Chapter 122
Esmerée’s hands were bound, but other than a swollen eye and a fat, bloodied lip, she appeared unharmed. The triad who’d hauled her out of the Wrangler kept her close. She was wriggling like a landed fish.
‘You OK, buddy?’ Poe said.
She stopped her futile struggles. ‘I’m good, Poe,’ she said. ‘That cop who raided your office, the woman, is dirty as fuck, though. The chickenshit bitch sucker-punched me when I was getting our sausage flats.’
‘We know. We’ve got her.’
‘You beat the shit out of her?’
‘Not quite,’ Poe said, impressed at the brave face she was putting on. ‘But she is going to prison for a hell of a long time.’
‘Good. You on your own?’
‘Matt’s in the car.’
Esmerée hesitated before asking her next question. ‘Anyone else?’
‘Your mother,’ he said. ‘We found her, Esmerée.’
‘I hope—’
Poe never found out what Esmerée hoped. The triad put his hand over her mouth and gagged her.
‘Enough talk,’ Dongyang Dong said. ‘We get this done now.’
‘OK,’ Poe said. ‘As you’ve no doubt worked out, I have men in the area. The situation hasn’t changed, though. I’m still willing to swap the girl for the mother. I’ve copied Océane’s evidence to buy myself some insurance. A way to stop you taking her by force. Keeping Esmerée for yourself.’
‘Why not just kill us?’ Dongyang Dong said. ‘If you do have more football hooligans, why not take the girl and the woman?’
‘Apart from the obvious fact that we’re not murderers, you know why.’
‘Because we are legion. We are everywhere. Kill us and you’ll be signing your own death sentence.
The soldiers you see here are a fraction of the soldiers at our command.
You might get away from here, but you can’t guarantee anyone’s safety.
And when the Red Chamber come for you, we come after everyone. We’ll destroy your entire bloodline.’
‘Yes, that is why,’ Poe said. ‘Although I think “legion” is a rather grandiose term for a couple of hundred arseholes with a leather-trench-coat fetish. That said, I’d much rather we came to an arrangement instead of trading Game of Thrones-style threats.’
‘The daughter for the mother?’
‘That was what we agreed.’
‘Then—’
‘Yes, that was then. This is now. Things have changed.’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘No?’ Poe raised his hand. Heard Towler get out of the car. Océane too. ‘Perhaps we have something that can change your mind.’
Towler joined him. He was holding a bag in one hand and the now struggling Océane with the other. Poe risked a glance at Esmerée. Her eyes were wide with shock. And maybe something else. Something behind the shock.
‘Who are you?’ Dong asked Towler.
‘Bruce Lee, dickhead,’ Towler said. He sniggered. ‘Nice medallion, by the way. Saves having “cock” tattooed on your forehead.’
Dong’s lips flattened. He snapped, ‘Let’s do this!’
The small triad started to drag Esmerée towards them. Towler’s eyes darkened when he saw her injuries. Poe felt him tense. Like a tiger when an unwary zookeeper had entered its enclosure.
‘The woman,’ Dong said. ‘Hand her over.’
‘Do you not want to see what she took?’ Poe said.
‘Later! The woman first!’
‘Oh, I really think you should look at the evidence. You may not want her after you’ve seen it.’
Towler handed Poe the bag. Poe reached in and pulled out one of Bradshaw’s pre-loaded iPads. He turned it on, then approached the triad. He handed it over. Dong took it without comment.
‘There are only two icons,’ Poe said. ‘Press the green one. After you’ve watched it, if you still want Océane, we’ll hand her over without a fuss.’
‘Fuck you, Poe!’ Océane said. ‘That wasn’t the deal.’
Dong glanced at Poe warily before pressing play.
While he waited for Bradshaw’s presentation to start, Poe said, ‘Sorry about twisting your balls by the way.’
The triad didn’t answer. Poe wasn’t sure he could. He seemed to have lost the power of speech. After two minutes, his eyes widened. He paled. Started to tremble.
‘What the hell is this?’ he said.