He must have dozed off, for the trilling of the cell phone brought him back to a much darker room than the one he thought he’d just entered a short while ago. He checked his watch groggily; hell, it was no doze, it was a full-out power nap. He’d been out for over two hours!
He rose from the chair, kicking over the empty glass, sending it rolling across the throw rug. Manning stooped to pick it up, then headed into the kitchen. He placed the glass in the stainless steel sink and picked up the phone from where he’d left it on the marble countertop.
To Dalian. Call LF. Msg Me Aft 12
Manning pursed his lips and cleared the message. Apparently, Chen Gui was quite worried about the future disposition of his rival, for which Manning couldn’t blame him.
He made the requisite telephone call to Chen Gui’s man in Shanghai, Lin Feng. Their conversation was brief, a verbal shorthand. Lin Feng confirmed he understood what was required of him, and that he would initiate the lengthy process of contacting Boss Tao in Dalian. The call completed, Manning pulled the card Chen Gui had given him from his back pocket, and wondered for a moment just what a young girl was doing handing out business cards to middle-aged Chinese gangsters who couldn’t even help her with her homework.
Chen Gui’s contact to the Fujianese gangland world was a young but world-weary fifteen-year-old girl named Chisako Noguchi. She had her own cell phone and answered almost immediately when Manning called. She was thrilled and delighted to speak with a foreigner, and she was greatly interested to learn how old he was. When he told her he was forty years old, she turned positively gooey with delight.
“I’ve never been with a foreigner before,” she cooed. “A white foreigner-”
“I’m sorry, but Chen Gui would never allow that.”
“Mmm.” There was a pause, and Manning was sure he could hear a television in the background. “Why should you care if he wouldn’t like it? He’s gone, isn’t he?”
“Giri,” Manning answered, using the Japanese word for honor.
She giggled. “You think Chen Gui understands giri? You’re more foreign than he is!”
“Chen Gui tells me you know the movements of the Fujianese snake head.”
“Yes…I’ll be with him at nine tonight.”
“Nine? Aren’t your parents going to be concerned?”
“It’s Friday, and I can stay out until midnight on Friday and Saturday. He’ll be taking me to Lychee tonight…you know it?”
“A karaoke club in Roppongi.” Manning knew it, though he’d never been inside. It wasn’t far from his apartment.
“Yes,” Chisako murmured. “We always leave through the side exit. I’ll send you his picture…” An instant later, Manning’s cell phone trilled.
“Just a moment.” Manning thumbed the menu buttons on his phone, and was rewarded with a photo of a very thin Chinese dressed in an expensive business suit. He had lank hair and oversized glasses which were held in place by an unusually broad nose. Even over the telephone’s small screen, Manning could make out the acne scars. He put the phone back to his ear.
“Got it, thanks.”
“We don’t have sex or anything,” Chisako said quietly on the other side. “Nothing like that. He just holds my hand and likes it when I wear short skirts. Do you like short skirts?”
“Sure. Why not.”
“Would you like to see a picture of me?”
“That’s not nec-” His phone trilled again, and Manning stifled a sigh. “Just a moment.”
He thumbed through the menu again. Chisako was a young, fresh-faced girl with eyes that were as empty and devoid of warmth as a hungry shark’s. Surprisingly straight teeth that were white, hair dyed to a glossy light brown, and smooth skin. A touch of eye makeup heightened the sense of budding exoticness she emanated even from a digital photograph. Manning put the phone back to his ear.
“You’re very lovely. Chen Gui is smitten with you, and I can see why.”
“But I want a white foreigner…” she pouted.
“How many men travel with your-with the Fujianese?”
“Usually only three. Sometimes four. They take two cars…Audi A8s. Black. Very kako ii,” she said, using the Japanese word for “cool.”
“How are they armed?”
“Two of them usually carry guns. They all carry knives, though. Do you like women with hair, or do you prefer them shaved?”
I prefer them legal, Manning didn’t say. He ignored the question and stuck to business.
“You’ll have to find an excuse to leave him. As they’re walking out to the cars. It’s very, very important that you’re not there.”
“I want to see it.” Chisako’s voice was small and suddenly dreamy, and Manning had no trouble picking out the sheer lust riding her voice like a carrier wave. “I’ve never seen men die before… I want to see it. I want to know what it’s like.”
“That’s not at all wise. You could be injured, or even killed yourself.”
“You would shoot me? To get to your target, would you shoot me?” she whispered.
“No. But one of his men might, and that would be a bad thing.”
Chisako sighed. “I’m so wet now,” she murmured.
Manning put his head in his free hand and sighed. “Chen Gui would be very upset with me if you were to be hurt. That can’t happen.”
“Then don’t shoot me,” Chisako said coyly. “The man who opens the car door for him is armed. The one behind us will be armed. Mister Yang is always between them. One tall and thin, the other short and fat. The fat man wants to fuck me, but he’s disgusting and has bad teeth. Do you have good teeth? White teeth?”
“I’ll want you to send me a text message when you’re leaving the club. And you’ll have to get down as quickly as you can,” Manning advised her, knowing in his mind that she wouldn’t. “I’ll need a clear shot at him, but he won’t be the first. The others go first, then him.”
“If he tries to run, I’ll hold onto him.”
“You’ll do nothing of the sort.”
“If you get some of his blood on me, I’ll come. Right there. I won’t wear any panties, and I’ll spread my legs for you so you can see. My manko is lovely, you’ll see for yourself, it’s like a small peach-”
“Noguchi Chisako! Do as I tell you!” Manning snapped in Japanese. “Do as I tell you, and Chen Gui will reward you with anything you desire. Anything. Do you understand me?”
“Hai, wakarimasu,” the girl on the other end of the phone responded. “Will he give you to me, if I ask? Will he reward me that way?”
“Remember what I told you, and do nothing out of the ordinary this evening. If you wish to remain the recipient of Chen Gui’s favoritism, this is a non-negotiable requirement.” Manning disconnected the call and tossed the phone onto the coffee table. He stretched out on the leather couch and regarded the winking lights of Minato-ku outside. He couldn’t believe the conversation he had just had with a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl, of all people.
“My God, Japan is one fucked up place,” he told himself.
Despite the fact that it was a Friday night and the Lychee Karaoke Club was both a new and a happening place, it was situated on the corner of Kaigaken-mae street, which meant Manning could prowl the area without much trouble from the countless bar hostesses and streetwalkers who preyed on gaijin like himself. He found the door that Chisako had told him about, and saw the short alleyway it led into was only tepidly lit. While it would afford him some anonymity, it would also reduce his ability to carry out the act as quickly as he had hoped. He decided it was a fair tradeoff; he’d rather get it over with and risk having to take the time for a few more shots as opposed to standing out in bright light with a gun. Even though he was fast, there was a wealth of pedestrian and vehicular traffic in the area.