Rising Tiger (9 page)

He transferred the files to his laptop after encrypting the files. Then Jake got off the laptop and shoved the thumb drive into his left cargo pants pocket.

Jake glanced at the sleeping beauty on the bed and checked his watch. He had fifteen minutes. Reluctantly he left his gun and extra magazine on the table next to the other one that Alexandra had carried. He couldn’t take it where he was going.

As he quietly left the room on the fifty-fifth floor, he slowly made his way down to the elevators. He would be leaving Singapore in the morning and if he didn’t at least see his old friend, she would be really pissed when she found out.

Attached to the Sands Hotel where he stayed was a massive casino. It was one of the reasons Jake had stayed here in the first place. But to get into the casino, Jake had to show the entrance security his passport and then go through an airport-like metal detector—his reason for not bringing his gun.

Jake wandered through the casino, which at this time of the afternoon was not very busy. He wasn’t a huge gambler. The odds were always in the favor of the house. But he wasn’t there to gamble. He was there to see an old friend.

Chang Su had been a friend of his for many years. The two of them first met when Jake was on a mission in China years ago, when he stopped the transfer of laser technology from getting into the hands of the communist Chinese government. Jake had gotten Chang Su out of China and she had lived with him for more than a year at his apartment in Innsbruck, Austria. Although they had been lovers, Jake knew that her heart was really never in it. He guessed she had been grateful for him saving her life, and over time that had worn off. Eventually the cold of Austria had become too much for her, and the pull of Asia had been too strong.

When he saw her at one of the roulette tables, wearing a red vest over a white silk shirt, she looked. . .happy. He almost walked away. The last thing he wanted to do was get her mixed up in his current situation. Sure he had considered having her translate the Chinese parts of the data he had gotten from the banker in Taiwan. But it was better to let Kurt Jenkins handle that. Just as he thought he might let her be, she caught Jake looking at her and her eyes, her most expressive feature, brightened even more.

Chang Su let the current ball finish bouncing, collected the chips and paid a few small payouts, and then turned the table over to another croupier.

She nodded her head for Jake to follow her. He couldn’t help checking out her tiny body as she walked away from him. His mind went back to his apartment in Austria and a montage of times they had made love.

When they finally reached a nearly-empty bar area off to one side, she finally turned and gave Jake a big hug. As she pulled away, she wiped tears from both eyes.

They took seats at a table across from each other.

He waited for her to speak first.

“What are you doing here, Jake?” she asked. For the first time he saw the colorful braces on her teeth. If she had had one flaw, it was her imperfect teeth. But now the braces made her look like she was still in high school. She had not aged a day.

“It’s business,” Jake said. “I can’t say any more.”

She shook her head. “I understand. How long will you be here?”

“Just tonight,” he said. He wished he had more time after seeing her again.

“We should go out tonight then.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

“It’s slow today. I could say I’m sick.”

He wasn’t sure, but he thought she might want to rekindle what they had in the past.

“I’m sorry. I’m with someone.”

She looked disappointed. “It’s Toni, right?”

“No. Toni was murdered recently.”

Shock crossed her face, and Jake realized he shouldn’t have been so blunt. He explained what had happened to Toni, and how the two of them had never gotten back together.

“I’m so sorry, Jake. But you were still friends.”

“Of course.” He didn’t want to mention the fact that Toni had given birth to Jake’s son years ago and failed to tell him. Jake was still trying to deal with that recent revelation.

“Then who?” she asked.

“You’ve met her in Austria. Alexandra.”

“Oh, she is very beautiful. I hope you are finally happy.”

“Well, we’re still trying to figure things out.” He explained what he could, that Alexandra was becoming his partner. Nothing else. “How are you doing?”

She hesitated to consider the question. “I’m happy. I like my job here. Singapore is a beautiful city. Very warm.”

“It is that. Too hot for me.” Jake had kept his eyes open for anything unusual and when he finally saw something out of place, he knew he had to move fast to keep Chang Su safe. “I have to go. Is your number the same?”

“You just got here, Jake,” she pled, obviously disappointed.

