by Nova McBee
THE FACTORY, SHANGHAI, CHINA
It’s two in the morning. We’re both too tired to move, much less go outside to get a taxi home. My eye is swollen and my body aches. I suggest we sleep at the factory and make a move in the morning. Kai agrees.
I lead him up the staircase to the vacant third floor. It’s furnished modestly but it’s warm and comfortable. Kai takes one room. I take the other.
As I lie in the small bed, my body is lifeless, but my mind wanders restlessly. Scenes from the night flash in and out like blinking lights—the girl, the fight, Kai, and Chan’s words about Kai marrying a proper, traditional girl. At one point I agreed with that, but now it combats the memory of Kai’s lips on mine.
He has been a good friend to me these last few months. I feel something for him, but is it love? When I was young, I always envisioned something like my mom and dad. Meeting casually, falling in love, and marrying until “death do you part”. A promise they kept.
Love. That dreaded subject that math can’t explain. Statistics show that international relationships cause more stress than same-culture marriages, predicting low odds of success. Add my lack of experience. Lack of trust. Disbelief in love. I’m not sure how to proceed, or if he’s serious…and yet…Red dared me to hope that love could be real.
My eyes sting. I’m too tired to keep calculating. I’m too tired to be afraid. If I’ve learned one thing, it’s that some things just need to be risked.
Love is one of those things.
I wake with a start. Kai sits on my bed, staring at me. One eyelid won’t move. The other blinks until his familiar smile comes into view. I slept so heavily I didn’t hear him come in. It’s past 10:00 o’clock in the morning.
A burst of energy shoots up within me. I spring into a sitting position. He draws me into his arms. They are strong, like his hands. For a moment I want to fall back asleep inside them. The same smell of mountains, forests, and rain radiates off him, whisking me away to a green place. How can a city boy smell like this?
“How long have you been up?” I ask. He is bouncing off the walls, and I know we don’t have coffee downstairs.
“Hours.”
“Really?” I yawn. “Wow.”
“What do I call you now that I know your real name?” Kai whispers.
“Uh…” I hadn’t thought that far. I can’t answer. The consequences of unveiling my identity could completely destroy my plan if he calls me Jo. The answer is on my face.
“Your secrets are safe with me, Phoenix,” he says into my ear. I buzz with the same electricity as last night. Without saying it, I know he will not call me Jo until the time is right. He holds me. For three seconds it doesn’t matter if I ever get out of bed.
“Three weeks, right?”
My eyes shoot open. “We have to get to the office! We have work to do.” I nearly knock him over getting out of bed.
“We will later,” he says, “but first, get dressed. Meet me downstairs in the back room in ten minutes. I have a surprise for you.”
In the bathroom I wash my face, feeling all the bruises that line the left side of my face. My left eye is puffy and purple, but not totally shut anymore. Makeup can’t cover this up.
There’s a closet of spare clothes on the second floor. I wander down to find something comfortable. I choose a long, loose-fitting blouse, and black leggings. Hua Mei enters the room and shrieks.
“Jie!” she exclaims in her Shanghai dialect. “What happened to your face?”
“Don’t worry about me.” I slip the shirt over my head. “Did you hear about the new girl?” I explain everything. She fusses over me until I convince her I’m ok.
This all takes seven minutes.
Outside, Dr. Ling is by the door where the girl is sleeping.
“How is she?” I ask.
“Stable. She’ll sleep for a couple days, but she’ll live.”
I peek inside. The girl sleeps peacefully on the bed bathed in the morning light. Her face is clean of makeup, making the bruises much more visible. I shudder to think of what she has lived through.
My hand fingers my own bruise. From the door I whisper to her. “You’re worth it.”
My three minutes are over.
“Kai and the others are waiting for you in the conference room,” Dr. Ling says.
“Others?” I turn around so fast I nearly trip on my own shoes.
Kai just learned about this place last night and he’s already bringing others into it?
I race downstairs, kicking myself the whole way down. How stupid I was to think I could actually trust him.
