Meg came to awareness slowly, reluctantly, her body reminding her of the exertions of the night past in interesting and multitudinous ways. She kept her eyes closed, trying to hold on to the sensations and memory of the night before for a little while longer.
She felt the mattress give slightly to her right, and smelled the delicious aroma of warm food. Bemused by the juxtaposition of input of two senses, she opened her brown eyes.
They focussed on a welcome sight. John, up dressed and looking fit, his right arm already back in its sling, a tray balanced in his left.
"Breakfast," he said quietly, placing the tray between them.
"Dim sum?!" Meg exclaimed, remembering the food she'd put into the refrigerator the night before at John's instruction. She hadn't inspected the contents of the bag, but had taken John's word that whatever was inside was destined for breakfast the next morning.
She inspected the array of delicacies that constituted a proper Chinese breakfast, looking up at him in wonder.
"I love dim sum! How did you know?" Meg asked. She didn't bother to relate the fact that it was a taste recently acquired, when missing him, she'd found her taste for all things Chinese increasing.
Dim sum had been the ultimate in comfort food.
John made no reply, sketching an elegant one shouldered shrug and smiling indulgently. He broke a piece off a massive humbao and brought it to her lips.
She opened her mouth and received the
doughy delight, savored how it melted in her mouth.
"How do you feel?" She asked, sitting up, bringing the sheet with her to offer a modicum of modesty, as unnecessary as that seemed after the night they had just spent exploring each other once again.
John smiled, "I am fit, Meg. You are all the medicine I need."
"You're dressed!" she noted somewhat nonsensically, abashed by his declaration,"you were able to manage alone?"
"Lee Ma aided me," he noted matter of factly.
"Lee Ma, in here?" Meg gasped, the dim sum all but forgotten.
"You were sleeping, I didn't wish to disturb you," John explained.
"But...what time is it, anyway?" Meg fumbled for her watch, remembering that it wasn't a waterproof model and had probably died in the shower.
"One p.m." John picked up a shrimp roll and offered it to her.
"WHAT?!" Meg exclaimed, startled, "why didn't you wake me up? Jesus!!"
"There was no need, and you required your rest."
"But I thought there were things you wanted to do today, banking to be done..."
"Accomplished. I borrowed the keys to your car and Liu Shen and I did what was essential. We also stopped by your apartment--the key was on the same ring as the automobile keys. I took the liberty of having Liu Shen pack a few things for you. Your clothing from yesterday is still wet, it seemed necessary."
"You've been driving around L.A.? Lucky for you the car is an automatic."
John favored her with a smile that could only be termed sweet, "I have often driven one handed."
"I know, I was along for one of those wild rides, remember. "You should have woke me up."
"I did not have the heart," John admitted. "Please, eat."
Meg accommodated his request, chewing thoughtfully in silence for a few moments.
"Your bandages..." she began.
"Changed. Medicine applied and taken." John reported.
"So what do you need me here for?" Meg pouted, then thought better of it, "Don't answer that."
John's expression was all innocence. "There are other matters to be dealt with today. I would be grateful for you to accompany me."
Meg finished off the other half of the humbao and washed it down with tea that she hoped wasn't spiked this time.
"Give me fifteen minutes to shower and I'm there." Meg exclaimed, pushing the tray away and moving to slide out of the bed.
On cue, John rescued the tray from being swept away as she wrapped the sheet around herself. Though they certainly held no secrets from each other at this point in their relationship, Meg felt the unaccountable need to maintain her dignity by covering herself up.
"Do you require assistance?" John asked ingenuously.
"No!" Meg rejoined, pausing at the door to the master bath. She remembered from last night what John's idea of assistance was, "Not if we are to get going any time soon. If you could just have those clothes Liu Shen packed somewhere in the room when I'm done?"
John nodded, looking after her wistfully.
"So where are we going?" Meg was behind the wheel of her sedan, having carefully checked the vehicle for bullet holes, dents and lost hubcaps. Finding no damage from John's morning excursion, she'd begun to relax.
