by Greg Iles
I think back to that morning in Sandss drug-lord-style mansion. She walked in on her own. He wasn't expecting her. He let her do some of the talking, but he seemed annoyed that shed come in.
Caitlin nods knowingly.
She threatened me too, though. Subtly, but she left no doubt about what she meant.
That doesn't surprise me. Women will go to amazing lengths to protect their family unit, or what they perceive as that. When women kill, its usually to protect. Right, Mr. Prosecutor?
Youre right.
I've seen that in war zones, Kelly says. Okay, I'm buying it. If Jiao got angry enough at Sands, that same instinct might make her try to take him down.
I think this girl is very confused, Caitlin says. Shes only twenty-seven. And shes about to stand by while her lover delivers the uncle who practically raised her to the American government. If I can shake her faith in Sands, I think we might be surprised at what she might do.
Whoa, I say, seeing where this is going at last. What do you think youre about to try?
I'm just going to talk to her. Face-to-face. A little girl talk.
Caitlin
I like it, says Kelly. Shit, wheres the harm?
Are you serious? Caitlin would be risking her life. The stings tonight. What can we really hope to get this girl to do, even if you turn her?
Caitlin smiles. Wear a wire, of course.
Now Kelly shakes his head. That, I cant see. Jiaos been around these guys a long time. She knows what would happen if they caught her wearing a wire.
But they won't! They won't even
check
her. That's the beauty of this.
I hold up both hands, trying to calm Caitlin down. Youve got a good idea, but it won't work that way. Jiao won't know how to steer the conversation. She doesn't know what we need in a legal sense.
A discussion of murder? Whats hard about that?
Between Hull and Sands? How does she engineer that? I think I've got a better idea. Thanks to your inspiration.
Caitlin looks skeptical. What is it?
I knew this cop in Houston. He told me about a sting they pulled on a mob guy once. Superparanoid. Nobody could get close to him with a wire, swept his houses all the time. But they took their time and got an informant close to him, and he got a feel for the guys habits. Based on that, they prewired several outdoor spots he liked to visit when he needed to talk to somebody. And the night before they knew a big discussion was going down, they wired them all. They used two dozen recorders, all told, but they got him.
How does that relate to Jiao? Caitlin asks.
We don't need two dozen recorders. We only need two.
Caitlin is shaking her head, but Kelly is nodding, his tactical sense kicking in.
I'm going to demand the meeting I told you about a few minutes ago. But not just with Hull. I'm going to demand that Sands be there too. He won't want to come, but if the thumb drive is what we think it is, I can make it happen. I pressure Hull, Hull pressures Sands.
Caitlins listening now.
Theres only one place Sands is going to feel safe in a meeting like that, Kelly says.
She blinks in silence. The
Magnolia Queen
?
You got it, I say. And so far as I know, there are only two places on that casino boat not being recorded by surveillance equipment twenty-four hours a day. The first is Sandss office, where Kelly and I talked to him. And the second is
The torture room, Caitlin says. The Devils Punchbowl. Jesus.
If Jiao will hide voice-activated recorders in those two rooms, I can do the rest. Fifteen minutes alone with Hull and Sands, and I'll have them both by the balls.
And you know what happens then, Kelly says, watching Caitlin like a hopeful teacher.
She smiles. Their hearts and minds will follow.
Kelly laughs and looks at his watch. Right now, Jiao Po is taking a PiYo class at Mainstream Fitness.
Are you kidding? I ask.
Kelly shakes his head. Hell, no. Shes like a Mafia wife. People are dying left and right, and shes worried about her cellulite.
She doesn't have any, Caitlin says. I've seen the pictures. Is that where I approach her?
Kelly shakes his head. She likes to go down to the coffee bar on Franklin Street after her workout, for green tea and a bran muffin.
That's it, I say, squeezing my right hand into a fist.
I have a feeling, says Caitlin, that her muffin won't be going down so well today.
CHAPTER
67
Caitlin is sitting at a small, round table in the Natchez Coffee Bar, a long, narrow space downtown, not far from the club where Jiao Po takes her PiYo class. Jiao sits across the table, not an arms length away, her eyes deep and remote. People have often told Caitlin that her skin resembles porcelain, but Jiaos skin is perfect, without blemish. She radiates a self-possession that Caitlin finds intimidating, and her light eyes seem startlingly alive in the Chinese face. The coffee bar is almost empty, but when Caitlin asked to sit with Jiao, the woman did not object. Only when Caitlin identified herself did Jiaos eyes rise to take her in.
Is anyone watching you? Caitlin asks. Any of Sandss men, I mean?
Kelly has already assured Caitlin that Jiao isnt being tailed, but Caitlin wants to make sure.
What do you want? Jiao asks, regarding her coolly. A human interest story for your newspaper?
No. I want to show you something. A photograph.
Jiao rises from the table.
You stayed in New Orleans too long, Caitlin says quickly. I know you must suspect about the women.
