Stabenow, Dana - Blindfold Game (v1

by Blindfold Game(lit)

  At a little past 1:00 A.M. on the fourth day two tall young Russian women appeared, to greet the merchant with exuberant familiarity, to offer gifts of vodka and caviar, and to examine every single article of clothing he had in stock. Their Korean was competent if uninspired. A long, fierce negotiation followed that ended in the purchase of six mens topcoats, a dozen womens blazers, a dozen mens sport jackets, and various amounts of skirts, shirts, sweaters, and vests for both sexes. After extracting a twenty percent discount for paying in cash, one of the women counted out a large wad of money into the merchants hand while the other muscled the clothing into an ungainly pile. Without looking up from the wad of currency the merchant snapped his fingers. Smith and Jones appeared with packs, to which the purchases were secured with rope. The women avoided looking at their faces and left soon after.

  The brothers hauled the packs back to the coast, where they met the same smuggler, whose boat took them back across the border. From the coast they wended a tedious route north, on foot and sticking to heavily traveled roads, losing themselves in as much of a crowd as North Korea was at present capable of mustering. They crossed into Russia at Khasan, where the two Russian women welcomed them at the border, and rode in the back of a very cold step van with the cargo all the way to Khabarovsk. From Khabarovsk they took the Trans-Siberian Railway to Komsomolsk, again riding in the freight car with the Russians payload. From Komsomolsk they were upgraded into a seat on the aging Tupolev into Moscow, where they took leave of the women, who paid them well and then tipped them, too, which made them both think they should have checked the pockets and the linings of the clothing to see what else they had been bringing into Mother Russia.

  In Moscow they took an even older Tupolev to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Their forged passports, visas, and work permits went unchallenged. They found menial jobs as sweepers and loaders on the docks and a one-room apartment with light but no heat.

  They settled in to wait, sinking with barely a trace into the general population, which unlike the citizenry of many Russian cities was fully occupied building ships for the Russian Pacific fleet, assembling Mig fighters for export, manning a steel mill to furnish material for the construction of both, and lading freight on and off the many ships coming into the port.

  Within days, the others began to trickle into town in ones and twos.

  Smith and Jones wielded shovels and picks and the occasional broom, and waited.

  JANUARY

  HONG KONG

  HUGH LEFT BALTIMORE ONE evening at 8:30 p.m. and arrived in Hong Kong the next day at 1:05 p.m. He didnt sleep well on jets, spending most of his time holding them in the air by the armrests, and he was feeling distinctly travel worn when he came through customs.

  He was also weighed down by the possibility that he was going to be fired for any number of reasons, among them disobeying a direct order and misuse of public funds, but he shoved that into the back of his mind and pushed through the crowd to the curb. A taxi pulled up and Arlenes voice said, “Get in.

  He did and they pulled away with a lurch and a corresponding roar from a muffler that sounded as if it were hanging by a thread.

  “How was your flight?

  “Give me a Super Cub anytime, he said. “What have you got?

  “No hello after Ive spent two and a half months in the wilderness for you?

  “Hong Kong isnt exactly the wilderness, Arlene. Come on, give.

  Arlenes smile was small and satisfied. “I found him.

  “You told me that six weeks ago. What else?

  She pretended to pout. “I dont get to brag?

  “Later. Talk.

  “I had a couple of local contacts, and one of them knows someone in Chinese customs. Turns out theyve been interested in Fang and Noort-man for some time. Theyve compiled quite the little dossier.

  “You didnt manage to score a look at it?

  She smiled again.

  “God, Im so smart, Hugh said.

  “For what?

  “For hiring you.

  She laughed. “Naturally I agree.

  “What was in the dossier?

  “Our boys been busy. She recounted half a dozen of Noortman and Fangs jobs, including the most recent one. “They took a tramp freightershe closed her eyes for a moment“the Orions Belt, carrying a load of Chilean lumber from Valparaiso to Mumbai. Near as our friends can figure, Noortman, uh, rerouted the cargo to Sumatra and sold it on the black market. The Indonesians are desperate for construction materials after the tsunami, and they dont ask a lot of questions when a load of two-by-fours shows up at the dock.

