the wheels spin. Deposit the coin. Pull the arm. Let the wheels spin
.
Carter repeated those actions robotically, establishing a mechanical rhythm that controlled his anger and allowed him to think clearly about the theft. Why the rooster? Why now? He could think of only one party that would want the rooster that badly. China. They’d recently found the missing bronze rabbit, and he was guessing they were determined to complete the collection.
First order of business would be to verify that his guess was correct. Second would be to determine the present location of the rooster. Perhaps he could somehow steal it back. Third order of business would be to make everyone involved pay dearly for their transgression. The full worldwide resources of BlackRhino wouldbe devoted to it, starting now, until he had heads he could put on spikes.
It didn’t take long for Carter’s assistant, Veronica Dell, to get him the answers to his questions. A simple Google search turned up the news that Stanley Fu was in D.C. taking possession of his latest automotive toy, and would also be returning the treasured bronze rooster to China.
Twenty minutes later, Carter had one of his best operatives in the air, on her way to D.C. Alexis Poulet was perfect for the job. She was beautiful. She was smart. She was tough. She could kill without remorse. And she had the added advantage of being able to recognize the thieves, since she’d done surveillance on them when they were in Palm Beach. Carter would plant her on Fu’s plane, and she would have to figure it out from there.
Nick and Kate sat in Nick’s hotel room and studied Bolton’s files. Nick went over the schematics of the safe that held the fake rooster, and moved on to the floor plan of Fu’s A380 Superjumbo. It was a triple-decked wide-body aircraft with a wingspan so large, it exceeded that of a Boeing 747-8 by nearly forty feet.
Passengers entered the plane through a three-story lobby featuring a floating spiral staircase that led up to the second and third floors. It was just a taste of the opulence to come. Fu’s suite was on the top floor, along with four mahogany-appointed staterooms with private baths, a gym with changing rooms, and a luxurious guest cabin with thirty first-class seats that fully reclined into flat beds. The second level had a conference room, a library for quiet relaxation, and a nightclub with a giant video screen in the dance floor that mimicked transparent Plexiglas by showing the ground passing thirty thousand feet below. The lower level had a chef’s galley, a wine cellar, and a vast cargo hold that doubled asa flying garage for Fu’s Rolls-Royce. The cargo hold was also where the safe was stowed.
It was 10 P.M. by the time Nick and Kate had gone through all the material in the Walmart bag. Kate was working her way through a Snickers bar she’d found in her suitcase, and Nick was casually flipping through the auction catalog for Fu’s new car.
“I can see why Fu rushed over here for this,” Nick said. “The ’69 Dodge Charger Daytona was a beautiful beast, the original winged warrior.”
He held up a picture of the curvy two-door coupe, with its front end that tapered down into a shovel point and a trunk that was topped with an enormous, staple-shaped spoiler.
Kate finished off the Snickers. “That may be the ugliest car I’ve ever seen.”
“But it was the first car in NASCAR history to break two hundred miles per hour at Talladega. Chrysler only made seventy of these monsters with 426 CID Hemi V-8 engines, and this is one of them. It was a steal at three hundred thousand dollars.”
“It’s not stealing when you pay for it.”
“It is when you pay much less than an object is worth.”
“That’s called a bargain.”
“Otherwise known as a successful swindle.” Nick tossed the catalog on the bed. “There’s no way we can swap the fake rooster with the real one before Stanley Fu leaves D.C. But we can do it before he gets back
.
Carter repeated those actions robotically, establishing a mechanical rhythm that controlled his anger and allowed him to think clearly about the theft. Why the rooster? Why now? He could think of only one party that would want the rooster that badly. China. They’d recently found the missing bronze rabbit, and he was guessing they were determined to complete the collection.
First order of business would be to verify that his guess was correct. Second would be to determine the present location of the rooster. Perhaps he could somehow steal it back. Third order of business would be to make everyone involved pay dearly for their transgression. The full worldwide resources of BlackRhino wouldbe devoted to it, starting now, until he had heads he could put on spikes.
It didn’t take long for Carter’s assistant, Veronica Dell, to get him the answers to his questions. A simple Google search turned up the news that Stanley Fu was in D.C. taking possession of his latest automotive toy, and would also be returning the treasured bronze rooster to China.
Twenty minutes later, Carter had one of his best operatives in the air, on her way to D.C. Alexis Poulet was perfect for the job. She was beautiful. She was smart. She was tough. She could kill without remorse. And she had the added advantage of being able to recognize the thieves, since she’d done surveillance on them when they were in Palm Beach. Carter would plant her on Fu’s plane, and she would have to figure it out from there.
Nick and Kate sat in Nick’s hotel room and studied Bolton’s files. Nick went over the schematics of the safe that held the fake rooster, and moved on to the floor plan of Fu’s A380 Superjumbo. It was a triple-decked wide-body aircraft with a wingspan so large, it exceeded that of a Boeing 747-8 by nearly forty feet.
Passengers entered the plane through a three-story lobby featuring a floating spiral staircase that led up to the second and third floors. It was just a taste of the opulence to come. Fu’s suite was on the top floor, along with four mahogany-appointed staterooms with private baths, a gym with changing rooms, and a luxurious guest cabin with thirty first-class seats that fully reclined into flat beds. The second level had a conference room, a library for quiet relaxation, and a nightclub with a giant video screen in the dance floor that mimicked transparent Plexiglas by showing the ground passing thirty thousand feet below. The lower level had a chef’s galley, a wine cellar, and a vast cargo hold that doubled asa flying garage for Fu’s Rolls-Royce. The cargo hold was also where the safe was stowed.
It was 10 P.M. by the time Nick and Kate had gone through all the material in the Walmart bag. Kate was working her way through a Snickers bar she’d found in her suitcase, and Nick was casually flipping through the auction catalog for Fu’s new car.
“I can see why Fu rushed over here for this,” Nick said. “The ’69 Dodge Charger Daytona was a beautiful beast, the original winged warrior.”
He held up a picture of the curvy two-door coupe, with its front end that tapered down into a shovel point and a trunk that was topped with an enormous, staple-shaped spoiler.
Kate finished off the Snickers. “That may be the ugliest car I’ve ever seen.”
“But it was the first car in NASCAR history to break two hundred miles per hour at Talladega. Chrysler only made seventy of these monsters with 426 CID Hemi V-8 engines, and this is one of them. It was a steal at three hundred thousand dollars.”
“It’s not stealing when you pay for it.”
“It is when you pay much less than an object is worth.”
“That’s called a bargain.”
“Otherwise known as a successful swindle.” Nick tossed the catalog on the bed. “There’s no way we can swap the fake rooster with the real one before Stanley Fu leaves D.C. But we can do it before he gets back
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