Millie and Lance knew Arrow stood to benefit financially by selling new equipment to replace the cheaper equipment that QuiTel provided, but they suspected Arrow had other plans behind the scenes with more sinister potential. It was Millie’s job to figure out what those plans were, and to stop them.
“I can’t believe Lance pawned something this important off on a secretary.”
This time Millie was the one who moved in closer to Arrow.
“I’m not a secretary, and I’m definitely not a pawn, Mr. Donaldson.”
She put her hand out one more time, this time without a smile. Arrow shook it limply.
“You better watch your moves, Millie Martindale,” Arrow said.
When Arrow walked away, Millie took a deep breath and exhaled. Lance had told her this would happen. Millie had been pushing Lance to give her more responsibility and this was the perfect chance. Arrow Donaldson had a reputation for having trouble dealing with people he believed were beneath him, especially women.
And if Arrow became angry or frustrated, he was bound to make a mistake, one that would let the CIA stop him before he did anything terrible. They had backup plans in place, of course, but Millie could already tell she was going to be able to crack Arrow Donaldson.
When her breathing returned to normal, Millie joined the rest of the group. Arrow was off to the side talking on his phone. He saw her watching him and she smiled. He put his phone in his suit coat pocket and came back toward the group.
“Li Feng will remain under my secure protection for another night,” Arrow said. “So why don’t you all head to your hotel to rest a bit and we’ll regroup for dinner this evening?”
“That’s not what we agreed to. That’s not what I agreed to. I want to see Li Feng now.”
“I just got off the phone with your boss and he agreed to it.”
“You talked to Lance?”
But Arrow had already moved on to his waiting vehicle, as had the rest of her group. She pulled out her cell phone to call Lance and demand to know why he’d sold her out.
“Sorry to give you no warning, Millie,” he said, when he came on the line. “I figured it would help our plan to throw him off-balance, and you needed to act unguardedly. He’s agreed to meet you at his stadium in a few minutes to show you how powerful he is and what kind of protection he can offer. Let him spout off and feel like a big man and keep your mouth shut. Let him think you’re a secretary who is no threat to him.”
Millie grumbled an acceptance and hung up her phone.
3
Li Feng was so close to being able to relax. The plan had seemed outlandish at first, and updates to it early on only made it seem more ludicrous. But here she was on her way to the airport to complete the last step in a plan that would give her what she wanted most in life and had never thought would be possible: freedom.
The first taste of freedom was being by herself in the car. For as long as she could remember, she’d always had a crowd of security personnel around her. As an adult, she understood why it was necessary, especially as her father grew his role in the Chinese government and left much of the running of QuiTel to her. The number of security personnel always seemed excessive to her, and she was certain that when she was younger the guards had been there more to spy on and control her than to protect her.
Even as she basked in the glorious freedom of the alone time she’d been given, all she could think about was Sonny Ma, the man who had shown her another life free of her parents and their influences and expectations, a life of excitement and fame and money not tied to her family or the Chinese government. They’d grown up together, both students at a school for the children of elite members of Chinese society, and both had dabbled in criminal activity out of boredom. While Li Feng’s family had put an end to her “childish rebellions,” Sonny Ma used his family resources and connections from the school to lay the foundation for a powerful criminal enterprise. Then he had dangled before Li Feng the possibility that she could be part of that exciting world, too.
But soon after showing her that life and letting the need for it infect her soul, he had ripped it away from her at her parents’ command.
For that, Sonny Ma would pay dearly.
“The American producers have received the blackmail letter and their movie set has been attacked,” Li Feng said to her driver. “You will do the rest. Soon everyone will believe Sonny Ma is back to his gangster ways, just as they’re about to celebrate him with this ridiculous movie.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to just kill him?”
“I will take his money, his reputation, and his freedom. He will wish he was dead. I will not grant him that mercy.”
The little man driving the car was one more piece of the freedom she was being offered. Zhou “Ziggy” Peng was known around town as the most vicious fixer for Arrow Donaldson, the American billionaire with outsize influence in China due to his ownership of the largest and most profitable casino in Macau. He also owned the ferry that transported tourists between Hong Kong and Macau, as well as several high-profile government officials.
A year ago, Ziggy Peng showed up in her office to tell her that a number of her employees had high gambling debts and were likely in danger of being blackmailed. Little had she suspected at the time that this meeting would turn into the start of a new life for her. Days later, Ziggy returned with Arrow Donaldson, who told her about a plan he had in mind that would require her to lie to the U.S. government.
“What would it take for you to put yourself in that situation?” he had asked her.
“I want to destroy Sonny Ma.”
Arrow gave her the use of Ziggy Peng and his resources, as well as arranging to get her a new identity — including all of the papers she would need to live in the U.S. and become rich and famous and free.
In exchange, all she had to do was tell some people from the U.S. government that her company was spying on U.S. citizens using the cellular equipment they sold to phone carriers, even though it wasn’t true. That was the best part of the plan. Her testimony would ruin her family and taint her government. Her testimony was so prized that the U.S. government would bring in the CIA to protect her, which would also shield her from Sonny Ma once he found out she was the one responsible for ruining his life.
As they approached the business aviation area of the airport, Ziggy Peng’s phone rang. He nodded his head and said a few words acknowledging whatever was being said on the other line and then he hung up.
He turned back toward Li Feng and said, “There’s been a change of plans. I’m taking you to your protected lodging instead of the airport.”
4
“I’m Dale Gai,” the woman said to Teddy.
“How do you know Peter Barrington?”
“I work for the resort where they’re holding the film festival he’s working with.”
“I work with Peter as a producer, but I wasn’t involved with the film festival business. I need to get back to L.A. and get some sleep.”
“Peter needs you,” Dale Gai said.
“You said that already, but I told you that I’m not working with him on the film festival.”
“I’m an assistant in the security division of the resort. That’s all I can tell you.”
“Why didn’t Peter just call me himself?”