Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
I got the message. The man sitting in the VIP area, in a Dolce & Gabbana suit, was Yu. On either side of him were two bodyguards, dressed just as well, and farther out were another four men, at the perimeter. Yu was drinking and conversing with one of the hostesses, who sat on his lap.
I got up, crossed the space, and reached the velvet rope that kept Mr. Yu and his party separated from the rest of us mortals. Immediately, one of the bodyguards came toward me, and I really hoped that the easily 290-pound wall of muscle was not going to take a shot at me.
Could I tangle with a man that big? Yes. Did I want to? Not at all. I understood perfectly how getting hit and shot at and blown up was a younger operative’s game. I really just wanted to be home on my couch.
“Mr. Yu will see you, Mr. Colter,” the man said when he reached me, staring down from his height, which I was guessing was about six seven. Thankfully, he didn’t want to tangle with me right then.
“Thank you,” I said, going for amiable.
The man unhooked the rope so I could step into the exclusive area, and another, smaller, but no less muscular man joined him.
“Hands on your head, please, sir,” he told me.
I did as asked, and the man began to search, giving me a pleasant smile as he checked, finally nodding over to his boss that I was clean. Yu gestured for the hostess to leave him, as well as the companions of his men, and they left quickly, like a flock of beautiful, colorful birds.
“Sit,” Yu commanded when I reached his table, one of his men holding out a chair for me.
I dropped into the chair across from him, noting that the man who had frisked me now stood directly behind Yu’s chair. Others clustered close as well.
I was thinking Yu was in his early thirties, but I found it difficult to really tell. I was crap at guessing ages. The man was a handsome combination of features, from his golden copper eyes and broad nose to his strong, prominent cheekbones.
Since Yu wasn’t talking, I waited. Best not to push. For his part, he was staring at me, sizing me up, his amber irises inspecting me.
I took that moment to double-check where everyone was. His men would hurt me or kill me on his order without batting an eye.
The silence lasted for a good forty seconds before Yu spoke. His voice was deep and even, with a slight mixture of accents.
“You’re a long way from Chicago, Colonel.” He eyed me without expression.
“And you’re particularly well informed for a local drug kingpin, Mr. Yu.”
He gave a short laugh. “You have big balls, coming here after killing so many of my men.”
“But it was you who sent them to their deaths, Mr. Yu,” I replied flatly. “I simply obliged you.”
Yu leaned forward. “You see all these people, Colonel? They all fear me. Every last one of them. But not you.”
“No, sir, I’m plenty scared. I’m just hiding it well.”
He liked that, and chuckled before narrowing his eyes in calculation. “In our present situation,” he said, indicating the four men around me, “I’d have to say, you’re smart to be scared. Your position is a precarious one.”
“It is and it isn’t.”
“How so?” he asked, curiosity getting the better of him. Always best to keep your enemy talking whenever possible.
“I’ve come to discuss a business proposition, either with you or with the lieutenant who replaces you.”
It took a moment, but then Yu sat slowly more upright. “Tell me what you’re proposing.”
“You’re a businessman. I’m here to appeal to your ambition. I’m in this country looking for someone. I believe your employer has them. I want you to take me to them.”
“I work for nobody but myself,” Yu said, his voice remaining steady, with a well-honed edge. “I do favors to gain favors.”
“Then do one for me.”
Yu scoffed. “What favor can you return?”
The fault in most criminal minds, I’d found over the years, was that greed was the driving impulse. Pride was an equal vice. Tommy Yu was the little fish, and I was gambling that he didn’t like it and that money was his first allegiance.
“I’m rich,” I apprised him. “I can make you rich as well.”
“I—”
“Listen,” I said affably, smiling at him. “Certainly, you’re a powerful man, but you scrape and claw for your piece of the pie. That’s twenty percent by my estimation. I suspect the person I’m looking for has the other eighty. You may feel wealthy, but twenty percent isn’t rich. You’re merely the middleman. Let me hand you the keys to the entire empire. I’ll take out your competition, and you help me find my associate. Win-win.”
Yu paused. It was big money. Hard to turn down.