Gun back in hand I turned to the staircase. Before continuing up I glanced back down the hall. I was pretty certain the stairs were the only way on and off this floor. The man and woman were at the first door, talking through it and trying the keys. "Loki?" I asked.
The man looked up and shrugged. I started up the steps, Blue at my heel. Listening closely I tried to hear if there were boots above. But the volume from below was increasing as I heard the first door open. Excited chatter, as more were free. Yes, I thought, get them all out. The more people running around in here, the more work for the guards who were left. And I had no idea how many that was but I figured we'd find out.
At the top of the steps I paused, listening closely, then turned the corner quickly, extending my guns forward. Nothing but closed doors. The stairs continued up and I followed them until I reached a door. Light coming from underneath told me I was at the roof. The door wasn't locked and I stepped out into the fresh air. The sun was rising.
I could see the whole valley below, the oval mountains jutting into space, the flat planes of the rice fields. Everything was covered in a pink glow, the gauzy light of dawn making it all look soft and harmless.
The roof was black, sunken in places, holding pools of water that reflected the brightening sky above. Opposite was another door. I crossed the space, avoiding the puddles while Blue walked right through them. "Can't help yourself?" I said, looking down at him. He cocked his head. I sighed, knowing it was my fault for not telling him to avoid them.
I opened the door and found another staircase, almost identical to the one we'd come up on the other side. I descended to the top floor, taking it slow, listening closely. There I found a similar yet wholly different scene. It was the same stark white hall, but the doors were all open. I glanced into one and saw bunk beds, unmade. Loki must have been here. But where was he now?
I continued down the steps, and, as I approached the next floor, I heard voices. I stopped and Blue sat on the step above me. There was no way to know if it was prisoners or guards but I guessed that it was prisoners. It sounded like a lot of voices. A loud murmuring, careful in its volume but excited.
I stepped out of the stairwell onto the floor and saw that half the doors were opened and the hall crowded with bodies. About halfway down I saw Loki's black form bent over a door, he got it open and an appreciative sigh was exhaled by those watching. "Loki," I said, pushing through the prisoners. They parted for me, staring after Blue and I as we made our way to Loki.
"Did you find Merl?" he asked, moving onto the next door, as three women came stumbling out of the room he'd just unlocked.
"Yes, I need your help getting his cell open though."
"Where is it?"
"In the basement."
"Okay," he said as the lock he was working on clicked open.
"God you're good at that," I said as he opened the door. Without responding he moved on to the next door. "I found keys on some of the other guards and two escaped prisoners are on the other floors working on getting everyone out. But where will they go?" I asked.
"They have places."
I looked around at the faces watching us. They looked hungry and dirty. "Then why are they all just standing here?" I asked.
Loki looked up at the crowd. "They are probably waiting for everyone to be free."
"They don't kill," I said.
"No."
"Seems like they should."
"Not everyone is like you, Sydney."
"I know that," I said. "But I'm not the one getting rescued, am I?" The lock Loki was working on clicked under his ministrations and he moved on as the crowed moved in to open the door. "Come on," I said, impatient and a little pissed. Like Loki wasn't a killer. I'd seen him shoot a man not thirty minutes ago. There was sweat on his brow as he bent over the next door.
"I must finish this before I come to Merl," Loki said.
"They have the keys, they will get here eventually," I said.
Loki didn't look up from the lock he was working on. I tugged on his elbow but he shook me off. "Give me a little time," he said, an edge of anger in his voice.
"Fine," I said, stepping back. "But we need to get Merl out."
The lock opened and Loki hurried to the next door. There were only four left in the hall and I figured I would let him finish and then drag him to the basement if I had to. It took another fifteen minutes for him to open all the doors.
"Now," I said, taking his arm. "You're coming with me."
#
Loki moved easily with me through the crowd of recently freed Falun Gong practitioners. They shifted aside, letting us pass, their eyes shining with gratitude. "I hope they get out of here soon," I said.
"They will," Loki promised.
