by Joanna Shupe
Lily clenched her jaw and prayed for patience. “You have no chance of keeping me from returning to Mr. Lee’s building and trying to get Calvin out of there. So please, stop arguing and tell me what you’re planning.”
Silence ensued while everyone waited for Hugo’s response. Finally his shoulders fell, and she knew she’d won. “I suppose we can use a few more hands,” he said. “But don’t get yourself hurt. He’ll kill me if you do.”
“I shall endeavor not to get hurt.” She thought of the woman chained to the bed, the one Lee had been drugging. Lily had promised to go back for her—a promise she intended to fulfill. Probably best to keep that plan to herself. For now. “So how will we get Calvin out?”
* * *
Of course it had to be another cellar.
Calvin hung in the pitch dark, his arms stretched over his head, wrists manacled and chained to a ring in the ceiling. His toes barely reached the dirty floor and each breath had become excruciating agony. He could no longer see out of his right eye thanks to the swelling, and his ribs ached from the beating Lee’s men had handed out before leaving.
He had no idea how long he’d been dangling there. Each second felt like an hour, thanks to the pain radiating all over his body. His arms had gone numb some time before, which at least prevented him from feeling the manacles cutting into his skin, thank Christ.
Scratching noises sounded in the distance and Calvin recognized them. Rats. Goddamn it. He tried to slow his breathing. Could animals smell fear? He’d rather be drugged, beaten, or shot than have to deal with rats.
Seconds later, a door at the top of the stairs opened and he heard footsteps on the wooden treads. He squinted with his one good eye to see a sliver of light approaching through the gloom.
It was Lee. He stepped in front of Calvin. “How long should I let you hang there, Mr. Cabot? I’m willing to take you down, should you tell me what I need to know.”
“No, not until you give me what I want.”
Lee chuckled and walked around to stand behind Calvin. “Women. Always the women with you. But I noticed something. You were very protective of Miss Davies, willing to get her away from me at great personal cost to yourself. You love her, I think. But your wife in China, the one for whom you have waited so long, you want me to see her brought to America. You are not trying to keep me away from her. Which makes me wonder, is she really your wife?”
Cold fear shot through Calvin’s guts. Lee was much more clever than he’d given him credit for. “Of course she is,” Calvin rushed out, every word hurting his ribs.
“I do not think so. I think she is the wife of someone you know. Someone you are trying to protect.” Lee appeared in Calvin’s line of sight once more. “Perhaps your Negro friend?”
Calvin tried not to react. “You’re wrong. She’s my wife.”
“If that is the case, Mr. Cabot, why have you not returned to China to retrieve her? You hardly seem the type of man to wait around for five years, doing nothing.”
“My newspapers prevent me from disappearing for long stretches of time.”
“Unless you are suffering from a bout of Hong Kong fever, of course.” Lee’s smug expression had Calvin struggling against the chains, to which Lee merely laughed. “Your friends in Chinatown are also loyal to me. Did you think I wouldn’t learn the true reason behind your sojourns at Sing’s?”
“So you convinced Sing to talk about me. Congratulations.”
“You are very flippant for a man trying to hide his condition from the world. I wonder if your investors would be worried, knowing you will be so sick periodically.”
Precisely the reason Calvin always went to Sing’s when the malaria resurfaced. Investors were nervous as newborn kittens. Any hint of weakness in the company figurehead could ruin his empire. “I hardly think they’ll believe you.”
“Perhaps your friend, Mr. Kwan, will be more believable.” Lee nodded to one of his men, and Calvin saw a familiar figure emerge from the darkness beyond the lamp’s circle of light.
Kwan was here, alone. His hands weren’t bound in any way. “What . . .?” Calvin’s gaze went from Lee to Kwan. “What’s this?”
“Your friend has agreed to join the Tong if I will release you.”
“No! Kwan, do not—”
“It’s done, Cabot.” Kwan raised his chin. “I have already agreed. Now, you will release him,” he said to Lee.
Lee stroked his beard and studied Kwan, the silence stretching. Then he turned to one of the men standing nearby. “I’ve changed my mind. Kill them both.”
