Part 33 (1/2)

The T-s.h.i.+rt wasn't warm enough for a San Francisco autumn morning. A walking-suit jacket came out of the closet, ridiculously inappropriate with the jeans but warm enough to serve its purpose. Her jungle boots were pressed into service as well, though Mac mourned the sneakers she'd left so far behind.

Last came the pendant. She'd hidden it away as she'd put aside all thoughts of returning to her own time until her work in the past was done; now it seemed right to wear it.

To remind her how all this must end.

She had no weapon other than her Swiss Army knife, no particular skills to protect Liam from his own recklessness. But if he were walking into a trap, he wouldn't be doing it alone.

She slipped out into the hallway with instinctive caution. A man was leaning on the bal.u.s.trade a few rooms away, his attention focused on the Grand Court below.

Mac went the other direction, crouching low to avoid his notice. Chen had stopped her from following Liam before; it wasn't going to happen again. She steered clear of the sluggish elevator and found the stairs. No one stopped her.

The Palace Hotel had more than one exit. The one she chose was as far from the Grand Court as possible, leading out to an alley that was peacefully dark and quiet. Market Street was empty except for a scattering of delivery wagons and a few preoccupied individuals on early morning errands. Mac broke into a jog under the flickering streetlamps and constructed a map in her mind.

She knew how to get to Chinatown. The location hadn't changed in over a century; it was still centered on Grant Avenue, though everything else had altered drastically since the 1800s. No famous paG.o.da-like arched gateway welcomed her arrival, but she knew when she'd come to the right place.

The buildings were different than the Chinatown she remembered from her own time: more crowded, closer together, built of wood and brick and surprisingly plain. This was not a place designed for tourists.

Streetlamps here were few and far between. The faint scents of fish and sandalwood mingled in the air along with less pleasant odors. On Grant itself there were ordinary little shops displaying silks and lacquered trays, dried fish and fresh poultry, herbs and medicines.

But what Mac sought wouldn't be in the open. She s.h.i.+vered and moderated her pace, every sense alert. The alleys branching off the main street were as narrow as canyons, pitch dark, with overhanging balconies almost touching to either side. They might hide anything, including an ambush. Or a certain Irishman who'd get himself killed trying to take on the world single-handedly.

d.a.m.n you, Liam, she thought desperately, if you die after all the work I went to to save youa”

Someone b.u.mped hard into her shoulder from behind. Mac spun around, the ridiculous little knife in her fist.

The attacker stumbled back, raising a gloved hand to ward Mac away. ”Pardon me,” the person whispered in a strained voice.

Mac looked into the pale eyes that peered from beneath the brim of an oversized hat. At a body m.u.f.fled in a coat that nearly dragged on the ground and trousers rolled up to flap around slender ankles. And feet wearing dainty pale blue lace-up boots.

Her gaze snapped back to what she could see of the face.

Good grief. It wasa”

”Caroline!”

”Rose!”

They stared at each other, dumbfounded. Mac was the first to regain her senses. She grabbed Caroline's arm through the bulky coat and dragged her into the doorway of a closed shop.

”What in h.e.l.l are you doing here?” Mac hissed.

Caroline tugged the m.u.f.fling scarf from around her chin and thrust out her jaw. ”I could ask the same of you. But I shouldn't be surprised. I knew you were part of this somehowa””

Mac prayed for patience. ”I know a lot has happened in the past twenty-four hours, and even I don't know everything. You may think you have a good reason to hate me, Caroline, but this isn't the time to discuss it. Someone's life is at stakea”more than one person's lifea”anda””

”It's Perry, isn't it?” Caroline clutched Mac's arm. ”Is he in trouble? I knew it. I knew something was wrong, but he wouldn't tell me at the ball, and after Liama”” Her flush was visible even in the dim predawn light. ”Liam has turned against him. I know he needs my help. Last night I found some of Papa's old clothes and snuck out to find him. There were men watching the house, but I got past them anda””

As if things couldn't get any worse. ”Caroline, I can't talk to you now. You have to go home. It could get very dangerous here.”

”I know.” Suddenly she seemed like a much older woman, calm and competent and grave. ”I was wrong about a great many things, but I'm not wrong about this. Everyone has told me what I must do and how I must behave. But now I'm old enough to make my own decisions.” She hesitated. ”I don't know who you really are, and I'm not sure I like you, but you're not afraid to do things, no matter the risk. Liam wouldn't stop you. Now he can't stop me. And you can't send me away.”

Mac scrutinized the beautiful, feminine, obstinate features under the hat brim. The features weren't Sinclair, but the spirit wasa”a spirit Mac hadn't really perceived until now. Or maybe she hadn't known where to look.

Something had changed in Caroline almost overnight. This wasn't a spoiled child standing here, or a frivolous airhead, or a wild imprudent girl intent on ruining herself. This was a young woman who was finally figuring out what she really wanted.

Great-great-grandma was destined to become a reformer and suffragettea”who was to say it wouldn't begin here? And Caroline wanted to help Perry, the man history said she was supposed to marry.

”If you're going to come with me,” Mac said quickly, ”you're going to have to stay down and be quiet. Don't do anything reckless, or you could endanger everyone even more. Stay with me. Agreed?”

Caroline grinneda”no simpering smile but a fullblown flash of white teeth. ”Agreed.”

Mac peered up Grant Avenue. Already the sky was beginning to brighten, and G.o.d only knew what had happened during the precious minutes they'd been standing here gabbing.

”We've got to find out where they went,” she muttered. ”They could be anywhere.”

”I think I might know the direction Perry was going,” Caroline volunteered. ”I saw him in a closed carriage outside my house just as he was leaving. I followed him here, and I was beginning toa””

Mac didn't let her finish. She gave Caroline a little push in the direction of the street. ”Show me! And don't do anything stupid. Go!”

Caroline began to run with surprising speed in her oversized men's clothes. Mac stayed on her heels, casting a small and desperate prayer heavenward.

If you've got a few extra Sinclair guardian angels up there, Homer, send 'em on down.

”Run, Chen! Save your niece while you can!”

Chen hesitated, and Liam knew the man was torn between his loyalty to Liam and fear for the girl shaking in his arms. Chen had never lacked for courage. But in the end he did what he had come to Chinatown to doa”save Mei Ling. The man hadn't asked for Liam to get involved, but he had the sense to take help when it was offered.

”I'll hold them off here,” Liam shouted. ”Get her to safety!”

Chen ran, urging his niece along beside him. Liam steadied his pistol, turned back the way they had come, and waited for their pursuers.

The streets and alleys of Chinatown were still strangely quiet, even so soon before dawn. Its people knew there was trouble this bright autumn morning, and they were going to avoid ita”they, who usually suffered the most from the tongs' criminal activities.

But this time the tongs weren't hunting one of their own. Mei Ling's kidnapping had been a ruse. Chen had come alone to save her, refusing to involve his employer, and if it hadn't been for Bauer's watchfulness the kidnappers might have had to wait some time before Liam walked into their trap.

Liam hadn't made them wait. He'd found Chen quickly enough, and let the man know in no uncertain terms that the problem was Liam's to rectify. Together they'd found Mei Ling easily enough. The tongs had wanted her to be found.

But the tongs hadn't counted on the ferocity of her rescuers. Six hatchetmen hadn't been adequate to stop Chen and Liam, and now two of the enforcers lay wounded in the shadowed alley beside the house where they'd held Mei Ling.

The other four had fallen for a ruse that had sent them in the wrong directiona”but only temporarily. Just long enough for Chen to get Mei Ling out of Chinatown, where the hatchetmen would not dare follow in the growing daylight.