by Lynda Filler
Raven’s partner was discreetly absent but had sent short operating codes for the private elevator. Dressed to kill, the team took the private elevator to the underground parking. They emerged into the Singapore evening traffic in two blacked out SUV’s.
There would be two extraction points. Luci smiled at Plan A, her kind of fun. Their pilot would remain with the S-97, alert for any last-minute changes. Otherwise, they knew where they needed to be and when.
The SUV’s took Team Raven past a forty-story high Ferris wheel. Luci gasped in delight.
“Alice would love that! I want to try that ride.”
“Don’t get any ideas, Luci. We’re here for business.”
The Singapore traffic was dense like any metropolis of 5.5 million people. The vibrancy of the light show streaming from the Marina Sands was like something in Las Vegas. Following their GPS, they drove into the designated service entrance of the hotel Tower 3. His business partner had made arrangements for their speedy arrival and outfitted them with high alert status security passes, no questions asked. The hotel was owned by Las Vegas, and the last thing they needed was an investigation by Interpol into any of their gambling activities. It was easier to just provide what was requested as if it was the norm.
They took a service elevator to the 53rd floor. Plush carpeting masked the team's footfalls. They used a master key card to gain access to a suite four stories beneath the Skypark and almost directly under the infinity pools.
“Equipment checks. RB, comms good?”
“Yes, boss. Look at what just came across our tablets.”
“Real-time intelligence; Sying’s arrived. Billy came in at Tower 2; no sign of Tariq yet.” They all flexed, releasing tension and preparing to carry out their mission.
“Oh, wait. There's Tariq; three people going across the casino entrance. I wouldn’t have known him without the facial recognition software. Wow. He cleans up well.” The joke eased the group tension.
Luci and the rest of the team opened their canvas bags. Their trendy black workout looks turned deadly with the addition of ammunition, weapons and special goggles.
“Left is the scene of the restaurant up top in real time.”
“Luci, you know what you have to do. Zach, are you ready with the diversion?”
“Yeah, Maggie will be my backup. As soon as I receive the signal from RB, we act.”
“Let’s count the players.”
“I count four in Sying’s group, three for Tariq and four for Billy including his girlfriend.” They crowded around a laptop screen.
“We’ve got a couple of players that no one is expecting. See the bartender over there, and that waiter, the hostess, too?”
Everyone nodded.
“They’re aware of both the diversion and the plan. The three work for me in my Singapore offices.”
“How’s it going RB?”
“Everything’s a go.” RB had configured their communications. The team from Raven’s office had done their part, and all signals were responding simultaneously on RB’s computer.
“This is looking too easy boss!”
“Listen up. Nothing has changed. We want Woo; he has the key to all of this. Remember we take him alive. Make sure your equipment works Maggie. I’ve got Woo.”
“Wait a second. Mei. I should have known that! Damn! This changes everything.” Luke murmured.
65
CÉ LA VI, Marina Bay Sands Rooftop
SYING GLANCED AROUND the interior of the restaurant looking at the exits. She’d gone over every square meter of the space in case Tariq or Billy tried to get cute. Her security detail had been replaced by the best Asia had to offer after finding her guards murdered outside her door; incompetent bastards.
Woo was a genius and had been loyal to her through her months in South America and while trying to get released from prison in Paris. She carried her own lethal weapon as did her two security men. But Sying wasn’t really worried. She had her piece of the puzzle. And since they would make their transfers simultaneously, it would be impossible for one to screw the other.
She sat at the table reserved for her and her guests and powered up her MacBook Air. CÉ LA VI seemed to take business dinners all in stride. It was more than the norm to have Asian diners focused on computing devices, ignoring the exquisite food set before them.
A waiter served Sying's favorite champagne cocktail with a twist of passion fruit. Woo stood behind her and awaited the arrival of their guests.