We hurried down the steps, Loki pulling a gun as we reentered the reception area. I heard noise coming from outside and picked up my pace, wondering if police or some kind of backup had arrived. Loki stayed close. We ducked down the next hall, passing the room where we'd locked up the guards, and were in the dark stairwell leading downstairs when I heard the front doors open and heavy boot falls.
"Sounds like backup," I said.
"Yes," Loki agreed.
I pulled out my phone, lighting our way into the cool basement. We reached the bottom and I ran up to Merl's door. Loki was by my side quickly and I held my phone so that it shone onto the lock. Loki pulled out his lock picking kit and went to work. We could hear shouting above. "I doubt they'll come down here first," I said.
"No," Loki said, "but we still have to get out."
The lock clicked once and I felt my heart leap again but Loki didn't immediately open the door. He kept fiddling. "We're almost there, Merl," I said.
"Okay," he said, his voice weak.
Another click and Loki stood up, depressing the latch and opened the door. It was pitch black in the room. I shined my flashlight in and saw Merl on the ground, leaning against the wall. He moved forward and the low light of my phone caught the chains binding his hands, snaking around his waist, and locking to his ankles. His face was dirt-encrusted, his right eye swollen shut. He smiled at me, his lips cracked and a tooth missing. "Oh Merl," I said, dropping to my knees in front of him. I reached out to the chains. They had rubbed his skin raw and bloody.
"I'm okay," he said.
"Loki," I looked up at him. He was already getting new picks out of his pack. He knelt down next to Merl and started to work on the locks at his feet.
Merl's eyes were still bright. His long, curly black hair was loose, falling over his shoulders in knotted strands. His hands were folded together, the fingers interlaced, the nails broken. I heard the lock click and Loki removed it from the chain and reached for the other.
"We're getting out of here," I said. "I've got a plane waiting."
"What about Mo?" he asked.
"We're working on freeing everyone now but the guards’ backup just arrived." As if to prove my point we heard gunshots upstairs. Muffled, the blasts sounded like thunder in distant mountains.
I turned to look into the darkness. "I've got three guns," I said. "Loki?"
"One," he said as the second lock clicked open. He pulled it off the chains and began to unravel them. Merl winced as the metal was removed from the wounds the chain links had worn into his skin. More gunshots sounded from above, and yelling.
"We'll be okay," I said as much for myself as the two men with me.
The chains removed, Merl stood to his full height. He was only a couple inches taller than me. I could see that he still had strength in his sinewy arms. That there was still a fire in his eyes.
"Should we wait?" Loki asked. "Until they move further into the prison, they may leave one or two men at the front door but we can take care of that."
"Good idea."
"I need to find Mo," Merl said, his voice still raspy but determined.
I bit my lip, knowing that I was not going to win this argument but guessing that finding Mo in this chaos could be suici
de. "Can't we find her after?" I asked.
"She could be killed," Merl said.
"So could we," Loki pointed out.
"You can leave without me," Merl said.
"Shut up, I didn't break in here to free you and then leave you here," I said, annoyed. "Come on Merl, seriously."
He shrugged. "I would understand."
"Shut up," I said, passing one of my guns to Loki and removing the other from my waist band.
Blue stayed close to me as we started back up the steps. Loki followed, Merl bringing up the rear. As we climbed the stairs the noises grew louder, the fighting more obvious. The hallway was empty but I could see people in the reception area. Armed guards in uniforms shooting at unarmed, silk pajama-wearing tai chi practitioners. It was a blood bath. We inched closer to the main room. The scent of blood and gunfire filling the air.
It was as if the prisoners were lining up to be shot down. Crowding into the space, launching themselves at the armed men, just to be killed.
There were seven armed men that I could see. Loki and I made eye contact, our guns both up. "I'll take the left side, you take the right," I suggested. He nodded.
The uniformed men's backs were to us, and the noise from their weapons was so loud that they did not notice our approach until we were standing behind them and had begun firing bullets into them.
