Manipulate

by Wes Lowe

  Kenny and Noah re-entered the recording room. There were sighs of relief and enthusiastic applause as Noah climbed back on the podium.

  “Sorry about that. Remind me never to eat expired sushi again,” joked Noah, desperately trying to formulate a plan.

  Noah looked out to the sea of hopeful, young faces. A lot of them were about Sam’s age, with similar backgrounds. He knew he couldn’t abandon them, just the way he and Chad couldn’t abandon Sam. And that’s where he would start.

  “The Chad Huang Foundation was named after my best friend. He was a great guy and we played basketball for hours together. We had an old British sports car that, when it worked, was the most fun thing in the world to drive. He could also make one mean cappuccino. But what motivated Chad more than anything were kids. He loved kids, just like all of you here.” Making it personal, Noah pointed his finger at the kids.

  “Chad didn’t have much of a home life and he wound up living with our family. He promised himself he would do his best so that other kids didn’t have to go through what he did. He wanted every kid to have a chance, every kid to have a safe place, not just to play ball but to hang out. That’s what we’re doing with the Chad Huang Foundation.”

  Sympathy murmurs echoed throughout the room.

  “I share the vision Queenie has for the New Amsterdam Arts Center. It is imaginative, creative, and exactly what New York needs. No, it’s what every city needs. A place where young people are given the best so they know what it takes to excel. I am pleased to announce that the Chad Huang Foundation will match the funding of the Manhattan Investors Group.”

  As a swell of approval rang out, Noah lifted his arms to quell the clamor. “And now, I’m going to make a request. All of you, please get out of here as quickly as possible. I know you want to party, but, when you deal with money, there is unfortunately a ton of paperwork to do. If we’re going to start soon, there are some people in this room who would like to have a big check in their pocket.”

  39

  The Negoiators

  Queenie and Kenny, standing at Studio 5’s door, shook the hands of each kid as they filed out. “Thanks so much. You were great,” was a constantly repeated refrain to the eager young faces.

  Tim gave Queenie a hug. “You did it, sister.” And then he whispered in her ear, “I’ll hang around in case you need me.”

  “You’re the greatest, Tim. We’ll make some great music,” Queenie said with an approving raise of her eyebrows.

  Tim winked. “And a movie, too.” He stepped out of the studio

  In the middle of the room, Noah stepped up to Olivia and Abby and said quietly, “You and Abby should go, too.”

  “Are you kidding?” asked Olivia. “This is a big moment for us. Abby’s now a member of New Amsterdam’s advisory board. We are not going.”

  “Please, the two of you. Go.”

  “We are staying.”

  Queenie saw the frown on Olivia’s face and stepped away from the door and strode to Noah and Olivia. “What’s the matter?”

  “Noah doesn’t want us in the meeting,” stated Olivia

  “It’s not that I don’t want them in the meeting. I don’t like mixing personal matters with professional.” Noah knew Olivia would take this the wrong way but he didn’t have any other bright ideas.

  “Noah, there is nothing personal between you and me. Nothing. I can’t believe that your donating funds to New Amsterdam is contingent on us getting back together.”

  “I didn’t say that nor am I implying that.”

  Olivia glared. “Good. Then Abby and I are staying.”

  The discussion moved to Skyscape’s boardroom down the hall. Sitting around the twelve-foot oval acacia boardroom table, the preliminary discussions went off without fireworks. Noah was amiable and he and Byron reiterated their commitments to the New Amsterdam Arts Center while Queenie and Olivia nattered their platitudes.

  Looking serious, Noah drummed his fingers on the table while he tried to figure out his next move. With nothing coming to mind, he was going to have to bluff. He cleared his throat. “So I guess the next item on the agenda is the timing of our contribution. It’ll probably take me a week to put the funds together.”

  “What are you talking about, Noah? Everybody else the foundation gave money to received funds within forty-eight hours or less,” said Olivia sharply.

  “That’s because of the amount. According to the Foundation’s constitution, which Olivia drafted, any funds over $100,000 require approval from a special board meeting. There’s me, JJ, and we’ll have to get hold of Sam.”