“Woo, take a seat, please. Everything is fine. Your tap into the hotel CCTV shows the arrival of both Tariq and Billy. They each have their security. That’s to be expected.” She hesitated and smiled. “Look Woo. Who is this delectable creature? And what is she doing with a brute like Billy Lam?”
Woo glanced over, determined to keep his emotions in check. It was the first time he had seen Mei in the flesh since they were kids. She was even more beautiful than he remembered.
“This is his consort, Ms. Mei.”
66
CÉ LA VI, Marina Bay Sands Rooftop
TARIQ BOWED POLITELY to the quiet, smiling hostess. Black hair, rosy lips, and a docile temperament appealed to Tariq. Maybe he would take her with him. After all, if the leader of ISIS can’t take what he wants, what kind of a terrorist would he be?
“I believe Ms. Sying has a table reserved for me.”
“Yes, right this way sir. And your friends?”
“They will wait here at the bar.”
ISIS pig she said to herself. You look like any other international playboy except, I can smell the blood on your vile hands. I’ll show you how strong a woman can be when she isn’t handcuffed or tied down. You’re going to be visiting your virgins sooner than you think.
At that moment, Billy Lam cruised through the door. He carried a pretentious Tom Ford briefcase and placed a predatory hand around the waist of his girlfriend.
Now, this is getting interesting, the hostess mused. If she was not mistaken, she could make out the faint lines of a stiletto underneath the dark Dior suite. A garter belt holder no doubt.
The two women smiled at each other. The hostess had been prepared for Mei, who worked for the People’s Republic of China; buried deep. But her pictures had been somewhat vague. She was lovely.
They glanced at each other again. Mei, hyper-alert, was confused by the feeling of recognition. She turned back to Billy and purred seductively.
“Champagne please.” Billy nodded to Tariq and his team but continued to make his way with Mei through the restaurant to the private area where Sying was already seated.
Mei bowed slightly, acknowledging Sying and ignoring Woo completely.
Sying stared openly at the stunningly gorgeous Mei. It was unusual for Sying to be attracted to Asian girls. She preferred Russian or Hispanic. But this woman was extraordinary. Hadn’t she read somewhere that she was Miss Hong Kong?
Mei leaned into Billy, preferring to ignore the stares of this woman whose reputation for cruelty and debauchery equaled if not surpassed, Billy. Mei was aware of the emerald choker that had caused quite the buzz at the Katching Kitten Ball in Versailles. She could sense that the dominatrix was fixating on her and decided it was time to powder her nose.
“The ladies,” she whispered, then stood and returned towards the entrance. She moved slowly, taking in the spectacular nighttime cityscape from the 57th floor. Momentary screaming coming from the Skypark Infinity Pool caught her attention. Someone had been pushed entirely clothed into the water. The boozy crowd clapped in approval.
She accidentally on purpose bumped into a gentleman at the bar.
“Oh, excuse me! I hope that spill didn’t ruin your jacket. Here, let me clean that off.”
Mei looked into the darkest eyes she had ever encountered. The gentlemen smiled at her and brushed off his jacket with a napkin, but his eyes remained cold. He was impervious to her charms.
But the subtle bump had allowed her to measure Tariq and exactly what weaponry he was carrying.
His bodyguards both moved in to protect him. By the time they reached towards her, she was moving back. Tariq waved them away.
“That’s quite alright. I believe you are with Billy Lam. I will be joining your table shortly. My name is Tariq. And yours?”
“Oh, yes, Mr. Tariq. I am Mei. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I was on my way to the ladies and got distracted by the party in the water.”
“Yes, I can see how that might happen. It is quite extraordinary how the pool seems to go on into infinity. I certainly wouldn’t want to misjudge my strokes and end up over the side. However, I imagine the deep dive towards the Bay below would be quite thrilling.”
Mei ignored the not-so-subtle threat in his voice. She had already assessed his protection as mid-level threats. They might be enough in the sandbox, but they were far too casual for the money that was at stake tonight. Or maybe they’d spent too much time in the desert. Staring at the women seemed to interest them more than threats to their boss.
