Black Karma

by Thatcher Robinson

  They sprinted across the lawn behind the house, ignoring wet branches as they scrambled through bushes to reach the flagstone trail. Her feet flew down the path. When they reached her car at the bottom of the hill, she pushed her keys into Jason’s hand then ran around to the passenger side. Jason got in and started the car as she jumped into the seat next to him. He put the car in gear and drove down the narrow lane.

  “Can you tell me why we’re in such a hurry?” he asked.

  A boom sounded behind them, and flames shot into the night sky. Jason looked into the rearview mirror but kept driving. “I guess that answers my question.”

  “Did you drive here?” she asked.

  “No. Lee dropped me off then went back to the city. He’s in no condition to even be driving. He insisted I come out here and save you. The idea seems a little silly now.”

  She put her hand on his, the one shifting gears. “Thanks.”

  “Do you want to tell me what this is all about?”

  She spoke rapid fire, the adrenalin in her system still making her jumpy. “I met with Daniel Chen. He says he’s an MSS agent. I’m not sure what that means. Ryan Elliott, the tan man, said Chen was a Communist. Chen killed Elliott, just shot him twice! Bam! Bam! Crazy! Crazy! Crazy!”

  “Slow down and take a deep breath, Bai. You’re safe now.”

  She drew a deep breath and felt a tremor run through her. Panic still pushed her heart into her throat as she swallowed her dread.

  Bai felt Jason’s hand tense on the shifter as he said, “The Ministry of State Services is not an agency to mess with, Bai. They’re very good at what they do.”

  “What, exactly, do they do?”

  “They’re an intelligence agency, probably the largest in the world. They gather information and remove anyone who gets in their way. They report directly to the Central Party of the People’s Republic.”

  She gripped Jason’s hand harder.

  “Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked.

  “I think so. Everything happened so fast.”

  She trembled, and Jason glanced at her, feeling her fear through the hand resting on his.

  “Did you say Ryan Elliott?”

  “Yes, that was the tan man’s name.”

  “I’ve heard the name mentioned before. He worked with the Kwans. It was rumored he had CIA connections.”

  “That’s what Chen told me. He said Jade Kwan had Elliott kill Wen Liu. Chen was Wen’s handler, and her lover.”

  Jason nodded. “Chen was right to kill Elliott.”

  “How was he right?”

  “If someone murdered you in cold blood, Bai, I wouldn’t rest until I’d killed them. Chen did what he had to do.”

  “Revenge won’t ease his grief,” she said in a quiet voice.

  “No,” he agreed, “but it will ease his guilt. He was her handler, her protector. His failure to keep her safe will haunt him.”

  “You talk as if you know him?”

  He glanced aside at her, his face a hard mask. “I think we might have a lot in common.”

  “Meaning me, I suppose. You think of me as someone you need to protect?”

  “Yes,” he replied. His voice conveyed frustration. “Why do you do it, Bai? Why do you put yourself at risk? Most of the people you look for don’t even want to be found.”

  The question wasn’t one she hadn’t asked herself a number of times. Her reasons for being a souxun were convoluted, sometimes difficult even for her to figure out.

  “I feel like I’m doing something good for someone, making a small positive difference in the world. If I can find a lost child or a sibling separated from loved ones by forces beyond their control, I’ve brought some joy into the world. And people aren’t always lost. Sometimes they’re abandoned. That pain needs to be addressed as well.” She turned to look at his profile. “Those are all selfish reasons, I know. Most of the time, what I do makes me feel good and gives me a sense of accomplishment. Besides, I’m really good at finding people. I think it might be the only thing I’m really good at.”

  “You’re a good mother,” he reminded her.

  She sighed. “I think Dan has done a good job of raising me. She’s smarter than both of us put together. Did you know she’s taking college courses now? I was lucky to make it through high school. Most teenagers just think their parents are dumb. Hers really are.”

  He smiled at her assessment. “You’re being too hard on yourself.”

  They rode in silence as Jason efficiently chauffeured her through the town of Berkeley.

