We arrived twenty minutes early to find Wang’s car already there, engine idling. In this deserted area, the only other sounds were the cries of insects or unknown animals. I asked Shadow to pull up some distance from the gangsters. Our cars’ headlights were the only illumination in front of the dark villa. With its two blinding lights, Wang’s vehicle seemed like a ferocious beast ready to tear us into pieces.
From the distance, it looked like there were five people inside the car: Wang, a blindfolded man, probably Jinying, and two bodyguards plus the driver. I could not see any other cars, though some could be concealed by the darkness. Were anyone looking, we must have seemed like phantoms in this remote place with Lung’s dark, empty villa looming in the background like a huge, wounded beast.
Wang got out of the car, preceded by two men holding guns. Then they pulled out the blindfolded man. Wearing loose, creased pajamas, the young master looked so gaunt that I almost didn’t recognize him, nor, of course, could he see me. I suppressed the urge to call out to the father of my son. I feared that if he knew I was here, he’d struggle to escape and get shot.
Jinying was the first one to speak. “Where am I, why did you take me here?”
But no one answered him, even though he was the son of Shanghai’s once most powerful gangster.
Feeling chilled, I handed my magician friend a hood so she would not be recognized later, assuming there would be a later for us.
“Shadow”—I also handed her a piece of paper—“now go out and give this to Wang. I’ll stay in the car.”
In a scared voice, she asked, “You go, Camilla. It’s your business, not mine!”
“Shadow, I have my plan. Just go and give Wang this paper.”
“But I don’t have anything to do with him and his men.”
“Shadow, it’s me that they want, not you.”
She hesitated. “You think gangsters care? They kill people like squashing ants.”
“Just go, Shadow; if anyone is going to get hurt, it’d be me, not you. You just have to trust me this time.”
“I did in the past and look what happened.”
I ground my teeth and said in a heated whisper, “Shadow, you’re not important enough for them to waste an expensive bullet on! Now go before I push you.”
She grunted, then pulled down her hood as tightly as she could.
“Go and tell Big Brother Wang this is what he wants. After that, he’ll release the young master.”
Reluctantly, Shadow got out of the car and walked toward the gangsters. She spoke briefly to Wang, then handed him the paper. Wang opened, read it, and smiled. On the paper was the combination for Lung’s safe hidden inside the grandfather clock. Wang said something to Shadow and she hurried back to me.
“Wang said to wait here until they break into the house, open the safe, and get the treasures. After that, they’ll release the young master.”
“Tell him I agree.”
She went back to tell the gangster boss.
At this moment Jinying’s tired and scared voice blurted out in the chilled air, “Can anyone tell me what’s happening?”
This time one of Wang’s burly men knocked him on the head. “Shut up! If no one asks you to talk, you keep your fucking mouth shut!”
Lips trembling, Jinying stopped.
Wang broke open the door, then went in with one of his men, leaving two to keep an eye on Jinying, and, of course, Shadow and myself. About twenty minutes later, the two emerged from the villa holding heavy bags.
After they put the bags into the truck, to my horror, instead of releasing Jinying to me, they pushed him inside the vehicle, then jumped in themselves.
I yelled toward them. “Wait a minute!”
But no one answered, nor even turned his head.
I screamed again. “You promised to release the young master!”
It was then that Jinying recognized my voice. “Camilla? Can it really be you?”
“Shut up!” Someone yelled.
Wang stuck his head out through the window and laughed. “Ha, Camilla! Did you just flush your training down the toilet? How many times I taught you to trust no one, not even your own shadow, eh?”
“But the young master is of no use to you now!”
“If that’s what you think, then you’re wrong! He’s still the bait for his father.”
I yelled back. “Big Brother Wang, think about it, if Master Lung is alive, don’t you think he’d have come after you by now? He’s dead! Believe me, his son is absolutely of no use to you anymore!”
The gangsters spoke to each other for a minute or two, then Wang called out, “Hmm… maybe you’re right.”
Immediately one of his men jumped from the car, then pulled Jinying out, pressing his head down.
Wang shouted. “Shoot him!”
I screamed, “No, Big Brother Wang!”
Obviously this was their plan. Kill Jinying, then take advantage of our shock to kill Shadow and me. But I was not ready for all of us to meet in the Yellow Springs. Of course, I had anticipated this. So I pulled out one of the new knives I’d hidden in my baggy pants.
A loud “Aiya!!!” split the silence of the night. The man’s hand bled profusely as his gun dropped to the ground. Of course they had not expected any real danger from a woman, so, as the other two bodyguards were struggling to free their guns from their holsters, my second and third knives were already sticking out of their hands.
“Jinying, quick!”
The young master dashed toward me and lunged inside our car.
This was the only time in all the years I had known Wang that he seemed to be at a loss as to what to do. So he simply motioned his driver to go forward, giving the wounded men barely enough time to crawl inside the car. But I had thrown another knife to deflate the car’s front tire, so the vehicle could only creep along the uneven driveway.
I yelled to Shadow, “Leave right now!”
Her foot pressed hard on the gas petal and the car plunged forward like a wild horse released from its tether. I quickly took the blindfold off Jinying’s eyes and untied his hands. We embraced each other like we’d been separated for several lifetimes.
After we released from each other, I asked, “You all right, Jinying?”
Tears glimmered in both our eyes. He nodded. “And you, Camilla?”
“As you can see.”
“How did you find me?”
“It’s complicated. I’ll tell you everything after we go back to the hotel.”
He thought for a second, then asked, “Did you come back for me?”
I sighed and slumped back against the seat, having no energy left for such an obvious, or stupid, question.
Back in the hotel, Shadow said to us, her face flushed, “How could you make me do this? We made it, but we almost didn’t. This is what you meant by us being allies?” She entered her room, slamming the door behind her.
But I didn’t have time to deal with her feelings, not now. Now that Jinying and I were finally by ourselves, we didn’t say much to each other but plunged right into frenzied lovemaking instead.
Though Jinying looked gaunt and weak, I was happy, and surprised, that sexually he became as fierce as a tiger. He urgently tugged off my clothes, tossing them on the floor, one by one. When my panties were finally gone and my body naked under his relentless scrutiny, my knees weakened and I sank onto the bed, ready to be consumed by this man, whom I’d lost and now found.
In a moment he was lying on top of me, kissing and caressing me, as if fearing this would be our last moment together. In response, I sank my teeth into his shoulder as my nails dug into his back.