“Yes, well, I cannot imagine such a thing. I don’t swim. I will continue and see you again momentarily.” Tariq watched her walk, legs lean and sexy. But he preferred his women flat- chested, more childlike.
He checked his phone one more time; still no message from the States. He picked up what remained of his rum and Coke and made his way across the room to Billy and Sying. His security lounged at the bar.
67
CÉ LA VI, Marina Bay Sands Rooftop
LUCI WATCHED THE exchange between Mei and Tariq on the CCTV in the security area of the CÉ LA VI Restaurant. The three operatives from Raven’s Singapore office had done their jobs well. They had state of the art cameras and listening devices placed strategically so that every angle and movement of each team was covered.
She communicated with RB in the suite a few stories below. He worked the high-speed Internet connections on his MacBook Air. He was satisfied that the team with him had done everything that was necessary. He was ready.
Maggie was dressed in a black Yeezy linen jumpsuit. It zipped up front. But Maggie filled out an electric blue lace bra and left the zipper open to her waist; super sexy. The outfit was tight where it needed to be but sported designer cargo pants where she kept some exceptional big boy toys. She’d watched the exchange with Tariq and Mei and casually took a seat at a corner of the bar where she could eye all the players.
Zach took a table outside, lit a Cuban cigar and read the Singapore sporting pages. He had no trouble acting like a tourist here to gamble at the famed Marina Bay Sands Casino. He excelled at Blackjack and had been known to hit gaming tables with minimum bets of ten thousand dollars a hand. His crisp white Burberry shirt and Coach briefcase, ostensibly filled with cash, finished off his rich playboy image. He kept his iPhone on hand watching the Sying & Billy show. Tariq approached the table sipping his drink slowly.
Luke’s life was low profile, yet he couldn’t take any chances on being recognized by Sying until their game was in play. He remained in the kitchen, his eyes behind tinted glasses and ears on alert for action. He listened to RB’s updates and waited for Mei to return to the table.
68
CÉ LA Vi, Marina Bay Sands Rooftop
“ARE WE GOOD to go RB?”
“Yes.”
Sying tossed her raven hair over her well-toned shoulder. There was something attractive about Tariq. She was sure he liked bondage games.
Billy looked at Sying and smiled at the reaction to the polished playboy image that Tariq was projecting for this billion-dollar meeting.
Tariq smiled politely, taking Sying’s hand and kissing her on the cheek. Her hand trembled slightly. Tariq could see the passion hidden below the surface. Yes, she might be interesting restrained and raped repeatedly. But right now, his mind was on the money.
Woo stood behind Sying, his tablet poised for her instructions. He allowed his eyes to meet Mei’s. A sigh escaped, a shiver followed. He admitted to himself that he was scared. But he and Mei had planned carefully, and he believed nothing would go wrong.
The hostess, alerted by her co-agents, was aware that the Raven Group had taken their places around the restaurant. She saw their photos minutes before their arrival. Security was tight on this op, and she knew what she was supposed to do. Again, her eyes were drawn to Mei.
Mei acknowledged Woo for a second, warmed by the presence, the years of absence melting away. She stroked the razor-sharp knife hidden against her thigh. She could see the hostess across the room staring at her and in that moment, there was mutual recognition.
69
CÉ LA VI, Marina Bay Sands Rooftop
“ARE WE READY?” Sying smiled at her partners.
“Yes,” Billy acknowledged. He hid his annoyance. Josh had not come through with what he needed. But Billy would find a way to get all the money from Sying eventually.
Tariq was waiting for an essential message from Washington. So far it looked like it wasn’t going to happen. He sighed. Well, 20 billion was better than nothing. Although 50 billion was what he had expected.
“Yes, let’s do this.”
Each member of the group simultaneously entered his banking information to a secure site. Woo looked at Mei. Sying snapped her fingers in his direction, and he immediately started the process.
