CHAPTER TEN

“I need your help,” Kira admitted reluctantly as she faced Ethan in the middle of his living room, feeling like a criminal returning to the scene of the crime. This was the last place that she wanted to be and Ethan was the last person that she wanted to be asking for help but in the face of Gabriel’s arrest earlier that day, she had no choice. She needed to get to the bottom of Yi’s murder and she needed to do it with a quickness which meant she couldn’t afford to let pride keep her from a potential source of information. But that didn’t mean she had to like it. The look of satisfaction that she saw on Ethan’s face pretty much guaranteed the she wouldn’t.

“Given the fact that the last time we saw each other you were having me thrown out of Gau Lung, that’s kind of rich,” Ethan pointed out tauntingly.

“Don’t do that,” Kira said sharply.

“Don’t do what?”

“Make this harder than it has to be. What’s going on is bigger than our little game of cat-and-mouse. A man’s life is on the line.”

Ethan ran a hand over his chin. “Yeah, I heard about Gabriel’s arrest.”

“Of course you did. Everyone has,” Kira pointed out with a sigh. “I’ve been doing damage control at Gau Lung all day because of it, not that it's done much good. This situation is officially out of control which is why I’m here. As I stated before, I need your help.”

“I’m not sure what you expect me to do.”

“You can tell me what, if anything, you've dug up about Xiao’s killer. If the two murders are connected, tracking him down would be a good place to begin in proving that Gabriel didn't murder Yi.”

“What makes you so sure that Gabriel didn’t murder Yi?”

Kira pursed her lips in indignation, taken aback by Ethan’s question, “Because he told me that he didn’t and he has never given me a reason not to trust him.”

“Unlike me.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“But you certainly were thinking it, weren’t you?” Ethan pointed out bitterly.

Kira bit her tongue, refusing to be drawn into a fight. “Could we please just stick to the subject at hand which is Xiao’s murder? What have you found out about it?”

“The markings on the killer’s jacket indicate that he was a member of The Yellow Tiger Triad.”

“Xiao’s murder was a triad hit?” Kira asked, her voice rising in surprise.

“It looks that way.”

Kira sighed heavily as she plopped down on Ethan’s sofa, feeling deflated. “In that case, his murder probably had nothing to do with Yi’s murder. ”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Ethan said as he joined her on the sofa.

“Why would a triad want Yi dead? He had no involvement in organized crime.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that if I were you. You’d be surprised by how often the interests of big business and the criminal underworld intersect. But even if you are right and Yi had no involvement with organized crime, my father sure as hell does. And, as it turns out, he has very close ties to The Yellow Tiger Triad.”

Kira arched an eyebrow. “Coincidence?”

“Not likely.”

Kira rose to her feet and began to pace the room. “So you think that Jared may have used this triad to kill Yi and set up Gabriel, thereby getting them both out of the way of his plans for the sub-concession and then had Xiao killed to cover his tracks.”

“That’s the working theory for now.”

“That’s pretty damned diabolical.”

“We’re talking about Jared Halifax here. Diabolical is his middle name.” As usual, Ethan’s voice took on a chilling quality when talking about his father that left Kira feeling unsettled. “What about you? Have you been able to dig up any useful information on your end?”

Kira’s mind instantly returned to her last conversation with Gabriel and the revelations it had yielded

You mustn’t breathe a word of this to anyone.

Gabriel's desperately uttered admonition haunted her as did the look on his face as the police hauled him away. There was too much on the line for her to risk spilling her guts to someone that she didn’t trust and when it came to people that she didn’t trust, Ethan was, sadly, at the top of the list.

“Nope,” Kira lied, averting her gaze from Ethan’s. “I got nothing. That’s why I’m here.”

The expression on Ethan’s face when she returned her gaze to his was unreadable. “In that case, the only lead we have to follow up on is this Yellow Tiger connection.”

“And how do we do that?”

“We don’t do that. Donovan and I will handle this.”

Kira strategically bit back an angry protest. “Okay. How exactly do you and Donovan plan to do that?”

“We’ve done some digging around and found out that The Yellow Tiger Triad runs a high limit poker game out of the VIP room of The Shangri-la on Macau and their Red Pole is a regular fixture at them.”

“Red Pole?” Kira asked, puzzled

“That’s triad-speak for ‘Enforcer’.”

Kira nodded knowingly. “In that case, it makes sense that he would be in attendance at this poker game.” While she was hardly an expert on the triads, everyone knew that the VIP rooms in Macau were notorious for being a hotbed of illicit activities. “Do you think that this ‘Red Pole’ is the same person who killed Xiao.”

“Most likely, which is why Donovan and I have arranged to play in the game scheduled for tonight. I want to get a look at this guy.”

“But you didn’t even see his face.”

“No, but I did get a good look at his height and build as well as the way that he moved,” Ethan explained. “That should be enough for me to figure out if we’re barking up the wrong tree or not.”

“I got a good look at all of those things too, which is why you should take me with you to this game. Two pairs of eyes are better than one, after all.”

“Absolutely not. I don’t want you anywhere near that VIP room.”

