Timothy Hallinan - The Fourth Watcher

The doorbell rings again. “Please,” Rafferty says. “Solve it.” He goes back into the living room and opens the door, just enough to squeeze out into the hallway.

Leung stands there, water dripping off the end of his nose, a canvas bag hanging from his shoulder. The gun in his hand is pointed at the fat cop and the thin cop. Pradya and Sriyat, Rafferty thinks. The fat cop, Pradya, tries on a smile.

Rafferty looks at the three of them, and an overwhelming weariness seizes hold of him. He leans against the wall and closes his eyes for a moment, trying to find a way to make this new development work to his advantage. When he opens his eyes again, Pradya has given up on his smile. “You,” Rafferty says to Sriyat. “Go back to Chu. Take your time, but go back. Tell him whatever you want. Tell him Leung caught you, I don’t care. Tell him we kept Pradya.” Sriyat doesn’t even nod, just turns to ring for the elevator. “Do you still know which side you’re on?” Rafferty asks.

Sriyat turns his head a quarter of the way, his mouth a taut line. “Not much choice,” he says.

“Make sure you remember that,” Rafferty says. To Pradya and Leung, he says, “Come on in. I’ll try to find you someplace to sit.”

"Very fucking cute,” Rafferty says into the phone. “Sending those clowns after Ming Li.” “You changed the rules when you lied to me,” Chu says.

“Oh, gosh,” Rafferty says, “and we’d established such an atmosphere of trust.” His eyes scan the room. The fat cop, Pradya, sits on the couch, head down, with Leung standing over him. The women paw through the rubies in the box, their eyes wide. Leung is watching their hands. Kosit is busy with the suitcase in the bedroom.

“You’ve been in contact with Frank,” Chu accuses. “All along.”

“No. Just the past eight hours or so. He called me with some news, and I didn’t want to share it with you.”

“What news?”

“Don’t get excited about this. In the end you’ll be happy about it.”

“I’ll decide what I’m happy about. What is it?”

“He sold your rubies.”

“Yes,” Chu says, dragging the word out. “I can see why you wouldn’t want to tell me that. Just out of curiosity, how much did he get?”

“About a million four.”

“Dollars, of course.”

“Sure. Even with you on his tail, he’s not going to sell them for a million and a half baht.”

“He could have gotten more. I assume you have the money.”

“I’ve got better than that. I’ve got the money and I’ve also got the rubies.”

“You’ve got. . you said he sold them.”

“He did.”

“Then how did you get them?”

“Violence,” Rafferty says. Leung looks over at him and grins.

“You’re better than he is,” Chu says. “Better than he was in his prime.”

“Don’t make me blush. Here’s the deal: The money evens things up. You have three items of Arthit’s and mine, and I have three items for you. We’re going to make one trade at a time. No promises, no IOUs, no payment for future delivery, no address left behind where we can find them. Cash for Noi, in the flesh. Rubies for Rose. Frank for Miaow.”

Chu says, “Have you looked in the box?”

Careful, Rafferty thinks. “Frank popped the lid and showed me the stones. That’s a lot of rubies.”

“Didn’t you go through it? After you got it back?”

“Why would I? I don’t know anything about rubies. What am I going to do, weigh them one at a time?”

“Mmmm,” Chu says.

Rafferty waits.

“I want Ming Li, too.”

“Not part of the deal.”

“The deal just changed.”

Rafferty says, “Hold it. I need to think.” He looks at Leung, whose eyes have returned to the women’s hands. Pradya is frankly listening to the phone call, but he looks away when Rafferty catches him. “Buy her from me.”

“Buy her? With what?”

“The rubies. Ming Li for the rubies.” Now Leung is looking at him, and he’s not grinning. Rafferty shakes his head.

“No,” Chu says. “She’s a bonus, for the trouble you’ve caused me.”

“Half the rubies.”

“You really are venal,” Chu says, almost admiringly. “You’re giving me your father and proposing to sell me your sister.”

“It’s a dysfunctional family.”

“Two handfuls,” Chu says. “In front of me. You can dip your hands into the box and bring up as many as you can hold. Put them in your pockets and give me the girl.”

“Four.”

“Two, and that’s the end of it.”

“Okay. Two.”

“Send her to me now.”

“No. Nothing gets traded on the basis of futures. No deferred transfers. Payment in one direction, person in the other. Right there, on the spot.”

Chu says, “It sounds like you don’t trust me.”

“That’s funny,” Rafferty says. “The last person who said that to me was Arnold Prettyman.”

Chu doesn’t even hesitate. “What a peculiar name. Since we’re both putting everything on the table, I’m assuming you have some safeguards in mind.”

“Lots of them.”

“I’m listening.”

“You’ll have your guys on hand, and I’ll have my own. I’m keeping one of your guys with me-the fat one, Pradya, I kind of like him-and he takes charge of Frank. He’s got a cell phone. He’ll call you when we pick Frank up. You can even talk to Frank, if you want to make sure he’s with us. I arrive with the money. You have someone bring out Noi. We swap, right there. Cash for Noi. The rubies and Frank-and Ming Li, I guess-are out of sight until they’re needed. You can’t shoot me or you lose everything else. I can’t shoot you because you’ve still got Rose and Miaow, and your guy, Pradya, could pop Frank. With me?”

“So far.”

“Then one of your people brings out Rose, and one of my people brings out the rubies.”

“Who? Who are your people?”

“Only one of them has skills. The people who bring out your items will be girls from Rose’s agency. Former go-go dancers.” He can feel

the women look up at him.

Chu laughs. “Go-go dancers? In costume?”

“They’ll be in their underwear.” Fon’s mouth drops open. “Nowhere to put a weapon. Just wet girls.”

“In my youth,” Chu says, “I was partial to wet girls.”

“I’ve looked at a few myself.”

“What then?”

“Then it’s Frank for Miaow and Ming Li for my share of the rubies.”

“Very tidy. And when we’ve finished our exchanges?”

“My people will be out of sight, out of range. Sitting in a car with the engine running. You’ll have everything, including Frank. You can have half a dozen guns on me, since shooting me won’t get you anything back. We say good-bye, and you leave.”

“Leaving is always the sticky part.”

“So I’ve heard.” He crosses his fingers. “What do you suggest?”

“I choose the place,” Chu says instantly, and Rafferty relaxes. “I’ll give you a general direction and call back a few minutes before you’re due, to tell you exactly where you’re going. Pradya will tell me where you are and who’s with you when I call. I’ll have people watching you arrive, just to make sure there aren’t a dozen cops behind you. If I see anything I don’t like, I kill the hostages, and you’ll never lay eyes on me.”

“ You choose the place?”

“Of course.”

“We could be walking into a setup.”

“Why would I set you up? This is business. I’m not going to kill all these people if I don’t have to. Bodies everywhere? That could come back to sting me. We Chinese come from villages, we live with hornets. We know better than to punch holes in the nest. I get what I want, you get what you want, and we shake hands. The hornets stay home.”