When he saw that the note was from Lennox, J.T. was relieved. “Why didn’t you tell me she went to see Lennox?”
“You did not let me, patrón.”
A wry smile curved Jason’s lips. He shrugged, embarrassed at his own impulsive behavior. He was not a little amazed at the way he had reacted to his fear for Jade’s safety. Still not exactly elated to find she had left home when just yesterday she had been so ill, he was relieved all the same. Despite their rough beginning, she had managed to gain hold of his heart. This afternoon, when he thought he had left her in danger, J.T. realized just how much of a hold she had. No longer could he imagine his world without her.
The note said that she would be back early. In a more controlled tone Jason asked, “Have my aunt and uncle returned?”
“No, patrón, not yet.”
“Good.” Jason stood and started down the hall. “In that case, I’m going to go change and wash up. They should be home soon.”
CASH AND LUPITA Younger arrived shortly after Jason had freshened up, changed into a clean flannel shirt, and slicked back his damp hair. Lupita came in clutching armfuls of small packages, her smile radiant. To Jason’s relief, his uncle still seemed to have energy left as he ushered them both into the drawing room.
“Don’t mind if I do sit a spell,” Cash said as he took the snifter of brandy that Jason offered him. “This little lady ran me ragged today.”
Lupe gently hit him on the arm. “You are the one who insisted we go to one more store,” she said with a laugh. To Jason she said, “Your uncle acts as if he has never been to a city before. For me it was the first time, but for him—”
“It’s been years, woman! ’Sides, last time I was in a town it was Santa Fe, and that watering hole doesn’t hold a candle to this place.”
Jason stretched out on the settee. “Want to live here? I can let you keep the house,” he offered.
Lupe and Cash both looked appalled.
“No thanks, J.T.”
“Oh, hijo, no!” Lupe cried. “We must go home.”
Jason smiled. “That’s what I thought you’d say.”
Lupe’s gaze strayed to the pile of packages on the side table near the door. “Is Jade awake? I have a surprise for her. It is not much,” she apologized, “but I think she will like it. Does she have a shawl?”
Jason shrugged. “From what I’ve seen, she doesn’t have much of anything, a fact I haven’t had time to alter. But you’ll have to give it to her later, because she’s not at home.”
Lupita quickly sat up straighter, all signs of exhaustion faded. “What? Where did she go?”
“She got a note from Emery Lennox, the sea captain you met yesterday, and accompanied Quan Yen to the adobe to meet her new guardian. Lennox is going to have her driven home after dinner.”
“But, she is still weak. She should not be out tonight in the damp air. She should—”
“Lupe, there’s no use telling her what to do. She has her own way of doing things and the will to see it through.”
Cash finished off his brandy and handed the glass to Jason for a refill. “I could have told you not to marry a woman with a mind of her own,” he said, sneaking a glance at Lupita.
“Yeah, well, I probably wouldn’t have listened,” Jason said.
Lupe glanced toward the doorway and lowered her voice. “Is Tao Ling home?”
“Not yet,” Jason said.
“Maybe this is a good time to open the jars in the kitchen—” She sounded unsure.
Jason disagreed. “He’ll probably come home any minute. Besides, he hasn’t been anywhere near Jade today and I made sure she only ate the food you left. Since Jade did hire him, there would be hell to pay if she hears about this and we don’t find anything.”
“You should have told her about my suspicions,” Lupe said. “I should have told her myself, but I was waiting until she was stronger.”
“As I was,” Jason added. “How was I to know she would be up and out this evening?”
“Sounds like you need to put the woman over your knee,” Cash volunteered.
Lupe shot him a dark scowl.
“Only teasin’” he quickly added.
Just as Jason predicted, Tao appeared in the doorway within a few moments. He bowed to Jason and announced, “The detective arrived just as I was entering the house. Will you see him?”
“Send him in. I’d like to know why he kept me waiting for him in Little China for over an hour.”
