Jackpot

37

The first thing Teddy noticed when Sonny Ma opened the door to his suite was that he was enormous. He filled nearly the entire doorway. The second thing he noticed was that Dale didn’t seem surprised at all. She knew more about Sonny Ma than she’d let on. Teddy was frustrated that he still found himself breaking down her every move and her every word, comparing himself to her or analyzing her actions. When this was all over, he was looking forward to getting back to L.A. where he more rarely had trouble separating friend from foe.

Dale made the introductions and Sonny Ma welcomed them into the suite. Teddy had been in the homes and hotel rooms of powerful and dangerous people who had no trouble feigning kindness and generosity, but Teddy was caught off guard by Sonny Ma’s seemingly genuine openness. And it wasn’t just directed at Dale.

“Peter and Ben were so great here for the city,” Sonny said to Teddy, handing him a glass of Chinese whiskey. “I hope we can find a way for you to do the same.”

Teddy took the drink, a dark amber color rather than the traditionally clear Chinese baijiu, and toasted their host.

“I’d love to have a bottle of this sent to my friend Stone Barrington,” Teddy said. “Peter’s father. What is it?”

“It’s a new whiskey, created and distilled in Scotland, then aged here in ancient clay pots instead of wooden barrels. I’ll have a bottle sent to your room.”

Teddy had no doubt that Sonny Ma would get the bottle to the right room without any further information from Teddy. He took another drink and then another before slowing his sips and sitting down in an ornamental chair across from the small matching couch where Dale and Sonny sat.

“I hope the organizers and my... compatriot here have let you in on the other reasons I wanted to talk with you,” Teddy said.

“Other than movies and fine whiskey?”

Teddy held back a frown, not wanting to give his true motivations away before he was ready. Sonny smiled and took a large drink of his own whiskey.

“Not everyone likes me. Many want me dead. But many more want me to make another movie where I fight with swords and jump off of buildings into helicopters. No man is a star to everyone.”

“Is that because you can’t help getting back into the criminal game?”

“There are many things I have trouble denying myself, but criminal activity is not one of them,” Sonny replied, seeming unoffended by Teddy’s unsubtle probing.

“Someone is trying to make it look like you’re reviving your gangster empire again.”

Sonny didn’t hide his frown as he reached for the whiskey decanter, passing it over for a bottle of water instead. Teddy also took a bottle of water and sipped on it as he recounted what he’d learned so far. Dale sat quietly, listening.

Teddy continued. “Can you think of who might want to set you up?”

Sonny exhaled loudly. “It is, I suspect, a woman I knew when we were younger. A woman named Li Feng.”

“We suspected as much,” Teddy said. “Tell us everything you can.”

“Before I was a thief and a crook and then a movie star, I was a child. And I was friends with Li Feng. Our parents were important, and we went to a school where everyone’s parents were important.”

“How do you go from a school like that to a criminal empire?”

Sonny Ma gave Teddy a look of derision and contempt.

“The better question is how anyone who goes to a school like that doesn’t end up running a criminal empire.”

“Excellent point,” Teddy said. “I guess some businesses are just more upfront than others about their criminality.”

“Like Arrow Donaldson’s businesses?” Sonny said. “Li Feng does not have the power on her own to wage a campaign against my reputation like this. Someone is helping her.”

“Her family is quite powerful. Why could they not help her?”

“Her family is one of the most corrupt criminal empires in China, but they wish me no harm. I am a national treasure. They would ruin their own reputation by ruining mine.”

“Does Arrow Donaldson have any reason to hate you?”

Sonny Ma shrugged.

“I told you already that many men hate me. Arrow Donaldson may be one of them.”

“This doesn’t seem to worry you much,” Teddy said. “Under normal circumstances I would bid you a fond farewell and go on my way, leaving you to fight your own battles.”

“I am very capable of fighting any battles I choose,” Sonny said.

“But this battle between you and Li Feng has dragged two of my friends into it. I have assured them I will make those responsible pay for what they’ve done.”

Teddy’s and Sonny’s gazes were locked on each other until Dale spoke for the first time in this conversation.

“You two are making this harder and stupider than it needs to be. You don’t have to fight against each other to protect your reputations or to get revenge. Just fight your own battles and keep each other informed.”

Teddy nodded, looking at Dale. He was grateful for her calming nature. And because her skills hinted at experiences close to his own, he could trust that she was making her suggestions strategically and not just to placate him. It was the same thing he had done for others, including the president of the United States, in similar circumstances.

“She’s right,” Teddy said. “I won’t get in your way, and there doesn’t seem to be any reason for you to get in mine. But if either of us hears of anything that could help the other, we’ll share it as quickly as possible.”

“I can drink to that. And it seems I may need to send a bottle of this whiskey to you as well, Dale Gai.”

“I won’t turn down any gifts,” she said, “but I’ll just be happy with fewer men killing each other in my streets.”