Lee started for the steps as Kwan shouted, “You cannot kill me. We had an agreement.”
Calvin added, “You’ll never find Ming Zhu if you kill me.”
Lee paused on the lowest step. “I’ve decided I no longer want her. That American boy has ruined her, taken her innocence. She is dead to me.”
Calvin’s heart sank. Christ, all of this had been in vain. He struggled against the manacles as best he could, chains rattling overhead, but they held fast. “Goddamn it. Wait, Lee!”
Lee continued on, two men following up the stairs while two others remained below with Kwan and Calvin. One guard began advancing on Kwan, who retreated, holding up his hands to ward the man off. The other guard, withdrawing a small knife from his waistband, headed for Calvin.
Kwan started pleading, telling the guard of his business and family, then stumbled, going down on one knee. In a blur, Kwan whipped out a knife from his boot and threw it with incredible skill at the guard. The blade sank into the guard’s throat and the man fell to the ground.
This caught the other guard’s attention. Quickly, he lifted his knife and charged, intent on killing Kwan. Grasping the chains with all his might, Calvin raised his legs, swung, and kicked the guard’s stomach—hard—causing him to drop the knife. Kwan ran and reached the knife before the guard could retrieve it. He held it up, his eyes flat and cold. “Release my friend and we will let you live.”
“If I let you both go, he will kill me.”
“Not if we make it appear as if you were overpowered,” Calvin said.
“I’d rather take my chances,” the guard said and lunged at Kwan.
Smaller and faster, Kwan sidestepped the man and swung the handle of the knife down on the guard’s temple. The guard collapsed on the ground, out cold.
Checking the pockets of both guards, Kwan finally located the keys to Calvin’s shackles. He unlocked one wrist and then the other, the chains clattering to the floor. Calvin pitched forward and Kwan caught him, supporting him with his body weight.
“You look terrible,” Kwan said. “Are you able to walk?”
“If it means getting out of here, yes. How did you manage this?”
“You’ll see. Let’s go.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lily watched as Hugo, Mr. Cavanaugh, and Kelly disappeared into the alley behind Pell Street. Kwan and Calvin were expected to escape via a window off the alley, while the three other men would provide whatever assistance necessary to get Calvin into the carriage.
Lily and Cora had been left behind in Cavanaugh’s spacious carriage, along with a pistol. They had orders to remain there and shoot any of Lee’s men who approached the carriage. Lily had no plans to wait, however.
“Stay in the carriage,” she told Cora. “I’ll return shortly.”
“Stop.” Cora grabbed Lily’s forearm. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m going to get her. That woman we saw on the third floor.”
“Have you lost your mind? You’ll be caught.”
Lily threw up her hands. “Well, I cannot leave her there. Not after seeing her, so helpless, chained and drugged. God knows what Lee will do with her.”
“How do you even plan to get in, let alone unlock her and carry her out by yourself?”
“I’m going up the fire escape,” Lily explained, pointing toward the metal stairway climbing the front of the building. “I’ll figure the rest
out along the way.”
“The fire escape? And just how do you plan on breaking into the building?”
“With this.” She withdrew an item from her pocket.
“Where did you get a screwdriver?”
“In Kwan’s restaurant. There were tools on a table near the front window, so I borrowed this one.”
“I’m coming with you.”
Before Lily could argue with her, Cora turned the latch and stepped down. Lily followed and they caught the attention of the coachman, who was giving one of the horses a handful of oats.
The coachman’s brows dipped, his expression turning apprehensive. He wiped his palm on his coat and approached. “Miss, I was told you were to both stay in the carriage. I’m not certain—”
“We have a very small errand to run, one that shall remain a secret between the three of us.”
“Oh, I shouldn’t. I could lose my position if Mr. Cavanaugh were to find out.”
“What’s your name?”
“Charlie, miss.”
“Well, Charlie, there is a young girl up there on the third floor who is chained to the bed. Drugged. She begged Cora and me for help. I must get inside and rescue her. Do you understand?”