  “What did they do with the ship?

  “Sold it to shipbreakers in Alang. At his look she elaborated. “A beach on the west coast of India. She shrugged. “An efficient means of disposing of the evidence. I was writing a story on Mumbai a couple of years ago and I took a trip out there. Hell of an operation. The beach is six miles long and on any given day there can be as many as two hundred ships being scrapped at once. The ship would have been gone in as little as six months. Maybe a year. Like I said, efficient.

  Sara would have hated the very idea of an operation like Alangs, Hugh thought. “Can our friends in Hong Kong prove any of this?

  Arlene snorted. “It was a French-owned, Liberian-flagged freighter carrying a Chilean cargo bound for India, with Indian officers and a Filipino crew, taken by pirates of multiple Asian nations in international waters. No one country even has jurisdiction over the crime scene, never mind any evidence that would stand up in court.

  “Yeah, Hugh said. “So?

  “So, Ive been watching Mr. Noortman.

  “Have you? Any company?

  “Are our friends watching him, too, do you mean? They say not. Id say yes, just not twenty-four seven. Noortman has done nothing to offend the local laws, which would be the smart thing to do if he wanted to stay here. Thou shalt not shit in thine own nest.

  Hugh couldnt argue with that. “Where are we going?

  “To a restaurant with a conveniently placed front window. Ive already reserved a table with a view of our boys office building.

  “Marry me, Hugh said.

  She grinned. “Youre too old for me.

  “Noortman actually has a storefront?

  “Oh yeah, Hong Kong Fast Freight, Ltd., is very much on the up-and-up, licensed, bonded, registered, incorporated, files quarterly tax returns, contributes to enough local charities in small enough amounts to stay low on the local social radar screen. All perfectly aboveboard and squeaky clean. As an afterthought she said, “Of course, this is Hong Kong. Squeaky clean in Hong Kong isnt squeaky clean in, say, Seattle. Or for that matter Beirut.

  “I thought everything tightened up after the Chinese took over.

  Arlene gave him a look. “Its still Hong Kong.

  Hugh, who wasnt about to admit that hed learned most of what he knew about Hong Kong from the www.discoverhongkong.com Web site while he was sitting in the Baltimore airport waiting for his flight to board and the rest from James Clavell during the flight, gave a noncommittal grunt.

  “Youve been here before, right? So I dont have to give you the tour?

  Half a dozen times to change planes, and once to meet in the British Airways lounge with a snotty little shit of a case officer who had started their conversation with a recitation of his family tree, which appeared to reach all the way back to the Mayflower, and reached forward to several members of Congress, a cabinet-level post in the current administration, and a Supreme Court justice. It had ended with the snotty little shit of a case officer white-faced and trembling, mumbling out his report of the nascent Islamic terrorist cell in Egypt he had stumbled across in his posting to the American embassy in Cairo. The report had been unexpectedly useful, but Hugh, who saved the rough side of his tongue especially for arrogant little pricks just starting out in the agency, didnt make the mistake of saying so. Said prick was now warming the most junior of junior charge daffaires seats in the American embassy in Za
ire (or the Democratic Republic of the Congo or whatever the hell they were calling themselves nowadays), which gave Hugh the warm fuzzies all over whenever he thought of it, which wasnt often.

  “Ive been here before, Hugh said without elaboration. He was a desk man, not a field agent. He shook off his fatigue and watched the approaching skyline with interest. From a distance Hong Kong looked like a multitowered castle built on a tall green promontory, surrounded by the worlds largest moat. The water was crowded with craft of every kind and size, from homemade junks to boxy ferries to sleek cruise ships.

  As they entered the city proper, Hugh saw a lot of concrete, a lot of neon, and a shitload of people, many in cars. The traffic was bumper-to-bumper stop and go, and none of the drivers would have made it a hundred feet on an American street without being pulled over for felony tailgating. Everyone, pedestrian and driver alike, ignored the stoplights, and Hugh saw a black Mercedes roll through an intersection against a red and literally hit a woman in the crosswalk. The car was moving slowly enough that all it did was hoist her up on the hood. She slid down and yelled at the driver. The driver stuck his head out the window and yelled an uncomplimentary reply, and for a minute Hugh felt like he was in New York.