"First, the temple." John stated, looking out the window of the car as they emerged onto the street.
Meg nodded. The Buddhist temple in LA's Chinatown where they'd twice taken refuge on their long ago flight from Wei and his goons. Where they had found Alan Chin dying.
Silence reigned during the drive, John seeming so lost in thought that Meg had found herself
checking on him nearly as often as she checked her rear and side mirrors navigating LA traffic.
She was relieved that he looked as fit today as he claimed to be. She had worried more than a little that their extracurricular activities, as pleasurable as they were, could be ill advised.
But he seemed to have more energy today than he had the day before, reinforcing her belief once again, that dehydration and infection had laid him lower than the wound itself. Once those problems had been gotten under control, he'd made startling progress in his recovery from injury. The realization was immensely comforting.
She noted to her satisfaction as well, that he seemed to be actively exercising his right hand and arm. Her fear that the injury might have resulted in permanent disability retreating ever farther into the realm of unlikelihood.
"You sure you're all right?" Meg asked after the silence had become unbearable. "You're awfully quiet. It makes me nervous."
John was smiling as Meg glanced in his direction, taking his eyes from the car's passenger side door mirror, where they had been fixed for some time. "Just thinking," he said quietly, "I seem to bring so much disruption to your life. You must be weary of me."
Meg noted the tone of wistfulness, which spoke of an insecurity she would never have associated with him.
"Like I told you before," she stated, "that is bullshit. Life these last six months was pretty damn boring. I don't like boring. I'm glad to have you back."
Meg relived some of the anguish of those months spent apart. "Damn it, I missed you John. You don't know how much."
John was watching her carefully now, his brown eyes regarding her as if she were the most precious jewel in the world. She wasn't used to seeing such tenderness aimed in her direction, found herself abashed again. She was unsettled by how a look from him could reduce her to a puddle of jelly, make her weak at the knees.
She might as well tell him. She knew it was true...
"I love you. You big lug. Probably ever since I let you in my front door the first time. And if you hadn't come back when you did, I was getting ready to come look for you."
John looked at her as though he been poleaxed by her admission, his surprise and pleasure tangible. He seemed utterly speechless. Meg had second thoughts about having blurted out the truth so abruptly. Certainly she could have chosen a better time and place.
Towards that end, she quickly scouted out a parking spot and pulled the car into it, a small miracle for this part of Los Angeles at this time of day. Throwing it into park, she twisted in the driver's seat, looking John full in the eyes.
The loving tenderness and naked vulnerability she saw in them, came close to reducing her to her basic elements. To fight the dissociative feeling, she reached out, taking his face between her hands. Almost immediately, he cupped his left hand to her check, stroking her face with the gentle movements of his thumb.
John drank in the sight of Meg, her expression unguarded and openly loving, stripped of her protective shell of nonchalance.
Her admission had come close to unmanning him. He was astounded that she had been able to articulate the words so soon. He had not expected it, at least not yet and recognized it for what it was, a gift from her wounded heart.
"I don't tell people I love them everyday, John Lee. I hope you know that," Meg was saying, her voice low and soft.
"I know," he answered truthfully, and from the depths of his soul, "I know. You are my treasure, Meg. I want to be with you, always."
She was crying, her beautiful brown eyes filling with tears. John leaned closer to her, kissing her until they were gone.
Meg leaned her forehead into his.
"If I don't get this car going again, some cop is going to knock on the window and tell us to take it home..." she said ruefully.
John raised his eyebrows and gave her a grin, as though he would not object. Meg shook her head.
"Got to get to the temple. We've got to start pacing ourselves."
John laughed---one of the first times Meg could remember him doing so. She was entranced by the beauty of the sound of it, her own laughter bubbling in her throat in response.
She composed herself for a moment, then turned and started the car, easing it back out into the street.
"Li Jian-Hui!" the monk who approached them was middle-aged and possessed of a pleasant round face. He held his hand out to John, then frowned, his gaze taking in the
slinged right arm, "what happened?"
