Part 37 (1/2)
”I am safe,” he said, but his jumpiness told her otherwise. ”I have come to warn you.”
”Warn me about what?”
”You must stay away from your friend,” he said.
”Which friend?”
”Jia-Li.”
”Jia-Li? No, never. She has nothing to do with this.” But even as she spoke, Sunny thought of the pram that her friend intended to take to the railway station-and what it would contain.
”They know, Soon Yi, ” Wen-Cheng said. ”The Kempeitai know about Jia-Li and Charlie. They know he is living with her.”
Sunny's hand flew to her mouth. ”How could they possibly know?” she gasped.
Wen-Cheng continued to scan the lane as if he was antic.i.p.ating an ambush. ”Does it matter?”
Desperate with worry, Sunny could think of nothing else. ”I must warn her.”
”No!” Wen-Cheng cried.
”I have to.”
”Can you not see, Sunny? It is too late.”
”Too late? How could it be too late?” She paused. ”What is happening, Wen-Cheng? How could you possibly know what the j.a.panese are planning?”
”Stay away from Jia-Li. I beg you, Sunny.”
The truth struck her like flying shrapnel. ”Oh my G.o.d!” she exclaimed. ”You told them.”
Wen-Cheng's face reddened and he dropped his head. ”I did what I had to do.”
”To save your own skin!”
”My fate is sealed,” he said softly. ”No. I did what I did to save you.”
”How dare you!” She slapped him across the cheek, so hard that her palm stung.
Wen-Cheng stared at her and then emitted a humourless laugh. ”They were going to kill you, Sunny.”
Her head swam. ”Who were? The j.a.panese?”
”No, the Underground. It was only a matter of time. They had labelled you as a collaborator. A traitor.”
”For not helping them murder Colonel Kubota?”
”That, and treating the j.a.panese officers at the hospital after the a.s.sa.s.sination attempt,” he said grimly. ”They knew all of it.”
”So you . . .”
”Betrayed my own people. Yes. I became a collaborator. For the Rbn guzi, no less. I turned in my own cell. How do you think they knew where to find the old man and the others?”
”Oh G.o.d.” She suddenly thought of Max's arrest. ”And Dr. Feinstein?”
”The j.a.panese, they were so suspicious of my work at the hospital. They insisted there must be others.”
”Why Max?”
”He had helped treat one of the local Underground leaders when he had gout.”
Sunny's legs felt unsteady. Her knees began to buckle. ”So you told them Max was your contact at the hospital to draw suspicion away from me?”
Wen-Cheng held out his hands. ”I had to give them a name or they would have gone after you and Franz.” He dropped his arms to his sides. ”I vowed to protect you.”
”But at what cost?”
He looked her straight in the eye. ”At any cost.”
”And Jia-Li? Why her?”
”They are such relentless masters, Sunny. Always demanding more. More names, more spies. I thought if I gave them someone as important as Charlie . . .”
Tears welled in her eyes again. ”Oh, Wen-Cheng, what have you done?”
Sunny raced over to the Cathay Building in a haze of terror and confusion. Expecting the worst, she was surprised to find the street quiet and still covered in unblemished snow. The serenity of the scene did little to quell her mushrooming sense of foreboding, however. As Sunny entered the lobby, she wondered if the Kempeitai were already watching the building.
A middle-aged Chinese couple stood waiting for the elevator. Sunny didn't know who she could trust anymore, so she opted for the stairs. She was breathless by the time she had climbed all nine floors, but she still sprinted down the hallway.
Sunny rapped the secret signal on Jia-Li's door. When a few moments pa.s.sed, Sunny feared that she might already be too late, but then the door flew open. Before Sunny could say a word, Jia-Li pulled her inside.
”I have news,” Sunny blurted.
”Oh, I do as well, xio he!” Jia-Li practically sang. ”Such wonderful news. The best news!”
”There is no time, bao bei. You must listen-”
But Jia-Li wouldn't. Still gripping Sunny's arm, she guided her into the living room. On the far side of the room, Charlie knelt in front of the pram, adjusting one of its legs with a screwdriver. Beside him stood a stack of green blocks: the explosives he had seized from the Germans.
”Listen to me, both of you,” Sunny pleaded.
Jia-Li held up her left hand in the air and waved it until Sunny noticed the narrow silver band encircling her ring finger.
”You and Charlie . . .”
”Are married!” Jia-Li cried joyfully. ”Just this very morning.”