Golden Buddha

Mark Murphy was setting the last of the charges around the perimeter of the grounds and tent. He pocketed a small remote trigger, then walked around to the rear of the stage. Juan Cabrillo was standing off to one side of the stage, staring at the crowd. Crabtree had her large purse on the floor next to her and she moved her foot to make sure it was at her feet. Kasim, Lincoln and Halpert stood off to one side, awaiting their cues. At the front of the tent, the trio from Redman Security paced nervously.

Ho walked over to Cabrillo. “Is the P.A. system on?”

“Just a second,” Cabrillo said as he flicked a switch. “Okay, sir.”

Ho tapped the microphone to see that it was working.

THE monk walked out from the dining room, then stopped in his tracks. There was a ba

“Why don’t they make dollies with brakes?” one of the motorcyclists said as he dug in his heels to slow the descent down the hill outside the temple.

The other man was in front of the dolly, trying to slow Buddha down, but the loose soil was not allowing him much purchase and he was sliding downhill fast.

“Drop it down and dig in the rear,” he whispered.

With more of a slide than a controlled descent, they reached the bottom of the hill. Once they had regained control of the dolly, they quickly wheeled it over to the motorcycle sidecar and cut the straps. The man at the front lowered the door on the sidecar.

“Let’s get him in,” he said.

At just that instant, a gong on the grounds of the temple started sounding.

“Damn,” the first man said as the two wrestled the chunk of metal into the sidecar, “I figured we’d at least be out of the parking lot before someone caught on.”

“I’ll strap him down,” the second man said. “You start your engine.”

The man climbed aboard the motorcycle and pushed the starter. The engine roared to life. The second man finished with securing the Buddha and walked over to his motorcycle and started the engine. Looking up the hill, he caught a glimpse of several monks starting down, and he beeped his horn. The first man turned his head and, upon seeing the monks stumbling down the hill, reached for the clutch, then toed the motorcycle into gear. He twisted the throttle and began driving out of the parking lot.

“AGAIN,” Ho said, “thank you all for coming. Before I make a toast, let’s give a round of applause to the Minutemen.”

The crowd clapped.

“Now,” Ho said, “if you will all raise your glasses.”

He paused.

“To peace and prosperity on this holy day,” he said.

“Let us all remember the sacrifices the few have made so that the many may find peace.”

Ho tipped the glass cup to his lips and took a drink. The crowd followed suit.

“The di

“THE potion is in,” Hanley said to everyone listening, “we move in five minutes.”

Sometimes, if you know where to look, a person can realize that life is a well-orchestrated ballet. If one is in tune, seemingly unrelated events begin to reveal themselves. If there were someone high above the party, what he would see right now would be two distinctly different groups. The people from the Corporation began to move like pieces on a chessboard, while those who were part of the party seemed to act as a single unit.

Sung Rhee tried to focus his eyes, but the view of the inside of the tent was ebbing and flowing. Specks of blue dotted the far edges of his peripheral vision. Then he saw what he thought was a yellow-and-red weasel out of the corner of his eye, but when he moved his head, it was gone. At just that instant, his cellular telephone rang.

“Rhee.”

“I can barely hear you, sir,” one of his detectives said.

Rhee stared at the tiny telephone. He was holding it a foot from his mouth, as if unable to gauge distances. He tried to move it to the proper place, but he slammed it into his temple.

“How’s that?” he asked.

“Better. Sir, we just received a call from the head abbot at the A-Ma Temple. They report that a pair of men has just stolen a large golden Buddha they had on display.”

Rhee thought for a second. The Buddha was right outside the tent.

“That’s all right,” Rhee said, “I saw our friend earlier.”

“What are you talking about, sir?”

Rhee stared at the floral arrangement in the center of the table. The head of a tiny horse appeared and spoke in a British accent. Take me for a ride, it said.

“Listen, you,” Rhee said, “my horse is here.”

“Sir,” the detective said, “I’m coming over there right away.”

Rhee dropped the telephone and turned to the person next to him.

“See my horse?”

The person was a troll and he was speaking in a language Rhee could not understand.

OVER the roar of the motorcycle engine, a siren came from just over the hill. The two men shut off the engines and listened. The sound neither grew louder nor diminished.

“Good,” the first man said, “they’re stuck in traffic, just like we pla

“Let’s do it,” the second man said.

They started their engines and roared away.

DETECTIVE Ling Po was screaming into the radio as he raced toward the mansion. He was a half mile away when the traffic ground to a stop.

“Can anyone reach the temple?” he shouted.

The units reported in one at a time. Only the car along the I

“We have a pair of men on motorcycles that have stolen a large gold Buddha,” he said as he beeped his horn. “Has anyone seen them pass?”

The reports were negative.

Po steered his squad car onto the sidewalk and, blaring his horn, continued on.

THE band was performing the Thin Lizzie song “The Boys Are Back in Town.”

On the Oregon, Hanley was watching the monitors in alarm. They had expected some unusual behavior once the potion was administered, but what he was seeing was chaos. A crowd of guests in tuxedos and evening dresses had suddenly filled the dance floor, and several of the ladies were shedding their clothes.

Stanley Ho was walking through the tent in a daze. He was feeling strange, but he had no idea why. Spotting Candace across the tent, he began to make his way toward her.

“Okay, everyone, we go in sixty seconds,” Hanley ordered.

“I hear sirens,” King reported, “and they are growing closer.”

“Monica,” Hanley said, “are you hearing?”

Crabtree turned to where she knew the camera was in the keyboard and winked.

“Now,” Hanley said.

Crabtree bit down on a packet she had taken from her purse and slipped it inside her mouth. Ho was a few feet away and she stumbled toward him with foam seeping from the edges of her mouth. She grabbed him around his neck and held tight.

“Go ahead, Murph,” Hanley ordered.

Murphy slipped his hand inside his pocket and hit the trigger. Almost instantly there was a series of explosions like fireworks. The outside lights and those inside the tent went dark.

“We’re a go for switch,” Hanley said.

At exactly that instant, Barrett and Pryor slid one of the speaker boxes off the cart and opened a back door. A gold-painted plaster Buddha replica slipped onto the ground. At the same time, Reinholt flipped the edge of the tent over the Buddha on display. Several potted plants placed in the Y inside the tent shielded the guards from anyone who might be watching.