"The brothers in Canton didn't tell you?"
John asked, reaching out his left hand and clasping the monk's offered hand.
"They said only that you and your family were on the way. But the communication was cut short--perhaps there was more to say, or they feared a wiretap."
"I ran into trouble leaving China. I am fine now, thanks to Meg Coburn. Please Lau Ruong-Jie, meet the woman to whom I owe my life several times over and that of my family."
The monk turned towards Meg, once again offering his hand. When she reached out her own to meet it, he brought it to his lips and gave her a gallant buss.
"It is my great pleasure, Miss Coburn. John had written me of your help. Thank you for everything you have done for the Li family."
"Meg, this is Lau Ruong-Jie. He is Alan's successor at the temple, and a good friend of many years."
Meg smiled, even as Lau released her hand. She put her hands together in the Chinese manner and made a slight bow, offering her greeting and respect. Surprised, she suspected, the monk returned her gesture, smiling in return.
John was smiling broadly, pleased, she could tell by her actions. She felt a warm flush take her over, basked in his approval.
"I take it that you have not come to tell me that you are accepting our offer." Lau said, turning his smile from Meg to John.
"While I am grateful for the opportunity, I have decided to pursue another course. However, I have brought something. I wish you to share it between the temple and Alan's family back in China."
As Meg watched, John reached into his jacket and withdrew a bankbook.
Lau Ruong-Jie's eyes grew huge as he flipped the bankbook open and noted the name on the account and the balance. .
"John! You and your family need this far worse--"
"We are provided for," John assured. "Please. I can never repay Alan's family for the loss of his life, because of me, but I can soothe their way in this manner. And you will be able to help others, as Alan helped me."
Lau Ruong-Jie nodded, obviously overcome. He stepped away after a taking a moment to compose himself, murmuring that he intended to put the bankbook in a safe place.
John nodded, explaining that the money, deposited in the name of the Temple, could be transferred at any time, and that Lau was trustee on the account.
Lau excused himself and retreated to a private part of the temple.
John approached the altar, lighting incense and falling to his knees. Meg followed his example, absorbing the peace of this place, the comfort of the ritual. She wanted to know more of this. Perhaps John would teach her. In the meantime, prayer was prayer, and while she had never listened to the Christian teachings of her youth, she used the opportunity to pray as best she knew how for Alan's soul. For John's health and well being, for that of his sister and his mother.
For herself that her way would become clear to her.
When she lifted her head, John was regarding her with quiet fondness and approval.
Something Lau Ruong-Jie had said smacked against the walls of her memory.
"Your friend, Lau said something about you not accepting an offer. What does that mean?"
John smiled an enigmatic smile, and paused, as though weighing something in his mind.
"I was offered a place here, if I wished, once my family was safely out of China."
"You? Here? As a monk?" Meg asked, confounded.
John nodded, "The ascetic way is one way that someone such as myself could begin to repay for the sins committed in this life. A life of contemplation and good works might earn some small amount of merit to begin to balance the bad."
Meg intellectually understood the logic in his words, could even admire the sentiment. But every atom of her being was railing against the idea of her John, head shaved, living the life of a Buddhist monk.
"T-there must be other ways," Meg stammered, reaching over and slipping her hand in his.
"Perhaps. But even being condemned to eternal reincarnation would be worth it if I could live what remains of this life with you."
He was looking at her again, his eyes dark and seductive, yet remarkably free of guile.
"I'm glad you turned down the offer." Meg said in a small, soft voice, "It would have been a great waste. You have much to give, John. I feel that deeply, and you will find a way to do it."
John ducked his head, smiling, "May Buddha hear you and provide me the enlightenment to find that path."
"Just so long as he sends me down it with you." Meg stated quietly.
Meg wandered about the temple, admiring it all over again, while John held back and awaited
Lau's return. He did not have to wait long, his friend returning to the great room and falling in at his side.
