The Sky Might Fall (Harry Vee, PI)

by Michael Young

  Huang raised the baseball bat, “I’ll fucking…” He got no further as two shots pierced his chest and knocked him backwards, lifeless on the floor next to Harry on his chair. The shots echoed for a long time around the empty space.

  Harry looked across at Buchanen. It looked like the poor guy had just relieved himself. A bloody grin grew across Harry’s mouth as he looked back to Jessica. “How lovely to see you again.” Blood spat from his mouth with every word.

  She eyed him calmly. “Save it Harry, I’m not going to save you this time.” Walking up to Buchanen she pulled his phone from his pocket and snapped a picture of the boy’s face, and another one of Harry.

  “Then who are you here for, Jessica? Just yourself? Uncle Sam?”

  “I’m here to get the girl, Harry.” She tapped a few words as she talked. “It looks like the idiot son has done something useful for once. Now we have communication, and you two might just be the key. Especially you,” she looked up from the phone, straight into Harry’s eyes, “I mean, who could resist.”

  “Yeah, but there goes your payday when Huang finds out what you’ve done.”

  “The Chinese will be taking care of Huang anyway, as you well know. Which nicely ties things up as far as I’m concerned. His money doesn’t matter.”

  “If it’s not the money, then what? Just for the guys back in Washington? The ones yanking on your leash?”

  She stood in front of him, looking over his wounds. “I expect to get paid, of course, but there’s more to it than that. Poor, ignorant, Harry. Do you know the technology waiting to be discovered here? The things we can learn?” She leaned in close to his face, “Can you imagine what Washington would give to keep that out of Beijing’s hands?”

  “And the girl?”

  “Oh, Harry, she’s very special.” She started walking round him, tracing a finger through the blood on his face. He twisted his face away. Jessica examined the thick red smear on her fingertip. “DNA, Harry. For the first time, actual living DNA. But we need a carrier to keep it alive. And it’s radioactive, you see? How do we move that around?”

  “You poison a little girl?”

  “A poor little sick girl, of course. Who’s had radiation therapy. We get her into the States for treatment, and then we remove the material and she’s well again. I’m trying to save her Harry. And even if she dies, well, look at this way: she’ll be a martyr. A martyr to the future.”

  “I don’t think you believe that.” He looked her in the eye. “I don’t think you really believe it’s worth all this.” Harry looked around at the bodies lying on the floor. “That it’s worth the girl’s life?”

  She turned away from him. “Welcome to America, Harry. This is how we’ve always done it. It’s nothing new. It’s just the way things work.”

  Jessica Lee walked away; the conversation was over. She pulled out her phone and went to sit in the car. Harry called across to the boy. “Hey, Buchanen.” The kid looked up at him, dumbly. “Snap out of it, will you. You believe all this stuff, right?”

  Buchanen nodded. “I’ve seen it.”

  “Well, I hope it was worth it for you.”

  “Who are you?”

  “Friend of Mui.”

  Buchanen nodded again, this time to himself. “We’re the bait, aren’t we? They’re using us to catch her. And then they’re going to kill us.”

  “That’s about the size of it. Sorry kid. No more great plans. If you have a knife in your pocket, now is the time to start cutting those ropes.”

  Buchanen shook his head. His chin dropped low. Harry couldn’t think of anything more to say to him. He couldn’t think of anything at all.

  *

  Harry realised he had passed out when he heard the car start and looked up to see Jessica driving away into the sunlight. He didn’t know how long he’d been out, could’ve been an hour or more. Buchanen’s head was sunk onto his chin. Harry couldn’t tell if he was awake or not, but didn’t expect any help from that direction.

  He started feeling around the rope on his wrists and the chair. It was tight, but they weren’t the most expertly tied knots. With a bit of wriggling maybe he could loosen one. He started pulling at bits of rope, twisting his hands around. The cord started biting tighter into his wrists. Five minutes later and he was getting nowhere. Then he heard another car approaching. He looked up to the far end of the warehouse, expecting Jessica Lee to have returned. It was Jim James.

