Why Did He Die?

Chapter 14

I arrived in Hong Kong the following Friday night and retrieved the FEDEX from the concierge before going up to my apartment. Jim was already there and sleeping soundly but sleeping beside him was another man. I was seething and turned on the overhead light. The fluorescent, ceiling light was unusually bright. Jim jumped out of bed I am sure to keep me from yelling at him. He spoke softly, “Don’t yell; it’s my son.” I was confused but relieved. “I will explain follow me outside and turn off the light.” The boy didn’t move. I did as I was told.

Jim and I walked into my small living /dining room. He started, “I got a call from my former wife last week. She and the kids live in Pasadena. She told me she was throwing Jason out because she caught him smoking marijuana. She overreacted which was not unusual for her. I flew thru LAX and met Jason to discuss the situation. I suggested that he live with his grandmother but he said she was not well. After considering my options I decided to fly him over here. We got here Wednesday. He’ll be here a few weeks and his mother will call wanting him to come back. We’ll see what he does.”

“Where do I sleep?”

“With us, he knows I am gay. I told him you were returning tonight and you would be in bed with us in the morning. He didn’t seem to care. Maybe we won’t have sex tonight but we will sooner than you think. We will talk to him tomorrow. He is really a good guy and mature for a high school junior soon to be senior.” I rubbed my hand over the front of Jim's pouch. He smiled and said, “Later.”

The next afternoon Jason, Jim and I were sitting in my living room watching a European football game. During a break Jim said, “Jason you know that John and I are more than friends. We have decided to find a new place here in Hong Kong but keep my place in San Francisco. ”Does it bother you that we’re gay?”

With a smile on his face Jason nonchalantly said, “Dada, I know what gay guys do. Just warn me and I will turn the video up loud or put plugs in my ears. I’ve been down that road with a guy or two. ”

“Were you careful?” Jim said anxiously.

“Yes, we were careful, both ways”

“Both ways! Too much information,” Jim responded.

Jim and I met an estate salesperson on Monday and described our requirements for a newer, bigger apartment. We wanted two bedrooms with privacy, a balcony and bathroom with room for two people at the same time. The following weekend we looked at three places all within walking distance of the tram up to the peak. The best one was in the same block as the spa that I found on my first trip to Hong Kong. Jason came along to give his opinion even though Jim was convinced that his mother would call and want him to come home. After two weeks she hadn’t called, Jim decided to enroll Jason in the Hong Kong — American School. Jason was bored and ready to go back to school.

Jim interviewed several Filipino maids who were sent over by the agency. Since it appeared that Jason was staying and we both were traveling someone had to be at home to cook and pick up after Jason. Jim rejected the initial group and called another agency, and scheduled three more applicants, two men and one woman. One man was older and grandfatherly, the woman didn’t show up and other man was nervous and fidgety. We invited the older man back and he was pleased when we told him he needed to live with us. He assured us he would not be in our way. He moved in that day with his minimal possessions.

The following Saturday Marcos took Jason to the market. Jim and I opened the FEDEX box which I had stashed in the closet. We looked carefully at the pictures that Lee so badly wanted. We sat in our underwear looking at Andrew sexually involved in every imaginable position. I picked up one picture and said, “Jim, this is you.” Jim took the picture from me.

“Yep, that is one of the pictures Andrew used to blackmail me. And you may find another one.” After a few more minutes he said, “Here I am again, but this time I am giving Andrew the business.”

“I didn’t know Andrew talked you into his line of work.”

“He didn’t but I needed some cash to pay for the divorce. I came out to my wife. I lost my job at Raytheon when they found out. Andrew approached me. I agreed to give it a try in a moment of weakness. That’s when I met Lee. I only did tricks twice. The work frightened me because the guys often had bodyguards around. Once I noticed one guy watching us while Lee was snapping the pictures ten feet away. Lee paid me well and begged me to do more. I refused and moved to San Francisco. Andrew was also getting fed up with Lee or the business. He and I moved in together for a few months and then he decided to move to Hong Kong. I didn’t hear from him much and only saw him one more time.”

