ShaoShu grabbed an armload of posters and left, following Golden Dragon's directions. He hurried back to Tonglong's ship and found Tonglong alone in his cabin.
“You're back at last,” Tonglong said from behind his writing desk. “I was beginning to worry about you.”
“I met Golden Dragon!” ShaoShu said excitedly, placing the posters in a neat stack on the floor. “He asked me to be his ring boy tonight! Can I do it, sir? Please?”
Tonglong folded his hands upon his desk. “How do you think Lei will feel about it?”
ShaoShu kicked at a ball of cat hair that drifted past. He shrugged.
“You don't like him very much, do you?”
ShaoShu shook his head.
“Why not?”
ShaoShu considered saying that Lei was a liar and a thief and that he was the one who stole Tonglong's key. However, he decided not to. Tonglong might not believe him, and then Lei would surely kill him. Instead, ShaoShu lowered his voice and said, “He scares me, sir.”
“No need to worry about him right now,” Tong long replied. “He's at the fight club, preparing for tonight's bout. How is it that Golden Dragon asked for your assistance?”
ShaoShu's eyes brightened. “It just sort of happened, sir. We were talking, and then your mother came by, and—”
“My mother?” Tonglong interrupted. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, sir. She knew that I knew you.”
Tonglong's eyebrows rose up. “I don't believe I've mentioned you in any of my communications, and I certainly haven't seen her yet in Shanghai.”
“Maybe she just assumed I knew of you because you are famous, sir.”
“I doubt it,” Tonglong said, rubbing the powder burn on the side of his face. “She has been exchanging information with someone. Remember the other day I told you that I might have a job for you in Shanghai?”
“Yes, sir.”
Tonglong pulled a small pistol from the folds of his robe. “When you return to the fight club, I would like you to switch this with the pistol Lei carries beneath his pant leg.”
“Huh?”
“No questions,” Tonglong said. “Figure out a way to do it before he enters the pit arena tonight.”
ShaoShu turned the pistol over in his hands. It looked normal to him, but he doubted it was. He noticed Tonglong absentmindedly feeling for the necklace he no longer wore. “This is about your key, isn't it, sir?”
Tonglong lowered his hand. “No questions.”
ShaoShu nodded. “I understand.”
“Do you?”
ShaoShu thought for a moment. “Maybe not, but if this is about your key, you picked the right person.”
“I know I did,” Tonglong said, watching the ball of cat hair glide across the floor. “I always pick the right person. Now go do as you're told.”
CHAPTER 22
AnGangseh sat in the back corner of Lei's fight club preparation room, nearly invisible with her black hood pulled over her head. Xie had returned to the Emperor, and she had very little time before she would be expected to return, too. Lei had better be on time.
Moments later, Lei rushed into the room and closed the door. He looked around, and AnGangseh stepped out of the shadows.
“Do you have it?” she asked.
“Yes,” Lei replied. “Do you have the money?”
“Of course.” AnGangseh set a bag on the floor and took a step back. “Go on, look.”
Lei walked toward the bag and reached for it, then hesitated.
“It's not full of sssnakes, if that's what you're worried about,” AnGangseh said. “Out of respect for your family, I wouldn't do that. Your father was a famous sssellout. He helped me many times.” She smirked.
“Like father, like son,” Lei said with a chuckle. He opened the bag and removed a tael of silver. “This has the Emperor's personal seal!”
“Of course. Where else would I have been able to obtain the amount we agreed upon? Just melt them down into sssilver bars, and no one will know where it came from. Now give me what's mine.”
Lei reached into one of the holsters across his chest and removed Tonglong's key, admiring the entwined dragons that wrapped over and around the key's unique teeth. He tossed it to AnGangseh.
AnGangseh caught it and retied the dangling cord around her neck, then slipped the ornate key into the folds of her robe.
“I've never seen a key like that before,” Lei said. “What is it for?”
“You wouldn't believe me if I told you,” AnGangseh replied.
“You got it from HaiZhe, didn't you?”
“I received it before you were even born. How it came into my possession is none of your business.”