Brian Lu watched the rest of the train as it sped down the tracks. He had an eye on his ex-girlfriend, but no one else seemed interested in her. He didn't see any goons at any of the stations the train went through as it neared their stop.

That was good as far as preventing a fight on the train. It could mean anything, but he thought it was because they knew where she lived. She wouldn't listen to him if he asked her to stay with the old man.

The only thing he could do was stay with her, and intervene if they tried to take her again.

Why were they so interested in her old professor? That had to be what was going on. He sends her a note, and then goons come out of nowhere to follow her around, maybe pick her up.

The guy must have seen something they didn't want to be known. Everyone knew that witnesses were killed by gangs all the time to keep them from testifying. It made a kind of sense except he couldn't remember the professor being involved in anything that the law would want to talk to him about other than the shipwreck, and that wouldn't be the local pee dee.

Maybe it was something he had seen before setting sail. Now that he was back, the law wanted to talk to him, and so did the people he had crossed.

Brian liked that for a likely explanation for what was going on. He saw a lot of exceptions, but he knew that was because he didn't have all the information needed. And he wasn't a detective with the sense to sort the various bits of information that he already had.

The next goon he came across he would try to make the time to ask him what was going on before putting out his lights.

He followed Sara off the train and through the station. He kept an eye out. If they went for her, it had to be at the entrance. He had to be ready to do damage.

Once he had her safely home, he needed to set up watch somewhere. He doubted the goons would just let her stay out of things when they were still looking for the professor. And he wasn't going to leave Sara alone to look for the man himself.

If he had some help, he would be able to start looking around on his own. All he needed was a name to put to a face. The rest would be whatever broken bones would give him.

He thought the old man would love some payback for his wrecked television. A few kicks from him would be good for the loosening of tongues.

The lights went on in Sara's apartment. There were a few other apartment buildings nearby he could use to watch out for her. He needed to keep an eye on her window in particular instead of the front and back doors.

How would he stop people wanting to harm her at the doors when he didn't know who that could be? It was better to wait for something to happen and hope that he could get across to her building before something bad happened to her. He doubted she would be grateful that he had taken up watchdog duties, but he still loved her in his heart despite the acrimony that had come between them.

The old man considered him stupid for not moving on. He did too. He made a face and decided that kind of thing didn't matter. He had decided to look out for her and he could use the burglary as an excuse. And he could direct her to the old man if she didn't like it.

It wouldn't make things smoother between them, but he was okay with that.

He climbed up a fire escape to reach the roof of a building where he could watch the windows of Sara's place. As long as she didn't pull the curtains all the way closed, he would be okay. Eventually he would need to get something to eat, but he could wait until she went to bed.

He settled in, using the patience instilled in him by his old man. He could sit in one place for days. He didn't want to. Where were the goons? What would they give him when he started squeezing them like rotten oranges?

He spotted movement in the street. He watched as two cars disgorged men in suits in the street. That was out of place for the neighborhood. He needed to stop them from getting to Sara.

Brian jumped to his feet. He shook his legs to limber them up. He walked back some yards from the edge. He charged the rampart of the roof and used that as a springboard to leap into the air.

He sailed out and down toward Sara's building. He landed on a window sill. He kicked the glass out and dropped inside the apartment. He needed to make a note of the apartment to get that fixed. He dropped down inside a neat living room and headed for the door. He unlocked it and pulled it open. The goons hadn't made it to that floor yet.

He went to the staircase that stood at the end of the hall. Anyone coming up had to use that staircase, or the fire escape on the other side of the building. He needed to go down to meet them. He also needed to make sure he had one he could extort into talking and giving him what he wanted.

He heard the stomping of feet as he descended. They were a lot less concerned about stealth than he liked. It denoted an overwhelming confidence that they knew what they were doing and could get it done. He would rather they were quiet to indicate they were afraid of being discovered.

He ran into the vanguard halfway down from the place he had broken into to the street. The goons looked at him. He knew they knew they were about to get into a fight. He could see that in their faces.

Brian started using heads and bodies for soccer practice in the narrow stairwell. The old man had made him practice his kicking until he could smash through concrete if he had to do that. That sent bodies tumbling down the stairs. He finished the closest ones as he walked down the steps to engage the goons at the back of the pack.

