Reign of Coins by Aiden James Page A

Michael.”
    “I appreciate it, Roderick,” I said, restraining my anger about being dragged into this shit storm. “I’ll always have your back, Roderick, and will forever cherish our shared Celtic cross of blood. As for Michael and Cedric, they’d do well to watch their backs going forward.”
    I half expected for him to offer one last defense on their behalf, but he refrained. Instead, he stated he would see what he could do for Alistair and me, and would keep our present whereabouts a secret until we spoke again. Then he hung up.
     
    * * *
     
    There wasn’t time to sulk. To protect my son, I gave him a bullshit answer instead of the truth from Roderick. Not a great way to ingratiate myself into my boy’s desire for better honesty between us; however, keeping him alive meant a helluva lot more.
    Taking care of things while revealing as little as possible to Alistair wasn’t exactly an easy deal since some of our luggage never made it to our new lodgings that night. Roderick sent me a message advising there were unforeseen complications, and I’d be given information before morning. At least Alistair’s personal computer was delivered, so it provided him with a distraction while I left to get us some clothes and other odds and ends we needed for the rest of our stay. When I returned to our room around ten o’clock, he was fast asleep, having believed my earlier promise we’d be fine and that Roderick had shared great news with me.
    I watched him sleep. Not all that different from when he was a young lad more than half a century earlier. Just like those older times, he was dependent on me to protect him from all harm.
    It was the only thing I thought about as I waited for the dawn’s light, and the promise of an uncertain Thursday.
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 13
     
     
    Cheung Sulyn arranged for a limousine to pick us up from the hotel. She had insisted on the arrangement after speaking with Alistair for nearly an hour the night before. I’ll admit to some surprise—at both the fancy ride to the Adventist Hospital and the fact my kid was in the mood to chat for so long after watching Agent Daniels being used as a human plastic ketchup bottle. Then again, the lovely charms of Ms. Cheung may have been exactly what Alistair needed to regain a balanced perspective on things.
    “So, where exactly are we supposed to meet Sulyn?”
    I had just glanced at my watch, noting the time was 7:47 a.m. According to my son, it would take us roughly twenty minutes to navigate traffic to reach the hospital. From there, Sulyn and her grandfather’s security detail would escort us to his private room. That should give us a few minutes to spare for our scheduled eight-thirty meeting with the patriarch of the Cheung fortune.
    “She said she would wait for us by the side entrance, where a private elevator will take us up to her grandfather’s room,” advised Alistair, glancing nervously toward the crowded sidewalks beneath towering buildings as we drove by. As if he expected Viktor Kaslow to suddenly appear somewhere in the throng. “We’ll have about an hour to visit with him.”
    “Conversing with two strangers…sounds like it could be fun,” I said, drawing an immediate look of scorn from my boy. Another clue to watch my tone. “Seriously, it might not be too bad. At least for you, since you will be the celebrity today. You should loosen up and have some fun with it, Ali.”
    I offered a smile, but his expression made me realize I had a long way to go in order to lessen the impact of my sarcasm.
    “I’d have the most fun listening to you speak in a version of Cantonese that Cheung Yung-ching might recognize,” he said, grinning impishly.
    “What?! Are you insinuating Yung-ching might not be able to keep up with the older dialects?”
    “Actually, I believe he’ll be fine,” said Alistair. “It’s you I’m worried about. Lord knows you like to fill in the blanks with words that have never existed in any Chinese