DISCLAIMER: I disclaim that Ranma and co belong to me. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

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Chapter 17- Wild Goose Chases

I stood in Sir Blaine's hotel room, taking deep breaths as the red fog of rage slowly cleared from my vision. Mousse, that double-crosser! It looked like at any given time either I had the diamond or I had Blaine- one or the other. What did it take to bring them into that same small area of space and time long enough that I could discharge my duty, complete my task, collect my fat paycheck and move the bloody hell on??

I imagined blowing out green noxious anger and breathing in sweet, clean pink calm.
The edges of my eyes weren't burning anymore, so I looked up to see Ranma and Sir Blaine regarding me cautiously. It was all Ranma's fault. I'd worked fine alone for years. Now he had come in and messed up my hormones so that I found even Mousse attractive and let that blind Chinese pipsqueak steal…STEAL...!

I focused. Greeeeeen out...pink in...greeeeen out…piiink in... 

There. That felt a little better.

"Sir Blaine, there's been a slight hitch," I said, moving him further into the room. "Just a hiccup, really, a slight change of plans. I...don't have the diamond with me at the moment." I held up a hand as he started to speak. "Don't worry, it's quite safe." Or so I hoped, at least.
Blaine looked suspicious. Who could blame him? I had to distract him, fast. 

"Could I bother you for a cup of tea?" I asked.

"Tea?" His eyes lit up. Trust the British to get all excited about their teatime. "Ah, yes, my apologies. I should have offered some immediately. They have wonderful tea here in India." He bustled off to his little kitchenette, then paused and looked over his shoulder. "You come VERY highly recommended, Ms. Tendo."

I nodded. So he wasn’t really oblivious at all. The message was clear. He was allowing me to talk to Ranma for a few seconds, for which I was grateful.
Ranma was looking confused and trying not to show it.

"You've screwed up somewhere, haven't you Akane?" he demanded. "You lost the diamond."

"I didn't...lose it," I hissed, taking his arm and leading him to the farthest corner of the room, as far from the kitchenette as we could get. "Mousse stole it from me."

"Mousse...?" Ranma stared at me for a spilt second before he began to laugh helplessly. “Hahahahaha…Mousse…stole…!” He laughed until he was doubled over. I glared at him through narrowed eyes.

"Mousse stole the diamond…from you?" Ranma went off into gales of laughter again. The only good thing about it was I hoped all that laughter was reassuring Sir Blaine. I heard Ranma snort the phrase 'talk about romancing the stone' and had to pinch my nostrils shut with my thumb and forefinger before I gave in to the urge to belt him a good one.

"I'm going after him," I said, and had the glowing satisfaction of seeing Ranma turn sober instantly.

"What do you mean 'I'?" he asked suspiciously.

"I mean, you-," I tapped a fingertip against his shirt with emphasis. "-are going to stay and guard Sir Blaine."

"You want me to baby-sit Alan Quatermain here?" Ranma asked. He smirked. "I don't think so, Ms. Tendo. I was hired as your bodyguard, not Blaine's. You-" He took great pleasure in poking a finger against MY chest, I could tell. “…are my responsibility.” Like you’ve always been, his fierce gaze seemed to say.

I was getting ready to argue that when suddenly there was a crash of glass and a startled cry from Blaine. Ranma and I stared at each other for a split second before we spun and ran for the kitchenette.

But it was too late. The glass of the kitchen window was broken and the small room was empty. We raced for the window and looked outside to see the back door of a black sedan swing shut and the car pull away from the curb. The glass was simply too shattered for us to climb through the window and clearing it away for both of us to climb through would have taken too long.

"Ranma!" I grabbed my partner's arm to get his attention as he stared after the disappearing car. "You have to go after Blaine and whoever kidnapped him! We have to split up!" I tried to stare him into it, willing him not to fight me on this one. "You know you'll be faster without me. We can't afford to lose him again, you know that." My tone was high and ragged. Forcing my voice to a calmer level, I continued. “I’ve got to get the Mogul back. You have to get Blaine back!"

Ranma stared at me for a split second and I could see him weighing the options at a frightening speed.

"All right," he said. "You win this one, but I'm going to collect on it. When you find Mousse, call me at this number." He scribbled a phone number on a piece of paper.

"You have a cell phone?" I asked. Ranma grabbed and wrapped a dishtowel around his hand and began clearing the glass from the window.

"No," he said. "I'll rent one." He turned and grabbed my face with his free hand, gave me a hard kiss. "Watch yourself." He hopped onto the window and out into the street. I watched him go, knowing he would get Blaine somehow. Getting the diamond back was up to me.

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In the end, tracking Mousse down wasn't as hard as I'd expected. Shampoo had mentioned that they had finally collected enough evidence to bust Kesari Dal. Ashish, the Indian officer had said that the man was based in Calcutta.

