Flower Net (Red Princess 1)

As Liu nodded, the lantern’s light glinted off the lenses of his glasses. These two had appreciated his work.

“You delivered your second message,” David continued. “You wrapped up Henglai and placed him in the water tank in place of the shipment of bile that the others had arranged for.”

“I’ll tell you,” Liu said, “putting that boy in there was no easy task. I am not as strong as I once was, and that boy was just dead weight.” He cackled at his pun, then said, “I wanted the Rising Phoenix to understand who they were dealing with. I couldn’t let them cheat me.”

“So you ruined their shipment of immigrants.”

“It didn’t have to be that way,” Liu said apologetically. “All they had to do was throw the body overboard.”

“But they didn’t,” David said.

“Who can explain the stupidity of others?”

“They weren’t that stupid. They knew we were coming.”

Liu grimaced. “You give them too much credit. No, I think they simply panicked in the storm. The Peony was adrift and moving into U.S. waters. What else could they do but abandon her?”

David chose not to pursue that, saying instead, “You also took care of Spencer Lee.”

“That was unfortunate,” Liu said, then explained himself. “I was ready to continue my partnership with the Rising Phoenix. Even the dragon head agreed we should continue our shipments. But after the arrests in Los Angeles, things became more difficult. Someone had to fall, and we all agreed that the boy was expendable. I signed a paper,” Hulan’s father confessed. “I used Zai’s stamp. There is no artistry there.”

“Why bear bile, Ba? Was it because of Mama?”

“After your mother came back from Russia, I tried many things to help her. I finally heard about Dr. Du.”

“Is he a part of this?”

“Of course not.” Liu cleared his throat and spit in disgust. “He’s an old fool, but he has a lot of knowledge and he likes to talk. He’s very free with information, as I’m sure you found out.”

“The government was sending him out to talk about medicines made from endangered animals,” Hulan recalled from their interviews with Du. “They had even sent him on some raids here in Sichuan.”

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bsp; “You see? He talks too much. He’d brag about these things, too, whenever I took your mother to see him. When the time came to find a farm, I knew where to look.”

“And in Henglai you found someone who could be very useful to you,” Hulan said. “Did you seek him out?”

Liu lazily waved his gun back and forth. “To tell you the truth, Henglai came later. First, I had the Rising Phoenix and we did a few insignificant jobs together to build trust.”

Liu fell silent, waiting for David and Hulan to inquire about those other “jobs.” When they didn’t, he asked, “Haven’t you wondered, Attorney Stark, how so many people could leave China on a freighter from a major port without attracting the attention of Chinese authorities?” David didn’t respond. Liu sneered, “Let’s just say I used my influence to make sure people would look the other way.” He paused, then added, “Oh, there are so many things I’d like to tell you…” As Liu’s voice trailed off, David realized that the other particulars could come later, if there were a later.

“No,” Liu continued, “all this happened because of Billy Watson. You know by now that he was a hooligan. One day he is brought to my office for some minor offense. He’s sitting there telling me about his father. I had met the ambassador, of course. I thought, Let’s bring Big Bill Watson in here and see what happens.”

Liu again turned his attention to his daughter. “You know how Americans are. They are so brash and think they own the world. He says to me, ‘Maybe we can work things out.’”

“He offered you a bribe,” Hulan deduced.

Liu nodded. “But I didn’t want his money. I said, Let’s meet for lunch at the Black Earth Inn.”

“When Nixon Chen said ‘your boss’ comes here, he meant you,” Hulan said.

“Don’t interrupt me! I am talking!” Liu chided his daughter. He paused to gather his thoughts, then said, “On that first day I am thinking, Who knows how this will turn out? Soon we are having lunch every week in a private room. Then Billy is coming and bringing his friend Henglai. The first time we all meet everything comes together for me. Henglai! Guang Mingyun’s son!”

“You knew him in the camp,” Hulan said.

As Liu said that indeed he had, David thought he heard something outside. Neither Hulan nor her father had seemed to notice.

“Let me tell you something,” Liu continued. “Guang Mingyun was someone I went to for help after I got out of Pitao. We had been through a lot together, but he chose to look the other way. Since that time I watched him, and from the ministry that was very, very easy. I saw him with his airplanes and satellites. I saw him with his munitions factory. I saw him open Panda Brand. So when I met Henglai at the Black Earth, my first thought was of Panda Brand. By that time, I had been thinking about exporting bear bile for many years and I knew that company very well. Now suddenly the time was right, the people were in place, and we had access to the product.”