  When she spoke her voice held a note of sorrow. “I still have some unfinished business. I’ve been such a fool.”

  He asked tentatively. “Is this about me?”

  His question brought a reluctant smile to her lips. “No. All women are fools for the men they love. That’s self-inflicted stupidity. In this case, I’ve been played by strangers. And that,” she said, turning to look at him, “pisses me off.”

  “Who, other than me, has made a fool of you?”

  “Until I’m sure of what happened, I’d rather not say.”

  “Can’t you tell me what you think happened?”

  She shook her head. “Not yet. I know how protective you are. Enough people have died because of my gullibility. I’ve left a trail of bodies in my search for Daniel Chen. I don’t want any more blood on my hands.”

  He scowled but appeared to be resigned to her reticence. When they reached her home, he parked the car in front of her house behind his black BMW. He got out and walked around to the sidewalk to open her door. Handing the key to the MINI to her, he kissed her on the forehead.

  “You’re not coming up?” she asked.

  “I have business.”

  “It’s two in the morning. What kind of business do you have at two in the morning?”

  He stared at her.

  “Forget I asked. It’s better not to know,” she said.

  She put her arms around his waist and held him. “Thank you for saving me.”

  “I didn’t save you.”

  “It’s the thought that counts.”

  He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her toward the steps of her building to send her on her way. She walked up the steps as he turned to reclaim his waiting car. She watched him drive away from inside the glass door then stepped into the elevator and pushed the button for the third floor.

  Lee waited for her in the entryway of her apartment.

  Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he asked, “Did Jason find you?”

  “No. I found him. Fix me a drink, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

  Lee poured her a scotch neat and sat with her as she told him the story from beginning to end. His expression ran the gamut of emotions from surprise to anger as she related the secrets she’d uncovered.

  When she’d finished, he asked, “What now?”

  She frowned as she met his gaze. “Since I started looking for Daniel Chen, I’ve been stumbling around like a fool in the dark. I need to pull aside the curtain of lies and let the truth shine in. So, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

  Chapter 38

  The next morning, while sitting in her car outside of Boobs’s Gym, Bai called the house in Healdsburg to check on her family and to speak with Alicia.

  When the girl answered, Bai said, “I want you to do something for me. I want you to call Boobs and ask him for money.”

  “Why?” Alicia asked with a note of concern.

  “I’d rather you didn’t know. The less you know the better. I just want you to tell Boobs that Rafe told you everything. You want $100,000, or you’re going to the police. Do you think you can do that?”

  “Sure, but what’s this all about?”

  “It’s about murder, lies, and betrayal.”

  In a solemn voice the girl said, “Sangre por sangre.”

  “Yes,” Bai acknowledged, “blood for blood. Tell him you’re running away and want to meet in an hour at the dine
r where you met me and Hector. Then hang up. If he calls back, don’t answer. Leave the rest to me.”

  Alicia agreed to make the call. Bai gave her Boobs’s phone number then closed the connection.

  Lee sat in the passenger seat next to her. “I’m going in with you.”

  “I wouldn’t think of leaving you behind. This is as much for your benefit as it is mine. After all, you’re the one who got shot. Let’s give Alicia five minutes to make the call then pay our respects.”

  They waited for the time to pass before exiting the car and walking down the alley to the door of the gym. Letting themselves in quietly, they walked to the back of the cavernous room and silently stepped up the metal treads to the loft office.

  Lee went first, pushing the door open slowly.

  Boobs had his back to them. He stood on the Murphy bed that had been pulled away from the wall. A suitcase lay on the bed. His arms reached up to a hole in the wall, where the upright bed had covered a wall safe, to grab stacks of money and drop them into the bag at his feet.

  “Going somewhere, Boobs?” Lee asked.

  Boobs started. Twisting around with a stunned expression on his face, he stared at them. Bai stepped around Lee to get a better look at what was taking place while Boobs stood frozen.

  “This isn’t what it looks like,” Boobs said as a smile slowly made its way to his lips.

