Black Karma

by Thatcher Robinson

  “Why are you here, Bai?”

  “My friend was shot.”

  “Was it an accident?”

  “That seems unlikely.”

  “I see.” Larry seemed to think about her answer. “What kind of work do you do, Bai?”

  “I find lost people,” she explained.

  He nodded and showed interest. “Is that lucrative?”

  “Not so much,” she reflected. “The money is lousy, and I seem to really irritate people.”

  “Then why do you do it?” he asked.

  She produced a wan smile. “I’ve been wondering that myself.”

  He nodded but appeared baffled by her answer. She looked aside and saw Alicia walking toward them with a large paper cup in her hand. She stopped in front of Bai and held out the coffee.

  Bai accepted the caffeine gratefully. “Thanks.”

  “Is this your daughter?” Larry asked.

  Bai looked at Alicia and smiled. “Yes, isn’t she beautiful?”

  “She looks like you.”

  “She does. Doesn’t she?”

  Alicia looked at Larry then at Bai and made a face suggesting all adults were idiots. Bai sipped her coffee and patted the empty seat next to her. Alicia sat.

  “Did you eat?” Bai asked her.

  She nodded. “Mmm.”

  “What did you have?”

  “Hamburger.”

  “Was it good?”

  She shook her head.

  “Hospital food never is.”

  The girl nodded but didn’t reply. Bai left Alicia to her thoughts. She’d turned the girl’s life upside down. It would take time for Alicia to sort through the changes. She’d open up if and when she felt ready.

  A voice called Larry’s name over the intercom. He got up and, with a farewell nod to Bai, walked toward the nurse’s station. Time ticked slowly by until Alicia’s voice interrupted her reverie. “You didn’t ask for your change.”

  She turned blankly to look at the girl. “I don’t want it. Keep the change for pocket money.”

  “I’ve decided to go with you,” Alicia said. “It’ll be interesting to see how long your family puts up with having a Mexican whore around the house.”

  Bai met the girl’s gaze. Alicia chewed her lip, showing her apprehension.

  “Be yourself,” Bai said. “They’ll love you.”

  Alicia didn’t look convinced.

  Jason walked into the waiting room with Martin and another enforcer at his back. He waved his two bodyguards back as he walked over to speak with Bai. A tense smile set his features as his gaze shifted to Alicia then back again. “Sorry it took so long to get here. There was traffic.”

  “He’s still in surgery. I haven’t been able to find out anything,” Bai replied.

  He nodded toward Alicia. “Who’s your friend?”

  “This is Alicia.”

  As Jason gazed more earnestly at the girl, she seemed to melt under his scrutiny—not a good sign.

  “My name is Jason, Alicia,” he said, holding out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  She took his hand timidly.

  “Jason is family, Alicia,” Bai informed the girl, “but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t count your fingers when you get your hand back.”

  Alicia smiled; Jason frowned.

  When he spoke, his words were for Bai’s benefit. “I’ve talked to a contact inside SFPD. Lee was shot twice in the back at close range with a small-caliber handgun. They think it was a silenced twenty-two. No witnesses came forward even though it happened in broad daylight on a crowded sidewalk. No exit wounds, so the paramedics made the assumption the bullets were still in him. Other than that, they couldn’t tell me anything. There wasn’t much blood, and nobody heard or saw anything suspicious. Pedestrians who stopped to help him thought he’d fainted until they noticed the holes in his back.”

  “He was following a man in a gray suit—about six feet tall with broad shoulders and a dark tan,” Bai informed him.

  “Do you know who he is?”

  “No, but Inspector Kelly does. He met the tan man at Figaro’s on Columbus Avenue this afternoon.”

  “The man who came out of the restaurant?” Alicia asked.

  Bai turned to her. “Yes. Do you know him?”

  She shook her head. “No. But the fat popo met him once before. I saw them come out of the police station, the one on Sacramento Street, yesterday. They were arguing.”

  “That’s good to know,” Bai said, putting her hand over Alicia’s. “Thanks for telling me.”

  Jason turned to the girl. “Where did Kelly go when you followed him?”