I took out two men and was taking aim at two more as they turned their guns around, eyes wide. I got one in the shoulder and he fell back. I missed the other, who fired off a wide shot that hit the ceiling above my head, raining plaster down on me as I fired again, hitting him squarely in the chest.
The man I'd hit in the shoulder was aiming at me, when a woman, small, quick and fearless, launched herself onto his back sending him flying forward, his gun firing wide, then hitting the floor near my feet. The woman kicked the gun away from him, her small form moving at a speed that seemed almost impossible. She was on the man's back, his arms pinned under her knee, his head held down by her hands. The other three guards were dead, taken out by Loki. Merl stumbled forward. "Mo," he said.
The small fury of a woman on the guard’s back looked up and, seeing Merl, tears filled her eyes. He crossed the room, leaning on his right leg more than his left, his shoulder on that side also slightly stooped.
Mo, still holding down her victim, watched him approach, a smile growing wider across her face. Another prisoner, a man who obviously knew Mo, touched her shoulder and she stood up, letting him take over pinning the guard.
Merl stopped in front of her and she reached out tentatively, touching his swollen eye. His head was bent toward her. She only came up to the middle of his chest. So small and yet so strong.
Merl stepped closer and she did not back away. I watched them, riveted by their movements. Tears were running down Mo-Ping's cheeks. Merl touched her hip with his good hand and pulled her body against his before lowering his lips to her. She wrapped her hands into his tangled, dirty hair and held him close. Their kiss was at first tentative but quickly turned passionate. Their bodies melded together, their hands gripping onto each other. I turned away, the moment suddenly too intimate to watch.
I looked at Loki who was watching the exit. "More will come," he said. "We have to go now."
"Yes," I agreed.
I crossed the room, walking up behind Merl, and cleared my throat. They continued to kiss. Mo's hands moving down Merl's neck and grasping at his shoulders.
"Merl," I said, my voice low. He didn't notice. "Merl," I said louder. Still no response. I looked over at Loki. He motioned for me to try again. Turning back to Merl I reached out and touched his shoulder. "Merl," I said loudly, giving him a little shake.
He broke the kiss, keeping his arms around Mo, and turned to me. His eyes were a little glazed, there was a happiness there I'd never seen before. The power of their emotions took my breath away—the fact that even in this insane situation, with blood and pain evident on both their persons, they could be so happy. My heart squeezed. I wanted that kind of happiness, but was terrified of it. Such happiness was dangerous. Because if it was taken from you, it could break you. And I didn't ever want to be broken again.
Escape
The rising sun had cleared the mountains by the time we stepped out into the yard of the tai chi center turned prison camp. Mo Ping had her arm around Merl's waist, supporting him and holding him close. Loki pushed open the gate and stepped through, holding it open for others. The street was quiet. The cars the backup guards had arrived in stood silent in the road.
We walked up the road, headed back to the van, while the freed prisoners dispersed in small groups into the countryside. The dampness of early morning hung in the air. The doctor was where we had left him, shoved between the seats, chained to one of the hooks in the floor. Loki freed him and the doctor stumbled out of the van. Dark circles had formed under his eyes. His white jacket was wrinkled and crusted with dried blood. I wanted to have him take a look at Merl's wounds but didn't think we had time so we just left him there on the side of the road.
Loki took the driver's seat of the van, I got in the passenger seat and Blue fit himself at my feet. He was sprayed with blood, one paw coated with it. I hadn't even noticed earlier.
Merl and Mo climbed gingerly into the back. Merl rested his head against the seat and closed his eyes. Mo Ping held his hand. Loki pulled out onto the deserted road. I looked back at the tai chi center as we drove by it. The building looked quiet. I wondered how long it would take for the army to show up. For them to start to hunt down the prisoners we'd released. Would we make it out of the country in time? Or would our plane be stopped? Would we all end up back in a place like that, or worse?
We continued down the mountain and as the sun drifted toward the top of the world we drove along the rutted road, past the paddy fields, toward our freedom. "Wait," Merl said. "Stop the van."