  “It looks like a man stuffing money into a suitcase,” Bai said levelly, putting her hands in her jacket pockets.

  Boobs stared at her a moment then chuckled. “Well, then . . . maybe it is what it looks like. But I can explain.”

  “I’ll bet you can,” replied Lee, pulling his .32-caliber Tomcat from the holster on his shoulder.

  “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” exclaimed Boobs, raising his hands and showing more teeth than a Venezuelan beauty queen. “You look like you’re getting ready to shoot me with that thing, Lee.”

  “You must be clairvoyant,” Lee declared. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

  Boobs’s smile tensed. “There’s no need for gunplay, Lee. We’re all adults here. We can settle our differences without resorting to violence.”

  Lee shook his head. “I don’t know, Boobs. I’m finding the notion of shooting you pretty attractive. I’m still hurting from the two bullets I took in the back. I think I’d feel better if I had somebody to commiserate with.”

  Boobs’s smile lost some of its luster. Lee motioned with his gun for him to step down from the bed. Obliging, Boobs made his way toward his desk on the other side of the room.

  “Take a seat in one of those chairs in front of your desk,” Lee said.

  As he sat down slowly, Boobs never took his eyes off of Lee.

  Bai stepped onto the flimsy mattress of the Murphy bed to take a closer look at the wall safe where the rest of the money was still stashed. Behind the money she could see brown bricks wrapped in plastic.

  Turning back to look at Lee, she said, “The heroin is here, too.”

  She jumped off the bed to walk over and confront Boobs.

  “I want to know if you and Kelly planned on involving me from the beginning.”

  Boobs looked from Lee to Bai. His eyes took on a calculated look before shaking his head.

  “No.” His voice sounded sorrowful. “I argued with Kelly when he came up with the idea of letting you do his legwork for him. I told him it was a bad idea, but he was getting heat from his people. His bosses came to him and said they needed to find this fella, Chen. They wanted to find him fast, and Kelly didn’t have any idea where to look. That’s when he came up with the idea of using you. He said you could find Chen for him, and we could sidetrack the investigation on the heist at the same time. Chen made the perfect fall guy, and the drug heist gave Kelly an excuse to use police resources to find him.” Boobs blew out a puff of air in obvious disgust. “Kelly said it was a win-win situation. That man was just too lazy to do his own damn job.”

  “What part did Rafe play?” she asked.

  Boobs looked at her and shook his head.

  Lee cocked the hammer on his pistol. “Answer the lady.”

  Boobs frowned and hesitated before saying, “Rafe was our inside man with the Norteños. He wanted to move up in the organization, but Hector was keeping him down. We convinced him if he went along with our operation, he could deal with Hector and get rich. He wasn’t too bright, but he was smart enough to give us the location and time when the drug meet was to take place. It was his job to keep an eye on the Norteños in case somebody caught on to our game.”

  “Like the two Norteños in Daniel Chen’s office?” she asked.

  Boobs squirmed in the chair. “Yeah,” he said in a quiet voice. “Those two were starting to ask questions and piece things together. The heist went bad from the start. Nobody was supposed to get hurt, but Rafe went off like Rambo, spraying lead and shooting anybody who got in the way. Those two got suspicious.”

  Lee interrupted. “Why put their bodies in Chen’s office?”

  “Moving the bodies and planting money and drugs was Kelly’s idea. He wanted to close the case, and he was good at rigging crime scenes. I suspect he’d had some practice.”

  Bai smiled wryly in the face of their cold-blooded calculations and said, “Then Kelly started to develop a conscience. A cop got killed in the heist. He started to lose it.”

  Boobs leaned back into the chair, no longer smiling. “He was always a drunk. After the job, he started drinking heavy. When he drank, he got sentimental. I thought I was going to have to take care of him, but then he did me a favor and shot himself.”

  “But Rafe wasn’t so obliging,” she said with a hint of anger in her voice. “You used me to kill Rafe.”