"Does your new course have something to do with her?" Lau asked, his voice light, pitched softly so as not to carry.
"I love her, Ruong-Jie. I can only hope."
"I'm happy for you, my friend. I will pray for all blessings to come to you both."
John looked at Meg wistfully, then turned to
look the Buddhist brother in the eye. He switched to Cantonese with his next statement.
"I feel that I am placing her in danger. And now you. I believe we were followed from China, and I know we have been since leaving Meg's apartment. What do you know of survivors of Wei's gang?"
"Word from Guandong is that the gang is shattered. What few survivors remain have begun looking for new masters. You and the others did a good job of making Wei's assets disappear. Loyalty only lasts as long as the money in that world."
"But some adherent might still be looking for revenge." John stated.
"Possible, I have no intelligence to support it, but I will bring up the problem to my brothers in China. Perhaps they will be able to uncover something." Lau responded.
"It may become necessary at some point to send Meg and my family to you. For protection. I don't want you to end up as Alan did." John said with feeling.
"Alan was always the truest Buddhist of us all. Even as we were being reeducated in the Army, he was the one who best followed the precepts. He has attained enlightenment and stepped off the wheel of life for his many good works. I, on the other hand, am more pragmatic and have many more incarnations to left to me to correct my karma. I have not forgotten my skills, any more than you have. I stand ready to protect them at any time it is required."
"Thank you, Ruong-Jie," John switched back to English, still pitching his voice low.
"Just promise me something, Jian." Lau added.
"What, my friend?" John's eyes shone with gratitude as he regarded his compatriot.
"That you will be careful and take good care of yourself. Not take any unnecessary risks. Not let your sense of honor overcome your sense of
self preservation."
John looked at Lau silently, as though weighing what he might have to say.
Lau took the opportunity of his continued silence to drive the point home, "I see in your lady's eyes how much she loves you. You have more than just yourself to live for now.
Don't make her a widow before you take her to wife."
John looked in Meg's direction. Lau could see that his point had been made and tacitly agreed to, noted the longing and love he saw in his friend's eyes as he regarded his beloved.
John nodded.
end of chapter 11
She felt the mattress give slightly to her right, and smelled the delicious aroma of warm food. Bemused by the juxtaposition of input of two senses, she opened her brown eyes.
They focussed on a welcome sight. John, up dressed and looking fit, his right arm already back in its sling, a tray balanced in his left.
"Breakfast," he said quietly, placing the tray between them.
"Dim sum?!" Meg exclaimed, remembering the food she'd put into the refrigerator the night before at John's instruction. She hadn't inspected the contents of the bag, but had taken John's word that whatever was inside was destined for breakfast the next morning.
She inspected the array of delicacies that constituted a proper Chinese breakfast, looking up at him in wonder.
"I love dim sum! How did you know?" Meg asked. She didn't bother to relate the fact that it was a taste recently acquired, when missing him, she'd found her taste for all things Chinese increasing.
Dim sum had been the ultimate in comfort food.
John made no reply, sketching an elegant one shouldered shrug and smiling indulgently. He broke a piece off a massive humbao and brought it to her lips.
She opened her mouth and received the
doughy delight, savored how it melted in her mouth.
"How do you feel?" She asked, sitting up, bringing the sheet with her to offer a modicum of modesty, as unnecessary as that seemed after the night they had just spent exploring each other once again.
John smiled, "I am fit, Meg. You are all the medicine I need."
"You're dressed!" she noted somewhat nonsensically, abashed by his declaration,"you were able to manage alone?"
"Lee Ma aided me," he noted matter of factly.
"Lee Ma, in here?" Meg gasped, the dim sum all but forgotten.
"You were sleeping, I didn't wish to disturb you," John explained.
"But...what time is it, anyway?" Meg fumbled for her watch, remembering that it wasn't a waterproof model and had probably died in the shower.
"One p.m." John picked up a shrimp roll and offered it to her.
"WHAT?!" Meg exclaimed, startled, "why didn't you wake me up? Jesus!!"
