Lights Out (24 page)

Lam looked around at her surroundings. She had ten minutes to get to
the other side before she would lose them both for good in the congested
streets of Kowloon unless she could get the ferry stopped. She ran quickly back
up towards the turnstile and looked at the wide-eyed attendant who was blinking
back at her with shock. It wasn’t an every day occurrence to have a female
Police Detective clear the turnstile in one athletic jump.

Lam spoke quickly as she asked the wide-eyed Chinese man to contact
the ferry in question to see whether it could be stopped. It took the man a few
seconds to register what was being asked. He nodded and fumbled through the
papers on his desk until he located the correct emergency number. He picked up
his phone and dialed through to what Lam assumed was his superior. He chatted
on the phone for a few seconds causing Lam to grow more impatient. Eventually,
patience getting the better of her, she grabbed the receiver from the attendant
and spoke with as much authority as she could muster.

“This is Detective Inspector Lam, I need to have the Celestial Star
stopped immediately. There is an armed man on board holding a man hostage.”
Sarah paused waiting for the gravity of what she had just told the man on the
end of the receiver to sink in. It had the desired effect.

“Detective, I’m the Star Ferry Senior Manager,
Mr
Lo, we have a protocol for this kind of thing. As the ferry is already past
half way, it’s better to dock at the other side and we can have some police
waiting as soon as it stops”
.
Mr
Lo said.

Lam thought for a moment.

“Is there any way that I can get across in time to meet it?” She asked, thinking that a speedboat
might work.

“Yes, I’ll arrange for you to be picked up in a couple of minutes. In
the meantime I’ll contact the police and ask them to wait in
Tsim
Sha
Tsui
.
Our driver will be told not to dock until everyone is in place.” He said.

“
Thank you, and please hurry
”.
Lam wondered whether she should call the Chief, but decided
against it. If she had the back up of Kowloon police officers then she should
be well covered.

Lam paced up and down inside the waiting area as new commuters
started to filter in.

Business as usual
, Sarah thought.

Ryan stood motionless, his mind trying to reconcile that last ten
minutes. He was so close to meeting Lam when he was stopped dead by a tall
Chinese man. They both stared at one another, and then suddenly Ryan had a strong
feeling that this was intentional. Ryan tried to step to the side and was
immediately blocked again. He looked at the man in front of him.

“Can I help you?” Ryan
asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

“Turn around slowly and don’t say anything and I won’t kill you.”
Jimmy said to Ryan. Ryan hesitated, then feeling the hard cold muzzle of a gun
digging in his side reluctantly did as he was asked and turned around ready to
get back on the ferry.

Who was this guy?
He thought as he tried to suppress the
panic now rising in his chest.

They walked forwards with the rest of the commuters queuing up for
the return journey. Ryan felt the gun being pressed into his side at every
step.

Once on board, Ryan was maneuvered toward the
centre
of the ferry on the lower deck. It was much louder down stairs. The engine room
was right next to them, and Ryan could feel his head start to throb as he
breathed in the mixture of air and diesel. He stole a glance at the man next to
him and studied his profile for a few seconds. He was clean-shaven and wore
expensive clothes. Not quite what he would have expected for a Triad.

Reading his mind, Jimmy
Luk
turned to face
Ryan. He sounded almost sympathetic when he spoke.

“We can’t let you talk”
.
He
said simply, almost confirming Ryan’s fate there and then.

“So what will happen now?” Ryan asked, fearing the worst.

“For now you need to just be quiet and do what I ask. You have caused
us enough problems.”

Jimmy turned his face away from Ryan and continued to dig his gun
into his side. At this point, Jimmy only had a vague idea of what he would do
when they reached the other side. He had been told to take care of everything,
and now he needed to find a quiet location where he could do just that. He
thought about quiet areas, close to the ferry terminal, but there were so many
tourists today, that he may expose himself unknowingly. The sound of the ferry
horn quickly pulled Jimmy back to the present as he felt the ferry roll
slightly. Continuing to press against Harper he bent down slightly to get a
better view of the cause of the horn.

To his horror he could see a slate grey police boat heading in their
direction. He could feel the adrenaline start to pump through his body as his
eyes followed the boats route. It was no mistake; it was definitely working its
way toward them.

Ryan sensed that something was wrong and turned to follow Jimmy’s
gaze. His eyes rested on the same Police boat and he saw something vaguely
familiar. He squinted, and this time he could make out the long hair, blowing in
the breeze and the resolute stance of Lam. Ryan felt surprise and relief all at
the same time. He looked across at Jimmy, and saw his face twisted in an angry
disbelief. Ryan allowed himself a faint smile, and for a second was able to
push away the thought that he may not make it.

The thought quickly dissolved when Jimmy grabbed Ryan’s waist by his
belt and pulled him closer against the gun. He leaned in toward Ryan’s ear and
whispered.

“If you make a sound, a noise, I will kill you on the spot. Now move forwards
toward the middle of the crowd
.”
By
now Ryan could feel that the ferry had slowed down. They were maybe just a
couple of minutes from the pier, but this ferry would not be doing its normal
docking procedure. Ryan moved forwards slowly trying to decide what to do. He
knew that any moment the police boat would be up against the side of the ferry
and that Jimmy would need to make a decision about what to do. For sure they
wouldn’t make it to the pier.

Lam could feel the breeze on her face as her hair whipped around her
head like Medusa as the boat sped along the water. She stood at the front of
the police boat holding on with one hand. With the other she was holding and
talking into a walkie-talkie. The Star Ferry manager had been fast and
efficient. Within a couple of minutes they had contacted and updated the
Celestial Star
driver, notified the
Kowloon Police and arranged for a police boat to pick her up. She was
impressed, and felt encouraged that they would be able to intercept Jimmy and
retrieve Ryan before anything untoward happened.