“I don’t really care what you want,” Kira stated angrily.

“You’ve made that abundantly clear. Regardless, you still aren’t coming with us.”

“But…”

“No buts!” Ethan barked loudly. “You’re not going! End of story!”

Kira opened her mouth to say something but, seeing the look of fierce determination on Ethan’s face, quickly closed it. “Okay,” she said with a shrug as she headed towards the door.

“That’s it?” Ethan asked incredulously as he followed on her heels. “That certainly wasn’t much of a fight.”

Pausing at the door, Kira turned to face him questioningly. “Did you want a fight?”

“Maybe,” Ethan said with a shrug. “After all, they say negative attention is better than no attention. Besides, I have always found our little skirmishes to be quite stimulating. And if you’re honest with yourself, so have you.”

“Let me know what happens at the poker game,” Kira replied, not bothering to deny his assertion.

Ethan gave her a wink as he reached out to run the back of his fingers down the side of Kira’s face, releasing what felt like an entire flock of butterflies in her stomach in the process. “Oh, I'll definitely be keeping in touch with you.”

***

The acrid smell of cigarette smoke mixed with the scent of desperation wafted up Ethan’s nose as he surveyed the thirtieth floor of The Shangri-La Macau, one of a handful of flashy new casinos to pop up on the Macau peninsula, standing out among the older casinos like a gilded rose amongst a field of wilting flowers. Leaning casually against the golden balustrade that cordoned off the wealthy denizens of the VIP section from their less affluent counterparts herded into the ground level of the casino, Ethan watched as a pair of triad members circled losing gamblers like sharks attracted by the smell of blood, offering lines of credits or in some cases extending previously issued ones, luring their hapless victims further and further into their trap. Neither of them were Xiao’s killer.

“Still no sign of the shooter?” Donovan asked as he brought a high ball glass full of whiskey to his lips.

“Nope,” Ethan replied as he idly stroked the stack of chips in his hand, allowing them to smoothly slide one by one through his fingers. The steady, rhythmic clack of plastic against plastic as the chips fell back into place drew a sharp glance from Donovan.

“Watch your tells, little brother,” Donovan warned as he gave a slight nod towards Ethan’s anxiously moving fingers. “The minimum bet for this game is two hundred grand a hand. If you keep telegraphing your emotions like that, you're not going to last long against the crowd we will be playing against.”

Ethan straightened to his full height and stuffed the chips into the pocket of his dark trousers. “So you’re going to try to teach me how to play poker now?”

Donovan leveled his gaze at Ethan. “I’m just reminding you that emotions are a liability in this game.”

“Why do I get the feeling we’re not talking about poker anymore?”

“Because we’re not,” Donovan replied tersely before pulling back the heavy black fabric of his suit jacket to look at the silver Omega Seamaster strapped to his wrist. “It’s time.”

Without saying another word, Donovan headed towards one of the five private rooms located on the floor prompting Ethan to follow suit. Two intimidating looking guards wearing matching dark suits and opaque shades stood expressionlessly outside the door. Ethan took note of the tell-tale bulges of what appeared to be rather large hand guns not-so-discretely concealed beneath their jackets as they opened the double-doors to grant Ethan and Donovan entry into the private poker game scheduled to take place inside.

Despite Donovan’s previous warning about tells, Ethan couldn't hide the mixture of shock and anger that flickered across his face the instant he locked eyes with Kira from across the smoke filled room.

Seated at the black lacquered bar that had been stuffed into the already overcrowded room, Kira squirmed slightly in her seat next to her date for the evening. Channing Halworth had been a wealthy business associate of Yi’s who had displayed a keen interest in both Kira and high stakes gambling during the two years that she’d known him, making it easy enough to parlay those two interests into an all access pass into the VIP section. Kira had thought herself rather clever in finagling her way into the poker game after Ethan refused to bring her with him, but as she watched Ethan glowering at her, she rubbed her hand nervously over the satiny material of the copper-colored cocktail dress that tightly encased her thighs as she wondered if she had mistaken cleverness for foolishness.

“Ms. St. James, we meet again. This time under less awkward circumstances,” Donovan said cheerily as he glanced from Ethan to Channing and then back again. “Or perhaps not.”

“So you know each other then?” Channing directed his inquiry at Kira in a clipped British accent as he ran a pale hand through his russet colored curls.

“Yes, we do,” Ethan interjected himself into the conversation, speaking to Channing but keeping the intensity of his laser-like gaze focused directly on Kira. Channing gave Ethan a visual once over that gave the distinct impression that he was checking out the competition. Clearly not liking what he saw, he draped an arm possessively around the back of Kira’s barstool.

“We’re about to begin play,” the dealer announced as he took his position at the large, oblong poker table situated in the middle of the room.

“How about a kiss for good luck?” Channing asked, planting a quick peck on Kira’s lips before she could stop him. Even from across the room she could see a tiny muscle in Ethan’s jaw flick angrily as he ground his teeth.