Jon Chang was not alone when he entered the drawing room. He bowed to the Youngers and then to Jason, who made the introductions and then waited expectantly for Chang to introduce the old man with him.
“This is Sung Ho Sin. He has some knowledge of ancient versions of Chinese as well as alchemy. He has come to try and translate the messages your wife found on the crates.”
“We’ll leave you two alone,” Cash Younger volunteered as he started to rise.
Jason stopped him with a shake of his head, then turned to Ho Sin. “Thank you for coming to help.”
“I hope I can,” the old man said slowly.
To Jon Chang, Jason said, “I wish you’d have sent someone to tell me you couldn’t meet me this afternoon.”
It was immediately evident from Jon Chang’s confused expression that he had no idea what Jason was talking about. “I am afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Mr. Harrington. I know of no meeting.”
It was Jason’s turn to look confused. He still was not certain he could trust Jon Chang. Someone had sent him the note, someone who had wanted him away from the house. Either Xavier’s presence had discouraged any attempt to harm Jade, or Lennox’s invitation spoiled someone’s well-laid plans. Jason reached inside his leather vest pocket and handed Chang the note that was supposedly from him.
“This is not my handwriting,” Chang said. “I made no plans to meet with you.”
“That’s what I was afraid of.” Jason walked over to the liquor table and poured himself another drink. He nodded toward the newcomers. “Detective? Mr. Sin?” They declined his offer. He crossed the room again. “That means someone did want me out of here.” He silently cursed himself for being so stupid. It would not happen again.
“And Mrs. Harrington?” Chang asked, concerned.
“She’s at an old friend’s for dinner.”
“I see. I’m glad to hear that she is feeling better. Will it still be possible to see the copies she made of the letters on the crates? If you would like us to return when Mrs. Harrington is at home—”
“No.” Jason was adamant. “I want this over with as soon as possible. We’re leaving here within a day or two. If you’ll wait here, I’ll go up and get the notes off of Jade’s desk.”
He was on his way back downstairs when he passed Tao Ling on his way up. Jason stopped the man in midstride. “What are you doing up here?”
Tao’s expression shuttered immediately. “I want to ask Mrs. Harrington if there is anything special she wants me to prepare for dinner.”
Jason squelched the urge to grab Tao by the lapels and throw him down the stairs. If the young man had tried to poison his wife, Jason wondered seriously if he could see him brought to justice when he would rather deal with Tao himself.
“Mrs. Harrington is not here. Lupe will prepare dinner as soon as she has rested,” Jason said tightly. He stepped around Tao and as he did, sensed rather than saw the other man tense.
“Where is Mrs. Harrington?”
“That’s none of your concern, is it?” Jason faced Tao squarely, certain it would do him a world of good to get into a real knock-down, drag-out brawl. Tao had yet to prove the mysterious fighting skills Jade claimed he had. Perhaps now was the time.
“She hired me to protect her. I was not told she would be going out today. I beg
your pardon, but I do believe I have the right to know where she has gone. I could not help but notice that Quan Yen, too, is missing.”
“Missing? They’re not missing. I know exactly where they are.”
“But I do not.”
“You were hired as a servant here.” Jason’s temper had reached its threshold. He clenched the papers in his right hand.
Tao remained seemingly calm, yet persistent. “Since it was Mrs. Harrington who hired me, I have every right.” He turned around and started back down the stairs again. Jason watched the man’s soundless movements. Tao paused and said over his shoulder, “I will ask the detective to intercede.”
Great, Jason thought. A united front. “Hold it, Tao.” As long as the detective knew where Jade was, what harm would it do to tell Tao? Chang was likely to do so anyway. Besides, she was out of harm’s way. “She has gone to visit Captain Lennox. It seems he’s found a guardian for Quan Yen.”
At the bottom of the staircase, Tao folded his arms and hid his hands in the wide sleeves of his jacket, then bowed to Jason. His queue swung forward over his shoulder as he did.
