Golden Buddha (Oregon Files 1)

“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 planned.”

“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 Inner Port Road was making any progress.

“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.

“All dark on the western front,” King said as he scanned the ground through the pale green light of a night scope.

“Anyone moving?” Hanley asked.

King swept across the grounds, then down the hillside.