Lights Out (26 page)

‘Are you OK’
Ko
asked noticing the deep cut
at the bridge of Lam’s nose.

‘I’ll live’, she responded, wincing as she touched her face. ‘Thanks,
I owe you one.’

‘One down, two to go.’
Ko
said, this time
seeming a little more relaxed.

‘You OK Tsang’ Lam motioned to the young officer visibly shaking in
the dark.

‘I’m good’, just happy to still be alive.” He whispered somberly.

Before they had a chance to get their breath back, a serious of
bullets now sprayed them from the side. Whoever was firing, they were blindly
trying to take a shot at them now, clearly angry that one of their men had been
killed. Luckily for the three of them, the aim was way off course, bullets
spraying around them randomly. Lam wondered how long they should wait now
before their next move.

Lam rolled silently to the left of the mezzanine to see whether she
could take a clear shot. Carefully stretching her body toward the edge, she
peered over the side of the railing. She could just make out two figures below
on the first floor.

‘I think we have to go back down.’ Lam said, not happy with the idea,
but seeing no other way out. ‘But I’m open to suggestions’. She said to both
men.

Tsang and
Ko
exchanged looks, neither of
them with any
better
suggestion.

‘OK,
Ko
, you take the left hand side of the
staircase, I’ll cover the right. Tsang, you stay low and in the middle. We’ll
all go on three and then start firing. Make each shot count’

‘OK, three, two, one’
with a silent nod, the three of them launched into action, they ran down the
staircase at high speed firing left and right as agreed and made it to the
first mezzanine, as they turned to regroup in the shadows, one of the men
stepped forward, taking them by surprise. In a blur of bullets and screaming,
Tsang was shot at close range; he slumped down to the floor, clearly dead.
Someone else grabbed Sarah, knocking her gun out of her hand and she felt
herself being lifted effortlessly off the floor, suddenly her stomach lurched
as she realized what was about to happen. She clawed at the man holding her,
but he was too strong, she felt her
centre
of gravity
shift momentarily before he released his grip, and then she was falling. In
that second, she was sure that she heard
Ko
shouting,
‘
Nooooo
’ as the shooting began again.

She must have blacked out briefly upon landing, and now she was back
in the shadows, horribly injured and without a weapon.

The silence seemed to be closing in on Lam as she weighed up her
options. She scanned the darkness for her weapon, but couldn’t see anything
from where she was situated. Then she thought of her radio, and patted her belt
for it, but it was gone. Probably in the fall, she thought. She tried to slow
down her breathing, so that she could hear any movement or footsteps. Then she
heard it again; the unmistakable sound of feet walking slowly across the
concrete. Whoever it was, they were getting closer now. Her heart was beating
hard in her chest as she tried to see which way she should go, but she had lost
her bearings in the fall and couldn’t remember which direction the exit was.
She shook her head to try and stay focused, pushing away the thoughts of sleep
that had started to smother her brain.

The footsteps now were getting louder. Lam would have to run; it was
her only chance to get out of the building, then to her car. Once there, she
could get help. Taking in a few deep painful breaths, she steadied herself. The
footsteps sounded as though they were coming from her left, so she would head
right. Ignoring the searing pain in her wrist and her head, Sarah slowly took a
few steps out of the shadows. Feeling that the time was right, she took off at
full speed. Her lungs were burning in her chest within seconds; she pushed
herself harder now aware of footsteps directly behind her. She looked around for
the exit, but could only see empty space. As she turned the next corner, she
could just make out the metal container in the far corner and she knew that she
was close. She forced her legs and arms to move faster, ignoring the blinding
headache that was taking over her entire head and the throbbing in her temples.
Then she heard it, the cocking of a gun and the rip roaring sound of a bullet
being fired. Lam had never been
shot before. She’d seen plenty of gunshot wounds, and often wondered how it
felt. Was it painful immediately, or did the pain only show itself later, once
the brain had registered what had happened to the body? Now she knew first
hand, the pain was instant and it stopped her dead in her tracks. As though
someone had taken the legs from under her, Lam landed once again face down on
the floor. One of her teeth was knocked upon landing out and it rolled lightly
across the floor stopping just a few feet away within her line of sight, bright
white against the darkness. Her body felt heavy now and the pain, even though
intense was starting to move through her body in sickening waves. ‘Maybe this
is what it’s like’, she imagined that death would come quickly, but her chest
was rising and falling and she somehow kept breathing.

Now the footsteps were upon her, and she knew for sure that it would
not be
Ko
. Unable to move, and now only able to
breath in shallow pants, Lam could do nothing to defend herself.

Her killer moved to her side and bent down to look at Lam’s blood
covered and mangled face. A pool of dark blood was starting to seep around her
waist forming a moat around her body. Lam tried to keep her eyes open as she
tried to focus on the face swimming in and out of her vision. All that she
could see was a ghost, her mind was playing tricks on her now, she thought,
but it must be
, she reasoned. His face
was so pale, so white that it almost glowed in the darkness and then it was
gone.

