Chapter 6

Author’s Note

This and subsequent chapters contain a major spoiler for The Beach House series. If you haven’t read those yet, and plan to, take a pause from this and read them first. They aren’t nearly as long as the Jack Pierce Chronicles.

I was sitting in the library with Mac on my lap, reading Cujo, when I heard the phone ring. Maybe I should say I was trying to read Cujo. I liked it about as much as I liked Catcher in the Rye, which is to say, I didn’t like it. It was a bestseller, though and I had decided to try to find out why. Mom hollered that the phone was for me.

“Hey.”

“Hey, Jack.”

“Hey, Cherry. What’s up?” He never called.

“I need some help.”

“Name it.”

“Thanks. I was hoping you’d say that. I need some help for someone who’s moving.”

“Okay, you mean like from one apartment to another or something like that?”

“Something like that. Listen, this is going to sound weird, but we need to help him get out of his apartment without his neighbors finding out.”

“Oh, oh. Is he in trouble?”

“In a way. He’s leaving and I want to help him move his stuff into storage. If one of his neighbors finds out, he might try to stop him or make trouble, or something.”

“Is he in trouble with the law or something?”

“No. I don’t want to get you mixed up in something, but he needs help.” Now I was a bit worried.

“What would I be getting mixed up in?”

“I’ll tell you but ... okay, here’s the short version. His name’s Tien Lee. He’s Mei’s cousin. He did a favor for a neighbor who turned out to be in a gang and things didn’t turn out okay. He didn’t know the guy was in a gang and was just trying to help him. When it didn’t work out, this gang dude thinks Tien owes him something. Tien thinks that if he sticks around, he’s going to get in trouble with this gang guy and maybe the whole gang.” That didn’t sound good.

“If we help Tien, don’t we risk getting on the bad side of this gang?” Cherry didn’t say anything. “That’s the deal, isn’t it?”

“Pretty much.”

“What does Mei think about all this?” It was quiet again. “She doesn’t know, does she?”

“No. Listen, Tien hasn’t been back to his apartment in a couple of days. He’s afraid. But if a couple of Laowais show up and move his stuff, the gang guys probably won’t even notice.”

I thought about it for a minute. What could go wrong? “Just the two of us? What time?”

“Jake is helping. Nine. It’s dark by then and we should be done in an hour if we hurry.”

“Jake Gealy? That Jake?”

“Yeah. He owes me one and he’s a big guy. Are you in?”

“What the hell. Yeah.” He gave me the address and we agreed to meet nearby. What did I just get myself into? It was late enough for me to call Franklin at home so I did. I told him the story.

“Alright, when you were getting ready to cut down a huge pine tree you called me first. I think this is like that. Pick me up on your way.”

I had plenty of time to think about what I’d got myself into. The problem was that I just didn’t know. Who was Tien afraid of? What would they do if they found out he was leaving? How many of them were there? If it was just one, then it shouldn’t be a problem. Jake, Franklin, and I were all pretty good-sized guys and Cherry was a pretty decent size, too, and I knew we were all athletic. Franklin and I knew some kung fu and boxing and Jake could probably handle himself. He’d learned a few things in boxing class. What if it was really serious, though? What if Tien’s enemies were armed? What if there were eight or ten of them? I didn’t have answers to any of those questions.

I debated wearing my Chinese pajamas since I felt comfortable in them. I decided not to. If Tien’s enemies were also Chinese, they would know what they were and it might just escalate things without any sort of good reason. The thought crossed my mind that Tien’s enemies would be Chinese guys but they might not have a clue how to fight. I imagined Franklin and I beating them up using kung fu and it was everything I could do to keep from laughing out loud.

I settled on a dark pair of jeans and a mostly black T-Shirt. I picked Franklin up and we drove to North Charleston. We met Jake, Cherry, and Tien at the Piggly Wiggly near Park Circle. We weren’t in the nicest part of town but at least the rain had stopped.

Cherry introduced us around and Tien thanked us for coming. He was a little guy and he seemed relieved to have not just help, but big help. “My apartment is on the end. Everything inside is boxed up and ready and much is near the front door. I rented a big truck,” he said, pointing. “There are five of us. Thank you so much. We should be able to load everything very quickly. I don’t have much. The truck I rented is too big but I want to be able to fit everything in, quickly.”

“Tien, what are you concerned about? Should we expect trouble?” Franklin asked.

