Authors: Stephen Knight
Ryker shook his head and put his face in his hand. “I’m not going to puke.”
“Oh. Well, that’s good.”
Ryker sat up straight suddenly and looked at the papers between them. “Hey. Did Jong live in Shanghai full time, or did he live in the U.S.?”
“Here in America. He has an address in Santa Cruz, I think. Family there, too.”
“All right. So what was he doing in Shanghai?”
“Visiting? Business? Who knows?”
Ryker thought about that for a long moment, then got to his feet. “Stay here. I’ll be right back, I just want to make a phone call.”
“You make phone calls all the time from your desk, why not now?”
“You ask too many questions.”
“Uh…I’m a
detective
, Hal.”
“Then stop acting like a dick and detect.” He pointed at the papers in front of Chee Wei. “Get a number for Lin Jong’s home in Santa Cruz and call over there.” With that, Ryker spun on his heel and headed for Spider’s darkened office. The lights were off, but the door was unlocked. He pushed inside and closed the door behind him, then pulled out his cell phone. He sat down in Spider’s high-backed chair and looked out at Chee Wei through the office windows as he paged through the phone’s dialed calls log. He found the one he wanted and hit the green CALL button.
“Hello.”
“Valerie. It’s Hal.” Ryker kept his voice low, but he could see Chee Wei practically cupping a hand to his ear to try and listen in on his conversation.
Little creep,
he thought.
She was silent for a long moment. Ryker was about to speak, to apologize, to ask if she was all right, anything to fill the void. He was thankful she beat him to the punch.
“I’m sorry I took so long this morning. I guess…I guess you had to go.”
“I did. But it’s not because of anything you did.”
“I know that. You said your partner called you, and that you had to leave anyway…isn’t that right?”
He breathed a silent sigh of relief. “Yes. Yes, that’s exactly right. Listen Valerie…I need to ask you some questions.”
“About my husband. Of course.”
“No. About his brother. John Lin.”
“Lin Jong…? What…what would you want to know about him?” She sounded confused, and Ryker imagined she was trying to correlate his intended line of questioning with the murder of her husband.
Maybe she doesn’t know Lin Jong is dead?
“Do you know John—Lin Jong?”
“Of course I do. He’s my brother-in-law. He also works for my father-in-law, though in a much more senior capacity than…than my husband did.” She paused. “Why do you want to know about
him?
”
“Where is he now?”
“The last I heard about him, he was in Shanghai. He was supposed to come back last month, but he had to stay longer than planned.”
“Was your husband close to him?”
“Close? They were rivals. They hated each other with a passion. Danny went almost insane with jealousy after Lin Yubo promoted Lin Jong to president of Lin Industries. It meant that John would take over the entire organization after Lin Yubo retired. Or died.”
“When was the last time you or your husband heard from him?”
“Hal…what’s this about?”
Ryker debated what to tell her, then figured he had gotten everything she knew. She didn’t know her brother-in-law had preceded her husband in death, which likely meant James Lin wasn’t a stranger to screwing over his family anymore than he’d bend over anyone else.
“Valerie. John Lin was murdered in Shanghai a month ago. And it seems that whoever killed him also killed your husband.”
She was quiet for a long time. In the outer office, Chee Wei had given up acting like he was busy doing something else. Now, he just stared at Ryker through the windows in Spider’s office. Ryker waited, and wondered just how much of this conversation was going to go in the murder book.
“Jesus,” she said finally. Her voice was so small Ryker almost missed the utterance altogether.
“You had no idea.” It wasn’t a question.
“No. No! I had no idea at all! My God, does his wife know?”
“I have no idea who knows what, Valerie. I only found out myself this morning from the Shanghai police,” Ryker lied, thinking of the possible repercussions should James Lin somehow learn of Chee Wei’s Hong Kong connection.
“So…so Lin Yubo…he knew?”
“Yes. He knew all about it all along.”
She struggled with that. “And…and he didn’t tell Danny?”
“If your husband never mentioned it, then I would guess not.”
“Then Lin Jong’s family doesn’t know either. That old, reptilian
bastard
…”
Ryker needed her on course before her temper got the best of her. “Valerie. Valerie, I need you to try and remember something. Did you know what John Lin was in Shanghai for? You said it was for business, but do you know for what, exactly?”
“It was…it was for meetings. He was to help arrange visits for...for Chinese dignitaries, I think…” She went on, but Ryker muted the phone and yelled to Chee Wei.
“What was the name of the guy I said I saw last night?”
“Ren Yun!” Chee Wei shouted back.
Ryker took the phone off mute and interrupted Valerie. “Valerie, I’m sorry, but I need to find out what John Lin was doing in Shanghai. What dignitaries was he working with?”
She paused. “I’m not sure. I’m not that plugged into the business world—”
“Was one of them named Ren Yun?” Ryker pronounced the name terribly, but she got it.
“Yes! Yes, how did you know? He was at my father-in-law’s last night, wasn’t he?”
