Kiss and Die

Chapter 99

Ng took the lift to the top floor of the Leung Corporation building and padded out onto the plush carpet, into the dark leather of the penthouse office suite. The PA greeted him with a low bow. Ng walked past him and into CK’s office.

The room was icy. CK sat behind his desk. He looked up as Ng approached, placed his pen carefully down on the writing block and sat back in his chair. In the corner of the room a young Chinese girl sat motionless in a straight-backed chair. At first Ng thought she was not real. She sat like a wax works manikin. Her face was white except for rouged cheeks. But then he saw her eyes follow him across the floor.

‘I am glad to see we remain old friends,’ CK greeted him.

‘I am no friend of yours. I have come to ask you what it is you want from Johnny Mann.’

CK lowered his chin, pressed his fingertips together. ‘You have shown your cards too early, Sergeant. Friends are hard to come by in this world and they make you vulnerable. We were friends once.’

‘I was doing my job. I made mistakes. I was young. I learnt that I was not strong enough to resist the lure of Triad money. I never took the promotion I earned through the undercover work. I always regretted it.’

‘Yes, I was disappointed to see that you did not rise up the ranks as others have done. But, as you know the account is never closed, sometimes it is dormant, other times it is ticking along but it can be fully operational again immediately. Is that what you desire?’

Ng sat in the same chair that Mann had done days before but he did not feel as comfortable, nor cradled. He felt suffocated by it. ‘I have come to ask for a favour.’

‘What favour is that?’

‘Let Johnny Mann be. Leave him alone. Give him time to decide his own fate.’

‘Ah…I am afraid I cannot do that, not even for an old friend. Johnny Mann has things that I need. I feel my time running out. His father was clever; he invested in things that, at the time, seemed worthless. Now, they are worth millions and I feel the years creeping up on me. I want everything now.’

‘Your daughter, Victoria. Is she the reason for all this?’

CK thought for a moment. ‘My daughter is another piece in the jigsaw of my life. She has her place in it, as do others. She will never be all of it. I recognize her failings. They are the same ones I had in my youth. She is greedy, she is hasty. She will learn a valuable lesson soon. She is also, unlike many other women of her type, ruled by the heartbeat between her legs. My daughter would make a good whore.’

CK leant back in his chair and touched his fingertips together in the air; they turned white at their tip. ‘My daughter is impatient. She has been planning this for a long time. She sees that the time is right to strike. With her new army of young Outcasts she intends to teach the world a lesson. She is still learning. She is ambitious.’

‘She is a murderer.’

CK looked momentarily astonished and then his eyes narrowed and a rare sound came out of his mouth, a peal of high-pitched laughter. ‘Yes…yes…perhaps.’ He placed his palms on the desk and leaned towards Ng. ‘My daughter is capable of anything.’ CK’s eyes shone clear green and glassy. He turned back to Ng. ‘I will grant you your request. But my deal is a favour in return for a favour.’