*******
Mingmei had led us into the back of the restaurant, through the dirty kitchen, BIG NOTE TO SELF: do not eat anything cooked at Wong's Chinese Palace, and out through a swinging door. We turned a corner and were in the area from two nights ago and stopped in front of the door that led to the basement and the labs. Mingmei smiled and said, "You have to understand we do not let people down here who are not our clients. I have to at this point let you know that once you enter this door we are partners. If I don't have what you need I will be glad to create it for you of have it imported, but as clients you are not to speak of what is down these stairs to anyone."
Natalie or should I say Sheik Fadil and I agreed and down the stairs we went. When we arrived at the old wooden door Mingmei stopped and exaggeratedly, like one of the Price is Right girls, showed it to us. "Behind this door is the answer to all your problems."
"I have a feeling this will be...not quite as good as you are making it out to be," said the sheik with disbelief.
"Sheik Fadil let me assure you everything is as good as I say. I am a professional." and with that she opened the door. Although we knew what was behind it we ooooed and awwwed as though we had never seen it before.
"This is amazing. I must see your lab," said the Sheik.
"Nat when you get in the lab film as much of everything as you can. We need all the evidence we can get. Make sure to get the centrifuges and any labeled Petrie dishes, you know anything at all that is evidence of her biological tampering," said Alex through the molar mike.
"You can see the lab but first I need to make sure my associate is ready." She lead us to a door labeled Dr. Wong and asked us to wait there. We looked around Wong's bare office. Like the room Anthony was in it was stark white and sparsely furnished. There was a desk, three chairs, a computer that was turned off, and hanging behind the desk were two diplomas. I walked over and looked at them. Shanghai Medical School for Wong Chee- Kwan, "His medical school diploma," I said to Nat; and the University of Beijing, "and his regular university diploma in Biology".
"Id love to turn on the computer and see what we can find out," said Nat.
"Me too but by the time you do that she will be back."
"Who do you think her associate is," asked Alex, "Sun-Tan?"
We giggled, "His name is Sun-Yu and probably not. He seems to be more of a waiter than part of this." So we sat down in the plainest, room on the planet and waited for Mingmei to return. After ten minutes and a short debate about whether she was testing us or not, "If I had known she was taking so long I would have turned on the computer," said Nat, the door opened.
*-*-*-*-*
I was always a fast healer ever since I was a child. It was two days after Mingmei fixed me up and I was up and about. The cast was still on of course, but the pain was gone and all in all I felt quite well. Well enough to get dressed. I had "talked" to her about it that night and the next morning a suit by Armani was hanging on the back of the door to my room.
I got out of bed to take a hot shower. I removed the liner from the dustbin in my room to protect my cast with then stepped into the shower. The stitches in my chest stood out like black railroad tracks against the pale skin of my chest. I started day dreaming as I stood there with the steaming water bouncing off my body. I thought back over the last couple days. I thought about the kiss on the rooftop. I thought of the look in Dylan's eyes as she placed her hand against my chest when she attempted to stitch it up the first time and how all I wanted to do was place my lips against hers. I thought of how angry she looked when she had to bring me here. I thought about Mingmei and what she said about Dylan never wanting to see me again. I didn't want to believe it but I did. Too good to be true is what Dylan was. It was like going to Heaven for a day only for St. Peter to realize that I wasn't meant to be there so he cast me out into Hell with the demons where I belonged.
Mingmei woke me from my thoughts by raping at the bathroom door. "Anthony are, you done? I have clients that I want you to meet."
In response I shut off the water and dried myself with the large fluffy towel from the towel rack. I wrapped the towel around my waist the best I could since my left hand was still in the plastic and went back to the other room and she was sitting on my bed holding a cane on her lap. It was a cheap version of the ones I owned.
"Nice," she purred eyeing me over. She stood and walked up to me standing as close as she could. I focused my eyes on a spot over her left shoulder as not to encourage her. "The stitches look good too. You really do heal fast. Let me help you." She began to remove the plastic from my arm, "You are a good boy, you kept your cast nice and dry." I turned from her and began to get dressed. "You know Anthony. You really do put up a good fight. I think you should just relax and enjoy the attention but that is just my opinion."