As I dozed off on my Calcutta-bound flight, I thought again about my case. Ranma and I certainly owed Kesari Dal for his goons trying to crush our windpipes in as soon as we had landed in Shanghai. I rubbed my throat lightly. Yeah, I was looking forward to meeting him. I closed my eyes, dreaming of that meeting. Sleep edged in.

The nightmare came slowly. I stood on my porch, sixteen again as Ranma stared at me sadly, rage tamped down in his eyes.

"Goodbye, Akane," he said.

A single maple leaf danced in the air and came to settle near my ankle. I stared at it. When I looked up, Ranma was gone and Nabiki was standing in front of me.

"Goodbye, Akane," she said, laughing lightly. She turned and faded slowly.

"Wait....onee-chan?" I said in Japanese, moving forward in an attempt to stop her. Her school pinafore faded last.

"Good bye, Akane." I spun around, and Kasumi stood as I'd last seen her, at the airport, smiling and waving. Guilt filled me. Why hadn't I stayed?

"Good bye, Kasumi." I spun again, and saw Dr. Tofu. He was smiling and waving at Kasumi.

"Now that's not right," I muttered. "You never said good-bye to Kasumi, you bastard."

Tofu just kept waving. Then he turned to me.

"Us men, we just like to leave," he said.

"That's not true," I cried through clenched teeth. "I betrayed Ranma. That's why he left."

"If he really loved you, he would have trusted you," Tofu's image grinned gently, nastily. "He would have left in the end. All men leave, Akane, you know that. And now you're chasing one. So what if he's a duck? It's just another wild goose chase, Akane."

"Get away from me! Liar! Liar!" I began to cry. "You lied to my sister, you creep!"

"Ma'am?"

I jerked awake. I blinked, and discovered that my eyes were wet. Angrily, I blinked them again, refusing to dignify them by swiping them away with my hand.

"Ma'am?" I looked up at the pretty flight attendant in her sari, who was pushing a cart of snacks. "Are you all right? Would you like a drink?"

"Thank you, yes. I'm fine," I muttered meaningless nonsense as I pushed memories to the bottom of my mind. I snagged a bag of chips and a Coke from the flight attendant and determinedly munched on the chips, then followed it with a long, life-restoring drink of Coke. The fizzy bubbles in the drink stung my roof of my mouth and woke me up.

"Focus, Akane," I whispered to myself. Where was Mousse most likely to be? I needn't have worried.

Once the plane landed, I tracked him down with almost embarrassing ease. I called up a contact who gave me the name of a guy who could tell me the name of a police officer I could tag for help. A quick jaunt to the police station and I found my contact, a slim Indian officer in her early thirties, dressed in a khaki uniform.

"You're a friend of Matthai?" she asked, examining me curiously as we went out to her standard issue vehicle. My blue t-shirt and jeans, and short, dark hair gave me the look of an inexperienced young girl, I knew. Well, that wasn’t her problem.

"I'm a friend of a friend," I said, with a quick smile.

"And you are searching for Kesari Dal," she said doubtfully. "You know there's a reason we haven't been able to pull him in. He has a lot of power in the ghetto areas here."

"I'm not bringing him in," I explained. "My friends are looking for him, and wherever Dal is, they will be too." I didn't mention I had my own little vendetta against the man.

"Hmm," she said, and drove. Twenty minutes later, the houses had grown smaller and the area was obviously poorer. Small kids ran around, playing. Then it got even worse. Bharati, the officer, stopped the car.

"He works in this area," she said. "You'll find him within a square kilometer."

"Thanks," I said, getting out of the car.

"Are you sure you will be all right?" she asked worriedly.

I smiled. Sweet of her to care. "I'll be fine, really."

Even as I was talking, the bust began. Chinese and Indian police officers began pouring into a building.

"Well, there you go," I said. Bharati stared, an irritated look on her face. "It's not my jurisdiction," she said, "Nevertheless, I should report to my superior."

She drove off on a squeal of rubber. I turned to watch men in local clothing try to escape Mousse’s men. There was lots of yelling and running and shooting.
By the time I leisurely walked over to the building, the raid was over. Mousse came out holding a man in front io him. This must be the infamous Dal, I mused.

I sauntered up to Mousse, who saw me almost immediately and began looking wary. Shampoo was nowhere in sight.

"Akane," he said.

"Mousse," I said. I nodded at the man he held in a tight grip. "Mr. Dal, I take it?"

The man looked to be in his late forties, and the effect of alcohol and other substances he'd used to abuse his body were quite evident in his wasted, pudgy features. His dark eyes were cruel as he stared down at petite lil' me.

"You're the guy who sent those goons after my bodyguard and me, aren't you?" I asked. He spat at me and I avoided the spit just barely. "You tried to kill us, didn't you?"

He snorted. "Did you think I was playing, little girl?"