“I know. I’m sorry.” He got up and left her at the table, making sure the Asian woman coming his way didn’t see the two of them together. Lowering his hat over his eyes, he vectored behind a row of slot machines. What the hell was going on? Somehow the Asian woman had found him.

The woman who had fought with Alexandra and tried to kill the both of them last night was now on him like a heat seeking missile. It must have been because the security scanned his passport at the door. Maybe Bill Remington knew about his Canadian passport. Now Jake would have to use one of his other passports going forward.

Jake moved along the back wall. The casino was shaped in a circle, so if he kept going he would eventually get to one of the escalators. No, she might have posted a friend at each one of those. Instead, Jake hurried forward toward a handicap elevator. As he punched the button, he saw the Asian woman checking her phone out in the center of the room among the gaming tables.

The elevator came and he got in. He reached for his gun, but it wasn’t there. He had been forced to leave it in his room.

When he got up one flight to the entrance level, Jake walked quickly toward the security area. He showed his passport to leave the casino and then walked out toward the casino. A lone man was against one wall talking on his cell phone, just out of view of casino security.

Suddenly the man seemed to recognize Jake. The Asian man reached into his jacket and Jake rushed the guy, hitting the man and knocking him against the wall, his gun bouncing to the carpet out of their reach.

Jake shoved his knee into the man’s groin, taking his breath away with instant pain. Then Jake grasped the man behind the head and drove his face into Jake’s knee, knocking him out.

The cough of a silenced gun made Jake instinctively turn. The bullet chipped the marble wall and Jake now saw the source. It was the Asian woman and another man, who probably held her gun as she went in to find Jake. The other guy was six feet away in the direction of the Asian woman.

Without further hesitation, Jake ran as fast as he could, rounding a corner and racing out through a set of doors. Bullets struck the door frame and another smashed the glass on the open door.

Once outside into a mezzanine area between the hotel and the casino, Jake rushed forward. He got to the hotel elevators and lucked out, sliding right into one and punching the door close button.

As the doors closed another bullet hit the inside of the elevator and one more struck the door as it closed.

He punched three buttons—the fifteenth floor, the thirtieth floor, and the fifty-fourth floor. On the way up, he found his phone and tried to call Alexandra. She didn’t answer.

“Damn it, Alexandra. Answer your phone.”

At the fifteenth floor the doors opened and he quickly hit the close button again.

He tried Alexandra’s phone again. Nothing.

When he got to the fifty-fourth floor, he rushed out and ran down the corridor. As he ran he tried Alexandra one more time, but she still didn’t pick up.

He found the staircase and shoved through it. Then he climbed up to the fifty-fifth floor and hurried out toward his room. He had his card out and then second-guessed his actions for a micro-second. If they had tracked his Canadian passport, they might already know his room number. They could have already been to his room and killed Alexandra. Now he sprinted to his room and, out of breath, slid his key card into the slot. When the green light went off, he hurried in and found Alexandra.

She was on the floor at the back side of the bed, her Glock aimed right at Jake.

“My God, you’re all right. Come on. We have to leave. Somehow they found us.”

She got up from the floor. “How?”

“I don’t know. Maybe my Canadian passport. I went to the casino and they required me to swipe it.”

“Well, we never unpacked.” She swung her bag over her shoulder, keeping her gun free and ready to shoot. “I’m ready.”

Jake shoved his laptop into his backpack and then slung it onto his shoulders. It was getting lighter each day, since he had gotten rid of some clothes along the way. He too kept his gun in his hand at the ready.

Now they had to find a way out of the hotel. The Asian woman and her two friends could simply hang out at the bottom of the elevators and wait them out.

Once they were in the corridor, Alexandra whispered, “How do we get out of here?”

“Two choices,” Jake said. “The stairs or the elevators.” Jake stood for a moment and considered the best path. “How about operation chaos?”

“Crap. Not again.”

Jake smiled as he led her toward the stairwells. Just before entering the exit door, Jake pulled the fire alarm. That would do two things. The elevators should stop and automatically return to the ground level. And then everyone in the hotel would be forced to evacuate on the stairs.

