Author's Note: All pertinent info listed in the first chapter. FYI,
'Replacement Killers' has just been released as a special edition DVD! Got
mine yesterday. Deleted scenes and an alternate ending. Don't want to
spoil it for you, but I will say Hubba Hubba! Moving right along . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Six
John's taxi pulled up at the Movenpick's side entrance behind another taxi. An attractive Chinese woman with short burgundy tinted hair and an expensive looking designer suit stepped out of the hotel and into the taxi. John's driver waited until the other taxi had left, then pulled up closer to the side door. John paid him and exited. At the door, he slid the key card through the reader. When the door buzzed, he opened it and proceeded down the hallway to the elevators.
There was a young man in a waiter's outfit standing around. His name tag read 'Son'. His gaze had been idly resting on the door. Probably checking out the woman who had just left, John mused. The boy was now looking somewhat intently at John. When he realized he'd been caught staring, he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked around the corner to the lobby. John felt mildly uneasy, though he couldn't have said why. His instincts were hammering him and they weren't often wrong. He decided he would take Meg and Mia straight to the airport from here. Having a course of action helped as the elevator went up to the second floor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As soon as Son was around the corner, he pulled a photocopied sheet from his pocket. The picture was black and white, grainy, but clear enough. It was a picture of John, blown up from a larger picture containing Terence Wei. John had been in the background. Son knew none of this though. He only knew that a stack of these had been handed out at Freezer last night, a club he frequented. Some big shot from America was looking for him and offering more money than Son earned in a year at this dump. And the guy in the picture had just walked into Son's hotel.
Son stepped behind the front desk to an unused terminal. Every key card activation was recorded in the hotel's computer. Technically he wasn't supposed to know the password into this section of the mainframe, but he'd paid attention over the manager's shoulder once. Never knew when it might come in handy. He brought up the menu and selected activations for the side door. There was only one listed for the last thirty minutes. Room two-sixteen. That sounded familiar, why? Then he remembered. The tall dark headed American woman from this morning. Pancakes, city guide, and map. Great legs. Interesting. He made a note of the room number and name, logged out, and headed into the back where the offices were located.
In the empty night manager's office, he closed the door and sat at the desk. He pulled the paper out of his pocket and picked up the phone. There was a special sequence of numbers used to dial out long distance. Another hotel secret Son had pilfered. He punched in these numbers and followed with the ten digit number listed at the bottom of the picture. While the phone rang, he imagined what he would do with the money. The line picked up on the fourth ring.
"Yes?" a man asked in english.
"My name is Son Pham, I'm calling from Beijing. I have information about a man in a picture . . . "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meg was busy throwing all of Mia's belongings into the pilot case when the door buzzed from a key card activation. She hoped it was either Mia or John, but wasn't taking any chances. She moved off to the side of the entryway alcove, ducked into the bathroom, and emerged quickly with a miniature courtesy bottle of hair spray. Okay, I really have to get a decent weapon while I'm here, she thought as she aimed the nozzle at eye level and tensed, waiting for the intruder to come into view. When John turned the corner, she threw the bottle on the bed and lowered her shoulders in relief.
"Jesus Christ!" she exclaimed. She immediately started back to packing Mia's luggage, almost hoping John wouldn't notice Mia wasn't actually there. John looked around, set his duffel bag and briefcase on the floor, and turned back to Meg.
"Where is Mia?" Dammit.
"She's gone," Meg replied ever so helpfully, finishing Mia's bag and zipping it shut. She grabbed her own tote bag and turned it upside down, emptying the contents onto the bed.
"Where?"
"To see her boyfriend," Meg told him even more helpfully, sorting through the items on the bed and choosing only the essentials to pack in her knapsack.
"Boyfriend?" John felt as if he'd come into a movie halfway through and was trying to play catch up. Meg sighed and stood to face him.
"She has a boyfriend. She was upset that she was leaving without saying good-bye. I told her to bring it up with you, and when I came out of the shower, she was gone." Meg picked up the note from under the debris on the bed and handed it to John. "She left this."
"Liu," John said, reading the note. "Do you know anything else about him?"
"Yeah." Meg hesitated, then decided what the hell. "His last name is Jian and he's a thirty-two year old bartender who works at Vogue, some dance club." John's expression darkened. "She says he's nice, she met him at the park," Meg added, trying to diffuse John's anger. It didn't seem to help. Meg went back to her packing, cinching the knapsack shut and throwing it over her shoulder. She then stood to face him again and waited. John appeared to come to a decision and grabbed her arm above the elbow.