"There was no need, and you required your rest."
"But I thought there were things you wanted to do today, banking to be done..."
"Accomplished. I borrowed the keys to your car and Liu Shen and I did what was essential. We also stopped by your apartment--the key was on the same ring as the automobile keys. I took the liberty of having Liu Shen pack a few things for you. Your clothing from yesterday is still wet, it seemed necessary."
"You've been driving around L.A.? Lucky for you the car is an automatic."
John favored her with a smile that could only be termed sweet, "I have often driven one handed."
"I know, I was along for one of those wild rides, remember. "You should have woke me up."
"I did not have the heart," John admitted. "Please, eat."
Meg accommodated his request, chewing thoughtfully in silence for a few moments.
"Your bandages..." she began.
"Changed. Medicine applied and taken." John reported.
"So what do you need me here for?" Meg pouted, then thought better of it, "Don't answer that."
John's expression was all innocence. "There are other matters to be dealt with today. I would be grateful for you to accompany me."
Meg finished off the other half of the humbao and washed it down with tea that she hoped wasn't spiked this time.
"Give me fifteen minutes to shower and I'm there." Meg exclaimed, pushing the tray away and moving to slide out of the bed.
On cue, John rescued the tray from being swept away as she wrapped the sheet around herself. Though they certainly held no secrets from each other at this point in their relationship, Meg felt the unaccountable need to maintain her dignity by covering herself up.
"Do you require assistance?" John asked ingenuously.
"No!" Meg rejoined, pausing at the door to the master bath. She remembered from last night what John's idea of assistance was, "Not if we are to get going any time soon. If you could just have those clothes Liu Shen packed somewhere in the room when I'm done?"
John nodded, looking after her wistfully.
"So where are we going?" Meg was behind the wheel of her sedan, having carefully checked the vehicle for bullet holes, dents and lost hubcaps. Finding no damage from John's morning excursion, she'd begun to relax.
"First, the temple." John stated, looking out the window of the car as they emerged onto the street.
Meg nodded. The Buddhist temple in LA's Chinatown where they'd twice taken refuge on their long ago flight from Wei and his goons. Where they had found Alan Chin dying.
Silence reigned during the drive, John seeming so lost in thought that Meg had found herself
checking on him nearly as often as she checked her rear and side mirrors navigating LA traffic.
She was relieved that he looked as fit today as he claimed to be. She had worried more than a little that their extracurricular activities, as pleasurable as they were, could be ill advised.
But he seemed to have more energy today than he had the day before, reinforcing her belief once again, that dehydration and infection had laid him lower than the wound itself. Once those problems had been gotten under control, he'd made startling progress in his recovery from injury. The realization was immensely comforting.
She noted to her satisfaction as well, that he seemed to be actively exercising his right hand and arm. Her fear that the injury might have resulted in permanent disability retreating ever farther into the realm of unlikelihood.
"You sure you're all right?" Meg asked after the silence had become unbearable. "You're awfully quiet. It makes me nervous."
John was smiling as Meg glanced in his direction, taking his eyes from the car's passenger side door mirror, where they had been fixed for some time. "Just thinking," he said quietly, "I seem to bring so much disruption to your life. You must be weary of me."
Meg noted the tone of wistfulness, which spoke of an insecurity she would never have associated with him.
"Like I told you before," she stated, "that is bullshit. Life these last six months was pretty damn boring. I don't like boring. I'm glad to have you back."
Meg relived some of the anguish of those months spent apart. "Damn it, I missed you John. You don't know how much."
John was watching her carefully now, his brown eyes regarding her as if she were the most precious jewel in the world. She wasn't used to seeing such tenderness aimed in her direction, found herself abashed again. She was unsettled by how a look from him could reduce her to a puddle of jelly, make her weak at the knees.
She might as well tell him. She knew it was true...
"I love you. You big lug. Probably ever since I let you in my front door the first time. And if you hadn't come back when you did, I was getting ready to come look for you."