Lam had learned only later the details of her rescue. Her radio call
had placed her stationed team on red alert and they had rushed over to the
stake out location arriving just in time. The two narcotics officers and
Ko
had been found dead.
Ko
shot
between the eyes at point black range. He didn’t stand a chance. There were two
other bodies, later identified by Lam as the two men in the silver van that had
carried in the black duffle bags.

Lam had been unconscious and barely breathing when they found her. No
one could believe that she had survived. The bullet had entered her lower back
and lodged itself into her spine. She needed 12 hours of surgery to remove it,
and only weeks later would the Doctors know if she would make a full recovery.
She remained unconscious for almost three weeks, missing the funerals of the
two Narcotics Officers and her partner of eight years,
Ko
.
Slowly her broken nose and broken wrist mended, and her dentist fixed her
missing tooth.

It took Lam six months of rehabilitation before she could go back to
work. By then it was like being the new girl all over again. The staff treated
her differently, with kid gloves and she hated it. The Chief was the only one
who knew how to behave around her, he acted as though nothing had happened and
she silently thanked him for it. As far as she was concerned it was business as
usual, except this time, she was working solo. Every few months the Chief would
try and give her a new partner, and every time Lam would refuse, until
eventually, two years later and without consent, he had given her Chow.

Lam could feel her headache lift, and she removed the towel and the
ice from her face.

She grabbed her file and headed towards the interview room. It was
time to find out what Harper knew before anyone else was killed.

Lily felt numb as she entered the Chinese restaurant. She sensed that
her meeting with the eight Masters could easily go either way. If they believed
Ghost Face, then it was likely that her sentence would be severe. If they
listened to her, then she would have the chance to prove herself and to express
her fears and concerns about his actions.

Lily hovered outside the familiar door and could hear the voices
debating inside. She took a deep breath and rapped loudly.

Silence was immediate, followed by a voice that boomed through the
walls, ‘Enter’.

Lily stepped into the room and surveyed it quickly. They were all
there, all eight Masters, including her Grandmother, and the Master of
Ceremonies
;
her Uncle. They were all seated around a large
round table. Up until the moment that Lily entered the room, they had been
debating relentlessly. Now there was absolute silence, just eyes that followed
her movements. Her Uncle was the first to stand and move toward her, but he
wouldn’t look at her face. Instead he ushered Lily silently to the only empty
seat among them, and then sat himself beside her. Lily looked across the table
and what she saw shocked her. Her Grandmother’s right arm was bandaged from the
hand up to the elbow and was resting on the table in front of her. Her face was
bruised, also on the right side making her face look distorted. It was clearly
swollen. Her Grandmother registered Lily’s concern and she shook her head
slightly, the shake of the head telling Lily that now was not the time to
discuss the reason behind her injuries. She sat as tall and as proud as her
weak body allowed, her eyes still on her Granddaughter. But for the first time
ever, as Lily looked at her, she couldn’t determine which emotions were running
behind them.

Lily sat still, momentarily closing her eyes, taking in a deep breath
to prepare herself for the worst. A few moments later, her eyes suddenly
flicked open as she faced her silent audience, now ready to accept whatever the
Masters had to say.

Her Grandmother began the proceedings and spoke only to Lily.

“You have been brought here today in front of the Society Masters to
review the allegations against you and to decide upon your fate. Do you
understand that the decision made here today is final and cannot be challenged
or revoked?”

Her Grandmother locked eyes with Lily to ensure that she fully
understood what she was being told.

Lily gave a simple nod, and straightened her back as she replied.
“Yes, I understand.”

Facing the Members and with a somber tone, Lily’s Grandmother
addressed them all.

“For some time now, we have had reason to believe that there is a
traitor among the Society Members. It’s not uncommon for members to switch
between societies, especially between the lower and younger classes, some of
you yourselves, many years ago, joined us from other societies, however it is
highly unusual for a senior respected ranked member of our society to switch
sides and one that we have considered unwaveringly loyal from the very
beginning. We have never had a case such as this.

Our doubts increased just a few months ago, when we had heard,
through a trustworthy source, that one of our members intended to move from us
to the Society of the Golden Eye. We all know this group well and they have
been our long-standing adversaries over these last few difficult years. Up
until the deaths of my late husband, beloved daughter and son-in-law, they had
remained at arms length, our fights never that serious. Since then they have
made their intentions very clear to us, and now they are a direct threat. They
want our Society, our members, our land, our money and our submission. They
have increased their aggression toward us and are threatening the very values
of our Society.”

Turning again to Lily, she continued.

‘Lillian, after the death of your parents, we debated long and hard
as to whether you should be brought into the Society. Your Mother and Father
were against it, and yet it was their whole life and ultimately the reason for
their death. Upon my death, your Father had already been selected by the very
Masters that you see before you in this room, to be the one to take over.”

Lily was pleased that she was sitting down. She hadn’t expected this
at all, and now all she could do was stare in disbelief at what she was
hearing.

