Kiss & Die - Lee Weeks [81]
Mahmud shifted uneasily in his chair.
‘So what made you take the oath? Why become a Triad? Or is your brother Hafiz the one I should be talking to? He was with you that night, wasn’t he?’
Mahmud shook his head but he looked down at the table.
‘What about your girlfriend, Lilly Mendoza? Did she tell you to target the girl? Are you protecting Lilly?’
Mahmud looked up at Mann, hopelessness in his eyes. ‘I don’t know anything. Lilly’s a friend, that’s all. She’s not my girlfriend. Hafiz wasn’t there. I don’t know how I came to have the knife in my hand. Someone handed it to me, that’s all.’ Mahmud looked close to tears. ‘I hope she’s okay, the young woman, the officer. I’m sorry.’
Mann turned as Mia stood in the doorway. Her face said it all. Tammy was dead.
Chapter 60
Shrimp sat on the mosque steps. Amongst the neon and brashness of Nathan Road whose buildings bulged and leant like collapsing card houses, it was white and beautifully uniform: an oasis on the eye. It was a perfect square, a white dome in the centre, towers at each corner, it had arched windows running along each face.
Shrimp had got a text from Nina asking him to meet her at lunchtime. He had arranged to meet with David first. David came down the steps from prayer and sat beside Shrimp. He shook Shrimp’s hand.
‘Have you brought me any news of my brother?’
Shrimp shook his head. ‘Not yet, I’m sorry. How are things at the Mansions?’
David didn’t answer for a few minutes. They sat on the steps and watched the people hurry by. He shook his head. ‘Things are bad. Very bad. My friends and I will have to take action soon. We have no choice now. They are children but they are killers. They meet on the rooftop at night. They wear their weapons openly in the day. No one stops them. They rule the Mansions now. But, they forget, where we come from, we are used to fighting, street battles. We are used to death. We will arm ourselves and fight to live.’
‘When they have the meetings on the roof, do you go there?’
David shook his head. ‘To go there would mean death, my friend. They would eat you like hungry piranhas. But, since we talked I have watched the people very closely. I see a woman come and go, beautiful, in disguise. She keeps her head down so that I cannot look into her eyes but I know she belongs with them, even though she is older. I think that is the woman you talk about. She is the leader.’
‘Is she Chinese?’
‘I don’t know. She hides her face but her skin is paler than most. She wears nice shoes. I notice things like shoes, it’s what I trade in.’
Shrimp looked at his watch. ‘I have to go now. Keep watching for me, David, and I will keep looking for your brother.’
Shrimp left David, crossed the road and made his way up the stairs in block B, fifth floor.
He stood as he saw her approach. He almost didn’t recognize her. She was wearing jeans. ‘Nina?’ She came down the stairs as he was coming up.
She smiled nervously. ‘Hello. Thank you for coming. I’m sorry if it’s been inconvenient.’ Her long hair was loose. It fell around her shoulders.
‘Of course not; it’s no trouble.’ Shrimp felt his heart hammer inside his checked shirt. He had chosen to wear his vintage American cowboy boots beneath his Levi’s. ‘I didn’t recognize you, sorry. I was really glad to get your text.’ Shrimp felt his face turning red. ‘You look lovely.’
‘I can wear jeans sometimes.’
‘You look lovely whatever you wear.’
‘I can’t go outside the Mansions like this. But I can wear it for you, here,’ she smiled.
In the ill-lit stairwell Shrimp couldn’t get over her beauty.
‘We can sit here, if that’s okay.’ She led him to the stairs. They sat on the concrete stairwell in the shadows.
‘Anywhere will be fine. Is everything all right? Your text sounded urgent.’
‘My brother, Mahmud? I worry about him constantly. The whole family is distraught. My grandmother cries all the time. My father cannot work without stopping every few minutes to say prayers. We are still hoping that Mahmud will come home any day. How is he? Have you seen him?’
‘He’s been moved. I wasn’t there when