Lights Out (19 page)

13. I must never reveal
the secrets or signs of the Good Fortune Harmony Society when speaking to
outsiders. If I do so I will be killed by a myriad of swords.”

Lily finished the last
oath and looked towards her Uncle.

“Now just the last paragraph.” He nodded to
Lily and indicated that she must finish in full.

Lily turned to the last page and continued to
read.

“After entering the realms
of the Good Fortune Harmony Society I shall be a loyal, faithful and true
member. I promise to follow the path of the Society and I
endeavour
to keep true to the Oaths that I have spoken.

I will worship our precious God; Guan Gong and
will incorporate the six qualities of the humble man into my life.

Humanity. Righteousness. Ritual Obedience.
Wisdom. Loyalty and Trust.”

Lily closed the book and passed it back to her
Uncle, who, for the first time since starting the ceremony, smiled at her. Lily
looked around her. All of the members were nodding in acknowledgement. She
turned to her Grandmother who reached forwards with her hands to take Lily’s.
Lily stepped forwards quickly closing the gap between them and held her hands
out.

“Congratulations Lillian”, she said looking up
at Lily.

She withdrew her hands and carefully twisted
off a gold and jade ring from her bent finger.

She took Lily’s hand and slipped the ring onto
the middle finger of her right hand, it was too big and swung around loosely.

“What’s this”, Lily whispered rubbing the cool
jade stone with her fingertips.

“It shows that you are a member. Only members
of our society can wear them. It’s one of our signs. This one is over thirty
years old. A good piece of Jade.” Her Grandmother said.

“But what about yours?” Lily asked, “Shouldn’t
you still wear one?’

“I have one.” She stated and touched Lily’s
cheeked with her old fingers.

“This was your fathers, you can have it made
smaller to fit you. But it’s very much yours now.”

Lily smiled at her Grandmother and looked
around the temple. It was such a surreal setting; the lighting was low, mostly
candles surrounding the stone altars. Smoke still poured out of the incense
tips and twisted and spiraled above their heads causing a haze. The walls were
all painted a deep red, making it feel like they were inside a cave. This was
truly a life changing moment for her. She had read the Oaths, and knew how
important they were. She would
honour
them all and
learn from her elders, and when the time was right, she would avenge her
parents’ death.

“Time to eat.” Lily’s Uncle clapped his hands
together breaking the moment. He guided them all to the exit and they stepped
out onto the quiet Hong Kong
street
.

Sarah was sitting at her desk when the call came in. At first she
didn’t register, the voice was talking so quickly it made it hard for her to
understand.

“Who is this”, she asked, squinting as she tried to push the phone
closer to her ear so that she could hear properly.

“He’s dead, they killed him, they had him and killed him, he’s dead,
and I have his blood all over me. He’s dead.” Ryan panted as he spoke.

Sarah recognized the voice of Ryan Harper, it was clearer now.

“Ryan, is that you? Where are you?” She asked standing up. With her
free hand she grabbed her suit jacket off the back of her swivel office chair
and started toward the door.

“Ryan what happened, talk to me. Who’s dead?" She asked,
striding now down the corridor toward the exit, trying to keep Ryan engaged and
talking at the same time.

“I’m in Chai Wan,” He said. This time his voice sounded calmer.

“My battery is low, I might get cut off.” He said.

“OK, tell me the road name and I’ll come and get you right now”.

“
Shing
To Road” Ryan managed to say just
before his phone battery died.

Ryan slumped down onto the floor. He had hidden himself down a narrow
side street and would just wait. He knew that it would take Lam about twenty
minutes to get there, so he would just sit tight until then.

His head was swimming. He didn’t know what to think anymore. His
world in the last week had been turned completely on its head, and his life was
clearly in real danger. He thought back to the shooting. He could see vividly
Rob’s face explode in front of him. It happened so fast, one second his friend
was there, pushing him out of the way. The next he was twitching and squirming
on the floor, blood pouring out of his head and face.

Ryan looked down at his clothes. They were covered in speckles of
blood and flesh. Ryan gagged; he leaned over to his right and vomited.
Supporting his weight on his hands and knees he continued to heave, even though
there was nothing left in his stomach. He coughed until his throat was raw, and
then shaking, he moved himself back into a sitting position slightly further
down the alleyway, away from his mess on the floor.

Ryan wiped his mouth with the back of his shirt. He wanted to claw
his clothes off and shower, but he couldn’t, he had nothing else to wear. He
would have to wait.

He was suddenly so thirsty. His mouth dry from vomiting, he
desperately wanted to drink some water. His head was throbbing so hard now that
he could do nothing except press his palms against his forehead and close his
eyes tight.

