The First Excellence: Fa-Ling's Map

by Donna Carrick

  It was supposed to be different here, in China, with the adoption group. She and Chris had taken great pains to keep their wealth a secret from their fellow-travellers.

  Someone must have ferreted out the truth. Had their adoption agent spoken out of school? Had someone recognised the family name of Brahn and figured it out?

  Both she and her husband came from Canada’s upper families. Their shared understanding of the responsibilities of wealth was the foundation of their relationship. They both knew what it was like to feel constrained, cloistered, almost smothered by issues of propriety and security.

  Their trip to China was supposed to be two weeks of anonymity and freedom, a time when they moved among normal people. Yvanna had enjoyed getting to know the Gollucks, with their sense of spontaneity and fun, the Kitcheners with their devotion to their girls, the quiet and seemingly troubled Ting-lo and Adrian Harlan, and even the odd ducks of the company, the eccentric Paula Kader and her nervous husband Guy.

  She and Chris had been naïve. They should have realised their name and the smell of money would follow them, especially here, where they were being united for the first time with their very own son!

  Yvanna clung to her husband, taking strength from the feel of his hands in hers. She threw a glance at their guide, who was still being questioned by the police on the far side of the hotel lobby. Yvanna and Chris both believed Cynthia was hiding something, but they realised this perception might be unfounded and due merely to cultural differences.

  They dismissed the idea Cynthia was involved in the kidnapping. Whether or not the guide was telling the whole truth, there was something good in her eyes — far too decent to allow for the act of stealing a baby from his parents.

  “We’ll pay the ransom,” Chris said. “Don’t worry.”

  “Of course we’ll pay. I’m not worried,” she lied. “It’s just…”

  “I know. I don’t have a lot of confidence in the Beijing police.”

  “They seem more professional than those kids in Nanning.”

  “True,” he said. “I’m sure it’s just the language barrier. They are probably a ‘top-notch team of specialists’.”

  “Now you’re really scaring me.” Yvanna tried to keep her words light, joking with her husband to keep her fear at bay, but the pitch of anxiety made its way into her voice.

  “We don’t have to listen to the police. Fa-ling gave us the banking information. I’ll slip up to our room and contact our lawyers in Toronto. If anyone asks where I am, just say I’ve gone to the washroom. I’ll be back as soon as the transaction is finished.”

  “They might hurt Daniel,” Yvanna whispered. “The minute they have the money, they might kill him.”

  “If we were in Toronto, we’d do whatever the cops told us to do. The people here are different. We can’t predict their actions. Maybe they’ll take the money and let Daniel go. After all, they let the Harlan baby go. They didn’t have to do that.”

  “Yes, they did have to.” Yvanna looked at Chris, and he understood. The kidnappers did have to let Baby Anna go back to her parents. If they had killed her, the entire adoption trip would have come to an abrupt end. The families would have left for Canada without stopping to tie up the final paperwork. They would have hired a communal lawyer to finish up the Beijing documents for them in absentia. This would have effectively cut off the kidnappers’ access to Daniel.

  So, whether or not their consciences dictated, the kidnappers were in a bind. They had to return Anna Harlan to her parents.

  Daniel might not be so lucky.

  “Doing nothing might be just as bad,” Chris said. “If we allow these cops to muddle around and waste time, we might never see Daniel again.”

  “You’re right.” Yvanna smiled at her husband. “Don’t pay the entire amount, though. Pay half. That will prompt the kidnappers to contact us again, either directly or through Cynthia. Hopefully by stalling we can keep Daniel alive. In any negotiation, time is a good thing. It forces people to communicate, and communicating often causes them to tip their hand. We have to fight this out. I’m not leaving China without our boy.”

  Chris held her hands. This was what had attracted him to Yvanna in the first place, her straightforward sense of determination. Despite her ‘princess’ upbringing, she had a nimble mind and was never opposed to using it. When she had miscarried for the third time, banishing any hope they might still carry a child to term, Yvanna had cried herself to sleep. The next morning, though, she woke with a clear head and heart, ready to take on the challenge once more.