I drew my fist back and punched him hard, putting some of my rage into it. His head snapped back and he sagged in Mousse's arms. The green-eyed duckboy lowered Dal to the ground, then kicked him once in the ribs. Dal didn't move.

"Tie him up!" Mousse shouted at a flunky. He turned to me, smiling. "Akane, you sure have a..."

I sucker punched him. Twice in five seconds made my fist sting, but it was well worth it. I enjoyed every second of feeling Mousse's cheek give way beneath my knuckles as his face swung to the side. Then I punched him with the other fist. I think he let me that time.

"Mousse, you double-crossing, jewel-stealing, schmoozing son-of-a...!" I took a deep breath. "You stupid…duck!"

Mousse came up grinning, his palms out in a pacifying gesture. He had a split lip and a bruised cheek and his eye would blacken soon. Somehow he still managed to be charming, the ingratiating bastard.

"Now, now Akane," he said soothingly. "What's upset you?"

"What's upset me?!" I screeched. I heard myself, and pitched my voice a little lower. I had an uncomfortable recollection of screeching at Ranma, too. "Where's my diamond, you thief?"

He didn’t waste time trying to deny it. "I don't have it on me, if that's what you're wondering," he said, still grinning, his green eyes sparkling with humour. "You traced me fast."

"It wasn't hard," I grumbled. I was trying to think up a good excuse to belt him again. He’d bruised my pride, stealing from me and trying to seduce me while doing it.

Mousse looked concerned. "I didn't steal it, Akane. I just borrowed it."

"Forgive my disbelieving look," I said, shortly. "It's hard to believe someone who felt you up to steal from you."

That glint was back in his eyes. "I certainly could have gotten the diamond without feeling you up," he said, his voice like warm butter. "Feeling you up was just a perk."

"Perk this," I snapped, and drove my foot into his knee. He gasped and fell to one knee, trying to regain balance. One of his officers who had been watching us came running, but Mousse waved him away.

"I deserved that," he grated out. He spit blood. "But Zhang wants the diamond, and I want Zhang. It's quite simple."

"I don't care, Mousse." I folded my arms. It was past time to get out of here. "I'm not an officer of the law. I don't have to worry about Zhang."

Mousse stood slowly, and now his smile was a little less friendly. "I'm so glad you reminded me of that, Akane. I AM an officer of the law, and as said officer of the law of the Republic of China, I have the ability to hold and question anyone who obstructs my path to justice and the criminal who...."

"Oh, save it, Mousse, you're giving me a headache." I could see what was coming. His smiles hadn't worked, so he was going to use the power of red tape.

"You know the government of India would be very interested in knowing that what is rightly a national treasure, a diamond of one of their emperors, is being privately sold."

"You don't know that," I said, ignoring the twinge of guilt in my stomach. I didn’t need him to tell me that they would also be interested in the person who was doing the delivering. I tried to avoid such interest from governments. "I'm just delivering it."

"Feel free," Mousse said, "AFTER we take care of Zhang."

"Why on earth do you need the diamond, anyway?" I asked. "Weren't you simply going to go to the location Shampoo would discover and catch him with all his smuggled goods?"

"That was the original plan," said Mousse, frowning.

"It was a fine plan, a good plan," I said. "There's nothing wrong with it.” I paused. “Ok, what went wrong with the plan?"

" Well, I only borrowed the diamond as insurance, you know. Plan B, so to speak."

I gave him a withering glance. "What. Went. Wrong,” I gritted out. “With Plan A?"

"Shampoo went back to her role as a prostitute. She was ready to tell us where to find Zhang, but somehow she was discovered. I found out right before my raid on Dal." Mousse took a deep breath. I could see that losing Shampoo troubled him. "I had to set up a deal with Zhang via webcam, show him the diamond, let him know I was willing to sell it back to him before I tried someone else."

"And?"

"He told me to meet him in Lhasa."

"Lhasa?" I slow-blinked. "That's his secret hidey-hole. You found it."

"He's expecting me there tomorrow. Which means I have to get there tonight, if possible. Flights to Lhasa are only once a week and the weekly flight is tomorrow."

"Did you requisition a police plane or something?"

Mousse smiled tightly. "It's the only way we get an element of surprise."

"We?" I asked.

"I could use you with me," Mousse said.

Before I could argue, he said, "Help me catch Zhang, and I'll return the diamond, fair and square. We'll have to save Shampoo and catch Zhang."

I pretended I was thinking for a moment. We'd all seen that coming a mile away. "Well, okay. When are you leaving?"

"If permission comes through, in about an hour," he said.

"I need to make a call," I said.

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A/N-Another long weekend, another chapter!! Well, as y'all can see, looks like the showdown at Lhasa will be the big finale! I think another couple chapters or three will wrap this story up! Whew! I can't believe I'm so close to finishing it! All thanks to my reviewers, who are the single biggest reason I continued this story, otherwise I'd have stopped at ch 5. -_-'