White Ginger

by Thatcher Robinson

  “It was all a big misunderstanding,” he blurted. “I had no idea my son was listening in on my conversations. He took matters into his own hands. I don’t know what he was thinking. He’s a kid, fer chrissake.”

  The Major raised an eyebrow at her. “Don’t take it personally.”

  She ignored the suggestion and turned to nod at Robert. He handed the folder to Oscar Martinez, who opened the envelope to look carefully at the papers.

  When he was satisfied, he nodded to The Major. “We have what we came for.”

  Lee and Robert each picked up a duffel bag and walked toward the armored truck. As soon as they reached the truck, they heard the whupping sound of an approaching helicopter.

  The Major looked at her with a question in his eyes.

  “Transport,” she said. “No reason to be alarmed.”

  Ray Jr. turned to The Major angrily. The Major shook his head and shrugged his shoulders at the change of circumstances. When he looked back at her, he smiled again with a crocodile’s grin. She recognized a threat when she saw one. The Major was just biding his time.

  “I assumed there would be transponders in the money,” Bai explained. “The Bell helicopter circling in for the pickup has a three-hundred-mile range. It will drop the money at a half dozen locations where the currency will be scanned for electronics, rebundled, and placed in new cases for transport. Don’t waste your efforts looking for it. The money’s gone.”

  Arcing around swiftly from the Port of Oakland, the copter swooped in low over the water coming in fast and hot. The chopper dropped to hover behind the armored vehicle. Robert and Lee wrestled the heavy duffle bags full of money into the back of the copter. Then it immediately drifted out over the water to head toward San Francisco. The entire operation took less than a minute.

  The Major spoke. “Miss Jiang, I can’t say it’s been a pleasure doing business with you, but it has been interesting.” He turned to the men at his side. “Gentlemen, I believe our business here is concluded.”

  “You’re not going to let her get away with this, are you?” Ray Jr. asked. His face was fused with anger.

  The Major was about to answer when his earbud squawked. He listened intently before raising his arm straight into the air and opening his fist to show an open palm.

  He turned back to stare at her. “We have company.”

  “Do tell,” Bai said blandly.

  He spoke into a microphone attached to his collar. In the event someone had missed his hand signal, he repeated his order to stand down. His men responded by laying their rifles gently on the tarmac before forming up to stand at parade rest.

  Vehicles poured out of abandoned hangars at the other end of the runway. Dozens of cars and SUVs sped toward the meet. FBI logos clearly identified them as official government property. Bai stood quietly to wait as they approached.

  Ray Jr. stared at her. “Is this your doing?!” His eyes bulged as he furtively looked for a way out. Unless he was prepared to swim, he had nowhere to go. “If this is your doing, you’re wasting your time.”

  “Just shut up,” said Oscar, putting a hand on his brother’s arm in an attempt to rein him in.

  Ray Jr. brushed off his brother’s hand and moved toward Bai. His arm swung back to strike her. She pulled her knife from the sheath on her sleeve and met his hand as it came toward her. She drove the blade into his fist.

  A hand grabbed Ray Jr. by the back of his flak jacket and jerked him to the ground on his back. The Major stood over the injured man and put up both hands, trying to defuse the situation.

  “Everyone should remain calm!” he commanded, staring at Bai’s vest.

  Ray Jr. tried to get up while holding his bleeding hand.

  The Major placed a foot on his chest and shoved him back to the tarmac. “Your father paid me to protect you, Ray. You’re not making it easy.”

  Federal agents surrounded the meet as dozens of agents poured out of their vehicles and brought assault rifles to bear before moving in to collect weapons.

  The Major looked at her and smiled in amusement. “You’re going to have a tough time explaining that suicide vest. Making bombs is a federal offense.”

  She looked at the Semtex he still carried in his hand and smiled back. “That’s my understanding as well.”

  Agent McKay was the first to reach her. “Are you all right, Bai?”

  “I am, Jim.” They were officially on a first-name basis. “And I think you’ll find everything you need in the recordings inside the vest.” She unstrapped the vest and handed it to him. “There are confessions to murder and other assorted crimes on the recording. You shouldn’t have any problem putting these scumbags behind bars forever.”

  She turned to smile at the men being cuffed. “And don’t forget The Major.” She pointed to the hand holding the Semtex. “He’s carrying explosives. I think he might be a terrorist.”

  The smile disappeared from The Major’s face.

  She walked over to face him and spoke softly. “‘Before you beat a dog, find out who its master is.’ But don’t take it personally.” She left him with the thought and walked away, not entirely comfortable with being an FBI informant.