  That was when he’d suggested adoption as an alternative. She agreed at once.

  Yvanna watched her husband slip away toward the elevator. She hoped no one noticed his leaving, but when she scanned the group she discovered, to her dismay, Fa-ling was also watching Chris leave.

  Fa-ling approached Yvanna.

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” she said.

  “You already helped a lot by translating the ransom note for us,” Yvanna replied. “The police have no intention of telling us what it said, at least not before the 3:00 ransom deadline passes.”

  “Are you going to pay?”

  “What choice do we have?”

  **

  Miao and Gege were both awake, though Gege was injured and kept slipping in and out of consciousness. Miao struggled against her bonds, her black eyes flashing at Paula. She was infuriated by Paula’s lack of interest. The white woman sat silently, staring at the Blackberry. She had spoken to her husband for all of five minutes, during which time he hadn’t said a word, just listened. Miao glared at Paula’s husband with contempt. She had no use for weaklings, at times even despising her gentle cousin, Gege, whom she loved passionately.

  Obviously, the Kader woman wore the pants in the family. She spoke without looking at her husband, laying out the facts while he just stared at her, unable to believe his ears.

  As Paula spoke, Guy felt his spirits plummet. She would not look him in the eye. Her shame was evident in the flatness of her voice, and in the calm delivery of her words.

  They stood to lose everything: their house, his job, their car, all of their savings — again! If they were forced to declare bankruptcy, then the worst thing of all would surely happen. They would lose their daughter, Mei Mei.

  Guy could not face that last possibility. He had already wrapped his heart around the little girl, and had accepted her as his own flesh and blood. As a father, his first obligation was to his child. He could not lose his daughter, not now.

  He agreed to wait with Paula for another half hour. Hopefully the transaction would come through by then. If not, he would have to race back to the Royal Star without his wife. He couldn’t leave Mei Mei alone in their room any longer than that.

  Paula had been making minor transactions from Miao’s account, transferring one dollar into her own personal account every three minutes to keep the on-line connection from ‘timing out’. It was imperative to keep the line open, or they might not be able to reconnect later if Miao refused to divulge the password. It was now 2:30 pm. The deadline for payment of the ransom was fast approaching.

  Finally, the dancing numbers on the tiny screen indicated a large sum of money was being transferred into Miao’s account.

  “It’s here,” Paula announced.

  “Good,” Guy said. “Move the money into our account and let’s get the hell out of here.”

  “We have to let it finish loading first. It’s coming through in increments.”

  Guy looked at the moving bar at the bottom of the screen. So far less than $250,000 US had moved into Miao’s account. Strangely, the bar indicated the transaction was almost fifty percent complete, even though only twenty-five percent of the ransom had been loaded.

  Something was wrong.

  It took three more minutes for the entire transaction to load. Paula continued to stare at the screen after it finished, sure it would resume at any moment.

  “It’s
done,” Guy said.

  “It can’t be. It’s only half there.”

  “Half a million is enough to cover our debt. I don’t give a damn about paying these people.” He waved his hand at the couple on the floor. “They’re lucky I don’t kill them, after what they did.”

  “It’s supposed to be a million.” Paula remained motionless, willing the bar to appear once more on the screen.

  Guy grabbed his wife’s chair and spun her around, his anger finally turning into rage.

  “Just transfer the money,” he said.

  Something in the white hot quiet of his voice reached through Paula’s sickness. He let go of her chair, and she bent over the Blackberry, slowly and carefully entering the number of the bank account belonging to the loan shark.

  “Now, let’s go.” Guy tucked the Blackberry into his pocket.

  “What about the baby?” Paula said. “We have to give him back to the Brahns.”

  “My dear,” Guy said, “you’ve really done it this time. How do you suggest we get Daniel back to the hotel? Are we supposed to turn ourselves in, after all of this?”

  “I have an idea,” Paula said.

