Kylie Chan - White Tiger

‘What’s the little girl’s name?’ the young woman said. ‘She’s very pretty.’

Leo hissed under his breath and shifted slightly.

‘Hold, Leo,’ Mr Chen said without moving. ‘Is there a point to this?’

‘There is a price on your head,’ the young man said. ‘A very rich prize.’

Mr Chen went completely still. He even seemed to stop breathing. ‘I know they are after me. What is the prize?’

‘To be Number One.’

‘Why are you telling me this?’

The young man saluted Mr Chen Chinese-style, holding his closed fist in his open palm and shaking his hands in front of his chest. ‘Protect us.’

The woman saluted as well.

‘Leo,’ Mr Chen said without moving, ‘take Simone and Miss Donahoe back to the car.’

‘No more than these, sir?’ Leo said.

Mr Chen concentrated. ‘No others. Just these. Go back to the car.’

‘Come on, Emma,’ Leo said, hoisting Simone into his arms again. ‘Let’s go.’

I glanced back to see Mr Chen as we walked to the car. The young couple had knelt in front of him. When I reached the car, I looked back again. They were gone. The entire beach was deserted, except for Mr Chen’s lone dark figure walking back to us.

No way could the couple have walked off the beach in the time between my glances. But I couldn’t see them anywhere. They’d disappeared completely.

I didn’t ask about them in the car on the way home; I didn’t want to frighten Simone. Leo and Mr Chen were quiet and subdued; Simone was wide-eyed and silent.

Later that evening, after I’d bathed Simone and put her to bed, I went to Mr Chen’s office to ask him what was going on. He and Leo were talking inside his office, and Leo’s voice was so loud it made the door rattle.

‘They know exactly how weak you are!’ he shouted.

I had to strain to hear Mr Chen’s voice. ‘Those have been tamed. They won’t be back.’

‘You need to see Ms Kwan now !’

Mr Chen said something, but I didn’t hear it.

‘I don’t know why you keep delaying it!’ Leo yelled. ‘You let yourself run down and you can’t protect her! They’re moving in!’

‘Leo.’ Mr Chen spoke louder now, irritated. ‘I can only do this a limited number of times. I will only last a maximum of four, five years. Then I’m gone.’

Leo’s voice softened. ‘What?’

‘Even with Mercy’s help, eventually I will not be able to hold it together any longer and I will be gone.’

‘ Why didn’t you tell me? ’ Leo bellowed. His voice softened. ‘Oh my God.’

‘I must delay as long as possible between each feed.’

Leo’s voice broke. ‘You’re going to leave Simone.’

‘Hopefully she will be able to defend herself by then. She should be able to handle almost anything by the time I go.’

‘Oh, that’s very reassuring,’ Leo said sarcastically. His voice became louder again. ‘You still need to see Ms Kwan now .’

‘I am making the arrangements, Leo.’ Mr Chen sounded tired. ‘I was planning to tell you over dinner tomorrow.’

‘Well, it’s about time.’ Leo threw the office door open so hard that it almost hit me. ‘Sorry, Emma.’

‘What the hell is going on?’ I glanced into the office; Mr Chen sat behind his desk, stricken.

‘I’ll tell you tomorrow,’ Mr Chen said. ‘Right now, I have people to call.’

‘Just leave him, Emma.’ Leo closed the door behind him. ‘He has things he needs to do.’

‘Tell me what’s going on!’

‘Later.’ Leo sighed with exasperation and headed back to his room, shaking his head. ‘God, he drives me completely crazy sometimes.’

‘Both of you drive me crazy!’ I shouted. ‘Why the hell don’t you just tell me what’s going on? What’s the big secret?’

‘I’ll tell you all about it real soon, Emma, I promise. We need to make some arrangements now, and it’s late.’

‘Stop avoiding telling me!’

Simone squealed. We’d woken her up. I rushed to her room to comfort her. Damn.

The next day Leo avoided me until he had to take Simone and me to lunch with my friends. Simone had wanted to come, and Leo was grudgingly forced to drive us so decided he might eat with us as well.

We walked across the cracked pavement next to Queen’s Pier and Simone stopped. ‘Look, Leo, the Star Ferry!’

The green and white oval-shaped Star Ferry that carried passengers the short hop between Central on Hong Kong Island and Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon pulled into the pier nearby.

‘Don’t know why they don’t just build a bridge,’ Leo said. ‘With all the reclamation, it’s not so far across.’

‘They can’t,’ I said. ‘Fung shui. The harbour is the money flowing through Hong Kong. If they build a bridge, it’ll interrupt the flow.’

‘How much fung shui do you know?’

‘Absolutely none at all. My friend April told me that.’

Simone jiggled. ‘Daddy’s shui!’

I took her hand to lead her into City Hall. ‘Daddy’s water?’

‘Yep.’ She shook my hand free and ran ahead, then tripped over her feet and fell.

I caught up with her and helped her up. ‘You “did a Simone” already. Now we have to wash your hands.’

‘You always wash my hands before we eat anyway, Emma.’

‘Don’t complain,’ Leo said. ‘If you wash your hands before you eat, you’ll never catch a nasty disease.’

‘Don’t be silly, Leo,’ she said. ‘You know we never get sick.’

‘Emma!’ Louise was standing at the top of the stairs and gesturing for us to hurry. ‘We have a table. Move!’

We raced up the stairs to take the table before the receptionist called the next number in the queue. She led us into the enormous hall with its huge floor-toceiling picture windows overlooking the harbour and sat us at the round six-seater table.

‘Louise, April, this is Simone, and Leo, her bodyguard.’

‘I’m the driver, Emma,’ Leo said, quietly exasperated.

‘Yeah, sure you are,’ Louise said, eyeing him up and down. ‘Nice outfit, Leo.’

As usual, Leo was dressed very well in a made-to-measure dark business suit. He stared at Louise in disbelief.

‘Don’t mind her—she’s Australian, like me,’ I said. ‘Is that supposed to make a difference?’ Leo said, sceptical.

‘All the difference in the world, mate, get used to it,’ Louise said. ‘Hello, Simone. How old are you?’

‘Four and a half.’

‘Only four? You look older than that,’ Louise said.

Simone nodded, eyes wide and serious. ‘Everybody says that. I think it’s because Daddy’s so special.’

‘He’s special, is he?’ Louise said, then grinned knowingly at me.

The white-jacketed waiter threw the bowls, spoons and chopsticks onto the table with a loud rattle.

‘What tea would you like?’ April said.

‘Sow mei,’ Louise and I said together.

‘You happy with that, Leo?’ I said.

‘I’m not here. Ignore me,’ Leo said, looking around at the other diners.

‘You’re too big to ignore, mate,’ Louise said before I could. ‘You’re here to eat too. If you want a beer or something, just say so.’

‘Not on the job,’ Leo said.

April was distracted. ‘No trolleys anywhere,’ she complained.

The waiter returned with a pot of tea and an extra pot of hot water.

Louise reached into her handbag for a notebook. ‘Who paid last time?’

‘I did, and I’m winning this time,’ I said. I pulled out my own notebook. ‘I’ve collected some really good ones. Wait ‘til you hear them.’

Louise and I flipped the notebooks open.

‘Apple,’ she said.