City of Strangers (Luis Chavez Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

not authorized to charge it. We have a second company card, the one you gave us for incidentals when you checked in, on file. Would you like to put the rooms on that card?”
    Mr. Jakey’s chin jutted upwards, his knuckles whitening. Tony wondered how many times this performance had worked in the past.
    “Why aren’t you telling me anything different than her?” he said, nodding toward the young desk clerk who’d had Tony paged moments earlier when it seemed as if things might become violent. “I thought I was talking to somebody in charge.”
    The businessman’s face was all contempt now. Tony straightened and reached for the phone.
    “I apologize for wasting your time,” Tony said. “It is my fault. I misinterpreted the situation.”
    Jakey tossed a smug look back to his surprised colleagues. They obviously wanted to see their overly entitled boss knocked down a few pegs. As he reached for the telephone, he hoped his next action didn’t disappoint.
    “Hello, this is Zhelin Qi, front-end manager at the Century Continental Hotel at 3021 Avenue of the Stars,” he said when the call was answered. “We have a customer, Mr. Jim Jakey, at checkout refusing to pay his bill. The total is over eight thousand dollars. Yes, he is still in the lobby. Thank you.”
    Tony hung up. Jakey’s look of bluster switched to one of confusion.
    “What was that?”
    “Los Angeles Police Department’s Commercial Crimes Division, Fraud Section,” Tony explained. “They prefer we do not escalate these matters ourselves, particularly when the amount is equivalent to grand theft.”
    “The police ?” Jakey roared, though through a cracking voice. “Are you crazy? Why would you call the police?”
    “You are refusing to pay your bill,” Tony replied. “I am trying to resolve the situation in a way that prevents loss to this hotel.”
    Tony allowed himself a glance to the desk clerk, Perla, who’d called him over in the first place. She not only seemed to be enjoying this, it appeared she was taking mental notes for the story she’d repeat a dozen times over the next few days to every worker in the hotel.
    Oh, you should’ve seen unflappable Manager Qi take on that big, bad American asshole from Room 810.
    As Perla was the hotel workers union rep for the Century Continental, it could not have gone smoother or more in his favor.
    Tony Qi is a man who gets things done, she’d say.
    And when down the line he needed her to, she’d follow his lead and make the others do the same. As a representative of the city’s largest triad, Tony knew his reputation had to be sterling. The triad wasn’t some murderous criminal organization like the Sicilian mafia, the Sinaloa drug cartel, or the Salvadoran MS-13. Rather, it was a political organization that operated outside the mainstream and worked to help those who similarly found themselves outside the political mainstream.
    Or that was, of course, what Tony needed the workers at the Century Continental to believe about the sometimes-criminal organization. When they needed help and could turn to no one else, there’d he be. He just might need a favor—could be something as simple as a vote—somewhere down the line in return.
    It took only a moment more for Tony to wrap up the matter with Mr. Jakey. Knowing the businessman had no recourse, he simply waited until he produced two credit cards for Tony to split the bill on and then left for the airport.
    “Did you really call the police?” Perla asked once Jakey’s shuttle pulled away.
    “Absolutely. You should have the number, too,” he said, writing it down. “This is a friend of ours in the fraud division. His personal cell. If you are ever in this situation and I am not here, call and use my name.”
    Perla had already appeared impressed. Now she looked awed.
    “Thank you, Mr. Qi,” she said, offering a slight bow.
    “Of course,” he replied, returning the bow and moving away. Tony had come over from Shenzhen via a