Point Blank (Sisterhood Book 26) (22 page)

While they waited to see if Brother Hung would be successful in restoring the monastery’s electronics and for the medicine man to be found, the group talked in low tones as they worked on a script for Chen Fang to use when he called Wei Ming.

Kathryn returned to the table and stared off into space, while Isabelle sent one text after another to her husband, Abner. From time to time she smiled, and once she actually giggled. Annie, looking like Mother Doom and Gloom, kept her fingers on the speed dial as she tried to locate Bert Navarro.

“Something’s wrong,” Annie whispered to Myra.

“Yes, I know. I feel what you’re feeling because I am feeling the same thing. I know Bert can take care of himself. He came up through the ranks of the FBI and was director for a time. But that was back in the States, where we play by the rules. This is China, and things are different here. Not to mention Bert has some emotional baggage he’s toting around. Just keep trying to reach him, and anyone else you can think of who might know something about where he is and what he’s doing. Unless you have a better idea,” Myra said softly, her eyes as worried as Annie’s.

“Therein lies the problem, Myra. I don’t have any other ideas. I don’t know what else to do. Like you said, this is China. Even though we were assured that these special phones can’t be hacked, I’m not so sure. For all we know, we’ve been monitored, spied on, and God knows what else since we’ve been here. I’m really worried, Myra.”

“I know, dear. I am, too. But let’s not let on to the others. They have enough going on right now without worrying about Bert.”

Annie nodded, her eyes going to Kathryn, who was staring into the flames as though mesmerized. She wondered what the young woman was thinking right this minute. Then she corrected herself. Right now, she didn’t want to know what Kathryn was thinking.

Time wore on, hour after hour, until the dining hall doors finally opened and Brother Hung ushered in a little round man with owlish glasses, who looked around as though he had been dropped onto some alien planet in another galaxy. He carried a canvas medical bag in one of his hands.

The group watched as the little medicine man examined Chen Fang’s kneecap, clucking his tongue in distress as he did so. He rummaged in his bag and came up with a thick green leaf and shoved it between Chen Fang’s clenched teeth. “Chew and swallow.” Hung translated the medicine man’s instructions. Within minutes, Chen Fang was out like the proverbial light, allowing the medicine man to poke and prod at his knee. In the quiet room, the bullet made a sharp sound when he dropped it on the floor.

“Whatever that leaf is, I want a bushelful,” Ted said with a straight face.

And on and on it went for another hour. They were just settling down with fresh tea when the medicine man pronounced Chen Fang alive but in a world of pain. He left a handful of leaves in a little canvas sack for Brother Shen and said that the minute Chen Fang opened his eyes, Brother Shen was to shove a leaf in his mouth until a medical doctor could tend to the man. He gave his assurances that Chen Fang would not die and left the room as fast as his fat little body could take him.

“I’m relieved,” Dennis said.

The others ignored his comment and concentrated on Isabelle and the exuberance she was showing. She held up her phone and whipped it around. “Okay, people, tell me my husband is the smartest man in the universe! Take a look and see what he’s done in a little over an hour.”

“What? What?” they all chorused as one.

“He turned the whole fight, exhibition, whatever they’re calling it, upside down. He canceled it and said the promoters would refund all the ticket sales. There’s a war going on stateside, and it’s going to reach this side of the world very quickly. Give it another thirty minutes, and Macau will have an uprising, and Wing Ping will have round eyes.”

Annie looked at Myra, who met her gaze with unblinking intensity. Their thought was the same—Bert.

 

“H
ow’s Chen Fang going to call that snake if he’s out cold?” Ted asked.

“Obviously, he isn’t going to until he wakes up,” Charles said.

“So what should we do in the meantime?” Myra asked.

Tongue in cheek, Charles said, “What you do best, my dearest one—scheme and plot.”

“That wasn’t the least bit funny, Charles,” Myra sniffed.

“You’re right, it wasn’t funny at all. I was just making conversation. It’s getting late, we’re all stressed, and until there is something concrete we can do, I suggest we take turns trying to catch a little sleep. I’m sure the brothers can fetch us some bedding. We men will take the first watch, and you girls sleep. Four-hour shifts, if that meets with everyone’s approval.”

The women all started talking at once, with comments ranging from I’m not that tired, to How do you expect us to sleep under these circumstances? to I’m too wired up to sleep. Charles wagged his finger in the air to indicate he meant business as the Brothers scurried off to fetch the required bedding.

Annie was pacing the huge room, her fingers tapping out text after text. The incoming texts caused her to pick up her feet and move faster. She was scowling and muttering as she made her way around the room in circles.

Isabelle was doing the same thing Annie was doing, but instead of scowling, she was laughing and giggling at what she was seeing on her special phone. Finally, she clicked off and turned to the girls. “Oh, you are going to love, love, love what I’m going to show you. We really need to give Abner some kind of prize for what he’s done. I’m telling you, you are going to . . . to . . . just . . . Especially you, Harry.”

“It would help, dear, if you told us what Abner sent you that we all need to see,” Myra said quietly.

