by Jake Logan
He spilled his seed into her greedy interior and then they both gave a final shudder and collapsed together. Slocum lay atop Tess on the desk for some time before her eyelids flickered and she looked at him. Her bright eyes were still blazing with lust.
“That was…”
“Good?” he supplied.
“The best ever,” she said. “I never thought I could feel like that, like this, like—” She suddenly cut off the flow of words and turned away from him. Slocum straightened and began toying with her nipples. Both were still engorged with blood and sensitive. He knew because she gasped every time he tweaked or twisted them.
“Please, John. No more. I’m going to be sore.”
“Sore?”
“You’re so big,” she said. “I’m not used to that.”
Slocum started to say something about Sir William but held off. It was none of his business what Tess and Sir William did when they were together. She obviously had a crush on him, but Slocum could not tell if any of the feeling was reciprocated. Sir William bounced about in a world entirely his own. Letting anyone else in was not likely to happen.
As Slocum stepped back he realized he and Sir William shared that. Anne had melted his heart only to have hers frozen. To death.
“I’d better get dressed,” he said.
“Are you still leaving? I wish you would stay,” she said, sitting up on the desk. She put hands over her naked breasts but did nothing to conceal her privates. The honey-blond hair contrasted sharply with the dark wood desktop.
“I’ve got myself involved in more than you could believe,” Slocum said. “If I stay, you’d be in danger.” Seeing this had no effect on her, he added, “Sir William would be in constant danger, too. None of it would be his doing, either.”
“You’re in trouble with the tongs, aren’t you? Which ones? The Sum Yop?”
“Sum Yop and On Leong,” Slocum said. “Both would love to see me with a hatchet in the middle of my forehead.”
“We can figure some way out of your trouble, John. We can. Sir William is a clever, knowledgeable man. And I want to do what I can to keep you here, too.”
“For me?”
“For us,” Tess said boldly. Her hands fell away, showing her naked boobs again. Slocum had to admit this was a powerful argument, but he knew that he had to think with his head and not parts of his lower anatomy.
“You promised. You’re on the payroll.”
“Fire me,” he said.
Tess’s face fell. She got off the desk and began dressing. “Be like that,” she said bitterly. “This is what always happens. The men in my life are either scoundrels or only use me.”
“Which is Sir William?”
She swung about angrily. Her cheeks were flushed and her hands balled into fists, as if she would hit him.
“Neither,” she said. “He doesn’t even know I exist.”
“You might be wrong,” Slocum said, knowing she was not. He had seen men like Sir William Macadams before. The adventure mattered more than anything else. The next horizon, around the next bend, over the hill rising before them, those counted more than life itself. No woman could compete with such potent lures. Again, Slocum knew. He and Sir William were alike in that, too.
“Oh, no, he’s here early. I thought we had time!” Tess hurried to complete dressing. Slocum worked more slowly, but getting into his damp clothing proved difficult. He just slung his gun belt over his shoulder rather than taking time to strap it on when Sir William came barreling into the room.
“Good, good, you’re both here. Glad to see troops eager for the battle.”
“What battle’s that?” Slocum asked.
“I’ve got a lead on where the jade crown might be,” Sir William said triumphantly.
Tess gasped. Slocum looked at her. She had turned even paler than usual. Her porcelain complexion looked almost transparent.
“Who’s got it?” Slocum asked.
“You were right to suspect the pirate out in the harbor, my good man,” Sir William said. “Lai Choi San. She certainly tried to steal the crown the opening night.”
Slocum started to point out that, while those would-be robbers were sailors, the other Celestials who had come into the museum were members of the Sum Yop tong. What connection could a pirate from three thousand miles away have with a local tong?
“I tried to get aboard her junk and couldn’t do it,” Slocum said.
“Yes, Sir William, he almost got himself killed. Dealing with this Lai Choi San is too dangerous. Let her keep the crown. Please.”
