasha and out into the hall, letting off two more shots in the stairwell, before reloading his revolver with one hand. “The roof?”

  Natasha looked puzzled.

  “Up to the roof?” he barked. “How?”

  “From . . . in the hallway.”

  There was a closet in the corner of the landing. Chen rattled the padlock briefly before stepping back, taking aim with his revolver, and shooting it off.

  Inside, a bamboo ladder was stacked alongside a brush, a bucket, and a selection of cloths. Chen took hold of the ladder and pushed it at Field. “You must go.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Otherwise, none of us will stand a chance. No one, Field.” There were more shouts from below. Chen ran to the door and fired twice more into the stairwell. “If we are caught here, we will all be killed. You get out, and Lu cannot be sure what you have done with the ledger pages. That way, we all have a chance.”

  “The boy. I can’t—”

  “We have no time.”

  They could hear voices again, coming up the stairwell.

  Field pushed his revolver into the waistband of his trousers, took the ladder, placed it against the edge of the hatch, and began to climb. Natasha was staring upward, her face expressionless.

  The stairwell was silent.

  Field climbed out onto the roof and spun around. “The ladder,” Chen whispered. “Take it.”

  It was almost weightless. Field hauled it up and threw it to his right. He took hold of the hatch cover. For a moment Natasha’s eyes were fixed upon his.

  Field hesitated. He could see she was certain that she would not see him again. He shook his head slowly.

  “Go,” Chen hissed.

  Natasha turned away. Chen began firing again and Field heard a scream. He dropped the hatch cover and straightened.

  The roof was flat and covered in gravel. Smoke from three tall brick chimneys drifted toward the tower above the race club. He could see the dome of the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank in the distance.

  Field turned. The breeze tugged at his shirt as he made his way to the side of the building, climbing over a series of telegraph wires. There was no wall or parapet. He stepped onto the edge of the roof, making a conscious effort not to look down. The building opposite was a foot or two lower, but it was a long jump. He thought the gap was about ten feet, perhaps a little less.

  The roof he was aiming for had no ledge around it, either. A line of steel chimneys along its center billowed smoke in his direction.

  Field looked down. It was a long, straight drop to the alley through which he and Chen had entered the building. Three armed police officers crouched down by the service entrance, next to the refuse bin. Another two were flattened against the wall behind them.

  Field turned before they had a chance to look up. The telegraph wires left him with only five or six feet of roof. It wasn’t enough to make the jump.

  He heard more shots below and then a volley of machine-gun fire.

  Field focused on the roof opposite. He moved back as far as he could go, until the telegraph wires were stretched taut against the back of his legs. He closed his eyes for a moment. He felt dizzy.

  There was more shouting below. Field took his revolver from his belt, opened his eyes, and ran, his feet thumping against the gravel, the leap, the glimpse of the alley beneath him, frozen in his mind before his feet smacked down on the roof opposite and he tumbled onto his good shoulder, trying to protect the gun and stop himself from screaming with the pain.

  He stood, unsteady, bits of gravel stuck to his shirt. There was more gunfire from inside the building behind him, followed by the steady thump of machine-gun bullets.

  A rusty iron ladder led up to a raised platform on the far side of this roof. Field climbed onto it, the tower above the race club still visible to his right.

  He clambered over another line of telegraph wires and walked to the edge.

  The next building was taller, beyond his reach, except for one small section directly ahead of him around a pair of chimney stacks. There was a ledge on this side where he would need to launch himself, making it impossible to get a running start, and only a foot or two of space where he could land, but he had no choice.

  Field stared at the gap between the chimneys opposite him and the edge of the roof. There was a small rim along the edge, not more than the height of a single layer of bricks, but enough to grip hold of.

  Field stood on the ledge, bent his knees, and then hesitated. His stomach lurched in the way it did when he was about to launch himself from a high diving board.

  It was too far.

  He looked around him. A window was open in the top-floor apartment of the building opposite, its lace curtain fluttering gently in the breeze. The alley beneath him was blocked at one end by a wall, so that there was no entry from Foochow Road. Lines of brightly colored washing were strung across it.

  He could no longer hear gunfire.

  Field closed his eyes briefly, then opened them, bent his knees and jumped, hurtling toward the ledge.

  He hit it with the top half of his body, his hands scrabbling in the gravel and slipping,
before catching the parapet. His legs dangled in space; one arm and shoulder fought to stay on the roof while the rest of him hung down the side of the building.

  Field gradually pulled himself up, but then slipped farther, his shoulder on fire.

  He tried not to look down but couldn’t help himself. He saw only his feet and then the long drop to the alley below.

  He managed to raise himself again, tearing his fingernails on the gravel, scrabbling for some kind of purchase with his feet, managing finally to get the inside edge of the sole of his right shoe into a small crack in the mortar. He put some weight on it, but a piece of the brick gave way and he fell farther, so that he was now hanging down vertically.