Peter Corris - Follow the Money

He seemed to handle the gun with a new assurance. He looked strong and Sun Ling looked frail.

'I believe you,' I said.

'Right. Let's get up where we can parley. Little Gretchen here shot up while we were talking before and she's in dreamland now, near enough.'

The contempt in his voice underlined what he'd said about his lack of concern for everyone but himself. Trouble was, that included me.

Still carrying his weapon, Habib hauled Sun Ling up the steps and dumped her on a recliner. He looked tired as he sat in one of the aluminium-frame chairs and gestured for me to do the same. I shook my head and leaned back against the rail. I let my eyes drift around, looking for the pistol, but I couldn't see it.

'Not going to do anything silly, are you?' Habib said.

'No. Are you?'

'You know this is an ocean-going vessel and I've taken on enough fuel to get me well out into international waters.'

'Just you and Sun Ling? Is that enough… crew?'

He looked down at the woman lying on the recliner. Her eyes were closed; her mouth hung slightly open and a thread of spittle slid down to her perfectly moulded chin. He looked away with an expression of disgust.

'No, just me. Gretchen came intending to kill me with a spear-gun. I persuaded her not to the old-fashioned way. But I don't need the encumbrance. This vessel's state of the art-storm-proof, sink-proof.'

'That's what they said about the Titanic.'

He laughed. 'No icebergs in the wide blue Pacific.'

I edged towards him but he touched the gun and I stopped. 'Plenty of sharks, though, and you know the sharks that're really waiting aren't in the water.'

He frowned. 'That's your hole-card, isn't it?'

'I don't play cards. All that stuff bores me, but you and I know there are people in the Middle East and Hong Kong and the tax havens that're very interested in you. Not to mention our locals. They follow the money and if they lose track of the money…'

'OK, OK. You think I stand a chance with Chang- immunity, witness protection and all that?'

I studied him. Tired, stressed, he should have been more agitated than he appeared.

'I'm guessing you've got a plan B,' I said. 'You've put money and documents away in various places and reckon you can play another game from behind the official smokescreen.'

He nodded. 'You're speculating. The thing to do now is to drive the best bargain I can. You stay here. There are sensors and cameras all over this boat. That's how I knew you were aboard. Just give me a minute and we'll get this show on the road.'

Sun Ling coughed and appeared to be choking. I bent down to help and heard two thumps which didn't mean anything to me, and another noise that did. A heavy engine thundered into life and the High Five churned up the water as it swung away from the jetty and headed out into the river.

I ignored Habib's instruction and moved forward to the wheelhouse enclosed in a transparent cocoon. There were dials, screens and switches and flashing lights. Habib stood, with the machine pistol hanging by a shoulder strap, steering the yacht. The engine was purring quietly now, no need to shout. What he'd said about sensors and cameras must have been true because he saw me coming and swung towards me with the gun lifted.

'What the fuck are you doing?' I said.

'I feel safer out here. Call up Chang. We'll put him on the speaker and hear what he has to say. We'll deal or no deal.'

'And what if it's no deal?'

'Then you and Gretchen can swim for the shore and I'm gone.'

'She's in no condition to swim.'

'Too bad. You must have your bronze medallion or whatever they called it back in your day. You can save her. She'd be grateful, Hardy. Believe me, she can show her gratitude. Call Chang!'

The gun was pointed at me and Habib looked poised and confident, in charge of the yacht, the situation. I reached into my pocket for the mobile but it chirped just as I took it out. I answered.

'Hardy, this is Chang. May Ling called me. I'm on a police boat and we've got you in sight. What's going on?'

'Hang on,' I said.

I stepped out of the wheelhouse and looked around the wide, fast-running river. We were in midstream and the lights on either shore looked distant in a rising mist-further than I'd want to swim with someone in tow these days. A blue light cut through the haze and, squinting against it, I saw a water police boat moving quickly towards us.

'Better stay back, Inspector,' I said, loudly enough for Habib to hear. 'Habib's armed and dangerous, but he wants to… negotiate.'

Habib did something to the controls and the boat slowed. He came out to the rail and rammed the gun into my kidneys. 'Tell him I have hostages.'

'He has hostages,' I said, 'me and Gretchen Nordlung.'

Chang said, 'We can't communicate like this. I'm coming aboard.'

I told Habib what Chang had said. He shook his head.

'He can come close but not on board. I can get clear of that tub in a few seconds.'

I communicated this to Chang and the police boat drew nearer. Habib reached into the wheelhouse, flicked a switch, and the engine noise became a whisper. The yacht wallowed a little and I gripped the rail.

Habib laughed. 'What's the matter, Hardy? Getting seasick? This is a mill pond.'

'There'll be weapons on that police boat,' I said. 'If I were you I'd put that gun of yours down or you might give the wrong impression.'

'You've got a point. Now you just back off a few steps. That's right.'

As I moved away he unslung the gun and hung it on a hook within easy reach.

'I'm not sure this is going to work,' Habib said. 'Too many eyes and ears. I think…'

A sound inside the wheelhouse distracted him. He turned to look and I took two long strides and grabbed the gun. He grappled for it but lost balance as I swung away. I dropped the gun into the river. Sun Ling stepped from the wheelhouse holding my. 22. She seemed steady, eye and hand, and trained the pistol on Habib.

'Stand up, Richard,' she said.

Habib struggled to his feet. He leaned back against the rail.

'Don't move a muscle,' Sun Ling said. 'I learned to shoot in the States. I was good at it.'

'Easy, Sunny,' I said.

'You too. Back off.'

'I thought you took a hit, darling,' Habib said.

'I didn't.'

'I've got some if you want it.'

Sun Ling laughed, but the pistol didn't waver. 'We used to make love in his flat up there. He said he'd take me to Venice, Hardy. Venice! But he wasn't going to take me to Venice, was he?'

'No,' I said.

'I heard him. He was going to dump me in the fucking Parramatta River.'

She fired the full magazine into Habib's chest. He sagged against the rail. The police boat crashed heavily into the yacht and Habib went over the rail and into the water.

The rest of the important events of that night are sharp in my memory. Sun Ling dropped the pistol and tried to jump into the river but I held her until Chang and some of the water police came on board. She collapsed, and one of the cops who had the right training dealt with her-blood test (I told him she was a diabetic), fluids, blankets.

With his eyes on me, Chang picked up the pistol by the barrel from the deck and dropped it into an evidence bag. Then he went below and I heard him talking urgently on his mobile. I pulled my phone out, intending to call May Ling, but one of the cops shook his head and held out his hand for the phone. I handed it over, dodged around him and went down the steps. Chang was still talking. He stopped and stared at me.

'I'm looking for something to drink,' I said.

Chang told whoever he was talking to to hang on and went through the galley kitchen. He poured a glass of water and handed it to me.