CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Adrenalin pumped through Ethan’s veins as he moved swiftly and efficiently through Jade’s apartment. Although he liked to think that he had reformed from his wicked ways, he couldn’t deny that he still got a rush out of breaking and entering. There was something about being somewhere that he wasn’t supposed to be that appealed to the mischievous little boy in him. Not that gaining entry into Jade’s apartment had been particularly challenging. Although she resided in one of the pricier residences in the notoriously pricey Hong Kong housing market, security in her building was a joke. He had quickly cased the place on his previous visit to Jade’s apartment, gathering enough information to easily slip past the guard in the lobby and circumvent the handful of woefully inadequate security cameras that left far more blind spots than he would ever allow at a Chance owned property.

Digging into the deep pockets of his dark, wool trousers, he pulled out one of several tiny listening devices that he’d brought with him and planted it on the metal base of one of the glass end tables that bookended the sofa. After repeating that process with the other end table, he went on to plant other bugs in strategically selected locations in the living room before moving into Jade’s bedroom. He had just finished planting one behind the headboard of her bed when he heard the door to her apartment open. On quiet, catlike feet, he crept towards the bedroom door and peeked out the tiny crack he’d left in it, grateful for the fact that he’d had the foresight to leave it exactly as he’d found it.

“You’re a naughty boy,” Jade purred as she rubbed her chest against Jeremy's, running her hands through the stiffly moussed spikes of of his hair. “Calling me away for an assignation in the middle of a work day like this.”

Jeremy removed her hand from his hair. “I didn’t call you here for an assignation,” he replied impatiently. “We need to talk and I didn’t want to run the risk of being spied upon at Gau Lung. As you very well know there are cameras everywhere.”

“Just talk?” Jade pouted as she pushed away from Jeremy. “About what?”

“Kira St. James.”

Ethan’s ears perked up at the mention of Kira’s name.

“Why would you want to talk about that bore?” Jade huffed.

“Because I got a strange phone call from her this morning. She wants to meet with me in The Atrium at Gau Lung this afternoon.”

Jade arched an eyebrow. “In The Atrium? That’s an odd place to have a business meeting.”

Jeremy shoved his hands into the pants pockets of his flashy purple suit as he began to pace the living room. “I don’t think she wants to discuss business. At least not Gau Lung business. She was being very mysterious. Kept babbling on about some document that she thinks I will find interesting.”

“Do you think that she’s found out about your extracurricular activities?”

“I don’t know. I just know that I don’t like it.” Jeremy ran an agitated hand through his hair. “I don’t like it one bit.”

Neither do I, Ethan thought angrily, clenching his fist at the realization that Kira had obviously decided to go along with Donovan’s dangerous scheme and that neither of them had seen fit to tell him about it.

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” Jade concluded after considering the matter. “If that goody two-shoes knew anything you’d be meeting with the Hong Kong Police.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Jeremy sighed. “But just in case, you’d better give me that little item I left here for safe keeping.”

Jade eyed Jeremy curiously before heading towards the medium sized, abstract painting hanging on the far wall of her apartment, taking her out of the limited line of sight provided to Ethan by the narrow crack in the door. Removing the painting from it’s hinges, she deftly turned the dial on the combination lock of the safe hidden behind it. Ethan’s eyes widened as she returned to his field of vision and placed the requested item into Jeremy’s outstretched hands.

“So tell me Jeremy, just what are you planning to do with that? Plunge it into Kira’s back, perhaps?” Jade asked hopefully in response to the gleam she saw in Jeremy’s eyes as he eyed The Dragon’s Breath.

“No, nothing that dramatic,” Jeremy replied absently as he pulled the dagger from it’s ruby encrusted scabbard and slowly turned it in his hand, admiring the way the mid-morning sunlight bounced off the sharp edge of it’s shiny blade. “If Kira is onto my extracurricular activities, as you put it, I have much tidier ways of dealing with her.”

“Then what are you going to do with that.”

“Sell it. I want to sever all ties between me and the theft of The Dragon's Breath as soon as possible. Of course, with Xiao dead, I'm going to have to line up a new buyer.”

“That's a shame. It really is a remarkable piece,” Jade sighed regretfully as she stepped in closer to Jeremy and ran a finger lightly over The Dragon’s Breath’s lethal edge before dropping her hand to cup Jeremy’s crotch. “Speaking of a remarkable piece…” Jade’s voice trailed off as she began nibbling provocatively on his ear.

