The Chinese Woman: The Barbados Conspiracy Read online

  “I’m going to monitor the Chinatown Killer investigation very closely,” continued Benoit. “When we catch him, I don’t want the Seattle Police to scoop all the publicity. I’m going to make sure that the Bureau gets the credit.”

  What a moron, Sean thought, we haven’t even come close to catching the scumbag and he’s already worrying about the news headlines. Sean made a point of never answering or commenting on most of Benoit’s ideas.

  “Now get out there and work your informants. Someone knows who this guy is. As soon as you have a suspect, haul him in for questioning.”

  Sean couldn’t let this stupid suggestion go unanswered. “This generally isn’t the type of crime where informants can be helpful, but even if they can give us a suspect, I think we’d be better off putting surveillance on him than bringing him in for interrogation. He’s not going to admit to murders if we have no evidence, and that would only put him on the alert knowing that we are investigating him.”

  “Well, I’ll leave it up to you, but your idea had better work or heads will roll. Keep me posted as things develop.”

  You’re the last person I’ll keep posted, you buffoon, thought Sean. Luckily, the Special Agent in Charge, Jim Bridges, was an experienced and bright investigator and would overrule Benoit’s interfering commands. Sean was convinced that the upper management of the FBI were all Benoit clones; political hacks and yes men who clamored for power and had no knowledge or experience at the grassroots level. Excellent law enforcement officers and managers like Jim Bridges were seldom promoted beyond being in charge of a field office.

  CHAPTER 7

  Gary Webster had created within Sean a great interest in China. Before Gary became his partner, he had little knowledge of China and only limited interest. Now, he was most anxious to go there, possibly on a tour if he couldn’t convince Gary to go with him. Traveling is always so much better when you are with someone who knows the language and the culture. Gary had taught Sean how to play the Chinese game of wuziqi, an excellent brain exercise, and they usually played a few games every lunch hour.

  Sean had recently joined a taiji class held in a community club near his apartment. He had always heard that it was an exercise that provided many health benefits that western type exercises didn’t offer. He still intended to keep up his jogging and his weight training, but taiji would help him deal with stress; besides it always made him feel good; very relaxed. Although Sean was a cynic, and had low expectations of the Bureau and the government, he still cared and strived to do the right thing, which almost always meant bucking the system and maneuvering through the bureaucracy. The end result was stress. Most of his fellow agents thought that the bullshit didn’t affect Sean because he didn’t care, but they were wrong. His stress resulted from striving to do his job and achieve results, while at the same time believing that the bureaucracy would prevent him from doing this.

  At Gary’s suggestion, Sean, and his friend Lucas, enrolled at the Chinese Community Centre for their taiji course because Gary had told him that is where he would receive the best quality instruction. Lucas and Sean had been taking taiji instruction at a local community club, but Gary convinced them that Chinatown was a better option.

  Gary didn’t practice taiji himself and he would tell Sean it was a sport for the elderly. He never missed a chance to needle Sean about his age. Actually, Gary had learned taiji in China, but preferred to spend his spare time romancing a variety of female acquaintances. As the Seattle FBI office’s most horny agent, he certainly wasn’t going to waste valuable evenings performing exercises, unless those exercises were performed in bed.

  On the day of the first class, Sean sat in a chair beside Lucas awaiting the arrival of the other students and the instructor. When the instructor arrived, or the person he assumed was the instructor, he was pleased to see she was a very attractive Chinese woman in her mid-thirties. He decided he was going to enjoy this course immensely. The instructor introduced herself as “Han Xia”. She was tall, slim with long black hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her posture was erect and her movements graceful. Sean was extremely pleased that he had decided to enroll in the Chinatown club.

  The class was equally divided between students who appeared to be Chinese, and white Caucasians like himself. They were of all ages, from persons who appeared to be in their late teens to one or two who could be approaching eighty.