“I know, I know, it’s just . . . I’m just flabbergasted at what he’s done. I mean I know he’s good—excellent, actually. No, that’s wrong, he’s the best hacker in the good old US of A. Maybe the world,” Isabelle cried out jubilantly. “And he did it all in a little over two hours.
TWO HOURS,
people.” She waved the special phone in the air to make her point.

“It’s only going to take me two seconds to lay your ass out on this tile floor if you don’t shut up and tell us what’s on that damn phone.” Kathryn screeched so loud that the captives sat up straight to see what was going on. Chen Fang still slept peacefully, as did Cooper the mystic dog, who didn’t react to Kathryn’s outburst in any way whatsoever.

Isabelle backed off, her jaw dropping at Kathryn’s eruption. “Jeez, Kathryn, get a grip, will you? A few minutes of drama and excitement aren’t going to change things right now. Besides, I’m proud of what my husband did, as we should all be, because half a world away he is saving the day. Do me a favor—in fact, do us all a favor—and just shut the hell up for a while. None of us needs your surly attitude right now.”

Kathryn let loose with an unladylike snort as she crossed her arms over her chest and turned her gaze to the dancing flames in the monster fireplace. Her mouth was a thin, tight line of anger. She did remain quiet as she looked around at the startled expressions on the faces of her colleagues.

“Okay, okay, everyone gather round. First things first, though. As I told you before, Abner did the Facebook, the tweet, the Instagram, the everything, then he did YouTube. I don’t know how he did it, but the YouTube ditty is a cartoon of Wing Ping dressed in his trademark
American
cowboy hat and
American
cowboy boots, but in the cartoon he’s a scrawny chicken or maybe a rooster, can’t be sure. But it’s hilarious. Abner said that so many likes came into Facebook it shut down, and he was receiving something like six hundred tweets a minute. Vegas is going nuts. The YouTube video is being shown at all the casinos. He’s waiting right now for this part of the world to weigh in. Okay, here’s the video.” Everyone but Kathryn crowded around Isabelle to look at the small screen.

Belly laughs and hysterical eye-wiping filled the big dining hall, with Harry laughing the loudest.

“Well, if anyone wants my opinion, I think this just cinched the deal that there will be no exhibition,” Annie said. “Harry, you look great as an avenging chicken.”

“Oh, honey, Abner got it all just right,” a giggling Yoko said to her husband.

“So how is Wing Ping going to counterattack against all of that?” Nikki asked. “Looks to me like he has really lost face and has become a laughingstock. The punch line to a bad joke. Especially in America. What happens when all of that makes it here to China, assuming it hasn’t already? Especially in Macau, where they were going to mainstream the event.” She was careful to look everywhere but at Kathryn, who had zoned out in front of the dancing flames.

“Chen Fang is awake,” Fergus called. “If you want him to make his call, this is the time. I’ll prop him up so he can speak normally. Where’s the script?”

“Right here,” Myra said, handing it over. “I’m thinking it might be a good idea to do a dry run to make sure he’s comfortable with all the words. In Chinese, right? Harry and Dishbang Deshi can listen to make sure he isn’t going to try to sneak clues or something into the conversation.”

“Excellent idea, old girl,” Charles said happily. “Go at it, Harry!”

Glassy-eyed and disoriented, Chen Fang stared at the people gathered around him. Out of it or not, he understood the gravity of the situation he was in. All the proof he needed was seeing Annie holding the gun and pointing it at his nether regions. He nodded slightly to show that he understood what was expected of him.

“Wait! Wait! Maybe we should show him the chicken video so he can see he’s on the wrong end of things. With these people, you never know,” Jack said.

“Excellent idea, Jack.” Nikki beamed.

Isabelle raced around the table, turned on the special phone, and dropped to her knees so she was eye level with the glassy-eyed Chen Fang. “Watch and weep, you little weasel,” she said, and laughed as she pressed the button for the video to start. Chen Fang’s expression went from anger to horror to disbelief and back to horror as he struggled to find the words he wanted to spew. When he finally got his tongue to work, his bottom line was that they were all doomed and they would all be going to meet their ancestors the minute Wing Ping made his way to the monastery. After which he kept muttering the word
chicken
over and over until Espinosa clipped him on the side of his head. He shut up immediately.

Harry and Dishbang Deshi had Chen Fang go through three tries at the script. They were finally satisfied the third time around. Fergus held up one of the thick green leaves that acted as a narcotic and waved it around. “Tell him he doesn’t get this until he delivers a perfect speech. Stress that there is to be no improvising on his part.”

“It’s a go on the count of three.” Harry held up first one finger, then the second, and finally the third, and Maggie pressed the button for the call to go through. They all listened but couldn’t understand a word that was being said, so they concentrated on Harry’s and Dishbang Deshi’s expressions, which clearly showed that Chen Fang was following orders.

Fergus slipped the thick green leaf between Chen Fang’s lips, and he gobbled it like a starving man. In a matter of minutes, Chen Fang was in another world.

“We assume Chen Fang did his part. What did that guy Wei Ming say?” Charles demanded.