The door bounces against the wall as I open it. “What is this all about?”
There’s a group of people around the table in the conference room. It takes me a minute before I recognize faces. The regular street clothes throw me off, but after I picture long white pants and a black belt, I see the Sang Brothers. They dip their heads at me. Besides them Yu Tai sits with his cocky grin.
Three people I don’t know also sit at the table. One white boy and one black girl, both wearing glasses. The boy looks university age, smart, nerdy but the black girl is as young as Kai and I, which makes me nervous. The last stranger is a Chinese guy with broad shoulders and a face so stern I fear he’s here to arrest me.
I walk past the stacked boxes of medicine and stored food in the corners to Kai, who’s pulling out an empty chair for me.
“That eye looks better if you smile,” Kai says. He pushes the chair in as I sit down. Everyone says a brief good morning.
“Thanks,” I grumble, casting a suspicious eye around the room. “What are the Sang brothers doing here?” I dip my head to them. “And who are those three?”
“Patience.” Kai addresses the room. “Thank you all for coming. Let’s begin.” His tone is the same one he uses in a business meeting. “Phoenix, you have rescued one girl in three weeks.”
“Three,” I correct him.
“Dr. Ling found the other two by chance.”
“I don’t believe in chance.” There’s an edge in my voice.
“Please let me finish,” he says calmly. “Your plan isn’t bad, but I think you can do better—”
“I’m doing the best I can,” I reply, a bit disheartened. Kai’s the only one here who knows what I’m juggling—the bond, King, Madame, the girls. It’s not fair, but I refrain from bringing up any of those things. “I don’t see anyone else trying.”
“Phoenix, hear me out,” he says.
Red says it’s foolish to talk without listening first. I sit back in my chair, cross my arms. “Okay, I’m listening.”
“According to you, there are seven major ring leaders connected to Madame. You want to shut them down and take back what they took from you. More importantly, you want to save the girls. You can’t do that alone. Last night’s injuries prove that.”
I touch my puffy eye as Kai talks. It hurts but not as much as Kai’s case against me. He told me I did the right thing last night and now he doesn’t think so? I want to argue. But he looks up at me as if to signal our agreement of hearing him out. I bite my tongue.
“What you need is manpower. More evidence, spies, strength, enforcement. Perhaps a team?” he says.
I sit up straighter. Did I hear him right? My good eye strains to get a good look at everyone.
“After you mentioned Yu Tai, I asked my father about him. An interesting fact came to light. Yu Tai, care to share?”
Yu Tai nods to Kai, stands to address me. “You asked me what I did before I worked for Chan. I studied business, like my father, before King took everything from my family, including our father.”
Instantly a camaraderie forms with Yu Tai that I don’t have with other people. “What else did he take from you?” I ask.
“The Pratt,” he says. “My father was the rightful owner. It was passed to me when he was killed. I’m the one who ran away.” That day at the beach, Kai explained that the Pratt’s real owner had disappeared. Now I know why.
“I’m not unique. Song Valley’s people have suffered greatly at King’s hand, but no one had the courage to stop him. They are too afraid. But I’m not anymore. I’ll do anything to end his terror and take back what King has stolen.”
A chill spreads over my body from the resolve in his voice. King will finally get everything coming to him. Yu Tai sits back down.
“Master Sang,” Kai says, “the floor is yours.”
“Phoenix Meimei.” Master Li bows. His fist covers his other hand.
“Master Sang,” I return his greeting and dip my head.
The master sits in his chair like a rock, still and solid, unbreakable in spirit and body.
“You know why we are here.” Master Sang stands. He is not tall, but I shrink in his presence.
He doesn’t have to say it out loud—I remember our talk in Song Valley. Purpose. His words strike me hard in the chest. I know what it feels like to be without vision, without purpose. Wondering who I am and why I’m here.
“Kai has told us what we need to hear. We are at your service. We and our brothers.” My heart is knocked over by his offer.
