HONG KONG, CHINA
Once we land and exit the plane, I spot the man again. He doesn't even glance my way. Which makes sense. He's just a passenger on the plane and now headed to wherever he was planning on going. That's it. Nothing more.
"What's wrong?" Javier asks when we meet up in the terminal. I guess he knows me well enough to sense me worried.
"It's nothing," I say. "I'm just tired, hungry, and completely paranoid."
"You have every right to be paranoid after what you've been through," Jake says softly.
The three of us head out to the curb to order a taxi when a voice calls my name. "Aria!"
I turn around to find Sun's brother. "Danny? What are you doing here?"
"Sun sent me to keep an eye on you." He strolls toward us wearing his designer suit jacket flapping around him in the wind. His black hair is perfectly sculpted, and he looks like a model unlike the three of us, travel-weary and haggard.
"How did Sun know we would be here?" Jake asks.
"I might have mentioned our flight plans," I say.
"She's waiting for you back at the hotel," Danny adds. "Along with Tony."
"What?" My eyes bug out.
Jake whistles. "I thought they weren't going to get involved."
"We agreed this was too dangerous," I tell Danny, thinking of the guy who was waiting for me in the hotel woods. "You need to take them back to Florida and stay safe."
"Sun said you'd say that." Danny rolls his eyes. "Trust me, I agree with you 100%. But she also said you can't do this without them."
Javier sighs and shakes his head, muttering in Spanish under his breath. I try to think of some comeback, but the reality is, Sun is right. We do need them.
"Stop fighting and just get in the car." Danny waves us to follow him.
I'm too tired to argue so I trudge after him to his car. I toss my bag into the trunk, but as I'm about to slip into the backseat, I spot that same guy from the airplane. He's got a cigarette in his hand, leaning against one of the outer walls in the dark shadows. I wouldn't have seen him except another car's headlights swerved in to park at the curb and beamed its lights directly at him.
Our eyes meet. He tosses his cigarette to the ground and stamps on it before taking off down the sidewalk, hands in his pockets.
"Javier," I ask as our car zips away from the airport. "How long did you say our Boracay stalker would be asleep?"
Javier checks his watch. "I'm guessing he'd have woken about two hours ago. There's no way he could have followed us and caught that flight."
Unless he is working with someone. Still, if he wanted to capture or stop us, he'd have done it by now. Right?
"You okay?" Jake touches me on the arm.
"We're here in China," I say. "That much closer to my dad. So yeah, I'm great."
The first thing I do when I see Sun is yell at her.
"How could you come here?" I drop my bags, clamping my fists against my hips. "You were supposed to stay home where it's safe."
"Come and give me a hug." Sun grins. "My family is from Hong Kong. This is like my second home. Besides, I can't have you come here without taking you shopping."
I step into her arms and tears edge at the corner of my eyes.
"Nice place," Javier says as Jake and he roll their suitcases into the suite.
"Look at you three," Sun says. "You're in worse condition than the lizards my cat drags in. This is what happens when you fly commercial. We should've stayed with you the whole time. I told Danny that, and finally, he listened."
"I couldn't say no after she told me you were going to Macau." Danny throws himself onto one of the plush couches. "This is our old stomping ground. My uncle owns the Shanghai Tang department stores. And then Sun explained to me the stakes involved and how the feds were doing nothing and getting nowhere. I realized maybe your mission wasn't such a bad one."
"And the fact that we're after Zhang Lau," Sun adds. "She's been stealing from Daddy and his company for years."
"Woah!" Tony waltzes into the room, wearing a bathrobe and holding a towel. "Look what the cat dragged in!"
"Tony!" I smile as he gives each of us a high-five. "Is your mom okay with you being here?"
"Sure, sure," Tony says vaguely, which means no, not really. I frown. "I mean, how could I pass up a trip to Hong Kong, am I not right?"
I laugh, shaking my head.
"Glad you're back with us," Jake says. "What's up with the robe? You having a spa day?"
