The Noah Reid Action Thriller Series: Books 1-3 (plus special bonuses)

by Wesley Robert Lowe

  The intensity of the monks’ chanting and praying grew as Garret took out a roll of bills and placed it into a small earthen vessel. He took out a match and set the money on fire. Normal practice was to use fake money, but Garret refused to compromise for Tommy. As the fire died down, so did the performance by the monks. A single small bell tolled the end.

  The monks placed Tommy’s body into the brick cremation chamber and fired it up.

  Garret turned to Master Wu. “Make sure he gets to where he’s going safely.”

  “I will,” nodded Master Wu.

  “I’m staying, too,” announced Abby.

  “Are you sure? You may be here for twelve hours or more,” said Garret.

  “I have nowhere else I want to be,” sobbed Abby.

  Garret whispered into Master Wu’s ear. “Make sure there’s nothing but ash before you leave.”

  “I’m staying, too,” said Olivia in a tone that brooked no argument. She hugged Abby tight.

  Garret’s chin jutted out as he answered, “I need all hands onboard to help with Tommy’s documents. If Noah’s all I have, it’ll delay Abby’s return to New York.”

  Abby turned to Olivia and the two locked eyes. “Go, Olivia. Please.”

  Olivia hesitated, then nodded. “Of course.”

  Chapter 28

  Noah’s fellow office mates shot him weird glances as he got off the elevator, carrying a large covered potted plant to the office he shared with Olivia and plopped it on her desk. “Happy birthday!” He whipped off the wrapping to reveal a Big Jaws X Venus flytrap plant slowly devouring the carcass of some poor fly.

  Olivia’s face contorted. Is he from Mars?

  Noah asked hopefully, “Peace?”

  Not the right question at exactly the wrong time. She went ballistic. “Moron! Loser! You insensitive, unfeeling dimwit! I hate you! I hate you!”

  She stood up, picked up the plant and crashed it on top of Noah’s head. He just stood there, stunned, as she flailed away at him. He tried to restrict her as her arms pounded away.

  “Hey, I’m sorry. The plant was my friend Chad’s idea. I wanted to get you roses, but he said that was a bad idea.”

  She stopped pounding and screamed, “I love roses! What’s wrong with roses? My mother loved roses, and so do I! And who the hell is Chad?”

  Memo to self: Kill Chad. Noah wiped some of the dirt off his head and picked up the poor Venus flytrap.

  “Um... Chad is my best friend, or was my best friend until about thirteen seconds ago,” he responded. He tilted his head and saw Olivia’s eyes—there were tears.

  “Hey,” he said gently. He made a bold move and gently touched her. When she didn’t object, he went a step further and held her hand. “I’m a good listener, and you need someone to talk to.”

  “I have nothing to say to you,” she sniffled at him.

  “Yeah, bad idea. Our conversations have been kinda underwhelming.”

  No response from Olivia, so Noah tried again. “Um... Uh... do you like falafels?”

  “At 8:15 a.m.? Are you really that crazy?”

  “I like them any time of day or night. Besides, I got here at 5:30 and need a break.”

  It was true. Although official office hours began at 8 a.m., all the lawyers, especially the juniors, got to the office by 6 a.m. at the latest. Noah had only popped out to get the carnivorous plant.

  “Falafels give you the farts, and I don’t think anyone in the office wants to smell your farts,” mumbled Olivia.

  “You’ve never had one before, have you?”

  “What makes you say that?” she retorted.

  “Because you wouldn’t care about polluting the air with your personal gas if you had eaten one. You drown those little deep-fried chickpea balls with hummus, hot sauce and baba ghanoush... mmm, good.”

  Olivia continued to glare at Noah, and then her emotions poured out. “Last night, I saw the firm’s biggest client get murdered with an arrow from a crossbow. I was with his daughter, Abby, my best friend. I was an inch away from being victim number two.”

  She demonstrated with her fingers just how close it was. “I was just at the crematorium before I came here, saying goodbye to Tommy. I should be with Abby now but am only here because we’ve got to wrap things up so she can get back to New York.” Olivia’s voice dropped. “And, somehow, and I don’t know how, my father is tied up in this mess. And you have the audacity to ask me out for a falafel? What kind of proposition is that?”

