Jackpot

59

Bingo was chasing his sources around town, trying to keep track of Billy Barnett and Li Feng, when he got a call from the pawnbroker he’d been watching earlier.

“Li Feng is looking to hire a man to kill Sonny Ma. You were good to me when you were here last, and I am appreciative.”

Bingo called Arrow with the news.

“This doesn’t change anything,” Arrow said. “Watch her. When Sonny Ma is dead, grab her.”

“I am Zosima,” Teddy said when Li Feng sat down and handed him an envelope of money. Teddy flipped through it for appearance’s sake but knew it would all be there.

“That is a wonderful made-up name,” Li Feng said, archly. “Like the book, The Brothers Karamazov. You did not sound Russian when we spoke on the phone.”

Teddy shrugged a shoulder and winked in acknowledgment of her cleverness. They both knew that what he called himself, or pretended to sound like, served as his protection and was none of her business.

“You know Sonny Ma?”

“I know many people. It does not matter if I know the man I am supposed to kill. You give me a name, I do the job.”

“I don’t merely want him killed,” Li Feng said. “I want his death to be spectacular. A spectacle to be remembered, the only thing anybody will ever recall about him after his death.”

“This envelope should be thicker for such a job. This was not mentioned on the phone.”

“I’ll get you whatever money you need.”

She handed Teddy a flyer for the movie’s premiere during the film festival.

“This is where Sonny Ma must die.”

Teddy pretended to examine the flyer, though he already knew the contents by heart. “I will do this job at this premiere, and you will pay me extra when it’s done.”

“How will you make sure I pay? You don’t know who I am.”

“You will pay or you will die.”

“I hope your skills as a hitman are better than your lines. You sound ridiculous.”

She was laughing, but Teddy leaned in closer so he could make sure she heard every word, even with the loud bar noise around them.

“You will pay,” he said, slowly, in his regular voice. “Or you will die.”