  “Here we are, Arlene said, and leaned forward to tap the driver on the shoulder. They screeched to a halt, Arlene handed over an alarmingly thick wad of banknotes and they got out, elbowing for room on a street of storefronts thronged with people. “This way, Arlene said, and led Hugh through a glass door into a tiny anteroom with a podium barricading the rest of the establishment from just anyone who might wander in off the street. Arlene smiled at the hostess, who didnt smile back until the two hundred and fifty Hong Kong dollars Arlene tipped her disappeared down the front of her dress. She turned to lead them into the restaurant proper.

  Arlene noticed Hughs expression and said in a low voice, “Relax. It was only about thirty American, and thats cheap for a sit-down restaurant in Hong Kong.

  “Its not that, Hugh said, looking over her shoulder.

  “What is it, then? Arlene followed his gaze, and her eyes widened. “Holy shit.

  Noortman was sitting at the table in the window right next to the one the hostess was standing beside, menus in hand, watching them with an impatient look on her face.

  For a moment Hugh was transfixed, and then he recovered his wits. “Smile and talk to me, he whispered to Arlene, and gave her a gentle shove forward.

  “What if he recognizes me from Pattaya Beach? Arlene hissed.

  “He wont, he was too focused on his next big score, Hugh said, and prayed he was right.

  It was a safe bet, as today Arlene was dressed in a deep blue suit, cream-colored silk shirt, heels, and pearls, and her hair had been moussed and blow-dried into a smooth knot at the nape of her neck. She looked nothing like the zaftig tourist in the Bermuda shorts the previous October.

  Noortman, on the other hand, looked exactly as he had in the photographs Arlene took of him. His nose was aquiline but his eyes were Asian, and his teeth were square and white, with the exception of the gold-encased incisor that flashed when he smiled. His skin was sallow, his stylishly cut hair dark but not black. Like Arlene, he was dressed to suit his environment, in a charcoal striped suit with a dark red tie that matched the silk handkerchief peeping from his breast pocket. The watch on his wrist had the glint of Rolex gold. His shoes probably cost even more.

  He was drinking tea as he scrolled down the screen of a laptop. The server brought a tray just then and made a distressed sound. Noortman looked up and smiled. Hugh was in the middle of being seated but it looked like a perfectly ordinary smile, no fangs showing, although it was a smile that seemed familiar, crooking up at one side in what could almost have been called a sneer. Otherwise, Noortman looked like any other young and ambitious Hong Kong businessman.

  He became aware that Arlene was giving him a minatory look, and he realized their server had materialized. On impulse he told the server, “Tiger Beer. He smiled across at Arlene, and said in a voice just above a whisper, “You didnt think that because this restaurant was so close to his office that he never came in here? Even pirates have to eat.

  Arlene hooked a thumb toward her sternum and mouthed words that Hugh couldnt understand. He shook his head. Arlene leaned forward. He met her halfway. “What? he said.

  “Hes gay, right? Arlene whispered.

  “What? I dont Thats what it says in his files. So what?

  “After I leave, pick him up.

  “What? Noortman looked up at Hughs unguarded exclamation and then went back to his braised abalone in oyster sauce.

  “Pick him up, Arlene repeated. “Youre a hunk, hes probably drooling into his plate over you right now. She reached into her bag.

  He said the only thing he could. “I am not a hunk!

  She rolled her eyes. “Right. Robert Redford has nothing to worry about. She pulled her hand out of her bag.

  “Arlene, I

  “His apartment is close by his office. Thats probably where hell take you. Ill follow.