Oh, for crap’s sake! Ethan silently cursed as he watched Jade take Jeremy by the hand and begin guiding him towards her bedroom. Ducking inside Jade’s walk-in closet, he'd just managed to shut the door behind him a split second before Jade and Jeremy entered the room. Through the closed closet door, he could hear the tell-tale sounds of impending lovemaking as Jeremy and Jade quickly shed their clothes. Realizing that he was good and trapped for the duration, he settled into his darkened hiding place with more than a little impatience as he silently willed Jeremy and Jade to finish up quickly.

He needed to get to Kira and talk some sense into her before it was too late.

***

Kira looked down at the grainy, black and white photograph in her hand. Despite the low quality of the film used, the image of Jeremy, surrounded by what appeared to be a bunch of his triad cohorts was easily made out. “Where did you get this?”

“From an associate in law enforcement,” Donovan explained, keeping his back to her as he stared out the window of her apartment.

“In law enforcement?” Kira asked, not bothering to hide her incredulity.

Donovan tilted his head curiously as he turned to face her. “You sound surprised?”

“I am,” Kira replied. “I would have assumed that all your associates were of the unsavory variety.”

“You also naively assume that there is a significant difference between the two groups.”

“Spoken like a true misanthrope.”

“More like a realist,” Donovan explained with a shrug. “I’ve been around the block enough times to know that, for most people, morality is fluid, shifting and changing according to one’s self-interest. For the most part, I have no problem with associating myself with those who’s self-interests dove-tail with mine, regardless of the labels that society chooses to put on them.”

“In other words, you are willing to lie down with dogs and ignore the fleas as long as it gets you what you want. Not exactly an admirable trait.”

“But not an uncommon one as evidenced by the joint endeavor that we are about to embark upon despite your obviously low opinion of me,” Donovan replied. “Although, I assure you, no matter how unsavory you find me, I don’t in fact have fleas,” he added with a smile.

Kira didn’t smile back. Unable to refute his point, she decided to get back to the subject at hand. “What do you want me to do with this photo?”

“Show it to Jeremy when you meet with him along with the forged letter from Yi. The combination should be enough to get a reaction out of him.”

“But exactly what kind of a reaction will it trigger?” Kira asked, apprehension suddenly creeping up on her as she recalled Ethan’s warning about the potential dangers of rattling Jeremy’s cage.

“We’re not going to let anything happen to you,” Donovan stated firmly, sensing Kira’s trepidation.

“We?” Kira asked, her apprehension turning to dismay. “What do you mean we? I told you I don’t want Ethan involved in this.”

“I wasn’t referring to Ethan,” Donovan explained. A knock on the door prevented him from providing further clarification. Moving to answer it before Kira did, Donovan gave a slight nod of approval at the two men on the other side of the door as he ushered them into the apartment. “Right on cue.”

Kira recognized the dark haired man the minute he entered the room. “Dylan? What are you doing here?”

“Providing backup,” he replied as he flashed her a smile that contained an openness that was markedly different from the cynical grins favored by his two older brothers. As the youngest of the Chance brothers, Kira had found Dylan to also be the most level-headed of the trio during the time that she had tangled with them in Vegas and his presence went a long way towards easing some of her anxiety about her upcoming meeting with Jeremy. “And who is this?” she asked, turning her attention to the man who had arrived with Dylan.

“Kyle Mercer, ma’am. Backup for the backup.” Pushing the mop of shaggy sandy blond hair from his cornflower blue eyes, Kyle extended his hand to shake Kira’s. “Nice to meet you.”

Kira thought she detected the slight twang of a fading Texas accent as the tall, rangy stranger standing in her living room flashed her a boyish grin. “So even my backup has backup, huh?” Kira smiled as she shook Kyle’s hand. “I feel safer already.”

“You should,” Donovan pointed out. “Kyle is one of those law enforcement types you seem to have so much faith in.”

“You’re a cop?” Kira asked, genuinely surprised that Donovan had decided to include someone on the right side of the law in their caper.

“No,” Kyle replied succinctly, still smiling down at her but not bothering to fill in the obvious blank regarding his occupation.

“I see,” Kira nodded, getting the message loud and clear.

“So how did your field trip to The Atrium go?” Donovan asked, getting down to business.

“Well, the place certainly is public enough,” Dylan replied, recalling how crowded the large, courtyard-like space at the heart of The Gau Lung building had been during his and Kyle’s reconnaissance mission, with the airy, open-feel provided by the skylight overhead acting as a draw for both Gau Lung employees and visitors alike.

“That was the general idea.”

“I still don’t like it,” Dylan quickly added, flashing his oldest brother a disapproving look.

“While I agree that the set up isn’t ideal, I think that between you, me and Kyle we should be able to provide adequate visual cover.”

“I’m not talking about the location, I’m talking about the whole plan. I especially don’t like keeping Ethan out of the loop.”