  For some strange reason, that didn’t surprise Guy in the least.

  SIXTY-EIGHT

  It took Paula less than twenty minutes to find a nearby shop, buy what she needed, and return to the room where Guy waited with the baby. Daniel was a big boy, much larger than any of the girls were, but dressed in frilly clothes and tucked into the baby carrier with his face hidden against Guy’s chest, he could easily pass for their daughter Mei Mei.

  They arrived at the Royal Star Hotel to find the lobby in a state of panic. Guy hurried past the group to the elevator before anyone could stop him, leaving “Cool Hand Kader” to deal with the inevitable flood of questions.

  “Where did you go?” Chris Brahn demanded.

  “Mei Mei was sick. She had a bad case of dysentery. We found a pharmacy that sold western medicine, but we had a hard time finding someone who spoke English to advise on a safe product. Guy will be right down. He has to get another dose into Mei Mei first.”

  “You should have told me the baby was sick,” Harold Kitchener said.

  “Oh, my God, I forgot you are a doctor,” Paula said. “I’m sorry. She was running such a high fever, we just panicked. This is our first baby, you know.”

  When Paula Kader was on her game, she was on. Right now, having just managed to save herself and her family from certain ruin, having just ensured she and Guy would be allowed to complete the adoption of Mei Mei as planned, and having just saved Daniel Brahn from being murdered by the kidnappers she had hired, Paula was definitely feeling on top of her game.

  Even Chris and Yvanna were touched by her concern for her new sick baby.

  “It’s ok,” Yvanna said. “Thank goodness you’re here now. The police need to question everyone.”

  Cynthia glanced worriedly from Paula to the elevator. “Do you want to wait for Guy?” she asked.

  “No,” Paula said. “We can start without him.”

  Paula answered the questions, her manner the picture of honesty and concern. When Guy returned carrying a green faced Mei Mei, Harold Kitchener immediately offered to have a look at the child.

  “No fever,” he said.

  “It’s come down a lot. She was red when the pharmacist medicated her.”

  “What did he give her?”

  “I don’t know what it was called, but it’s a green syrup. It smelled awful. She cooled right down after taking it, and she’s only pooped once since.”

  “Maybe twice,” Harold said, wrinkling his nose and stepping away from the girl and her father.

  “Darn,” Guy said, covering his discomfort by looking for the lobby washroom. “I’ll clean her up and be right back.”

  In fact, Paula had purchased a green syrup intended to treat dysentery in babies, in case they had to produce it for the police to prove where they had been. That wasn’t what he had given Mei Mei, though. In order to fool everyone into believing their daughter was sick, Paula had bought a bottle of potent castor oil. Once Guy forced twice the recommended dosage down the little girl’s throat, the results were inevitable.

  Paula finished answering questions just in time to see Guy return to the lobby with a freshly cleaned Mei Mei in his carrier. She was pleased. She had lied so well she almost believed her own story. Now, if only Guy could carry his part of the game, they were almost home free.

  She clutched Guy’s arm and planted a kiss on his face, offering to hold Mei Mei while he spoke to the police.

  “No, leave her with me,” Guy said. “She’s finally calmed down. I don’t want to upset her again.”

  “If you change your mind, honey, just let me know.”

  From her spot in an armchair in the middle of the lobby, Fa-ling watched the Kader show through eyes that were almost closed. Anyone looking at her would have thought she was asleep.

  **

  Betty continued to cling to Cheng, not letting go even when he insisted they had to get back to the car.

  Yong-qi and Shopei pretended not to notice Cheng’s embarrassing predicament, keeping their eyes averted from the scene.

  “Are they dead?” Shopei asked, motioning toward the fallen Ministry agents.

  “They are,” Wang answered.

  “Good.”

  Yong-qi carefully retrieved the slugs that had been fired from Cheng’s massive pistol. There weren’t many M 77B’s still in use. It wouldn’t do to leave evidence that could be traced through ballistics. Then Detective Wang scanned the room one more time, making sure there were no traces that would lead to him or his partner.