He was still in this position when he felt a hand gently touch his
shoulder.

It gave Ryan a start, and he jumped to his feet unsteadily.

“It’s OK Ryan”, Lam said softly taking in the man before her. Even in
the dim alleyway she could see that he looked so disheveled and pale. His
unshaven stubble had particles of what looked like vomit, and his shirt was
covered in what was clearly blood. He smelt terrible, she thought.

“Thanks for coming,” Ryan said, his throat husky and dry, realizing
for the first time in days how relieved he actually was to see her.

“Before you ask, I’m not coming in.” Ryan stated as they walked
slowly back down the alleyway. “I’m innocent.”

“I won’t force you to Ryan, but to clear your name, you are going to
have to be interviewed. Your prints are all over the bank. You ran Ryan. It’s a
clear sign to us that you have a reason to run.” Lam said. She wanted nothing
more than to bring him in, but in her experience she could see that he was
frightened of something and she needed to know what that was.

They walked together slowly down the dark narrow alleyway and stepped
onto the pavement. It was bathed in bright sunlight making Ryan squint and
shade his eyes. They continued a few more steps until they arrived at Lam’s
car. She’d driven her 1985 Porsche and parked it on double yellow lines close
to the alleyway where she had found Ryan.

“Whose blood is that?” Lam asked, testing the water and nodding
towards his shirt.

“It’s Rob’s, he’s dead.” Ryan said matter of
factly
,
as though she’d asked him what aftershave he wore.

“I can tell you everything that you want to know, but I’m not coming
in yet. I will, I’ll promise you that. But if you force me to come in now, I’ll
be dead within twenty-four hours. They have people everywhere. Even part of the
Police force.” Ryan said, brushing down his shirt in an attempt to get rid of
the drying debris.

“You need a change of clothes.” Lam said. Looking at him now in the
bright sunshine, his appearance was even worse than she initially thought.

“I know. Can you drive me somewhere. I can run in and quickly buy
something, then we can talk.’ Ryan said.

Lam thought things through for a moment. If she insisted that she
bring him in, he would most probably run again, and she really didn’t want to
shoot him in the leg or have to bring him down. What she wanted was to find out
what happened. She wanted to nail the bank robbery and find out why Rob had
been killed.

Lam turned to Ryan.

“OK, here’s the deal. I’ll get you cleaned up, and then we’re going
to find a place to talk. You are going to tell me everything that has happened,
from the beginning, nothing left out. I want names, places, everything.” She
said. “
and
I want it on tape. It needs to be
submissible
.” Lam continued. “I can forcefully bring you
in, but I’m not going to do that. I can see that you are scared, and I believe
that you don’t trust anyone right now, including the police, so I appreciate
that you want to talk to me. But once I have everything secure at the station,
I’ll ask you to come in, and I’ll need you to make another statement and be
interviewed by another detective, not just me. I do have just one other
question.” Lam said.

“Are you completely innocent in this Ryan?” She looked at him. His
eyes had dark circles around them and his lips were cracked and dry.

“Yes.” He said, his voice ragged and tired. “Yes, I am.”

Lam nodded.

“No more questions for now. Let’s get you some clean clothes.” Lam
looked at her car interior and then at Ryan, and for a second contemplated what
she should do.

“Luckily it’s leather.” Lam said with a sigh.

Ryan forced an apologetic smile and climbed in to the passenger seat.
For the first time in a few days he felt safe. He sat in silence as Lam pulled
the car into gear and sped off leaving the empty warehouse behind them.

Twenty minutes later Lam eased the Porsche into an underground
parking lot and found a space in the far corner away from all the other cars.

She turned to Ryan.

“Give me your sizes, you can’t go out in public looking like that,
you look like you’ve just killed someone.” She said.

Ryan looked at Lam, taken aback by how accommodating she’d been since
arriving in Chai Wan. He thought she may try to coax him in, or force him, but
she had been patient and seemed to understand. He wondered how much she knew
already.

“OK, well I’m a size Large top, 42” chest, and 34” Waist and 34” Long
on the leg for the pants. My shoes are fine. But I could do with some
deodorant, shampoo, and a toothbrush if you don’t mind.” He said, feeling a
little awkward.

“And, thanks.” He said before she climbed out of the car.

“Give me 30 minutes. You look as though you’re about to crash. Why
don’t you sleep? I’ll be back soon.” Lam said as she stepped out of the car,
trying not to worry about her leather interior, and how she would get rid of
the smell afterwards. She looked in one more time at
Ryan,
his eyes were already heavy and closed. She locked the car and pushed the key
deep into her pants pocket and quickly made her way to the shopping mall
entrance.

