Project Moses - A Mystery Thriller (Enzo Lee Mystery-Thriller Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

on the top two floors that curved outward along the entire width of the building, protruding like an edge of a double-layer cake. He walked up the staircase on the side of the house, unlocked the door on the right and went up another flight of stairs to his flat.
    At the top of the stairs, an orange and white cat greeted him by rubbing against his legs, forcing Lee to do a quick stutter step to avoid tripping.
    “Hi, Max,” said Lee. “I hope your day was better than mine.”
    Lee stood at the doorway leading to the small kitchen and tossed his keys on the table. They hit with a bang, despite the cushion of overdue bills, junk mail and the morning editions of the New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle spread out on the table top.
    He walked over to the living room which faced the street. Lee stood with his hands on his hips, staring down at the nearby Italian espresso cafes. Beyond them, across Columbus Avenue, he could see most of the way down Grant with its profusion of restaurant and store signs, mostly colored in red and yellow and carrying Chinese characters next to the English words. He had rented the flat for its location and because of the inlaid hardwood floors and elaborate Victorian molding in the double-parlor living room and dining room. He liked where he lived, close enough to see Chinatown but not in the middle of it.
    Lee’s usual routine was to visit his grandmother in her rest home. He tried to go at least twice a week. But, the thought of spending the next hour in the rest home depressed him.
    “Screw it,” Lee thought. “I’ll go tomorrow.” He would call and have the staff at the home tell his grandmother to expect him the next day.
    Lee went back to the kitchen, bent down to rub Max’s head, which was positioned over a bowl of cat food, and pulled an icy bottle of Stolichnaya vodka out of the freezer compartment of the refrigerator. He poured the clear, syrupy liquid into a short water glass, sliced a lime in half and squeezed the juice from both halves into the glass.
    He sat in his favorite reading chair positioned for the view in front of the bay window and set the glass on the side table. Lee mulled over his quandary.
    Not very long ago, he had been a different type of reporter. He had specialized in investigating corrupt politicians and finding the secrets that corporations tried to hide. He was one of the best at it in New York.
    Then, his aggressive style of reporting backfired. He trusted a source who had a separate agenda. By the time Lee figured out he had been played, he had blundered into professional quicksand. His newspaper had to issue an embarrassing retraction. Lee’s editors deserted him and he came close to losing his job at Newsday.
    The move to San Francisco and the feature beat had been a salve to that time. It was a means of starting over, a way to stay in the news business that almost seemed like part of his DNA at this point. Now he was free of the high expectations – his own and his editors’ – of breaking the big story. He didn’t need to worry about being pressured into making another costly mistake.
    But the events of the last two days had awakened the old instincts. He could sense in the shadows beyond his reach not just a puzzle to solve but something dangerous, too. Of course it worried him that he didn’t understand the danger. And, it brought back the not-so-distant memories of the low point in his career. But, he couldn’t deny that he was feeling the old adrenaline rush - a reignited fire in his gut that he hadn’t realized how much he missed until now.
    Lee swished the Stoly and lime mixture around in the glass and took a sip. The first one produced a burning sensation as it flowed down his throat. The second sip didn’t burn at all.

Chapter 6
    MASTER CHU HELD the position of the ascending dragon for an absurdly long time, his left leg held up in the air, his arms extended forward with palms out. With his weight balanced on his right leg,