After Master Sang sits, Kai introduces the three people I don’t know. “These two are brainiacs from my department. Jessica and Phillip from Oxford. They’re here short-term, doing research in Shanghai, who happen to be interning at Asia Bank. They want to help you with the Bond.”
“Interesting.”
“And the big guy,” he says, “is my cousin, Agent Bai.”
“Police?” I ask, nervous.
“Better than police.” Kai smiles. “He works for PGF, Private Global Forces, the largest global security company in the world. He’s connected to every security and law force on the planet, but we can hire him. He’ll do whatever we ask, within reason of the law. Resources beyond your reckoning.”
My mind reels with possibilities. Twenty-one days are left until the Expo and the delivery. Numbers connect the dots until a clear picture forms. We could take down the Pratt, bust hotels, custom agents, get Madame and Kings’ money for the bond. What I never had was manpower. With this team working alongside me it’s all possible.
I scan each of their faces. Strong, fast, quiet, wise. They’re perfect for what needs to be done.
I didn’t allow myself to think others could—or would—help me. And now, like a gift, they are giving me what I want. The same things Red wanted.
I tap my knee like I do when a new calculation is forming. Kai clears his throat. He’s smiling at me, waiting for my approval.
A small laugh escapes. “So, should we have a secret handshake or something?”
33
Present: Phoenix
THE FACTORY, SHANGHAI, CHINA
My dreams are becoming real. We spend the next week hammering out details and come up with a plan. King and Madame’s worlds will crumble like a 10-point quake on the Richter scale, and they won’t know what hit them until it’s too late.
My new team is more resourceful than I calculated, and they are following my plan to a tee. Master Sang and his brother have recruited the last twenty true disciples of kung fu and are positioned to escort girls from the Golden Angel Hotels as we speak. Yu Tai has rounded up two-dozen Song Valley residents who have been wronged by King. They have filed official complaints and claims for everything that has been lost, including the Pratt. This is more than enough to bury King in a legal hole from which he could never climb out.
Kai’s cousin, Agent Bai, is indeed resourceful. Not only has he discreetly obtained a new passport for me with my real name, he has added more manpower and surveillance tools, while indirectly cooperating with his Interpol connection, Dutch Detective Hansen.
Turns out, Interpol intercepted the files I sent out with Arrow Mail. The files helped Detective Hansen build a case and he’s been tracking Madame in five countries ever since. They tell me that Celia’s real name is Maryam Maatar, born to a Turkish mother in France.
“Okay, we have thirteen days,” I say to the group with a strong voice I didn’t really even know I had. I marvel, for a moment. In a way, I’m their leader. This plan I worked out so long ago now has arms and legs that I designed. “There are three shipments, sixteen hotels, and the remaining ‘lower five’.” I hand them a detailed map with names, directions, and dates. Each person reads over it even though they have spent the last week memorizing the information and planning their moves. “Thanks to Chan’s investments, we now own four of the largest hotels where Madame operates. Madame knows nothing, and we’ll make our move at the right time. All we need now is the schedule for shipments, which has the names of the dirty customs agents, the names of buyers, and the men scheduled to do pick-ups and drop-offs then I’ll reroute Madame’s cargo to arrive to King’s dock at the port and we can replace Madame’s custom agents with our men. Then we clean out the Pratt and the warehouse.”
“How do we get the schedule? It’s not like we can just walk into the Pratt and ask for it,” asks Master Sang.
“Ah,” I say. “That’s where you come in. Do your kung fu ideals say anything against kidnapping?” I explain in detail what, or rather who I need. The brothers set out right away.
Our meeting continues. “The final piece is the Shanghai Expo,” I explain. “Interpol will replace Celia’s buyers with their men. They’ll be wearing cameras. I will confirm Madame’s identity, isolate the routing number that gains her a chain entry into her main accounts and then they’ll arrest her.” Everyone nods. “All in all, an estimated 3 billion in cash, cargo, and girls.”
“Is it dangerous for Phoenix to be that close to Madame?” Kai asks Agent Bai.