“Then you should take that up with Ms. St. James. That was her idea, not mine,” Donovan explained.

Dylan fixed his hazel eyes on Kira thoughtfully. “Are you sure you don’t want Ethan in on this?”

“Positive,” Kira answered sharply.

Dylan frowned but decided against pressing the issue. “Then I guess we should get down to the brass tacks,” he announced as he set the large black duffel bag slung over his shoulder onto the cocktail table and unzipped it. “We need to get you wired up.”

“Like hell you do!” Ethan’s voice slice through the room like a knife. Ignoring the startled looks on the faces that suddenly turned towards him in unison, he set his focus on Kira. “The door was unlocked so I let myself in. I hope you don’t mind.”

Kira’s gaze was steady as it locked with his despite the tremors that were now vibrating through her body at his sudden, unexpected appearance. “Actually, I do mind.”

“Actually, I don’t give a damn,” Ethan shot back tersely. “We need to talk. Alone.”

“This is not the time for this,” Donovan cut in as he approached Ethan. “We need to prep Kira for her meeting with Jeremy.”

“Don’t!” Ethan’s emerald eyes blazed with barely contained fury as he raised a finger of warning to Donovan, halting his advance. “It’s bad enough that you got her to agree to go behind my back. I’m not going to tolerate anymore of your manipulations.”

“Donovan didn't manipulate anything. It was my idea not to tell you about this because I didn’t want you involved,” Kira explained, her voice rising. “I still don’t.”

“In that case, I guess you’re out of luck,” Ethan growled as he stalked across the space the that separated them. Grabbing her tightly by the forearm, he practically dragged her into her bedroom, slamming the door loudly behind them.

“Why are you here, Ethan?” Kira asked as she yanked her arm out of Ethan’s grip.

“I came here to try to talk some sense into you before it's too late. This meeting with Jeremy is a bad idea.”

“How did you even find out about it?” Kira asked as she rubbed absently at the spot on her arm where Ethan’s fingers had been.

“I overheard Jeremy telling Jade about it.”

Kira’s eyebrows drew together in confusion. “Why would Jeremy tell Jade about our meeting? Those two can barely tolerate each other.”

“Oh, those two are doing a whole hell of a lot more than merely tolerating each other,” Ethan said with a grimace. “I just spent forty-five minutes in Jade’s bedroom closet listening to them go at it like rabbits.”

A look of disgust clouded Kira’s face. “So what happened? Did she double-book the two of you? I guess that’s to be expected. It must have been very difficult for her to squeeze you into her ever-growing roster of lovers.”

“I'm not one of Jade's lovers,” Ethan quickly shot back.

“Well, you sure were doing a good impersonation of one outside of her office yesterday.”

Ethan sighed deeply. “I can explain that.”

“Save it!” Kira snapped. “I don’t give a damn about who you sleep with!”

“If that’s true, then why do you sound so angry?” Ethan challenged.

“Because of poor Gabriel, that’s why,” Kira hedged. “Jade is playing him for a fool, twice over. I didn’t have the heart to tell him about you and Jade given everything else he’s been dealing with but as soon as I get the goods on Jeremy, I’m going to fill him in on everything, or rather everyone, that Jade’s been doing.”

“That’s assuming you walk away from this thing with Jeremy alive.”

“Stop being so damn melodramatic.”

“You stop being so damn flippant!” Ethan barked. “Jeremy is dangerous. You have no idea how he's going to react if he feels cornered.”

“That’s why I’m meeting him in a public place. And, on the off chance that he tries something in front of all of those witnesses, I’ll have Donovan, Dylan and Kyle there to protect me. I'll be fine,” Kira declared with a bit more confidence than she actually felt.

Ethan ran his hands over his face, shaking his head. Grabbing both of her shoulders out of sheer frustration, he refused to release his grip when she tried to shrug his hands away. “I’ve got a really bad feeling about this, Kira,” he said, his voice soft and his eyes solemn as they stared imploringly into hers. “I’m begging you, please don’t go through with this.”

Kira stubbornly turned her face away from his. “I’m doing this, Ethan. You can’t stop me.”

Once again Ethan shook his head, this time in resignation. “You’re right. I can’t stop you,” he said as he reluctantly released his hold on her. “And by that same token you can’t stop me from riding shotgun.”

“I told you I don’t want you involved.”

“Well, that’s too damn bad because I’m involved!” Ethan snapped angrily. “And if you want to come out of this thing alive, you’re damn well going to follow my instructions to a tee! You got that?”

Kira flinched at the ferocity of Ethan’s words. “What about Donovan?”

“To hell with Donovan. I’m running this operation from here on out.”