I did have a bit of trouble with my tie. Of course Mingmei was right there to fix it. "I have two more clients today. Sheik Fadil and whatever his assistant's name was. They are in father's office waiting. I really think that since you are going to be very important to my business you should meet them." She walked over to the table next to the bed and picked up the small pad and pen. "Here you go. I really wish you would decide to say something but I do suppose you silence does make you seem more dangerous than you are."
I don't know what made me do it, anger I suppose; I reached out and snaked my hand into her long, thick black hair. I pulled her close and looked into her eyes to see if she had any depth at all. I saw nothing, no joy, happiness, anger, desperation, no life at all. It scared me but I didn't show it. I just shoved her away taking a large lock with me. She didn't say a word but reached up and rubbed the small bald patch in the under-layer of her hair. It used to be that I would have sniffed it, relishing the silky feel against my face, but now all I felt was contempt for her. I looked at the ebony clump in my hand and realized her hair was as lifeless as her eyes and dropped it to the floor wiping my hand on my pants. "Bastard," she hissed. "Come we have work to do," and she lead me to Wong's office.
*-*-*-*-*
"Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet my associate," said Mingmei as she opened the door wider to reveal Anthony. I stopped the gasp before it came out of my throat my coughing. Nat whacked me on the back and said, "We beg your pardon. My friend, Mr. Hakan, has been ill of late." She then held out her hand to Anthony. He shook it. Then I did the same.
"I can't believe it," I heard Alex exclaim; "Creepy Thin Man is alive!"
"You have to forgive him. He doesn't speak;" said Mingmei, "but he is a very trustworthy employee."
I was trying to figure out what happened. Okay I knew there was a chance that he was still alive from what Alex told me but now he was working for Mingmei? Part of me wanted to run up and hug him the other part wanted to kick his ass just as much as I wanted to kick hers. If he was well enough to play terrorist with Mingmei then why wasn't he sitting on my couch eating ice cream? I put that thought right out of my head. Alex was right it had only been a matter of time. He still hadn't tried to kill us yet but I felt certain he would once he found out that we were the Sheik and Mr. Hakan. I should have taken his ass straight to the hospital or called the police. I stood there hating myself for once again falling for the bad guy. The kiss meant nothing to him and obviously neither did I.
"Mr. Hakan," Mingmei called my "name" and woke me from my thoughts. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, Yes, Fine. I am very fine. It is this cold." Then I hacked up a large ball of mucus and spit it in the garbage can. She looked very repulsed. "Good," I thought and Alex giggled into my ear.
"Well if you are ready..." she led us out of the room and back down the hall. Anthony was walking behind us following. I could feel his eyes burning in the back of my head. I could only hope he didn't recognize me. I don't see how he could but then again Seamus did which is why he and his gang weren't arrested with the other organizations.
"This is our main lab. This is where we start the culture growth of non- lethal bacteria, alter and genetically splice it and test it on various blood samples. The room next door, which I am afraid you can't go into, is where we work with viruses. We have just about any one you can imagine there including some pretty nasty level 4 viruses."
"Level four," I asked
"Yes Ebola for example."
"Nat you need to sneak into the virus room. That is what we need evidence of. It will put her and her friends away for a long time," said Alex spitting out the word "friends". I knew she was referring to Anthony.
"Now if you will follow," said Mingmei, "we will go to the conference room and you can describe to me exactly what you need."
We entered the conference room and sat down at the long table; unlike the other rooms it had color. The walls were done in a wood veneer and the chairs were covered in reddish brown leather. In the middle of the table was a large bowl of fruit and on the wall hung what appeared to be an original Monet. "I am ever so sorry I really need to use the bathroom. Could you please direct me?" said the Sheik/Nat.
Mingmei smiled and said, "Of course it is down the corridor, fourth door on the left." Nat stood and gave a small bow and left to check out the viral lab.
"So, Mr. Hakan, why don't you explain to me and my associate what the Sheik needs."
"Well you see, his son Ibrahima was arrested by the Paris police two weeks ago. I do not know what the charge was; it is not my place to ask. The police however refuse to let him go so the Sheik has decided to take to drastic measures. He is looking for something that is quick, won't spread easily but also is curable as it is likely that his son will also contract it."