  “Arlene, we dont even know if Noortman makes a habit out of picking up guys off the street, I cant just

  “We dont know what kind of security hes got on his office or who else is keeping watch on it. Getting into his apartment is our best bet. Her bag vibrated. “Im so sorry, please excuse me for a moment, she said to Hugh in a louder voice, in French, accompanied by a dazzling smile. She pulled out a cell phone and flipped it open. She listened for a moment and then let loose with more and very rapid French. “No, its quite all right, Veronique, Im only five minutes away. Offer him some tea, let him look over the closing papers, and tell him Ill be there immediately. She flipped the phone closed, shouldered her bag, and rose to her feet. She smiled down at Hugh, an infinitely kind smile, and, still in French, said in a soothing voice, “Im so sorry our luncheon has been cut short, Mr. Reeve. As I was saying, I have several properties that I believe would interest you. Please call my assistant at this numberArlene handed Hugh a small square of stiff paper that later proved to be the business card of Arlenes accountant“to schedule showings. A bientot.

  With that, Arlene marched off, leaving Hugh seated at his table facing Noortman seated at his. Hughs beer came and he downed half of it at one go. He looked up to see Noortman smiling at him. There was definitely something about the smile, but he still couldnt place it and he had other things to worry about.

  Hugh could give a shit if men slept with each other so long as he wasnt one of them. He didnt care if they married and adopted seven kids and watched The Birdcage every night on the Bravo Channel. He himself was a flaming heterosexual. It wasnt that he thought Arlenes idea was bad, per se, it was just that he didnt have the first clue how to go about picking up a man.

  Noortman was still smiling at him. What the hell. For starters, he smiled back. He even went so far as to salute Noortman with his beer.

  The next thing he knew they were seated at the same table, his or Noortmans he could never remember, the hostess cooing at Noortman in Mandarin and Noortman kissing the back of her hand with his seductive sneer. Then Noortman was speaking to him in flawless French and he was replying, and they were having a stimulating and informative discussion on Hong Kong real estate, which moved on to globalization and from there to the films of Pierce Brosnan, for whom Noortman appeared to harbor an inordinate fondness.

  Noortman mentioned that he dabbled in Hong Kong properties himself off and on. What precisely was Hugh looking for? Hugh replied that he was interested in warehouse space along the waterfront for his import-export business. He was presently looking at various properties with a broker.

  Really, said Noortman, how very interesting. He was in the import export business himself and had extensive contacts with Hong Kong shipping firms. Now that he thought about it, he was convinced that just the other day someone had spoken of a very desirable property for sale, located conveniently near Central. He was sure he still had the listing. Would
Hugh like to see it?

  Of course Hugh would, who by this time was feeling much more relaxed. It turned out that picking up a guy wasnt all that different from picking up a girl. He managed not to flinch when Noortman smiled deeply into his eyes, and by a superhuman effort didnt jump when Noortmans knee rubbed against his beneath the table. By superimposing a womans face over Noortmans featuresit didnt matter that it was Saras face he saw, he told himselfhe was even able to put what he hoped was a little heat into his own expression.

  It must have worked, because shortly thereafter Hugh found himself walking down the sidewalk, following Noortman as the other man wove a sinuous path between the moving mass of humanity that was Hong Kong. A horn honked, a jackhammer sounded, and people talked loudly in Mandarin and ten other languages, a few of which Hugh didnt recognize, which only added to his feeling of unreality.

  Noortman turned down a side street, much quieter in volume and much tonier in appearance, with awnings out to the curb and uniformed doormen guarding brass-fitted doors. Noortman went into one, Hugh tagging along behind and doing his damnedest not to look around for Arlene.

  An elevator whisked them up seventeen floors, and Noortman let them into a spacious apartment furnished with leather and teak and glass. There were intricate Afghan rugs scattered artfully across a maple floor waxed to a golden shine, and the crystal lined up over the bar looked fresh out of the vat at Baccarat.

  “A drink? Noortman said. “I have some very nice scotch.

  “Sounds good, Hugh said.

  While Noortman busied himself at the elegant wet bar, Hugh admired the sweeping view of the mainland, the Star Ferries working the sea between it and Hong Kong Island. Even at this distance the ferries looked ready to sink beneath the weight of rush-hour traffic, which Hugh had decided in Hong Kong was probably twenty-four hours a day.