  “He hangs out at a bar down in the Tenderloin called the Sand Dab on Twenty-Third. He’s a real boozer. He’s always there.”

  Jason’s eyes narrowed in thought as Bai watched him closely. She knew he loved Lee like a brother, and she suspected he had his own ideas about how to deal with Inspector Kelly.

  “Let me talk to Kelly first. He knows me. I may be able to get more out of him by asking nicely.”

  He seemed to consider her argument, then nodded slowly, which she hoped was a sign of assent. If he decided to beat the truth out of Kelly, she knew there would be no stopping him.

  Bai heard her name over the intercom. A disembodied voice asked her to come to the nurse’s station. She turned to Alicia. “Can you wait here for me? I’ll try not to be too long.”

  The girl nodded, and Bai got up to walk toward the nurse’s station with Jason at her side.

  “So, you found another stray,” he said.

  “Don’t take my feelings lightly,” she warned. “I’m committed to that young woman.”

  “I see.” His tone sounded serious.

  Turning aside, he motioned at Martin to watch Alicia, pointing at his eyes then at the girl sitting in the waiting room. Martin nodded in understanding. She would be guarded.

  A surgeon in green scrubs waited at the nurse’s station to update Bai on Lee’s condition. Appearing at once impatient and exhausted, the doctor’s eyes searched the room as he stood behind the kiosk. Upon spying Bai, he stepped around the enclosure to take her by the elbow and draw both her and Jason aside. Her stomach knotted as she searched the doctor’s face for signs of bad news.

  The doctor introduced himself then guided them down the hallway. “Your brother is out of surgery and in intensive care. I removed two bullets from his chest cavity. One of them hit a rib. The bullet snapped the bone and fragmented like shrapnel. That’s why the surgery took so long. We were looking for small bits of lead that proved difficult to find. The other bullet collapsed a lung and lodged against his sternum. I believe we got everything. His injuries will take time to heal, but with luck, I expect a full recovery.”

  Bai let out a deep breath and almost cried with relief. “Can we see him?”

  “Yes. I doubt he’ll know you for the next several hours, but there isn’t any reason you can’t see him. If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you where we’re keeping him in intensive care until we’re certain he’s stable. Once he’s moved onto the floor, you can spend as much time as you want with him. In ICU, we like to keep the visits short.”

  The doctor led them through a set of double doors where he instructed them to wash their hands and don white surgical masks before leading them through a second set of doors. Subdued lighting revealed a row of cloth-screened cubicles lining each side of the room. Gowned and masked nurses worked in the midst of medical apparatus. Green displays surrounding the hospital beds glowed to impart an otherworldly feel.

  Lee was in the first cubicle lying on his back with tubes running out of each side of his chest and wires hooked to little round pads attached to his sternum, neck, and temple. His skin looked pale. Bai’s eyes filled at the sight of him.

  The doctor glanced briefly at the data displayed on the machines before busying himself checking the drains on the sides of Lee’s chest. He nodded briefly toward Bai and Jason, “Don’t worry about the tu
bes and wires; they’re all temporary. He’s conscious but heavily sedated. He’ll be addled until the drugs wear off—a good three or four hours from now. If you don’t have any more questions, I’ll be on my way. I have another surgery.”

  They both nodded, and the doctor left them alone with Lee.

  Seeing Lee in his present state, Bai felt tears flowing from her eyes. Jason put an arm around her shoulders and drew her to him. She didn’t resist and quietly sobbed against his chest.

  “It’s all right,” he said. “It’ll take more than a couple of little bullets to kill Lee. I expect he’ll be really embarrassed when he wakes up and finds out someone ambushed him. His pride will be wounded worse than his back.”

  She wiped her eyes and tried but failed to smile. Lee would be furious when he realized what had happened, and rightfully so. Only a coward shoots someone in the back. He’d want retribution. From the look on Jason’s face, Lee would have to stand in line.

  She could read Jason’s thoughts. “He’s my partner.”

  Jason frowned as he met her gaze. “Lee’s not an amateur. Whoever did this is either very lucky or a professional. Let me handle this.”

  “You can watch my back.”

