Call to Duty by Richard Herman

Author:Richard Herman [Herman, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: cookie429, Kat, Extratorrents
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 1993-12-17T07:00:00+00:00

SEVEN

The Golden Triangle, Burma

Chiang’s majordomo hovered on the other side of Heather’s desk, ready to be of instant service. Normally, the portly and white-haired old Chinese gentleman was the perfect English butler, but he was anything but reserved and calm now. “James,” she said, “please sit down. You’re flapping.” He looked at her reproachfully, as if she should understand the gravity of what they were doing. He forced himself to sit down. Heather immediately stood up and paced the priceless Persian carpet that Chiang had given her for her office that adjoined his. “James,” she ventured, “is that your real name?” Heather wanted to make him part of her growing entourage. She liked giving orders.

“No ma’am, it is not,” he answered in his impeccable British accent. Then he did something totally out of character—he became less stiff. “It is the name General Chiang wishes to call me.”

She bestowed a smile on him, sensing the break in his rigid austerity. “Well, it does match your accent—which is perfect. Where did you learn to speak English?”

“I was born and educated in Hong Kong,” he told her, as if that fact alone accounted for his fluency. “I later became an air traffic controller for the British.”

“How did you become a butler then?” she asked. Hong Kong and air traffic control was a long way from Burma and being Chiang’s majordomo.

“General Chiang heard me speak over the radio when he was flying his private jet to Hong Kong and sought me out.” A knock at the ornately carved doors that connected the two offices slashed across his words, cutting them off. He sprang to his feet and opened the doors, bowing as he pulled them back.

“Ah, yes,” Chiang said as he entered, ignoring the man. “I was wondering how the arrangements for the conference were progressing.”

Heather stepped over to the antique writing table she used for a desk and picked up a leather-bound folder. “I think we’ve thought of everything,” she told him. “James has been most helpful and I’ve learned so much.” She tried to be all business, but excitement caught at her voice as she outlined the details of the meeting between Chiang and the leaders of two other drug cartels. From the moment Chiang had told her about his idea for a merger that would unite them into a “consortium” that would control a large percentage of the world’s drug traffic, she had wanted to be part of it. She had coaxed him into letting her help and had seen yet another side to Chiang; he would have been the chief executive officer of any large and successful international corporation as he modernized his production base, secured his distribution net, and exploited his markets.

She held a gold-filigree-covered fountain pen and ticked off the details. “There are some minor points to be worked out,” she concluded. “The number of bodyguards they travel with is a problem. We don’t have enough rooms for them all in the guest houses and I would like to split them up.

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