Nine Dragons - A Beatrix Rose Thriller: Hong Kong Stories Volume 1 (Beatrix Rose's Hong Kong Stories Book 2) by Mark Dawson

page when you need to contact me.”
    The lift arrived and she opened the door and then pulled the cage back.
    “Be careful, Beatrix.”
    She nodded as he bowed again and got into the lift.
    She waited until the car had descended and then went back into Grace’s flat. She looked around, opening the cupboards and seeing cans of chicken chow mein and dried noodles. There was nothing else, and Beatrix realised that the girl must have been living off just these basic foodstuffs. She closed the cupboards and gazed at the room. Everything was colourless and drab. She felt a flash of pity. The girl’s life had been difficult enough as it was, and then it had worsened.
    She found a bag in the bedroom and packed it with a selection of clothes that she found. Grace couldn’t stay here, that much was for sure. Chau had been correct. They did need to be careful. Beatrix didn’t know whether anyone else knew where the dead man had gone, but she couldn’t assume that he was working alone. There was a chance, at least, that others would come. Grace needed to be gone.
    She closed and locked the door and crossed the landing to her own apartment. She laid out two bath towels on the floor, set a sheet over the top and took the cushion from the chair. She locked the door and, staring at it, took the chair and propped it at an angle so that the top was jammed beneath the handle.
    She took the Glock and placed it on the floor next to her bed. She lay down, rested her head, and closed her eyes. She quickly fell asleep.
    #
    BEATRIX WOKE early the next morning. She carefully opened the door to the bedroom and saw that Grace was still asleep. She took the Glock and hid it in a box of cornflakes and then hurried down to the store at the foot of the apartment block to buy breakfast for them both. She bought dim sum and congee with pickled vegetables, aduki beans, peanuts, tofu, and meats. Grace was still sleeping when she returned, and she remained that way until the noise of the kettle woke her.
    She came out of the room, rubbing her eyes.
    “Hungry?”
    She nodded.
    Beatrix busied herself, taking a plate and laying out the gao and bao and doling out the congee into two bowls. The girl sat cross-legged on the floor and devoured the dim sum. She ate quickly, shoving the dumplings and steamed rolls into her mouth with her fingers and then began to set about the rice porridge. Beatrix thought of the drab tinned chow mein that the girl had evidently been living off. No wonder she was eating so enthusiastically. Beatrix brought her a cup of tea and then offered her second helpings. Grace finished the rest of the congee and, when she was finally done, she leant back against the wall and gave Beatrix a small smile.
    “Thank you.”
    “You’re welcome.”
    Grace looked across the room and recognised the bag that Beatrix had used to pack her things. Perhaps she had been ignoring what had happened last night, but seeing the bag must have served as a reminder. Her chin began to quiver and Beatrix thought she was about to cry.
    “You’re going to be all right,” she said, trying to calm her. “The man is gone.”
    “But I cannot return.”
    “No. That wouldn’t be safe.”
    “Then where can I go?”
    “Your sister?”
    “I told you. I do not know where she is.”
    And I’m not sure that I’d be happy passing you over to her , Beatrix thought. Whatever the extent of the situation she found herself in, one thing was clear: the sister was responsible for it.
    “Do you have any other family?”
    “I have aunt. In Tianjin.”
    Tianjin was two hundred kilometres from Beijing. It was a full day’s travel by train and bus from Hong Kong.
    “You can get in touch with her?”
    “Of course,” she said. “I email.”
    “You could go there?”
    “Yes,” she said. “But I have no money for ticket.”
    “Don’t worry about the money. Could you email her today?”
    She shrugged. “Of course. I use café in road. I know man there. Lets me use