  When he was satisfied, he turned to the door.

  “Come on,” he said. “We have to get out of here.”

  “Just a second,” Cheng said. Even distracted by the attractive young woman, who continued to clutch his arm, Cheng still possessed sharp observational skills. He pointed at the body of the large agent.

  Wang shook his head, unable to spot what Cheng had seen.

  Reluctantly, Cheng removed Betty’s arm from his. He leaned over Ng-zhi’s body, turning it so Wang could have a better look.

  “Oh, crap!” Yong-qi said, hurrying to pick up the object that was now fully revealed. It was Wang’s own smaller Type 77 pistol. The Ministry agent had knocked it from his hand, and his fallen body had almost completely hidden it.

  The loss of a weapon is difficult for any detective to explain under the best of circumstances. For it to be discovered under the dead body of a Ministry of State Security agent would be unthinkable.

  Once again, Wang’s partner had saved his life.

  SIXTY-NINE

  Miao continued to struggle against her bonds long after the Kaders had left the room. Finally she felt a loosening of the bathrobe ties that bound her wrists. Moments later she had freed her hands and removed the sock from her mouth. It took no time for her to untie her ankles.

  She removed Gege’s gag as well, and used a pair of scissors she found in the tea corner to cut the wires from his arms and legs.

  Gege was glad the baby was gone. He hadn’t wanted the ransom money, and he certainly hadn’t wanted the guilt of killing a baby.

  In fact, the only thing Gege had ever wanted was Miao.

  Recognizing her cousin had been pushed to his limits, Miao kissed his face and rubbed his legs to restore his circulation. Then she helped Gege to stand and led him to the bed.

  Miao had no intention of giving up on the money. The Canadians were predictable. She knew where they were staying. She and Gege would get the boy back, and they would force the Kaders to return the money, all of it, to her personal bank account.

  First, though, she had to remind Gege why he needed her. It was, after all, his love for her that put Miao in control.

  **

  Cheng agreed to stay in Shanghai for a couple of days, just to make sure Shopei and Master Long were all right. He didn’t say so, but Y
ong-qi also suspected his partner wanted to keep an eye on Betty, the beautiful, quiet Underground operator whose life he had saved.

  As for Yong-qi, he caught the first available flight to Beijing.

  Death and destruction, he thought, studying the passing white clouds through the airplane’s tiny window, are all part of the inevitable movement we call life. One could feel bad about it, but in the end, one had to accept the inescapable destination at the end of one’s chosen path. He, Wang Yong-qi, had chosen to be a cop. True, he might not have had a lot of options, given the reality of living in communist China, but still, the choice had been his.

  This choice, perhaps above any other he might have made, involved a great deal of death and destruction.

  So one might wax philosophical, conjuring up poetic phrases and beating himself with feelings of guilt, but in the end, one had to accept. Besides, if one were willing to admit the truth, there was always something to smile about.

  He thought of Miss Li Fa-ling waiting for him in Beijing…

  …and yes, he smiled.

  **

  “I missed you,” Fa-ling said, opening the door at midnight to welcome the tired, dirty Nanning cop who was really, to tell the truth, too old for her.

  Yong-qi kissed her, and was immediately lost in the promise and expectation of her body.

  She moved in his grasp, trying to loosen her clothes. He finally let go of her long enough to undo his own belt. She reached for his zipper, tugging at it, and fell to her knees.

  He tasted like a man, salty and un-self-conscious. For his part, he had thought of nothing but Fa-ling since leaving Shanghai, and now that he had her he wasn’t going to let her go. He twisted his fingers in her hair, gently and firmly. He no longer felt like himself, like a man of thought, a meandering student of human nature. Something inside of him had changed in Shanghai, in that moment when he had struggled to free himself from the Ministry agent’s death grasp. Something about the essence of his life had become more acute, more precious.

  Right here, right now, Yong-qi was not a man. He was a fully charged battery, a container of some overwhelming and undeniable need.