“I suppose I could swing it. But not totally free. And don’t give me your crap about my uncle. This goes above and beyond, bro.”

“What’s the asking price?”

DeBattista was quiet a moment, holding the cigarette, that wily half smile on his face.

“I’ll think of something,” he said.

“One Belt, One Road,” Michaels was saying. “It’s where it all starts, a policy that’s driven Chinese foreign and economic policy for over a decade. The goal is for their government to have financial investments in everything, everywhere in the world...especially in the West. It’s how they gain political influence. It extends their reach.”

“And extends how they conduct their spying and launder their money,” Harris said.

Michaels nodded. They were sitting side by side in front of Morse’s desk, Harris to his right. The sky and river merged blue and bright in the window behind her.

“Until a few years ago, they could open an anonymous shell company in the United States in about the time it takes to get a library card,” Michaels said. “The money they took in was untraceable. It was washed through the shells, offshore banks, House Leonides in Latvia...take your pick. You don’t hear too much about it, but it’s also how crooked Chinese bigwigs use it to siphon money into their personal accounts for private investments. Congress banned those shells, and a few other European and Asian countries have cracked down. But not many.”

“So where’s Seven Winds fit in?”

“On the surface it’s a legitimate Frisco-based food service operation for commercial and cruise ships,” Michaels said. “Dip down under and you find out its real headquarters is located in Malaysia. That’s how easy it is to loophole the legislation.”

Harris balanced his foot over his knee and impatiently waggled it up and down.

Morse noticed. They had been high school sweethearts long before they were ever married. Drag him to a romantic movie and he would do the same.

“Take a deep dive, Alex,” she said. “I want Leo to see how everything falls together.”