On every picture we found a name, location and date. We compared the thirty-eight names to the list I found in Andrew’s safety deposit box. Everyone including Jim was on the list. Some men had as many as ten pictures; others only one or two. In a separate envelope we wrote the man’s name, the location and the date. We picked up the negatives but they were too difficult to differentiate. We kept them in the envelope they arrived in. I put everything in a satchel ready to go to the bank safety deposit box.

I stood up sweating since the balcony door was open. I placed the satchel on the top of the small refrigerator. I walked in front of Jim with my boxers tenting straight out. He smiled, “You ready for something? I am ready.” His significant Korean member could not be contained in his shorts. He slipped them down and stood in front of me. “Do you think you can take me in?”

“I don’t know. You are really large. Koreans are different from other Asians”

He smiled, “Some Koreans.”

“OK, let’s give it a try.” We walked to our bed and slid the partition separating the rooms closed. Jim loved the foreplay and I loved touching his silky skin which was the color of an overly ripe banana. His personal aroma was laced with the copious amounts of coconut body butter that he applied to his skin. We heard the front door open and then soft voices until the television drowned them out.

As Jim got on his knees over me I looked at his serious expression. “Smile, it is supposed to be fun.”

“I will to be careful. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I’ll stop you if I can’t take your monster. I don’t want a condom.”

“You trust me?”

“Yes, and I really want to feel you and I want you to feel me.”

He lifted my butt onto a pillow. Before entering he slid his index finger into my rectum with a circular movement to loosen me up. Both of us instinctively knew that we weren’t going to be in a hurry just because Marcos and Jason were in the other room. He pushed with his lubed dick head against my hole. His sizeable cock stretched me. I winced. “Too much?” I shook my head.

He popped in. “Ouch! Oh my god. Don’t stop.” He didn’t. Slowly and methodically he slid in and out. Sex with him was fantastic as his dick slipped over my prostate with every stroke. My flaccid dick had hardened which he grabbed and stroked in time with his own movement. He brought me to the peak in time with his own climax. Our moans at our joint climax had to give us away. We held each other kissing and rubbing each other. Jim said smiling, “I guess we should get cleaned up. Are we going to walk across the living room to the bathroom? Jason will know what we’ve been doing. You want to join me in our telephone booth shower.”

“First, I am sure he already knows what we have been doing. But father, knows best, I guess.”

We pranced across the room. Jason smiled, “Have fun. Sounded like it.”

“In fact, we did.” He said at his son’s dimpled, smiling face. Marcos looked at us from the kitchen sink wiping his hands on his towel apron. I could see no sign of condemnation. We had no secrets with the four of us living in close quarters.

Before Jim flew off to Seoul we moved into our new place. We could almost see into the courtyard of the spa. From our tiny balcony the south end of the harbor and the boat basin were visible. The basin was home of the famous Chinese Fortune Floating Restaurant. We bought Jason new twin beds and tried to convince Marcos that he should sleep in the other twin bed. He refused and insisted on sleeping on a thin futon on the kitchen floor. The new space was nice for us but more important for Jason who had a place to study. We moved our small television into his room and bought a new high definition flat screen for the living room.

Our pleasure was the privacy of our bedroom for conversation. We were comfortable being ourselves around Jason except when speaking about Lee. Marcos turned out to be a versatile chef rather than a cook. Jason got more comfortable seeing us being seen going from bathroom to bedroom with a towel thrown over our shoulders. We did things fathers do with sons like going to soccer games and field hockey matches. Jason had been a star on the JV baseball team at his California high school. Since there was no baseball team at his new school he was fascinated by cricket. He quickly learned the game and was selected for the senior team.

At work I was busy everyday with the Japanese contract, our regular business or Lee’s new venture. I collected data and prepared financial projections for a US style prospectus. Lee called from Sydney and gave me complicated instructions regarding preparation of financial plans for the new venture. I listened and told him I would work up some projections and e-mail them to him. Lee did not tell me where he was going to get the capitol to purchase the new video technology he was considering.

He wanted me to come to Australia as soon as the plans were completed. I told him it would be several weeks because I had to gather additional information on competitors before I was comfortable speculating on the market potential. He agreed and told me he had his new 70 foot Sulu II anchored in Port Douglas on the northeast coast of Australia.