“She won’t be,” he assures. “We’ve secured a ground office for her across the street with agents nearby. Her job will be done via satellite.”
A small part of me knows I should be closer. I’m the one with the math. They can’t see the possible outcomes that I can. But Agent Bai won’t risk me being seen by Madame. For once, I give in.
The meeting adjourns. Kai stays to help me work on the bonds. I smile as I watch him. He has taken things very slowly with me; listening as I open up; a gentle touch here, a hug there, a kiss perhaps. He’s patiently waiting for me to trust him more. It’s not hard to do.
Later, my mind drifts to the Sang brothers. Our plan won’t work if we don’t get the list of customs agents or buyers. Where are they?
It’s dark now. We pack up our stuff and are about to turn off the lights when the brothers bust through the door with a blindfolded man beside them. They have him.
I walk up and peel back the mask. Two green eyes flit wildly around the room until they land on me. His eyes widen with disbelief.
I smile. “Hello, Rafael.”
“Mila.” Rafael bends down to kiss both of my cheeks. “The girl with a thousand secrets.”
We linger, taking each other in from head to toe as old acquaintances often do. He grins. His dimples still give him a look of innocence. I smile back too, but when Kai steps closer and wraps an arm around my waist, I break it off.
“Call me Phoenix,” I say over my shoulder, pointing him towards a table with small stools. “Let’s talk.”
Tea is poured. The brothers sit on each side of Rafael. Rafael eyes Kai’s arm around me, then meets my eyes.
“You never worked for King, vero?”
I shake my head. “Put two and two together, did you?” To my surprise, I spout off a brief explanation of my kidnapping down to what really happens at the Pratt.
It’s different than when I told Kai. I stick to the facts, like an unemotional book report. Even still, Rafael’s face pales.
“I see you joined the family business. Making the world a better place?” I don’t mean to be snide, but I can’t pretend I’m happy about it. “Why? I really don’t want to see you in prison, too, you know. I thought you were different.”
“Senti, I didn’t know what I was getting into,” he says, shaking his hands in the air. “It’s my father. I trusted him. He
told me it was imports. He explained away that night with the fire as a fluke. I am not even sure my dad knows what he’s doing.”
That part I believe. His dad is a dunce. King never felt threatened by Cesare because he’s too easy to control.
“It was supposed to be my first deal that day. Then you appeared, like an angel, shaking me to reality. The pieces started coming together. Even now, my dad suspects me. I can’t support what he’s doing. I was looking for a way out when your guys found me.”
I turn to the brothers. I gave them strict orders to interrogate him before bringing him here. “He doesn’t know much, Phoenix,” Master Sang says. “He cooperated from the beginning.”
“If you want to prove what you just said, you can help us. We don’t have a lot of time, so I’m going to be blunt. We are shutting King’s operation down—his blackmails, his brothels, his gambling, his embezzling at the ports. The summer transactions will be his last. I need the entire schedule for domestic and international deliveries, and who’s on the list for pick-up and drop-off—guards, associates, and customs. I also need the Shanghai Expo buyer list. You will get it for us.”
“Si. Ho capito. It will take a while.”
“We don’t have a while.”
“Va bene. I can tell you who’s on pick-up for Shanghai.” His eyes fall to the floor. I understand why.
“How much is Madame paying your father?” I ask.
“300,000 Euros.”
“Okay. Don’t change that. King needs to think everything is business as usual,” I say. “Tell King to come too, that Madame has a new buyer he’ll be interested in.”
“Anything else?” Rafael asks.
“Yes. Access to building seven, three, and one—and the warehouse.”
“This will never work. I’ll have to get passwords, codes, keys! The guards will be suspicious of me right away if I ask for all of this.”
“Find a way,” I say, “because if you don’t help us, you will go down on that ship.”
He sighs. “I’ll find a way.”
“These men will assist you.” I motion to Kai and the brothers. “Once we snag King, I want everything he knows about Madame. If King doesn’t cooperate as nicely as Rafael, you know what to do.”