  Noah swallowed. “You’re right.” He hung his head. “Bad idea. Would you like to go for a Caesar salad instead?”

  Noah’s efforts at lightheartedness were starting to have the desired effect on Olivia. Closely observing her as her eyes wandered the room, Noah was positive there was the tiniest hint of a smile for a millisecond. She stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets.

  “Falafels are full of garlic.”

  “I’m not planning to kiss you.” He gave his infectious smile. “Hey, I know life’s a bitch, but you need to release all that garbage out of your system. Take up boxing or quilting... or you can take it out on me.”

  Olivia shuffled her feet. “I guess I just did.”

  Noah offered his arm; Olivia shook her head, but she followed him as he left the room. They entered the elevator and were the only two passengers. As it began its descent, without looking at him, Olivia took his hand and squeezed. If the ride never ended, Noah would think he had died and was en route to Heaven. Olivia’s eyes concentrated on the elevator door. “I’m not doing this because I like you.”

  “No one likes me,” Noah lamented. “Why should I expect anything different from you?”

  “I’m just totally freaked out and need someone to talk to. You just happen to be convenient.”

  “I’m willing to be convenient for a long time. Forever, if necessary.” Noah squeezed her hand a little harder.

  “I don’t like jocks,” she countered.

  “I’ll take Mozart over the Green Bay Packers any day,” Noah replied with a straight face.

  She tried again. “I’m a high-maintenance person.”

  “I own an old British sports car. Try having one of those in Hong Kong. That’s what you call high maintenance,” Noah said.

  The atmosphere was much more contentious outside the elevator of Pittman Saunders parking garage. As Garret walked toward the Bentley, Chin stepped out from behind a concrete pillar and blocked his way.

  “That was a touching service, Garret. Although 4 a.m. is an ungodly hour.”

  “It was the right thing to do. Tommy wanted to be cremated within eight hours of his death. Not an easy thing to arrange when he was the object of a murder investigation.”

  “Which is why I pay you the big bucks. If it were easy, I could save myself a lot of money.”

  “You didn’t need to kill Tommy,” Garret fumed. “I told you I would handle the situation.”

  Chin grunted. “Yes, you told me that, but I didn’t tell you the reason why I wanted him gone.” He stopped to let the gravity of the moment sink in. “I want you to be the head of Golden Asia.”

  Garret didn’t hesitate. “With you pulling my strings on every move? I don’t operate that way. No.”

  “Your salary will be bumped up to twenty million a year, Garret. Twenty million. Except for elite Hollywood entertainers, sports superstars and Fortune 500 CEOs, few in the universe make that kind of money.”

  “I can’t be bought, Chin,” Garret said. “You of all people should know that.”

  Chin replied nonchalantly, “It’s worked so far. Think about it, Garret.”

  “And if I say no?”

  “No one ever says no to me. But, in case you would like to be a hero and be the first, remember this. Everyone is expendable.”

  Chin’s black Mercedes zoomed up. The door automatically opened, and Chin slid in. The car silently shot away.

  Garret muttered quietly. “Everyone includes you, Chin.”

  Noah’s c
hoice of falafels had nothing to do with wanting to eat deep-fried chickpea balls wrapped in a pita or any connection with Hong Kong’s small Middle Eastern population.

  It was convenience and cost. Noah had still been pondering what to get Olivia before finally deciding on a dozen red roses. It just so happened that the 888 Florist close to the Pittman Saunders building offered the unsellable Venus flytrap at a huge discount. Noah instantly changed his mind, deciding the carnivorous plant was exactly the outside-of-the-box thinking Chad had talked about.

  As Noah carried his special gift outside Hafez, the owner of the Falafel Palace next door, spotted him and gave him a two-for-one opening special coupon.

  So when Hafez saw Noah and Olivia entering, he gave a great big welcome to the couple. “Noah, so good to see you again.”

