Peter washed his face and trimmed his beard. It was a learning curve having never had one before, By the time he was done he gave up and simply shaved the damned thing off. He still didn't care for the reflection he found in the mirror. He was being made to destroy something he loved. He had no clue how that was supposed to happen, but he was beginning to believe that it could.
Maybe it was Miranda's insanity catching up with him, or maybe it was what the snake in his brain was trying to tell him. He had no idea. All he did know was that he'd severed ties with his father in hopes of saving him from becoming another dead Shaolin priest as much as it was because his father hadn't once denied the accusations.
He dressed as casually as he could and still felt like a peacock. He lay back on the bed and contemplated not going down to breakfast, but he was sure she'd just send Kline to fetch him and he really hated it when Kline touched him. It made his flesh crawl. There was something wrong with that man and it wasn't just that he was part of an anti-Shaolin death cult. Peter might not be Shaolin, but he was still technically a cop. More specifically a detective and he knew when people were up to something. That asshole was up to something.
With a sigh, he got up and headed down the stairs. He smiled when he saw Kline headed his way. "Good morning." He said cheerfully because he knew it would piss the man off. "Sorry to disappoint, I just couldn't resist an extra long shower this morning." He straightened the cuffs on his silk shirt and walked right past him, heading into the dining room. "Good morning, Miranda." He said and took his customary seat at the table. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."
"You're in a cheerful mood this morning." She said.
"I slept well." He said "I guess I'm finally getting on the schedule. Are good moods acceptable, Sifu?" He smirked at Kline's expression.
She laughed "They most certainly are. Except when they are not. This morning it is acceptable that you are in a good mood."
"Oh, Man, is that bacon I'm smelling? I have missed bacon. They never served us that at the orphanage. Breakfast was always oatmeal or cold cereal, more often than not it was cold oatmeal. Once I moved in with the Blaisdells there was bacon. The first time I had ever had it to be honest."
The maid lifted the lid on the chaffing dish to reveal, bacon, scrambled eggs, and hash browns.
"You had never had bacon until you were 15? Now that sounds like torture to me. " She said.
"So why didn't the old man adopt you," Kline asked.
"Because I didn't want to change my name, and that was the only practical difference between Foster Son and Adopted Son," Peter said honestly.
"Bet you wish you'd changed your name now." He said, with a mocking grin.
Peter raised an eyebrow. "No. I don't. It's not like it would have prevented anyone from tracking me down. If that's what you're implying. I get the feeling your sect has been trying to find me, or at least one of my bloodline without kids, and not Shaolin, for a long time. Probably even before my great-grandfather came to this country."
Miranda smiled "You are correct." She said.
"Am I the first the snake bonded with?" He asked. "What happens to the ones that it rejects? Or that reject it."
"You're sure full of questions," Kline said, with a suspicious tone.
"Yeah well, only an idiot in my position wouldn't be curious," Peter said.
Miranda ignored Kline entirely, which did nothing for the man's disposition. "To answer your questions, " She began "you are the first of your bloodline the serpent has bonded with. There have been others of the line of Kwai Chang that have come into our den through the centuries. But they were not the last, even though it was thought they were at the time. The serpent does however bond with all in our order."
"Why are you telling him these things? You have no way of knowing that the serpent has bonded with him. You're giving information to the enemy. It's bad enough you're teaching him Elapidae."
She raised an eyebrow. "The serpent chooses, not you." She said. "If he were not chosen he would not have survived his time in the nest much less come out with his sanity intact. Do not contradict me again."
"I guess that answers my second question," Peter said. "And I'm betting the third as well."
"No one has rejected the serpent." She said "It simply does not happen. Some have been… rescued…" She rolled her eyes "By their family or officials who drove our order out of India where it originated. They tried to undo our teachings and failed. They either killed everyone that kidnapped them from us and returned to our fold, or they killed themselves to safeguard our secrets and their soul."
He nodded " So what do you call a member of your order… what's the order called?" He asked as he put food on his plate and poured coffee from the carafe on the table.
"The order is called Serpentes. Harbingers to outsiders" She said leaning back to sip at her coffee. " As for the members, it varies dependent on rank. You currently have no rank. That will change once the Shaolin fall and you are able to move freely. My rank…is Nagaina. Yes, I know, you are probably familiar with that term from Kipling."
He laughed quietly "Yeah I saw Rikki Tikki Tavi a time or two while I was in the orphanage. So you said the order originated in India. I guess that explains that." Yet no one he had seen so far was Indian. They were all paler complected than him.
"There are spiders that claim the name but they are wrong." She said. "Scientists took the name from Kipling's work and gave it to a jumping spider. Thus the spiders choose it for their own."
"Spiders… is that another …order?" He almost said cult.
She nodded "Yes. Black widows, to be specific. And yes we are enemies, although we have been known to call a truce to route out a Shaolin temple. The Sing Wah consider us their enemies. We consider them ineffectual and a waste of our time."