John looked at her as though he been poleaxed by her admission, his surprise and pleasure tangible. He seemed utterly speechless. Meg had second thoughts about having blurted out the truth so abruptly. Certainly she could have chosen a better time and place.
Towards that end, she quickly scouted out a parking spot and pulled the car into it, a small miracle for this part of Los Angeles at this time of day. Throwing it into park, she twisted in the driver's seat, looking John full in the eyes.
The loving tenderness and naked vulnerability she saw in them, came close to reducing her to her basic elements. To fight the dissociative feeling, she reached out, taking his face between her hands. Almost immediately, he cupped his left hand to her check, stroking her face with the gentle movements of his thumb.
John drank in the sight of Meg, her expression unguarded and openly loving, stripped of her protective shell of nonchalance.
Her admission had come close to unmanning him. He was astounded that she had been able to articulate the words so soon. He had not expected it, at least not yet and recognized it for what it was, a gift from her wounded heart.
"I don't tell people I love them everyday, John Lee. I hope you know that," Meg was saying, her voice low and soft.
"I know," he answered truthfully, and from the depths of his soul, "I know. You are my treasure, Meg. I want to be with you, always."
She was crying, her beautiful brown eyes filling with tears. John leaned closer to her, kissing her until they were gone.
Meg leaned her forehead into his.
"If I don't get this car going again, some cop is going to knock on the window and tell us to take it home..." she said ruefully.
John raised his eyebrows and gave her a grin, as though he would not object. Meg shook her head.
"Got to get to the temple. We've got to start pacing ourselves."
John laughed---one of the first times Meg could remember him doing so. She was entranced by the beauty of the sound of it, her own laughter bubbling in her throat in response.
She composed herself for a moment, then turned and started the car, easing it back out into the street.
"Li Jian-Hui!" the monk who approached them was middle-aged and possessed of a pleasant round face. He held his hand out to John, then frowned, his gaze taking in the
slinged right arm, "what happened?"
"The brothers in Canton didn't tell you?"
John asked, reaching out his left hand and clasping the monk's offered hand.
"They said only that you and your family were on the way. But the communication was cut short--perhaps there was more to say, or they feared a wiretap."
"I ran into trouble leaving China. I am fine now, thanks to Meg Coburn. Please Lau Ruong-Jie, meet the woman to whom I owe my life several times over and that of my family."
The monk turned towards Meg, once again offering his hand. When she reached out her own to meet it, he brought it to his lips and gave her a gallant buss.
"It is my great pleasure, Miss Coburn. John had written me of your help. Thank you for everything you have done for the Li family."
"Meg, this is Lau Ruong-Jie. He is Alan's successor at the temple, and a good friend of many years."
Meg smiled, even as Lau released her hand. She put her hands together in the Chinese manner and made a slight bow, offering her greeting and respect. Surprised, she suspected, the monk returned her gesture, smiling in return.
John was smiling broadly, pleased, she could tell by her actions. She felt a warm flush take her over, basked in his approval.
"I take it that you have not come to tell me that you are accepting our offer." Lau said, turning his smile from Meg to John.
"While I am grateful for the opportunity, I have decided to pursue another course. However, I have brought something. I wish you to share it between the temple and Alan's family back in China."
As Meg watched, John reached into his jacket and withdrew a bankbook.
Lau Ruong-Jie's eyes grew huge as he flipped the bankbook open and noted the name on the account and the balance. .
"John! You and your family need this far worse--"
"We are provided for," John assured. "Please. I can never repay Alan's family for the loss of his life, because of me, but I can soothe their way in this manner. And you will be able to help others, as Alan helped me."
Lau Ruong-Jie nodded, obviously overcome. He stepped away after a taking a moment to compose himself, murmuring that he intended to put the bankbook in a safe place.
John nodded, explaining that the money, deposited in the name of the Temple, could be transferred at any time, and that Lau was trustee on the account.
Lau excused himself and retreated to a private part of the temple.