  The newly remodeled Far East Café boasted red leather booths and blue marble tabletops in a retro-deco style. The old Formica soda counter had been replaced with a horseshoe-shaped wine bar with brass fittings. Floors of dark polished wood gleamed. A wine refrigerator took up an entire wall.

  Bai marveled at the opulent interior. “Do you think you might have gone a little overboard on the remodel?”

  Lee smiled and ducked the question. “You should try the roasted crab soup. It’s made with fresh Dungeness. The crab butter is blended with roasted garlic and goes great with a full-bodied Chardonnay.”

  He obviously had no intention of discussing money. His deflection was a gentle reminder that the topic was none of her business. For the time being, he had money to burn. His portion of the twenty million would keep him entertained for quite some time. And the Yan children didn’t have to worry either. Funds had been put into a trust for their benefit. Bai had placed Robert in charge of managing the account. She knew he could be trusted.

  A million dollars had gone to Benny’s mother. It wouldn’t lessen the pain of losing her only child, but the money would see to it that she never wanted for anything material. Bai had recouped her initial investment and, after paying Sun Yee On for their assistance, had placed the rest of the money into a trust account under Benny Chin’s name, destined for local charities.

  Ling approached the table. She wore a black chef’s outfit and looked happy.

  “What do you think?” she asked, looking around at the new furnishings.

  “It’s beautiful,” Bai admitted. “How is business?”

  “Surprisingly, it’s been really good. We’ve been open less than a month, and we’re already turning a profit. It’s still slow for lunch, but we’re booked solid for dinner. I talked to Robert, and we’re looking into buying the place next door to maybe expand. There isn’t another place like this in Chinatown. We seem to have filled a niche.”

  Bai reached out to put a hand on Ling’s arm. “That’s great. I’m happy for you. How are the kids?”

  “They’re great. Robert has them at the dentist this afternoon. He’s been a life saver. I don’t know what I’d do without him.” She hesitated a moment before continuing. “Jia stopped by yesterday. She says she likes living with you. She feels safe there. It made me a little sad she doesn’t want to come home, but I understand.”

  “She needs time, Ling,” Bai explained. “We’re all family now. It’ll all work out.”

  Jia’s physical injuries were healing quickly. The emotional damage would take longer, but Bai was optimistic. She was a fighter.

  “So you think maybe Robert’s a keeper?” she asked. She smiled when she saw the question embarrassed Ling.

  Ling smiled back shyly. “We’ll see.”

  Theirs wouldn’t be
the first romance to bloom between an older man and a younger woman. He was a nice man even though he was her senior by almost fifteen years. For him, Ling and the children seemed to fill an emotional vacuum left by Benny. Robert had opened his heart and his wallet to show that people really were more important to him than money.

  “I have to get back to the kitchen. We’re doing prep work for dinner. Ma, your waitress, will take good care of you. Come back soon, Bai.”

  “I will.”

  Ling turned her attention to Lee. “Let’s meet tomorrow and go over expansion costs with Robert.”

  He nodded in agreement. “I’ll be here at three tomorrow.”

  She dipped her head once and was gone. Ma, who looked like a courtesan, stood against the far wall out of earshot. She was a beautiful girl dressed in a traditional red Chinese cheongsam, a sheath dress made of silk. The woman was as much a part of the ambiance as the marble and wood.

  Bai complimented Lee. “You have an eye for beauty. Have you thought about designing for a living?”

  He smiled at the compliment. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

  “You know better than that.” She reached across the table to put her hand on his. “We’re a team, remember?”

  “I haven’t forgotten.” His features took on a more serious demeanor. “How are things going between you and Ranse?”

  She took a deep breath. “He’s being transferred to Boston. His superiors felt he was becoming too attached to an asset.”

  “Since when did you become an asset?”

  “Beats me,” she replied. “One day, I’m the enemy; the next, I’m Special Agent Jim McKay’s best buddy; and then, I’m an asset.”

  “Do you think there was fallout over the twenty million?”

  “McKay signed off on the deal. I don’t think that’s the problem,” she said, a hint of sadness in her voice. “I think McKay is looking out for Ranse. If he gets serious with me, his career as a federal agent is pretty much over. Transferring him to Boston solves the problem.”

  “What did John say?”

  “He made some noises about quitting, but he wasn’t serious. I wouldn’t want him to stay under those circumstances, anyway. Being an FBI agent is his dream.”

  “That’s very mature of you.”

  “Yeah, it surprised me too.”

  He didn’t say anything. He looked thoughtful. “What was John doing at Dan’s school?”

  Bai frowned. “Collecting information. The high-tech surveillance system at Hopkins wasn’t just to protect the children. It was designed to spy on them.”