"How do you know if someone is a member of the order? Is there a test or something?" He asked.
"As much as I love that you are becoming curious about things, I am going to have to call this class to an end." She said "I have a meeting this morning that I cannot be late to. We will continue after dinner this evening. There are books on various ancient sects and cults in my library. Feel free to have a look. Nearly all of them are still in existence today, they are just under the radar or considered innocent like the Shaolin." She looked to Kline. "I have something I need you to do. Come with me. Hendricks can look after Peter today."
"I'm serious, Annie. I want you and Kelly to go stay with your sister for a while." Paul said, in earnest.
"I'm not going anywhere until we find out what happened to Peter." She said "Now stop trying to make me leave town. It's not going to happen, Darling."
"We may never know what has happened to Peter."
"What does Caine have to say about that?"
Paul growled in frustration. "The man might be a gifted martial artist, and yes he can do things that I cannot explain but he is not a fortune teller or infallible."
"What does he say about our son." She asked, emphasizing each word.
"He says Peter is alive but-"
"Then Peter is alive."
"Annie… he also says he can't get a clear reading. That it's like he's on the peripheral, never quite actually there. I think that he, like the rest of us, wants Peter to be alive so much that he is grasping at straws. We have to accept that Peter has been killed. Now I will find who did this to him and make them pay for taking him away from us, but it's time to accept it."
"Not for seven years. Do you understand me? I don't even have to accept it then. That's just when the courts decide that a missing person is dead."
"So you're going to stay in Bayview for seven years?" Paul asked
"Why do you want me to leave so badly?"
He sat beside her on the sofa and took her hands in his. "Annie, Gang wars are on the horizon. The Tongs are fighting among themselves, The Yakuza is feuding with the Russian mob and the tongs, over the waterfront, Street gangs are ramping up their violence, and drive-by shootings are happening in downtown city parks for pities sake. I know we don't live in any of those neighborhoods, but when this happens the police become targets and their families are targeted as well. I need you and our daughters to be safe. Todd is trying to talk Carolyn into going with you." He was beginning to wonder if Peter hadn't come upon a Tong war counsel and been killed for it.
"What is happening to this city?" She asked. "Fine… I'll go… on one condition."
Paul sighed in relief "Name it."
"I want to talk to Caine."
"Annie-" He threw his hands up in frustration.
"I know you won't want me to go to Chinatown to do it, so I suggest you ask him to come to see me here. I will not leave town until I have spoken to him. I mean it."
He sighed and bowed his head "Fine. I will speak with him today."
"Thank you." She said. She had never known Caine to be wrong about Peter in the past, she couldn't imagine that he was wrong now. Not when it was most important that he not be.
Miranda Gray waited in the Foyer of her office building for her 9:30 appointment. Her expression remained cool and aloof as he entered the building and walked toward her casually. "Mr. Cramer?"
He gave a slight nod. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Gray."
"And I you." She said. She made note of the signet ring he wore. Then met his gaze "Please, come with me." She turned on her three-inch black heels and strode toward her office.
She smiled at her secretary. "Hold my calls." She said and led her guest into the office, she closed the door behind them and locked it.
"It's true then." He said taking his seat. "You have found him."
She smiled. "Yes. I've started his conversion process." She said, "His name is Peter Caine, the son of Kwai Chang Caine."
"Do you think it wise to keep him in the city he was located in? Especially with his father residing locally?"
"Are you questioning my judgment?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Apologies, Nagaina, but yes I am. This man is too important to risk. Since Batuo fled to China and created the Shaolin, we have sought the means to end his heresy. We cannot risk failure by keeping him in this city. It is riddled with Shaolin and those who revere them. The new Emperor was crowned in this city, not three months ago."
"I am aware. Peter was in attendance. He was one of the boy's bodyguards leading up to the coronation. It was a modest affair from all accounts." She said.
"There are rumored to be Shamballa masters in this city."
"There are Shamballa masters in every major city. They are not omniscient." She shrugged. "Don't worry. No one is going to interfere with Peter's induction to the order."
"He is willing?"
"No. But he pretends well. He will agree to anything to stay out of the darkness. " She said laughing. "By the time the ceremony comes around, he'll be willing one way or another. After that, he will be unworthy by Shaolin logic and unable to complete his training even if he were to escape. Which he won't."
"The festival fast approaches." He said
"You will have the resources you need." She told him. "Just give the requirements to my secretary and she will see to it. If we time things correctly we'll be seeing the benefits of this for a long time to come. "
He bowed to her and let her show him out.
Once he was out of sight, Victoria, her secretary called for her attention "He's at it again." She showed her a security monitor that was focused on the door out of the penthouse. Peter Caine stood before the electronic keypad, he was punching in numbers and writing them in a notebook as they failed.
Miranda laughed "When he has given up this time, reset the code to the last one he tried. " She said "Oh and dock Hendricks' pay. He should have been keeping a better eye on him."