The girl slows almost imperceptibly.
I know you went to Cambridge, Ms. Po. I know you don't miss
much. But sometimes we blind ourselves intentionally to things we don't want to see.
Jiao stops and looks back, her body utterly motionless. What does this photograph show?
Caitlin shakes her head. You have to see it. Either you have something to fear or you don't. I'm not here to hurt you. Only people you trust can do that.
Jiao steps back to the table with regal poise and gives Caitlin an impatient look. Well?
Will you sit down?
Jiao sighs lightly, then takes her seat again. Show me.
Caitlin takes a five-by-seven manila envelope from her bag and removes the bathroom-mirror photograph of Sands screwing Linda Church. With an eerie sense of detachment, she slides the photo across the table, just as Penn told her he did with Shad Johnson.
Jiao doesn't flinch or even blink. After a few seconds, Caitlin cant tell if the womans breathing.
Is this the only one? Jiao asks at last.
No.
Show me.
Caitlin removes five more photographs, each showing Sands having sex with a different woman, every one an employee on the
Magnolia Queen.
Jiao must have seen many of these women over the past few weeks. The final photo shows only a male organ entering a womans anus, but Caitlin is sure that Jiao knows whose penis shes looking at. Her doll-like lips purse for a few seconds, then without lifting her eyes from the top image, she says, Do you have money?
Do you need money? Caitlin asks, confused. Perhaps Jiao has been cut off by her uncle and fears she cant survive without Sandss support.
A fleeting smile crosses Jiaos face, and the aquamarine eyes rise to Caitlins. No, I mean, were you raised with money?
Yes.
My father made little, but my uncle saw that we never went without. Father wouldn't touch that money for himself, but we children got the necessities. After he died, I lacked for nothing. But I found th
at whether women have money or not, we look for men
who are strong enough to be providers. Strong enough to protect us, yes? But with that strength comes things we do not want so much. A wandering eye, aggressiveness, even cruelty. Yet the men who would always be faithful, the ones who worship us, we ignore or kick away. Do you find this to be true?
I've made mistakes like that. But some men are both strong and kind.
Jiaos eyes move over Caitlins face. I think my father was like your lover. He was a professor. He taught law in Communist China. What could be more absurd? When I was young, I thought he was a fool. After he died, I attended school in England, as you said. But during breaks I went to Macao, to live under my uncles protection. He didn't want me there, but I insisted. I was seduced by his power, his money, the unimaginable wealth. And I fell in love with Jonathan Sands. He seemed a glamorous figure to me, an Irishman who could carve out a place for himself among my uncles henchmen. He was white, yet my uncle respected him. And of course, my mother was a Scot.
The coffee bars single waitress walks toward them. Caitlin lays the manila envelope over the explicit photos as the woman passes and goes to the restroom. You must have been very young when you fell for Sands.
Jiao shrugs. Older than my mother when she married. But, yes, I was young. Too young to see what I was to him. A way to rise in the hierarchy, to reach the inner circle. He was playing a role from the beginning, I think.
Caitlin is impressed by the girls sangfroid, but it makes her doubt the soundness of her plan. Without an angry Jiao, nothing of value will be accomplished here.
I'm curious about something. Did they let you see the violent part of what they did?
Jiao takes a quick breath, then expels it. They tried to insulate me from that, my uncle especially. But everyone has a primal fascination with violence. At that point in my life I was curious. But my curiosity was quickly satisfied. Death holds no mystery for me. I think women are interested in life, men in death. What do you think?
Jiaos genuine interest in her opinions takes Caitlin off guard. This
meeting reminds her of conversations during college. I think theres some truth in that.
Jiao toys with whats left of the muffin on her plate. At first I thought violent sport was something that came along with male strength. They admired in others what they aspired to in themselves.
She slides the envelope off the picture and stares clinically at her lover fucking another woman. I saw much dogfighting in Macao. My uncle lives for it. He and his friends. Breeding the dogs, training themmost of all fighting them. But what I learned watching those men was this: They prized the dogs that would fight to the death, beyond all hope of survival. The ones too weak to do that, they killed. In the end, though, all the dogs died. Jiao looks earnestly into Caitlins eyes. They prized some dogs, you see, but they
loved
none of them.
This insight silences Caitlin for a while. Is Sands like that?
Jiao ignores the question, her gaze still on the photograph. They see us the same way, she whispers.
How do you mean?
The girls eyes rise to Caitlins. Youre a beautiful woman, Ms. Masters. Dont protest, please, you know you are. Its a fact, like strength or height. All your life you've benefited from this attribute, as I have.
Caitlin can feel herself blushing. Yes. I have.
Men prize beautiful women, they pursue us with all their power, shower us with wealth. They settle for those of medium attractiveness, and the ugly ones they treat as slaves.
Caitlin isnt sure what to say. That might be a little extreme.
Do you think so? I do not.