  Olivia growled. She couldn’t remember if that were true but it did sound like something she would insist upon.

  But then her eyes sparkled. “I haven’t submitted my resignation so I’m still a board member. Abby, I don’t remember getting your resignation.”

  Puzzled, Abby shook her head. “I didn’t know I had to.”

  Olivia folded her hands confidently. “So we have four active members in New York.”

  Noah hid his apprehension with a sigh of relief. “Thank you. I just got here yesterday and was dreading the thought of hopping back on the plane for another sixteen-hour flight. Let me get in touch with JJ and we can meet at our hotel.”

  Olivia stated firmly, “We don’t have to go to the hotel. We can have the meeting now. We only need three to have a quorum and we have three here.”

  “Fantastic. I’m already thinking about the next session.” Noah turned to Queenie, Byron and Kenny. “Can you step out for five minutes so we can have our board meeting in private?”

  “Of course,” said Queenie.

  She, Kenny and Byron got up and exited the room.

  As soon as the door shut, Noah’s fingers flew on his cell phone. He showed his note to Olivia and Abby.

  DON’T ASK QUESTIONS; JUST DO THIS. I WANT US TO HAVE A HUGE LOUD FIGHT.

  He immediately erased the message.

  40

  Kids

  New York

  There was no way Sam was going to stay stuck in Hong Kong while Noah and JJ had all the fun. Rebellion and an insatiable need for excitement are part of every teenager’s psychological make-up and Sam was no exception.

  As soon as the two adults left for New York, Sam called his online gaming buddy, IAMTHEWALRUS, from his hospital bed. Walrus was stoked about the possibility of meeting Sam in person and he was more than happy to assist. It took him only thirty seconds to convince his parents to let Sam stay at their place when he arrived, but getting to New York took a bit more doing.

  Sam already had his own passport because he traveled with Noah occasionally on foundation business as a young ambassador. Like any self-respecting once-upon-a-time juvenile delinquent, he knew how to forge a permission letter from a guardian. However, getting a rush visitor visa to the United States was more complicated. When he couldn’t find any free alternatives, he bit the bullet and paid two bitcoins to someone on the dark web who got him the visa in three hours.

  Sam’s only hitch was getting a flight at short notice.

  “Easy shmeasy,” said Walrus. “My dad’s an NYPD cop. He’ll help us.”

  Walrus scanned a letter written by his father on NYPD letterhead, then carefully matched fonts as he composed a letter from the department. Within half an hour, Walrus sent the following to Sam.

  Dear Mr. Sam Xi: You are requested to make an appearance in New York as an expert witness in a highly sensitive and secretive investigation. Please make arrangements to come ASAP.

  Yours truly.

  Willie Mays Potter

  New York Police Department, Badge Number 74309A

  Direct Line: (997) 428- 3920

  The ticket seller at Cathay International was skeptical of the letter Sam held, so she made a telephone call. When Officer Willie Mays Potter answered the phone and verified the letter, she sold a first class ticket to the underage Sam right away. The seller had no way of knowing the phone number was a VOIP number that
Walrus set up to go to a local actor who was happy to make fifty bucks.

  Sam was on his way and, fifteen hours later, Walrus and his cop father picked Sam up at JFK. Walrus’ unsuspecting dad remarked how little red tape Sam had to go through to come on such short notice.

  The young Chinese teen from Hong Kong and the young black teen from Williamston got along even better in person than they did online. Walrus’s bedroom was now littered with left-over Chinese and American junk food: dried squid, beef jerky, deep-fried shrimp chips, and potato chips.

  When Sam got the call from JJ, his first instinct was fear that he had been caught. But, when he found out JJ’s intention, he and Walrus dove into the task furiously. Walrus was only thirteen but he had been hacking into his father’s NYPD account since he was eleven. What a joke their so-called firewall was. To do what Sam wanted was a little more challenging, so he used a facial recognition algorithm to check on the identities of the Samaritan, the gorilla, and Elizabeth Watson.