"Sounds simple enough. In fact I have just the thing you are looking for. I tested it yesterday. You may have heard about the detours because of a chemical spill. Well that is mine. The news did a good job keeping the fatalities silent. Not that there were that many; because what was spilled wasn't lethal although it could cause other difficulties."
"Got that," said Alex, "that right there is enough to put her away for a while."
"Other difficulties? Like what?"
"Respitory problems due to an allergic reaction to the suspension that the virus was in."
Then Alex said "Oh shit! Dylan, we have a problem."
Suddenly Sun-Yu came bursting in and whispered in his sister's ear. "Well it seems as though we have a problem Anthony. The Sheik was just caught in the level four viral lab. Keep an eye on Mr. Hakan, will you?"
Anthony moved around to my side of the table and pulled a sword out of his cane, looking it over. He looked down the blade like someone sighting a gun or a cross bow. Holding it in his bad hand he wiped it carefully on the arm of his coat. He looked at me menacingly. I wanted to question him, ask him what the hell he thought he was doing. I wanted to ask him why he jerked me around, playing on my emotions. No, I wasn't going to do that, I wasn't going to give myself away. With luck Nat could talk herself out of being caught and the plan would work perfectly.
"Let me know if you need backup Dylan, I'll be in there before you can say 'Creepy Thin Man'," said Alex
"So," I said the Anthony, "Do you have a name or does she just call you assistant?"
He gave me a cool look and wrote, "She calls me by my name you can call me 'Assistant'." So much for trying to make small talk. Not that he was ever one for it but I knew Hakan wouldn't know that. There were several loud crashes that came from down the hall. Anthony stood; alert at the sounds. Mingmei and Sun-Yu then entered the room. She didn't look quite as neat as before and Sun-Yu was sporting a new footprint on his face.
"Which one are you," she demanded to know, "the Asian bitch or the redheaded slut?"
All I said in reply was "Creepy Thin Man," and hoped that Alex was on her way.
Mingmei had led us into the back of the restaurant, through the dirty kitchen, BIG NOTE TO SELF: do not eat anything cooked at Wong's Chinese Palace, and out through a swinging door. We turned a corner and were in the area from two nights ago and stopped in front of the door that led to the basement and the labs. Mingmei smiled and said, "You have to understand we do not let people down here who are not our clients. I have to at this point let you know that once you enter this door we are partners. If I don't have what you need I will be glad to create it for you of have it imported, but as clients you are not to speak of what is down these stairs to anyone."
Natalie or should I say Sheik Fadil and I agreed and down the stairs we went. When we arrived at the old wooden door Mingmei stopped and exaggeratedly, like one of the Price is Right girls, showed it to us. "Behind this door is the answer to all your problems."
"I have a feeling this will be...not quite as good as you are making it out to be," said the sheik with disbelief.
"Sheik Fadil let me assure you everything is as good as I say. I am a professional." and with that she opened the door. Although we knew what was behind it we ooooed and awwwed as though we had never seen it before.
"This is amazing. I must see your lab," said the Sheik.
"Nat when you get in the lab film as much of everything as you can. We need all the evidence we can get. Make sure to get the centrifuges and any labeled Petrie dishes, you know anything at all that is evidence of her biological tampering," said Alex through the molar mike.
"You can see the lab but first I need to make sure my associate is ready." She lead us to a door labeled Dr. Wong and asked us to wait there. We looked around Wong's bare office. Like the room Anthony was in it was stark white and sparsely furnished. There was a desk, three chairs, a computer that was turned off, and hanging behind the desk were two diplomas. I walked over and looked at them. Shanghai Medical School for Wong Chee- Kwan, "His medical school diploma," I said to Nat; and the University of Beijing, "and his regular university diploma in Biology".
"Id love to turn on the computer and see what we can find out," said Nat.
"Me too but by the time you do that she will be back."
"Who do you think her associate is," asked Alex, "Sun-Tan?"
