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Sometimes it’s the simple things that give people away. In this case it was two bowls and four chopsticks drying beside the sink, the indentation of a man’s shoe on the thick rug, and the raised toilet seat in the bathroom.
“Where is he?” I asked, and immediately heard movement coming from the bedroom.
I ran through the doorway and Meihui started shouting. There were more noises, this time clearly coming from inside the closet. I crossed the cramped, cluttered room and pulled open the sliding door to reveal nothing but clothes hanging from a rail. I brushed them out of the way and banged on the back of the closet, discovering it was hollow.
I searched around for a catch or button but couldn’t find anything. Brute force would have to do. I barged the rear panel with my shoulder while Zhang Daiyu restrained an angry and animated Meihui. To my surprise, the rear panel rotated around a central pivot to reveal a hidden room behind complete with windows and a fire escape. I stumbled into the secret room, which contained a single bunk and some magazines and books, and burst through the fire door at the back.
Zhang Daiyu shouted something after me and followed as I rushed onto an exterior platform that linked all the apartments on this floor. There were metal fire stairs at either end. When I leant over the safety rail at one end of the platform, I saw David Zhou racing down the steps closest to me.
“Take the elevator,” I told Zhang Daiyu, who nodded and retraced her steps as I started running.
By the time I reached the stairs, Zhou must have had a three-story lead. He wore the same dark tailored suit I’d seen in the video, and his formal shoes clattered on the metal steps, waking some of the neighbors as he raced down toward the street. Lights flickered on in apartments around us and a few faces appeared in nearby windows. A couple of people had phones to their ears and I had little doubt they were calling the police.
I sprinted down the stairs, taking them two or three at a time. I’d gained on Zhou, so that by the time he reached the street I was only a floor above. As he cleared the fire escape, I vaulted the rail and leapt through the air to land bodily on the man. He grunted as the wind was knocked from him, but the moment we hit the deck he lashed out with a flurry of punches that startled me. He kneed me in the ribs and I rolled clear, smarting from his blows. He got to his feet, haring away from me along the path beside the building. I got up and gave chase.
I’d underestimated the guy. This was no out-of-shape business executive.
I closed the gap and shoulder-barged him in the back, knocking him off balance. He stumbled a couple of steps, but before he could fall, Zhang Daiyu rounded the corner and delivered aknockout punch that floored him. David Zhou landed flat on his back, out cold.
“Let’s get him in here,” I said, grabbing him and starting to haul him toward Zhang Daiyu’s SUV
But we were too late.
The square was filled with the sound of sirens, and then came flashing lights as the first of a trio of police vehicles screeched to a halt.
Zhang Daiyu raised her hands and I followed her lead. As the first officers leapt out and sprinted toward us, I turned to her and asked, “Are we in trouble?”
“Probably,” she replied with a wry smile. “But it’s nothing I can’t handle.”
I looked at the stern-faced officers, who were now yelling commands at us, and hoped she was right.
CHAPTER 10
RAFAEL WAS WAITING for them in the terminal building at JFK. The lawyer looked haunted and exhausted, but forced a feeble smile as Justine, Mo-bot, and Sci approached him.
“I’m sorry to drag you over here, but with Jack out of the country I didn’t know what else to do,” Rafael said. There was a tremor in his voice. “Thanks for coming.”
Justine hadn’t heard or seen him like this before. He was normally so suave and confident.
“We’re not going to let this slide,” Sci replied. He’d spent the flight firing off emails to his New York Police Department contacts, asking for information on the investigation. “One of my buddies tells me the case has fallen on the desk of Detective Luiz Salazar out of the Twentieth Precinct. Says he’s a good man.”
“I didn’t know that,” Rafael replied. “We’re all pretty shaken by this. I’m not at the top of my game.”
His stubble and sweats spoke to that. Justine had never seen him out of a three-piece suit before and now here he was in gray sweatpants and a matching hooded top, looking as though he’d just stepped out of a grimy gym.
“We’d like to swing by the precinct and see what they’ve got,” Mo-bot told Rafael.
“You don’t want to freshen up? Shower? I got you some rooms at the Langham,” he said.
Mo-bot shook her head. “Every minute counts. We want to catch whoever did this.”
Justine remembered the Langham Hotel from her last time in New York. It was where she’d picked up that wonderful phone call from Jack in Afghanistan, a call that had yanked her out of a pit of sorrow and brought her back to life. The place where that had happened would always be special to her.
“I’d like to visit Jessie,” she said.
“She’s in an induced coma,” Rafael reminded her sadly. “She won’t be able to give you anything.”
“I’d still like to see her. Let her know we’re here for her. Even if she doesn’t respond.” Justine also hoped Jessie might by now be showing the first signs of recovery and could even give them a clue.
