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Mei-li started to follow him, but her smartphone vibrated—she’d forgotten to turn the ringer back on, but it must have been vibrating against something metal because she heard it. She scrabbled in her purse until she found her phone on the bottom, where it had somehow migrated. The number was one in her contacts, and she recognized the caller’s name. “Wei?”
* * *
Dirk strode back into the living room, telling Rafe, “No, her passport’s not in her room. Not that I can find anyway. Maybe she carries it with her all the time, I don’t know. But just in case—hold on a sec,” he said as Mei-li frantically waved at him to get his attention.
“Tell Rafe to take a cab to this address—no, I’ll tell him myself,” she said, reaching for Dirk’s phone. When she’d given Rafe the address she added, “Vanessa and Chet are there...Yes. My friend just called me. They’ve been there since this morning, but they’re done now. My friend will keep them there until you show up...Yes, he told them you’ll be on the way and they’ll wait for you.” She held up a finger to let Dirk know she was almost done. “Oh, and, Rafe? Can you call Mike and let him know to stop looking and come back to the hotel?” She listened for a couple of seconds. “Okay, thanks. Bring Vanessa and Chet back here, too, please. And don’t let anyone go anywhere.” She glanced at her watch. “We have to leave in a minute to deliver the second ransom package, but we’ll be back.” She listened again, smiled at Dirk and told Rafe, “Thanks, I’ll tell him.”
Dirk could barely contain his impatience. “What was that all about?”
“Rafe said to tell you good luck. And don’t worry about anything except delivering the ransom.”
He made an impatient sound. “Not that. The other.”
“I know where Vanessa and Chet went. And I know why.”
Chapter 14
“Where are they?” Dirk asked quickly.
Mei-li’s dark eyes were sparkling. “They’re at the hypnotist’s. He said they arrived on his doorstep this morning. Vanessa was practically in tears, apologizing all over the place for yesterday. She confessed she hadn’t been truthful with him, and that she’d done everything in her power to not let him hypnotize her.”
“What? What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Dirk couldn’t process it for a moment. “Why would she do that?”
“My friend couldn’t say. But he said this time he was able to hypnotize her. And she remembered something important. The Chinese man had a tattoo on the inside of his left wrist.”
“That’s what the doorman said.”
“Yes, but it confirms the kidnappers are the men the cabdriver drove to the airport. We were operating on the assumption that they were, but it’s good to have confirmation. And there’s something else. The tattoo Vanessa described? It’s the symbol of one of the lesser known criminal tongs here in Hong Kong. Kind of like a gang tattoo in the States, identifying members.”
“Tongs? I’ve heard of triads, but what’s a tong?”
“A tong is a social club, and not all of them are involved in illegal activities. But some are, and this one is—its members are former boat people who are into smuggling and human trafficking.” Her glowing eyes told him this was a break for them. “My friend is typing up his report, and he’ll email it to me as soon as he can.”
She grabbed one of the three remaining grocery bags with the ransom package off the dining room table. “Come on,” she told Dirk. “It’s 12:30. It shouldn’t take us more than five minutes in the car, but there could be traffic. I already called Patrick. He’ll be waiting for us by the time we get downstairs.”
* * *
The Rolls made good time. Patrick said, “Chatham Road is shorter, but Salisbury to Cheong Wan will probably be faster.” He got them as close as he could, then pulled over to the curb. “There’s no place to park, so I’ll just drive around for a bit. Call me when you’re ready.” He said something in Cantonese to Mei-li. She went still all over for a moment, then nodded and replied, “M’goy.”
Dirk couldn’t help but wonder what that exchange was all about. He recognized the word Mei-li had said—thank you—but he didn’t know why she’d said it. He told himself he wouldn’t ask, but whatever it was had profoundly affected her. She seemed lost in thought, a million miles away from him, and as they walked toward the museum entrance, he said, “I should have taken the time to learn some Cantonese.”
