Dragon Head - A Beatrix Rose Thriller: Hong Kong Stories Volume 1 (Beatrix Rose's Hong Kong Stories Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

uncomfortably.
    “I am afraid I have a dispute with someone from the underworld. His name is Mr. Ying. You know Mr. Ying, I believe. He is responsible for the whores you enjoy so much.” She used his word, loading it with bile and daring him to look away from her. He did, and she slapped him again. “Liling used to work for him. You do know Ying, don’t you?”
    “Yes,” he said bitterly.
    “He was the man you went to for help?”
    “Yes.”
    “And he killed Liling.”
    Quieter, “Yes.”
    She took the phone and held it up. “Did you ever wonder how this was filmed?”
    She could see the penny drop. For a smart man, he was remarkably slow on the uptake.
    “It wasn’t Liling. Ying filmed this to use against you in the future. Liling tried to take advantage of it, but he is responsible for it. He is not your friend, Mr. Gao.”
    “And you are?”
    “No. But Mr. Ying has something that I want. I have something that he wants. Unfortunately, what I want is worth more to me than what this footage is worth to him, and he knows that. I do not have the advantage. He has asked me to do something that I am not prepared to do. But if I don’t do it, he will hurt someone who has already suffered enough. Someone who doesn’t deserve to be caught up in all of this.”
    “So what do you want from me?”
    “I want Mr. Ying out of the way. I imagine that’s something you would like, too?”
    He gave a small nod, as if even the act of acknowledging it was treacherous and dangerous.
    “I can make that happen, Mr. Gao. But to do that, I need help to get to him. That’s where you come in.”
    “What help?”
    “Mr. Ying is a Dai Lo .”
    “Yes?”
    “And I need to speak to the Dragon Head.”
    He spoke fearfully. “Mr. Yeung?”
    It was the first time that she had heard the name. Even Chau didn’t know the identity of the boss.
    “I need to talk to him. Urgently. You need to make that happen.”

CHAPTER SIX
    BEATRIX WAITED in the hotel room.
    She changed into trousers and a T-shirt.
    She made preparations for what she hoped would come next.
    She looked at the practicalities of getting across the border.
    She packed a bag with the things that she would need, then she distracted herself with two hours in the mall, buying the things that she thought that Grace might need.
    She bought train tickets in soft sleeper class, a four-berth cabin for them to share.
    Chau delivered the fake passports that she had requested: a British one for her and a Chinese one for the girl. Hong Kong was not treated as part of the mainland for immigration purposes, so her passport had been stamped with a Chinese entry visa. It would allow her to stay in China for three months. Grace’s passport would allow her to stay indefinitely. They both looked authentic, and she was confident that they would get them safely out of Hong Kong.
    She sat cross-legged on the bed, maintained the Glock and counted out her ammunition. Two magazines. Twenty rounds. She hoped that would be enough.
    She stared at her watch. Time passed. She stared at her phone, willing it to ring. It didn’t. She paced the room. Hours passed. She exercised, pumping out a thousand sit-ups and another thousand crunches until she was covered in sweat. She stared at the phone. She checked that it was charged. Still nothing.
    The deadline came and went.
    #
    HER TELEPHONE finally rang two hours after the deadline had expired.
    “Hello?”
    “Who is this?”
    “I am a friend of Mr. Gao.”
    His English was accented just a little. She didn’t recognise the voice. “Mr. Yeung?”
    “Never mind who I am.”
    It didn’t matter, and she didn’t care. “You know where the girl is?”
    “I do.”
    She wanted to tell him that he was late, that he should have called hours ago, that the delay might have cost Grace her innocence, but there was no profit in doing any of that. She bit her lip between her teeth and then said, her voice hard as iron, “Where?”
    “Mr. Ying has many brothels