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Bloody Idols: Chapter Three
Shiao-Chiang tosses the platters away and drops to his knees. His guns fall into his hands like old friends, and make some persuasive arguments to the surly men on the other side of the barrels. He leans back far as he can go, firing, then up and forward again.
Shiao-Chiang grabs an unlucky bouncer and shoots him in the leg. Deftly Jamie grabs his arm and spins him around, using him as cover, still firing with his off-hand, sending a deadly spray of sparks and bullets across the room. He'll push the wounded guy into a seat. "Stay there if you're smart," he says, and vaults towards the stairs (giving a wink at the friendly bartender he was chatting with, if she's watching).
Wu dashes away from Shiao-Chiang and the stairway, towards the edge of the mezzanine, which he flips himself over and vanishes from sight. There's a crash, a startled cry, and a moment of expectant silence -- then a crash, a loud *smack* and a wet-sounding thud when a hidden goon falls face forwards out of the doorway of the stairs where he was hiding. Wu stands over him with a glass handle, which used to be attached to a pitcher, an abused-looking waiter's tray, and a slightly manic grin.
The goons are not having a good night of it. One has been shot in the leg, and is quite thoroughly uninterested in continuing the fight. One was hidden, and had an excellent bead on Shiao -- until Wu handily dispatched him from behind. Another manages to shoot the agilely leaping Shiao, but the rest do nothing more than deafen all who are near, and shatter an unhealthy amount of glass in their futile attempts to defeat their target.
Out of the corner of his eye Shiao catches a mook drawing a bead on him. So he simply drops flat and slides across the floor towards the banister. Wu steps forward a half step, then looks for the goon with the biggest gun. He darts up to him and points off skywards at nothing in particular, crying out, "Look out! Winged Nike!" When the goon says, "Hunh?" and glances that way, Wu deftly snatches the gun from his hands and backs off half a step.
Kicking shards of broken glass out of his way, Jamie slides to his feet in a single motion, his arm a blur as he whirls, firing. When his back hits the railing, he'll glance backward and simply flip over it, going end over end to land in a tiger's crouch in the fountain below. Five more thugs fall, two down the stairs in a shower of glass and rum, and three others foolish enough to chase Shiao down. Below, Shiao lands with a splash, bringing his head back up and wiping back his hair with one arm and a cheery grin.
Wu runs over to the other goon standing, "Did you see what happened to him?" and plucks the gun from the hands of the startled and rather distracted goon. He then says, "Whoops!" and tosses the two goons' guns over the edge of the mezzanine, where they land with a satisfying ker-sploosh! in the fountain.
There is a startled and indignant, "Hey!" and then... surprisingly, silence.
Shiao-Chiang ducks the falling weaponry. Wu shouts, "Er, watch your head! Sorry!" rather after the fact.
Then one of the goons seems to pull himself together, shouting, "Get him! He's not armed!" as he dives for Wu. The other unarmed mook blinks, shakes his head, and follows suit. They are, unsurprisingly, unable to connect with the light-footed Wu. One of them, in fact, gives another startled, indignant yell as he slips on something and starts cartwheeling down the stairs.
Next to Chin, the male bartender sighs, finishing his drink at the same time the shooting stops, "Ah, well... sounds like all good things must come to an end."
Chin gives the bartender a sidelong look, "If this is this establishment's idea of a floor show, I think it's time for me to go." The bartender snickers.
The tumbling mook finally comes to a groaning halt at the bottom of the stairs. Wu casually taunts the last goon into chasing him nearly all the way around the bar, right up to the edge of the mezzanine -- until the last moment when he turns about, grabs the goon, and uses the larger man's own momentum to flip him over the edge of the railing. He watches, waving merrily as the goon flails his arms and legs, landing with a huge kersplash! on his back in the fountain. As every back-flop does, it causes a huge splash and pours water over half the floor. And Shiao-Chiang.
"STOP DROPPING THINGS ON ME!" Shiao shouts as the thug lands with a heavy splash in the water next to him. He'll step out of the fountain, pour water out of his shoes, and jauntily walk over to Wu.
Wu calls, "Sorry about that! Was the last one." He decides to get while the getting is good; makes sure the others are with him, and goes. Shiao-Chiang jauntily walks out, thinking that just maybe, he needs a fedora. As the last few patrons cram their way out the exits, Chin blends in and slips out.
Shiao-Chiang decides the first priority is a towel and a change of clothes. "Why don't we head over to my office; it's not far from here. I always keep a change of clothes -- you never know what you'll need on short notice. Plus, a nice quiet place to figure out just what the hell happened."
Chin nods, "That will be a good place to regroup, but we should keep moving. They are certain to have quite a bit of video of our visit, and we shouldn't rely on luck to avoid pursuit."
Wu says, "True. We didn't get a chance to compare notes, and I'd like to."
Apparently 'not far' means a few hops by bus. It's surprisingly clean inside for how grungy the streets outside are. Neon and garish signs clash with the buildings. Shiao shows them past the attractive receptionist with a wave, gently deflects an over-eager assistant, and sweeps them into a small, spartan room off the main reception area. "Have a seat... tea? Coffee?" He steps into a side closet and emerges a moment later, dry and clean. Shiao-Chiang'll take a seat, clearing the table of the stacks of digital media and CDs.
