The Red Pole of Macau

( 27 )

Song led the way down the side road, the truck going no faster than twenty kilometres an hour. Inside the SUV there wasn’t a sound. When Song got to the end of the road, he stopped and Ava’s heart leapt. Then the truck started moving again, hard to the right. To her it sounded like a freight train.

She eased the nose of her SUV into the open courtyard area. Song had already turned the truck to the left and was slowly rolling downhill. Then he braked and started to climb back, the truck straightening beautifully. She moved farther into the courtyard. He leaned out of his cab and stuck out his hand, giving the thumbs-up.

“Here we go, boys,” she said as she turned into the yard, Sonny on her tail.

She looked down at the house. The sun hadn’t entirely peaked yet. The house was still in shadows, and Ava couldn’t see a single light on inside.

The truck revved and lurched forward. Ava swung in behind. She looked at her speedometer as they headed for the gate. Forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty . . .

When the Volvo hit the gate, steel pipes flew in all directions. Song swung the truck hard to the left, braking madly. Ava drove straight towards the front door, Sonny now alongside.

She could hear the alarm inside the house before she got out of the car. The gate had been wired. Fifteen seconds, she thought.

Carlo ran at the door, the ram on his hip. He hit at the locks. Nothing. He hit it again. Nothing. Sonny leapt forward and grabbed the ram, moved back about five metres, and charged. The door cracked. He kicked it, and then kicked it again, until it fell back into the house.

Ava was the first one through the door, her eyes locked on the second floor in the direction of Lok’s bedroom. She saw him run out in jockey shorts and a white undershirt. She aimed her gun at him and yelled, “Don’t move!” She glanced quickly to the left, looking for Wu. His bedroom door was open but he was nowhere to be seen. Sonny swung his gun from side to side, his eyes searching, a worried look on his face.

Carlo and Andy and their men had charged into the house right behind them, fanning out into the lounge area, the men staying low, their guns trained on the door to the wing. Shots rang out, and she heard two screams.

Ava kept her gun on Lok. “Don’t move!” she yelled again, trying to be heard above the alarm.

He looked down at her, and then his eyes flicked to the left.

Ava turned in that direction and saw Wu standing in the kitchen doorway with a gun in his hand. Without thinking, she jumped left and low towards a brown couch, her instincts screaming that he would have to bring his hand across his body to shoot at her. She felt the bullet rip through her right thigh.

She hit the floor hard, her elbows and knees taking a beating and her thigh searing with pain. She couldn’t see Wu but she knew he would come for her. She crawled around the couch, staying low, trying to catch a view of the kitchen. The doorway inched into sight, but Wu wasn’t there. Then she saw a bare foot. The first bullet caught him square on the ankle bone. He collapsed, exposing his shin. She shot him again.

Sonny ran past her and she heard his Cobray fire three times.

She looked up. Lok was gone, his bedroom door closed.

Sonny came to her and said, “He caught you in the leg. You’re bleeding like hell.”

“Go talk to Carlo, find out what’s going on over there.”

“Let me look at your leg.”

“Sonny, talk to Carlo first.”

He looked down at her.

“Go,” she said.

She grabbed hold of the edge of the couch and pulled herself up. She reached for her waistband and slid her pants down. Her legs looked ridiculously pale in contrast to the brown couch and the blood that was running down her leg. “Shit,” she said. She glanced over to where Wu had been standing. Only the top half of his body was visible behind another couch. It lay in an expanding pool of blood that was seeping from a hole in his chest and from at least two bullet wounds to his head.

Sonny and Carlo came back in a rush and then retreated when they saw her leg. Ava had never felt so naked in her life. “How are you doing over there?” she said to Carlo.

“It’s under control. We shot two of them. One’s dead, the other half-dead. The rest of them ran back into the wing.”

“How many of them?”

“We saw five in total, so I guess there are three left.”

“Get the ram. I need you and Sonny to get Lok out of his room and to turn off that damn alarm. Then tell Andy to talk the rest of Lok’s people out of the wing. If they won’t come out, he’ll have to go in and get them.”

“You’ve been shot,” Carlo said.

“So?”

He paused. “I’ll go talk to Andy.”

Sonny stood over her. “You’re bleeding badly.”

“I don’t think it hit bone. Have a look.”

He bent to one knee, held her leg, and twisted it. “I think you’re right. It looks like it just hit flesh.”

“Go to the kitchen and see what you can find to wrap it.”

He left and she waited. It’s gone well so far, she told herself.

Carlo came back and said, “Andy will try to talk them out.”

“Ten minutes, no more. If they aren’t out in ten minutes, he goes in.”

“Okay, boss.”

She could see that Carlo was looking everywhere but at her. “I’m wearing underwear, for God’s sake,” she said as Sonny came back with some dishcloths.

“It’s all I could find,” he said.

“Wrap the leg,” she said.

He had to knot two of them together to get them completely around the leg. “Now what?” he said.

“I want you and Carlo to flush out Lok. Break down the door and get that f*cker out of there. When you do, have him turn off the alarm,” she said. “Then handcuff him and come and get me.”

She sat back down on the couch, her naked leg stretched in front of her. She turned to watch Sonny and Carlo climb the stairs and walk along the mezzanine to Lok’s room. They flanked the door, Sonny rapping it with his knuckles and yelling at him to come out. They waited and then Sonny yelled again. She saw him nod at Carlo, and they moved together with the ram held between them. Then the door opened and Lok stood there in jeans and a Burberry shirt. Sonny reached for him, grabbing him by the shirt collar, and took him back into the room.