  “You really know this place,” said Olivia, her respect for her workmate climbing a notch.

  “Why else do you think I suggested it?”

  Hafez seated them at a window table. “You want to use one of the two-for-one coupons I gave you? Save big money?”

  “Sure,” said the sheepish lawyer as he gave a coupon to the owner.

  Olivia couldn’t care less about Noah’s financial situation. She just needed a caring ear. She looked across the table to see that Noah was really listening.

  “Pittman Saunders is Dad’s only love. It has been ever since Mom died. I don’t think he really wanted me after that. I’m not even sure he wanted me in the first place. He just went along with anything Mom wanted. Since then, he has maneuvered and manipulated me, all in the name of protecting me.”

  “Don’t hold that against him. Most men find it difficult to express emotion.”

  Olivia turned away to hide her tears. “Can you imagine what it’s like to watch a plane with your mother onboard blow up right in front of you?”

  Now that was unexpected. Noah shifted uneasily. “Can’t possibly imagine... Is that what happened?”

  Olivia nodded. “We were waiting at the airport for Mom to come home and saw her plane land. And then, BOOM... You think somehow it’s your fault, that you could have stopped it, or maybe it’s God trying to punish you for some terrible thing you’ve done or for being the terrible person you are. The only one who understands is Abby. Her mom was on the plane with mine, and she saw everything, too... We were just kids... not even teenagers.”

  “You two go back a long way.”

  “Yes. My father and her father, Tommy Sung, were best friends. That’s how we got to know each other.”

  “Right.” A creeping feeling started to sneak up on Noah. He didn’t recognize Abby’s name but, in his examination of the Golden Asia file, Tommy’s name was everywhere.

  “Tommy Sung as in Golden Asia’s Tommy Sung?” Noah was wondering and worrying.

  “That’s the one. Abby’s now fabulously rich, owner of the biggest house on Victoria Peak...”

  The falafels arrived. Seeing their somber faces, Hafez quickly left, letting Olivia and Noah eat privately.

  Noah chomped slowly and thoughtfully, trying to make sense of Olivia’s revelations. “This seems too coincidental. Do you ever think there’s some possible connection between your mother’s death, Abby’s mom’s death and now her father’s death?”

  “All the time. Why do you think I hate my father? I’m sure he’s got something to do with Tommy’s death. Last night opened my eyes to something that I... I...” Olivia struggled to continue. “Even as I hated him, I always respected him, but he knew that man. That scary, awful man.”

  “What man?”

  “He said his name was Chin Chee Fok, and I could tell Dad was scared. Noah, my father is never scared, but there was something about Chin... He also said he was behind Golden Asia, which means you and I are working for him, but I, for the life of me, haven’t found anything the least bit suspicious.”

  Noah shook his head. “I haven’t seen anything with his name and my eyes are going buggy staring at the Golden Asia documents.”

  “My father didn’t contradict him last night. If he’s somehow involved, I don’t know who I could turn to.”

  “You can count on me,” Noah said, taking her hand gently.

  Olivia let out a sad, small laugh. “Noah, you’re a very funny and sweet guy, but you are an ant playing with elephants. We don’t need a peashooter. Dealing with Chin requires an elephant gun.... Thanks for the falafel.”

  Olivia moved to stand up, but Noah boldly commanded, “Sit down, Olivia.”

  Stunned by his assertiveness, Olivia slumped back into her chair.

  “You don’t trust men. You don’t trust anyone. I get that,” stated Noah. “I don’t blame you. What was taken from you was irreplaceable, and you’re afraid of getting close to anyone because you’re afraid that might happen again.”

  “I’ve already spent years in therapy,” said Olivia, defense mechanisms shooting up like a shield. “I don’t need another shrink.”

  “No, you don’t. But you do need to trust the world again.”

  “And that begins with you?” Olivia spat out sarcastically.

  “I don’t expect you to give it to me. I will earn your trust.” Noah’s firm eyes locked with Olivia’s. “Now it’s time to get back to work. Otherwise, your friend Abby will be stuck here.”