  His mouth fell into a hard line. “You have children to care for.”

  He might have been right, but that didn’t alter her obligation to Lee.

  “I have to do this,” she replied without emotion. “Like I said, he’s my partner.”

  His features softened when he realized he couldn’t dissuade her. “If you’re intent on finding the shooter, you’re going to have to make some concessions, the first one being adequate protection. I’m going to arrange for security on the house and the kids. You’ll have to inform my mother and the children of the necessary precautions. We’ll be as subtle as possible, but bodyguards are bodyguards. There’s no way to hide them.”

  “I understand.”

  He smiled. “How long has it been since you’ve worn a Kevlar coat?”

  He referred to a protective overcoat with bullet-resistant panels on the chest and back. The outer shell of the coat could be made of anything from microfiber to oiled canvas. The coat could be a little confining. She didn’t relish the idea of wearing one. “There’s got to be another way.”

  “When you go to war, go prepared,” he said emphatically. “Kevlar has saved my life on more than one occasion. The coats today are lighter and more comfortable than they used to be.”

  “It just seems so retro.”

  “This isn’t about fashion. It’s about staying alive.”

  “If you were a woman, you’d understand.”

  “And if you were a man,” he replied tersely, “we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

  Chapter 19

  Before checking Lee’s vital signs on the bedside monitor, a stern-looking nurse peered over her glasses at Bai and Jason. She shot them another look after seeing to her patient’s needs, implying their visit had come to an end. Lee remained semiconscious, so they wouldn’t accomplish anything by staying longer. Bai reluctantly left his side.

  Jason took her arm to lead her from the ward and walk with her toward the surgical suite’s waiting room. “Where did you find the girl?”

  “The Norteños had her. They were using her to run errands and just using her in general.”

  “Why get involved?”

  “There was something about the way she looked at me. I couldn’t turn my back on her. I tried.” She smiled at the thought. “She refused to ask for my help. She’s stubborn. I guess I saw something in her that reminded me of me.”

  “You’re telling me they just gave her up?”

  “I cut a deal. I traded information.”

  “Information about what?”

  “The drug exchange in the SOMA that went bad. I had some information Hector wanted.”

  “So you’ve met Hector?” He looked surprised and worried at the same time. A scowl pulled at the corners of his lips.

  “We’re buds.” She crossed her fingers to show him. “We’re like this.”

  “You’d better start sleeping in Kevlar,” he advised. “With friends like Hector, you don’t need enemies.”

  “Hector will be my friend as long as he needs me. Right now we have a common interest—finding the money and the drugs.”

  “Why do you care about finding the money or the drugs?”

  She thought about Jason’s question. “I’ve been lied to and used. I know that. What I don’t know is why. I have the feeling if I can find the drugs and the money then the rest will fall into place, including why the police want Daniel Chen, why Wen Liu was murdered, and why Lee was shot.”

  Jason’s silence hinted at his thoughts on the subject. Her inclination for pursuing the truth had led her into trouble before. With Lee’s having been shot, Wen Liu murdered, and the two Norteños killed, it was pretty obvious somebody was playing for keeps.

  Waiting where Bai had left her, Alicia stood as they approached. “Is your friend all right?”

  Bai put a hand on Alicia’s arm. “He’s in intensive care. The surgeon expects a full recovery.”

  Alicia nodded with a frown. “So we can leave? I don’t like hospitals.”

  Jason addressed Bai. “I’ll give you a lift home. I have a car.”

  She nodded a curt assent.

  He turned aside and inclined his head to Martin, who stood watching them from the entrance to the waiting room where he could keep an eye on the corridor. Martin acknowledged the signal with a subtle nod then made a call on his cell. As they walked out of the waiting room, Martin preceded them to the elevators, where he held an empty lift open. After they entered, he followed them inside to place himself in front of the doors as a human shield. As they exited the lift in the lobby, two more enforcers waited to follow at their backs.

  Alicia turned around nervously as the black-suited men fell in behind them. Bai put an arm around her shoulders to assure the girl. “They’re friends.”

  “Big muthuhs,” Alicia observed.