  “About fucking time,” said Harry as James stepped out of the car.

  “Hey, it wasn’t easy to see what was going on in here.” He looked over the four bodies on the ground. “This was Lee’s handiwork?” He strode over to Harry, pulled a small knife from his pocket, and started cutting him free. James nodded at Buchanen, who still hadn’t moved. “What’s up with him?”

  With his hands free Harry started to untie his legs. “Just had the worst day of his life. He’ll get over it.” He started rubbing his sore wrists, as James started to saw at Buchanen’s knots. “Put him in the car. Jessica’s gone after Mui; we have to go, now.” James guided Buchanen to the back seat, as Harry picked up one of the thug’s gun from the floor and got into the driver’s seat. “Lee sent an email to Mui. Find out what it said.”

  James got to work on his laptop as Harry drove out from the warehouse, into the light of day. They were in an industrial estate out beyond East Kowloon. Jessica had a good start on them. James said, “Nice photo. Lee said to meet her in front of the Space Museum, on the waterfront.”

  Harry knew where that was. He turned the wheel hard and sped off towards Kowloon. “Has Mui read it?”

  “Mui’s replied already. She says she’s already there.”

  Harry cursed and pushed the car to go faster, the tires screeching around the corners of the almost deserted backstreets between warehouses. The traffic was heavier as they hit the main freeway into Kowloon. Harry weaved in and out of the other cars, keeping an eye out for police.

  Wiping some of the dried blood from his chin with his sleeve, he could feel his cheek swelling from Tony Huang’s attention. With Jessica’s head start there was no way they could make it in time. They were still at least twenty-five minutes away, and Jessica would be there in fifteen. Harry pulled his phone from his pocket and dialled with one hand, while he drove.

  He put the phone to his ear and waited for the other end to pick up. “This is Harry Vee. Tell Huang Jessica Lee has double-crossed him. She’s picking up the girl at the Space Museum in ten minutes.” He hung up.

  “Are you sure about this Harry?”

  “It might just buy us time to get there. If Jessica gets her, they’ll be out of Hong Kong in two hours.”

  “True. Huang’s not that smart. But do you think he’ll even believe you?”

  “He’ll have to send some guys down to check it out, at least.” Harry accelerated past another line of cars, cursing under his breath.

  *

  As Harry hit Salisbury Road the traffic cleared and he put his foot to the floor. It was a large, wide road that followed the bay. On the left were the largest hotels and department stores, arts centres and museums, and behind these the famous view across the water to the skyscrapers of Hong Kong Island, and the Peak rising above them. The sun flashed off the water as they sped past. Harry focused on the road in front of him as it straightened out.

  One hundred yards ahead was the concrete dome of the Space Museum, and he could see cars pulled across the road in front of it. James pulled a large Browning pistol from his pocket. He looked behind to the passenger in the back. Buchanen seemed barely awake. “He won’t be any help.”

  “I didn’t expect him to be.” They heard a burst of automatic gunfire. A number of cars had braked in the middle of the road so Harry guided them up onto the wide pavement. Jessica’s car was stopped in front of them, and he saw her crouched behind an open door, returning fire over the wing mirror. An SUV and a van were on the other side of the road: Huang’s men, taking cover and firing Ka
lashnikovs and Uzis at Jessica. She was heavily outnumbered.

  Harry skidded to a halt in front of the museum. He and James threw the doors open and ducked behind them. James fired a burst at the two men next to the van, while Harry put his head up to look out for Mui. He couldn’t see her anywhere.

  Jessica Lee took their arrival as her sign to depart. She climbed back into the car, ducking under the gunfire, and reversed at speed before spinning the car and disappearing down the road. Then Harry saw Mui. She was in the backseat of the SUV, struggling against one of Huang’s men.

  Another of them fired a burst of his Uzi at James and broke cover, sprinting back to the car containing Mui. Harry emptied his clip at him, but they saw him climb into the front and the SUV disappeared in a cloud of tire smoke, Mui’s hand pressed against the rear window as the thug struggled to hold her down.

