Part 18 (1/2)
42.
Deng Tao looked at Karyn, his black eyes eating into her soul. ”I had hoped, that once you had seen for yourself the majesty of our cause, you would join us. Ms. Kane. Calista Johnston, who always has a great deal of intuition in these matters, a.s.sured me that you were a strong and forward thinking woman; just the sort of person we would have ride at the very forefront of our new world order. And yet, you seem reticent, as though you prefer the tired allegiance of the past instead of joining with us. It saddens me Ms. Kane, that you would feel that way.”
Karyn soaked in the rhetoric then said, ”You like to talk the big talk don't you Tao? Yet you don't know a d.a.m.n thing about the small things that make the big world turn on its axis-things like loyalty, commitment and decency. If you want to buy your way into a new future for mankind, it is going to cost you more than a pocket full of gold coins. When it comes to real people, your smooth talking sales pitch won't matter a d.a.m.n. They will see through your talk of a new elite for what it is, a h.e.l.l-ride to nothing.”
Deng Tao stared at her, his flat implacable eyes eating up every word. He wasn't smiling now. The sharp little teeth tightened, his thin cruel lips twisting against Karyn's words. ”How very sure of yourself you are Ms. Kane. I can see that your misguided sense of duty has blinded you to the true nature of the golden future that awaits us all. No matter.” Deng Tao clapped his hands and the heavy bronze doors opened slowly.
”Tomorrow, as the new future rises with the dawn, you will have to consol yourself, that you wasted a great opportunity.” Deng Tao raised his chin, his face twisting with displeasure. ”Farewell Ms. Kane, your commitment to the politics of failure has sealed your destiny. We will not meet again.”
And with that, Deng Tao turned abruptly on his heel and stalked out of the room.
Karyn watched him go. She turned to Brad Verner and said, ”Your new best pal is quite something Verner. Are you really flying out to the Big Island tomorrow?”
Brad Verner gave Karyn a desperate look. ”I have no choice, you know that don't you?” Karyn pursed her lips and nodded slowly, ”What ever you think Verner.” Karyn paused, looked after Deng Tao and said, ”This is going to end badly you know that don't you?”
Desperate and afraid, Verner's eyes widened as though he were tying to communicate some unspoken message.
Smiling ever so slightly Karyn nodded and said, ”I have business in Seattle next week, perhaps I could drop in on your parents, if they are around that is?”
Brad Verner looked ready to choke. ”I am sure they would be delighted to see you,” he managed at last.”
Karyn nodded. It was just as she had thought. Deng Tao's people had Verner's parents. If they were lucky they would be bound and gagged, maybe a little ragged around the corners, from a cursory beating designed to give them a taste of just how bad things would get if they didn't do as they were told. And if they weren't lucky-well in that case, they would be dead already.
Karyn said nothing more. She stared at Brad Verner as he blinked at her then turned away, with slow hesitating steps. Karyn watched him go as he followed after Deng Tao, his new Master.
Looking back over his shoulder Brad Verner's lips worked loosely, a confusion of thoughts hammering through his conflicted mind. He tripped, staggered, corrected and scampered away, as though fleeing from a looming tempest- but fleeing where? Where is there to flee, in a world that is spinning ever closer to madness? Karyn stood, watching as Brad Verner disappeared and the giant bronze doors closed after him.
Standing alone in the fish tank room, Karyn suddenly felt a crus.h.i.+ng sense of claustrophobia. Above, below all around her the vast ocean was everywhere. Beyond the gla.s.s, vast schools of fish sparkled and whirled. Above them, larger more sinister shapes circled in the gloom. Sharks. That crazy, power mad freak Deng Tao had turned his s.h.i.+p into a giant floating Shark tank. Karyn watched as the sharks circled-beautiful, elegant, deadly. For a cold second she contemplated the idea of the ocean flooding the room. What would she do then? Millions of gallons of water flooding in and no way of escape.
”Ms. Kane.” The voice came from behind, dripping smooth like warm honey. The intonation was vaguely French but with an unmistakable twist of the East.
Karyn turned slowly to see Calista Johnston, and with her, a quite beautiful Asian woman, wearing an elegant silk c.o.c.ktail dress in s.h.i.+mmering jade green and gold. The woman's face had a high-boned, imperious quality, accentuated by the way she wore her hair, slicked tight behind her head.
Karyn raised her hand and circled a finger in the general direction of the newcomer, ”Let me guess, the mysterious Mrs. Tao,” said Karyn.
An insidious look edged at the corners of the imperious face, and the woman's heavy rouged lips parted, as though preparing to pa.s.s comment.
”This is quite some place you got here,” said Karyn. ”And your husband is a bona-fide character to say the least.”
The rouged lips pursed with the faintest trace of disapproval. ”You were right Calista very beautiful, but perhaps not quite so beautiful as you had led me to believe.” The woman held out her hand. ”My name is Cheena Tao, I understand you are an investigator Ms. Kane?”
”You could say that. If chasing down blind- alley leads in a case no one much cares for counts as investigation.”
Cheena Tao tilted her head at an angle that might have suggested vague amus.e.m.e.nt, but her bone-china features remained inscrutable. ”How fascinating.” The words dripped cold like acid, eating into the dappled silence of the room. Bubbles trickled their way up the sides of the giant tank, struggling to free them selves from the oppressive gloom. ”So tell me Ms. Kane, what progress have you made in this investigation of yours?”
”Not a whole lot. Matter of fact I will have to fly back to the mainland tomorrow. The promise of oversight often causes local law enforcement to redouble their efforts, but in reality reports don't write themselves...”