“Do you have friends up there?” I questioned. “Sailing friends?”

“Yeah, plenty. I want you to meet them when you come over. Plan to stay a couple of days so we can work out the details of the venture and get some sailing in.” I was surprised because Lee rarely involved me in his personal life. Lee’s project took more time than I expected because Lee’s new product idea was so new it didn’t fit into a niche. I worked for two more weeks before Lee and I spoke again. I asked questions which he answered. The most important information I related to him was the fact that I calculated that we needed about one hundred million dollars in capital to do the deal. I suggested that Lee come back to Hong Kong for a face-to-face consultation. He agreed.

Our life at home was routine. Jim flew home from either Seoul or Taipei on Thursday evening or Friday morning. I was either with Jason at a school match or he and I would go to the gym. I was not lonely. One night after Marcos had fixed a wonderful dinner I sat in front of the computer screen looking at a message from Rob. The email announced: “We are coming over.” Further details were sketchy. I e-mailed back that I would let them know when they could come and I wrote: “What about school?” A day or two later the following e-mail arrived. I was mildly irritated when I read, “John, Michael and I have decided to fly over in October. We will visit you for a couple of weeks before we travel. Michael, particularly, wants to go to Thailand and Vietnam. I will wait to see if he really wants to return to the orphanage when the time comes. I think he may not be ready. My father OK’d my taking a semester off. We will let you know when we have more details, Rob”

I wrote Rob telling him we were looking forward to their visit but I had a research project for him. I emailed: “Rob, before you and Michael come over I want you to research the backgrounds of the thirty-eight men on Andrew’s list. I want to know age, marital status, current pictures of men and spouses, financial information and anything else interesting.” I listed the 38 names and each location from the backs of the pictures. I got an instant message that he would get working because they had their tickets for October 3.

I shared with Jim and Jason that we were going to have two visitors. Jason’s room had an extra bed so we’d bought a futon to slide under the twin bed for one of the boys to sleep on. Rob and Michael arrived on a Sunday and immediately became part of our lives. I worked as they saw the sights. They slept late after Jason went to school. They would meet Jason after school or watch his cricket match. Jason was fascinated by these two guys who acted like brothers but Rob is blond and buff and Michael is dark brown and wiry. Marcos kept order, cooked constantly and never seemed to finish doing laundry.

The Saturday morning after they arrived I walked naked across the living room to the bathroom knowing that Marcos was gone to a family affair. I found Rob sitting with his legs drawn under him on the sofa. He had the balcony door open and seemed to be off in a zone. He didn’t say anything immediately.

I startled him, “Still have those gray baggy boxers!”

He smiled, “This is what happened when I washed white and colored clothes together.” I cupped my hands in front of me. He smiled and said “Go pee. I want to tell you about my research.” I was back quickly.

“I will get some shorts, just a minute.”

“No need on my account. It’s hot and if you are comfortable so am I. You have nothing I haven’t seen plenty of times before.”

“Before you get started I heard voices coming from your bedroom. I thought I heard, ‘Yes, you have to and go slowly.’”

Rob looked at me, “And what is it you want to know?”

“Are Michael and Jason having sex?”

“Why do you think I am sitting here this early? Jason wanted to top and I didn’t want to. Michael was easy and prefers the receiving role.”

“Do you think Jason is gay?

“I don’t know. Right now he’s curious. They’ll be careful. We have been every time. Are you ready to listen to what I have to say or do you want to talk about teenage sex?” I sat next to him feeling his warm skin radiating. I was remembering our time on the Sulu. Without waiting he started, “First, four of the old guys are dead.” He read their names from a sheet of paper. “All on the list were multi-millionaires, if not billionaires except Jim and one other guy named Carl Bernstein. Both must have been Andrew’s early marks.” Jim handed me the information on the four deceased Andrew’s clients. He handed me pictures of four distinguished older men. Two were pictured alone and two were pictured in group shots with the victim circled. I placed the pictures on the table.

“Did you tell Michael that you were doing this?”

“Hell, yes. He did most of the research. He is incredible at finding stuff on the internet. I think he got into private files on some of these guys. Why are we doing this?

“Lee told me he wanted the pictures for insurance. I think these guys must have something to do with Lee’s new venture. I am speculating.”