  Two more men remained, next to the van. They emptied their Kalshnikovs into the car as Harry dived backwards from the door, staying low and covering his head. The bullets sprayed across the vehicle, broken glass spraying Harry as he lay on the brickwork, and then he heard the van doors closing, and it too was gone. In seconds there was nothing but the smell of gunfire and rubber, and the distant sound of sirens.

  Harry picked himself up off the floor. James was still down on the other side, and Harry went to check him. He had a hole in his leg, and another in the shoulder. He was still breathing but unconscious. With the sirens getting closer, there was nothing Harry could do to help him now. The car was a mess, most of the windows gone and both front tires. Buchanen was crouched down on the back seat.

  Harry opened the door and reached for him, but stopped when he saw the blood. It was too late for Buchanen. With the police sounding as though they must surely be on top of him, Harry ran across the road, past the astonished onlookers who were starting to emerge from their cars and nearby buildings, and disappeared into the deep streets of Kowloon.

  Turning off the main street, the stares of passers-by made him suddenly conscious of how he must look. He came to a large plate glass window. His cheek was swollen and blue. Around his eye was turning a deep purple. Dried blood was crusted around his chin, his lips, his nose. Through the window, people sat at the restaurant tables inside were staring at him. He moved on quickly as police cars with sirens wailing passed on the main street behind him.

  He dropped the gun in a bin; it was empty anyway. Should have picked up another back at the warehouse. At a tube station he went down the steps and into the bathroom. At least he could wash the blood off his face. But what could he do then?

  *

  It was early evening and the last of the sun was turning red as it reflected off the water. Dozens of massive cargo ships lay heavy in the water around the docks, while on the quayside thousands of metal cargo containers were stacked around the giant cranes that would start up again the next morning. The last of the hard-hatted workers were finishing off for the day, storing tools, locking up the huts and small offices.

  Harry paid the taxi driver, and walked through the large chain link gates. His face was a little cleaner, but one cheek was a nasty purple, and badly swollen. The dusty road took him up almost to the water’s edge, then turned left to follow the line of the quayside. Harry walked up between the crane tracks in the centre. Was there any point in hiding? He didn’t think so. He had no plan, no gun, no dice left to throw.

  Another two hundred yards through the last of the sun’s rays, and there was Fong’s Export Co’s small harbour office on the left. He walked straight through the door, into an office with filing cabinets against the walls, and a desk and a door at the far end, and into the middle of Huang’s thugs. In an instant, guns were raised and aimed at Harry.

  There were five of them. Harry recognised two from the shootout at the museum, and two more from Huang’s yacht. He stood defenceless in the centre of the room. “Chinese State Security are on their way. I don’t know when they’ll get here, but when they do, they’ll kill everyone in this room.”

  None of them quite knew how to react. There was silence, for a few seconds, until one of them started to laugh. It was the guard from the yacht. He put a heavy hand on Harry’s shoulder, with a grip that suggested it wasn’t a friendly pat. “Stick around, Mr Vee. I think the boss will talk to you.” He nodded at one of the others, who disappeared out the door. He returned quickly with Huang. Huang took the hard hat from his head and tossed it on the desk, and looked Harry slowly up and down. He nodded at the other men and they left Harry with Huang and the guard, his hand still on Harry’s shoulder. Harry shook it off, and said, “You don’t have long, Huang. Chinese State Security will be cleaning this place up, and that means you.”

  Huang looked at him, thoughtful. “That’s a poor bluff, Harry. Even for you, that’s poor.”

  “I told you about Jessica. That was true.”

  “That double-crossing bitch will get what she deserves.”

  “It’s not just her. The Americans have fucked you over. As far as they’re concerned, the Chinese can clean this mess up. Just as soon as they get what they want.”

  “As far as I’m concerned, the Americans will pay their money and shut their mouths. This is my town, and I’ve got the girl.”