"Thank you for agreeing to come to see Annie," Paul said. He didn't like it. He knew that they were going to feed each other's hope and only wind up hurting more because of it. Still, he envied them that hope.
"Of course. I will always speak with her."
"She's going to ask you about Peter." He pulled into the driveway and parked his car. "I can't stay and listen. I know you believe him to still be alive…"
"I understand." Caine said "When I first believed him to be dead as a child, it was hard to hear others speak of him or to speak of him myself. It was as though I was learning of his death all over again. As time passed it became impossible to not speak of him. I took comfort in sharing him with others."
"Thank you for understanding. I'll be in the den when you're ready to leave." He got out of the car and led the way into the house. "Annie, I'm home. I have Caine here with me."
Annie Blaisdell rose from the sofa and went to greet her husband and Kwai Chang. She kissed Paul before taking Caine's hands in hers. "Thank you for coming." She said, "Can I make you tea?"
"I would like that, yes." He said and followed her into the kitchen. He took a seat at the island and watched as she went about making the tea. "You asked me to come here to speak about Peter." He had always loved watching Annie, Not because she was a beautiful woman, which she was, but because of how little her blindness affected her daily life. He had often wondered what Peter had taken from this. What had he learned from her example?
"Yes. I need to know the truth. Is our son alive?" Since his return, he had always been gracious about sharing Peter. As if anyone would have allowed it to be otherwise, least of all Peter.
"As of this morning… yes," He said. "I was able to make contact through meditation." Something he knew that Paul had little faith in. It wasn't an intended slight. It was his police officer's mind that craved logic over faith. "He could not tell me where he was or who has taken him from us."
"Is he… hurt?" She asked.
"He did not say. He is frightened and angry. I believe that he is trying to protect those he loves from those who have him and that is why he refuses to say where he is. The connection was strong to allow us to speak. He is still strong. I have faith in his ability to remain so if it is at all in his power."
"But it probably isn't in his power, is it." She said, "Not if he is a prisoner."
"He has managed until now. He will continue. We cannot lose faith in Peter. His will has always been strong. Sometimes too much so."
"Oh, you're telling me. There were days I thought I would never get him to just do as he was told whether he wanted to or not. There was always a battle of wills."
"And when he did relent he did so with contrition." He said, remembering his son as a child.
"Which made it hard to discipline him. He always seemed to have learned his lesson already."
Caine smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. It was getting hard to speak of Peter again. Some part of him was accepting the loss. Accepting defeat.
Annie touched his face "I feel it too." She said and pulled Caine into her arms as he began to cry.
Kline wandered through Chinatown, wearing thick black sunglasses and carrying a white cane. He had a list of several targets and one by one he found them, using the hidden spring-operated needle in the tip to deliver a small dose of poison into their flesh.
He smiled seeing the last target on his list. He stepped into the crowd and made his way closer to The Ancient. He pressed the cane against his calf and pulled the trigger simultaneously.
"Aiya!" The old man exclaimed.
Kline didn't look back he didn't slow down, didn't speed up, he just kept walking until he reached the bus stop. He was on a city bus headed out of Chinatown within 20 seconds of completing his mission.
Caine and Annie were finishing their tea when the telephone rang. They assumed that Paul had answered it as it stopped ringing after the second ring. Moments later Paul entered the kitchen.
"We have to go, Caine. It's Lo Si. They've taken him to St. Agnes's hospital. He's been poisoned."
Caine squeezed Annie's hand. "We will speak again, soon." He promised and got up, collecting his coat and hat. He followed Paul to his car "How bad is it?"
"I don't know." He said. "They didn't say. We'll find out when we get there. Does he have a family to notify?"
" His nephew was killed last year. There is a niece that is currently in Hong Kong."
"Well, I suppose as you are currently roommates and both priests they will consider you next of kin," Paul said as he drove. "I'm sorry this is happening so soon after…"
Caine nodded. He couldn't help but wonder if the two were connected.
"There were several other people taken to the hospital as well. All from Chinatown."
"Who?" Caine asked, brow furrowing.
"I don't have the names. They were all prominent members of your community." He said, Businessmen, Elders, I believe there was another priest as well."
Caine's blood ran cold. "We must hurry. I believe they have been poisoned using snake's venom."
"How on earth did you come to that conclusion." But he put the light on top of his car and turned it and the siren on to get them there faster. He might not believe in communing with someone through meditation but he had learned to trust in Caine's wild hunches.
"There are factions at war in Chinatown." He said.
"Don't I know it? Not just there but all over the city. Every gang, or organized crime family in the city is waging war on one another."
"A group called The Harbingers seeks to destroy the Shaolin. Lo Si is a priest, and many of the elders remaining in the city to look after the Emperor are also Shaolin."
"And these Harbingers like to use snake venom to take out their targets."
"Yes."
Paul swore and drove faster.