False Horizon - Alex Archer [15]
Mike finished his glass and set it down. “Pretty good,” he said.
Tsing refilled his glass. “Have another.”
Annja let more of the wine slide down her throat. It seemed marginally thicker than other wines she’d had in the past. She felt a warm glow come over her and despite herself, she realized she liked the flavor.
Tsing sipped his glass thoughtfully. “This particular vintage comes from a winery down in the southern part of the country. I happen to own it, of course.”
“That must make for a nice discount on your personal supply,” Annja said.
Tsing laughed. “Indeed it does.”
Annja finished her wine. Tsing seemed almost too eager to refill her glass. Annja glanced over at Mike.
Mike had passed out.
She looked back at Tsing. He lifted his glass to her. “I must compliment you on what I perceive to be a rather incredible constitution. Considering your friend is already unconscious, I hardly expected you to last a full glass.”
Annja’s vision swam. “Why?”
Tsing waved her concerns away. “Do not worry. I’m merely taking steps to ensure that you will do as you’ve promised. You won’t be harmed. And tomorrow, you’ll be on your way to finding the mystical kingdom of Shangri-La. For now, sleep well.”
6
Tuk could hear Tsing’s voice issue his commands. “Let them sleep and then deliver them to the airfield. Get them into the plane. When they wake up, they’ll be fine.”
Tuk shrank away from the conversation. He had to get out of the penthouse before he was discovered. He slipped back toward the front door. Already Burton and Kurtz were moving around too much for Tuk’s comfort. He’d done what he’d been asked to do and now it was time to get out of there and report back to the mysterious man who had hired him.
As he backed away, his instincts suddenly screamed at him and Tuk had barely enough time to shrink into a shadowy recess before the main door opened. The woman in the mandarin gown came gliding back into the penthouse.
She froze.
Her eyes swept around the darkened penthouse like lasers. Tuk averted his eyes from her. From experience he knew that even glancing at someone could often trigger that primal awareness of being watched.
But Tuk felt genuine fear. Something about the woman unnerved him. She was someone other than the house servant she appeared to be. He could sense power in her.
She moved forward, closer to where Tuk squatted, hidden by the darkness. His heart thundered inside his chest and he willed it to slow, fearing she might even hear it. What was it about her that filled him with fear?
She paused again and he heard her sniff the air. How could she smell anything over the heavy mist of incense? Tuk marveled at her sense. She was completely attuned to her environment and knew something was out of order.
She couldn’t tell just then what it was.
But her senses served her well. And now she moved even closer to where Tuk was hiding. Her eyes seemed to pierce the darkness in front of her. Tuk imagined that she had some sort of robotic night vision optical sensors or something equally outlandish.
The line of cold sweat that broke out along his spine almost made him start to move. He didn’t think he’d ever experienced this kind of fear before, and in all of his years working with the intelligence community he couldn’t recall ever feeling anything like it.
She knew he was there.
Tuk felt certain of it. He heard something in the darkness and realized that she had clicked her terribly long fingernails together. They looked like claws in the twilight. Tuk had little doubt they could effectively shred anyone she wanted. He realized that she reminded him of a feral cat that knows it has its prey cornered.
Just then Burton came around the corner and headed straight at her. She blinked and, in that instant, Tuk knew he was safe. Her concentration broken, she seemed to suddenly mask herself again in the guise of a servant.
Burton regarded her. “Mr. Tsing wants you to clean up the wineglasses. Make sure you use hot water on them.”
She bowed