”So you must leave us, and so soon. Well, I must say I am disappointed Ms. Kane I was hoping that you might join us for dinner, so that you could regale us with bloodthirsty tales of your investigations to date.”
Karyn examined Cheena Tao's face, for any depth or sincerity, but found none. What she found instead was a cruel, hard-sculpted exterior that boded cold and superficial. Despite her words, Cheena Tao quite clearly didn't give a d.a.m.n about anything, or anyone. Then there was the tiny veiled hat perched on the back of her head, black and incongruous like a giant bug. Who wore hats these days-I mean really.
Cheena Tao's black gaze swept quickly over Karyn and to the heavy bronze door beyond, ”My husband is an important man Ms. Kane. He is driven. And he always gets what he wants, no matter what the price.”
”Not on this occasion.” Cheena Tao gave Karyn a tart look. If you are not working with us, then you must be working against us Ms. Kane. Surely you would not wish to do that?”
Karyn smiled. ”Work? I like that Mrs. Tao. I wouldn't have taken you for the working type.”
Raising her chin Cheena Tao said, ”You joke of course Ms. Kane. But you must know that my tireless and all encompa.s.sing pa.s.sion is to provide support to the Humanistian cause.”
Very commendable I am sure, ” said Karyn, her voice cold and even. ”But meanwhile, back in the real world, us working stiffs, we get to trudge through the rain and write reports in grey little buildings, no one much cares for. So that smart- suited executives can make big-bonus budget decisions and look good on television. It is government Mrs. Tao-the way of things, I am sure you understand.”
A look of distaste twisted at the corners of the rouged mouth. ”I cannot say that I would even pretend to understand Ms. Kane. It all sounds too dull for words. But if you absolutely insist in flying back to your dreary little life in Was.h.i.+ngton, or wherever it is you government people lurk these days, then you are a fool.” Cheena Tao, didn't wait for a response, she stalked past Karyn without a second look. ”Come Calista, our guests await.” The words were enunciated with the harsh authority of a pet owner speaking to a wayward dog.
Calista Johnston reached out and touched Karyn on the arm. ”Perhaps we will meet again in Was.h.i.+ngton, or some such place Ms Kane.” The old woman's bony fingers pressed into Karyn's flesh, lingering rather longer than necessity dictated.
Karyn looked her in the eye and said, ”You better hope you play your hand better than that husband of yours, or you might well be joining him and sooner than you think.”
Calista Johnston batted her spider web eyelashes. ”You are concerned Ms. Kane. How very sweet of you.” She flashed her ivory grin and said, ”Be sure to tell your superiors in Was.h.i.+ngton that my worthless husband made absolutely the right career choice when he dived out of that window.”
”Too bad he took the plunge, he's never going to see that power station of Deng Tao's come online, is he?” Karyn frowned then said, ”He could have been the hero of the people, just like he always wanted. Maybe he could even have had a shot at the Presidency, if he played his cards right.”
”The Presidency?” Calista Johnston gave a musical laugh. ”How thoroughly charming you are Ms. Kane. We are working towards far higher ideals. In the new future, such positions of high office will seem as antiquated as the Pharaohs of old. Such a pity you won't be joining us.” Enrique sidled up beside his mistress and threw Karyn a lascivious look.
Karyn narrowed her eyes, ”This bright new future you talk so much about sounds like a three- card scam to me. You better hope you get out before the rush, or you might just end up losing everything you have.”
Calista Johnston's smile broadened. ”Perhaps you will join us for a c.o.c.ktail Ms. Kane? Enrique and I will be flying back to the mainland tomorrow. It might be the last chance we get to enjoy a relaxing drink together. Unless of course you choose to join us for the flight home.”
”A kind offer, but I am running a tight schedule, so I am sure you will understand if I take a rain-check on that.”
”I cannot say I am surprised,” Calista Johnston pouted, ”But I am certainly disappointed, as is Enrique,” She turned to her a.s.sistant. He threw her a smug lascivious look. ”Such a pity, we could have all had such fun together, couldn't we Enrique?” She gave Karyn a wistful smile. ”No matter. Destiny awaits Ms. Kane. You will excuse us I am sure.” And with these final words, Calista Johnston sashayed off in the direction of the party. Enrique followed close. He ran a hand over Calista Johnston's a.s.s. As they got to the big bronze doors he turned, looked back at Karyn and laughed, like nothing in the world mattered anything worth a d.a.m.n.
43.
Karyn took an early launch back to the Kahanamoku Beach key quayside, leaving the ever- noisier party on the Chanchu behind her. She grabbed a cab amid the throng of quayside revelers and ordered the driver to hit the gas. She told him to head uptown into the city night and keep driving, until she gave the word. He gave her the eye in the rearview and asked her where she wanted to go. She told him Ben Franklin and his pals would know when they had arrived. The driver pulled away from the curbside faster than an Indy-Car front- runner and melded with traffic, to a serenade of blaring horns. Six-blocks west of the Hawaiian Gardens hotel. Karyn folded over the Benjamins into the driver's sweaty palm and hit the sidewalk. She watched as the euphoric driver cut into traffic, with a squeal of hot rubber with the fresh-folded hundreds nestling happily in his breast pocket.
Standing on the sidewalk, Karyn did a 180, scanning for any sign of a follow car. Nothing. The Feds must be losing their touch, either that they were holding the bag loose, figuring they could move in with a takedown, just as soon as they felt the need.