Jackpot

61

As she left the karaoke bar after paying the hitman with the ridiculous Russian name to kill Sonny Ma, Li Feng was regretting her choice to hire out the death of Sonny Ma. As she wandered the street, thinking back to her assault and wishing she would have been more aggressive, Li Feng decided she would keep the ridiculous Russian hitman as a backup. But this was a mission she wanted to do herself.

Li Feng went back to the pawnshop, since the owner there had already seen her. She wanted to keep her footprint in the area as small as possible until Sonny Ma was dead. Her plan was to buy a small pistol, but when she entered the store, the man behind the counter was polishing a small ornate sword. The only swords Li Feng had ever seen had been gaudy and impractical, like the ones Sonny Ma favored in his movies and as decoration in his offices. But this sword was small, slightly larger than a large kitchen knife, and had a plush red leather case and glittering bloodred hilt. This was going to be the weapon she used to kill the man who killed her dreams.

She gave the man her only remaining credit card, hoping it would still work, then walked out of the pawnshop with her new weapon. With the sword in her hand, she felt powerful, vindicated in her entire endeavor. There would be any number of guests at the event wearing swords to dress like Sonny Ma, so she didn’t worry much about it being confiscated. She looked at her phone and the text from Arrow’s driver that she’d been ignoring, and sent him a message back.

She gave him a list of boutiques in the area that had her measurements and preferences on file, then hung up.

Arrow left Hollywood City Casino in a foul mood and sat in his car outside of the bunker contemplating his next move. He hadn’t contemplated much when his driver called.

“She just got back to me. Wants me to go get a dress for her and then pick her up for the premiere,” he said.

This perked Arrow up greatly. He’d been stewing over the driver’s comments about Bingo wanting to kill Li Feng. If he could find her out in a public place where she felt at ease, it might be easier to convince her to return to his protection.

“I’m out front with the car,” Arrow said. “Tell her you’re on your way.”

While he waited for the driver, Arrow called Bingo.

“I don’t need you on Li Feng anymore. I’ve got it covered. Meet me back at my suite and I’ll take care of you.”

When Dale was finished with the tour of the Macau Tower complex, she and Teddy found Sonny Ma in the film festival’s green room that looked out over the bungee jumping deck and the city below. It was a magnificent vista. Teddy rolled out all the luggage he’d brought from the hotel, and along with the extensive makeup and visual effects kits, he had a bulletproof Kevlar vest that he’d fitted with blood squibs. It was one of his own many inventions when he needed something that wasn’t commercially available.

As Dale fit Sonny with the vest, Teddy hooked up the blood splatter mechanisms and explained to Sonny what exactly was going to happen. During the premiere, when Sonny Ma was introduced and brought to the front of the theater, Teddy would stand up and shoot him. The gun would be loaded with blanks, but while pulling the trigger Teddy would also activate the blood squibs. The resulting explosion of blood would make it appear that Sonny was really shot.

Before they could finish the briefing, they heard chatter from the others in the room that Li Feng had arrived in the lobby.