We giggled, "His name is Sun-Yu and probably not. He seems to be more of a waiter than part of this." So we sat down in the plainest, room on the planet and waited for Mingmei to return. After ten minutes and a short debate about whether she was testing us or not, "If I had known she was taking so long I would have turned on the computer," said Nat, the door opened.
*-*-*-*-*
I was always a fast healer ever since I was a child. It was two days after Mingmei fixed me up and I was up and about. The cast was still on of course, but the pain was gone and all in all I felt quite well. Well enough to get dressed. I had "talked" to her about it that night and the next morning a suit by Armani was hanging on the back of the door to my room.
I got out of bed to take a hot shower. I removed the liner from the dustbin in my room to protect my cast with then stepped into the shower. The stitches in my chest stood out like black railroad tracks against the pale skin of my chest. I started day dreaming as I stood there with the steaming water bouncing off my body. I thought back over the last couple days. I thought about the kiss on the rooftop. I thought of the look in Dylan's eyes as she placed her hand against my chest when she attempted to stitch it up the first time and how all I wanted to do was place my lips against hers. I thought of how angry she looked when she had to bring me here. I thought about Mingmei and what she said about Dylan never wanting to see me again. I didn't want to believe it but I did. Too good to be true is what Dylan was. It was like going to Heaven for a day only for St. Peter to realize that I wasn't meant to be there so he cast me out into Hell with the demons where I belonged.
Mingmei woke me from my thoughts by raping at the bathroom door. "Anthony are, you done? I have clients that I want you to meet."
In response I shut off the water and dried myself with the large fluffy towel from the towel rack. I wrapped the towel around my waist the best I could since my left hand was still in the plastic and went back to the other room and she was sitting on my bed holding a cane on her lap. It was a cheap version of the ones I owned.
"Nice," she purred eyeing me over. She stood and walked up to me standing as close as she could. I focused my eyes on a spot over her left shoulder as not to encourage her. "The stitches look good too. You really do heal fast. Let me help you." She began to remove the plastic from my arm, "You are a good boy, you kept your cast nice and dry." I turned from her and began to get dressed. "You know Anthony. You really do put up a good fight. I think you should just relax and enjoy the attention but that is just my opinion."
I did have a bit of trouble with my tie. Of course Mingmei was right there to fix it. "I have two more clients today. Sheik Fadil and whatever his assistant's name was. They are in father's office waiting. I really think that since you are going to be very important to my business you should meet them." She walked over to the table next to the bed and picked up the small pad and pen. "Here you go. I really wish you would decide to say something but I do suppose you silence does make you seem more dangerous than you are."
I don't know what made me do it, anger I suppose; I reached out and snaked my hand into her long, thick black hair. I pulled her close and looked into her eyes to see if she had any depth at all. I saw nothing, no joy, happiness, anger, desperation, no life at all. It scared me but I didn't show it. I just shoved her away taking a large lock with me. She didn't say a word but reached up and rubbed the small bald patch in the under-layer of her hair. It used to be that I would have sniffed it, relishing the silky feel against my face, but now all I felt was contempt for her. I looked at the ebony clump in my hand and realized her hair was as lifeless as her eyes and dropped it to the floor wiping my hand on my pants. "Bastard," she hissed. "Come we have work to do," and she lead me to Wong's office.
*-*-*-*-*
"Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet my associate," said Mingmei as she opened the door wider to reveal Anthony. I stopped the gasp before it came out of my throat my coughing. Nat whacked me on the back and said, "We beg your pardon. My friend, Mr. Hakan, has been ill of late." She then held out her hand to Anthony. He shook it. Then I did the same.
"I can't believe it," I heard Alex exclaim; "Creepy Thin Man is alive!"
"You have to forgive him. He doesn't speak;" said Mingmei, "but he is a very trustworthy employee."
I was trying to figure out what happened. Okay I knew there was a chance that he was still alive from what Alex told me but now he was working for Mingmei? Part of me wanted to run up and hug him the other part wanted to kick his ass just as much as I wanted to kick hers. If he was well enough to play terrorist with Mingmei then why wasn't he sitting on my couch eating ice cream? I put that thought right out of my head. Alex was right it had only been a matter of time. He still hadn't tried to kill us yet but I felt certain he would once he found out that we were the Sheik and Mr. Hakan. I should have taken his ass straight to the hospital or called the police. I stood there hating myself for once again falling for the bad guy. The kiss meant nothing to him and obviously neither did I.
