Page 146 of The Killer’s Mark

Dong stared at him. He snapped off some instructions in Chinese. Someone behind him raised a radio and spoke into it. Nothing happened. He frowned and looked at the radio like it was defective. He actually whacked it; the way Poe’s dad used to whack the TV when it was playing up.

‘I wonder what could have happened to them?’ Poe said.

‘What has happened to them, Mr Ex-Policeman?’

‘Nothing good.’

The triad looked at him with renewed respect.

Poe said, ‘I want to see the girl and I want to see her now. Trust me, you won’t like what happens if I don’t.’

Dong barked some more instructions. The rear door of the Wrangler furthest from Poe opened. A small triad got out. He was dragging someone even smaller behind him. A spitting, swearing ball of anger.

Poe sighed in relief.

Esmerée.

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.’