Lights Out (29 page)

“No-one in and no-one out without speaking to me. Do you understand?”
She spoke sharply making herself very clear.

The two officers replied in unison, “Yes Ma’am” immediately
straightened their postures.

Lam marched out of the hospital and as she walked towards her car she
dialed the Chief. It was time that she brought him up to speed.

By the time Lam arrived at her desk, the team had set themselves up
next door. She needed to find Lily. She was the one that could lead her to
Ghost Face. The Chief had agreed on a deal, and he’d given her all the
resources that she needed.

Lily knew that she needed to make the call. She would set up the
meeting in a busy tourist area, which would make it safer for Ryan. Ghost Face
would be less likely to make a big scene in public. It would be too risky
otherwise. She would arrange it all from the safe house. She didn’t want to
risk being picked up at this stage in the game. She had clearly said to
Lam
, ‘no deal’, and she meant it. Ten years in prison was
not part of the plan, and she knew that her Grandmother would find a solution,
even if it did mean that she would have to leave the Country and start a new
life.

She dialed the familiar number and waited.

The voice that she had grown to hate answered.

“About time.” Was all he said to
her.
Lily
dismissed the sarcasm and proceeded with her plan.

“I think we can help each other.” She said to the point and without
any emotion in her voice.

“Really?” was his response.

“Think of it as a simple business transaction.”

“Continue,” he said.

“The police have Harper and by now he has told them everything that
he knows. He can identify us both. He is our only witness to the Bank robbery
and the kidnapping. He’ll be the one that will stand up in court and bury the
two of us. I’m not about to let that happen.” She said as convincingly as she
could.

“So what do you have in mind?” His voice was curious now, making Lily
think that she had taken him by surprise.

“I’ve spoken to him. He’s agreed to meet me in an hour at the
Peninsula Hotel. I’ve told him that I’ll consider coming in and talk to the
Police if he’ll meet with me first.”

“So your charms are still working?” He said mocking her. She could
hear him laugh a little, making her flush with anger.

“It’s a chance to remove our only witness. I’m not a natural killer,
but you are. You can erase this and you can do it quickly and discreetly.”

“Interesting.” He said with a cool voice. There was a pause. “I’ll be
there.”

Then the phone went dead.

Satisfied, Lily slipped her phone back into her pocket and waited.

Across the City Ghost Face switched off the phone and turned to face
the other man in the room. The young man was hunched over a laptop typing
manically. Ghost Face moved around the room until he was standing in front of
him. He could see the reflection of the light from the computer screen flicker
across his face.

“Did you get it?” He asked.

The man looked up at him and gave reluctant smile.

“Yes’.

“How far?” he asked.

“It’s close. A fifteen minute drive.” He replied.

Sarah was still at her desk when the call came in. She’d been
monitoring her emails expecting it come through that way, so she jumped
slightly when her mobile started to ring.

“Lily?” she asked.

“Yes, it’s me”

Immediately
Lam
stood and signaled to the
two men in the room next door so that they could start their trace.

“He’s taken the bait.” Lily said with a trace of pleasure in her
voice.

“I told him that Harper will be at the Peninsula Hotel in an hour to
meet me. He wants Harper. He knows he’s the main witness that could put him
away, so he took the bait.”

“What about you Lily, where will you be?” Lam asked, trying to draw
out the conversation. She looked across at her team in the other room and they
signaled that they needed five more seconds.

“Lily, if you’re not planning to show then you need to tell me more
about Ghost Face. I don’t want Harper placed at unnecessary risk, what can we
expect him to do?”

This last question Lily hadn’t anticipated. She wanted to get off the
phone, but also agreed with Lam. Ghost Face was unpredictable and strong. He
could kill Harper easily given the opportunity.

Before she could answer Lam spoke again.

“Look, we’ll work it out,” she said as she looked across at the
thumbs up and the smiling faces through the glass. They had successfully traced
her.

“Just be careful who you trust.” Lam finished and clicked off the
phone leaving Lily bemused on the other end.