Slocum stared at Tess now. She was not hearing Sir William at all. The man had spent a considerable amount of time and, possibly, money tracking down the jade crown. Because a Chinese pirate had the crown was not going to stop him from recovering it. If anything, it would make the repossession all the more exciting.
“Nonsense, my dear. Slocum and I will meet with Lai Choi San and sweet-talk her out of the crown. What could a pirate possibly want with a trinket if I can offer gold in exchange?”
Slocum’s mind raced. Sir William was willing to ransom the crown. How could he be separated from it so Slocum could give it to Little Pete in return for Ah Ming’s father? Leaving town was premature. He might satisfy everyone concerned—except Sir William—and leave San Francisco with his honor intact.
“When do we meet her?” Slocum asked. Again Tess sucked in her breath and looked as if she were going to be sick. He ignored her. “Give me a few minutes to change clothes, and I’ll be ready.”
“Capital, my dear boy, capital!”
The change of clothing meant little to him. Slocum wanted to be sure his Colt Navy was properly cleaned and oiled. Then accounts would be settled.
11
“How did you get in touch with her?” Slocum asked.
“It was not easy, but I found a gentleman—and I use the term loosely—who sells supplies to those who come into harbor and are desirous of avoiding legal entanglements.”
“A black marketeer,” Slocum said.
“Well, yes, that might be an apt description,” Sir William said. He leaned back as the carriage clattered along the cobblestone streets, going past Portsmouth Square and toward the docks. He might be out taking the air for all the strain he showed. If anything, he treated this as a lark. Slocum knew differently.
“He sent a message to Lai Choi San?”
“I don’t know how he contacted her. Imagine this, a female pirate captain. Chinese, to boot. Most peculiar, though the Celestials are peculiar people, all the time bowing and scraping, banging their heads against the floor in subservience and then cutting off your head with one of their damnable axes. Triads and tongs and secret societies, they have it all.”
“How can you be sure this black marketeer actually contacted Lai Choi San? He might consider you worth kidnaping for a reward.”
“Who would he ask? Pah!”
“Tess,” Slocum said. “She would hand over all the remaining jade artifacts in exchange for your life.”
“Then she would have to fork over all of my precious collection for the pair of us,” Sir William said airily. “You are, after all, along to protect me. Whatever danger I find myself in, you’ll be in it up to your fetlocks, too.”
That did not make Slocum feel any better. He wished he had been the one arranging to meet Lai Choi San so he could guess how trustworthy the smuggler might be. Not very reliable was obvious. How much in the pocket of the tongs the man might be was another matter. The On Leong would want to help Slocum find the jade to get their precious leader’s body returned. The Sum Yop might want to deal Slocum out of the game altogether. Little Pete would appreciate getting the jade crown and keeping the body of his enemy. That would be delicious revenge for whatever had occurred between the rival gangs.
“There! There he is! Our go-between. Driver, stop here. Now!”
The carriage rattled to a halt. Sir William had jumped out before it stopped rolling. Slocum was slower to fol
low. His eyes roamed about, taking in all he could. If this was a trap, he did not see it. The man stood alone in the street. No snipers on nearby rooftops appeared, and rushing from any of the open doorways would be difficult. Slocum decided the smuggler wanted as open a spot as the adventurer did if Sir William wanted to double-cross him. If Sir William even thought of such a thing.
“He’ll go with us. Row us out in his boat,” Sir William said.
“How much?” Slocum demanded. The smuggler got a shifty look and then grinned.
“You ain’t like him. You look like you mean business.”
“I say, old chap, we both mean business.” Sir William was put out when the smuggler ignored him.
“I want a cut of the action,” the smuggler said. “Word is that somethin’ real valuable got stolen. You and him, you’re arrangin’ with the lady pirate to get it out of the country.”
Slocum said nothing. Let the man think what he wanted.
“Come on, then. We got a hard row ahead. The bay’s a man killer ’less you know what you’re doin’.”
Slocum rubbed his blistered hands on his pants legs and tried not to groan as he moved. His back was stiff from the rowing the previous night. They went down to the docks where the smuggler pointed. Two men were already in a rowboat, one on each oar.
