Backfire

“Ah, here comes the sketch.”

Sherlock looked over at MAX’s screen at the man’s face. “Not very distinctive, is he? Not a single Asian facial characteristic except maybe for the thick black hair. Green eyes, and a thin, longish face. What age would you say, about thirty-five?”

Savich said, “Yeah, that’s about right.” He stared at the man and found himself wondering how Xu had hooked up with the Chinese government, and why he’d become a traitor to his country of birth. Does he feel more Chinese than American? Or is it all about money? Savich knew neither was the whole of it. Fact was, though, Xu was a psychopath who happened to be half Chinese and had found a perfect fit getting paid to do what he took pleasure in.

San Francisco General Hospital

Tuesday morning

They found Cindy Cahill in the surgical ICU only one cubicle away from where Ramsey had fought for his life, shot by the same man who’d ordered Cindy killed. Officer Colley looked them over from beside Cindy’s cubicle and smiled at them. He’d also done a guard shift when Ramsey had been here.

“Good to see you, Agent Savich, Agent Sherlock. Agent Christoff and Deputy Barbieri have been waiting inside for you for a couple of minutes. There’ve been lots of doctors and nurses in and out. I think she’s in trouble.” He held up his cell phone to show them the sketch of Xu. “Just got it.” He nodded to Sherlock. “No sign of him. You can bet they’ll strip-search any guy who looks like him before he leaves the lobby, ball cap or not.”

Cindy looked white as death, her eyes closed, her eyelids bruised, her hair matted down. There was a plastic oxygen mask over her mouth, and when she breathed, it was with effort, as if it was hard work for her. The single sheet pulled over her was stained pink where it touched her chest, and looked to be draped over a maze of gurgling tubes, packings, and pressure dressings, some of them stained pink as well. One of her IVs held a bag of blood that was slowly dripping into her arm. Without makeup, without a show of her usual attitude and the force of her personality, she looked young and vulnerable, and gravely ill.

Savich nodded to Eve and Harry. “Has she been asleep since you got here?”

Eve shook her head. “She’s awake, but she hurts and she’s dopey from all the drugs they’re pumping into her. The doctor told me he didn’t know whether she’d make any sense or not.”

Sherlock said, “All we can do is try.”

“Ah, there’s an eye opening.” Eve leaned over her. “Good morning, Cindy. You want to blink at me so I know you’re there?”

Cindy Cahill blinked. “I’m here,” she whispered.

“Are you in pain?” Savich asked.

Incredibly, she smiled. “It doesn’t feel like I’m swimming in Bali with the sun beating down on me, if that’s what you mean. I’ve always wanted to go to Bali, but I don’t know if I’m going to make it there now. Do you know she apologized to me after she stuck that knife in my chest?”

Everyone felt a pang of pity until Cindy whispered, a heap of venom in her voice, “I even went out of my way to talk to that skinny little bitch. I mean, I didn’t have anything better to do, so why not? And all she did was yak, yak about her son, as if I cared.” The real Cindy, attitude and all, had snapped back into focus, as ill as she was.

Harry grinned. “Sounds like you’re getting back to normal, Cindy,” he said, and kept his fingers crossed she’d stay with it.

“I won’t be back to normal ever. Look at me. At least the bitch didn’t kill me.”

“Her name’s Lin Mei,” Sherlock said.

“Who are you?”

“I’m an FBI agent.”

Cindy said, “I like your hair. I once had red hair, well, more auburn, really, but I didn’t curl it like you do yours.” She cut her eyes to Eve. “What I hate is blond ponytails. I mean, it’s so dated, like a woman trying to regain her girlhood. It’s pathetic.”

Eve said, “The reason Lin Mei tried to kill you is because Xu threatened to murder her little boy if she didn’t.”

They all saw how quickly Cindy computed this, even as sick and drugged as she was. “Poor kid’s dead now. I mean, since I’m alive, it means Mom failed, and Xu will find that out fast enough.”

“Her boy is being protected,” Sherlock said. “He’ll be fine.”

Eve continued, “Do you know Lin Mei’s in shock and here in the psychiatric unit?”

“She’s probably faking it. I hope she goes down hard for this.” They saw a hand clench. “I actually pretended to listen to her! I actually paid her some attention, and this is how she repays me.”