Golden Buddha

“We have some large speakers,” Cabrillo said, “that we’ll need some help moving.”

“Let me summon some help.”

“We like to take care of our equipment ourselves,” Cabrillo said. “We just need some carts.”

Ross nodded and turned to one of the caterers.

“This is the leader of the band,” she said. “He needs to borrow a few of the carts you use to move the tables.”

The man nodded and motioned to Cabrillo. “Right this way.”

Mark Murphy stood on the bandstand and surveyed the surroundings. Three large tents were erected, forming a Y with the band at the far end. The bandstand was slightly elevated from the ground, and to the rear the back of the tent had slits that opened to provide access. Electrical cables to power their speakers and lights stretched out under the tent. He sat his guitar down and poked through the slit in the back. Forty feet behind the rear of the tent was part of the wall that formed the boundary of the house. To the right side of the Y portion of the tent, some thirty yards away, was the rear wall of the mansion and the doors leading to the kitchens and inside. He began to walk the perimeter of the tent.

At the front, or top, of the Y were the entrances for the guests. In the opening between the legs of the Y there was a portable fountain and a small wooden platform that was currently empty. Murphy continued around the other side, examining the way the tents were fastened to the ground. There were large metal stakes on the edges with guy wires ru

Murphy figured it wouldn’t take much to bring it all down.

Ho was making his way back to the mansion when he stopped in his tracks.

Several longhaired men were approaching the tent, but that didn’t concern him. What did concern him was the lady that was following. Ho pivoted on his heel and walked over.

“I’m Stanley Ho,” he said, smiling. “I’m your host.”

“I’m Candace,” Julia Huxley said.

Ho’s eyes were riveted on Huxley’s ample assets. “I find this hard to believe,” Ho said, “but I don’t remember meeting you before.”

“I’m with the band,” Candace said, smiling wickedly. “At least I came with them.”

“Performer?” Ho asked.

“In many ways,” Candace said, smiling.

Ho was begi

“I need to go inside and greet my guests,” Ho said quickly as he saw Iselda approaching from the corner of his eye. “Perhaps we could talk later.”

He turned and moved toward the back door of the mansion.

“Mr. Ho,” Ross shouted after him, “I think we have the placement figured out.”

“Just take care of it,” Ho said over his shoulder.

Ross passed by Huxley. “Slut,” she whispered.

“Lesbian,” Huxley replied.

MAX Hanley was sitting in a leather chair in the command center of the Oregon.

“Okay, people,” he said to the trio of operators that remained, “we’re a go. Display from the tree,” Hanley ordered.

The image from the tiny camera in the tree filled one of the screens in the control room. Hanley could see Cabrillo rolling a cart containing several long speaker boxes across the lawn. Ross had just passed Huxley and was now turning to go back toward the tent. Murphy popped out from the side of one of the tents. As if on cue, he turned to the tree and smiled.

“Larry,” Hanley said, “all okay.”

Larry King was the Corporation member hiding in the tree. He adjusted his sniper rifle and then pushed the tiny microphone over his voice box and answered.

“How’s the picture, boss?”

“Looks good,” Hanley said. “You holding up?”

King had been forced to take his position above the party sometime just after 3 A.M. He’d been in his perch over twelve hours already. There was a good chance he’d need to remain there almost that long again.

“I did six days once in Indonesia,” King said. “This is a piece of cake.”

“Have you dialed in your fields of fire?” Hanley asked, already knowing the answer.

“About a thousand times, boss,” King said, swatting away a fly on his arm.

King was a U.S. Army–trained sniper. If Hanley gave the order, he could lob a dozen shots onto the grounds in about as long as it took to sneeze. Hanley hoped it wouldn’t come down to that—but if one of the crew was in trouble and there was no other choice, King was the great equalizer.

“Stand by, Larry,” Hanley said. “We’ll call you if we need you.”

“Affirmative,” King said as he continued to scan the grounds through his scope.

“Try the inside of the tent,” Hanley ordered.

An image filled the screen from a camera that was inserted in the body of Cabrillo’s electric keyboard. The image was slightly off.

“Juan,” Hanley said.

Cabrillo was pushing the cart around the side of the tent, but he could hear through his tiny earpiece.

“You’ll need to adjust your keyboard slightly to the right. We’re missing a little of the left side of the tent.”

Cabrillo made a slight nod to confirm.

“Go to the van,” Hanley ordered.

Another picture flicked onto a separate screen that was split in half. The cameras had been attached to the van’s folding mirrors. They were showing a pretty good view of most of the front of the house. Lincoln was removing a box from the back of the van.

“Frankie,” Hanley said.

Franklin Lincoln moved out of the back of the van and stared into one of the rearview mirrors as if he were fixing his hair.

“Try to leave the van where it is,” Hanley said. “You guys got lucky and placed it where we have a good field of view.”

Lincoln made an okay sign at the mirror.

“Okay, men,” Hanley said to the operators, “we’re the eyes and ears, so be alert.”

19

WINSTON Spenser walked into the mansion, snagged a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, and slurped down half of the flute before approaching the receiving line. Stanley Ho was beaming and shaking hands with each guest that passed. Ahead of Spenser were an Australian couple who were just being greeted, and directly in front of him was the local Portuguese consular agent. Spenser waited patiently, finishing the first glass of champagne and summoning the waiter for another, then took his place in front of Ho.

“Winston,” Ho said, smiling, “it’s good to see you, but you’re a little late—the insurance adjuster was already here.”

“Sorry,” Spenser said, “I was ru

Spenser tried to keep moving along, but Ho reached out and took him by the arm.

“That’s all right,” Ho said. “It seems your timing is perfect.”

Ho pointed to the staircase.

Spenser’s stomach did a backflip. The Golden Buddha, strapped to a dolly like a patient in a mental ward, was descending the stairs, being helped down by the guards from Redman Security.

“I’ve decided to display my newest treasure,” Ho said, “so all the guests can share in the glory. Don’t worry, I’ll let everyone who asks know who helped me handle the acquisition.”

A thousand thoughts raced through Spenser’s mind. None of them were good.

“Sir…,” Spenser began to say. But the line was moving along and Ho was already preparing to greet the next guest. “I don’t think…”

“I’ll talk to you when we are outside,” Ho said quietly as he turned to shake a couple’s hands.