And for a second, I panicked that I would never have her again.
I pointed and said, “That’s her.”
The tone of my voice was clear:That’s the woman you’re supposed to follow.
“Wow,” the driver replied.
I guess certain words were universal.
He cranked the engine, waited until she was about a hundred feet down the road, then started after her.
My Uber driver proved remarkably proficient at tailing Mei-ling. It made me wonder if he’d followed people before.
He stayed at least 100 feet behind her all the way down the tree-lined hill.
Once we reached the city, he kept two or three cars between us and the Bentley at all times.
Twenty minutes after we started following her, Mei-ling pulled into an underground parking structure.
Though I hadn’t seen it during the daytime, I immediately recognized the building as the one that housed De Sade.
My driver looked at me in the rearview mirror and said something in Cantonese.
I was fairly certain he was asking,Do I follow her into the parking lot?
“Keep driving,” I said, motioning for him to continue down the street.
Using the translator on my phone, I got him to circle back around and park in an alleyway across from the building.
I briefly considered going in after her, then decided against it.
De Sade had security; it would be far too easy for them to throw me out.
I would confront her when the time was right…
And at a moment of my choosing.
I figured Mei-ling would remain at De Sade until she left work, so there was no reason for us to hang around.
I had the Uber driver take me back to the Continental. Once we arrived, I used the translator to ask if he would come back to pick me up at midnight and help me stake out De Sade.
I offered the same deal as before: 500 Hong Kong dollars every 10 minutes, with an extra thousand-dollar bonus for having to stay up so late.
He happily agreed, and I waved goodbye as I stepped out of the car.
An amusing thing happened shortly afterwards.
I walked inside the Continental, lost in my thoughts.
What would I say to Mei-ling when I finally approached her?
What wouldshesay?”
And why had she reacted so violently when I told her about my family?
As I waited for the elevator, a voice said, “Excuse me.”
I turned to see a burly Asian man in a suit staring me down.