  Boobs shook his head and scowled. “When you came in here and asked for my help to take Rafe’s girl away from him, I could see it was just a matter of time before you figured out what was what. The fact is, missy, you just don’t know when to quit. I figured a little taste of Rafe would back you off, but you just kept on. The mistake I made was not letting Rafe kill you before I put a bullet in him. I’ve always had a soft spot for the ladies.”

  “That wasn’t the only mistake you made,” Lee said coldly.

  Boobs met Lee’s gaze and concern crossed his features.

  “You wouldn’t shoot an unarmed man, would you?”

  Lee smiled. “It would be silly of me to give you a gun. You might shoot me back.”

  Bai put up a hand to interrupt Lee while asking a pointed question of Boobs. “Why did you kill Rafe?”

  Boobs turned back to her with a look of distraction. Her question seemed to take a moment to penetrate his awareness.

  “Rafe was a fool. He got Hector’s job but still wasn’t happy. He wanted his cut of the drugs and money. We agreed to wait a year before divvying up the haul, but he wanted to live the high life. If he’d started spending money, it wouldn’t take long for somebody to put two and two together.”

  “And he was the only one left who could link you to the heist,” Lee added.

  Boobs shrugged. “That, too.”

  Bai asked. “Why did you do it, Boobs?”

  He looked sad for a moment then bemused, as if the answer to her question was obvious.

  “I turned sixty-five this year. All I’ve got to show for my life is a lease on a rundown gym that doesn’t make enough money to pay the bills. I want to sit on a porch in the sun and drink rum punch. Maybe have a pretty girl take care of me. For that, I need money. What other choice did I have?”

  Bai didn’t answer.

  After a moment of silence, Lee asked, “Can I shoot him now?”

  Bai turned to Lee. “If it will make you feel better, go ahead.”

  Lee pressed the revolver against Boobs’s forehead. To his credit, Boobs didn’t flinch away. He stared down the short barrel of the revolver until Lee eased the hammer down with his thumb.

  “You probably need killing, Boobs, but I’m not the man to do it,” Lee said sadly.
“Take your money and your drugs and run. Learn how to sleep with your eyes open. The Sinaloa cartel has a long reach.”

  Boobs’s shoulders visibly relaxed as he settled back into the chair and let out a long sigh.

  When he got his breath back, he asked, “I don’t suppose I could interest you two in sharing some of that money. You can have the drugs. I don’t want no part of them. Never did.”

  “The loot is all yours,” Lee replied. “Enjoy yourself while you can.”

  Boobs didn’t look pleased with Lee’s decision, but he didn’t waste any more time. Getting up hesitantly, he walked across the room to continue throwing money into the suitcase with his back to them.

  Lee and Bai made their way out of the building as silently as they’d entered. Outside, Lee stopped on the sidewalk and turned to Bai. “Are you all right with letting him go?”

  Bai shrugged. “Boobs will never be free. He’ll be looking over his shoulder until someone catches up with him.” She shook her head. “Besides, he helped me save Alicia. I owe him for that.”

  He put his arm around her shoulders. “I don’t know about you,” he said, “but I’m finding it increasingly difficult to tell the good guys from the bad guys.”

  Chapter 39

  The drive took only a few minutes. Midmorning traffic was light as they crossed the city and climbed Nob Hill. Stepping out under the portico of the Mark Hopkins Hotel, Bai waited for Lee as he tipped the valet.

  When he joined her, he asked, “Do you want me to go up with you?”

  “No,” she replied. “If I’m not back in thirty minutes, call Jason. Then come looking for me.”

  “Do you think Jade Kwan is capable of holding you against your will?”

  “Until yesterday, I wouldn’t have thought so. Now I’m not sure what Jade Kwan is capable of. I’ll just feel better knowing you’re here if I need you.”

  “Be careful.”

  “I will be. I promise.”

  She took the elevator to the penthouse floor. When she stepped out of the lift, Jade’s security entourage met her. They relieved her of her knife. She hadn’t bothered carrying her gun. After searching her thoroughly, they escorted her into a formal dining room where Jade sat at the head of a long dark table. Howard sat on her right wearing a scowl and a bandage on his hand.