“You had showed us early on that you were capable of handling yourself,
that you understood the importance of our beliefs and that you would be a loyal
and trusted member. I had planned to train you myself; to arm and prepare you
with everything that you could possibly need, so that when the time came, you
would be ready, like your father, to take the lead. To bring young blood to the
table and to ensure the safety and longevity of our Society.

We control a myriad of businesses here in Hong Kong, throughout
mother China and across the globe. Some of our ventures are legitimate. Some
are not accepted within the realm of the law and even we do have limits to how
far we will stretch for monetary gain.

We do sell sex and we do it well, we have brothels all over Hong Kong
and the mainland, yet we only use local girls in each region, and we don’t deal
in any way or form in human trafficking. We offer security in every possible
guise. To Hotels and restaurants, brothel owners, clubs and drinking
establishments, we protect these people from people like the Society of the
Golden Eye, and they pay us well for it. We offer protection to Government
officials, travelling dignitaries and celebrities. We are the ones that people
come to when their child is kidnapped or when their lives are in danger, and we
deal with it all, discreetly and professionally. We have maintained a respect
within our industry by abiding by the Society rules and by our Oaths.

We are becoming more sophisticated in our means for attaining funds.
We have an elaborate and untraceable method for money laundering, managed by a
team of specialists employed by the Society. Through them, and with their
guidance we legitimately purchase property and land and have built an
impressive and highly performing stock portfolio. We have another team that
works solely on credit card fraud on a global scale, buffered by worldwide
insurance companies and banks, and now we have another new route, one that
enables us to enter a major Bank and walk out with millions of Hong Kong
dollars in under eight minutes.

We have the knowledge and the expertise to do all of these things,
and to do them well.

We will not deal or distribute drugs, we will not deal with human
trafficking, or prostitution against will and we will not deal in the theft of
religious or historical relics from the mainland. Those things we will leave to
the Society of the Golden Eye, where they are willing to compromise their rules
and what the oaths stand for, to use old fashioned and barbaric ways to get
what and who they want.

If they manage to gain power over our society and yolk all of this
knowledge, then our Society is finished and everything that we value and have
worked for would have been in vain. We cannot allow this to happen.

We have waited long enough, and now we must strike fast at those who
challenge us.”

She sat back heavily in her seat, exhausted by her monologue and
drained by the darkness of the subject matter.

The room was silent. Not a single member had interrupted her speech,
no whisper or word uttered quietly under breaths. However, throughout the quiet
room there was a tangible affirmation that swept across the Masters as they all
nodded and agreed in unison.

Continuing from her seat, Lily’s Grandmother looked again at Lily.
Her voice calm and her demeanor now softened and relaxed.

“So now I will explain to you. Your challenge was a hard one. We
pushed your skills to see whether you could be an asset to us, and whether,
under pressure you could perform. Not only were you able to bring your plan to
fruition, a feat that I must admit I had my doubts. But you managed it
successfully, the collateral damage, under the circumstances, will later be
considered minor.

You are still under suspicion by the police, but the authorities do
not know your true identity and after a time we think that you will be able to
continue your work for us here. Until then, we feel that to be safe, that you
should return to the United States until such time that we deem it appropriate
for you to return. Your new passport and documents will be ready within the
next few days.”

Lily didn’t know what to think. She didn’t like the idea of being
sent away. She felt that she had only just come home. But she knew better than
to argue. In some ways she knew that the decision was the right one, but she
also knew that her future lay in Hong Kong and with her Grandmother.

“Before you go, there is one final job for you.” Her Grandmother
said. The statement made Lily sit up and take note. Curious as to what the
Society would have her do now before she left, she listened intently.

“You know well who I have been referring to within our ranks. Ghost
Face cannot be trusted. He is a dangerous man, a traitor to us and able to
murder in cold blood, and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. For sure,
having him killed by one of our own will spark another triad war within the
City, which we want to avoid at all costs. However, through Ryan Harper, we
think that you can lure him in. We can arrange for the police to arrest him. He
will never be charged for triad related crimes, he is too clever for that, but
he can be charged for the serial murder of prostitutes, and for that, he will
never again be a free man.”

Lily was shocked by the revelations. She was trying to process all of
the information that her Grandmother was now revealing.

“But how do you know that he has carried out these crimes, it could
have been any man?” Lily asked simply.

“For a long time now I have had my concerns, which I have buried
deep. When we brought you in, his distaste for you was made clear and my
worries were brought rapidly to the surface. I arranged for him to be
discreetly followed. Sadly, after three such occasions, the day after a young
woman, a prostitute, was found dead. There can only be one explanation. His
affinity for young woman has been one that we have been forced to live with,
but no longer. He is not a man to be trusted, and we will no longer
harbour
him.”

Lily nodded in silence, once to her Grandmother, and turning slowly,
once more to the other Masters. All eyes were on her, and she suddenly felt a
huge responsibility weighing down on her, more so than she had ever felt
before. She knew that Ghost Face was the poison that had to be removed and she
was the one to do it. Asking to be excused, Lily stood up from her seat and
hurried from the room. Her mind already spinning out of control, she was
suddenly very aware that her window of opportunity was narrow and if she played
this wrong, her life would be very much at risk.