“Them’s my boys. And this here’s the way I signal Lai Choi San that I want to palaver.” He shoved a small flagpole into a holder and fumbled inside his coat to pull out a bright green and white silk flag. “There. Now we won’t get fired on like that dumb-ass navy officer did.” The smuggler laughed and jumped into the boat.
“This is high adventure, eh, my good man?”
“Fine adventure,” Slocum said cautiously. He kept the smuggler in front of him where he could put a bullet into his gut if he tried anything. The man cheerfully ordered his two men to row.
They cast off and within minutes were like a cork bobbing in a pond. Slocum held on to the sides of the boat but his eyes fixed on the junk. Already the lookout had spotted them. Half a dozen men prowled restlessly along the deck. The activity stopped when a figure dressed in white appeared on the highest deck.
“There she is,” the smuggler said. “That’s Lai Choi San givin’ us the once-over. She might not like you totin’ that hogleg.”
“Life is full of disappointments,” Slocum said.
This made the smuggler a little uneasy, but he went back to joking with his men to keep their minds off the effort required to row through the choppy San Francisco Bay.
“If we have to, can you swim back to shore?” Slocum asked.
“What’s that? I should say not. It’s too far, and the water is too cold. I have even heard that sharks come into the bay, though I have not seen any. What is wrong? You think we’re going into a trap?”
Slocum shook his head. He had no idea what they were getting themselves into, but he would find out soon enough. The rowboat bumped hard against the side of the junk. Ropes fell from above and the two rowers quickly secured the boat. Like a rat going up a line, the smuggler scrambled up a rope and lightly vaulted over the railing. To Slocum’s surprise, Sir William followed with almost as much grace. Grunting and feeling the pain in both back and hands, Slocum reached the deck after the others.
He stared in open admiration at Lai Choi San. She was just an inch shy of being beautiful. Dressed in white silk, blouse and trousers, she wore a woven hemp belt around her trim waist. From it hung a curiously broad-bladed sword and a dagger. On another woman, it might have been an affectation, an attempt at decoration. Slocum had no doubt that Lai Choi San used both and had killed repeatedly with them. She might be beautiful but there was no mercy in her dark eyes.
He could not help but compare her to Ah Ming. They were cut from the same cloth.
“You were at the museum,” Sir William said. “You tried to steal the crown the night of the premier showing.” He looked around and pointed. “Him, him and that one there. They were the brigands who tried to steal the jade.”
“What do you want?” Lai Choi San made no pretense at civility. She glared at the smuggler, who looked sheepish as he shrugged.
“The crown, dear lady, that’s what I want. I’m prepared to offer a fine reward, shall we call it, for the return.”
Slocum saw instantly from Lai Choi San’s expression that the pirate did not have the jade crown.
“I thought you came for me to buy it from you.”
“However did you get such a mistaken notion?” Sir William asked.
“Him. He’s playing both of you, one against the other,” said Slocum. “Sir William is offering a pile of gold for the crown.”
“He cannot have it for any price, even if I had it,” Lai Choi San said.
“Of course you have it. You stole it!”
“Stole it! How did you get it? You robbed an imperial messenger.”
“It was an abandoned artifact. I found it in an archaeological dig.”
“The Jade Emperor will not be denied. That is his crown and has been on the royal brow for more than one thousand years. You stole it. You killed the guards and messenger and stole it. I demand its return. In the name of the Emperor, I—”
“Oh, be quiet, you tedious shrew,” snapped Sir William.
Slocum saw that berating Lai Choi San aboard her own ship was not a smart thing to do. No captain would permit it, and the pirate queen maintained her control over a cutthroat crew by sheer force of personality—and an iron hand. Slocum rested his hand on the butt of his six-shooter. A dozen of the woman’s crew were already slipping knives from sheaths at their belts.
“She doesn’t have the crown,” Slocum said. Sir William was not having any of it.