"You will go to the airport and return to Los Angeles. Now." He had practically hustled her to the door and was in the process of opening it when Meg started to get angry.
"Hey, hey, HEY!" she yelled, jerking her arm out of his grasp, slamming the door shut with her foot, and turning around to glare at him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
"This is no longer a simple trip from here to the airport. Miasu has gone back into Beijing and Koy's men are already there."
"What?"
"I contacted Chien. Koy had already sent men from Hong Kong last night and others arrived from America this morning. They will be all over the city by now trying to discover my whereabouts." Meg had to admit this wasn't the greatest news, but didn't think it warranted trying to get rid of her.
"Okay, not good. But what has that got to do with my leaving? You need me more than ever." John shook his head.
"It is much too dangerous for you now," he told her. He put his hands on her shoulders and leaned closer. "Meg, you'll never know how much I appreciate that you came here to help me, but your part is done. The risk is too great for you." Meg found herself leaning into his touch, her head moving closer to his. John's expression transformed from worry to surprise to . . . something else in the space of a few seconds. His grip tightened on her shoulders. She suddenly backed away from him and crossed her arms over her chest. John dropped his hands loosely to his sides and looked sharply away from her.
"John," Meg said, waiting until he lifted his head before continuing. "I realize we didn't spend a lot of time together in L.A., but I've always been one for quality over quantity. I think you got a pretty good dose of my personality. So let me ask you this - do you really think I'm going to leave?" John didn't say anything, just looked at her. "I didn't think so."
John lifted the duffel onto the bed, dug through its depths, and brought out the Vektor CP1 and an extra clip. He handed them wordlessly to Meg, then picked up the phone and asked the front desk for a taxi to Vogue. Meg smiled at the gun, slipped it into the waistband of her pants at the small of her back, and the clip into her pocket. She grabbed her three-quarter length black leather coat from the closet and put it on, effectively concealing the gun. The knapsack went over her shoulder and she set Mia's pilot case on the floor, pulling the handle out to wheel behind her. The rest of her belongings had just turned disposable.
John reshouldered the duffel and picked up his briefcase. Meg made a quick trip to the bathroom to put the wig back on, wet hair or no. They took one last look around the hotel room before opening the door and heading for the elevators. At the front desk, Meg checked out, turned in her key cards ("Silly me, I found the other one."), and followed John outside to their waiting taxi. As the taxi pulled away from the curb, a black sedan followed a discreet distance behind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Six
John's taxi pulled up at the Movenpick's side entrance behind another taxi. An attractive Chinese woman with short burgundy tinted hair and an expensive looking designer suit stepped out of the hotel and into the taxi. John's driver waited until the other taxi had left, then pulled up closer to the side door. John paid him and exited. At the door, he slid the key card through the reader. When the door buzzed, he opened it and proceeded down the hallway to the elevators.
There was a young man in a waiter's outfit standing around. His name tag read 'Son'. His gaze had been idly resting on the door. Probably checking out the woman who had just left, John mused. The boy was now looking somewhat intently at John. When he realized he'd been caught staring, he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked around the corner to the lobby. John felt mildly uneasy, though he couldn't have said why. His instincts were hammering him and they weren't often wrong. He decided he would take Meg and Mia straight to the airport from here. Having a course of action helped as the elevator went up to the second floor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As soon as Son was around the corner, he pulled a photocopied sheet from his pocket. The picture was black and white, grainy, but clear enough. It was a picture of John, blown up from a larger picture containing Terence Wei. John had been in the background. Son knew none of this though. He only knew that a stack of these had been handed out at Freezer last night, a club he frequented. Some big shot from America was looking for him and offering more money than Son earned in a year at this dump. And the guy in the picture had just walked into Son's hotel.
Son stepped behind the front desk to an unused terminal. Every key card activation was recorded in the hotel's computer. Technically he wasn't supposed to know the password into this section of the mainframe, but he'd paid attention over the manager's shoulder once. Never knew when it might come in handy. He brought up the menu and selected activations for the side door. There was only one listed for the last thirty minutes. Room two-sixteen. That sounded familiar, why? Then he remembered. The tall dark headed American woman from this morning. Pancakes, city guide, and map. Great legs. Interesting. He made a note of the room number and name, logged out, and headed into the back where the offices were located.
In the empty night manager's office, he closed the door and sat at the desk. He pulled the paper out of his pocket and picked up the phone. There was a special sequence of numbers used to dial out long distance. Another hotel secret Son had pilfered. He punched in these numbers and followed with the ten digit number listed at the bottom of the picture. While the phone rang, he imagined what he would do with the money. The line picked up on the fourth ring.
