Nothing mattered any more, she told herself. Nothing mattered except getting Lulu out of this cursed country. She dangled a cloth ball. Dling, dling, tinkled the bell inside the ball. Lulu let out gurgles of delight. Then, looking at Wade, she said, “Da-da-da—”

“Is she saying ‘Daddy?’ ” he asked. “Isn’t she a bit young for that?”

“Too young to know her friends from her enemies.”

“I’m sorry. I really am,” he repeated. “I love you. I’ll take care of everything. Adoption, passport, visas, whatever.”

“My stop was three stations back, before I found out you tried to have this baby, whose name you still can’t utter, killed.”

“I did no such thing!” His hand banged on the table. The contents of his drink splashed on the floor, the ice cubes skittering.

She moved her foot from the puddle of ice and liquor. “Rather than having a tantrum, how about if you explain what you were doing by promising Mauriello that you’d ‘deliver’ me, that Lulu would soon be gone, and that I would forget about her?”

“You’re becoming paranoid.”

“No wonder the reporters asked about my ‘nervous breakdown.’ Is that the new image you’re developing, in case I don’t go along with your plans? And where’s Roberta to develop this new twist on my state of mind?”

“I wondered how long it would take for you to notice that she’s up and left.”

“The Titanic has sailed. Hurrah.”

“We’re in the midst of a concert tour, for Heaven’s sake, and she’s defected! Her CNB contract allowed her to stay the week. You did a magnificent job of botching her work.”

“Oh, I should have let you hand Lulu to those murderers in order to make Roberta happy?” Nola shook her head. “Don’t bother. But I do want an answer to my first question.”

He sighed. “When the Chinese agree to do business with an American corporation, they demand that the corporation obtain privileges in the U.S. that the Chinese on their own can’t make happen. BurgerRanch didn’t simply get their foot in the door here because Chinese people prefer Bao-Ji-La hamburgers to McDonald’s, but because a former senator like Mauriello has delivered other perks. To the Chinese, the public hoopla in the U.S. over your tour is more important than great publicity here. It’s American public opinion they seek—not their own. That is why so many American news services have been allowed in. When Americans know that those slant-eyes on the other side of the globe share their love for an American star, they are less likely to regard them as alien and an enemy.”

“And will be more predisposed to handing them more favors? I’m getting it.” Nola seethed with anger. “So it’s not my message of friendship that counts? I was giving my Chinese fans my all, but that never mattered to their government?”