Deliverance (8 page)

Maliha hung her head. It was the clearest answer to the fate of Lucius that she’d heard so far, and even worse, it made sense.

Master Liu reached out and touched her hand. “I have news to give you. My disciple Daniel Harper possesses a shard. You will have to pry it from his hands if you are to retrieve it. He will be difficult to overcome, but if you approach him as a woman rather than a rogue you may have better luck.”

“Thank you for your advice and help, Grandfather.” A tear slipped down Maliha’s cheek

“Come, daughter,” he said, gently wiping away the tear, “let’s spar. Movement and discipline will keep your mind focused.”

She walked to the training room, to find him already there, in his guise of the young bare-chested man. His earthy appeal made warmth blossom in her center.

When I get my hands on Jake! I don’t care what kind of bad stuff he’s been doing—at least not until I’ve worn him out. I’m ready for that challenge.

“You must have been a real lady-killer in your time, Master,” she said.

“A stain on my spirit.” He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, he was swinging a sword at her.

He thought I meant that literally.

After a dogged three hours of sparring as a final test, Master Liu was satisfied that Maliha was no longer “soft.” He pushed her back into the world by telling her that his school was not to be used as a tourist hotel. She took the good-natured hint, bundled the few items she’d brought with her in a backpack, and headed out on foot across China in the middle of the night.

Chapter Twelve

B
ack in Chicago, Maliha went to her haven, the second condo she owned in the building, on the forty-eighth floor.

The lock to the room used retinal identification. Maliha put her eye to the reader and the door slid open. Bright spotlights came on inside, bright enough to blind Maliha if she hadn’t prepared by closing her eyes and covering them with her free hand. Letting a minimal amount of light in through her fingers and opening her eyes in slits, she sprang across a steel-lined foyer and tapped a code into a panel on the opposite wall at lightning speed. That disabled a shower of darts propelled from the ceiling.

The door slid shut behind her. She went down a short hallway, rounded the corner, and came out into the open space of her haven. On one wall was a weapons cache. The wall that faced Lake Michigan arced in a half circle. There were windows there, but they were covered with blackout cellular shades.

“Soft lights.” The voice-activated lights came on to her defined level.

Display cases scattered around the space held items she’d collected. The black ceiling had low-voltage lights all over, so that it looked like a night sky. She kicked off her shoes and wriggled her toes in the deep carpet. The haven began to work its magic on her. She glanced over at her sleeping area, the one living area that had a wood floor instead of carpet. It held a straw tatami mat. After her shower, she’d unroll a futon and sleep in a rejuvenating space.

First, she had some important business. She got the newest shard out of her backpack. She opened the floor safe she’d installed and put the shard in with the other two and the Tablet of the Overlord.

Four to go and I know where one of them is. I’ll have to learn about this Daniel Harper Master Liu mentioned.

T
he next morning, she went to her public condo. She found an envelope on the floor inside the door. It was white with no markings on the outside, no sign of having been mailed or delivered by courier.

A flash of foreboding chilled her.

Her fingers operating on automatic, she slit the top of the envelope. Fumbling it a bit, she saw something shiny slip out and fall to the floor.

It was a man’s gold ring, familiar because she’d given it as a gift. She read the inscription on the inside of it:
Wisdom grows with years.

It was Yanmeng’s ring.

Oh no. No!

She checked the ring’s aura and found its elemental resonance overlaid with the seething black aura of the hand that had last held it. Maliha put everything down and called Eliu.

“Have you seen Yanmeng lately?”

“We’re both back in Seattle. He went to the Seattle Asian Art Museum yesterday, then I got a text that he’d met a friend there and was going to stay at his house last night.”

“Is that unusual?”

“Not at all. Our friend Shing’s wife passed away two months ago. Yanmeng has been keeping him company at times.”

“Did you try calling him?”

“No. Why? Do you need to talk with him?”

“Yes. It’s . . . urgent.”

“Just a minute.”

Eliu put her on hold. When she came back, she said, “I just tried reaching him on his cell. It’s turned off, but he always does that when he goes into the museum. Sometimes he forgets to turn it back on. So I called Shing’s home phone. He hasn’t seen Yanmeng in days! What’s going on?”