John approached the altar, lighting incense and falling to his knees. Meg followed his example, absorbing the peace of this place, the comfort of the ritual. She wanted to know more of this. Perhaps John would teach her. In the meantime, prayer was prayer, and while she had never listened to the Christian teachings of her youth, she used the opportunity to pray as best she knew how for Alan's soul. For John's health and well being, for that of his sister and his mother.
For herself that her way would become clear to her.
When she lifted her head, John was regarding her with quiet fondness and approval.
Something Lau Ruong-Jie had said smacked against the walls of her memory.
"Your friend, Lau said something about you not accepting an offer. What does that mean?"
John smiled an enigmatic smile, and paused, as though weighing something in his mind.
"I was offered a place here, if I wished, once my family was safely out of China."
"You? Here? As a monk?" Meg asked, confounded.
John nodded, "The ascetic way is one way that someone such as myself could begin to repay for the sins committed in this life. A life of contemplation and good works might earn some small amount of merit to begin to balance the bad."
Meg intellectually understood the logic in his words, could even admire the sentiment. But every atom of her being was railing against the idea of her John, head shaved, living the life of a Buddhist monk.
"T-there must be other ways," Meg stammered, reaching over and slipping her hand in his.
"Perhaps. But even being condemned to eternal reincarnation would be worth it if I could live what remains of this life with you."
He was looking at her again, his eyes dark and seductive, yet remarkably free of guile.
"I'm glad you turned down the offer." Meg said in a small, soft voice, "It would have been a great waste. You have much to give, John. I feel that deeply, and you will find a way to do it."
John ducked his head, smiling, "May Buddha hear you and provide me the enlightenment to find that path."
"Just so long as he sends me down it with you." Meg stated quietly.
Meg wandered about the temple, admiring it all over again, while John held back and awaited
Lau's return. He did not have to wait long, his friend returning to the great room and falling in at his side.
"Does your new course have something to do with her?" Lau asked, his voice light, pitched softly so as not to carry.
"I love her, Ruong-Jie. I can only hope."
"I'm happy for you, my friend. I will pray for all blessings to come to you both."
John looked at Meg wistfully, then turned to
look the Buddhist brother in the eye. He switched to Cantonese with his next statement.
"I feel that I am placing her in danger. And now you. I believe we were followed from China, and I know we have been since leaving Meg's apartment. What do you know of survivors of Wei's gang?"
"Word from Guandong is that the gang is shattered. What few survivors remain have begun looking for new masters. You and the others did a good job of making Wei's assets disappear. Loyalty only lasts as long as the money in that world."
"But some adherent might still be looking for revenge." John stated.
"Possible, I have no intelligence to support it, but I will bring up the problem to my brothers in China. Perhaps they will be able to uncover something." Lau responded.
"It may become necessary at some point to send Meg and my family to you. For protection. I don't want you to end up as Alan did." John said with feeling.
"Alan was always the truest Buddhist of us all. Even as we were being reeducated in the Army, he was the one who best followed the precepts. He has attained enlightenment and stepped off the wheel of life for his many good works. I, on the other hand, am more pragmatic and have many more incarnations to left to me to correct my karma. I have not forgotten my skills, any more than you have. I stand ready to protect them at any time it is required."
"Thank you, Ruong-Jie," John switched back to English, still pitching his voice low.
"Just promise me something, Jian." Lau added.
"What, my friend?" John's eyes shone with gratitude as he regarded his compatriot.
"That you will be careful and take good care of yourself. Not take any unnecessary risks. Not let your sense of honor overcome your sense of
self preservation."
John looked at Lau silently, as though weighing what he might have to say.
Lau took the opportunity of his continued silence to drive the point home, "I see in your lady's eyes how much she loves you. You have more than just yourself to live for now.
Don't make her a widow before you take her to wife."
John looked in Meg's direction. Lau could see that his point had been made and tacitly agreed to, noted the longing and love he saw in his friend's eyes as he regarded his beloved.
John nodded.
end of chapter 11