"Had myself a dip in that wicked pool they've got here," Tony says. "Oh, and I ordered some food. A spread of all my favorites. Figured my people would be starved."
"You figured right, bro." Jake sets down his bags and sinks into one of the soft chairs. "Airplane pretzels just don't cut it. You saved my life."
It's weird to see Jake and Danny here with the rest of the team. Actually, it's more like our team of four has somehow expanded to six.
As they talk, I take in the penthouse suite. It's extravagant, but it's also large enough for all of us to be in one place together. I wander to the far wall, which is completely glass and overlooks the city of Hong Kong. The bustling city glistens with a million lights while dark mountains spike up, ringing the entire metropolis.
Sun gives me a quick tour of the suite, which has three bedrooms, a living room, a small kitchen, and a dining room.
"You can sleep with me." Sun snatches up my bag and leads me into the room just ahead. "And then the boys can fight over the other two rooms."
The room she's picked for us feels fresh and modern with gray walls and abstract paintings over each of the double beds. A flat-screen TV hangs over a dresser set and there's an adjoining bathroom. Sheer curtains are drawn over the window, but when I pull them back, I discover another stunning view of the city.
"Something happened in the Philippines, didn't it?" Sun perches on the edge of the bed.
"Yeah." I drop the curtain back and turn toward her. "Some guy tried to attack me in the woods. I hit him with a coconut."
"A coconut? Seriously?"
I laugh, thinking about it now. "We put him to sleep and then left him tied and gagged in the forest before we left."
"Serves the creep right for trying to hurt you."
"I want to believe he was just a random stalker, but I doubt it. Other than that it was pretty calm. At least, no cars blowing up."
"You know I wasn't asking about that."
I open my suitcase and begin going through the few things I have. "Thanks again for lending me your clothes."
"Jake and you," Sun continues, ignoring my attempts of avoidance. "I see how you two look at each other."
"I don't know. I'm not sure if what's between us is just this connection to the heist and kidnapping or if it's a fling. Or—"
"It's something more."
"Yeah. It's just that I promised myself not to get involved with boys. Career first. They just slow you down, distract you, hurt you, use you."
She gives me a knowing look. I know she's remembering that time when I thought Jerome was seriously into me. Ninth grade. He invited me to the prom, and I, of course, being the enthralled, clueless underclassman was sucked into his charm. Turns out he had been hoping to be the first guy to score on me. Freshman girls equal fresh victories. I haven't thought about or dated a guy since.
"Girl, not all boys are scumbags. And there's more to life than having a successful career. That's just one part. Besides, I know plenty of people who have a great love life and a successful career. Take me for example."
"You and Nathan aren't even together anymore. And I wouldn't call Blake the blind date a success."
"They just weren't right for me, that's all," she proclaims breezily. "All I'm saying is a career won't fill the part of your heart that love will."
Someone whistles from the main room, interrupting us.
"It's here!" Tony cries from the main room. Then he whistles. "You've got to try out these spring rolls."
When Sun and I join the others at the long dining room table, Tony pops the rest of the roll into his mouth. "Forget what I said about the spring rolls being good. They're awful. I'll sacrifice myself and eat 'em all for the greater good."
"How thoughtful of you, Tony." Sun wrenches the spring roll tray from him and pops one in her mouth.
A spread has been laid out for us on the dining room table by the hotel's staff. The smells of steamed rice, sweet and sour pork, and fried chicken waft into the air. My mouth waters and my stomach growls so loud we all laugh.
"Javier says you guys have a plan," Tony says, piling his plate with noodles.
Jake nods, puts down the drumstick, and licks his fingers. He takes the long strip of paper lining off the food cart and, moving the dishes out of his way, slaps it in the center of the table. With a pen, he begins to sketch out the plan.
"I'm envisioning we break down our plan into categories: needs, locations, risks, and players. With six of us, we have a lot more options than with just three people."
Needs
- Computer
- Costume for Aria
- Dreamscape
Location
- Casino Kam Pek Paradise
- Nearby location within long-range connection
Players
- Aria, Sun, Tony, Javier, and Jake
- Danny—escape vehicle and driver
"What? I'm the driver?" Danny doesn't look too impressed. "I've got skills, too."