  “Why?”

  “Because they’re the children of diplomats and politicians and the wealthy. Kids are unfiltered mimes who repeat whatever they hear.”

  “Still, spying on kids really sucks.”

  She decided it was time to change the subject. “Elizabeth is speaking to me again, though my credibility has taken a nose dive.”

  “I could have predicted that,” Lee said, chuckling. “She loves you. She’ll always forgive you. How about Dan?”

  “She’s fine. She loves having Jia around, and school is back to normal. The Romano boy has transferred. His mother took the children back East to shield them from the press.”

  Lee looked at her and hesitated, his expression anxious. “There are a couple of things I need to talk to you about.”

  “Why the long face?”

  He brushed aside the question. “By tomorrow it’ll be on the news. I wanted you to hear it from me first.”

  Stalling, he looked around the café at nothing in particular.

  “What have you done?” she asked as a feeling of apprehension started to build.

  “The Major’s real name is Thomas Bennett,” Lee stated. He still wouldn’t look at her. “He was attached to special operations for the Central Intelligence Agency before freelancing. Anyway, I thought you should know. He’s been found dead in Brussels.”

  She looked at him in disbelief. “How could he be in Brussels? He’s under detention in a federal lockup.”

  Lee grimaced. “His CIA friends got him released two days ago. They managed to get him out of the country before anybody even realized he was gone. Then sometime last night, he was found in his hotel room. He’d been garroted. His head had been removed and posed in his lap. Someone had literally handed him his head.”

  Her mind whirled. Then something occurred to her. “How did you find out about it if it isn’t even on the news yet?”

  He looked away again, unwilling to meet her gaze. “A friend told me.”

  “A friend like Jason, you mean?”

  He dipped his head.

  “He had no right to take matters into his own hands,” she said, anger bleeding into her voice.

  Lee became defensive. “This wasn’t just about you, Bai. We needed to send a message. Otherwise, The Major would have sent assassins after you until one of them finally succeeded. It was the only way to put an end to it.”

  “This isn’t the end of it.” She shook her head in frustration. “Martinez isn’t going to get over the fact I put his boys away. He’ll just hire another Thomas Bennett to do his dirty work, and we’re right back where we started. You haven’t solved anything.”

  “Well, that’s the other thing I wanted to talk to you about.” He seemed ambivalent about what he had to say, drawing circles on the marble with his finger while staring at the table top. “This morning, old man Martinez died from a coronary seizure. It seems his pacemaker inexplicably failed and threw him into cardiac arrest. They rushed him to the hospital, but it was too late. Poor man.”

  He looked up to meet her eyes. She flashed back to a lecture he’d given her a couple of months ago about an electromagnetic gun he was fooling around with. It would drain a car battery from forty feet away. She could well imagine its effect on a pacemaker.

  “‘Poor man’?” She looked at him and shook her head. “‘Poor man’? . . . that’s all you’ve got to say for yourself?”

  “We did it for you, Bai, and for Dan. We did it to protect our family.”

  Staring at him, she wondered what was next. “If I’d wanted them dead, I’d have killed them myself. I can’t believe you and Jason would do this after all the effort spent to avoid killing. I’m a Buddhist, Lee. I don’t get to absolve my sins by twisting some beads and saying ‘I’m sorry.’ At this rate, I’ll be reincarnated as a cockroach.”

  “Look on the bright side. In case of a nuclear holocaust, cockroaches will rule the world.”

  She was numb, at a loss for words.

  “I know you’re angry, Bai, but I also know you’ll forgive me.”

  “Why is that, Lee? You knew how I felt about killing those men, and yet you and Jason took it upon yourselves to kill them anyway. Why do I have to forgive you?”

  “Because I’m your friend, Bai, and ‘Love is blind, but friendship closes its eyes.’”

  I’d like to thank the following people for their help in bringing this work to press. First and foremost, my agent, Kimberley Cameron, and my publisher, Dan Mayer, were invaluable. It couldn’t have happened without them. Ellen Torgerson, Kiersten Robinson, Dennis Mangers, Valerie Fioravanti, and the late Joe Sheehan provided invaluable feedback during the creative process. To Donald, Jeani, Auntie, Shao, Wei, Sam, Gale, Ivory, Lu, Don, Jan, Sandy, Miyuki, Robert, Dave, and Carol, I really appreciate the moral support and the wine.

  Thatcher Robinson lives and writes in Northern California with his wife and two cats, all of whom boss him around. If you’d like to learn more about his indentured servitude, visit his website at thatcherrobinson.com.

 

 

 
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