Loki pulled over. The wind brought the dust that had plumed behind us forward, enveloping the van, making it feel like we were in a brown fog. Merl slid open the van door and climbed out. I followed him as did Mo. Blue stretched, waving his tail and let out a yowl with his yawn. I recognized the spot. It was close to where we'd hit those tacks the first time we tried to get out to the tai chi center. The blackened remains of the Jeep were just down the road. Ming and the police officers we'd left tied up were nearby. I considered freeing them but decided it was too dangerous. I hoped they'd be found but wouldn't risk anything to guarantee it.
Merl whistled, loud and high-pitched. The sound echoed back to us. "What are you doing?" Loki asked.
"My dogs," Merl said. "They should be around here." He whistled again.
Loki looked at me. "I think I saw them," I said. Merl smiled. "That first night we tried to get to the tai chi center. I saw eyes in the rocks, I knew they were animals. I wondered if they were Merl's dogs."
Merl whistled again. Michael, the largest member of Merl's pack, popped up from behind a boulder thirty feet away. Seeing Merl he bolted for him. Lucy, the bitch of Merl's pack, was close behind him. Chula, the youngest and newest member came around the side of the boulder, his tongue hanging out of his head and sprinted after them. They were three streaks of black across the brown ground.
Merl kneeled down and they skidded to a stop, then approached Merl slowly, their tails wagging, ears pinned to their heads. He opened his arms and they all crowded in, curling their bodies, shuddering with pleasure, letting out noises of excitement and contentment. Blue's tail wagged at seeing his friends.
Merl spoke to them softly, telling them how good they were, how happy he was to see them. Mo rested her hand on his shoulder, looking down at the reunion. "So this is where they got you?" I asked.
Merl nodded. "Yes, Sing and I were driving when we blew out a tire. I hit my head on the wheel and Sing broke a couple of ribs I think." Mo's hand tightened on Merl's shoulder. He wasn't looking at me, his eyes still on his dogs, seeming to draw strength from them as he told his story.
&nbs
p; "We climbed out. I knew there was a chance this was an attack but my head was fuzzy from the impact. There were five of them." Merl looked up into the rocks, his eyes narrow, seeming to see the men in front of him now. "They had rifles. There were too many of them. We fought but eventually I realized that we didn’t have a chance. I sent the dogs away."
I'd done something similar once with Blue. It was in Mexico with Malina, when we'd been kidnapped. Merl had taught me the command "Out." It meant for the dogs to run for cover but not wander far. The three Dobermans would have spent the rest of their lives within a mile or two of this place, waiting for Merl's return.
"We should go," I said.
"Yes," Loki agreed. "We don't have much time."
Merl stood up slowly, his body weak but determined. He caught my gaze with his one good eye. The other was swollen shut. "I failed," he said.
I shook my head. "No, Merl-"
He cut me off, "They shot Sing," Merl said, closing his good eye. A tear snuck from under the lid.
"We can't win them all," I said.
Merl shook his head. "I was foolish. I tried to fight them." The ghost of a smile crossed his lips. "We took out two," Merl said, and I knew the "we" meant him and his dogs. "But there were just too many. I should have been more careful."
Mo Ping pulled at his arm and Merl opened his eyes and looked at her. She shook her head, her eyes glowing up at him. She said something I couldn't understand and Merl nodded slightly before allowing her to lead him to the van.
We all climbed back into the vehicle, the three dogs joining Merl and Mo in the back. I knew I needed to tell them about Bai Sing but I didn't want to pile on the grief at this moment. It could wait.
His pack back together, feeling safe for the first time in a long time, Merl fell asleep, Mo's head resting on his shoulder, her breath as even as his. "They must be so tired," I whispered to Loki.
His eyes flicked to the rearview mirror and he looked at them for a moment, his expression unreadable. "Have you ever loved like that?" I asked. The question had floated through my brain and out of my mouth without a filter. Loki seemed to flinch. "I'm sorry," I said. "It's none of my business. I shouldn't have asked."
Shadow Harvest (A Sydney Rye Mystery, #7) Page 18