The two of them hurried to the staircase and headed down. They both had to hide their guns again. She put her Glock in her purse, and Jake shoved his into the sleeve at the small of his back, which was a problem with the backpack over it. The farther they got down the stairs, the more people that joined them. Jake guessed that the bad guys would have either been stuck in the elevator and shoved down to the ground level, or were also making their way down the stairs. Of course they would also have to consider the whole thing a ruse, with Jake and Alexandra staying in their room and waiting out the storm of activity. That only worked if the Asian woman didn’t already know his room.

As they finally got out into the main lobby, the place was a major disaster, with people clustered everywhere and being forced out into the front of the building.

But Jake didn’t see the Asian woman or either of her two friends. They must have been stuck somewhere in the crowd.

Outside now and into the sweltering heat, Alexandra said, “Now what?”

Jake took her hand and led her to the front of the row of taxis. They got in and Jake told the driver to go to the airport. As they got closer to Changi International Airport, Jake had the driver change directions.

“I’m sorry,” Jake said. “I meant the train station.”

●

Shangwei had recently gotten to Singapore and was following Remington’s crew to take out the American at the Sands Hotel, when he had to restrain himself from stepping in. He didn’t have clear instructions from General Wu Gang on incidental damage, but his mission at this point was to simply observe. He wasn’t great at not taking the initiative and finishing what those incompetent idiots Remington had hired couldn’t complete. It was as if that woman was trying not to kill the American.

Now, after Remington’s people had lost their target, Shangwei pulled himself into a remote area in the massive lobby area of the hotel, sat in a comfortable leather lounge chair, and called his boss.

Shangwei explained what had happened and how he needed directions.

“Keep back in the shadows,” General Wu Gang demanded.

“Yes, sir. I’m concerned about our friend’s workers.”

The general sighed. His boss was never one to put up with failure or complaints. “Let me handle the man. I believe our friend wants to play this out on his terms.”

“But sir, it was almost like the crew wanted to fail. They were not efficient.”

The general laughed. “You must consider the target. This man has made many failures in the past. What seems easy is not always so.”

Shangwei understood that concept. He started to scratch at his new tattoo, but disciplined himself to pull back and leave it alone. “What are my orders now?”

“Just continue to follow. My patience is not infinite. But we can play with the mouse for a little longer. You will get a new location soon.”

Thanking his boss for direction, Shangwei clicked off his cell phone just seconds after his boss cut the connection. His eyes continued to scan the lobby area, hoping to pick up his target. He had heard the man now had a beautiful western woman with him, and Shangwei had a special place in his heart for white women with big round eyes. Well, maybe not his heart, but perhaps an organ a bit lower. He smiled with that thought, and then got up and wandered across the lobby and out the main entrance.

Bangkok, Thailand

Bill Remington was a giant in Thailand. At six four, he rarely looked anyone in the eye. And that’s the way he liked it. His first wife had been Thai, a petite and beautiful woman with skin like caramel. When she died, he wasn’t sure how to live any more. Maybe that was when he decided to take whatever he could from this world. Since his first wife had been from a political family, he had acquired more power in Thailand than any other living American. The problem with staying in Thailand, of course, was the strong extradition treaty this country had with America. He could only pay for protection for so long. Eventually, some government official he paid off would want more money and then the trust would end and turn to extortion.

He stood now in front of a mirror as the tailor measured him for a new suit. Remington observed his strong features, but hated the fact that he was getting old. Where his stomach used to be rippled with muscles in his youth, he now had a layer of fat damn near everywhere. Hence the reason for the re-measure. He had been using this tailor for almost two decades. He was a second cousin of his late wife. But the Agency had no idea this is where he got his suits. He always had them delivered to a post office box in Virginia, and he paid the man with cash sent by a courier. The same courier who he trusted with his money in Singapore. Although the freezing of assets came faster than he expected, he still had a huge amount in other accounts that had not been found yet. Thankfully he had transferred much of that into cash, gold and silver in safe deposit boxes.