“I know the grandkids of two of the men from Philadelphia. The dudes are complete assholes.” He continued, “You met Brisbane, Charnoff and Harold Huntingdon right?”

“Jim and I had lunch with them in San Francisco. I don’t know much about them except they are members of the Bohemia Club. I bet they are behind Jim getting beaten up.”

“Leave it to Michael but he found last year’s membership list of the Bohemia Club. Remember we asked Troy at the health club if he could get us a list.”

“And remember Carl, his cousin, did get us the list.”

Of the names you sent to me all are members of the Bohemia Club except Jim and Bernstein and two others. There are three current or former United States Senators on the list.”

“Whoa, this is a gold mine.” I moved closer to Rob so I could see what he had on his paper. He reached over and stroked arm.

“Your guy seeing any action?” He smiled.

“Jim and I get together when we’re together.”

“Oh, my god, you can take that thing?”

“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”

“Not me man, I’m a top.”

“Right, I heard about you being a top and bottom at the same time.”

“He told you about that. That shit-face.”

“Enough, back to business. Tell me more.”

“Yep, let me tell you what the group has in common rather than tell you about each one individually. I can into details later. That’s not what makes this list so interesting. In addition to Bohemia Club membership each of them is or was very rich which I said. Two men we couldn’t find so we assumed you copied the names down incorrectly. We couldn’t find anything tying them to the location you gave us. Anyway, including the senators all married rich women. In other words, they married into money. Fifteen have been divorced at least once. Here are pictures of the second wives. All look as if they have expensive tastes.

“Most of the men have executive positions in their wife’s families' businesses. Harold Huntington is interesting because when he and his wife married and he took her name. Michael and I worked for a week trying to untangle that. The Huntingdon Foundation has about $500 million in endowments supporting various charities in San Francisco. They make significant contributions to a halfway house for transgender people. I wonder if Harold has his own collection of ball gowns.

“There are a few like Brisbane who have titles like President and CEO of the Hartford Foundation. However, Brisbane really has done something with his first wife’s money. He married a woman named Spinelli whose family owned a chocolate factory in the Embarcadero. He took over the company and grew it and must have gotten the company in the divorce settlement. He owns the company outright and he owns a nationwide distribution network of confectionery products. His new wife looks like a movie star.

Jim wandered in and threw me a towel to sit on. He listened as Rob talked.

I stopped Rob, “Let me understand. All these guys have a lot of money or influence but most of it was bought with their first wife’s money. Is that what you are saying?”

“I am only speculating but it appears that somehow Lee or Andrew spotted guys who were vulnerable. The blackmailed guys probably feared that their wives would close the family piggy bank or their trophy wives would expose them. Andrew had them by the balls.”

“I wonder how Lee or Andrew spotted these guys.”

Rob said, “What I wonder is how Lee became a member of such a Waspish club? A Chinese guy, come on. I wonder if he was promised a sponsorship in lieu of a payment. How the fuck did Andrew get so much money?”

“There are still more questions than answers,” Jim softly volunteered. “John, could you make tea?” I got up and wrapped the towel around me just as rumpled Jason and Michael joined us in the living room with “We’re going on the harbor cruise.”

During our breakfast chatter Rob announced that he and Michael were leaving on Thursday for Bangkok. He asked, “Jim, can Jason come with us? He will only miss two days of school since he has next week off.”

“Dada, it would be good for me to see another country.”

Jim looking serious said “Rob, you’re the chaperone?”

“Yes, which means I would have to watch after two immature, irresponsible guys—a big responsibility. We have reservations in Phuket, too.”

“Don’t call me immature and irresponsible, you asshole. I am more responsible than you,” Michael whined.

“Whoa, asshole, you don’t know me that well,” Jason chimed in.

“OK, OK, you guys make your plans. I will just ride along.” There was silence.

Michael said, “No, you do that: I want to remain irresponsible.” Everyone laughed.

I said, “Where are you going to stay in Bangkok? Do you have reservations?”

“Not yet, we thought you might know some places.”

“I usually stay at the Shangri-La, I but that is more than you guys need to pay.” Turning to Jason Jim said, “Jason, I will let you go but I want you to be your own person. If Rob and Michael want to do something and you don’t want to, don’t do it. You understand me.”