“Threats. Chen Fang will be dead when Wei Ming gets his hands around his neck, and so will all the others for failing Wing Ping. He, along with Wing Ping, is on the way up here now that the weather has cleared. Two hours, possibly three. He’s bringing
armed
men with him. Wei Ming said the reason for the arms is now that we’ve used social media to bring disgrace to his master, meaning Wing Ping, there are no rules. He’s going to kill Harry one way or another. The last thing he said was you, Harry, are hiding behind a bunch of women’s skirts. He said that shows what a coward you really are.”

Cooper reared up, barked three times to indicate that statement was entirely untrue. Harry threw his arms in the air. “What can I say?”

“Nothing, sweetie,” Yoko cooed. “I don’t want you to worry, we’ll protect you, won’t we, girls?” It was meant as a joke to lighten the moment, but all Harry did was scowl.

“With our lives,” Annie said, brandishing the gun in her hands.

“We have a few hours to barricade all the entrances to the monastery and to make sure the students are kept safe. We only want the front entrance to go live. We can control things that way,” Charles said. “It is possible, is it not, Brother Hung?”

“Yes, yes, you men come with me. You three also,” he said, pointing to the three male students, who were watching what was going on with disbelief. “The only weapons, if you want to call them weapons, are the bamboo poles we use when fencing. Against firearms, they will not be much of a deterrent, but it is the best we can do. As I said before, we are a peaceful, holy people. And you do not know how many men Wing Ping is bringing with him.”

“All true, all true,” Charles said. “Go quickly to secure the monastery and the students. We’ll stay here and map out a plan of action. Please, be quick about it.”

“Oh, man, this is excitement with a capital E,” Dennis babbled as he raced alongside Jack. “Hey, how come Cooper isn’t with us?”

Jack looked around. The kid was right, Cooper was nowhere in sight. “Guess he felt like we could handle it on our own. Smart dog.”

They were back in the dining hall in a little over an hour, secure in the knowledge that the monastery was as safe as they could make it.

Inside the dining hall, everyone seemed to have a task of some sort, as human bodies moved and raced around. “How about an update?” Espinosa asked.

“Aside from your lean, mean, muscular bodies that are weapons themselves, we have four fire tongs currently roasting in the flames. The dozen bamboo poles you brought with you have to be whittled so that one end is a spear. We have one gun, which Annie is in charge of. We are boiling pots of water on every burner on the stove. That’s it as far as our arsenal of weapons go,” Charles said, a wicked gleam in his eyes. “I do not think there will be many firearms. This is the worst country in the world to pick one up. At a minimum, I say three. I can’t even guess at this point how many men Wing Ping will bring with him. Take into consideration the short notice, possibly ten to thirty, possibly more depending on what Wing Ping promised them. Get the knives, people, and start your whittling.”

Brother Shen raised his hand to speak. Charles nodded.

“Many of our brothers are expert archers. We have many bows and arrows in the arena. Should we fetch them?”

“Now you tell us! Why didn’t you mention that when we were racing around the monastery?” Jack snarled.

“Because I just thought of it,” Brother Shen said smartly. “Hung and I will fetch them. As well as the archers themselves. Unless you think they will not be useful.”

“Go!” Jack thundered.

Nikki moved the pokers sitting in the hot embers. “Who has the eye?” she called over her back.

“I do,” Myra responded, her eyes dropping to the watch on her wrist with the oversize numerals. “We’re at two hours and seventeen minutes. We still have some time on
our
clocks. How should we best use that time?” No one responded to her query. She looked over at Annie, who looked mad enough to chew iron and spit rust. Her eyebrows asked the question.

Annie shrugged. “I’m not getting anywhere. Isabelle, what is Abner saying about what’s going down in Macau?”

“A little action. The local police tried to shut down the streaming-chicken video, but it had already aired thousands of times. People are stampeding to get their money back from the ticket sales. Unfortunately, the promoters cannot be located. No one has seen Wing Ping. He’s had no luck contacting Dixson Kelly, so he hacked into his e-mail. Dix is not responding to texts or phone calls. Neither is Bert. Right now, he’s hacking the Wynn and the Sands. He just signed off.” Isabelle chewed on her lower lip as she tried to make sense out of what her husband had just communicated to her by way of text and what it meant to all of them.

From that point on, the only sound to be heard in the huge dining hall was the sound of knives striking the bamboo kung fu spears until the huge doors opened to admit Shen, Hung, and five fit-looking younger brothers, each of them carrying a bow, and a leather sack, filled to the brim with arrows, attached to their backs.

“Our fittest warriors,” Shen said proudly as he introduced the younger brothers.

Charles looked over at Fergus and said under his breath, “This is as good as it’s going to get.” He looked over at his wife, whose eyes were glued to her watch as she counted down the minutes. He hated the worry he was seeing on her face. Then he looked at Annie, who winked at him.

Suddenly, he felt better, relieved for some reason. Maybe things really would work out in their favor. And if they didn’t, it wouldn’t be for lack of trying. All things considered, being in a foreign land where there were no rules, they were doing okay.

For the moment, anyway.