“You listen to me. I—”
“Now,” Slocum said, grabbing the explorer’s arm and pulling hard enough to unbalance him.
“Don’t interrupt,” Sir William said angrily. Red in the face, he was ready to explode.
Slocum looked around and saw that the smuggler had turned pale. His eyes darted around but always came back to the spot on the railing where the rope ladder hung. Below it in the rowboat were his two rowers. It would take only three quick steps for the smuggler to be over the railing and in his boat. Slocum moved to block the man’s escape, hoping to force him to settle some of the dust kicked up by an angry Sir William.
It did not work that way. The man lunged, pushed hard against Slocum and tried to vault the railing. Slocum tripped him and whirled out of the way. Every one of Lai Choi San’s crew had their knives out and were advancing. Slocum caught a glimpse of Sir William out of the corner of his eye and saw that the man realized his mistake.
“You don’t have the jade crown, do you?” Sir William said in a weak voice.
Slocum seized the man and bodily threw him over the railing. Sir William’s feet hit the top rail and sent him tumbling through the air. Slocum heard a loud splash. He backed away, eyes locked on Lai Choi San’s.
She said nothing but did not have to. Her crew was acting according to her unspoken orders.
“I’ll kill you,” Slocum said.
“Wait!” Lai Choi San put up her hand. “You threaten me?”
“Nope,” Slocum said. “A threat’s something that might not happen. I just made a promise.”
A flicker of amusement crossed her face. As quickly as it came, it vanished.
Slocum did not hesitate. To do so would mean his death. He turned and arched over the railing in a smooth dive. He hit the icy water and felt his breath being sucked away. Kicking hard, he fought to get back to the surface. He came out sputtering. He tossed his head and got the water from his eyes. Ten yards away the two men in the black marketeer’s boat were putting their backs into rowing. Thrashing through the water just behind paddled Sir William. He yelled for the men to stop, but they only rowed faster.
Slocum felt the warmth being sucked from his body by the cold bay water. He started swimming and quickly overtook Sir William.
�
��We’ve got to stop the—Slocum!” Sir William pointed and was dunked.
Gunfire caused Slocum to roll over in the water and look high above at the junk’s deck. Three crewmen used old muskets to shoot at the fleeing men. For such ancient weapons, their accuracy was amazing. Both of the smuggler’s henchmen jerked about and fell overboard. Slocum did not have to see their bodies to know they were dead.
“Sharks,” Sir William gasped out. “The blood in the water will draw sharks!”
Slocum put his face down in the water and stroked as hard and fast as he could. Like an arrow he shot through the water and quickly reached the empty rowboat. He pulled himself up on the far side, peering over it at the junk. Lai Choi San stood with her snipers. Whatever she said, they lowered their muskets and backed off. Slocum heaved himself into the boat and lay in the bottom a moment, getting his breath back. Then he shivered hard.
“Help me, help me in, my good man,” Sir William said. His shaking hand reached up out of the water. Slocum braced his feet, grabbed the adventurer’s wrist and heaved. Sir William popped out of the water and crashed to the bottom of the boat, causing it to rock.
“Take an oar. Row,” Slocum said, keeping his teeth from chattering only through force of will. “It means our lives.”
Sir William took his place, then nodded. They stroked together. Slowly at first, then with increasing speed and power, they sent the boat skipping over the choppy water.
It was only after a few minutes of effort that Slocum realized they were going away from San Francisco and heading for the far side of the bay. Somehow, that mattered less than getting away alive. He looked up at the junk bobbing on the same waves that tormented him so in the smaller boat. The deck was empty save for a figure dressed in white.
Lai Choi San.
She watched but Slocum wondered what she was thinking. She could have blown them out of the water easily but had ordered her marksmen to stop firing.
“This is a bloody lot of work,” said Sir William, panting.
“I know,” Slocum said. It was the second time in as many days that he had been forced to row for his life. The result each time had been the same. A tired back. More blisters on his hands. And failure.