Charlie’s throat worked as he contemplated this. “Have a daughter myself. Don’t sit right, knowing there’s a girl up there being abused.”
“That’s how we feel. We can save her. I know precisely where she is and I can get her out. I’m going to climb up there and pry the window open.”
He looked at the building, just a little way up Pell Street. “The fire escape?”
“Yes, precisely. Will you help keep our secret?”
“I—”
“Thank you!” Lily interrupted and tugged Cora toward Lee’s building.
“That poor man didn’t stand a chance against you,” Cora said. “I hope he doesn’t get fired.”
“If he does, I’ll hire him. I won’t let his family starve because he offered us assistance. Now, help me move that barrel near the alley under the ladder.”
The front of Lee’s building was dark in the wee hours of the morning. The streets were also deserted, though sounds could be heard drifting out of the windows above them. Lily and Cora maneuvered the heavy wooden drum under the metal ladder attached to the fire escape. Holding Cora’s hand, Lily climbed atop the barrel and grasped the bottom of the ladder.
With a groan, the metal slid low enough to climb. In a few moments Lily and Cora had scampered up the side of Lee’s building and reached the top floor. Peering through the window, Cora saw the third-floor corridor was currently empty. The woman’s room would be just to the right of the window.
The screwdriver made short work of the latch. Lily opened the window and held it open for Cora, then climbed in herself. Cora wasted no time, going to the door and bending down, hairpins in hand. Lily kept watch for Lee’s men while Cora worked on picking the lock. In what seemed like hours but was probably only minutes, the tumblers clicked and the door opened.
“You are shockingly good at that,” Lily whispered as she stepped into the darkened room.
“I know. I may have a career as a jewel thief ahead of me.”
Cora closed the door behind them and both women let their eyes adjust to the light for a moment. “Is she here? I cannot see a thing.” Cora groped for Lily’s hand. “Don’t leave me.”
“I won’t.” Shapes began to appear in the blackness, and Lily saw a tiny form on the bed. “She’s here. Let me try to light the lamp.”
Creeping to the stand by the bed, Lily found a box of matches, which she promptly used to light the oil lamp. A dull yellow glow filled the space, illuminating the sleeping figure of the captive woman. Cora gasped and Lily’s heart squeezed. Small and frail, the woman was still chained to the bed, in much worse condition than they’d feared. With hollowed-out cheekbones and listless hair, she had definitely been chained there for quite some time.
Cora went to the end of the bed and applied her lock-picking skills to the cuff around the woman’s ankle. Lily listened at the door, holding her breath when a slam echoed down the hall. Probably a customer leaving. No footsteps drew nearer, quiet descended, and she exhaled.
“There,” Cora said, dropping the cuff and chain on the bed. “She’s free.”
Lily went over and tapped the woman’s cheek with the back of a hand, trying to rouse her. “Ma’am. Wake up, please.”
The woman rolled her head, groaning. Her eyes didn’t flicker, however, so Lily tapped again. “Wake up. We’re taking you out of here.”
“Let’s get her up and on her feet,” Cora suggested. “We need to leave as quickly as possible.”
After an awkward few moments of struggling together, Lily and Cora supported the small woman between them and began walking her toward the door. Lee’s captive regained enough consciousness to shuffle slightly on her feet but was still too weak to support her own weight.
Lily listened at the door. Hearing nothing, she cracked the wood and glanced down the hall. Empty. She opened the door wider and all three of them straggled into the corridor. The window remained open, the cold night air rushing in, and Lily and Cora swiftly made their way to the exit.
“How are we going to get her down?” Cora whispered through labored breath. “Or, for that matter, out the window?”
Lily’s pulse raced as she studied the situation. “Hold her up. I’ll go out on the fire escape, then we’ll squeeze her through the window together.”
With a lot of struggle and sweat, Lily and Cora managed to get the woman out to the fire escape. Lily kept her upright until Cora could climb out behind them. The metal terrace was incredibly tight for three people; managing the steps would be tricky.
“I’ll get under her shoulders. You take her legs,” Cora said. “We’ll carry her down the steps.”