  “She’s death, Huang, you should let her go. Her father, her friends, your son…”

  “Yes, Tony. That was…unfortunate.”

  Huang was calm, but Harry didn’t know for how much longer. He didn’t know what he was trying to achieve here.

  “Jessica took him out, and his boys.”

  “I know,” he turned to the desk and tapped the computer. “I’ve seen the security footage. Well, he got what he deserved. He was always just too fucking stupid.” Huang turned back to Harry, “I don’t know if you know this, but I have another son. One a father can be proud of. One who’s fit to run this business when I retire.”

  “I know one thing, Huang. You’re running out of time.”

  Huang was amused. “And what do you expect me to do? Give up the girl and run? I don’t think so. I will negotiate with the Americans and make sure they pay. Neither of us needs Jessica Lee anymore.”

  “And when the Chinese catch up to you?”

  “I won’t be too worried about the Chinese. They could hardly assassinate a person of my standing without someone noticing, especially in Hong Kong. We’re not part of China yet, not quite. Things don’t work like that around here. In Hong Kong the power lies with people like me, not the government.”

  “Well that’s your lookout, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  Huang laughed. “You never quite understood the magnificence of what we’re doing here, did you Harry?”

  “I don’t need to understand anything. Where’s the girl?”

  “Indulge me. Come, I want to show you something.” He took a crowbar from a stack of tools in the corner of the office, and walked out through the door. His thug shoved Harry after him. They took Harry behind the office, through the shipping containers stacked thirty feet above them. After a twisting path, Huang stopped in front of an old container with faded paint. He slipped a couple of bolts and opened one of the doors.

  With the sun sinking fast Harry couldn’t see a lot inside. Huang walked into the darkness, and Harry found himself pushed inside after him. His eyes gradually adjusted to the light and he saw Huang standing in front of him tapping the crowbar into his hand. Harry flinched, ready to defend himself, but Huang turned to one of the small wooden packing crates filling most of the container. He levered off the lid, pushing it to one side, and pulled out handfuls of straw-like stuffing. Then Harry saw the metal shard.

  It was about three feet long, a twisted strip that could have come from any car wreck, except that, even in this dim light, it was the shiniest piece of metal Harry had ever seen. “This is it, Harry. I love to play with it, but this is the last. For four years Fong has been shipping this out for me, piece by piece, shard by shard, and the last of it leaves tomorrow.”
>
  He pulled the metal strip easily from the container. It was a light silver colour, but seemed to reflect the light like a diamond, with blues and reds sparkling from deep inside. “It’s beautiful isn’t it Harry. But it isn’t jewellery. It’s not the shine that makes this chunk worth millions.” He let go of the shard, and where it should have dropped heavily, it sank, floating slowly downward, as if through water, to touch gently and almost noiselessly on the base of the container. “Now that’s the beauty, Harry. There’s the real beauty. And there’s more. Circuits like we’ve never imagined, engineering beyond our dreams. Imagine what scientists could do with this. I don’t even know, Harry.”

  Harry struggled for words. “And your own country? You’re selling out China.”

  “Don’t be a fool. China isn’t my country. I’m a citizen of Hong Kong, and that makes me a capitalist of the world.”

  “And the girl? You’ll sell her, too?”

  “Oh but Harry, she’s worth five times the rest of it. Do you know what she has inside her?”

  “Yeah, I heard, but I don’t see why.”

  Now Huang seemed to get angry, “She would have been fine if she hadn’t run away. She’s sick, we say she has cancer, that she had radiation treatment. We fly her to America and she’s well again in a week. You think a father would have just murdered his daughter?”

  “Did Fong have a choice?”

  “Ha! It was his idea to use her. Oh, you think I killed him, huh? No Harry, that was his own idea, too.”

  “And you can still save her?”

  “I’m afraid the doctor thinks it may already too late, but there is still a chance to save her. We must get her to America fast. But the material inside her, Harry, we can still save the material, while she still breathes.”