Well
Jiao silences her with an upraised finger. We all lose our beauty one day, Ms. Masters. All of us. Never forget that.
That day is a long way off for you.
Jiao smiles. In the eyes of the man I thought I wanted, it has already come and gone. I sensed it long ago. I've tried to deny it. I have been a fool.
Caitlin says nothing.
What do you want me to do?
CHAPTER
68
Its 6:00 p.m. as Kelly and I drive down Pierces Mill Road toward the
Magnolia Queen,
the flaming sun beginning to set above the bridges behind us. I wanted the meeting earlier, but I was lucky to get it at all. Had the thumb drive not turned out to contain the legal dynamite Id hoped it would, Hull would have told me to go to hell. As it was, he tried to sidestep my intent by offering a quick meeting between the two of us, but I demanded that Sands be present, and despite Sandss resistance, Hull forced him to accede to my wishes. What gave me the boost of confidence I feel now was Sandss insistence that the meeting take place aboard the
Queen.
Id worried that I might have to insist on this venue myself, but as Id anticipated, Sands considered it a victory to force his home territory on us.
What are you thinking? Kelly asks, braking his 4Runner as we descend the long hill.
I'm not.
Bullshit.
To my left, the Mississippi River blazes orange under the falling sun, and five hundred hundred yards below us, the fake smokestacks of the
Magnolia Queen
suggest the opening shot of a Technicolor version of
Huckleberry Finn.
Seriously. Whenever I had to go into court for a summation, or even a critical cross-examination, I
winged it. I figured if I didn't already know everything I needed to, I was lost anyway.
I don't know if that makes me feel better or worse about this.
Everything depends on Hull. I envisioned a bow-tied Beltway tight-ass, but the more I've talked to him, the more I've realized hes a pro. Hes just been working this case too long. I cant imagine what trying to run a guy like Sands as a CI would be like. Theyre probably like two scorpions in a bottle by now.
Kelly laughs wickedly. That I don't doubt.
Hull and I will be a little like that. More like boxers, maybe. The wire idea was genius. That's whats going to make him let his guard down.
Nothing increases the odds of victory more than letting the enemy think hes already taken your secret weapon.
Hidden in my belt is a digital transmitter Kelly brought along in his Blackhawk gear bag. Given Kellys flint-knife surprise in Sandss office, we feel sure that Quinn will search every nook and cranny of our bodies before allowing us near Sands. When his search turns up the wire, that should convince our marks that we have no other way to record the conversation. After that everything depends on Sandss steering us to his office or to the interrogation room below deck.
You know what I'm wondering? Kelly says.
What?
Did Jiao really hide those recorders in there?
You mean where she was supposed to?
He gives me a sidelong glance. I mean at all.
She did. Dont even think about it.
Why are you so sure?
I turn to him, a slight smile showing. Hell hath no fury, brother. Its a law of the universe. Like gravity.
The grade levels out at last, and Kelly pulls the 4Runner alongside the massive barge with the faux steamboat built atop it. The structure dwarfs everything around it, and only the steel cables running above our heads that moor the casino to the shore betray that its a vessel and not a building. A red-coated valet approaches the 4Runner, but Kelly rolls down his window and waves him off, then raises the window with a whir.
Listen, he says, all levity gone from his voice. No matter how you look at this, were about to walk into hostile territory. Indian country. I don't know if Po is coming to this party later or not, but you can bet that Sands, Hull, and Quinn have contingency plans in case things don't go their way
. At a certain point, every situation becomes every man for himself. Understand?
Youre saying if it goes to shit, I'm on my own?
No. I'm saying those guys won't hesitate to fuck each other or anyone else who gets in their way. Trust does not exist among these people. Not even Quinn and Sands, who probably grew up together. But Sandss biggest fear is
you.
Youre the loose cannon on his deck. While he had Caitlin, he felt he had you under control, but now I don't think hed hesitate to kill you if he thought you were going to have him arrested.
I get you.
After you, his fear is Hull. If Po doesn't show, Hulls going after Sandss scalp. So Sands has to have an exit strategy in that event too. Just keep all that in mind while youre winging it.
I will.
Kelly grins at last. We've been here before, bro. If the wheels come off, hit the deck and listen for me. I'll be right with you.
I know you will.
Kelly looks to his left, over the long gangplank that leads to the main deck of the
Queen.
Theres our buddy, he says, lifting a hand to wave at Seamus Quinn. I'm gonna give you one for Linda Church before were done, you mick bastard.
Arent you Irish too?
Sure. What?
Nothing. Just take it easy. We didn't come to fight.
I'm easy, baby. Lets do it.
As we walk across the broad gangplank, I lean toward Kelly. You think itll be Sandss office or belowdecks?
Interrogation room, he whispers. The Devils Punchbowl.
Why there?
He laughs loudly, as though I've just told a joke. In case they decide to shoot us. Easier to dump the bodies.
I cant tell if hes kidding or not, and before I have time to think