Without a word of thanks, a sign which caused J.T. to believe the man thought he had every right to know where his mistress had gone, Tao Ling turned and walked into the drawing room ahead of Jason.
The group awaiting for J.T. sat in stony silence. The old man was sitting in one of the high-backed armchairs by the fire. Cash and Lupe waited uneasily on the settee. When Jason walked in, he immediately handed Jade’s carefully copied pages to Chang and prayed he was doing the right thing.
“I would like permission to stay,” Tao Ling explained to Jon Chang. “Whatever is revealed concerns my mistress. I may be needed.”
“Permission is not mine to give.” The detective looked to Jason.
Jason glanced at Lupe and Cash. At least if Tao remained in the room, he would know where the man was and what he was up to. He shrugged, his feelings obvious. “If you want.”
Chang handed the old man the first of the pages. It was a while before he spoke. When he did, in halting English, his voice was thin and weak. “This is a very ancient, very rare version of Cantonese.”
“Can you read it?” Jason pressed.
“Some of it. But you must remember, alchemists often wrote in symbolic language. Red is a holy color, cinnabar is a red compound of mercury and sulfur that can be liquid or solid. The word dragon is often substituted for mercury, tiger for lead.”
Jon Chang looked thoughtful. “So, these may be the formulas Francis Douglas wanted Li Po to use to produce gold?”
Ho Sin shook his head. “No. An alchemist would never write down his formula, for to do so would break the spell. These messages are not formulas, but they do indeed seem to be written symbolically. They might have been left as directions to the alchemist’s whereabouts.”
Jason watched, his impatience barely curbed, as the old man took a deep breath and closed his eyes. His movements were so slow that Jason feared he was falling asleep. Ho Sin leaned back, his head against the high back of the chair. Lupe, Cash, Tao, Lieutenant Chang, and Jason collectively held their breath until the old man’s eyes opened a moment later.
He raised the first page. “The goddess cannot find the hidden sun,” he read aloud. He picked up a second page. “Caves in the earth house circles of the sun.”
“What in the hell is that supposed to mean?” Cash blurted out.
Lupe shushed him.
The old man read another page. “The devil rules the sea. The wind and weather are his to command.”
Chang looked at Jason. Jason shrugged.
“Make any sense to you?” Jason asked the detective.
“I am afraid not. Perhaps when your wife gets back from her friend’s home?”
Jason pulled out his watch. It was still early. “She may not return for another hour. Or more.” He looked at the Ho Sin, certain the old man would not be awake when Jade came home.
“The dragon has been buried beneath the earth.” Although no one was paying him any mind, Ho Sin shuffled the pages and droned on.
“Excuse me, old one,” Tao interrupted Ho Sin. “What does the word ‘earth’ symbolize? It is used quite often.”
“Forgive me, I do not know.” Ho Sin sadly shook his head.
Tao slowly began to recite the passages that had already been translated. “The goddess cannot find the hidden sun. Caves in the earth house circles of the sun. The dragon has been buried beneath the earth.”
“Didn’t he say dragon means mercury?” Cash stood and stretched.
Jason looked to Chang who nodded. “So, mercury is buried in the earth. The sun is buried, too. What’s the sun supposed to mean?”
“The male entity,” Ho Sin volunteered.
Cash shrugged.
They barely heard Ho Sin’s next words. “The sun could be the alchemist himself.”
“How could he write these messages if he was already buried in the earth?” Lupe wondered aloud.
“Mrs. Harrington felt that the crates were probably stored beneath her grandfather’s home,” Tao told them.
Chang clarified. “The old adobe.”
“Which,” Lupe added, “is a house made of earth.”
“Jade and I visited the adobe weeks ago. Someone tried to shut her up in the cellar but we never saw anyone, nor was there any sign of the alchemist ever having been there. But she did find a piece of red silk. A belt, I think.”
“An adobe with a cellar?” Cash asked. “Never heard of it.”
