Barbara Faith - Kiss of the dragon Read Online Free Page A
Author: mag
you, partner. I t's time to go after the dragon .
"I know we said we wouldn't go after it unless we were desperate. Well I guess I'm just about as desperate as a man can get. I'm dying and Bethy's mother needs more money for her care than I can manage. I want my little girl taken care of. I know going after the dragon will be risky, but if you can get it and get out all in one piece you and Su Ching and your son and Bethy will be set for life. You take care of my girl, Bill, she's all that's left of me and Mary Elizabeth. She's the best of both of us."
Tiger laid the letter on the lacquer table. He looked at Bethany, saw the glint of tears in her eyes, and poured a splash of brandy into one of the glasses and handed it to her.
When she had taken a sip she asked, "Do you know anything about the dragon?"
Tiger nodded. "I heard my father speak of it to my mother. But whenever he did , her face would stiffen and she'd become angry. When I was older he told me stories about it. I guess that's why I named the club and this boat the Golden Dragon .
He got up suddenly and went to stand before one of the windows. He looked out and for a long moment he didn't speak.
It was quiet in the salon. Bethany could feel the slight motion of the waves and hear the splash of water against the hull when a boat headed out of the harbor. She swirled the brandy in her snifter, waiting for Tiger to speak.
Finally he turned to her and said, "I asked you once if your father ever spoke of the time he spent in China with the Flying Tigers. Do you know anything at all about those days, Bethany?"
She shook her head. "I know Dad was one of the Flying Tigers, but that's about all because he never seemed to want to talk about it. I've read about the Tigers, enough to know that General Chennault formed the group to help Chiang Kai-shek against the Japanese. Dad mentioned once that at first he flew out of a place called Hengchow and that later the head-quarters were in Kunming. I've seen pictures of the planes—with the shark mouths painted on them but I never understood why they used a shark if they were called Flying Tigers."
"The tiger is the national symbol of China," he explained, "and the shark was considered bad luck to the maritime Japanese." He came back to the sofa and stood looking down at her for a moment. "Those were dangerous years, Bethany," he said at last. "Half of the planes the men flew looked as though they belonged in a museum. Most of the time they couldn't get spare parts; they went into the air on the proverbial wing and a prayer. The runways were almost as dangerous as the Japanese. It took sixty days for 120,000 coolies to scratch out a runway in Hengchow."
Tiger's black brows came together in a frown as he shook his head. "Can you imagine what it must have been like? How dangerous it was'trying to fight an aerial war in those beat-up, patched-up planes? Landing on bumpy, rock-strewn airstrips in the middle of nowhere?"
Tiger poured a small amount of brandy for himself and drank it down. "But the Tigers hung on, even when Shanghai fell in 1937 and Chungking became the Nationalist war capital. What they lacked in military discipline they made up for in courage." He took her hand. "Our fathers were brave men; they did a lot of things we should be proud of."
Her eyes were moist. "I know," she said in a shaky voice,
"But they did other things, things that were not always honorable, that in those days were an accepted way of life."
"I don't understand. What are you trying to tell me?"
"That both of our fathers engaged in smuggling."
"Smuggling?" Bethany glared at him. "They may have traded on the black market but that wasn't really smuggling."
"Wasn't it? Whatever you choose to call it, Bethany, it was illegal. They smuggled jewels, works of art, gold and fine silks. They made a lot of money, enough for both of our fathers to go into business after the war."
Bethany's gray eyes narrowed in anger. "Are you trying to tell
"I know we said we wouldn't go after it unless we were desperate. Well I guess I'm just about as desperate as a man can get. I'm dying and Bethy's mother needs more money for her care than I can manage. I want my little girl taken care of. I know going after the dragon will be risky, but if you can get it and get out all in one piece you and Su Ching and your son and Bethy will be set for life. You take care of my girl, Bill, she's all that's left of me and Mary Elizabeth. She's the best of both of us."
Tiger laid the letter on the lacquer table. He looked at Bethany, saw the glint of tears in her eyes, and poured a splash of brandy into one of the glasses and handed it to her.
When she had taken a sip she asked, "Do you know anything about the dragon?"
Tiger nodded. "I heard my father speak of it to my mother. But whenever he did , her face would stiffen and she'd become angry. When I was older he told me stories about it. I guess that's why I named the club and this boat the Golden Dragon .
He got up suddenly and went to stand before one of the windows. He looked out and for a long moment he didn't speak.
It was quiet in the salon. Bethany could feel the slight motion of the waves and hear the splash of water against the hull when a boat headed out of the harbor. She swirled the brandy in her snifter, waiting for Tiger to speak.
Finally he turned to her and said, "I asked you once if your father ever spoke of the time he spent in China with the Flying Tigers. Do you know anything at all about those days, Bethany?"
She shook her head. "I know Dad was one of the Flying Tigers, but that's about all because he never seemed to want to talk about it. I've read about the Tigers, enough to know that General Chennault formed the group to help Chiang Kai-shek against the Japanese. Dad mentioned once that at first he flew out of a place called Hengchow and that later the head-quarters were in Kunming. I've seen pictures of the planes—with the shark mouths painted on them but I never understood why they used a shark if they were called Flying Tigers."
"The tiger is the national symbol of China," he explained, "and the shark was considered bad luck to the maritime Japanese." He came back to the sofa and stood looking down at her for a moment. "Those were dangerous years, Bethany," he said at last. "Half of the planes the men flew looked as though they belonged in a museum. Most of the time they couldn't get spare parts; they went into the air on the proverbial wing and a prayer. The runways were almost as dangerous as the Japanese. It took sixty days for 120,000 coolies to scratch out a runway in Hengchow."
Tiger's black brows came together in a frown as he shook his head. "Can you imagine what it must have been like? How dangerous it was'trying to fight an aerial war in those beat-up, patched-up planes? Landing on bumpy, rock-strewn airstrips in the middle of nowhere?"
Tiger poured a small amount of brandy for himself and drank it down. "But the Tigers hung on, even when Shanghai fell in 1937 and Chungking became the Nationalist war capital. What they lacked in military discipline they made up for in courage." He took her hand. "Our fathers were brave men; they did a lot of things we should be proud of."
Her eyes were moist. "I know," she said in a shaky voice,
"But they did other things, things that were not always honorable, that in those days were an accepted way of life."
"I don't understand. What are you trying to tell me?"
"That both of our fathers engaged in smuggling."
"Smuggling?" Bethany glared at him. "They may have traded on the black market but that wasn't really smuggling."
"Wasn't it? Whatever you choose to call it, Bethany, it was illegal. They smuggled jewels, works of art, gold and fine silks. They made a lot of money, enough for both of our fathers to go into business after the war."
Bethany's gray eyes narrowed in anger. "Are you trying to tell
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