“Cops,” Suzy said.
“You went and fetched the cavalry! How wonderful, even if it is too late. The Indians have withdrawn back to their reservation. We’re still alive, thank God. They didn’t even scalp us.”
Ryker showed his badge. “Detective Sergeant Ryker, S.F.P.D. This is Detective Fong. The four men who just left. Who are they, and what did they want?”
A crash of breaking glass came from inside. Ryker drew his Glock and pushed past Roger who spluttered in protest but couldn’t do or say anything to stop Ryker before he entered the apartment’s living room, which had been converted into a film set. Lights and reflectors surrounded a king-size bed. There were two digital cameras, one lying on the floor with its thin tripod legs bent. The other had been thrown onto the bed alongside a Chinese girl with pink highlights in her hair, who covered herself with a sheet and sobbed quietly, her face turned away from them. Electrical cables covered the floor. Every socket in the room was in use, as were the pendant light fittings whose bulbs had been removed to allow extension cables to hang down. A very suntanned man who could be anywhere from fifty to sixty-five years of age knelt on the floor, tears running down his face as he gingerly picked up broken pieces of glass from a lamp that had evidently toppled.
“For goodness sake Vincent, leave that alone, you’ll only hurt yourself,” Roger said. He stepped over cables and helped the suntanned man, Vincent, to stand. “These gentlemen are police officers.”
“Bloody hell, that’s what I call a quick response,” Vincent said. His accent was either Australian or New Zealander, Ryker couldn’t tell which.
“Now you’ve cut your hand, stupid,” Roger said. He applied his handkerchief to the wound. Ryker supposed it didn’t matter that the handkerchief was already stained with blood; he guessed that Roger and Vincent exchanged fluids on a regular basis. He put his gun away.
Chee Wei turned to look at Suzy, who folded her arms, leaned back against the door frame and jutted her chin out as if daring him to question what she did here. Ryker could imagine what the movie’s title might be. Blue On Pink. Or maybe Pink On Blue. Or maybe, hell, Pink In Blue. Thinking about it made his eyes water.
“We’re not Hollywood, God knows,” Roger said, “but we do our best.”
“So,” Vincent said, sitting down and holding his hand. “What are you going to do about those bastards? Walking in here as if they own the place. Smashing our stuff. Knocking poor Roger around. Aren’t you going to arrest them?”
“They were looking for someone,” Ryker said. “I want to know who.”
The pink-haired girl in the bed sat up, revealing creamy white breasts topped with dark nipples the size of silver dollars. The entire left side of her face was livid, as if she’d been slapped hard, or punched. She directed a stream of angry words at Suzy, who bowed her head and looked away. Ryker recalled passing a bathroom on the way in. Maybe Suzy had hid in there when the unexpected guests arrived, and ran out the door when they weren’t looking. Whatever, the pink-haired girl wasn’t pleased with her, and he didn’t need Chee Wei to translate.
“Cover yourself up, there’s a good girl,” Roger said. She scowled at him and pulled the sheet higher. “They thought she was Juicy Lucy, poor dear,” Roger told Ryker. “They became very upset when I told them she wasn’t here. Fortunately they believed me. It could have been much worse, I suppose.”
“Who,” Ryker said, feeling as if he’d slipped into a surreal dimension, “is Juicy Lucy?”
“Oops.” Roger covered his mouth with his hand, and giggled. “It’s just our little nickname. She’s a sweet girl really. Her real name is…and I’m not sneezing, before you say anything…Xiaohui. There, I think I’ve pronounced it correctly. Suzy darling, how did I do?”
Suzy looked anything but pleased. “What do you want with her?” Suzy asked Ryker. “Why did they come looking for her?” She sat down on the bed and put her arm around the pink-haired girl, who at first tried to shrug her off, but then allowed the contact.
“That’s a very good question,” Roger said. “Why indeed?”
“Get me a beer, Roj, will you?” Vincent said. “My hand’s killing me.”
“He says he was in the Australian S.A.S.,” Roger whispered to Ryker on his way to the adjoining kitchen. “Girl Guides, more like.”
“I heard that,” Vincent called after him. “You only had to say the word, Roj. I would have taken them out. All of them.”
“To dinner?” Roger called from the kitchen. He opened the fridge, took out a beer bottle and popped the cap with a practiced downward stroke, spilling not a single drop.
Suzy spoke softly to the pink-haired girl in Chinese and kissed her on the cheek. It took Ryker all his will power to tear his gaze away from them. “Do you know where this Xiaohui is?” he said, rolling his tongue around the unfamiliar syllables. “Did you tell them?”
“I’m afraid our Juicy Lucy has gone up in the world,” Roger said, passing the beer bottle to Vincent. “We don’t see much of her any more. Just a couple of months ago she lay on that very bed with her legs wide open. What was the name of that film, Vincent?”
“I dunno,” Vincent said. He swallowed a mouthful of beer. “But she was a right good little actress. Then she met some bloke. Must have had money. Suddenly two hundred and fifty dollars is chicken feed to her. She turned down the next job too, and it was a sequel. They always do well.”
“At least she wasn’t bitchy about it or anything,” Roger added. He delicately touched his nose and inspected his finger. “We told Arnold bloody Schwarzenegger he should ask someone at the Snake Bite if they knew where she was. She used to work there, as a dancer.”
Ryker knew the bar, a waterfront dive popular with tourists looking for a good time.
“Forget the dolly bird, what are you going to do about this?” Vincent said, using his beer bottle as a pointer to indicate the fallen camera and broken light. Almost as an afterthought he also indicated the pink-haired girl. “Can’t let the buggers get away with it. Why don’t you get on the blower and call in a SWAT team or something? Put a cap up their arses. Serve them bloody well right.”
“All right. But you can’t touch anything before forensics photographs the evidence. And the investigators will want to talk to all the witnesses.” Roger and Vincent both looked at the pink-haired girl, who rested her head on Suzy’s shoulder while Suzy stroked her hair. Friends again.
“Ah, well,” Roger said. “That could prove difficult. Our little Lotus Blossom here doesn’t speak a word of English.”
“I’ll be happy to translate,” Chee Wei said.
Suzy shook her head almost imperceptibly. The gesture was intended for Roger but Ryker picked it up and knew the matter wouldn’t be pursued with the police.
“Oh, I don’t think that’s necessary. The damage really isn’t too severe. And we’ll pay our lead actress danger money to make up for her discomfort. Won’t we, Vincent?” Vincent nodded eagerly. “So, detective sergeant, now that you have the name of the person those thugs were after, what will you do?” Roger asked, smoothly changing the subject.
“I think we need to find her before they do,” Ryker said. “For her own protection.” Suzy got the message. She said something to the other girl, then got up off the bed and went out into the hallway. “We’ll see ourselves out.”
“Our pleasure to have met you, I’m sure,” Roger said.
Ryker followed Suzy into the hallway. She was waiting for them by the front door. Chee Wei was only a step behind him. “Fucking gays,” he said, his whisper every bit as loud as his normal voice. “All that pussy and they don’t know what to do with it! She’s a minor. We can close them down.”
“People gotta eat,” Ryker told him.
“Would you say that if she was white?”