  As the class assembled, the most beautiful woman Sean had ever seen approached the instructor, smiled and touched her shoulder. This recent arrival, a Chinese woman, was dressed in a white taiji costume, similar to the one worn by the instructor. A few of the Chinese students also wore taiji costumes but most others, like himself, wore track suits or sweats. This new women appeared to be the same approximate height as the instructor and had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. She too wore her long black hair in a ponytail and it almost reached her waist. It was obvious that she and the instructor knew each other, and she too had erect bearing and moved very gracefully, almost as if she was floating above the floor.

  Sean now transferred his full attention to the new Chinese woman who had joined the class, and he was determined to meet her. When the class formed, he positioned himself in the row behind her and one position to the side. He would have a good excuse to watch her, because since she wore the taiji costume, presumably she would be familiar with the movements.

  During class, the beautiful Chinese woman’s face was quite serious as she concentrated on the movements. Her movements flowed one to the other as if they were all one movement and she was the only one in the class, other than the instructor, who had the leg strength to lower her body within six inches of the ground while keeping her back vertical, still flowing one movement to the next. Her eyes looked nowhere and everywhere and she used her peripheral vision so that no movement around her was missed. To Sean’s dismay, he did not catch her looking at him even once. However, at the end of class, he smiled at her and she smiled right back.

  “I see you are quite advanced compared to the rest of us,” said Sean.

  “Thank you. I train daily, but I enjoy the class. It gives me a chance to exercise and meet new people,” said the beautiful woman.

  “My name is Sean McNamara. What’s yours?”

  “I am Li Mei. I am happy to meet you,” she replied with a hint of a Chinese accent.

  “May I interest you in a coffee or a cup of tea Li Mei?

  “No, maybe some other time. I must get back to my studies,” said Li Mei. Although this man was quite handsome and charming, romantic relationships didn’t fit into her plans. She had a job to do and wasn’t going to be distracted.

  “Yes, another time maybe. Can I give you a ride home? I’m perfectly safe and harmless,” asked Sean with a laugh.

  “I’m sure I’d be taking you out of your way. I live out at the university.”

  “As a matter of fact, that’s fairly close to where I am going,” Sean lied. “I’d be happy to give you a lift.

  To Sean’s delight, Li Mei agreed to let him drive her to the university dorm. She had not yet rented a car and this would save her a rather long bus ride. She did admit to herself, that she was somewhat attracted to this man, Sean.

  “So what do you do at the university Li Mei,” said Sean as they drove down the main street in the direction of the university.”

  “I am researching anthropology for my PhD, in particular, the native tribes of the Northwest.”

  “That’s very interesting,” said Sean in all sincerity. “I used to study the Iroquois Six Nations of the Northeast when I was in university.”

  “It seems we have something in common then. What do you do for a living?”

  “I’m a Special Agent with the FBI,” replied Sean without elaborating.

  “Special agent? How does that differ from an ordinary agent?” said Li Mei with a straight face.

  “There is no difference. For some reason that has never been explained satisfactorily, everyone is referred to a Special Agent,” Sean replied with a laugh.

  “Well I’m privileged to meet someone who is special,” said Li Mei, also laughing.

  At first Li Mei decided to discontinue any path to friendship that might develop with this man. On the one hand, it may be too risky to have a FBI agent getting curious about who she was and what she was doing. On the other hand, she thought, since the FBI investigate organized crime, and her goal was to locate a Triad leader, this “Sean” might be of some value. Hopefully, he would be one of those boastful, macho males who would attempt to impress her by telling her about his activities with the FBI. Besides, he’s attractive and has a good sense of humor, so let’s see where this goes.

  As Sean stopped the car at the dorm, he said, “See you at class on Thursday.”

  “Yes,” Li Mei replied. “Maybe then we could have that coffee.”

  Sean’s heart rate increased as he drove away. Was this beautiful, exotic woman actually interested in him?

  Although some persons viewed an intelligence officer’s role as using people, Li Mei considered it as networking, much the same as is routinely done every day in business and politics. Developing a friendship with this man was probably in her best interest at this point in time but she must be very careful.

