Chapter 23

William bent over his keyboard studying the outputs of his program. The ringing of the cell phone broke his concentration. Irritated at another interruption, he pulled the phone out of his pocket and glanced at the caller id. The fact that the call was from Lucy concerned him. He answered, "Hello, Lucy."

"William, I'm here on campus and there's this old Chinese woman who looks lost," Lucy said.

"What do you want me to do?" William asked surprised by the nature of the call.

"She doesn't seem to understand English. Could you talk to her?"

"Sure," William answered thinking that it would have been much easier to find an oriental student on campus and have them talk to the woman.

"Okay, I'm going to hand the phone to her now," Lucy said.

A female voice speaking Mandarin said, "Get away from me you..."

By the way in which the voice had faded, it was clear the old woman had pushed away the phone. Smiling, William, in Mandarin, said, "Sometimes I think my Chinese mother is senile."

The result of his comment was a string of curses delivered rapid fire. He listened, laughing at the creativeness of the old woman, until Lucy asked, "What's she saying?"

"She says that she wants you to leave her alone," William answered using creative license in interpreting what the old woman was actually saying.

"Okay. I'll talk to you later," Lucy said.

They exchanged farewells and disconnected the call. William swiveled in his chair and said, "Colt, we've got to go to the university."

"Why?"

Grinning, William answered, "There's a senile old Chinese woman who needs to be taught a lesson."

The bodyguard frowned and said, "It's best to keep your distance from mentally unstable individuals."

"You can say that again."

On campus, Lucy and Natalie left the old woman behind. Lucy paused occasionally to look back at the old woman concerned that she would get into trouble. She said, "We really should do something for her."

Her patience near an end, the bodyguard said, "She doesn't want your help. Let's get some lunch so that you can get to your next class on time."

"You're right," Lucy said looking back at the old woman. The woman raised an angry fist in her direction.

Two young men wearing shirts with the name of the university on them approached talking animatedly. There were carrying plastic tubes, the kind that was often used to hold large photographs. Lost in their conversation, the pair bumped into Lucy and Natalie. Lucy was knocked back, but Natalie had seen them coming and braced herself. As the young man who had bumped into Natalie sputtered some apology, the other hit her on the back of her head with his tube. Natalie went down like a mobile home in a tornado.

Her hand over her mouth, Lucy backed away while staring at the man who had knocked Natalie down. When both men turned to face her, she realized that she was the real target of the attack. They had attacked Natalie so that they would be able to get her without interference. Turning, she fled across the campus unable to believe anyone would attack them in broad daylight and in public.

At first, she ran without a destination in mind. With the pounding of her pursuers' feet closing in on her, she veered and headed towards the one place where she thought she would be safe. Her sudden change in direction was fortunate as one of the men had leapt to tackle her. It took the men valuable time to recover and resume the chase.

When she passed under the sign at the entrance to the park, she started screaming, "Help. Help. They're after me."

Behind her, one of the men went down as a bag lady jumped on him. With animal savagery, she bit and scratched the man. His partner finally kicked her in the head and the other pushed her off. With a final angry gesture, he kicked her in the ribs.

Lucy spotted Fat Fred and ran to him. Tears streaked her face as she collapsed at his feet. The big man stepped around her as he said, "Don't worry now, Lucy Diamonds. You're safe."

Gasping for breath, she said, "I think they killed Natalie."

By the time the men reached Fat Fred, he was not standing alone. At least ten homeless men had joined him. Angry expressions on their face, they moved to surround the men who had chased Lucy into the park. The men, surprised to find themselves surrounded by homeless, started to back away.

They hadn't gone more than five feet when an old Chinese woman charged into the fray. Lucy stared at the woman in shock as the feeble old woman turned into a fighting machine. Using her cane, she gave each man a solid hit to their knees, groins, elbows, and chins. By the time she was done, neither of the men was able to do more than lie on the ground in pain.

Seeing Just Jan on the ground and knowing that Natalie was hurt, Lucy became fully aware that she didn't even know first aid. Feeling helpless to help them, she broke down in tears. Sobbing wildly, she said, "Go help Just Jan. Go help Natalie."

Lost in her tears, Lucy didn't see the police arrive followed a little later by the ambulances. When she finally recovered her wits, she found that Fat Fred was holding her and rocking her in his arms. His big body felt comforting and she whimpered. He whispered, "Everything's going to be all right."