“He was. And I think he’s someone I’m going to need to talk to. Thanks, Val. You’ve been great.” He paused. “All around great in a way I don’t get to see very often. And I mean that as high praise.”
She snorted softly. “It’s been some time since someone has given me ‘high praise’. Thanks. I’ll accept it.”
Ryker smiled even though Chee Wei was staring at him through the glass like some kind of pervert voyeur. “Great. Can—can I call you later? It’s probably not job-related…” He was aware of his fumbling, but he couldn’t help it. This was all very new to him.
“I’d like that, Hal.”
Ryker said his good-byes and hung up. He glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was 11:30am. As he stepped out of the office, he ran a hand over his face, feeling the razor stubble on his chin.
“So who was that?” Chee Wei asked.
“Valerie Lin.” Ryker tried to keep his voice casual as he walked back to his desk.
“Why you old dog,” Chee Wei said with a huge, shit-eating grin.
“What are you talking about?”
“Come on! I saw you talking to her on the phone. Getting all tender. And wearing a suit on a Saturday morning? Dude, you were out doing some serious partying with the lady, weren’t you? Did you”—Chee Wei rose and pumped his hips—“get your love on?”
Ryker rolled his eyes. “Let’s grab some lunch and then head up to Tiburon. I want to chat with Lin and his house guest.”
CHAPTER 24
The high rise office building was mostly vacant, save for maintenance and janitorial workers. Few tenant employees were about, which made things a bit easier; there were fewer people to see Manning hustle Lin inside through the parking garage. He was stopped at security, and he was surprised to see the same two security guards who had greeted him on his first visit.
“You guys work around the clock?” Manning asked.
“Ha. We work in shifts,” the 20-something said. He looked at Lin and nodded respectfully. “Hello, sir.”
Lin nodded back, but that was it.
“We’re going to forty-five,” Manning said. “We’ll probably have some food deliveries and stuff like that. If anyone else comes in with access to that floor, please let us know. You can call Mr. Lin’s office direct, and I’ll answer the phone.”
“Something going on?” This came from the older guard. He slowly edged toward them from behind the lobby desk, his eyes flat and expressionless. The eyes of an ex-cop.
“Mr. Lin has some serious issues with a business unit in China. He needs access to the corporate network, including secure files and the like which aren’t accessible from his home. And some of that work is classified. He wants to be notified if anyone enters the floor.” Manning looked from one guard to the other. “Is that going to be a problem?”
The older guard ignored Manning and looked at Lin. “Mr. Lin, is everything all right?”
Lin looked properly indignant. “Yes, yes, everything is fine! Please do as my man tells you!” He then turned and marched for the elevator bay.
The older guard nodded sourly and directed Manning toward the metal detector. “You know the drill.”
“I have a building permit allowing me to carry my weapon in the building.” Manning pulled the plastic card from his wallet and showed it to the two guards. The older one examined it critically.
“I’ll be back with this.” He moved to a computer station on the other side of the long lobby desk and started tapping keys. After a time, he was returned and handed the card back to Manning. His expression never changed. “Okay, you’re clear. You expecting any shooting?”
Manning put the card back in his wallet. “I
always
expect shooting, chief.”
The elevator ride to the 45th floor was uneventful. Manning preceded Lin out of the elevator and ensured everything outside the elevator bay was secure. Lin swiped his access card at the lobby doors, and Manning stepped into the office beyond. He reconnoitered the immediate area, but he couldn’t look in each and every cube and leave Lin alone in the elevator bay. He waved Lin inside, and the lobby doors clicked shut behind him, the magnetic locks doing what they were supposed to do.
“Where’s your office?”
Lin pointed to the far side of the floor. “That way. In the corner.”
Of course
. Manning conducted Lin to his office immediately, keeping one hand on the man’s bony shoulder and the other on his sidearm. There was a fair amount of territory to cover, but most of the floor was open; the cubes were up front, where support staff met. Manning ushered Lin down a hallway lined with lustrous mahogany wood and a subtle veined marble-tiled floor. As they passed the darkened executive offices, Manning marveled at the absolute luxury each office embodied. It was obvious that Lin and his people lived life on the high side.
Lin’s office was bordered by a secretary station and a waiting room complete with rich leather chesterfield chairs. Unlike his sumptuous home, Lin’s office was surprisingly minimalist; a small meeting area, a leather couch, a wide desk and a single high-backed leather chair. The furnishings were all top-class, but there was something cold, antiseptic about the office. Manning thought it was an accurate reflection of the man himself. The vertical office blinds were open. He steered Lin toward his desk and looked for a way to close them.
“Here.” Lin pressed a button on his desk, and the blinds automatically closed. Manning nodded and checked the ensuite restroom, noting that it was complete with a shower and bidet in addition to the requisite toilet and sink. He was almost surprised to see the commode wasn’t fashioned out of gold. He went through the linen closet there, and then the coat closet in the office. Despite the size of the office, it didn’t afford an assassin many places to hide. Just the same, he executed due diligence and checked behind the couch and the credenza that sat along one wall.