Lock’s Audi pulled up in front of the house. Apart from the broken-down door and the yellow crime-scene tape across the driveway there was no lasting evidence that the place had been raided only a few hours before.
“Dammit, we were only three blocks away from here,” said Ty, scanning the street.
As soon as they had gotten the address Lock had known that his friend would beat himself up: he’d been so close to the kidnap victims without having been able to save them. Lock wouldn’t have expected anything less from him. It was part of what made him a good partner. It was business, but it was also personal. Not so personal that he got careless, but enough that he went above and beyond.
“Three blocks. Might as well have been three miles,” said Lock.
A dark blue Lexus sedan pulled up behind them. Li Yeng got out. He looked nervous as he walked over to meet them. Lock didn’t blame him. They were a long way from the multimillion-dollar mansions of Arcadia, never mind Beijing or Shanghai. Not that those had proven much safer than the hard-bitten streets of East Los Angeles.
Lock and Ty shook Li’s hand.
“The police told me that they maybe only missed them by an hour or so. Maybe less,” said Li.
“They’re positive that this is where they were being held?” Lock asked.
“They found some clothing inside,” said Li.
“It’s not great, but this may not be the worst outcome in the world,” said Lock.
“What do you mean?”
Lock paused. He needed to be careful about how he phrased this. “They could have found them here. But not in the way we’d want.”
Li was smart enough to fill in the blanks. “Dead?” said Li.
“Yes. I know it’s not much of a silver lining, but it’s something. Sometimes in a raid like this, if the victims are present, they can be used as hostages. All kind of things can go wrong.”
Li nodded. “I take your point.”
“If they’ve been moved, it’s almost certainly because the kidnappers want to keep them alive,” said Ty. “If they want them alive that’s because they want to make a deal.”
“But no one’s been in touch,” said Li.
“We’ve put out some feelers,” said Lock. “Made sure they have a contact point and know that we’re amenable to a negotiation. That’s okay, right?”
“Yes, of course,” said Li. “If we can resolve this peacefully then we will. So, who exactly have you spoken to?”
Lock brought him up to speed with their visit to the chop shop, and their discussion with Noah Orzana.
“This man, he’s involved?” Li asked, when Lock had finished.
“Maybe. Maybe not. But with his record and connections he’ll be able to feed back the information to the people who are. Now, what about this kid they found here?” Lock said.
They’d already had their own update via Galante’s sources but Galante had been a little vague. One person had been taken into custody. A young gang member the cops had placed at the crime scene in Arcadia. But, as expected, he wasn’t talking.
His silence was the least surprising development so far. Gang members didn’t talk. Period. Even the merest suspicion that they had ratted someone out was enough to get them killed.
Half a block down, the Red Tiger watched as Li stood talking with the two men he’d hired. This was where Emily had been taken. This was the house the police had raided.
As the Red Tiger studied Li standing next to his fancy car, he felt nothing but pure, white-hot rage. How could this have been allowed to happen? Emily, taken by common criminals. Still out there, alone and no doubt terrified.
At first, he had wondered if there was something deliberate in this. If it might have been arranged as a way of throwing him off the trail. Sadly, it wasn’t. He didn’t believe so anyway.
It was just one of life’s cruel, random ironies that it would happen now, when he was so close.
Or maybe not. Perhaps Fate had played a part in this.
After all, he was here. A man not only capable of finding her, but a man prepared to do what others would not.
He studied the gweilo, Lock, a man who was like him in many ways. Once he caught a scent, he would stay on its trail. And that was all the Red Tiger needed.
Lock stepped over the splintered door and into the house, Ty two steps behind him. Li stood outside.
“Should we be doing this?”
Lock and Ty kept walking. Li followed them in.
The place was a mess. The trash can from the kitchen had been emptied on the living room floor. The couch was still turned over. So was a coffee-table. It lay on its side, one leg broken, in the corner.
“Shouldn’t there be an officer here?” said Li, taking in the mess.
Ty looked at him. “What for?”
“I don’t know. To guard the place. It’s a crime scene.”
“They’ll have gathered whatever they wanted before they left. The crime-scene tape is there for effect mostly,” said Lock. “They’ll have called a landlord to secure the place, but you know how that goes in neighborhoods like this.”
Ty moved towards the kitchen, scanning the scene as he went. “What would they do with something like this in China?”
“If someone from a family like this was kidnapped? They’d find whoever did it and execute them.”
“And if it was someone from a regular family?” said Ty, pointedly.
“The same,” said Li. “Kidnapping’s a very serious crime.”
Lock and Ty exchanged a look. It was obvious that neither of them was buying Li’s answer. Not the second part of it anyway.
Lock stopped next to a framed picture hanging on the wall that had somehow survived the SWAT tornado that had swept through the place. It showed a couple of young kids, maybe nine or ten, in Little League baseball uniforms. Lock guessed one had to be the kid whose house this was. He studied it.
Ty came over and stood next to him. “What you thinking?” he said.
“The kid they arrested, there’s no way he’s going to talk to the cops, right?”
“Correct,” said Ty.
Lock ran a hand through his hair, fingertips worrying over an old scar. “But we’re not the cops.”
“Not sure that’s how he’ll see it. Not sure the LAPD would appreciate us getting into the middle of this either.”
“Not a problem,” said Lock. “We’re not.”
“So how would we offer him a deal if we don’t speak to him?” said Li.
Lock dug out his cell phone. He tapped on Carmen’s office number. “Everyone’s entitled to legal representation, right?”