"I'll also need your help finding a computer that will meet our needs," Jake tells him. "You know this town better than anyone. Also, I need you to find us the travel plans. Plus, we need someone who can help with interpreting. I don't speak Mandarin. Does anyone else?"
"I speak a little," Sun says. "But I'm rusty."
The rest of us shake our heads. I twirl my noodles with my chopsticks, reviewing the plan in my head.
"But what exactly are we going to do?" Sun asks impatiently.
"This is stage one," I explain. "Our target is Zhang Lau. We're going to find her and force her to tell us where my dad is."
"You mean you want to do this in the Dreamscape again." Sun frowns. "I don't like it."
"It's the only way," I say.
"And while you all are having sweet dreams with Zhang," Jake says. "I'm going to sneak into her server and try to determine where the money went."
We spend the rest of the evening planning out our positions and roles. Jake and Javier get into an argument over our entry point and how we will get behind the security barriers while Tony insists I should stay behind because I'm too emotionally involved.
Finally, at 3 a.m., we part to get some sleep, promising to finish our work the next day. I'm about to stumble to my room when I notice Jake hunched over a computer Danny lent him, the glow from the screen lighting up his face.
"You should get some sleep," I say. "The brain needs rest to work properly."
He leans back and rubs his face with both hands. "Just found out something I wished I hadn't."
"What?" I sit beside him, resting my hand on his shoulder.
"There's something I haven't told you about when I hacked into the Federal Reserve."
I bite my lip. "Okay."
"I was mad at my dad. Mad that he wasn't paying me any attention, wouldn't take my computer skills seriously, wouldn't take my advice. So I was complaining to my best friend, Larry, about it all. You know him. He's in our Calculus class."
I frown and shake my head.
"The thing is, he actually gave me the idea to hack into the Federal Reserve. He even helped me out. He's really into the Dark Web and got me involved in a group there and stuff."
"You think he's a part of all this?"
"Honestly, the thought never crossed my mind until one of my friends on the Dark Web—the person goes by NightLife—just messaged me saying Larry was paid by an anonymous donor to dare me to hack into Dad's system at the Federal Reserve and get all of his codes."
"Paid?"
"Paid $10,000 if I did it and was successful." He hangs his head into his hands. Then he looks at me. His eyes are red. "I don't have many friends, Aria. Like real live friends. They're all on the internet. My parents are so busy with their lives I hardly even see them. And here I find out my one friend, who I thought was real, the one I've known since 5^th^ grade just sold me out for 10 g's."
"I'm so sorry, Jake." I brush the long strands of hair out of his eyes.
"Aria." He takes my hands and tugs me closer to him. "You are the most real thing I've ever had in my life. And tomorrow, I'm afraid I'm going to lose you. What if there's more to all of this than we think? We should be dead. They had so many chances, but we're still alive. Do you think that's a coincidence?"
"Did you forget the bomb?" I point out. "They nearly killed all of us if you hadn't gotten us out of the van with only seconds to spare."
"Unless the food delivered to your room was supposed to knock you out, keep you from getting into that van. And I know this sounds paranoid, but what if the guy who has been helping me this whole time on the Dark Web has been working for Lau. And the guy that attacked you in the woods could've easily killed you with a silencer. But he didn't. It was like he was just trying to grab you. The more I think about it, the more I'm wondering if we haven't been lucky. That we're being led into a trap."
"A trap? We've put ourselves into this position, not Lau. Besides, I can't not do this, Jake. I have to find my dad. And the team needs me. Without me, they aren't as effective in the Dreamscape. You have to understand I need to see this to the end. No matter what."
"I don't think we should go tomorrow."
"I have to go. I have no other choice."
"There's always a choice, Aria."
Then he turns back to his laptop. I feel him pulling into himself, withdrawing from me. The boy who held me last night, warm and alive, suddenly feels cold and isolated as if he's retreated into the code that fills the screen before him.