THE KING OF MACAU (The Jack Shepherd International Crime Novels) Read Online Free Page B

assets, MGM will cut all ties to me if stories begin to circulate that triad money is being laundered through this casino. Getting to the bottom of this quickly and quietly may mean my personal survival.”
    “I can see that.”
    “I cannot allow that to happen.”
    “You certainly cannot.”
    “So you’ll help me?”
    “No.”
    Pansy’s head jiggled slightly as if she had been riding a bicycle down a perfectly smooth roadway and unexpectedly hit a speed bump. Which, in a manner of speaking, was exactly what she had done.
    “What?” she asked. “Why not?’
    “The way I see it, there are only two possibilities here.”
    I held up two fingers. I felt a little stupid doing it, but I did it anyway.
    “Perhaps this isn’t triad money at all, in which case you don’t have the problem you’re obviously so afraid you have, and you don’t need me.”
    I paused and now it was Pansy’s turn to nod. She did.
    “Or it is triad money, in which case a lone white guy running around a Chinese city trying to pin down its source is going to feel like a rabbit in a pen full of hunting dogs that haven’t been fed.”
    I figured I was due for another nod from Pansy at about that point, but she remained motionless.
    “It’s a no-win deal for me,” I finished, even without Pansy’s nod. “I don’t get involved in no-win deals.”
    “Please reconsider, Mr. Shepherd. I really do need your help here.”
    “Never kick a cow turd on a hot day. Harry Truman said that. Words to live by.”
    “What?”
    Pansy looked confused again, as well she might have. So for the second time I did the gentlemanly thing and took her off the hook.
    “Look, why me?” I asked. “I can recommend any number of people who can do the same job for you, people who live in Europe or the US and don’t have to worry about the triads getting pissed. I live in Hong Kong. I don’t want to sound like a sissy, but I really don’t want to piss off a whole army of violent gangsters who can easily find out where I live.”
    “I don’t want someone else. I want you to do this.”
    “Why?”
    “I trust you, Mr. Shepherd. I think you are an honorable man.”
    Pansy had only met me a few minutes before, but somehow she had already detected at least one of my many personal virtues that so many people seemed to miss. Of course, I didn’t believe for a moment that my supposedly remarkable character was the real reason Pansy wanted me to do the job, but I paused briefly to savor the concept regardless.
    “You will be very well paid, Mr. Shepherd.”
    “I’m sure I would be, but I’m not going up against the triads at any price.”
    “Oh really? I got the impression a minute ago that you were blaming Dr. Ho for doing exactly the same thing you are doing now: choosing not to go up against the triads.”
    “That’s a different situation.”
    “Is it?”
    No, it really wasn’t all that different. Pansy had me there. So I shut up. I have always believed the first rule of life is this: when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.
    “Is there anything I can do to get you to change your mind?” Pansy asked after several moments passed in silence. “Anything at all?”
    “I doubt it, but you could try telling me who recommended me to you and we could see how things work out from there.”
    Pansy’s eyes flicked quickly to Brady, whose sphinx-like expression never wavered.
    “I can’t do that,” she said. “I just can’t.”
    “Then, Ms. Ho, may I say it’s been a pleasure.”
    I stood up and extended my hand.
    Pansy looked at it for a moment as if it were some kind of foreign object, but finally she rose slowly and took it. Her hand felt tentative and yielding as we shook.
    “And if you’re ever in Hong Kong with nothing to do,” I added to lighten the moment, “give me a call. I can show you a place that makes the best tacos in Asia.”
    To my surprise, Pansy smiled broadly at that and her grip became noticeably firmer.
    “I might do that,