The Stone Monkey

“Sachs!”
    “What?”
    “I need a phone number. Fast.”
    •   •   •
    The Ghost held his Model 51 pistol against his cheek.
    The hot metal, redolent of oil and sweet grease, gave him reassurance. Yes, he wanted a new weapon, something bigger and more dependable—like the Uzi and the Beretta he’d lost on the Dragon. But this was a good-fortune gun, one he’d had for years. He believed it was lucky because he’d come by the pistol in this way: near Taipei once, he’d gone to a temple to pray. Someone had tipped the police that he was inside and two officers stopped him as he came down the stairs. One of them, though, had hesitated to pull a gun at a Buddhist temple and, flustered, he’d dropped this very weapon on the grass. The Ghost had scooped it up, shot both of the young policemen to death, then escaped.
    From that day on this gun had been his good-luck charm, a present from his bowman god, Yi.
    It had been nearly an hour since Kashgari had gone inside to make sure the Wus’ children stayed put. The shops had closed along this part of Canal—the armed guards were gone, he was sure, and the sidewalks were largely deserted. Let’s get on with it, the Ghost thought and stretched. He was tired of waiting. Yusuf and theother Turk were too. They’d been complaining about hunger but he guessed that even some of the restaurants and delis here had security cameras and the Ghost was not going to let himself or any associate be recorded on tape for something as frivolous as food. They’d have to—
    “Look,” he whispered, glancing up the street.
    At the end of the block, he saw two people climb from a cab, nervously keeping their heads down. The Wus. The Ghost recognized them clearly from the cheap running suits they wore. They paid the driver and walked into a drugstore on the corner, the husband clutching his wife around the waist. Her arm was in a cast or was wrapped with thick bandages. He carried a shopping bag.
    “Get the masks ready. Check your weapons.”
    The two Turks complied.
    Five minutes later the Wus left the drugstore. They were walking as quickly as they could, considering the wife’s condition.
    He said to Hajip, “You stay with the car. Keep the engine running. He and I”—a nod toward Yusuf—“will follow the Wus inside. We push them into their apartment and close the door. We’ll use pillows for silencers. I want to bring the daughter with us. We’ll keep her for a while.”
    Yindao would, he knew, forgive this infidelity.
    The Wus were now five meters from their doorway, shuffling fast, heads down, oblivious to the gods of death who fluttered nearby.
    The Ghost found his cell phone and called the Turk in the Wus’ apartment.
    “Yes?” Kashgari answered.
    “The Wus’re close to the building. Where are the children?”
    “The boy’s in the bathroom. The girl’s with me.”
    “As soon as they walk into the alley we’ll come in right behind them.”
    He shut off the power to the phone—so there’d be no distracting ring at inopportune moments. The Ghost and Yusuf pulled their masks down over their faces and climbed out. The other Turk slipped behind the wheel of the Blazer.
    The Wus were moving closer to the door.
    The Ghost stepped off the curb and walked straight toward his victims.
    Afraid, you can be brave . . . .

GHOSTKILL
----
    Easton, Long Island, Crime Scene
    • Two immigrants killed on beach; shot in back.
    • One immigrant wounded—Dr. John Sung.
    • “Bangshou” (assistant) on board; identity unknown.
         • Assistant confirmed as drowned body found near site where Dragon sank.
    • Ten immigrants escape: seven adults (one elderly, one injured woman), two children, one infant. Steal church van.
    • Blood samples sent to lab for typing.
         • Injured woman is AB negative. Requesting more information about her blood.
    • Vehicle awaiting Ghost on beach left without him. One shot believed fired by Ghost at vehicle. Request for vehicle make and model sent out, based on tread marks and wheelbase.
         • Vehicle is a BMW X5.
            • Driver—Jerry Tang.
    • No vehicles to pick up immigrants located.
    • Cell phone, presumably Ghost’s, sent for analysis to FBI.
         • Untraceable satellite secure phone. Hacked Chinese gov’t system to use it.
    • Ghost’s weapon is 7.62mm pistol. Unusual casing.
         • Model 51 Chinese automatic pistol.
    • Ghost is reported to