The boat drew closer and she felt like a wolf circling a sheep,
pushing it into a corner until it had nowhere else to hide. She just hoped that
Jimmy didn’t do anything stupid in a panic to save himself.

The engine was still on and the noise, coupled with the sound of the
speedboat, was getting louder and louder. Ryan could sense the unease in Jimmy
and he shuffled from one foot to the other trying to decide what his next step
would be.

Jimmy was furious with himself. He felt trapped and hadn’t given Lam
enough credit to intercept him. He was running out of options. If he killed
Ryan now it would be in plain sight, and he would never get off the boat alive.
The only option was to take Harper as hostage to keep himself alive. Once on
dry ground he would think of something else.

A loud haler crackled and jumped to life, making everyone on board
the ferry turn
their
heads towards the police boat.

“
Luk
, you need to give it up and let Harper
go. We have police waiting at both Piers. Drop your weapon and slide it across
the floor.” Lam spoke into the loud haler.

Two Police officers had their weapons trained on the ferry, pointing
in the direction of the lower deck.

The whole ferry erupted in whispers as people started to look around
at the person next to them, fearing that they were standing next to an armed
man. People started to move towards the opposite side of the boat causing the
ferry to tilt slightly to one side increasing the fear amidst the passengers.

Jimmy gripped Ryan tighter placing his arm around his neck and across
his chest, and pushed the gun at Ryan’s temple with his other free hand. Ryan
sucked in a breath as he felt the cold steel against his head. His breathing
was becoming
laboured
with Jimmy’s arm restricting
the airflow.

Jimmy’s blood was pumping wildly now and he could feel his heartbeat
in his ears. In his head he was already picturing his twenty-year career
collapsing around him. He knew that he had stepped over the line this time. It
was over for him.

The pressure across Ryan’s throat was increasing making it hard for
him to breath properly. In desperation Ryan grabbed Jimmy’s forearms and tried
to release enough of the grip to allow him to get a full breath in, but Jimmy’s
grasp was surprisingly strong. He could feel the pressure of the gun on his
temple and closed his eyes momentarily to try and compose himself. The panic he
felt was shutting down his mind section by section. He was worried that if his
heart beat any faster that he may pass out with the stress.

“NO” Jimmy yelled out to Lam, “It’s never too late. If you don’t
stand down I will kill him right here, right now. Don’t push me Lam”
.
Jimmy shouted
,
his voice cracked with the strain.

Ryan could feel the heat off his body.
He’s stressed
. Ryan thought.
Not
a good sign
.

Lam hadn’t expected that he may take Ryan hostage, she thought that
being found out and the trained officers with their guns on him would be
enough. He knew well enough how these things worked. He knew that if he didn’t
stand down, that she would have no option but to shoot him. It was protocol. He
would be ticking it off one by one. Lam was torn. Maybe he wanted her to shoot
him, but she didn’t want him dead, or to shoot Harper in the process. She
decided to negotiate one last time.

“There is no way out
Luk
, you need to put
the gun down and let Harper go. It is too late. There’s nowhere for you to go.
It’s over.” She said firmly.

Jimmy started to shuffle Ryan towards the front of the ferry, all of
the passengers had now stepped away from them terrified that they may get
caught in a cross fire, they had their heads down and most were curled up on
the floor to protect themselves. Parents huddled over the backs of their
children, couples wrapped around each other. Ryan could hear a few young
children sobbing quietly, as their parents whispered to try and sooth them.

Lam continued. “I know everything. I know it all.
Your
involvement with the triad gang.
Your agreement with
the Society.
Your dealings with Ghost Face.
All of it.
You need to talk to me
Luk
.
I’m your only chance now.”

Lam’s voice crackled through the loud haler echoing over the ferry.
Jimmy’s mind was racing. He couldn’t believe that it was over. If they charged
him, he would never survive prison. The triads would get to him there. He was a
dead man either way. Lam’s bullet would be quick and accurate. There would be
no beatings, no torture that would leave him begging to be killed quickly. This
was the better option. Finish it all now.

Ryan’s survival instinct had started to kick in. He forced himself to
calm down and to think rationally. What could he do? If he pushed back toward
Luk
he might inadvertently cause Jimmy to shoot him in the
head, so that wouldn’t work, but if he pushed himself down, it may give Lam
enough of an opportunity to shoot Jimmy, or be able to disentangle himself
enough to wrestle the gun away from him. It was risky, he reasoned, but maybe
that was his only option. He could sense that Jimmy was planning something, the
way that he was being forced toward the front of the ferry.

Ryan slowed down his breathing and looked ahead towards the police
boat. Lam had put the loud haler down and now had her gun trained on Jimmy.

Now it was a stand off
, Ryan thought.

Suddenly there was a loud click next to Ryan’s ear as Jimmy engaged
the trigger. It was now or never Ryan thought. He took in a deep breath and
with all his strength he pushed his hands upwards forcing his body down toward
the wooden deck. Jimmy’s forearms loosened enough to release Ryan’s neck.
Momentarily Jimmy was left standing exposed from the waist up.

Two shots cracked overhead at the same time, Ryan covered his ears
with his hands and stayed low waiting to feel a bullet rip through his body at
any moment, but it never did. Around him there were screams and shouts and
scuffles as people moved as far away from them as possible. Ryan heard a
muffled cry of pain behind him. Uncertain what may greet him, he turned to see
Jimmy lying on the floor holding his right arm with his left hand. Blood pumped
through the gaps in his fingers as he lay there gasping and whining like a
small child. Ryan stood unsteadily and scanned the floor for the gun. He
located it a few feet away and moved quickly to pick it up. With a shaky hand
he pointed the gun at Jimmy.