“All we know is he’s connected, worked for Ray Zhang. I didn’t mention this before because I didn’t think it was relevant, but he was having an affair with Jia Zhang.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“I saw them together on Vancouver Island. The night I went to get Bonnie. They were definitely intimate.”

He meets my eyes briefly, then clears his throat and shuffles some papers on the desk. “Okay.”

“Rumor has it he was a mercenary of some sort, but who is he? Where was he born? What was his life before Zhang?”

“Exactly. And if he went into hiding, we need to know where he would feel most comfortable.”

“All we’ve ever known about him is a single name,” I say, because this has bothered me for a long time.

“We need to look at this like someone hired us to do it. Except you’re the client and, Nora, you’re too close to Dao. I think you should take Three Phoenix and Vidal. I’ll see what I can come up with on my end.”

“Okay,” I say.

He blinks. “Okay?”

“Yeah, sure. It’s a good idea.”

He frowns. “I know.”

He’s unsure about this drastic turn of events, that I’m agreeing with him, but since it’s what he wants he lets it go.

The only lead to Dao is Three Phoenix and, now, Peter Vidal. But to pursue it, I need Brazuca and his shaky nerves out of the way.

He may never know it, but it’s better this way. For him.

16

It’s times like this that I wish I had a place of my own. I would settle for a room. The cost of rentals in this city are downright Dickensian, and there are two cities here. The people who make up the first cohort are spending their winters somewhere warmer and aren’t around to hear the complaints. The second batch of folks are those who are actually getting screwed. Such as Leo and myself. By his living conditions, I can tell the business isn’t doing too well. His heart isn’t in private investigations right now. In his medicine cabinet, I find three empty bottles of sleeping pills. Tacked on the fridge are invoices from his therapist.

I am drowning in sad men.

The saddest men I see yet are those at the gym in the middle of the day, which is where I am now. The girl at the front desk makes me wait ten minutes to see a sales rep, and I spend another ten minutes explaining to him that I only want to take advantage of the free day passes advertised on their website. Who commits to a year without trying it out first?