They went slowly, taking short breaks. Both in evening gowns and corsets, Lily and Cora were not adequately prepared for a covert rescue mission, but they had to do the best they could under the circumstances. Leaving this woman behind was not an option.
“Lily! What in God’s name are you doing?” a voice shouted from below, a voice she instantly recognized.
Lily and Cora had just reached the middle stairs, outside the second floor. Lily ignored Calvin. Even if she wanted to answer, which she did not, she couldn’t spare the breath. Every bit of her energy was dedicated to carrying this woman down a narrow metal staircase two flights off the ground. All without Lee or his men discovering what they were about, of course.
Good to know Mr. Kwan had rescued Calvin. At least he would live to see her walk away this time, instead of the other way around.
* * *
He had to be hallucinating.
Calvin teetered on the walk, leaning on Hugo’s shoulder, and concluded he must still be in Lee’s basement, delirious. What he saw out of his one good eye could not be real. Lily and Cora were coming down the fire escape carrying a woman. A woman half asleep, most likely from the effects of an opiate, if Calvin weren’t mistaken.
Jesus Christ.
“Lily! What in God’s name are you doing?” he shouted.
She ignored him, though her shoulders jerked slightly.
“How in the hell did they manage that?” Cavanaugh asked, now standing at Calvin’s side.
Cavanaugh, along with Hugo and Kelly, had assisted Kwan in getting Calvin out of Lee’s building, thankfully with minimal bloodshed. Calvin didn’t know how Hugo had organized a rescue party so soon, but he was damn grateful. The five of them had been hurrying to the carriage when he happened to glance up at noises on the fire escape.
“I don’t know, but I—holy shit.”
One of Lee’s men appeared out of the third-story window, gun in hand. He fired and the bullet pinged off the metal fire escape. Pain forgotten, Calvin sprinted for the ladder and began climbing as fast as he could. He reached the first landing just as another bullet rained down. Then a few more, as additional men joi
ned in. Calvin covered his head and stayed low while racing to the next set of stairs, Hugo right behind him.
Still on the street, Kelly and Cavanaugh now held guns and were firing up toward the window where Lee’s men had gathered. Calvin sincerely hoped a stray bullet didn’t strike anyone on the fire escape.
By the time he reached Lily and Cora, he found them huddled over the woman, protecting her from the gunfire. “Lily, let’s go!” He grabbed Cora’s arm and thrust her at Hugo. “Take her down!”
Hugo nodded and began shepherding Cora to the first set of stairs. Calvin clasped Lily’s shoulders and lifted her off the semiconscious woman. “Lily, move. Get down to the carriage. I’ll take her.”
Lily’s pale face nodded, fear clouding her brown eyes. “Are you certain you can—”
There was no time for arguing. “Go. I’m right behind you.”
She stepped over the woman and around Calvin, hurrying to the stairs, her skirts clutched in her hands. Calvin moved in to lift the woman Lily had been rescuing—and his breath caught.
Everlasting hell.
Hugo’s wife.
It had been a long time and she was in terrible condition, but Calvin recognized Shin-yee. A woman normally so vivacious and personable, it damn near broke his heart to see her like this. Broken. Emaciated. Listless. A bullet whizzed nearby and galvanized Calvin into action. The time for inspection could come later. He had to get Shin-yee to safety first.
Sliding his arms under her, he cradled Hugo’s wife against his chest and crouched, keeping low while carrying her to the next set of steps. Thin, she was too damn thin. How long had Lee kept her there? And how in God’s name had Lily found her?
Kwan and Hugo waited on the sidewalk at the bottom of the ladder. “Pass me her feet,” Kwan called. “Lower her down.”
Dropping to his knees, Calvin shifted to dangle the woman’s legs toward the ground. Kwan grabbed them and began guiding her down, supporting her, into their waiting arms. Just as the ground-floor door opened, Hugo gasped, his eyes rounding. His friend had discovered the identity of the woman, but Calvin’s attention was now on the new arrival. Lee had come outside, some of his men standing behind him.