When Ryan finally opened his eyes, he didn’t know where he was. He
quickly glanced to the side and saw Lam driving. She glanced sideways and
smiled at his expression of horror.

“It’s OK”. She laughed. “I’m not taking you in. I’m taking you
somewhere where you can get cleaned up.” She told him reassuringly.

Ryan sat up in the passenger seat and looked out of the window.
Finally he recognized where he was. It was close to
his own
home in Mid Levels. Lam took the next turning to the left and pulled into what
Ryan recognized as Bowen Road.

“Where are we going?”
Ryan asked, a bit puzzled.

“My place.” She said looking at him. “It’s probably the safest place
to be right now. I figured that anywhere public that I took you, it would be
too obvious. No one will think to look at my apartment. You can clean up, take
your time and we can talk without being worried about anyone listening in. It’s
totally secure.” She said. “You don’t have to worry.”

Ryan sat quietly thinking about being safe. It seemed like such a
long way away. He didn’t know if he could ever feel completely safe again.

Lam parked the car and led Ryan into the building and up to the third
floor. She let herself in and immediately had her dog Sasha bounding up to her
and jumping up.

“Get down boy”, Lam said, gently chiding him and pushed him into her
kitchen and closed the door.

“He gets a bit excited, especially when I have new visitors”, she
said apologetically.

“Come in.” Lam opened the door fully so that Ryan could step inside.

He glanced around at her apartment. It was big and spacious. It
looked like an old 1950’s apartment with beautiful high ceilings and polished
parquet wooden floors.

He took in the old tan leather club chairs, well worn on the arms.
The walls of bookshelves stuffed to the hilt with books. An old wooden dining
table took up most of the space, making Ryan think that she must like entertaining
at home.

Lam pointed Ryan in the direction of her guest bathroom.

“You’ll find fresh towels, and shampoo, and shower gel in the
bathroom”, she said as she handed him the shopping bags.

“Just take your time.” She said.

Ryan took the bag and walked to the bathroom, closing and locking the
door behind him.

It was a clean and modern bathroom. Over size white tiles on the
walls, and pale marble tiles on the floor. There was an old roll top bath in
the
centre
of the room, and an open shower in the
corner. The tiles had been laid to allow the water to drain towards the corner
so as not to flood the rest of the bathroom.
Clever
, Ryan thought to himself. He located the guest towels and
the shampoo in a vanity unit. He took the plastic bag and carefully emptied out
the new clothes and toiletries onto the top of the toilet seat lid to keep them
dry. He placed the plastic bag on the floor and started to undress.

He carefully peeled off his shirt taking care not to drop anything
horrible onto the floor and turned it inside out, dropping it onto the open
plastic bag. He noticed that the blood had changed from bright red to dark
brown making the fabric feel stiff. He took off his shoes and placed them
neatly together at the door, then removed his socks, his pants and finally his
boxer shorts, dropping them all into a pile near the door. He walked over to
the mirror and looked at himself.

He hardly
recognised
the face looking back
at him. He never went more than a day or two without shaving. Now he’d gone
three days and his stubble was starting to turn into a dark beard. It was itchy
and course. His face had speckles of dried blood, smudged in places across his
forehead and matted into his hair. Ryan felt suddenly exhausted as he looked at
himself. He was fatigued beyond what he thought was possible, and yet he still
kept going.

Ryan opted for the shower for fear of falling asleep in the bath. He
turned on the large tap, and let the water run over him. His whole body felt
tired. He stood like that for five minutes until he felt that every bit of
bloody flesh and sweat had been washed away. Then he spent another five minutes
scrubbing and washing his entire body until his skin was pink and raw.

The towels here felt like pure luxury after the grey scratchy towels
in the Hotel. He dried himself down and looked at his new pile of clothes.

Everything was neatly folded still with the price tags in place. He
took out the pants first. Jeans, his size, exactly right. He rummaged through
the pile and almost laughed out loud, when he saw that Lam had even bought him
underwear.
Plain black boxers.
She’s so practical,
he thought to himself.

He took all the labels off and pulled the boxers on, then the jeans.
Both fitted perfectly and felt good on his clean body.

He went through the rest of the pile and pulled out socks, and a
t-shirt. He put the socks on, they were a little short, but after all he hadn’t
told her his foot size, so she’d had to make a guess.

The t-shirt was marl grey jersey cotton with a picture on the front
depicting a Hawaiian surfer with “surfs up” on the reverse. Not really his
thing, Ryan thought, but it was clean and his size. He pulled it over his head
and smoothed it over his torso.