"Yes?" a man asked in english.
"My name is Son Pham, I'm calling from Beijing. I have information about a man in a picture . . . "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meg was busy throwing all of Mia's belongings into the pilot case when the door buzzed from a key card activation. She hoped it was either Mia or John, but wasn't taking any chances. She moved off to the side of the entryway alcove, ducked into the bathroom, and emerged quickly with a miniature courtesy bottle of hair spray. Okay, I really have to get a decent weapon while I'm here, she thought as she aimed the nozzle at eye level and tensed, waiting for the intruder to come into view. When John turned the corner, she threw the bottle on the bed and lowered her shoulders in relief.
"Jesus Christ!" she exclaimed. She immediately started back to packing Mia's luggage, almost hoping John wouldn't notice Mia wasn't actually there. John looked around, set his duffel bag and briefcase on the floor, and turned back to Meg.
"Where is Mia?" Dammit.
"She's gone," Meg replied ever so helpfully, finishing Mia's bag and zipping it shut. She grabbed her own tote bag and turned it upside down, emptying the contents onto the bed.
"Where?"
"To see her boyfriend," Meg told him even more helpfully, sorting through the items on the bed and choosing only the essentials to pack in her knapsack.
"Boyfriend?" John felt as if he'd come into a movie halfway through and was trying to play catch up. Meg sighed and stood to face him.
"She has a boyfriend. She was upset that she was leaving without saying good-bye. I told her to bring it up with you, and when I came out of the shower, she was gone." Meg picked up the note from under the debris on the bed and handed it to John. "She left this."
"Liu," John said, reading the note. "Do you know anything else about him?"
"Yeah." Meg hesitated, then decided what the hell. "His last name is Jian and he's a thirty-two year old bartender who works at Vogue, some dance club." John's expression darkened. "She says he's nice, she met him at the park," Meg added, trying to diffuse John's anger. It didn't seem to help. Meg went back to her packing, cinching the knapsack shut and throwing it over her shoulder. She then stood to face him again and waited. John appeared to come to a decision and grabbed her arm above the elbow.
"You will go to the airport and return to Los Angeles. Now." He had practically hustled her to the door and was in the process of opening it when Meg started to get angry.
"Hey, hey, HEY!" she yelled, jerking her arm out of his grasp, slamming the door shut with her foot, and turning around to glare at him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
"This is no longer a simple trip from here to the airport. Miasu has gone back into Beijing and Koy's men are already there."
"What?"
"I contacted Chien. Koy had already sent men from Hong Kong last night and others arrived from America this morning. They will be all over the city by now trying to discover my whereabouts." Meg had to admit this wasn't the greatest news, but didn't think it warranted trying to get rid of her.
"Okay, not good. But what has that got to do with my leaving? You need me more than ever." John shook his head.
"It is much too dangerous for you now," he told her. He put his hands on her shoulders and leaned closer. "Meg, you'll never know how much I appreciate that you came here to help me, but your part is done. The risk is too great for you." Meg found herself leaning into his touch, her head moving closer to his. John's expression transformed from worry to surprise to . . . something else in the space of a few seconds. His grip tightened on her shoulders. She suddenly backed away from him and crossed her arms over her chest. John dropped his hands loosely to his sides and looked sharply away from her.
"John," Meg said, waiting until he lifted his head before continuing. "I realize we didn't spend a lot of time together in L.A., but I've always been one for quality over quantity. I think you got a pretty good dose of my personality. So let me ask you this - do you really think I'm going to leave?" John didn't say anything, just looked at her. "I didn't think so."
John lifted the duffel onto the bed, dug through its depths, and brought out the Vektor CP1 and an extra clip. He handed them wordlessly to Meg, then picked up the phone and asked the front desk for a taxi to Vogue. Meg smiled at the gun, slipped it into the waistband of her pants at the small of her back, and the clip into her pocket. She grabbed her three-quarter length black leather coat from the closet and put it on, effectively concealing the gun. The knapsack went over her shoulder and she set Mia's pilot case on the floor, pulling the handle out to wheel behind her. The rest of her belongings had just turned disposable.
John reshouldered the duffel and picked up his briefcase. Meg made a quick trip to the bathroom to put the wig back on, wet hair or no. They took one last look around the hotel room before opening the door and heading for the elevators. At the front desk, Meg checked out, turned in her key cards ("Silly me, I found the other one."), and followed John outside to their waiting taxi. As the taxi pulled away from the curb, a black sedan followed a discreet distance behind.
