In Denial (40 page)

‘
You chose very well,’ Adam told Leila as he slipped on a light blue linen shirt.

She looked at him, cocking her head. ‘The colour suits you. I thought it would.’

She wanted to scream.

Over the last twenty years she had been in so many surreal situations she had forgotten most of them, but suddenly, now that she thought she had at last regained a little sanity, she actually found herself in the most bizarre set of circumstances - not only bizarre but also very, very dangerous. As she had pondered over what shirts to buy him, she was overcome with the feeling that what she was doing was for real, she was buying clothes for a man she could love. In the store she had caught herself looking in a mirror and smiling, but then the truth had hit her. Ever since her last meeting with Number Sixty-Six her emotional state had been in a complete turmoil.

It was not just bizarre. It was absurd.

Utterly absurd.

But what was the alternative?

There was no alternative.

If she deviated from her orders she would be classified as “going rogue” and such a situation could not be tolerated because it meant a loss of control was imminent.

She would be eliminated.

And then Adam Harrison would be eliminated. Because even if she didn’t carry out her orders, somebody else would.

‘
Okay, I’m ready,’ Adam said, but the smile disappeared as he looked at Leila. He took her hands in his, lifting one to his lips and kissing her fingers. ‘I don’t know quite what I’ve done to deserve you but I’m on day three of any number of days in Hong Kong and I’ve already found a hidden treasure.’

Leila forced a smile. ‘I knew you gweilos could be unoriginal but where did you drag that one from?’ As she spoke she could feel the tears prickling the back of her eyes.

Adam dropped Leila’s hands in what looked like a kind of mock display of defence. ‘There I was, trying to be apologetic -’

Leila flung her arms around his neck. ‘You can be as banal as you like.’ She kissed him. ‘And if it means the next few days are going to be like a dream then I’ll show you treasures you didn’t know existed.’

‘
And you said I was corny.’

‘
Just let the next few days be like magic, Adam. Who knows what waits for any of us around the next corner.’

*  *  *

‘
This will be your bedroom for as long as you like,’ Elizabeth Elliott told Gabrielle as she opened the door. ‘It has a lovely view and the air really is a little cooler up here.’

Gabrielle marvelled at what she saw.

On the way here, the traffic was absolutely horrendous but it had also been mesmerising. The colours, the sounds, the urgency tempered by tranquillity, the uniqueness of the people, the bamboo scaffolding, the signs, the shops: they were all simply fantastic. She had never seen anything like it before.

She was grateful when Elizabeth let her enjoy her astonishment in silence. If she’d had to talk at the same time so much would have been missed and therefore lost. She was sure she hadn’t even blinked during the stop-start journey across Kowloon.

And then suddenly Eric leaned back from his front seat and told her they were about to enter the tunnel.

Tunnel?

What tunnel?

And then they were in it. They were in that tunnel under the harbour.

Bright lights, cars, vans and lorries streaming past in the opposite direction. Where was the tunnel taking them? She wished she had studied the geography of Hong Kong before she left England but there hadn’t been time. There had hardly been time to phone her mother and father to say she was going abroad for a while let alone worry about maps and things.

‘
Abroad?’ her mother said trying not to be accusatory. ‘What do you mean, abroad, Gabby?’

‘
I just thought I’d use a bit of my time off to see some more of the world, Mummy.’

After a short silence her mother said, ‘First you leave your parish in the hands of a stranger and then you tell us you’re going abroad. You’re behaving most extraordinarily, Gabby. Are you sure you’re feeling well, dear?’

‘
Mummy, I’m absolutely fine. I just need to get away. I just need a change of scene.’

‘
Are you having second thoughts, dear? Is that what it is?’

‘
Second thoughts about what, Mummy?’

‘
About the church, dear, is that what it is?’

Gabrielle wanted to say, ‘If only it were that simple,’ but instead she told her mother she was tired and needed a break. It helped when she added that since joining her parish she had hardly taken a single day off.

‘
Then you be careful, dear. You know what those foreigners can be like.’

‘
Do I, Mummy?’ Gabrielle asked, laughing.

The short conversation she’d had with her father was a little more down to earth.

‘
Are you all right for money, Gabby?’

‘
With the allowance you give me, Daddy? Yes, of course I’m all right for money.’

‘
I’ve been expecting this,’ her father added as though he were simply passing the time of day.

‘
Have you?’

‘
Yes. Ever since you decided to follow a vocation in the church I expected that after a while you were going to need time to reflect.’

‘
Did you, Daddy? And that’s what I’ll be doing, is it, reflecting?’

‘
If you’re not reflecting then the only other explanation is that somewhere there is a man involved.’

For a few seconds Gabrielle was lost for words. ‘I love you, Daddy.’

‘
And I love you too, Gabby. All I ask is that before you make a decision which might affect the rest of your life you think very long and very hard. Impetuosity killed the cat.’

‘
No, it didn’t, Daddy. Curiosity did.’

‘
Not the cat I’m talking about. Be careful, Gabby.’

‘
I will, Daddy, and thank you.’

‘
Mum’s the word, Gabby. And she’s heard none of what I’ve said.’

*  *  *

If either group had looked in the right direction at the same time they might have seen each other. Both were in taxis and both were travelling towards the tunnel but at the last slip road before committing to the tunnel Adam and Leila’s taxi veered left towards Clear Water Bay.

Recognition would not have been immediate for either of them but Gabrielle would have been seconds, if not more, ahead of Adam. She was hopefully expecting to see him at some stage whereas Adam had no idea Gabrielle was in Hong Kong.

