Reese thought he had seen her in one part of the crowd but the woman was someone else. His nerves were now on edge. If the Triad was following her closely then this contact of hers had to be on their radar, too.
Renee reached the abandoned warehouse at 1014 49th Street out of breath as she clutched her wallet to her chest. Making her way down the alley by the warehouse she entered through a door into the empty, darkened building. Her heart pounded in her ears as she moved forward to find her contact. He had said he would be in a cubicle at the end of the hallway, so she strained her ears to hear any human movement. Just as she came near the cubicle, she stifled a scream upon seeing a stream of blood leaking from the cubicle's entryway. Creeping forward she saw her contact face down in a pool of blood. As her mind absorbed the horrible sight, she did not hear the oncoming danger behind her. A male arm wrapped itself around her neck, pulling her along while she struggled desperately to breathe. The man pushed her against the wall; to her horror she saw and felt a long knife slash her left arm from the shoulder down to the wrist. As she screamed in pain, she then saw Triad tattoos layered on his bare arms along with the hate in his eyes. The will to live emerged suddenly in her. Bringing up her right knee she thrust it up into his groin. The man fell backwards gasping, and she ran down the hallway towards the door to exit. He got up to follow her. She was now out in the alley just running to get away.
A gunshot rang out, and the Triad fell hard upon the ground dead. Reese had just reached the alley's entry when he saw Renee burst out of the door with the Triad in pursuit.
"Renee!" he shouted as he ran towards her. Stumbling towards a dumpster, she collapsed by its side with blood dribbling from her arm. Just when he reached her, a long black sedan appeared suddenly at the opposite end of the alley with gunshots pouring out from the windows. While bullets splintered off the dumpster's lid, Reese covered her body with his. He heard the car inch forward to a stop. Looking around the dumpster's side, he saw two Triads exit coming towards them. Revealing himself he shot both of them, then blew out the sedan's headlights. The sedan suddenly threw itself into reverse to move back into the entryway to the alley.
The driver of the sedan exclaimed to Yeung who was in the back seat nervously fingering a gun, "This guy is a piece of work!"
"He's probably a former operative or former military," observed Yeung. "He could have immobilized us with gunshots, but I bet he's protecting Renee behind that dumpster. I'm going to have to check in with Pang to see how he's doing with this guy's associate in that library." Buy time for Renee's sake, his mind kept repeating. She's the mother of your firstborn son.
With this reprieve in the action Reese tore open Renee's sleeve to see how badly she was hurt. He paused as his eyes took in what was on her arm. A small tattoo of a spider with a red spot on its back posed menacingly underneath the crease of her forearm. Scars of needle tracks from the past ran down from the tattoo. Looking up at him she said sadly, "Now you know..I was a drug addict. That tattoo appeared during a trip." Instead of condemnation she saw his compassion. He now knew why she wore long sleeves and stroked her arm, a gesture of painful memories.
"I told you I would help you," he said quietly as he tore away the fabric of her sleeve to wrap around her wound. Taking her right hand he pressed it against the area where the most bleeding occurred. "Keep the pressure on it. I believe I'm going to be busy again with these men." He spoke into his earpiece. "Finch, she's been injured, and she needs medical care ASAP. I've done what I can to curb the bleeding." He heard no reply. "Finch, are you there?"
"John, they're here with me," Finch said hoarsely. "They've tranquilized Bear, and the leader has a knife against my Adam's apple." He had just finished accessing the data on Yeung when he saw four black suited men suddenly appear in his sight. Bear leapt to his feet barking furiously. In horror Finch saw one of the four shoot a gun at the dog. Yelping in pain, Bear slid across the floor with a tranquilizer dart in his back right thigh. Down on the floor he struggled to get up but the dart rendered him motionless. Pang, the most senior Triad of the group, pushed Finch up against the wall with a long knife against his throat. Leaning towards Finch, he spoke loudly in front of Finch's earpiece to Reese, "I heard you tell this man the American songbird is hurt. The man in the sedan is my boss Yeung Lin. I took pity on your dog since he's a beautiful creature. You have an interesting setup here."
Yeung's voice suddenly broke into the conversation, "She's been hurt? A hit was not ordered!"
Reese's blood ran cold as he replied angrily, "If that dead man isn't one of your men, you've got a problem. She needs medical attention!" Glancing at Renee he saw that the bleeding was gradually subsiding, but she was trying to not cry in pain.
"Then give yourself up, and I promise she'll get medical care. You and she come with me where a doctor can visit, and we'll discuss what happens next." While his hands shook in fear, Yeung's voice tried to sound authoritative.
"John, just save yourself," Renee said weakly. "He's a liar. He'll make sure we're dead anyway."
"I don't run, Renee," Reese answered evenly. "Yeung, I'm going to step out in front with my gun in surrender. " He did as he promised. The sedan moved towards them to stop in front of Reese.