Dragging his attention away from Kira, Ethan surveyed the other players as he took his seat at the table. A quick glance at the four men and two women that he and Donovan would be playing against told him that he was dealing with the usual suspects, a combination of Chinese businessmen and women with a few corrupt government officials, probably playing with misappropriated public funds, thrown into the mix for good measure. These high rollers had no doubt been flown in from mainland China on chartered jets by the junket operators who had arranged the game. In addition to paying upwards of a million dollars per month in fees for use of the VIP rooms, junket operators also facilitated lines of credit with the casinos on behalf of the players they brought in or, as was the case with this particular game, offered lines of credit themselves as a way of getting around Chinese law that severely limited the amount of money that its citizens could take out of the country. That’s where the triads came in. Since gambling debts can’t be legally enforced in mainland China many junket reps employed the highly specialized and typically violent services of triads. Between these lucrative loan sharking revenues and the opportunity for rampant money laundering that these unregulated games created, triad gang members tended to infest VIP rooms like cockroaches.

Unfortunately, Ethan had yet to set eyes on the one particular machine gun-toting bug he was looking for and, at the moment, he was relieved by that fact. If and when Xiao’s killer showed his face, there was no way of knowing how he would react to seeing both of the people who had been with Xiao when he'd killed him which was why Ethan hadn’t wanted Kira at the game to begin with. Ethan being at the game could be dismissed as a coincidence but Kira being there as well made the situation look like the set up it was and there was no telling what kind of reaction that would elicit. Kira had potentially put herself in the line of fire with this little stunt and for that Ethan could have happily throttled her beautiful little neck. But since that wasn't an option, he settled into his seat with every intention of dispatching her date from the game as expediently as possible, thereby facilitating what he hoped would be a hasty exit for Kira. To his relief, it turned out that Channing wasn’t much of a poker player. While his face was blandly pretty under normal circumstances it became notably more animated while he played, giving away practically every hand dealt to him by the increased blinking of his eyes when he had a good hand and a subtle chewing of the inside of his cheek when he held a loser. After playing a half dozen or so hands, Ethan knew that he wouldn’t last long with this crowd and judging by the disappointed look on her face every time Channing tossed a losing hand onto the table, so did Kira.

“Bloody hell!” Channing muttered with disgust as he threw in another losing hand.

“I guess this isn’t your lucky night,” Ethan replied as he collected the pile of chips from the center of the table and began stacking them in neat rows in front of him. Although his words were directed at Channing his eyes were focused over his shoulder, locked on Kira.

“The night’s not over,” Channing replied, following Ethan's gaze over to Kira pointedly. “I could still get lucky.”

Ethan’s jaw tensed at Channing's insinuation as he fought off the urge to grind his fist into the other man’s mouth. “I wouldn’t push my luck if I were you,” he said as he rose from his seat.

Kira visibly stiffened as Ethan joined her at the bar.

“I’ll have a scotch, neat,” Ethan informed the bartender, waiting until he was out of earshot before addressing Kira under his breath. “Get your boyfriend out of here before he loses both his money and his teeth.”

Kira resisted the urge to tell Ethan that Channing wasn’t her boyfriend, reminding herself that she didn’t owe him any explanations. “He has as much a right to be here as you do,” Kira pointed out in hushed tones.

“You’re right. You’re the one who has no business being here which is why you are going to suddenly develop a headache and insist that Channing take you home. Given all the money he's already lost, he'll probably jump at the excuse to leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Kira snapped, her voice rising.

“Oh, you’re leaving alright, even if I have to drag you out of here,” Ethan raised his voice as well, drawing a chastising look from Donovan but no longer caring whether or not he was being overheard.

The brewing argument was interrupted by the door to the VIP room opening, prompting both Kira and Ethan to turn their attention to the new arrival. The man who walked through the door, though rather diminutive in stature, still somehow managed to convey a menacing aura as he crossed the room with the slow, ominous movements of a slithering snake. The black silk shirt he wore beneath his charcoal gray blazer was unbuttoned almost to his navel, revealing the mosaic of tattoos that crept up from his chest and wrapped around his neck. His soulless black eyes locked with Ethan’s in a moment of mutual recognition. The bemused sneer that spread across his lips as his gaze lingered on Kira immediately put Ethan on high alert.

“Damn!” Ethan muttered under his breath as he brought his scotch to his lips.

Kira turned her back to the man. “Is that him?”

Ethan responded to Kira with an angry glare. There was no doubt in his mind that the man who had just entered the room was both The Yellow Tiger Triad's enforcer and Xiao’s killer. His height and weight along with the almost mechanical way he moved were identical to that of the shooter. There was also no doubt in his mind that the killer had recognized him as well. Of much more concern was the fact that he clearly had also recognized Kira, putting her in danger that she never would have been in had she stayed away from the poker game like Ethan had told her to. He was contemplating how to handle the situation when the door to the VIP room opened once again.

Both Ethan and Donovan’s eyes locked on Jared like the sights on a pair of high powered rifles as he sauntered up to the table with a confident stride, practically sucking all the air out of the room through the sheer power of his presence. Kira’s eyes flitted nervously between the two brothers as apprehension gripped her throat.

If looks could kill, Jared Halifax would have been dead many times over.