Guns started coming out, but it was already too late. He was inside their range of movement. And he was better with his hands and feet than they were. He dropped all but one with lightning kicks to the body and face. The last one he grabbed by the neck and choked out so he had someone he could question later.

Which way should he go? There was bound to be more down on the street unless the two cars had to go and get some more for him to kick into submission. He decided to go up to Sara's place. Maybe she knew what was going on.

And she needed to know someone was after her for something she knew. Maybe she would tell him and he could use that to figure out what was going on. Push came to shove, he would give his captive to the old man and see what was learned then.

If she knew nothing, he didn't lose anything since he didn't know anything either.

He dragged the goon up the stairs. He didn't know how long he had before more trouble arrived. He knew this squad of goons wouldn't be in shape to stop him even if they woke up in time. He placed the deadweight on the landing and went back to get the loose guns laying around. He wanted them to try with their hands if they came after him while he was upstairs.

He grabbed his stool pigeon and carried him up to the top floor where Sara lived. He checked the hall from the exit before carrying his burden down the tan carpeting to her door. He decided to use the goon's face as cover when he rang the doorbell.

He doubted she would want to open the door when she saw it was him. If she saw the goon, she might open the door to ask what was going on. Then he could take advantage of her surprise to drop the goon on her.

He thumbed the doorbell and waited. She would come to the peephole and look out. He pressed the choked goon's face close to the door to block her from seeing him using his victim as a puppet. The door cracked open, but the chain was still on. Sara peered out to see whom her visitor was.

Brian kicked the door, slamming it into his ex. She fell back out of sight. He kicked it again, pulling the screws for the chain out of the frame. He sent the goon in first to draw her retaliation.

He winced at the sound of meat being whacked before he pushed in behind the falling body. He blocked a kick to his face before he threw her on the couch. He kicked the door close and looked around.

No one had beat him to her place. Things were better than he expected.

“What are you doing, Brian?,” Sara asked. She didn't try to stand.

“Trying to figure out why someone busted the old man's television over you,” said Brian. “Get your things. We're going to have to leave as soon as I ask Sleeping Beauty some questions.”

“What do you mean?,” asked Sara. “Someone attacked your dad?”

“Naw,” said Brian. “They broke into his place and kicked in his television. He's irate right now. They left a note to steer clear of you. Any reason why?”

“No,” said Sara. “What is this about?”

“We think it has to do with the flowers,” said Brian. He grabbed the goon and took him to the bathroom. He turned on the shower and forced the man under the water. That woke the thug up. He tried to punch his way to freedom. That earned him savage kicks to his shins that dropped him to his knees.

“Who do you work for?,” asked Brian. “I would like to talk to him.”

“You don't talk to the boss, he talks to you,” said the minion. He raised his hands to block the water from his face.

“Tell me what I want to know or I'll throw you out the window and ask one of the others I left in the staircase,” said Brian. “Or I tie you up and call the old man to come down here and work you over for his television.”

“I'm not telling you anything,” said the goon. He swung at Brian. A quick deflection was followed by an edge of the hand across the face. The thug dropped to the bottom of the shower.

Brian took his wallet and left him in the shower. He cut off the water so the man wouldn't block the drain and drown.

“Why didn't he say anything?,” asked Sara.

“He's more afraid of his boss than he is of me,” said Brian. “Got your purse and phone? We have to go before the others wake up to try to stop us.”

“There are more?,” asked Sara.

“I left them in the staircase,” said Brian. “They probably got goons guarding the exits in case their guys couldn't get the job done.”

“All this over some flowers?,” asked Sara. She grabbed her jacket and made sure her phone and wallet were stuffed in the pockets.

“We thought it was because of your professor,” said Brian. He led the way out of the apartment. He went to the stairs and listened. He started down. “Any ideas?”

“Not off the top of my head,” said Sara. “He didn't look for treasure if I remember right. He was interested in old buildings and landmarks.”

“Maybe he found something on a dig before he was shipwrecked,” said Brian. He stepped over the sleeping goons as he led the way down to the street. He restrained the impulse to take the wallets of the mob sleeping off their beating. The one wallet they had would have to do the job.

Once he knew whom he was looking for, he could ask the man what was going on.

They stepped out in the street and started walking.