“Half your island neighbors will be voting with you, and the money I am offering should offset any discomfort.”

The moment was interrupted as two sedans raced up alongside them in traffic. They pulled to a stop diagonally in front of the limo, hemming it in. Lee looked back to see two more sedans pulled in behind them.

Outside, a man wearing a suit approached. He held a badge up to the window. Lee rolled down the window and addressed the officer in Chinese, inquiring about the nature of the stop. He hoped this would be a routine traffic stop and the men could continue their business in short order.

But this was no routine stop.

Two weeks earlier, the US Central Intelligence Agency had contacted the Hong Kong Triad Bureau. As part of an ongoing investigation, the United States had uncovered a complex and coordinated animal-trafficking operation involving Hong Kong and Macau. Rather than push for an extradition—which they would never get—the Americans had decided just to pass along the info to the Chinese so they could handle the matter internally. Inspector Tsao was put in charge of corroborating the American dossier, which proved to be a treasure trove of information about the Sun Yee On’s activities and all the key players in the syndicate. Today, Tsao would collect his scalp.

“So you are the new dai lo now that your little brother is dead,” Tsao told Lee. “I never thought the top triad would be stupid enough to set foot in Hong Kong.”

The Bahamians inside the limo watched in shock as Tsao’s men yanked Lee from the car and slammed him on the hood. Tsao twisted Lee’s arms behind his back and cuffed him as Lee continued to protest his innocence. “I’ve done nothing!” he insisted.

Though Tsao would normally ignore such protestations, Lee was unlike the other scalps he had taken. Lee fancied himself a mastermind who could not only break the law but also bend it to his will. And Tsao wanted Lee to know he would suffer. “Our friends tell us you’ve been in the market for endangered tigers. Last time I checked, that’s still very, very illegal.”

CHAPTER 49 THE FINDINGS

CHAPTER 49
THE FINDINGS

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