  After Sam relayed the information to JJ, Sam and Walrus did more research. The more they researched, the more concerned they got.

  These were very bad people JJ and Noah had hooked up with, and they needed to be warned as soon as possible. Actually, more than just a warning, they needed help and checked the IP address from JJ’s final messages. Walrus and Sam boarded the subway to Manhattan to Times Square, where they would walk to The Seventh Hotel.

  One thing about the crazy habits of teenagers. Even if they were in the same room, they often still communicated with their wireless devices. When JJ contacted Sam, Walrus was lying at the other end of the bed, texting with Sam on his cell.

  41

  Heights

  “That was easy,” said Kenny to Queenie and Byron as they stood outside the boardroom door.

  Byron shook his head. “Shut up, rookie. Deception can only be hidden for a short time. There’s something about Noah that I don’t trust.”

  Queenie nodded. “I got it covered. As soon as we get the okay, we’re going to sign the deal and say we’re going to Fortini’s around the corner to celebrate. However, before we get there, Noah, Abby and Olivia will be shot to death. I’ll take a bullet, too, but it’ll just be in the arm. I’ve got my story down to tell the cops. You guys take off and disappear. I’ll be in touch.”

  Before Byron or Kenny could respond, they heard a huge blow-up coming through the boardroom door. It was muffled but every word was understandable.

  Noah snarled, “You are the most spoiled, self-serving bitch I’ve ever met.”

  “Don’t talk about my best friend that way,” snapped Abby.

  “If the shoe fits, wear it,” was Noah’s comeback.

  Olivia threw in a jibe. “Oh, I thought you helped people out of the goodness of your heart. Well, excuse me for living.”

  “Listen, Olivia, at least I don’t play games with people’s heads the way you did with me.”

  “I never said ‘yes’ to you, Noah. Can I help it if you don’t understand English?”

  “How much do I have to read into ‘You are the one I want to live with for the rest of my life’?” yelled Noah.

  “Shut up. Shut up. Are you going to sign the damned contract or not?” shrieked Olivia.

  “Of course. My word is good. Can you print it out?” bellowed Noah.

  “Of course I can. I’m not a technological klutz like you. It’ll just take two minutes,” spat out Olivia.

  There was silence, or at least nothing they could hear through the door, which wasn’t surprising. The hum of a printer was not in the decibel league of the argument of flared tempers of ex-lovers.

  Byron grinned at Queenie. “Maybe they’ll just kill themselves.”

  The three waited patiently.

  Queenie kept checking her cell phone every ten seconds or so, getting more agitated as time went on. “Why aren’t they out yet? It doesn’t take that long to print something.”

  “It takes almost a minute for that printer to warm up,” said Kenny. “They’ll be done in another minute.”

  “I can’t wait that long.” Queenie tried to open the door. While the handle moved, the door didn’t budge. She shouted, “Olivia, Abby, Noah! Open the door. It’s stuck.”

  There was no response.

  “Damn! Get it open, Kenny.”

  Kenny grabbed an axe from the fire hose cabinet and started hacking away at the door.

  In the brief time JJ had been in New York, he discovered traveling by foot was the quickest way to get around Manhattan so he ran from The Seventh Hotel to the Vector Building. At 7:30 p.m., the front building doors were locked. He banged on the glass doors to get the security guard’s attention, but the attendant ignored him.

  Finally, fed up, JJ kicked the door beside the revolving doors, smashing it open with one deft punt. The guard whipped out his gun and fired at the pesky intruder, but JJ was prepared. He had spotted two large potted trees in the lobby and dove to hide behind one of them.

  The guard called for backup and, moments later, JJ had two guns trained on him. Realizing that going through the front door was not going to work, JJ looked for a means to escape.

  He knocked over the first planter and, as the guards opened fire, JJ rolled rapidly to hide behind the other planter. He picked it up and hurled it at the shooters. As they pumped tree and planter full of bullets, JJ dashed to the exit, leapt upward, arms outstretched like Superman. The bullets whizzed harmlessly under his body as his hands forcibly broke through the revolving doors. His momentum carried him through and he dropped to the ground outside.