  Li Mei hoped she could remain objective and aloof. The relationship must come under the category of intelligence gathering, but this man seemed quite different from the many men who had tried to dazzle her with their special pick up lines, in an attempt to maneuver her into their bed. Of course she couldn’t make a solid judgment during their short ride in Sean’s car. She actually looked forward to seeming him next week. As much as she subconsciously craved male companionship, her unique job had always prevented her from entering into a serious r
elationship with a man. There had only been one man in her life, a fellow police officer in Chongqing, Hu Xin Wei, who had become her fiancé. He had been killed during a raid on a meth lab and the hurt and grief it caused her, made her decide to avoid serious relationships. She couldn’t bear to repeat such an experience. Subsequently, she built a wall around herself and so far, no man had found a way to penetrate her defenses. Aside from her fiancé, she had never slept with another man. Her police partners had all been older married men, and a good Chinese woman brought up properly within a traditionally close knit family, would never sleep with a married man. The disgrace would be too much to bear, and it would make it impossible for her to face her grandmother and aunt, not to mention the shame of looking at herself in the mirror every day

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Following the next taiji class, Sean McNamara and Li Mei had coffee at a restaurant at the edge of Chinatown. Although Li Mei still preferred a good Chinese tea, which was difficult to find in Seattle, she had developed a liking for coffee while studying at Yale, in fact, she preferred it black. Sean regularly drove her to the university after taiji class and she liked Sean more and more each time she was with him, and admired the way he down played his adventures in law enforcement, instead of bragging, as many men would. For her professional purposes, she would have preferred that he did a bit of bragging and reveal some information about Wu Xing and the Mei Hua Triad, but he seldom said anything related to work, and when he did, it was usually about some humorous incident.

  “What exactly do you do in the FBI, Sean.”

  “I’m assigned to the Criminal Investigation Branch.”

  “What is your specialization?”

  “Anything and everything that needs investigating,” Sean replied without expanding upon his answer.

  “It must be very exciting work.”

  “It can be, from time to time.”

  Li Mei decided not to press Sean for more information. It was evident that prying information out of him wasn’t going to be easy. She wasn’t discouraged however. They were only casual friends who shared an occasional coffee and a ride home, so she couldn’t expect him to start disclosing confidential information. She also was acutely aware that she had not been giving Sean too much encouragement. She wanted to maintain and develop the relationship, but was not yet sure she wanted it to blossom into a love affair. It was obvious to her that Sean was very interested in moving the relationship forward.

  Li Mei had made the decision to enter into this relationship very cautiously, not only because of her heart breaking experience in Chongqing caused by the death of her fiancé, but because her mission must remain first and foremost on her agenda. She hoped Sean would not be discouraged by the slow progress he was making, but that was the way it had to be.

  Sean had taken her to a rather expensive steak restaurant the week following their fourth class and they had had a very enjoyable time. The steak was delicious and the wine first rate. Although she had finally become accustomed to western food, she still craved the hot spicy foods of her native Chongqing. American wine, Li Mei had decided long ago when she was at Yale, was considerably superior to the wines made in China. Chinese beer is amongst the world’s best, but their wine has not yet achieved the same status. While at dinner, Sean had asked Li Mei if she would like to go sailing. He explained to her about his new twenty-five foot sailboat and the enjoyment she could expect, as long as she wasn’t prone to seasickness. She eagerly agreed as she had never been sailing and thought it would be a unique experience.

  The following Saturday, Sean drove Li Mei to the Seattle Yacht Club where he berthed his sailboat, the “Sea Lord”. The wind was quite strong so Li Mei tied her hair back into a ponytail and then tied a bandana over her head. The sun was shining through scattered cirrus clouds with no sign of rain. Sean loved the atmosphere of the yacht club with hundreds of boats, power and sale, tugging at their moorings struggling to break free and head for the open sea.

  “The wind is a little strong for your first sail, Li Mei. If you want to put it off to a day with more moderate winds, that won’t be a problem.”

