The Solitary Man (Stephen Leather Thrillers) by Stephen Leather

Author:Stephen Leather [Leather, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hachette Littlehampton
Published: 2009-07-23T06:00:00+00:00

CHAU-LING RESTED HER HEAD against the side of the plane and felt the vibration deep inside her skull. The seat next to her was empty and she was grateful for the space: the last thing she wanted was for someone to attempt to engage her in conversation. Go back to Hong Kong, Warren had said. Forget about him. She banged her fist against her leg. Forget about him? How the hell did he expect her to do that? There wasn’t a day that had gone by since they’d first met that Warren Hastings hadn’t occupied her thoughts. Why did he think she’d stuck at the job so long? It wasn’t as if she needed the money, he knew that. She’d taken the job originally because she loved dogs and had wanted to start breeding Golden Retrievers. Working for Warren had seemed an obvious way of picking up the necessary knowledge: his kennels and the quality of his Dobermanns were renowned through the territory. She’d made it clear from the start that she only intended to work for him for six months or so and that her eventual aim was to set up her own kennels. But that had been almost two years ago and she had made no attempt to leave. She’d found him attractive right from the start, and his apparent lack of interest only added to his appeal. Chau-ling was used to being pursued. She was well aware of her looks, had been since she was a teenager, and she’d had a succession of boyfriends while she was at college in the United States, but always it was they who chased her. In Hong Kong her pursuers were all the more persistent, because her father’s wealth was well known, and in Hong Kong money often counted for more than looks. But Warren Hastings had never asked her out, hadn’t even asked her if she had a boyfriend.

A stewardess asked her in Cantonese if she wanted a drink. Chau-ling shook her head. She massaged her temples with her fingertips. ‘Headache?’ asked the stewardess.

Chau-ling forced a smile. ‘I’m fine,’ she said.

‘I could get you something.’

‘Really, I’m fine,’ she said. Chau-ling never took painkillers, or any form of Western medication. On the few occasions in her life when she’d fallen sick as a child, her parents had consulted a traditional Chinese herbalist, and now that she was an adult she continued the practice.

The stewardess moved away to attend to a Thai businessman who was having trouble opening his packet of peanuts. Chau-ling looked out of the window. The sky was a brilliant blue, the clouds below a pure white. They looked almost solid enough to walk on. She wondered what Warren was doing. He’d looked terrible in the courtroom. He hadn’t shaved, he hadn’t washed, and there was a look in his eyes that she’d never seen before. It was the look of a trapped animal.

Chau-ling ran her hands through her hair and tucked it behind her ears. It didn’t make any kind of sense.

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