With one fluid movement, Nick was up and bending over Jimmy, and Hugo was out with the point of steel at the Chinese's throat. "Shall I draw blood?" The point was pressing against the taut skin.
Nick looked into Jimmy's eyes. There was no fear there. Jimmy had guts. Nick grinned like a banshee. "I've always had a suppressed desire to cut off a man's head and use it as an ashtray."
Jimmy's lips moved. "Drop dead."
Nick slowly relented. He eased the pressure, but Hugo had already taken a bite and a thin stream of blood ran down onto Jimmy's shirt collar. "Maybe I'm going at this the wrong way, Jimmy. Are you obligated to Tulip? Is that why you're covering for him? What's the answer, Jimmy?"
"It's a matter of honor."
"Don't go noble on me, Jimmy. You're in a bad spot. I either kill you or turn you over to the cops. You don't owe Tulip a thing."
"Let me think about it."
"Sure. I'll give you a whole minute."
Jimmy was a practical man. He did have a kind of code. Most gangsters did. The American gangster, when shot by a rival mob, never squealed when questioned by the police if he was found alive. If he was dying, then he gave up the ghost with his lips sealed. That was his code.
Jimmy How had a lot to live for. He had money, women, and an enterprising business. He wasn't afraid of dying. He was sure he had proved that to Nick. If he died he would have nothing. If he went to prison he would lose everything. It didn't matter how long he stayed in prison. Once he was in a cell his confederates would take over and he would be out in the cold. And there was May Chin. Jimmy had liked her. What did he owe Tulip? Nick was right He didn't owe Tulip a damn thing.
Jimmy then explained to Nick that he would lose a great deal if it became known that he had betrayed Tulip.
Nick knew how the Oriental felt about losing face and prestige. "I realize that. No one will ever know."
"You'll have to kill him." Jimmy reached for a cigarette in an ivory box and lit it. "I felt honor-bound to help Tulip. You understand how it is, Nick."
"Sure, sure."
Tulip was on Cheung Chau Island. There was an old deserted house on the island built by a Russian general of the white army after the revolution. Jimmy had bought the house two years ago from a dealer in opium. The dealer had used the house to store opium produced in Turkey and Iran and smuggled out through Beirut. This opium was considered a finer grade than that produced from the Yunnan poppy. Tulip was now hidden in that same house.
"Why didn't Tulip get the hell out of Hong Kong?" Nick wanted to know.
Jimmy grinned crookedly. "He wants to sleep nights. He knew they would send you after him. Even a frightened rat stops running."
"Did you know he and a Chinese named Wong made a try for me with a machine gun?"
"I'd heard about it."
"Why did he turn traitor?"
Jimmy shrugged. "Maybe he wanted the finer things in life. That takes money, and the Chinese Reds pay well." Jimmy mashed out his cigarette. "I'm sending a man tonight to bring him supplies. You can tag along partway. While my man gives Tulip the supplies, you can go in the back way."
"You're too generous."
Jimmy bit his lower lip. "You'll have to kill him. That's the deal. I can't afford to have him talk. I'll be ruined."
"Just don't cross me," Nick warned. "If you do I'll come back and kill you on sight"
Jimmy winced. "You hurt my feelings, Nick."
"You're like me; you have no feelings."
Jimmy looked up at Nick. "You and Tulip were buddy-buddy. He told me so. Hard thing to knock off a friend."
"We'll see. Now where do I meet your man?"
"At the dock. His name is Yun Lee. You can't miss him. Hell be wearing a big straw hat and a stupid grin on his face."
Chapter 6
There was time to kill and Nick didn't want to spend it alone. He deliberately went out to get himself a girl.
He found her in the Oriental, a cabaret in Kowloon.
Her name was Mimi Tong and she was very pretty. She smelled good too. Jasmine. Her eyes weren't slanted and she had that soft Eurasian look but she insisted she was all Chinese.
Nick didn't care one way or another. She had a supple body that fit neatly against his as they danced. He held her close and smelled her perfume and he almost forgot the past few days.
"You like me?" Her arm was cool against his neck.
"Very much,"
"Are you hungry?"
"What?" The question surprised him.
"I haven't had dinner" she explained.
"Okay. But you'll have to eat alone. I'll watch."
They went to the Rice Bowl on Kimberley Road and he watched her eat. "Are you new in Hong Kong?" she asked between bites.
"Not exactly."
"You don't talk much, do you?"
"I'm a man of action, and I hope to prove it to you."
She poured almond tea into her cup. "Do you like to gamble?"
"I have other things on my mind now besides gambling."
She giggled. "You watched me eat. Now you can watch me gamble."
Nick's face took on a stern look. He wanted to know if she was taking him for a ride.
She reached out and held his hand. "You won't be disappointed." There was promise in her eyes. A promise of a thousand delights. "I like you, Nick. I want to have some fun. I ate a good dinner; now I want to gamble. Then we'll get together for the most beautiful time ever. Mimi Tong always keeps her promises."
"You talked me into it. Where do we go from here?"
"Macao."
Nick shook his head. "I'll have to take a raincheck. There's no time. I have an appointment."
"I'll gamble for only an hour," she promised. "You won't miss your appointment."
"Okay, Mimi. Let's get the hell out of here."
The hydrofoil zipped across forty miles of water to Macao, the oldest foreign settlement in the Far East. Macao had always been under the flag of Portugal. They went to the Estoril, where Mimi played roulette, hi-lo, blackjack and fan-tan. She won two hundred and thirty dollars and insisted on giving Nick half of it. After all, she said, she had played with his money. It was only fair he should take half.
Mimi knew of a hotel nearby. Nick would have to pay more than the room would be worth because they had no luggage. But it would be worth it, she promised.
They walked past the Barrier Gate which separated Macao from Red China.
The room was on the second floor, and a cool breeze came in. He looked out the window and saw the silver of the moon on the dark water. Behind him Mimi was getting undressed. When she was naked she called out to him.
Her body was slim and graceful and her breasts were young with impudent little nipples. She helped him undress, and then they were on the bed, making love.
Later, he learned that she liked to talk in bed. She told him of her younger sister who was always "chasing the dragon." Nick knew what that expression meant. Inhaling heroin fumes. It was the Hong Kong addict's favorite way of taking heroin.
"Can't you stop her?"
She shook her head. Mimi had no control over her younger sister. She could tell Nick a few things about her sister, but she didn't want to shock him.
"Then don't," he said. "I shock very easily."
She stretched, put her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her. "I like you very much, Nick." She kissed him very hard, bruising his lips.
Soon it was time for them to leave. They dressed and went down. The hydrofoil took them back to Hong Kong. Nick enjoyed the spray of water that kept hitting his face.
Muni seemed reluctant to part. "Must you keep that appointment?" she asked.
"I have no choice," Nick told her.
"When will I see you again?"
"I'm leaving Hong Kong," he said. "Probably tomorrow."