Codes were entered. Money was transferred from Banks in Bahamas, BVI, Panama, Washington, New York, Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Kenya, and Macau.
RB and Raven’s Singapore Technical team worked quickly. They got the information they needed, entered their codes to capture and secure what they wanted, and signaled that all was well.
The table of three smiled and shook hands all around.
A loud explosion rocked the top floor of the Skypark. Lights went out, and screams of panic could be heard from swimmers in the black waters of the infinity pools.
Billy Yee Lam looked towards his security team. In the darkness, he could see nothing. He felt instead, a knife entering his chest. His scream was lost in the noisy confusion of the guests in the dining room.
Mei wiped off her knife on Billy’s jacket and looked for the last place she had last seen Woo. She heard his voice screaming her name. He was being forced along a hall leading towards the kitchens. She raced to intercept.
Tariq was on his feet in seconds. He was a street fighter aware that whatever had happened was meant for him. Tariq pulled a revolver from his ankle holster and moved low and fast towards the exit signs. He and his team had studied the floor plans and knew how to get out. He didn’t know that Maggie had used her silencer to eliminate his back up at the bar.
Zach moved in quickly. His hi-tech Ray Bans made the entire scene appear as daylight. He targeted Tariq. A low-tech marking placed by the hostess glowed in the dark painting all the bad guys. Easy; he needed Tariq alive.
The backup generators had been purposely re-set to only go on in ten minutes.
By the time Luci made her way to Sying, she was gone. Luci panicked, gulped big breaths, and forced herself to re-group. Slowly turning around, she spotted Sying running barefoot along the deck towards the pool area and the exit at Tower 2. Luci raced, leaped over the low wall of the restaurant and landed on the observation deck.
The deck was slippery. The guests had panicked in the absence of light. The feeling of floating in black water fifty-seven stories above the ground was frightening. The immediate thought was that terrorists had attacked the rooftop of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.
Luci kept Sying in her sights knocking into people and smashing chairs and tables out of her way. Sying heard a commotion behind her and turned once. She panicked when she recognized Luci, stopped and aimed a gun in Luci’s direction.
Luci jumped into the pool and swam towards Sying grabbing her right leg from the deck and dragging her into the water. Sying was tough and refused to release her weapon. But Luci punched her in the solar plexus and held her head under water.
“Take that, you bitch! You think you can kidnap my daughter and live? You’
re dead!”
Sying fought against Luci’s strength, but it was no use. She slowly stopped struggling. Luci dragged Sying’s body to the edge of the infinity pool. She used all her strength to heave Sying’s unconscious form over the lip of the pool.
It wasn’t over yet. A four-foot wide maintenance walkway ran along the pool edge. Luci was taking no chances this time. She hauled Sying’s unconscious body up by her dripping designer suit and hoisted her dead weight over the glass wall.
Luci watched as Sying fell 57 floors to her death.
70
CÉ LA VI, Marina Bay Sands Rooftop
MEI HAD HER stiletto poised to attack Luke Raven when a strong arm grabbed her by the neck pulling her knife arm back.
“Stop. Woo’s okay! He’s safe! Tariq’s team is down. Billy’s have disappeared.”
All the fight went out of Mei. She recognized a voice that sounded like her mother. She started to cry.
“It’s okay Mei. Our father was able to send me a message, and he told me about you and Woo. My name is Jia. I am your sister.”
Luke turned in time to see Mei drop her knife. He stared at the scene unfolding in front of him. He had calmed Woo down and explained that he was here to help. And now his Singapore operative Jia was hugging Mei. Both women were crying.
“What’s going on?” Woo watched the women.
“I’m your other sister Woo. My name is Jia.”
Woo looked to Mei for her acknowledgment. Then Woo smiled for the first time in a very long time.
“We’ve got no time for family reunions. Let’s move!” Mei grabbed Jia’s hand and put her arm around Woo. “I’ll tell you everything later.”