Yanmeng can defend himself. He wouldn’t give up his ring or anything else to a typical mugger. Something’s wrong here.

“Eliu, was he wearing the ring I gave him?”

“Always. I’m sure he had it on when he left yesterday morning. Why? You’re starting to scare me.”

“Has he been in touch by remote viewing?”

“Not since lunch yesterday! Tell me what’s wrong! Should I call the police?”

“I received a box a few days ago with Arnie Henshaw’s cap in it.”

“The doorman? I thought he retired. What’s that got to do with . . .”

“Arnie’s hat had blood on it and a note inside said he was dead. Then just now I received an envelope with Yanmeng’s ring in it.”

She hated to be so blunt, but there was no way to protect Eliu from the implications of Yanmeng’s ring being delivered. There was silence on the other end of the phone. It occurred to Maliha that Eliu might not share her husband’s view about the death of their son Xietai. Maybe to his mother, Xietai was not a scourge of the Earth. Maybe she did believe in unconditional love and had never stopped loving her son, despite his betrayal of them and his subsequent evil activities. And now here Maliha was, the son-killer, getting Eliu alarmed about her missing husband.

“Still there?” Maliha said.

“Yes. Should I call the police?” Her voice was very frightened.

“I think that might not be the best thing to do. If it were an ordinary kidnapping, the ring would have been sent to you, followed by a ransom demand. I think this has to do with me and the way Yanmeng helps me.”

“Then what can I do?” Eliu sobbed, “No, no, no . . .”

“I think you need to get away from your home. Come here. You could be in danger, too. Get here as fast as you can.”

“I have to stay here. He might come home. He could be injured.”

“If that’s what you have to do, I’ll get security guards for you. Just say the word and they’ll be outside and inside with you.”

“He’s not coming home right away, is he?”

Maliha didn’t want to let her own fear into her voice. “Maybe not right away. We have to work on this. I promise I’ll do everything in my power to bring him back safely. Everything.”

“Wouldn’t it put me in more danger if I came to your home? I’d be more exposed to the kidnappers there.”

“You’d also be with us. We can protect you, I swear.”

There was a brief pause while Eliu thought about her options. As the pause stretched out, Maliha was sure Eliu was going to turn down the offer.

If she doesn’t come, I’ll be sick with worry. I need to have her in my sight. I might have to force her to come here, even if she’d hate me for it.

“I trust you,” Eliu said. “I’m coming to Chicago. I know Yanmeng would want it that way.”

Maliha let out the breath she was holding.
What a relief!

“Then pack a few things,” Maliha said. “In twenty minutes I’ll have security personnel at your door, a man and a woman. Ask them for their passwords before opening the door. The woman should say ‘pumpkin’ and the man ‘lightning.’ I’m going to set this up right now. They’ll get you on the first plane out of town, so you may hit a few other cities before you get to Chicago. Take care and see you soon.”

Maliha immediately dialed another phone number. A man picked up.

“Marcus,” he said.

“I need an escort to Chicago, the subject may be in great danger. Marcus, I want you and your wife to take this one personally. The subject lives a few minutes from your office.” She gave him Eliu’s name, address, and the passwords, then heard a woman’s voice in the background, giggling.

“Not in my office. How much time have I got?”

“Less than twenty minutes.”

“Damn, it’s gonna be tight. Hon, get the travel bags.”

“Marcus.” Maliha was on the verge of tears. “She’s a dear friend. I’ll triple your fee. Just get her here safely.”

“You got it.”

Maliha hung up the phone and collapsed into a chair. She shrieked and pounded her fists on the wooden arms of the chair, splitting the arms to splinters. She cried for a few minutes, and then her resolve hardened.

After I bring Yanmeng back, I will tear his captor to pieces. I swear it.

She called Hound and told him that Yanmeng was in trouble. He said he’d drop the high-priority case he was working on and be there as soon as he could. Amaro said he’d arrive in a couple of hours.

