onto the ground.”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s it. Geomancy. Jake calls it ‘reading dirt.’”
Simon smiled to himself—Jake did have a way of getting to the essence. “You said ‘the whole damn thing.’ Is there something else besides the signing and opening?”
“Unfortunately, yes. That’s where you come in. You know anything about Chao Cheng?”
“A little. Isn’t he the warlord who unified China into one nation, built the Great Wall, and declared himself Shih Huang-Ti, First Sovereign Emperor?”
Billie nodded. “That’s the guy.”
“Right. That was about 220 B.C ., I think. The Ch’in dynasty. He’s entombed near Xi’an, along with his army of six thousand terra-cotta soldiers.”
Kyra rolled her eyes. “A little! Sheesh. Remind me never to play Trivial Pursuit with you.”
Billie ignored the interruption. “You’re exactly right. In 221, Cheng had a hallmark carved out of green jade to commemorate his achievement, the unification of all China. It’s commonly referred to as the Crest of Ch’in. Shortly after his death, the dynasty collapsed and the crest was broken into pieces…three to be exact, and carried off by the conquering armies. To make a long story short, only one section of the crest remains in China. One of the pieces was taken to Taiwan by Chiang Kai-shek when he abandoned the mainland. Another piece was captured by the Japanese during World War II, and was subsequently appropriated —” She gave the word a sarcastic twang. “—by MacArthur, who turned it over to the Smithsonian.”
Simon suppressed a groan. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he had in his security case, and where it was going. “And what? I’m supposed to return our appropriated piece back to the land of the dragon? A peace offering, so to speak.”
Billie nodded. “Both pieces, actually. It’s all very ritualistic, from the Smithsonian, to Taiwan, to China. You’re to be in Taipei August seventeenth to pick up the second artifact, and then deliver both pieces to Beijing the following day. Ironically, it will be brought back here and unveiled to the world during the signing ceremony at the Pearl.”
“You must be kidding. You’re saying I’m taking these things to Beijing, just so they can bring them back?”
“With the Chinese it’s all about face.” She threw up some quotation marks with her fingers. “ Mianzi. It’s the only way the Politburo would agree to the Alliance.”
“Incredible.”
“It gets better,” Billie went on. “The crest will remain on permanent display here at the Pearl. We’re using it as our logo. You’ll see duplicates displayed throughout the resort.”
“And this has all been agreed to?”
“Yes.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“Who said anything about a problem?”
“When you called, you said Jake was at his chokepoint. You weren’t referring to his condition.”
She hesitated, then shook her head. “We should talk about this tomorrow.”
“For god’s sake, Mother, it is tomorrow. What’s going on?”
Billie took a deep breath, then launched into her story. She talked nonstop for twenty minutes, detailing each of the so-called accidents at the Pearl, and Jake’s efforts to keep the information out of the press.
“So what are you saying?” Kyra asked. “You don’t believe these accidents were accidental?”
“No,” Billie answered, “and neither does your father. That building inspector didn’t slip off the roof, that’s for damn sure. His body landed twelve feet from the base of the building.”
Despite Billie’s certainty, Simon knew it was easy to turn problems into conspiracy when things went wrong. “Maybe the guy was suicidal. He could have taken a run and jumped.”
“We considered that,” Billie answered, “but it’s not possible. There’s a three-foot retaining wall around the perimeter of the roof. He was thrown.”
“Twelve feet? It would take at least two people to throw someone that
“Yeah, yeah, that’s it. Geomancy. Jake calls it ‘reading dirt.’”
Simon smiled to himself—Jake did have a way of getting to the essence. “You said ‘the whole damn thing.’ Is there something else besides the signing and opening?”
“Unfortunately, yes. That’s where you come in. You know anything about Chao Cheng?”
“A little. Isn’t he the warlord who unified China into one nation, built the Great Wall, and declared himself Shih Huang-Ti, First Sovereign Emperor?”
Billie nodded. “That’s the guy.”
“Right. That was about 220 B.C ., I think. The Ch’in dynasty. He’s entombed near Xi’an, along with his army of six thousand terra-cotta soldiers.”
Kyra rolled her eyes. “A little! Sheesh. Remind me never to play Trivial Pursuit with you.”
Billie ignored the interruption. “You’re exactly right. In 221, Cheng had a hallmark carved out of green jade to commemorate his achievement, the unification of all China. It’s commonly referred to as the Crest of Ch’in. Shortly after his death, the dynasty collapsed and the crest was broken into pieces…three to be exact, and carried off by the conquering armies. To make a long story short, only one section of the crest remains in China. One of the pieces was taken to Taiwan by Chiang Kai-shek when he abandoned the mainland. Another piece was captured by the Japanese during World War II, and was subsequently appropriated —” She gave the word a sarcastic twang. “—by MacArthur, who turned it over to the Smithsonian.”
Simon suppressed a groan. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he had in his security case, and where it was going. “And what? I’m supposed to return our appropriated piece back to the land of the dragon? A peace offering, so to speak.”
Billie nodded. “Both pieces, actually. It’s all very ritualistic, from the Smithsonian, to Taiwan, to China. You’re to be in Taipei August seventeenth to pick up the second artifact, and then deliver both pieces to Beijing the following day. Ironically, it will be brought back here and unveiled to the world during the signing ceremony at the Pearl.”
“You must be kidding. You’re saying I’m taking these things to Beijing, just so they can bring them back?”
“With the Chinese it’s all about face.” She threw up some quotation marks with her fingers. “ Mianzi. It’s the only way the Politburo would agree to the Alliance.”
“Incredible.”
“It gets better,” Billie went on. “The crest will remain on permanent display here at the Pearl. We’re using it as our logo. You’ll see duplicates displayed throughout the resort.”
“And this has all been agreed to?”
“Yes.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“Who said anything about a problem?”
“When you called, you said Jake was at his chokepoint. You weren’t referring to his condition.”
She hesitated, then shook her head. “We should talk about this tomorrow.”
“For god’s sake, Mother, it is tomorrow. What’s going on?”
Billie took a deep breath, then launched into her story. She talked nonstop for twenty minutes, detailing each of the so-called accidents at the Pearl, and Jake’s efforts to keep the information out of the press.
“So what are you saying?” Kyra asked. “You don’t believe these accidents were accidental?”
“No,” Billie answered, “and neither does your father. That building inspector didn’t slip off the roof, that’s for damn sure. His body landed twelve feet from the base of the building.”
Despite Billie’s certainty, Simon knew it was easy to turn problems into conspiracy when things went wrong. “Maybe the guy was suicidal. He could have taken a run and jumped.”
“We considered that,” Billie answered, “but it’s not possible. There’s a three-foot retaining wall around the perimeter of the roof. He was thrown.”
“Twelve feet? It would take at least two people to throw someone that
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