Page 139 of Roberto

But then I remembered what I had hidden back in my hotel room.

I decided to play along until I could return to the Continental and plot my next move.

A plane would be waiting for me tomorrow morning at Hong Kong International.

I just had to figure out how to get there on time.

“Very well,” I said coldly. “Then take me back to my room, because I’mdonehere.”

“When Mr. Han escorts you to the Continental,” Lau said, “you will kindly surrender what you purchased from Chaoxiang.”

I frowned. “Chao who?”

“The black market merchant you visited earlier today in Wan Chai.”

I stared at Lau in shock.

He knew.

But how?

“Did I purchase it from one of your underlings?” I asked bitterly, then turned to Xi. “Some triad flunky of yours?”

“No,” Xi said coldly.

“We found out from someone else,” Lau said.

Off my puzzled look, he continued.

“Haven’t you considered howeasilyI kept you here in Hong Kong the last three weeks? Yes, you nagged me the entire time, but you still stayed of your own volition. Why?”

“Because – ” I started, then stopped.

Horror filled me from head to toe. I felt like vomiting.

“Yes,” Lau said with a victorious smirk. “Because of someone you didn’t realize worked forme.”

I heard the door to the boardroom open behind me.

I turned to look, but I already knew with horrified certainty who I would see.

Flanked on either side by two gangsters, a woman entered the room.

She looked utterly ashamed and kept her eyes on the floor, refusing to meet my gaze.

“Allow me to introduce one of my mostvaluableemployees,” Lau gloated, “Chan Mei-ling.”

PART II

58

Mei-ling

Iwas born the daughter of a Hong Kong triad boss.

But first you need to understand what ‘triad’ means.

There was once a Buddhist monastery called the Shaolin Temple. The monks were famous for their skill in martial arts – known in the West as ‘kung fu.’

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