Tess Gerritsen - Double Impact

“So what should I do now?”

“The two-step. Sideways.” He came out, dressed and freshly shaved. Spotting the open file on the nightstand, he calmly closed the cover. “Sorry. Not for public view,” he said, sliding the stack of folders into his briefcase. Then he turned to her. “Now. Tell me what else is going on.”

“What do you mean?”

“I get the feeling there’s something more. It’s eight o’clock in the morning. You can’t have battled the bureaucracy this early. What really made you change your mind about me?”

“Oh, I haven’t changed my mind about you. You’re still a mercenary.” Her disgust seemed to hang in the air like a bad odor.

“But now you’re willing to work with me. Why?”

She looked down at her lap and sighed. Reluctantly she opened her purse and pulled out a slip of paper. “I found this under my door this morning.”

He unfolded the paper. In a spidery hand was written “Die Yankee.” Just seeing those two words again made her angry. A few minutes ago, when she’d shown the message to Mr. Ainh, his only reaction was to shake his head in regret. At least Guy was an American; surely he’d share her sense of outrage.

He handed the note back to her. “So?”

“‘So?’” She stared at him. “I get a death threat slipped under my door. The entire Vietnamese government hides at the mention of my name. Ainh practically commands me to tour his stupid lacquer factory. And that’s all you can say? ‘So?’”

Clucking sympathetically, he sat down beside her. Why does he have to sit so close? she thought. She tried to ignore the tingling in her leg as it brushed against his, struggled to sit perfectly straight though his weight on the mattress was making her sag toward him.

“First of all,” he explained, “this isn’t necessarily a personal death threat. It could be merely a political statement.”

“Oh, is that all,” she said blandly.

“And think of the lacquer factory as a visit to the dentist. You don’t want to go, but everyone thinks you should. And as for the elusive Foreign Ministry, you wouldn’t learn a thing from those bureaucrats anyway. Speaking of bureaucrats, where’s your baby-sitter?”

“You mean Mr. Ainh?” She sighed. “Waiting for me in the lobby.”

“You have to get rid of him.”

“I wish.”

“We can’t have him around.” Rising, Guy took her hand and pulled her to her feet. “Not where we’re going.”

“Where are we going?” she demanded, following him out the door.

“To see a friend. I think.”

“Meaning he might not see us?”

“Meaning I can’t be sure he’s a friend.”

She groaned as they stepped into the elevator. “Terrific.”

Down in the lobby, they found Ainh by the desk, waiting to ambush her. “Miss Maitland!” he called. “Please, you must hurry. We have a very busy schedule today.”

Willy glanced at Guy, who simply shrugged and looked off in another direction. Drat the man, he was leaving it up to her. “Mr. Ainh,” she said, “about this little tour of the lacquer factory-”

“It will be quite fascinating! But they do not take dollars, so if you wish to exchange for dong, I can-”

“I’m afraid I don’t feel up to it,” she said flatly.

Ainh blinked in surprise. “You are ill?”

“Yes, I…” She suddenly noticed that Guy was shaking his head. “Uh, no, I’m not. I mean-”

“What she means,” said Guy, “is that I offered to show her around. You know-” he winked at Ainh “-a little personal tour.”

“P-personal?” Flushing, Ainh glanced at Willy. “But what about my tour? It is all arranged! The car, the sight-seeing, a special lunch-”

“I tell you what, pal,” said Guy, bending toward him conspiratorially. “Why don’t you take the tour?”

“I have been on the tour,” Ainh said glumly.

“Ah, but that was work, right? This time, why don’t you take the day off, both you and the driver. Go see the sights of Saigon. And enjoy Ms. Maitland’s lunch. After all, it’s been paid for.”

Ainh suddenly looked interested. “A free lunch?”

“And a beer.” Guy slipped a few dollars into the man’s breast pocket and patted the flap. “On me.” He took Willy’s arm and directed her across the lobby.

“But, Miss Maitland!” Ainh called out bleakly.

“Boy, what a blast you two guys’re gonna have!” Guy sounded almost envious. “Air-conditioned car. Free lunch. No schedule to tie you down.”

Ainh followed them outside, into a wall of morning heat so thick, it made Willy draw a breath of surprise. “Miss Maitland!” he said in desperation. “This is not the way it is supposed to be done!”

Guy turned and gave the man a solemn pat on the shoulder. “That, Mr. Ainh, is the whole idea.”

They left the poor man standing alone on the steps, staring after them.

“What do you think he’ll do?” whispered Willy.

“I think,” said Guy, moving her along the crowded sidewalk, “he’s going to enjoy a free lunch.”

She glanced back and saw that Mr. Ainh had, indeed, disappeared into the hotel. She also noticed they were being followed. A street urchin, no more than twelve years old, caught up and danced around on the hot pavement.

“Lien-xo?” he chirped, dark eyes shining in a dirty face. They tried to ignore him, but the boy skipped along beside them, chattering all the way. His shirt hung in tatters; his feet were stained an apparently permanent brown. He pointed at Guy. “Lien-xo?”

“No, not Russian,” said Guy. “Americanski.”

The boy grinned. “Americanski? Yes?” He stuck out a smudgy hand and whooped. “Hello, Daddy!”

Resigned, Guy shook the boy’s hand. “Yeah, it’s nice to meet you too.”

“Daddy rich?”

“Sorry. Daddy poor.”

The boy laughed, obviously thinking that a grand joke. As Guy and Willy continued down the street, the boy hopped along at their side, shooing all the other urchins who had joined the procession. It was a tattered little parade marching through a sea of confusion. Bicycles whisked by, a multitude of wheels. And on the sidewalks, merchants squatted beside their meager collections of wares.

The boy tugged on Guy’s arm. “Hey, Daddy. You got cigarette?”

“No,” said Guy.

“Come on, Daddy. I do you favor, keep the beggars away.”

“Oh, all right.” Guy fished a pack of Marlboro cigarettes from his shirt pocket and handed the boy a cigarette.

“Guy, how could you?” Willy protested. “He’s just a kid!”

“Oh, he’s not going to smoke it,” said Guy. “He’ll trade it for something else. Like food. See?” He nodded at the boy, who was busy wrapping his treasure in a grimy piece of cloth. “That’s why I always pack a few cartons when I come. They’re handy when you need a favor.” He turned and frowned up at one of the street signs. “Which, come to think of it, we do.” He beckoned to the boy. “Hey, kid, what’s your name?”

The boy shrugged.

“They must call you something.”

“Other Americanski, he say I look like Oliver.”

Guy laughed. “Probably meant Oliver Twist. Okay, Oliver. I got a deal for you. You do us a favor.”

“Sure thing, Daddy.”

“I’m looking for a street called Rue des Voiles. That’s the old name, and it’s not on the map. You know where it is?”

“Rue des Voiles? Rue des Voiles…” The boy scrunched up his face. “I think that one they call Binh Tan now. Why you want to go there? No stores, nothing to see.”

Guy took out a thousand-dong note. “Just get us there.”

The boy snapped up the money. “Okay, Daddy. You wait. Promise, you wait!” The boy trotted off down the street. At the corner, he glanced back and yelled again for good measure, “You wait!”