Rob smarted, “And what would that be?”

“HIV-AIDs is completely out of control in Bangkok. In the boy bars you guys will draw the men like bees to honey.”

“I understand what you mean. We’ll be careful,”

“Jason, you must be back for school two weeks from tomorrow.”

After the boy’s conversation I sat puzzling at Rob’s information about Lee’s marks. I wondered if Lee’s venture had anything to do with these men. Two days after the boys left, Lee arrived in Hong Kong. That first evening Lee and I met for a massage at the spa. I had become a regular and love the Shiatsu massage that Ono gives me. I arrived first, undressed and was washing when Lee arrived. He relaxed as we entered the steamy environment of the tub room filled with men attended by lovely attendants. We tentatively entered the scorching water and neither of us spoke. Lee broke the silence, “John, you have been working for me more than four years, right.”

“Closer to three and a half.”

“You know that I am a good businessman. You have been loyal and have not questioned my judgment. The Bohemia Club incident being the exception. I ask that the same be true now. The plan I’ll share with you can go wrong a hundred different ways. By your calculation my venture will take ‘one hundred million dollars’ to accomplish, correct? I plan to buy a majority share in a Malaysian company that has an improved process for manufacturing flat screen monitors essential for high-definition televisions. The company is small but can control this market since neither Sony nor Mitsuishita have the manufacturing knowledge to make monitors so cheaply. It’s a high quality company but undercapitalized. I know the owners will sell the majority share.”

“You have already persuaded them to sell?”

“Let’s say right at this moment the major shareholder doesn’t know he wants to sell but two minority shareholders do. We have supplied their company chips and switches for some time. You would know the name of the company. If this deal happens I want you to be CFO of the new company. I’ll pay you $1 million Hong Kong dollars more than you make now and give you 100,000 stock options worth $7 each. I don’t want a Malaysian company. I want an American company. That’s why you have been preparing the US style prospectus. I want the new company on the NASDAQ as quickly as possible.”

“You can’t put a Malaysian company stock on Wall Street.”

He laughed as he pulled his handsome slick body up on the side of the pool. “I know but I’ll use the California shell — LK Electronic Enterprises for the American capitalization.”

“How do you plan to finance the deal?”

“I plan to have a special meeting in Australia and invite all my financial advisers—the men in Andrew’s pictures.” I didn’t speak. He continued. “You don’t have to say anything. I just want you to know what is going to happen. You can leave if you want to.”

“You haven’t asked but I do have the list and the pictures. Are all 38 guys your financial advisors? I mean 34 because four have died.”

“How do you know? I suspect you found their names at the Bohemia, right?”

“Some, but not all.”

“Can I have them as insurance for my deal?” He paused, “When Andrew left San Francisco for Hong Kong the business that Andrew and I had stopped. My escort business was growing and I didn’t need his constant complaining. That was about the time I got into the electronics component business. You know our sex business had residuals. I was never aggressive with collections. I gave most of the money to Andrew. I don’t know what he did with it.”

“You selected your targets well…Lee, you have been fair and up front with me. So many people have had, let’s say, bad experiences with you, including Jim who almost got killed.”

“I know I can be a shit. I probably still am. So what—I’m rich.”

“These guys in the pictures are rich, really rich. You think they will invest because of the pictures.”

“It’s a big deal for them to get the pictures, negatives and CD’s. And I am proposing a great deal. I want to make sure their individual investments are big enough. They hate me, I know. Brisbane told the ones he knows that I am the one behind the blackmail. They know each other from the Bohemia.”

“Why haven’t they killed you? Why did they turn on Jim?”

“That puzzled me, too. I think they got Jim confused with me even though Brisbane and Huntingdon had lunched with you and Jim just a couple of days before the incident at the Bohemia Club.”

“What about the foot prints in the snow the morning after Jim was attacked? I mean we followed two or three sets of foot prints away from your place.”

“That was the limo driver I ordered to take me back to San Francisco. We drove up in a car Jim had rented.”

“But he drove back with us.”

“That means the rental car must still be there,” he laughed.