It took a minute for the alarm to stop its deafening screech.

Sonny bounded down the stairs and came over to Ava. “He’s cuffed.”

“I don’t think I can walk. You’ll have to carry me up.”

“Put your pants back on,” he said.

She stood up and bent over to reach for them, and the pain shot down her leg. It felt as if every nerve ending were on fire. She grimaced as she slid her pants back up.

“Better,” Sonny said.

“Now carry me.”

He picked her up, cradling her against his chest. As he climbed the stairs she could see Andy standing at the entrance to the wing, yelling. “You have five minutes to surrender,” he said. “If you come out with your hands over your heads, you live. If we have to come in and get you, we’ll be firing.” He waited and then repeated the same message. Don’t be stupid, she thought. Come out.

Sonny and Carlo had put Lok on his bed, his wrist attached to the bedpost. Ava looked around the room. There was a big-screen television tucked into a corner with a floral-patterned easy chair in front of it. To the side there was a desk, covered in paper. Next to the door was a card table with four wooden chairs around it. “I’ll sit in the easy chair,” she said.

Sonny put her down as gently as he could, but there was no escaping the pain. “Put him on one of those wooden chairs and then turn it to face me,” she said.

Carlo undid the cuffs attached to the bed, grabbed Lok by the nape of his neck, shoved him over to the chair, and locked the cuffs to it.

Lok stared at her. There was an initial hint of confusion in his eyes that quickly turned to rage. Ava felt sweat gathering inside the balaclava, and she decided to peel it off. Carlo and Sonny followed suit. “You bitch,” Lok said.

“Where is Simon To?” she asked.

“You did all this for that stupid f*cker?” Lok snapped.

“Where is he? You know there’s no point in not telling me.”

He stayed silent, glaring at her. “The room next door,” he finally said.

“Is it locked?”

“No.”

“Carlo, go check,” she said.

They waited, Sonny standing alongside Lok, aching for any excuse to do him harm. Lok kept his attention on Ava, who was trying to find a position that would minimize the pain in her thigh.

Carlo hurled himself back into Lok’s bedroom. “He’s there. Taped hand and foot, and he’s pissed himself more than once. Otherwise he’s fine.”

“Did you cut the tape?”

“Not yet.”

“Geez, Carlo, do it now.”

“Yes, boss.”

After Carlo left, Ava said to Lok, “Wu is dead, and your other men are either dead or will be if they don’t come out of their wing.”

“F*ck you,” he said.

“And the police aren’t coming.”

His face showed no reaction but she saw a shadow move across his eyes as he began to calculate the truth of her words. Then the rage in them returned, and she knew he didn’t believe her. “The alarm has been disconnected at the police station,” she said. “They have no idea we’re here. So no one is going to come to your rescue.”

He shook his head from side to side.

“I’ll tell you what,” Ava said. “We’ll wait another ten or fifteen minutes, or however long you want. The thing is, I want you to co-operate with me, and I think you’re smart enough to do that if you know help isn’t on the way. I mean, if it’s just you, me, and Sonny, alone and intimate for the next hour or so, you know you’re going to do what I want anyway. But I don’t want to waste time, and I don’t particularly want to watch Sonny crush your balls and cut off your cock.”

“Ava?”

She turned and looked at the door. Carlo had his arms around Simon To, helping him walk. To was shaking, tears running down his cheeks. His face was drawn, pale, fear still dancing in his eyes. Even from a distance she could smell him. “Hey, Simon,” she said.

Carlo started to lead him across the room to her chair. “Let’s not do this now,” Ava said. “Carlo, take him to the bathroom and put him in the shower. Then go to Wu’s room and get some clothes for him; they’re about the same size. And then take him downstairs to the kitchen and get him a glass of water or something. Wu is on the ground near there, so Simon, if you’re squeamish about dead bodies, close your eyes when you go past. We’ll come down when we’re finished here.”

As Carlo and Simon turned to go, Andy burst past them into the room. “They came out, all three of them. We’ve gone through the wing and that’s all there are.”

“Are they handcuffed?”

“We’re doing it now.”

“Tape their ankles and mouths as well.”

“Okay, boss.”

“And, Andy, one more thing. There’s an elderly couple in the middle bedroom on this floor. They’re servants. Get them to come out. Don’t be rough with them, but I still want them handcuffed and left with the others downstairs. Then you come back here.”

“How are you feeling?” Sonny asked when he saw her wince.

“Not bad, considering.”

“What are we going to do with him?”

She said to Lok, “I’ve got Simon, and now I want Simon’s money returned.”

“F*ck off.”

Ava checked her watch. “Ten minutes already and no police. How long does it normally take them to get here?”

Lok glared at her.

She heard crying in the hallway. Sonny stuck his head outside the door. “Andy has the servants,” he said.

“So that leaves you,” Ava said to Lok, and then turned to Sonny. “I have a pair of handcuffs in my jacket. Take them out and attach this a*shole’s ankle to the chair leg. Then go downstairs to the kitchen and see what you can find in the way of utensils. A large, sharp serrated knife would be good, a meat cleaver even better. And see if you can find a hammer.” She smiled at Lok. “Andy is handy with a cleaver, and I’ve heard stories about how proficient Sonny is with a hammer.”

Lok didn’t resist as Sonny chained him.

“When you come back, bring Andy with you,” she said.