If, as the two taxis drew level, that split second had occurred, then even delayed recognition may have prevented what was in store for the passengers of both vehicles. Recognition would have meant each knew the other needed to be found. It would have been a reason to change direction, a reason to move away from those who were influencing their decisions.

If that split second had occurred it would have saved lives.

But it did not happen.

The room was absolutely lovely and Gabrielle guessed it had been the Elliott’s daughter’s before she had gone to the UK. There was nothing childlike about the decoration but it was definitely and thoroughly feminine.

‘
It’s gorgeous,’ Gabrielle commented. Her case and hand luggage were already in the room having been brought up by Eric a few minutes earlier. She crossed to the window. ‘And the view is fantastic.’ She was looking out over palms and rooftops towards Repulse Bay where the water was bluer than any blue she had ever seen. She turned towards her hostess. ‘This really is extraordinarily kind of you.’

Elizabeth stood by the door. ‘This was Jane’s room,’ she said, a note of melancholy in her voice.

‘
Jane’s your daughter?’

Elizabeth looked up and there were tears in her eyes. ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘Jane is our daughter and she will always be our daughter.’ For a few moments she stared at Gabrielle, pursing her lips. ‘Make yourself comfortable, my dear. I’ll go and make some tea.’

Gabrielle frowned.

Fifteen minutes later they were all sitting on the Elliotts’ balcony enjoying cups of Earl Grey tea while soaking up the late afternoon sun. It was an idyllic setting and one even Gabrielle’s imagination could not have prepared her for.

‘
This really is most wonderfully kind of you,’ she said, looking out over the bay.

‘
That’s the last time I want to hear you saying how kind we are,’ Elizabeth said sternly. ‘We’re delighted you accepted our offer, aren’t we Eric?’

Eric was sitting in a chair on the other side of the table and had just picked up a copy of
The Standard
. ‘What dear?’

‘
I was just telling Gabrielle that we’re delighted she accepted our offer.’

‘
Yes, of course we are,’ he said. ‘You must stay as long as you like.’

‘
Thank you, but of course it all depends on how soon I can find the person I’m looking for.’

Putting her cup gently back into the saucer Elizabeth looked at Gabrielle. ‘Hong Kong is home to five million people but the British ex-pat community remains surprisingly incestuous, I’m afraid. Perhaps we can help?’

Gabrielle looked down at the floor. How much should she tell them? She had anticipated the question but had not yet decided on an answer. She was also going to be asked if she worked and if so what she did. She had Christina Yong’s address book but that was all. Perhaps the Elliotts could help and there was only one way to find out.

‘
His name is Adam Harrison and he left Hong Kong over twenty years ago. His parents were killed in a plane crash and a family called Yong adopted him. His adopted father was Hong Kong Chinese and his mother Sri Lankan.’

As she spoke Gabrielle kept her head bowed and therefore did not see the look that passed between Elizabeth and Eric. Only now did she look up as Eric began to tell her their story.

They had lived in Hong Kong nearly all their lives. Like Adam Harrison, they were born in the Colony, but some thirty-five years earlier, in 1934. Their parents were great friends and they grew up together. Fortunately their parents saw what was happening in the Far East and after Pearl Harbour in 1941 they all returned to England. It was a hazardous journey but one the two seven-year-olds remembered well. Elizabeth’s parents returned to the Colony in 1949 and Eric’s in 1950. Between 1934 and the present, 1950 was the only year they spent apart. They married in 1957 and their daughter Jane was born a year later. Elizabeth had been unable to have any more children after Jane’s birth.

‘
1974,’ Elizabeth said, glancing out across the sea and noticing the build-up of clouds on the horizon.

‘
I’m sorry?’ Gabrielle said.

‘
1974,’ Elizabeth repeated. ‘When the Harrisons were killed in the plane crash. You remember, Eric.’ It was not a question.

Eric nodded. ‘I certainly do. It was a small aircraft and they were flying from Kai Tak to Fan Ling. The report said the aircraft developed engine trouble as it was climbing to go over Lion Rock and simply fell out of the sky.’

‘
How awful,’ Gabrielle said, remembering the look in Adam’s eyes as he had told the same story. ‘So, did you know the Harrisons?’

This time Gabrielle did see the exchange between her hosts. ‘We didn’t exactly know them,’ Elizabeth said, ‘but we did know of them. They lived in quite a palatial place not far from here.’

‘
I see. And what about the Yongs?’

‘
It’s a very common name in Hong Kong,’ Elizabeth said quickly. ‘So it’s Adam Harrison you’re looking for?’

‘
Yes.’

‘
And he is back in Hong Kong?’ Elizabeth shook her head annoyingly. ‘But of course he is, my dear. You wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t. Let me see,’ she said, narrowing her eyes, ‘he must be, what? In his mid-thirties now.’

‘
Yes, you’re spot on. He’s thirty-five.’

Eric was watching Gabrielle very closely, and not only because he enjoyed what he saw; he thought he detected something in her, something that was confusing him. ‘It’s a long way to come to find somebody, Gabrielle, especially when you’re not too sure where they are. Hong Kong is small but it’s like fifty thousand rabbit warrens all shoved together. Where on earth do you intend starting?’

Gabrielle reached into her bag and produced the address book. ‘Christina Yong, Adam’s adoptive mother, gave me this and hoped it would help.’

‘
May I have a look?’ Eric asked.

‘
Of course.’ Gabrielle handed him the book.