"Load these three dead men in the trunk," Yeung ordered the driver. "Before you dispose of the one who hurt Renee, find out what gang he belonged to." The driver exited the vehicle to carry out the order. Yeung got out of the car to stand before Reese with his gun pointed at his chest. Reese dwarfed him in height, and this made Yeung more nervous. "Give me your gun unloaded, and your phone along with everything of hers. Then place her in the front seat. You're in the back with me." After unloading his gun, Reese handed it over along with his phone. Renee's wallet also fell into Yeung's hands.
"I'm going to pick her up to get her into the car," Reese said as he noticed Yeung shaking. As he picked up Renee he felt her lightness; he could not believe a big singing voice coming from her small body. Renee turned away her face when she saw Yeung. To him she was still beautiful; his heart turned over in love for her while she felt hatred. After placing her gently into the front seat, Reese fastened her seat belt. "I'm so scared," she whispered. "They'll find Andrea, and God knows what they'll do to her." His hand rested upon her shoulder while his eyes stared determinedly into hers.
"I'm going to do everything to save us and Andrea," he promised. Removing his hand from her shoulder, he climbed into the back seat beside Yeung. The windows were heavily tinted. The driver had finished loading the three dead bodies into the trunk; he got in to start the car.
As the car began exiting the alley, Yeung said, "Pang has contacted the doctor we've had to use for other situations. He'll be there to look after Renee." Reese said nothing; his mind worked on possible solutions to get him, Finch, Bear, Renee, and Andrea out of the present mess. To his chagrin, Yeung began speaking to Renee like she cared for the conversation.
"Renee, I didn't order anyone to hurt you." No reply from her. "This isn't easy for me to take you away to Hong Kong, and away from your new male interest." At that statement, Renee snapped angrily, "Leave John out of this! He saved me from bleeding to death! Why don't you just admit who is going to take care of my sudden demise in China?" She gasped as she bent over in pain. Leaning forward Reese saw the blood flow had stopped. She whispered, "It burns and throbs."
"I know…this doctor they've hired better do his job to heal rather than harm," he said.
"I'm really sorry I didn't believe you at the hotel."
"Oh, I see you two have really fallen for each other," Yeung said bitterly. After Renee left China years ago pregnant with his child, a marriage was quickly arranged between him and a Chinese girl from a respected family. He never loved her but he did produce two sons who he loved deeply. He had been faithful to the marriage but he followed Renee's life secretly on the internet. When he first saw a photo of David he saw the child inherited the best features from both of them. Then his granddaughter, beautiful Cami, came into the world, who he would never meet. The one photo he found on the internet focused on David holding her with his lovely wife beside them.
Reese leaned back into the seat observing Yeung curiously, especially his nervousness and shakiness. Yeung was also articulate. His demeanor indicated a successful career camouflaging his role as a Triad leader. Reese also wondered if the members of Yeung's Triad ever discussed need for a stronger leader. He heard of Triad leaders being executed to install new ruthless ones.
Yeung's gun rested on his left thigh. Upon seeing Reese eye it he pulled it up as a threat.
"Don't worry," Reese said, his eyes staring straight into Yeung's. "I'm not going to try anything. Her care is important to me."
"I can't blame you for falling for her. I'm sure she learned her charm to woo men as part of her opera star status. I was 22 years old when I met her. If you think her voice is stunning now, you should have heard her years ago. "
"Renee retired early from the stage to be with your son and his family. You bled her income dry for years, wasn't that enough?"
"Inflation along with the bad economy hampers the drug trade. I'll never see my son and his family in person." Yeung said sadly. "My father authored the agreement Renee and Joseph Marcel signed. Now Renee has stubbornly stepped away from our shadow. Only now does she understand she should have not even tried."
His gun pointed at Reese's chest. "I don't know if you're going to be alive after today to still love her. When you are dealing with criminals like us, there are no guarantees."
Reese smiled slightly. "Believe me, I'll take my chances." Renee was resting her head against the passenger's side window breathing softly with her eyes closed.
"You're tough, but when you meet my men, I think you and your friend will realize chances really don't exist." Reese said nothing as the car continued its journey towards its destination.
Finch sweated while he, Pang and the other men awaited the doctor's arrival in an abandoned restaurant. The smell of river water permeated Finch's nostrils. After the call to Reese ended, he was blindfolded to be driven to this place where elaborate tables and chairs once served the public. The petite, Chinese doctor finally entered what Finch considered as the once main dining room with medical bag bulging. He said to Pang, "Whoever sliced her left arm sent a message. You told me she used heroin supplied by Yeung through that arm. Perhaps another Triad gang wants to kidnap her back to China for their gain." Pang chuckled while he looked at Finch pinned against the wall by one of his men with a knife against his heart. "We're stronger," he said defiantly, "because the 14K Triad has ruled many years without compromise."
Finch swallowed, thinking, If I were you, I'd pray to the god you worship for protection, because you're about to meet Mr. Reese.