"Mr. Hakan," Mingmei called my "name" and woke me from my thoughts. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, Yes, Fine. I am very fine. It is this cold." Then I hacked up a large ball of mucus and spit it in the garbage can. She looked very repulsed. "Good," I thought and Alex giggled into my ear.
"Well if you are ready..." she led us out of the room and back down the hall. Anthony was walking behind us following. I could feel his eyes burning in the back of my head. I could only hope he didn't recognize me. I don't see how he could but then again Seamus did which is why he and his gang weren't arrested with the other organizations.
"This is our main lab. This is where we start the culture growth of non- lethal bacteria, alter and genetically splice it and test it on various blood samples. The room next door, which I am afraid you can't go into, is where we work with viruses. We have just about any one you can imagine there including some pretty nasty level 4 viruses."
"Level four," I asked
"Yes Ebola for example."
"Nat you need to sneak into the virus room. That is what we need evidence of. It will put her and her friends away for a long time," said Alex spitting out the word "friends". I knew she was referring to Anthony.
"Now if you will follow," said Mingmei, "we will go to the conference room and you can describe to me exactly what you need."
We entered the conference room and sat down at the long table; unlike the other rooms it had color. The walls were done in a wood veneer and the chairs were covered in reddish brown leather. In the middle of the table was a large bowl of fruit and on the wall hung what appeared to be an original Monet. "I am ever so sorry I really need to use the bathroom. Could you please direct me?" said the Sheik/Nat.
Mingmei smiled and said, "Of course it is down the corridor, fourth door on the left." Nat stood and gave a small bow and left to check out the viral lab.
"So, Mr. Hakan, why don't you explain to me and my associate what the Sheik needs."
"Well you see, his son Ibrahima was arrested by the Paris police two weeks ago. I do not know what the charge was; it is not my place to ask. The police however refuse to let him go so the Sheik has decided to take to drastic measures. He is looking for something that is quick, won't spread easily but also is curable as it is likely that his son will also contract it."
"Sounds simple enough. In fact I have just the thing you are looking for. I tested it yesterday. You may have heard about the detours because of a chemical spill. Well that is mine. The news did a good job keeping the fatalities silent. Not that there were that many; because what was spilled wasn't lethal although it could cause other difficulties."
"Got that," said Alex, "that right there is enough to put her away for a while."
"Other difficulties? Like what?"
"Respitory problems due to an allergic reaction to the suspension that the virus was in."
Then Alex said "Oh shit! Dylan, we have a problem."
Suddenly Sun-Yu came bursting in and whispered in his sister's ear. "Well it seems as though we have a problem Anthony. The Sheik was just caught in the level four viral lab. Keep an eye on Mr. Hakan, will you?"
Anthony moved around to my side of the table and pulled a sword out of his cane, looking it over. He looked down the blade like someone sighting a gun or a cross bow. Holding it in his bad hand he wiped it carefully on the arm of his coat. He looked at me menacingly. I wanted to question him, ask him what the hell he thought he was doing. I wanted to ask him why he jerked me around, playing on my emotions. No, I wasn't going to do that, I wasn't going to give myself away. With luck Nat could talk herself out of being caught and the plan would work perfectly.
"Let me know if you need backup Dylan, I'll be in there before you can say 'Creepy Thin Man'," said Alex
"So," I said the Anthony, "Do you have a name or does she just call you assistant?"
He gave me a cool look and wrote, "She calls me by my name you can call me 'Assistant'." So much for trying to make small talk. Not that he was ever one for it but I knew Hakan wouldn't know that. There were several loud crashes that came from down the hall. Anthony stood; alert at the sounds. Mingmei and Sun-Yu then entered the room. She didn't look quite as neat as before and Sun-Yu was sporting a new footprint on his face.
"Which one are you," she demanded to know, "the Asian bitch or the redheaded slut?"
All I said in reply was "Creepy Thin Man," and hoped that Alex was on her way.