“If he did,” I add.

Lam nods. “If he did, he didn’t have to.”

“But you think he flew into a rage? Where the hell is he, then?”

Nobody answers me. “What about Van Nguyen? We need to find him.”

“We lost track of him,” says Kristof. “He never went back to the house he kept you in. I think there must have been a camera setup that I missed.”

I think about it for a moment. “Then we get to him through Peter Vidal.” I tell them about Vidal’s connection to Nguyen. “Problem is, he’s a hard man to get ahold of.”

Edison Lam rises from behind his son’s desk. “We’ll take care of that. If we find Nguyen, we’ll find Dao.”

I had said the same thing about Jimmy Fang. But this feels closer. The Fang case led us to Nguyen, which is more than we’d had before.

He nods to Kristof. Kristof nods back. I feel no pity for Peter Vidal.

But Vidal is one step ahead of us.

When we return to the marina, me and Kristof, and two other men from Kristof’s team who have joined us in a separate vehicle, we find the yacht empty. Vidal isn’t at his house in Point Grey, either. He’s long gone.

61

Kristof brings me back to Simone’s apartment. I don’t invite him up, but he follows anyway. Simone is still awake, still tapping away at one of the computers in her office. When she hears me enter the apartment, she walks into the kitchen wearing a man’s oversize button-down shirt that skims her thighs. There’s a hint of black boxers peeking out from underneath the shirt.

Kristof keeps his eyes on her face, but she doesn’t restrict herself in that way. She lets him know this is her home, her castle, and she’ll send long, lingering glances to anyone she damn well pleases. She gives him a slow look up and down. Taking in his slim, strong physique, the air of strength, the gray eyes like a Vancouver day, and the cheekbones that belong on a fashion model.

“Nice, but not my type. Thanks anyway, Nora,” she says.

When she goes, she leaves behind a sexually charged tension that neither Kristof nor I are in the mood for. We’ve both had a long day.

It’s impossible to tell how Kristof feels about being nice but not nice enough. “The problem with using someone as bait is that if a person senses a trap, it’s over,” Kristof says.

“Is Kristof a first name or a last name?” I ask.

“It could be both, depending on a person’s culture.”

“What’s it with you?”

He doesn’t answer.

“Even if Dao senses a trap, he might still take a chance. He despises me, remember?”

“He doesn’t know about this place? About this . . . friend?”