Flower Net (Red Princess 1)

“What did you do?”

Zhao slowly lifted his eyes to meet David’s. “No one wants to look inside that place. Some people, they are afraid of ghosts. Some people, they are afraid of the crew.”

“Did the crew know?”

“The crew is stupid. They see people getting weak. They see people getting sick. But they don’t ask questions. We gather rainwater. We…” He turned to Mabel and asked her a question.

Mabel said, “Ration.”

“We ration our good water. Then we are getting close to America. Now the crew has no water. Now they go to that place. They look inside and find the man. They get scared. They say, ‘Who is that man?’ They fight. Should we throw him away? What should we do? They say to us, ‘You tell us who that man is. You tell us who killed him. You tell us or we won’t give you food. You tell us, or we tell the gang when we get to America.’ Everyone is afraid, but no one says a word.”

“But you knew who he was?”

Zhao nodded. “He is from the special class, the son of a senior cadre. He is a Red Prince, a Gaogan Zidi.” Zhao took a breath and continued. “That first day, when we went for water, everyone was afraid. But some of the men said they would look inside. If it was just a rat, they would pull it out. We would boil the water. They climb back up to the top of the tank and open it again. They find a package wrapped in plastic. Inside is the man. He has been dead and in the water already a couple of days.”

“But how did you know who he was?”

“Those men, they look inside his wallet. He had papers saying he was Guang Henglai.”

Jack Campbell let out a whoop of triumph.

David shot him a look, then asked, “What did they do next?”

“They put the body back.”

“They didn’t tell the crew?”

Zhao snorted. “No, they put Guang Henglai back. Then they come and talk to the rest of us. What can we do? We are moles on that boat. Even those men in the crew are moles. Who would take responsibility for telling the crew? What if they thought one of us killed him?”

“What are the names of the men who found the body?”

“It doesn’t matter…”

“It matters to me.”

“Those men are gone. They are on boat to China.”

David, not knowing how much longer Zhao would talk now that he’d broken his silence, tried to remain focused. “Let’s go back to this Guang Henglai. Who is he and why were all of you afraid of him?”

“We are not afraid of him,” Zhao said derisively. “He is the son of a dragon.”

“His father’s important?”

Zhao snorted again. “His father is Guang Mingyun.”

“I’m sorry, Zhao, but we don’t know who that is.”

“I am only a peasant. Do you understand? I am only a peasant, but even I know of Guang Mingyun. He is one of the Hundred Families. He is very powerful and very rich.”

“Is he the leader of the Rising Phoenix?” David asked.

Zhao laughed bitterly. “He is not triad. He is a dragon. The triad is less than a dog to Guang Mingyun.”

Gardner cleared his throat. “But if you reported his son’s death, wouldn’t you receive a reward?”

“I tell you something. When the crew learned that there was a body on the boat, they didn’t feed us. They didn’t give us any water. We are on the sea for many days. But the people who own the boat, they say, you can’t come to America until you say who this body is and who put him there. This boat has many people and many ears. There are no secrets. Every night people gossip about what they see and hear. They say the captain is talking to the leader in America. The news must be very bad, because they say they will beat us until someone confesses. Let me tell you something. The Chinese people are very strong. We are used to punishment. But no one likes to lose face. Two men tell what they know. Those two men lost too much face. They cannot go forward to America, because everyone on the boat knows how they screamed and begged. They cannot go home, because if they return to their home village how can they face their families? How can they pay back their trip money? Those two men were hungry and thirsty and tired. They tell what they know and then they jump overboard. The captain calls to shore. He is yelling. Everyone can hear it.”

“Who was he talking to?”