"It would seem the first order of business would be to identify some of the players in our little band," Chin says, ticking them off, one by one. "One and Two: We have two girls that can easily be mistaken for one another -- one a college student, the other a 'working girl' at the casino. One of them has been reported dead, and at least one of them has been seen as a 'ghost' by friends of both girls. The friends all seem to be peripheral, but let's not completely forget about them.
"Three: We have a government bureaucrat, who seems to be playing fast and loose with the public trust and at least one of the girls. We have been told he's gone into hiding. Four: Djang, a small-time thug, with pretensions about his own skill and importance. Five: Whoever sent that small army to invite us to tea in the back room at the Nine Flowers casino."
Chin shakes his head, rubs his eyes wearily, and sighs. "Why don't I make a couple of calls and see if we can pin down where Kai 'officially' is. He should have public meetings or hearings or somesuch that I can find out about. Reporters need to know that kind of stuff, so I'd assume his office, or the offices of the places he's supposed to be at, would be able to give out that kind of information. I'll also see if any 'extra' bodies have turned up in the last day or two. It's not likely, but we can at least check that off our list." He glances at Wu and Shiao-Chiang and asks, "Anything else that needs to be on my shopping list?"
Shiao-Chiang says, "It might not be a bad idea to try to look up that friend -- she may need some help if the thugs caught any of what she was saying."
Wu says to Chin, "That sounds like a good summation to me." To Shiao-Chiang, he says, "Maybe. More involvement might only get her in more trouble, though."
Shiao-Chiang says, "We could offer. If she says no, off we go."
Chin nods, "We'll need to find out who she is, though. If someone was looking for Soo-niang or Willow Down, they might have someone keeping an eye on her. Let's not involve her any more if we don't have to. If we think we've covered the list, let's see if we can at least mark Kai off as a possible. Give me a moment, and I'll let you know what I find out..."
When Chin calls Kai's office, he gets Kai's secretary. She is polite and distant. No, Mr. Kai is not currently in; yes, she expects he'll be back soon. Terribly sorry, but she cannot currently give out his itinerary. Who is this, please? Raising his voice just a tad, Chin tells her he is a constituent, and would really appreciate knowing where the damn man he voted for will be appearing. Isn't he supposed to be available to the members?
The secretary's voice gets a little strained -- she's terribly sorry, but Mr. Kai has been... indisposed the last few days. He has not been feeling well. She expects a full recovery soon; she has no more information. Is there anything else she can do to help? Dropping back to a less hostile tone, Chin gives his condolences and says he'll call back in a couple of days, when Mr. Kai is feeling better.
Chin says to the others, after hanging up, "And that, I think, lends some credence to the rumor that Mr. Kai is (perhaps) more than a little under the weather."
Shiao-Chiang says, "Or sleeping with the fishes."
Wu says, "I fear that limits our options. If there is nothing -- and I expect nothing -- from the morgue, we will have to go consult with Mr. Djang, who I suspect will not be interested in talking to us."
Shiao-Chiang grins. "I'm sure we can think of some persuasive arguments. I have two."
Chin says, "I don't think we will be able to interview Mr. Kai." Turning to Wu, he says, "I think you're right. A visit to Mr. Djang or the 'casino tea party' would not be useful. However... my friend in the coroner's office tells me they may have the body we're looking for. Young female, severe head trauma on the left side, consistent with where Soo-niang's scarring would be."
Wu asks, "Interesting. Does that do us any good?"
Chin rubs his chin and says, "Well, if I can use your FAX machine, I may be able to get a photo of the girl. It would certainly save us a trip to the morgue."
Wu says, "That would be good." He looks a little green.
Shiao-Chiang nods. "Go ahead." He looks at Wu. "You want some water?"
Some time later the group holds the grisly results of their inquiry -- a somewhat blurry faxed photo of a dead young woman, with the left side of her face reduced to shattered bone and tissue. Wu chooses to let the expert in the group decide about the pictures. Shiao-Chiang does likewise.
Unfortunately... it's quite clear the young woman in the morgue, identified as "Willow Down"... is identical to the young woman in the photo of Soo-niang Fan and her mother.
Wu ker-blinks?! "But... people hinted that they could be twins. Is this Soo, or the other girl? Should we go to her father, or try and find the other girl?"
Shiao-Chiang says, "How certain are we of that ID, Chin? If there's any chance of mistake, perhaps we should wait -- and spare the father until we do know more."
Wu nods, "On the other hand, her father is more likely to have the dental or fingerprint records to confirm this one way or the other. If he can disprove it, he should have the chance to do so."
Chin says, "At this point, I think we have to at least report a better identification for the girl. He and the mother are the only ones who can verify that this is or is not Soo-niang."
Shiao-Chiang spreads his hands. "Then it's decided. Chin, you want to call?"
Wu nods, and says, "As horrible as that will be for him, I think you are right. He will be extremely relieved if it is not, in fact, his daughter. Can you make sure that the question is asked?"
Chin nods and sits heavily, "Why don't we go down to the precinct and I'll give an unofficial report. This can go through the proper channels, and the parents will be called down to view the body. We can meet Mr. Fan and his wife there." Chin says, "While we may have done our job, I don't think we've done him any favors."
Wu says, "Maybe. It is not entirely certain which girl this is. Either way, Mr. Fan will know, and that is a good thing."
Shiao-Chiang nods. "I hope, for his sake, it isn't her."