When Lam put the phone down she ran through to the next room.

“We’ve got her boss,” one of the officers said happily turning the
screen for her to see.

She’s at the Gold Coast. Twenty-Five minutes drive away from here.

“OK” Sarah said excited that this was all finally happening.

She called the Chief.

“He took the bait,” she said.

“Ghost Face will be at the Peninsula in less than an hour. He thinks
Harper will be there. I’m going to get a team together and Harper and head
there now. We have the location of Lily too, so I think we can round up both of
them. I’m sending a team across to pick her up now. We have one shot before
they disappear.” She tried to hide the excitement in her voice.

“Lam, be careful. Take who ever you need with you on this. Don’t
forget, this man is a killer. Whatever you do don’t find yourself on your own
with him, and don’t get Harper killed. You have enough paperwork to do
already.” The Chief said somberly.

“I want you to call me as soon as you have them in custody.”

“OK Chief. I’ll keep you in the loop.” Lam said.

Lily paced around her apartment unease in the pit of her stomach. The
last comment from Lam had started her thinking about Ryan. He didn’t deserve
this, she thought. Everyone was using him as bait to get to Ghost Face, and she
knew that he would kill him in an instant if he managed to get within reach.
She had to believe that Lam would get to him first, but something didn’t feel
right. She checked her watch. It was only 5.15pm, but the sky was starting to
darken. It would be pitch dark by 6pm. Ghost Face would be in the shadows
looking for her and Harper by then.

She went to her kitchen to make herself some tea, she pulled out her
teacup and teapot and started to prepare loose leaves of jasmine and green tea
that she combined to calm her. Whilst she waited for the kettle to boil, she
switched on one of her TV’s to get some background noise.

She poured the boiling water into her clay teapot and stood with her
hands on the counter whilst she waited for the tea to settle a while. Already
she could smell the aroma.

She was about to pour the tea into her cup when a green flashing
light caught her eye. She crossed the kitchen and was in front of her laptop in
three paces. She quickly punched in her security code and waited for a second
whilst the security images flashed up onto her screen. Lily’s pulse started to
race. One of her camera’s, the one showing her driveway, was out. It wouldn’t
malfunction without assistance, she considered as she typed something into her
computer.
Odd
, she thought. “The motion
sensor seems to still be on, just the image has gone”. She said to herself.

Lily scanned the remaining twelve cameras and sensors. Everything
appeared normal on the other screens. She chided herself for being on edge. There
was probably a perfectly simple explanation. She allowed herself to relax a
little,
she’d drink her tea then go down and check it out.

Just as Lily was about to return to the kitchen, another green light
flashed on her computer. She looked in horror as the image to her garage fuzzed
out of focus then disappeared off the screen.

Ryan was nervous as he sat in the front of Lams Porsche; they were
parked on a quiet back road behind the Hotel. The cars lights and engine
switched off.

Picking up on his nerves, Lam turned to Ryan.

“Don’t worry. We’ll get to him before he can get to you.” She said
with confidence as she leaned across and patted Ryan on his Kevlar bulletproof
police vest. “It’s knife and bullet proof.” She said.

“What if he goes for my head?” Ryan said dryly.

Lam laughed and turned back to look out the window. She had changed
what she was wearing and now wore black jeans and a black long sleeved jersey;
she wore the Police issue black vest over the top of her clothes with POLICE
printed in bright reflective silver across the back. Ryan looked at her. To the
unsuspecting onlooker the bullet proof vest went un noticed underneath her
clothes, but Ryan could still see the slight tell tail shape of it underneath
Lam’s top, making her look more bulky than she really was. She was also
expecting a fight. Ryan thought.

Lam looked at her watch. It was already 5:50pm and they had been
sitting in the car for over fifteen minutes. She could feel the weight of
Harpers restlessness as though it was something that she could reach out and
touch. She felt completely under control. She had plain clothed police officers
situated in and around the Hotel, all streets leading in and out were covered,
with two further Officers patrolling the underground car park dressed as parking
attendants.