  Perpetrator no longer a threat, the security guards left him alone.

  Standing on the sidewalk, JJ took a breath as he gazed up to the floor of Skyscape studios.

  “Omigod!” he yelled. Noah was standing on the window ledge of the twelfth floor.

  JJ punched in Noah’s cell phone number. This time, it connected. “Is that really you I see up there?”

  “Guilty as charged,” replied Noah. “I’m gonna jump.”

  “You’re crazy!”

  “I’m all ears if you’ve got any other ideas.”

  Kenny broke down the boardroom door in less than a dozen swings of the axe, discovering that Noah, Olivia and Abby had barricaded the door with chairs and the boardroom table. As they shoved the office furniture out of the way, a sickening feeling knotted their stomachs.

  Queenie’s nostrils flared. “We’ve been had, but how could they have figured it out?”

  “Doesn’t matter,” replied Byron. “Keep focused. Grab Olivia and Abby. Threaten to kill them and Noah will break.”

  Kenny spotted Noah standing outside on the window ledge. He pointed, “Over there!”

  “Get him,” yelled Queenie.

  As the trio rushed to the window, Noah turned around, gave a little smile, twinkled his fingers ‘goodbye,’ then jumped into the air.

  “No!” screamed Queenie.

  Arriving at the open window, they saw Noah somersaulting in the air as he accelerated the twelve stories to the ground.

  Queenie freaked. If he’s dead, I got nothing.

  Then, another incredible sight. From two hundred feet away, JJ was streaking down the street in the direction where Noah would land.

  “What’s he doing?” said Queenie.

  “Haven’t a clue,” said Kenny, eyes full of consternation.

  JJ suddenly leapt onto the hood of a car and took a step onto the roof of a passing SUV, launching himself in the air. It was a variation of the move Noah used in the Shanghai airport.

  JJ’s upward momentum countered Noah’s hurtling downward force.

  Just as insane as JJ and Noah were a couple of kids who had snagged a fruit cart and were pushing it furiously in JJ and Noah’s direction.

  With a thud, JJ and Noah landed on top of the cart, smashing it and sending fruit flying everywhere. Apples, oranges and strawberries were not great pillows but they were enough to cushion Noah and JJ from injury.

&nb
sp; As Noah and JJ tried to extricate themselves from the gooey fruit mash that covered them, a familiar voice called, “Hey, Noah, how ya doin’?”

  Noah looked up to see Sam grinning. Beside him stood a tall lanky black teen.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” asked Noah. “I thought we left you in a hospital.”

  “I heal fast and um, where is the ‘Thank you for saving my sorry butt again’?” said the cocky teen. He put his arm around Walrus. “And you can thank my buddy, Walrus, too.”

  An angry fruit vendor charged up to them. “You stole my cart. I’m going to have you arrested.”

  “Hey, we just saved these turkeys’ lives,” glowered Sam.

  “Gobble gobble. That’s four hundred bucks of fruit and a thousand bucks for the cart you wrecked.”

  Noah took out his wallet and peeled off fifteen hundred bucks. “Take this.” He nodded at JJ. “You don’t want to get this ninja mad.”

  The vendor took a scared look at JJ, then ran off, money clutched in his hand.

  Noah turned back to Sam, was about to open his mouth, then stopped. “There’s no point in asking, is there?”

  Sam grinned. “Nope.”

  JJ folded his arms over his chest. “I want to know how you got here.”

  “Easy,” said Sam. “When you contacted us, I traced you back to the eighth floor of The Seventh Hotel. You weren’t in your room but I saw some nice Russian girls. One of them told me she unlocked your cell and gave me your number. Not too hard to track from there.”

  Noah pointed upward to the top floor. Two indistinct figures were standing on the ledge around the corner from where Noah had jumped. “That’s Olivia and Abby.”

  “So why the heck are we chit chatting? Let’s go save them,” hollered Sam.