They roared through the now almost deserted streets without further incident. On his guard now, Savage had the little needle gun in his hand when they stopped in front of the hotel. The doorman stepped forward and pulled open the door. He looked into the car and his hand flashed into his uniform. Savage fired.
The gun made no sound, but the doorman gave a choking gasp and fell into the car.
"Quick, sir, pull him all the way in," Savage heard the chauffeur whisper. "There were no witnesses. I'll take care of him."
Without stopping to think Savage followed the chauffeur's advice and dragged the heavy weight into the car while the chauffeur alighted and came around to help him. Finally they closed the door on the body and, still without witnesses, the chauffeur drove it away.
In his suite, Savage found Loong waiting.
"Good morning," Loong smiled. "How did everything go?"
"Just fine," Savage replied. "Not only do I have no friends, I have some active enemies."
"You were attacked?" Loong asked calmly.
"Twice," Savage said. "You don't seem very surprised."
"I rather expected it, but you seem to have survived. What happened?"