Lam had sent two Officers across the
harbour
to pick up Lily. She expected that she would hear from them shortly. They
should have arrived at the location by now. She would give them a few more
minutes and then she’d call for an update.

She glanced one more time at her watch. It was time. She turned and
nodded to Ryan. His task was simple enough. He needed to walk into the
Peninsula lobby and sit on one of the couches. He would be monitored from all
angles. At the first sign of any danger, the Officers would swoop in, grab him
and take him to safety. It would all happen very quickly. Lam would be holding
back out of sight. She was worried that Ghost Face may recognize her and he
would run before she had the chance to get to him. They climbed out of the car
and Lam removed her vest. She didn’t want to draw any unwanted attention before
getting into position. They walked into the Hotel separately and she immediately
wandered off toward the Hotel shops, leaving Ryan to make his way to the agreed
waiting area.

She leaned against the cool white marble wall and pretended to look
at an impressive
jewellery
display in the Tiffany’s
window. She pulled out her phone and called one of the Officers at the Gold
Coast for a status update. The phone rang out. She tried another number and let
the phone ring. It also rang out. Lam called through to the station.

“I can’t get hold of Tsang or Lau,” she said, irritation entering her
voice. She couldn’t afford for this to go wrong now.

“Keep trying them and call me back.” She snapped as she clicked off
her phone and continued to watch the window. She checked her watch again. It
was exactly six o’clock. She glanced sideways across the lobby. Ryan was
sitting with his legs crossed. Still in the same trousers as before, but she
had forced one of the plain clothed officers to switch shirts with Ryan before
they left the station, so the bloodied shirt didn’t bring unwanted attention.
He looked nervous, she noted. He was fidgeting, trying to look relaxed, but she
knew that his heart would be pumping as he waited for something to happen. She
scanned the busy floor and one by one was able to identify each Officer in
position.

Turning back to the window she waited for a few more seconds.
Something’s wrong
, she thought to herself.
A wave of unease washed over. She checked her watch again watching as the
minute hand continued to tick past the hour.

He’s not coming
, she thought with a sudden flash of
panic.
I’ve got this
all
wrong
. He’s going after Lily
.

As soon as the realization hit, Lam raced across the lobby floor
toward Ryan. “We’re in the wrong place”, she said to him breathlessly, skidding
to a halt in front of him and grabbing his shoulders. The sudden movement made
Ryan jump. He stared at her for a moment until the realization sank in.

“Oh No,” he said simply.

Lam pulled the radio from her belt and spoke quickly.

“Everyone else back to the station, Wong, take Harper back to Wan
Chai under police protection, and he stays there until I get back”, she pulled
a startled Ryan up by the back of his shirt collar and still keeping the radio
fixed to her ear whilst talking, she frog marched him out of the lobby and down
the street. She reached the corner of the road and a man that Ryan didn’t
recognize stepped out of the shadows. “Ryan, you’re safe now. Go with Wong.”
She said releasing him and picking up her walking pace to a run.

“Where are you going?” Ryan yelled after her.

Lam flung herself into her car, pleased that she hadn’t opted for a
slower staff car. She pulled away from the curb and worked through the gears.
The traffic was always congested along the
harbour
front and already the lights were starting to change
unfavourably
.
She leaned across to the passenger side and flicked open the glove compartment
quickly pulling out the police siren. Winding down her window, she slammed it
onto the roof. She could see the reflection of the light on the cars in front
of her. The siren now doing its work as drivers started to make way for her
car. It took her five minutes to work through the myriad of drivers and
pedestrians before she found herself clear enough to put her foot down.

Lam estimated that she had at least a fifteen minutes drive before
she would reach the Gold Coast. She called through to the station and asked
again about Tsang and Lau. No one was able to locate them.

“I’m going to need back-up”, she said, as she pushed her foot to the
floor and opened up the throttle.