Peter Wong set the helicopter down on a landing pad one hundred metres from the palm-lined walkway leading to the main entrance of the Eight building.

‘We’ll cross in pairs. Get to the main entrance. Use the trees for cover. We stick together until we find out what and how many people we are up against. Wong will use the helicopter as cover and pick off what he can. Agreed?’

There was a grunt of agreement. Wong killed the engine. It was two a.m. The night was warm and sticky in the quarry base. So far there’d been no sound of a reception committee, but Mann knew it was just a matter of time.

One by one they stepped out onto the tarmac. Commander Ting and his men were first to sprint across the runway, with Shrimp in tow.

Mann watched the men secrete themselves behind the palms. He and Ng were the last to run across. Midway, the firing began. A volley of gunfire passed millimetres above their heads. Wong retaliated. The shots echoed around the quarry base. Mann reached Ng and Li. He saw what Li had in his hand – it wasn’t police issue.

‘Shit, Li! Where did you get that?’ Li was carrying a Colt M16 rifle.

‘Off the Internet.’

‘Can you use that thing?’ Ng whispered.

‘Sure can, sir! Three-round bursts or fully automatic?’

‘Shut up and just do it. Over there – to the right.’ Ng gestured towards the second quarry. Li flicked the fire-selector catch forward for automatic and fired a round into the darkness. There was a silence for five seconds then fire was returned from five different stations around the edge of the runway and to the far side of the Eight building.

‘Fuck! That pissed them off!’ Li sank back behind the palm.

‘Least we know where they are now,’ said Ng.

The sound of feet running across tarmac and a single shot passed over their heads, fired into the undergrowth behind them. Wong was finding his mark. There was a thud of weight on tarmac and the skittle of a dropped gun. A body lay on the runway. Another burst and Wong took out another and another. No sound for five minutes, then, from somewhere at the back of the Six building, they heard a door close.

Mann judged it time to move and signalled to the PTUs to make their way around to the back of the Six building, while the rest of them made their way towards the main entrance, twenty metres ahead. They could see the reception ahead of them lit up by one huge tiered chandelier hanging just inside the glass doors. There was no sign of life. Mann, Ng and Li edged forward one at a time until all three stood on the black marble floor of the reception area. Above their heads ornamental swathes of silk hung down as the building spiralled in glass layers, fossil like, upwards to its four floors. All was still and silent except for the click and whir of unmanned electronic equipment.

The air-con was working, blasting them with cold air. Further into the building an acrid smell hung in the air and there was a thin veil of smoke in the atmosphere. Mann signalled to Ng to watch the door as he edged forward towards the large black marble reception desk to get a look behind it. He peered over the top. Hiding, as far into the corner as she could get, her knees tucked up under her chin, was a young woman dressed in a traditional Korean bridal outfit. She let out a startled scream when she saw Mann. He put his finger to his lips for quiet, smiled reassuringly, and flashed his warrant card. She stared back at him, shaking, her face frozen into a petrified smile. She tucked her legs even further beneath her and shook uncontrollably.

‘Where is Kim?’ he asked her as she blinked up at him. ‘The black mamasan. Where is she?’

At the same time as she shook her head, her eyes flicked upwards to the stairs.

‘Which floor?’

She didn’t answer. Mann picked up a set of keys from a shelf beneath the desk. ‘Are these the master keys?’

She nodded.

He bent down. ‘You need to work on your reception skills, young lady. Now, which floor shall I start looking?’

The girl hesitated, saw the look on Mann’s face, and then spluttered ‘Fourth’.

Ng hung back to cover any unwanted guests while Mann and Li took the stairs. The place was deserted. Cautiously but quickly, they passed the landings, one, two and three, and stopped on the fourth. They walked along separate sides of the silent corridor, straining and listening as they went. There was no sound except the soft pad of leather-soled shoes on expensive carpet.

There were twelve doors on the landing. It was difficult to know which to try first, and Mann didn’t have time to waste. He scanned the corridor. There was something different about the last three rooms – the doors. They were double in size – for getting large equipment in and out.

Mann sprinted to the last door on the right, tried his keys, gave up. He stepped back a few paces and charged at the door. His shoulder thudded into it. It rocked slightly, but it didn’t give in. He took a few extra paces back towards the wall behind and charged again. Better. The door creaked, splintered slightly. The third time it flew open.

Li glanced inside then instantly backed away from the door.

‘Stay here, Li,’ Mann said, as he stepped inside and saw a sight that would haunt him forever.

97

In the far right-hand corner of the room, Kim was on her knees, tied at the wrists and suspended from two posts. She was naked and badly beaten. Where her knees touched the floor, they rested in pools of blood.

Mann went over to her and lifted her head gently. She was still breathing, just.

‘Kim?’

She didn’t answer. Her face was swollen and battered. He reached inside his jacket and took out a knife, flicked it open, and cut her arms free. She coughed and groaned in pain as her body fell against him.

He laid her gently down on the floor, took off his jacket and covered her. He shouted to Li to fetch the emergency aid pack from the helicopter and to hurry up. Kim heard his voice; she stirred and tried to open her eyes.

‘Johnny?’

‘All right, Pussy?’

‘I’m fucked, Johnny.’

‘You’ll be all right, Kim. You’ll be okay. Stay calm.’

He looked her over. She was covered in small-slatted puncture wounds everywhere on her body. Some of the wounds looked deep, but it was impossible to see how deep.

Kim tried to smile, but coughed instead and blood splattered across his face. Mann looked down at her ribs … Must have hit a lung.

‘Hang on, Kim. Stay with me.’ He wiped the blood from her mouth and cradled her.

‘Sorry, Johnny … Should have listened to you,’ she whispered.

‘Did Chan do this to you, Kim?’

She shook her head and flinched again. ‘He ordered it. His men did it.’ Her voice trailed off and Mann felt her body grow solid and heavy. ‘He took Georgina. I don’t know where. Sorry, Johnny.’

‘That’s all right, Kim. I’ll find her. Just stay with me now, Kim. Stay here. Hang on. You’re going to make it.’

‘I’m dying, Johnny.’

‘You’re not fucking dying! Stay with me, Kim! For once in your life do as you’re told! You’re going to be fine. I got plans for us. I’ve just upped my job offer to live-in housekeeper, uniform, the works.’

She smiled. ‘I’m gonna miss you, Johnny.’ She lay heavy in his arms, and then she was gone.

Ng appeared at the doorway.

Mann didn’t turn around. ‘Just give me a moment, please, Ng.’

Ng stood and waited. Mann pulled Kim closer to him and cradled her for a few minutes before he kissed her on the forehead. Then he laid her gently back down.

How many more women was he going to have to lose? No more, he vowed. He wasn’t going to attend one more fucking autopsy and see someone he cared about lying on the slab.

‘Sorry, Mann, I know she was a friend,’ Ng said.