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A smile slowly spread across her face. “That’s a condition I’ll gladly accept.”

I kissed her –

And then gently rolled her onto her back and made love to her again.

51

After a few hours’ sleep, we got up, showered together, and ate breakfast. Once dressed, we set out on our mission with Mei-ling driving the Bentley.

My clothes were a damp, rumpled mess, so Mei-ling dropped by the Continental. She said she would stay in the Bentley while I went inside and changed.

“Should I wear my hoodie and jeans for this?” I asked.

“Good God, no,” she said in a deadpan voice. “He’ll at least think you’re serious if you wear a suit. In that other get-up, you look like a terrible undercover cop.”

I laughed and asked, “How much money will I need?”

“I have no idea. Half a million Hong Kong, at least.”

Which was about $60,000 US.

“We’ll have to drop by the bank,” I said.

“Alright.”

Back in my room, I quickly changed into fresh clothes. On my way back to the lobby, I dropped my wrinkled suit with housekeeping to be dry-cleaned.

Ten minutes later, we were at the bank.

Ten minutes after that, I walked out with a million Hong Kong dollars in my pocket. I’d withdrawn twice as much as I thought I would need just to be safe.

I was used to handling a lot of money, but strolling around with $120,000 US in my pocket was a bit unsettling, even for me.

Now things were about to get interesting.

We drove into Wan Chai, the seedy nightlife district of Hong Kong. It was crammed to the gills with nightclubs, bars, and general tackiness. According to Mei-ling, Wan Chai also hosted the city’s red light district.

Judging by all the neon signs, Wan Chai probably resembled a small-scale version of Macau at night. But at 10:30 in the morning, everything just looked shabby and grungy.

We parked in a somewhat reputable-looking garage and exited onto the street.

Puddles of rain still lingered from the night before. The air was suffocating with humidity and the stink of garbage and fried food.

Despite the sun being high in the sky, the discotheques and nightclubs were still going strong. Muted bass notes thumped through blacked-out windows and vibrated the air.

The sidewalks were crammed with locals going about their daily business, along with a few Westerners who stumbled out of the clubs, bleary-eyed and drunk.

“This way,” Mei-ling said as she led me down the sidewalk.

“Who are we going to see?”

“A man who can get you almost anything.”

She didn’t offer his name, so I didn’t ask.

“How do you know him?”

“He supplies me with cocaine for some of my richest clients at De Sade.”

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