“Not a cellar, exactly,” Jason explained patiently. “More like a small, cold storage room beneath the kitchen. Captain Lennox bought the place. I’m sure if he finds anything he’ll let Jade know.”
Ho Sin sat forward in his chair showing more signs of life than he had since he began translating. “A sea captain?”
Jason gave him his full attention. “Yes. Why?”
Shuffling back through the stack of pages, Ho Sin finally paused and read aloud, “The devil rules the sea. The wind and weather are at his command.”
“Devil could mean any foreigner,” Chang explained.
“Wind and sea,” Jason muttered to himself. A sea captain had to have helped Francis Douglas transport Li Po to California. And Captain Emery Lennox had conveniently been a friend of Francis Douglas’s father-in-law . . . Jade’s grandfather, Philo Page.
A CHILL SHOOK Jade as she tried to focus on Emery Lennox. The teakwood chair was beautiful but uncomfortable, the dragon carving on the back pressed into her shoulder blades. Nerves made her fiddle with the straps on her reticule until she became aware of what she was doing and set it on the floor beneath the chair. The captain had pulled a similar chair closer to her own and leaned forward, his hands on his knees. Her mouth gone suddenly dry, Jade licked her lips.
“Do you remember when you were a little girl and I would come to visit your grandfather?”
“Of course,” she said, but even the happy memory did little to put her at ease. She asked him, “Is there something special you want to talk about?”
“As a matter of fact, there is. I’ve become quite concerned about this business of giving Philo’s collection to a museum foundation. Are you certain they’ll know how to take care of it once you’ve gone off to New Mexico?”
“I’m not concerned, especially since Mrs. Stanford has taken over for me. She has the connections to hire the best curator, and with her background for charity work, I’m certain she’ll be able to keep the funds coming in.”
He leaned back and stared at her. “Still, shouldn’t there be someone in charge who genuinely cares about those pieces? Someone who’s family, so to speak?”
“Well, I hadn’t thought—”
“I would be happy to see that the Philo Page Museum becomes
a reality. In fact,” he said as he drew a wad of pages out of his pocket, “I took the liberty of having this document drawn up that gives me the right to see that the entire collection is maintained satisfactorily.”
With her headache it was hard to concentrate, but despite the distraction, Jade knew that she had already made up her mind. Besides, before she got herself embroiled in any more legal predicaments she was determined to contact Matt Van Buren.
“I wish you had mentioned this before now,” she said, trying to sound sincere. “I really can’t do anything until I contact my husband’s lawyer.”
Lennox scoffed. “Since when does such a headstrong girl need anyone’s advice?” His expression saddened. “Don’t you trust me, Jade?”
She answered too quickly. “Of course, it’s just—”
“Let’s make this easy. Your husband wants to whisk you off to New Mexico far sooner than I would like—why, we’ve just gotten to know each other again—and it would ease my mind to know the collection will be well managed.”
“Well . . . ” Hedging, Jade glanced over at Quan Yen, who was still staring openly at Lennox.
Before she could say more they were interrupted by a tall, wide-shouldered man with a full, grizzled beard and dull gray eyes. He paused in the doorway, glanced Jade’s way, and then spoke to Lennox. “Cap’n, I need to talk to you.”
Emery scowled at the man, then tucked the unsigned contract back into his pocket and stood. Jade had the overwhelming feeling she had seen the burly man in the doorway before, but could not remember where. Then, when he turned and followed Lennox out the door, she felt her heartbeat quicken. The man with Emery Lennox was the same man who had chased her through the streets of Little China.
J.T. COULDN’T DO more than stare at the wizened old man in the armchair. Ho Sin, whose feet did not even touch the ground, looked no bigger than a child’s life-sized doll. As much as he wanted to deny the fact that Jade might be in danger, J.T. slowly pieced together the facts. “Someone wanted me out of the house today, so they sent me a note supposedly from you, Mr. Chang. Then, while I was gone, a carriage came for Jade with a note from Lennox. He knew I wouldn’t be here, and just as he hoped, Jade went to him without me.”
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