Stealing the Dragon Read Online Free Page B

distinction.
    Cape shrugged. “Just goes to show, you can’t trust lawyers.”
    As he waited for his future ex-client to say something, Cape absently took note of footsteps in the hallway outside his office. A heavy tread—either someone big or a Clydesdale, he couldn’t be sure. Finally, Richard broke the silence.
    “What are you going to do?”
    “I told you already,” replied Cape. “I’m going to shoot you. Given the litigation you’ll be up against, I’m practically doing you a favor.”
    Richard smiled tentatively, one last attempt at charm. The lower classes were like animals—you had to demonstrate command of the situation at all times. Smile at the lunatic behind the desk and maybe this nightmare would end.
    Cape picked up the gun. “You’re an arrogant asshole who thinks he’s smarter than everyone else, Richard,” he said evenly. “And you lied to me.” He pointed the gun squarely at Richard’s chest and thumbed back the hammer.
    Richard stopped smiling. He started to raise his hands in protest just as Cape pulled the trigger.
    Click .
    “Shit,” Cape muttered. “Forgot to load it—gimme just a second.”
    Setting the gun down, Cape started rummaging through the desk drawer. A moment later he produced a box of cartridges and set them next to the gun. “Be just a minute.” He didn’t look up as he cracked open the cylinder and started inserting one bullet at a time.
    The screech of wood against wood was followed by the crash of a chair as Richard bolted toward the door. He let out a yelp as he collided with Beauregard Jones, whose massive frame almost blocked the exit entirely. Richard bounced off Beau like a pinball and ran, his footsteps echoing down the hallway.
    Beau leaned into the office and smiled. “Another satisfied customer?”
    Cape shrugged. “Wait till I send him a bill.”
    “Got a minute?” asked Beau, taking a giant step into the office.
    Cape stood and shook hands, then gestured toward the toppled client chair.
    “As of that meeting you just witnessed, I’m currently unemployed.”
    “Glad to hear it.”
    “Thanks,” replied Cape, trying to put some hurt into his voice. “And here I thought we were friends.”
    “That we are,” said Beau. “It’s why I’m here.”
    “What’s the subject?” asked Cape. “With you it’s usually women or murder.”
    Beau smiled briefly before answering.
    “How about both?”

Chapter Seven
     
    “You happen to look out your window yesterday?”
    Beau’s size 14 shoes rested comfortably on Cape’s desk.
    The office faced the bay, but any view of Alcatraz was blocked by the looming edifice of Aquarium of the Bay, which sat directly across the street at the entrance to Pier 39. A long walk down that pier led to a daily congregation of sea lions that had made the area a major tourist attraction, a bit of natural history you couldn’t see back home. Unfortunately, every square inch of the pier itself was crowded with stores and booths designed to empty tourists’ wallets long before they ever made it to the sea lions. With the addition of the Gap, the Hard Rock Cafe, and the Disney Store, the pier looked more like a strip mall than anything remotely related to nature or history.
    But if you looked past the pier to the right, you could see the water and signs of mayhem from the day before. The police and federal agencies had cleared out, but the ship remained lodged at the base of Alcatraz. The tourist boat rammed by the ship was stuck bow-first in the sand on the far side of the island, the hull split open like an egg. All the crew and tourists had been topside, hurled into the water before the boat struck land.
    The bizarre wreck had attracted a small fleet of sailboats and dinghies overloaded with passengers, most without life preservers but all wearing cameras around their necks. The Coast Guard and Harbor Patrol had a long week ahead of them until the two ships could be towed to the docks in Oakland.
    “I was home