When Amaro arrived at Maliha’s public condo, she was wearing a white uniform, soaked with sweat, and using two swords. She was doing lunges to skewer an invisible opponent and fierce swings that sent an invisible head flying across the room. Items from the kitchen cabinets had been lined up on a counter and systematically destroyed as though someone had taken a chainsaw to them. She’d been practicing with her whip sword, a deadly weapon she wore coiled in a sheath around her waist. The whip sword had two long, flexible blades that an expert user could snap and swing at terrific speeds, severing limbs or whatever else was in the way. It was a vicious weapon and she used it with great skill.

“Okay, I can see you’re seriously pissed,” Amaro said. “Tell me about it.”

His voice broke into her trance. She stopped and lowered the swords to the floor, making sure she caused him no injury. Amaro moved closer.

“Seeing you like that was kind of scary,” he said.

“So is what’s in that envelope.” She nodded her head in the direction of the packet on the counter.

He examined it, then sat down and put his head in his hands. “Is this a kidnapping for ransom?”

“I might suspect that, if it hadn’t been for the note. Arnie was the first one resting in peace. Yanmeng has to be the second, then. They’re not asking for money.”

Maliha sat on the floor, crossed her legs, and pulled a sword into her lap. She had her cleaning kit next to her, and began removing the old oil and sweat from the swords and then re-oiling them. She didn’t want to discuss anything more right now. Amaro went into his guest room to see if there was any chatter among his hacker friends.

Hound arrived with pizza, and the three sat around talking. Emotions were running high—one of their own was missing. Maliha took a slice of pizza on a paper plate, but she had no appetite for it. With the strenuous exercise she’d been through plus the stress of the situation, she avoided making eye contact with the slice.

“You going to eat that?” Amaro said.

Without a word, she passed him the paper plate.

“Do you think Chick had something to do with this? He had opportunity both when the box and envelope were delivered,” Hound said.

“I don’t know. I was surprised to see him when I first met him, and I didn’t think to view him,” Maliha said.

“Uh, view him? This is different from seeing him?” Hound said.

Maliha hesitated. She looked at two inquisitive faces and sighed. “Okay, I can view auras. They’re like energy fields surrounding everything. I can tell from the color and activity in the aura whether a person is good or evil, lying or telling the truth, angry or calm, and other things. Jake’s the only one I’ve talked to about it.”

“Have you viewed me?” Hound said.

“No . . . yes.”

“And?”

“You wouldn’t be here if I didn’t trust you completely. You too, Amaro.”

Hound snorted. “That’s a vague answer. We’ve got privacy rights, you know.”

“I know,” Maliha said. “And I needed to feel comfortable before I shared my story with you. I can’t undo what I’ve already done—once—but there’s the door if you feel violated.”

“Hound, shut up,” Amaro said. “Your so-called privacy is violated worse than that every time you get on the Internet. Like when you bought that black lingerie for Glass.”

“What the fuck! How did you know about that?” Hound said.

“If you’d think for one second, you’d know. You used one of Maliha’s credit cards. Who do you think pays the team’s bills? Me, that’s who.” He poked Hound in the chest. “And you call yourself a private investigator,” Amaro said.

“Could we get back to the subject?” Maliha said.

“Only if he doesn’t spy on me anymore,” Hound said. “Kid, anytime you want to finish what you started with that finger in the chest, just let me know.”

If I didn’t love them both, I’d kick them out.

“Do you two need a time-out in your rooms?” Maliha said.

There was no answer, but no more arguments, either.

“One of our friends is in mortal danger. Don’t you think we should stay on topic?” Maliha said. “This is really going to impress Eliu when she gets here.”

“Truce,” Amaro said.

“Truce,” Hound said. “You started it with that viewing business.”

Maliha was about to speak, but Hound held up his hand to fend her off. He went over to the envelope. “I’m going to check for fingerprints, not that I think I’ll find any.” He retrieved a fingerprint kit from a case he’d brought with him and got to work.

“What about asking Jake for help?” Amaro said. “Maybe he can look for government involvement.”

Maliha bit her lip. “I’ll have to think about it. Why do you think the government’s involved?”

“Just a hunch. It might have something to do with that video of you.”

“That was a month ago. You might have a point, though. Sounds like it’s time for you two and Eliu to go to a safe house.”

I could use their help but it’s too much to ask. Too dangerous. One member of the team has been targeted—the others could be next.