The old Chinese woman knelt down next to her shaking her head. In a familiar voice, she said, "You're too kind for your own good. I kept trying to get rid of you and you kept trying to help me."

Lucy stared at the old woman trying to make sense of what she had seen. Although she looked eighty, the old woman moved like she was much younger. She looked at the old woman's hands and realized they were young hands. Shocked, she looked back at the face.

Although he had run all the way to the park, William slowed to walk when he approached the trio. He tried to look calm and collected, although he was anything but that. He could see that Lucy had not been harmed. Even though the old Chinese woman had her back to him and he couldn't see her face, he knew her. He greeted her, "Hello, Ling."

Ling spun and looked at William putting her hands on her hips in an angry gesture. In an irritated voice, she said, "How dare you tell a complete stranger that I'm senile!"

"I knew it was you," said William with a smile. He shook his head as he knelt down beside Lucy noticing that she hadn't figured out the identity of her rescuer. Breaking down into tears, she flowed from Fat Fred's embrace into his. The big man stood and moved to stand beside Ling.

Hugging Lucy tightly, William said, "You did the right thing. Natalie is okay; a student helping her told me that you had run in this direction. Right now, Colt is taking care of her."

"I was terrified. Who are they?"

Looking over at Ling, he said, "I don't know. I imagine they were hired by Missy. We'll know more after they're questioned. For a change, Ling left them healthy enough to be questioned although I think she may have broken the jaw on one of them."

Shrugging off the implied criticism, Ling said, "You only need one to talk."

It finally dawned on Lucy that William had known it was Ling after the telephone call. Curious, she asked, "How did you know it was Ling?"

Laughing at the look Ling gave him, William answered, "I knew that she was worried about your safety. The idea that she would sit back in Arizona was so preposterous that I knew she was in the area. When you mentioned an old Chinese woman wandering around on campus, there was only one person it could be."

Growling, Ling stamped her foot and said, "It still wasn't a nice thing you said to me."

"What was I supposed to say? Hello Ling, how about I blow your cover?"

Frustrated, Ling didn't answer. She knew that he was right. If he had identified her to Lucy, the young woman wouldn't have acted naturally. Fat Fred said, "So I take it you are related this ne'er do well."

"Yes. He's my son," answered Ling.

"Nice boy. He's got a good character," Fat Fred said nodding his head. Pointing around his domain, he said, "William arranged that it would be okay for us to stay here. It ain't a homeless hotel, but it is good to have a place to sleep at night where you won't be rousted by the cops."

"Don't put more into it than there is. They wouldn't have gone for it if you weren't here, Fat Fred," replied William. He helped Lucy to her feet. Once she was steady, he said, "I've got to ride in the ambulance with Just Jan. She took a good hit to the head."

"I'll go with you," Lucy said looking over at the men working on Just Jan. Several of the homeless were over there making sure she was being treated well.

Watching as William and Lucy went over to the ambulance, Ling's eyes misted. She said, "I'm so proud of him. He'll make sure that the woman is well taken care of."

"I know," Fat Fred said. "That's why I'm here rather than over there."

"You like William, don't you?"

Fat Fred nodded his head and said, "That boy and Happy Harry saved my life. I was trapped under a bridge when a flash flood hit. The water was almost over my head when they found me. William jumped in that rushing water and grabbed me. I got no idea how that boy managed my bulk. I don't know how Harry managed to handle the rope. All I know is that I came to on solid ground and they were taking care of me."

Surprised that she'd never heard the story before, Ling looked over at Fat Fred. His eyes glistened with tears. Voice quavering, he said, "Can you imagine that? A boy like him risking his life for a throw- away like me. I know he's rich, but you'd never know it by the way he treats us. He's always respectful and actually listens to folks."

"His fathers are like that," Ling said. That was what she loved about them.

"As long as we're around, you don't have to worry about William. I'd give my life to protect him. He's worth a thousand of me."

Both Ling and Fat Fred jumped when William said, "That's where you're wrong, Fat Fred. You're worth as much as I am. You're worth as much as anyone else and no one is worth more than you."

The big man, his back to William, held up a hand as he moved away. In a broken voice, he called back, "A man needs to be honest to himself. I know my worth."

William watched the big man move away and said, "He's a good man. Happy Harry always chooses good folk to help."

The idea that a homeless man would show such loyalty to her son was touching. Maybe he was a little safer with them around then she had thought. Rather than let her emotions show, she asked, "What are you doing over here?"