I climbed out of the pool and one of the attendants draped a clean white towel around Lee’s shoulders. She gently starts rubbing his shoulders. With her arm swaying like a cattail she beckoned Lee to a paper walled enclosure for the massage.

As he followed his masseur into their private space, he smiled at me and said, “We’ll talk at your place.”

Two hours later we returned to our empty apartment. We had given Marcos the week off since he has been doing double duty with the boys. The sun was setting over the South China Sea. The junks and other freighter tenders were moving chaotically in every direction. Lee and I settled with drinks on our tiny balcony. He had a martini in his right hand as I held up my gin and tonic.

He looked out at the scene and said, “Well?”

“I have a counter proposition for you. I am grateful for your offer and I accept on two conditions. First, new company makes a ten million dollar contribution to Andrew’s foundation before the end of the first two years in operation. I want that in writing. And I want Jim to have a position as significant as mine.”

“Yes, I heard that you and Jim are together. I think he may kill me if we are ever in the same place.”

“You don’t know Jim very well He will be home shortly.” The door opened and Jim walked toward us. Without thought he kissed me on the lips and said. “Hello Lee.”

“Hi, Jim, I don’t know how you do it but your ability to get quality product out of Korea is amazing.”

“Lee working for you has had its ups and down. By the way, I will never forgive you for what happened at the Bohemia. I have pain in my leg where the scissors went in.”

Lee stood up and said, “Have to get going. Do we have a deal?”

To which I replied, “Do we have a deal? I say ‘yes’ if you say ‘yes’.”

“OK, OK we can talk more when I return from San Francisco.”

Lee returned two weeks later and we again met at the spa. When we were settled in the pool I asked, “How do you plan to unveil your plan to finance the deal.

Lee said, "I plan to unveil my venture at a meeting in Australia. You need to have Andrew’s pictures ready.”

Without smiling I said, “Yes, I will. I have negatives but no videos.”

“I understood from Andrew that there were some videos.”

“If there were I don’t have them. I found pictures in Andrew’s safety deposit box in Santa Barbara and at the Bohemia but the negatives were in England.”

“His grandmother’s, correct?”

“They were sent to Andrew after she passed away. She was probably not aware he was dead.”

“OK, when do I get the pictures?”

“What you are planning is extremely risky. I suspect you tried to pull this off at the Bohemia last winter, correct?”

“Everything fell apart when we ran into Brisbane.”

I was getting hot so I motioned for Ono. I asked her to get us robes and to set up tea for us. She brought soft robes and huddled close as Lee and I took our place inside one of the paper rooms. Candles were flickering and things were peaceful. After tea warm sake filled our cups and we raised them to recognize each other.

“Lee, do you mind telling me how this all began. I have such a hard time imagining Andrew getting into prostitution. I can see you as a pimp,” I said emotionlessly.

Lee looked directly at me and with steely eyes fixed started, “I was orphaned in Shanghai when I was a baby. Literally they found me in the baptismal font of a Catholic church in the neighborhood where my mother was an aspiring young actor during the Cultural Revolution. I think she was unmarried and got pregnant accidentally. A baby would have ended her career. The missionaries who raised me told me about my birth when I was older. They never told me who my mother was. I was raised by the nuns outside of Shanghai until I was ten or eleven. I was tired of the regimen so I ran away to the city. I was cute, outgoing and found myself making money carrying plaster or sucking cock. Soon I found out it was better to pimp than to suck. I was pimping girls twice my age until one night a guy said, ‘How about you?’”

Lee paused, “John, I am telling you this so you understand why I do what I do.”

“Lee, I am interested. Go on. But why tell me?”

“John, you have been loyal, you have done what I asked and haven’t ask too many questions. You are honest unlike most Asians. You never cheat. Those were important values I learned from the nuns. Also, I quickly learned English and French while I was with the nuns. John, you have never treated me as a second class person because I don’t have a family or home. You respect me as your boss.”

When he paused I said, “I know how you and Andrew met but how did you and he get into this extortion business.”

“It wasn’t originally extortion. I was providing an escort service that these men wanted. Andrew was a good looking white American who needed money and I knew how he could get it. You’re getting ahead of the story.”

