Red Phoenix

soft sound behind me. I checked in the mirror. She was sobbing silently.
    ‘There are tissues on the back shelf behind you,’ I said quietly.
    My dad nodded and handed them to my mother. ‘Gold, where’s Michael?’ I said.
    Gold concentrated again. ‘Festival Walk with a friend.’
    ‘Just one friend? How many times have I told him about this? Tell him to call me, I want to talk to him.’
    Gold hesitated. ‘No need, my Lady, he’s with Na Zha.’
    I went ice-cold. ‘He is grounded for a month.’ I glanced away from the road to glare at Gold. ‘You knew he was with Na Zha?’
    ‘He is perfectly safe with the Third Prince, you know that, my Lady,’ Gold said mildly. ‘They are becoming very close friends. They have much incommon. They often go…’ he hesitated ‘…hunting together.’
    ‘You have no idea how much trouble you are in, Gold,’ I said. ‘The Third Prince is a bad influence and you know it.’
    ‘The Dark Lord said it’s okay,’ Gold said.
    I snorted. ‘All three of you will get it very badly when we’re home.’
    ‘Dark Lord?’ my father said softly.
    Gold didn’t reply.
    ‘Did you really get an MBA, Emma?’ my father said after a long moment of uncomfortable silence.
    ‘I did get the MBA, and the graduation is tomorrow night,’ I said. ‘They probably thought you’d check. They didn’t know…’ I hesitated. ‘They didn’t know that I haven’t told you what’s going on.’ I banged the steering wheel with my palm. ‘Damn!’ I glanced at my father in the mirror. ‘When did you get the tickets?’
    ‘About two weeks ago,’ he said. ‘We had to rush to apply for our passports so that we could come. But every time we called you, there was no answer. Your mother was surprised we managed to get your mobile at the airport.’
    ‘What a stroke of luck,’ Gold said. ‘I wonder why the man who met them didn’t try to stop her.’
    ‘He did try to stop her,’ my father said. ‘She went to the ladies room. She called you on the way back. He went berserk, trying to say she didn’t need to call, the phones were down, you were busy, but your mother was already talking to you.’
    ‘Oh God,’ I moaned. ‘That was so close.’
    My mother made another quiet sound behind me.
    ‘Are they gangsters?’ my father said.
    ‘I wish,’ I said with feeling. ‘I’ll tell you all when we’re home. Mr Chen will talk to you too.’ I spoke to Gold without turning away from the road. ‘Check Leo.’
    Gold dialled again. ‘He’s at Central Station.’
    ‘Tell him I’ll pick him up in Theatre Lane. I’ll make a stop there on the way up.’
    Gold didn’t speak into the phone. He spoke directly to Leo. Leo’s voice shouted on the phone. ‘He says no, make sure your parents are safe first. He says he’ll be fine.’
    ‘Tell him that’s an order.’
    ‘Done. He’s waiting for you.’ Gold hung up.
    At Theatre Lane, Gold jumped out of the car and Leo pulled himself in. I nodded to Gold and he nodded back as I drove away.
    ‘What happened, Emma? Who is this?’ Leo said.
    ‘These are my parents—my dad, Brendan Donahoe, and Barbara, my mum. Mum, Dad, this is Leo. He’s Simone’s other bodyguard.’
    ‘Pleased to meet you,’ Leo lisped politely. My parents stared at him as if he was from another planet. He turned to speak to me. ‘Gold said that they were brought to Hong Kong without you knowing.’
    ‘That’s right,’ I said. ‘It was a tremendous stroke of luck that my mum called me before the demon could stop her.’
    There was complete silence.
    ‘ Demon ?’ my father yelled.
    ‘Oh God !’ my mother wailed.
    Leo and I both stiffened. Neither of us said anything. Then, ‘Let’s get you safe,’ I said quietly.
    My parents sat in silence in the dining room and glared at John with loathing.
    ‘Do you have any questions?’ John said gently.
    ‘Yeah. What’s the real story?’ my father growled.
    ‘You need proof?’ Gold said.
    ‘How did you come up here so quickly?’ my father asked Gold.
    ‘There’s some of your proof,’ I said. ‘Gold, find me a phone.’
    The business day was just starting in London. I called Leonard.
    ‘Hi, Leonard, this is Emma. Could you do me a favour? My parents are here. Could you tell my father exactly who John Chen Wu is? The whole story?’
    Leonard wasn’t very happy, but agreed anyway. I passed the phone to my father. He listened for a while.
    ‘How long?’ he said.
    ‘A what ?’ he yelled.
    ‘I