“I hope not. Li-Jen asked me to take a package to his business partner. I did it as a favor. I didn’t know what the package was. Papers, I thought. But when I tried to deliver it, another man was there and he took it from me. Li-Jen blames me. The package was very valuable.”

“And now?”

“And now he believes I owe him. I think the package was money but I don’t know. Maybe something else. Now, I think it is all about drugs but I don’t know that either. I know that I have to leave. If I don’t, I will be in danger.”

“That’s not good,” I said. “Where are you going to go?”

He looked at each of us. “Tonight, I will go to Columbia. Tomorrow, I’ll change to a smaller truck, I think, then go to California. I have cousins there. It might be best if I don’t say.”

“Tien, I don’t know this Li-Jen or how angry he’ll be if he catches you leaving. Do you have anything so valuable that it would be worth getting hurt over?” Franklin asked. He shook his head. “Then why don’t we load those things that mean the most to you first and if we have to leave before we get it all, we leave.”

“I think that is best.”

Tien parked the truck in the shadows next to his apartment. It would be a short walk from the front door to the back of the truck. His head was on a swivel as he walked to the front door. Jake couldn’t stop talking. Cherry told him to quiet down and he seemed just as nervous, too. Maybe Jake was nervous and he showed it differently. I stayed close to Franklin. I laughed because that’s what I did when I was nervous.

Standing at the front door, Franklin took over. “Tien, why don’t you stay near the door? That way you can direct us and watch for trouble. Let’s get this done and scoot. You two are too nervous for your own good and it’s going to make me jumpy. Let’s get it done and go get pizza.”

Jake and I moved a couple of heavy pieces while Cherry worked to get Tien’s more prized possessions loaded. I had no idea how old Tien was. He could have been twenty, or forty, but he seemed to have too much stuff to be a young guy. He had packed things up well, and it was all near the front door.

We had finished the last load and Tien was about to get in the truck when a dark Toyota sedan pulled up, directly in front of the truck and stopped. Two guys on motorcycles were right behind him. The guy from the Toyota got out and started talking to Tien in Chinese. He spoke fast and seemed pissed. None of us knew what to do until the guy started poking Tien in the chest with his finger.

When Franklin walked toward him, I followed. “I don’t know who you are or what you want but we’re here to help a friend move. Move your car,” he said, forcefully. I was sure the guy was Li-Jen. His two friends closed the distance and when they did, I moved forward and so did Jake and Cherry. Tien was terrified.

Li-Jen pulled out a butterfly knife and started flipping it around, trying to scare Franklin. “Not your fight Laowai. You go,” he said to Franklin.

“You’re confused, Li-Jen. Leave.”

Li-Jen moved forward toward Franklin, flashing his butterfly knife. I was certain that it would slice through skin pretty quickly but Franklin didn’t seem worried. “Last chance, Li-Jen. You go.”

Li-Jen smiled and moved forward, ready to slice Franklin up. What he wasn’t ready for was a swift kick in the balls. He’d been so focused on the knife that he forgot to keep his own guard up. It was a thing of beauty. Franklin was a lot bigger than Li-Jen and his kick lifted the little guy off the ground. He dropped the knife and doubled over. A second later, his dinner came up and Franklin moved back so he wouldn’t get his shoes splattered.

“You, move the car,” Franklin said to one of the motorcycle guys. “Do it now and you can leave.” The guy looked at Franklin, then Li-Jen, trying to decide what to do.

“Come on, Jack, let’s help them,” Jake said and when the two of us started toward them, they decided to move the car.

“Jack, make a note of the license plate,” Franklin said. “Le-Jen, you can worry about your nuts later. Get in the car and go. Now!” Li-Jen was suddenly motivated. He reached for his knife but Franklin told him, “Leave it. It’s mine now. Go.”

They left. They weren’t happy about it but they left.

“He’ll come back with friends. We need to leave,” Tien said.

“Jack, I’m going to ride with Tien, just in case. Let’s take the 26 up to Ashley Phosphate and regroup at Mario’s on Rivers. Cherry, why don’t you and Jake bring up the rear and keep your eyes out for these guys? We’ll park around back and meet you inside.”

No one argued with that. Tien pulled out with Franklin riding shotgun. I followed and watched Jake and Cherry fall in behind me. Holy shit. Franklin was awesome. Man, was I glad he came along. When I got out of my car at Mario’s, I noticed my hands shaking. I hadn’t done anything but they were both doing their own thing. I pushed them flat against my thighs and took a couple of deep breaths. When I checked again, they had slowed down.