  “I think the strong winds will make it more exciting. I can’t wait to get started”, she replied.

  The wind was not only strong, but gusting causing the boat to bury its gunwales from times to time, and a steep chop had developed. Li Mei found it both exhilarating and exciting and she certainly understood why Sean was drawn to this hobby. She also admitted to herself, that she was drawn to Sean.

  “This is great, Sean; I never knew sailing could be so exciting. When watching a sailboat in the distance while standing on shore, it always looked sort of slow and boring. It feels like we’re going a hundred miles an hour.”

  Sean felt like a king watching the excitement and enjoyment in Li Mei’s face. Watching her smile and laugh had become one of life’s greatest pleasures.

  After that, Sean and Li Mei, got together at least once a week, sometimes twice. When Sean had days off on the weekend, which wasn’t too often, they would go sailing in Sean’s C&C 25 sailboat. Sometimes they would be joined by Sean’s friend, Lucas, but never by his partner, Gary, who was apparently prone to seasickness. Li Mei looked forward to these sailing excursions and found sailing to be relaxing when the winds were moderate and a total adrenalin rush in strong winds and steep waves. She wasn’t content to sit in the cockpit as a passenger and insisted upon being taught how to sail. She was a fast learner and Sean often let her handle both the tiller and mainsheet, even in brisk winds. Li Mei was so pleasant and intelligent that she became the most delightful crew that Sean had every sailed with. It didn’t hurt, Sean realized, that his new sailing companion was devastatingly beautiful. He was also amazed at how strong Li Mei was. Pulling in a jib sheet in heavy weather was a challenge for most men but Li Mei seemed to have no trouble doing this.

  The more time that Sean spent in the presence of Li Mei, the less he thought of his former wife, Dolores. He had loved Dolores; there was no doubt about that, but the urgency to reestablish their marriage was becoming a lower priority, in fact, he now questioned if it was even a goal any more. Dolores had only accompanied him sailing as a reluctant passenger. She showed no interest in learning to sail and positively refused to sleep over in the little cabin on the boat, which Sean thought to be well equipped and reasonably comfortable. Dolores was of Swedish descent and was a prime example of the tall Nordic beauty that has become a prominent part of the Swedish image. She had long blond hair, blue eyes and kept herself very fit. Although they had few interests in common, she was very intelligent and he had always enjoyed her company. Sean had been devastated when she decided to leave him on a trial separation. The main complaint Dolores had, or so she said, was Sean’s job with its strange hours and unknown risks. It always seemed that Sean’s duties as a Special Agent of the FBI took priority over their marriage, and Sean conceded, to himself at least, that she could be right. Sean idolized his son, Victor, and one of the main reasons for reconciliation with his wife, would always be his relationship with his son. Seeing Victor every other weekend was the highlight of his life, but it couldn’t compare with being part of his daily life.

  Being in the presence of Li Mei so often caused Sean to experience great confusion about his feelings for Dolores. He thought at first that Li Mei’s exotic beauty was clouding his judgment, but it was obviously more than that. The more he got to know her and was exposed to her engaging personality, her intelligent observations and her warm smile, the more he was drawn to her. She was undoubtedly the most interesting person he had ever met. Sean had assumed that he would be sleeping with her within two or three weeks of having met her, but that hadn’t happened. Normally, he would have dropped a girl who wouldn’t sleep with him within three weeks, but there was no way he was going to stop seeing Li Mei. She was very different from any woman he had known. He hoped that it was just “like” and that he was not falling in love with her. There were too many things going on in his life, and as usual, his job consumed the major portion of his time and attention. Li Mei definitely wasn’t crowding him or putting demands on his time. In fact, she was often too busy to get together with him, which caused him anxiety, even though it shouldn’t have. In previous relationships with women, they had always made themselves available when he sought their company, but Li Mei was not like other women. She was leading another life, which occupied a great deal of her time. Sean wrongly assumed that her other life involved research and study for her PhD.