  Bracketed by two black SUVs, a matching limousine waited with its engine running in front of the hospital. Martin held the rear door open for them. Entering first, Bai tugged Alicia’s hand to pull her into the car. They sat on a bench seat facing the rear. Jason followed to sit facing them. Alicia, meanwhile, ran her hands appreciatively over the black leather interior. Her eyes got big as she admired the trappings of the big sedan.

  “Nice ride,” Alicia said to Jason. “Yours?”

  He smiled. “The car belongs to the business.”

  “Business must be good. What’s your thing?”

  “Jason is a gangster,” Bai informed her. “He just happens to be a very accomplished gangster.”

  “I prefer ‘entrepreneur,’” Jason said with a hard-edged smile. “What I do doesn’t differ appreciably from what every businessman does. ‘Killing the competition’ is the capitalist’s credo.”

  “What’s a credo?” Alicia asked.

  “A credo is a system of beliefs,” Bai answered. “Capitalists believe fair competition will lead to a better life for everyone. Unfortunately, the ‘fair’ aspect of competition is open to interpretation. Like most businessmen, Jason doesn’t mind fudging the rules a bit.”

  Alicia nodded her head but appeared confused by the answer. Jason remained stoic, his face an unreadable mask. Bai suddenly realized she was tired—not physically, but emotionally. Her eyes closed momentarily as she mentally relaxed her guard.

  “Are you all right?” Alicia asked.

  Bai opened her eyes to see the girl’s concern. The overture surprised her. She smiled to set Alicia at ease. Despite her bluster, the girl revealed a vulnerable side. The hard shell she presented to the world already showed signs of cracking.

  “I’m fine,” Bai said, reaching out to hold the girl’s hand. Alicia didn’t resist. “We’ll be home soon. I think you’re going to like my family. They may take some getting used to. If you’re patient,
I think you’ll eventually come to like living with us.”

  Alicia nodded but looked skeptical.

  Jason interrupted. “What are your plans tonight, Bai?”

  It took a moment for her to gather her thoughts. “I’m going to get Alicia settled and have dinner. Then I hope to have a hot bath and a cold scotch, followed by about eight hours of sleep. Whether or not any of that takes place is purely speculative. Not unlike the rest of my life, nothing today has gone as planned. Why?”

  “I thought we might go out. I have something to discuss with you in private.”

  “I’m still recovering from our last date. Did we by chance . . . ?” She fluttered her free hand in front of her like a spastic mime.

  He smiled. “No. I don’t have rigid requirements when it comes to consensual congress,” he stated obliquely while casting a glance at Alicia to see if she followed the conversation, “but both parties’ being conscious is the absolute minimum.”

  She smiled. “Sorry about that. I didn’t get a chance to thank you properly for the lovely evening.”

  “You can thank me tonight, if you’re really sincere.”

  “Tonight is a bit hectic.”

  The teen watched their interplay with interest. Jason noticed but didn’t offer Alicia an explanation. Bai might have been inclined to clarify her relationship with Jason if she’d had a better understanding of it herself.

  “Can I call you later?” Bai asked. “We can talk then.”

  He nodded but didn’t look happy with her response.

  The car pulled to the curb in front of her house. Jason stepped out of the car first. By the time Bai and Alicia exited the vehicle, triad soldiers in black suits stood outside to report to Jason.

  Bai drew Jason’s attention away from his soldiers. “Would you like to come up and say hi to the girls?”

  He shook his head. “No. That would be overstepping the boundaries.”

  Jason hadn’t interacted directly with his mother in nearly three years, though the breach remained outwardly cordial. Elizabeth wanted him out of Bai’s life. He refused to go. The two remained at an impasse.

  “Thanks for everything,” she said, moving closer to him.

  She went up on her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. He turned at the last moment to catch her lips with his. Alicia’s giggle brought Bai back to the real world. She turned to put a hand on Alicia’s back and push her up the steps to the lobby of her building. She glanced back at Jason, who continued to watch her from where he stood on the sidewalk. Not until she’d made her way inside the door did he return to the limousine, which then pulled away from the curb. The SUVs and the triad enforcers stayed.