Five
Only a few seconds went by while I lay there staring at a knife which I knew had been meant for me. The dock had suddenly grown quiet. I could hear the startled breathing of Mei Hsu and farther off the sound of running feet. I pushed against the boards and got to my feet, turning around.
There was a figure running away in the distance, but my attention was caught more by the man who stood right behind me. He was obviously the one who had knocked me down. It was Jimmy Shan.
“What the—” I began.
“So sorry,” he interrupted, and to my surprise he seemed to have lost his perfect English. He was speaking almost a pidgin English. “This most awkward person stumbled over own feet to the shame of my ancestors. So sorry.” And he turned, and bolted in the same direction the fleeing man had ta