I didn’t say any more, “In my late teenage I was handsome—much more so than now. One night in Shanghai an American businessman was at a bar I was cruising. I paid off the doorman to let me come in. Chinese boys were not supposed to be allowed in. If the police found out I could have gone to jail and the owner would have been closed down. The American was alone and I went up to him and spoke to him in French. He brushed me off so I persisted with ‘How are you tonight?’ He replied, ‘Not so well. Run along.’ I didn’t. I just stood there not knowing quite what to do.

“He looked at me with very blood-shot sad eyes and said, ‘Would you have dinner with me?’ I nodded but knew security guards would never let me into his hotel’s restaurant. I suggested a nice place that I knew. He was rumpled and had his tie pulled down and his collar open. I believe my speaking English gave him some comfort. I asked him if he wanted me to get him a girl. I remember his beautiful smile when he said, ‘I am not that type.’ We had dinner and he invited me to have dinner the next night. We didn’t do anything else. The second night he asked me if he could hire me as his interpreter. I told him I would get in trouble because I did not the proper papers to be an interpreter.

He said, ‘Well, just walk with me and don’t say anything. Tell me later if what the official interpreter tells me is really what is being said.’ He bought me new clothes.

I did as he asked and tagged along which was not unusual in Shanghai at that time. From the first day I couldn’t believe the collusion between the official interpreter and the Chinese businessmen. That night over dinner I told him what was really said. I saved his company thousands of dollars as he became more savvy to their ways.

“While he was in Shanghai I became familiar to the hotel staff who allowed me to accompany him to his room. One evening before dinner he was undressing and I saw his bushy chest which to me with no hair was beautiful. I went over and petted him like you would pet a dog. He laughed and pulled me close to him. Well, that led to sex that night and all the nights until he left. I was surprised that the sex did not change our relationship. He went away after about three weeks. When Ralph left he told the hotel concierge that I was a good aid and could help other English speakers. I saw him slip the guy a wad of money.

“I got regular business from the hotel. About three months later he let me know that he was returning with business associates. He letter read as if he was my father telling me to do this and that. It was a funny letter which I still have. I arranged for boys and girls for his business associates. About a year later he told me he wanted me to find out what it would take to get out of China and into the USA. About the same time I was introduced to the owner of the best escort agency in Shanghai. I began modeling and was used in several major advertising campaigns.

“The biggest success was my underwear ads. I would get stopped on the street for my autograph. That was my fifteen minutes of fame,” He laughed. “The underwear company got the government’s permission to do a photo shoot in Australia. I was selected as a model. That gave me a way to get out of China. I wrote to Ralph and told him about the trip. He told me when I was in Sydney to go to the American Consulate, ask for asylum and tell them I had a sponsor. He promised me he would have all the appropriate papers waiting. After a week of haggling with the photographer whose career would be over if he went home with one less model I stayed behind in Sydney. I waited around for about two weeks before flying to San Francisco. Ralph got me into the Thacker School and I was able to graduate in two years.

I interjected, “Did you know Andrew at Thacker?”

“No, I didn’t know him. He was younger than me. I met him at Berkeley.”

“I know the Berkeley part of the story. But when did the two of you go into business?”

“That was somewhat of an accident. After the fraternity ‘hell week’ that I am sure Andrew told you about. He was abused by the brothers because they knew he was gay. They were mean. You know how sensitive he was anyway. He blew off the job he had lined up and completely broke down. I took him camping up on the Russian River and we both decompressed. When we were floating in the river we cooked up the idea of the escort service. He needed money and I needed handsome talent.”

Lee abruptly stopped and slid close to me. The alcohol was having an effect on him. He put his arm over my shoulder and says, “I did not kill Andrew. I did not have Andrew killed. If you want revenge, those who killed him, if anyone did, will be in Australia with us. Believe me there are plenty of people who are happy he is dead. I’m not one of them.”

I put Lee in a taxi. I returned to our apartment to find Rob, Michael and Jason sleeping soundly in the king size bed in our bedroom with all the lights on and the television on but blank. I walked out on the balcony staring into the night sky thinking about what Lee said. The deal was worth $200 million US plus and control of one of the fastest growing technologies in the world. If Lee’s plan blows up, we’ll probably be dead.”

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