  Outside the Falafel Palace, Duke watched Noah and Olivia discreetly. As they finished their meal, Duke strolled away and dialed a cell phone number.

  “Dad, Olivia bit on Noah. I think this is going to give us leverage or some options.”

  “Smart thinking. Keep it up.”

  “You got it.”

  Duke walked away, smiling.

  Noah and Olivia left the Falafel Palace and passed by the florist.

  Noah was about to enter when Olivia asked, “What are you doing?”

  “I’m going to get you some roses.”

  “What’s wrong with the dionaea muscipula?”

  “Huh?”

  “The Venus flytrap. I had one in Boston. Feeding it was my distraction from studying.”

  “Oh,” said a much-surprised Noah.

  “And flowers are so cliché. I must have had three hundred bouquets sent to me by doctors, lawyers, MBAs, gym instructors, plumbers, artists, engineers... anyone without an original thought in his head.”

  Memo to self: Give Chad a basketball autographed by Michael Jordan.

  “And, Noah, thanks for the falafel. Next time, it will be my treat.”

  “Next time?” Noah gave himself an internal high-five.

  Olivia moved a step closer to Noah. Close enough that a little gust of wind threw the scent of her lightly fragranced hair into Noah’s face. Noah had to catch himself from stumbling.

  “Next time. And can we not talk about touchy feely stuff? I prefer soccer and am a huge World Cup fan. And...”

  “And?”

  “Can we go for burgers and beer instead?”

  “So we’ll meet for meat?” Noah placed special stress on the words meet and meat to emphasize the pun.

  Olivia rolled her eyes. “You are such a putz.”

  Chapter 29

  Chin had taken Duke’s call in the office of Eastern Commercial Bank’s Stella Wei. Though she didn’t have a finance degree or special investment knowledge, the financial institution found Stella most useful for promoting the bank in special client relations.

  “You look as if something is on your mind, Mr. Chin,” said Stella in a soft, caring voice.

  “Something is always on my mind. It’s a normal state of affairs. If it weren’t, I’d be dead.”

  “True, and here is something else for you to think about. I was assigned a small portion of your portfolio, two million dollars. In the month that I’ve had it, I have generated a ten percent return.”

  “Two hundred thousand?”

  “It’s 201,674.33 to be exact.”

  For the first time, Chin noticed her. Rather than being businesslike and androgynous in appearance like most bankers,
Stella’s form-fitting mauve dress strategically emphasized the curves in her well-formed bosom and her twenty-one-inch waist.

  “That’s very good news. I’m excited about the prospects.”

  “Handling your account is exciting, Mr. Chin,” she murmured.

  “Please stop calling me Mr. Chin.”

  “I will when I am of more use than handling your banking affairs.”

  Chin paused a moment. He never liked mixing his personal life with business affairs. His experiences with women rarely lasted more than a few days, but business relationships took time to develop. Women who thought they could be useful on an ongoing basis were particularly problematic. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Stella. As long as you make me money, that will be more than satisfactory.”

  Stella spoke in a low, smooth I’m-interested-in-you kind of tone. “People bore me, but money fascinates me. Men with money fascinate me even more.”

  “I am not an easy man, Stella. My standards are very high. You remember Mr. Sung?”

  “Of course. Your representative. Very capable.”

  “Unfortunately, Mr. Sung no longer works for me.”

  “You fired him?”

  Assessing her carefully, Chin’s eyes bored into Stella’s. “No.” He leaned over and whispered. “I killed him.” As Chin leaned back, he saw the slightest glint of fear on Stella’s face but, for people like Stella, ambition always trumped anything else. “Chin, may I apply for his position? Perhaps we could have dinner tonight?”

  “What’s on the menu?”

  Stella cooed, leaned over to Chin, took his hand and moved it to touch her bosom. “Me.”

  Chin withdrew his hand and stood. “I have some work to do tonight and will have further instructions later.”

  “Of course. I should have known,” replied the red-faced woman. She had no idea that to Chin she was just another of the thousands of piece of meat he had had. Even if she were successful, he would have forgotten about her an hour later.