Red Dragons

by K W Frost

  When his mission was complete, Child removed part of the Jake’s Aerial Services sign from the side of the van so that it just read Services. Child then added some telecom signage.

  Now fully prepared, Child moved onto phase two of the operation. In the van, he checked that he was receiving a signal from the transmitters.

  Child pulled up to the house at the end of the street where Snake lived. Getting out of the van, he approached the exposed grey cylinder of a telecom connection. Squatting down low, he removed the cylinder. Two young boys came walking past; they paused for a moment, watching him work. They soon decided that what Child was doing was boring, and they continued along to the next house.

  Child placed a small mirror down by his shoe and manoeuvred it to create a clear view of the front of Snake’s house. Next, he put the earplug in and dialed Snake’s home number.

  ‘Gidday Snake, old buddy. How are you feeling after last night?’

  Child smiled as he imagined Snake’s confusion.

  ‘Who’s this?’

  ‘Oh, come on, Snake, you spent half the night chasing me — surely you haven’t forgotten me already?’ continued Child. ‘By the way, how’s the arm? You know you were lucky — I was aiming for your throat. Maybe next time I’ll be better balanced so my aim is more accurate.’

  ‘What… what do you want?’ Snake snarled down the line.

  ‘You know what I want… or didn’t you get my message last night?’ Child replied with a chuckle. ‘I left it with that big oaf… let’s see, what was his name… Manu! That’s it. Is he all right? Did he get over his hang up?’

  ‘Piss off, you don’t scare me,’ Snake spat.

  ‘If you’re not scared, Snake old boy, then you should be.’

  Child’s light tone of voice had changed into one that all school students recognised when things got serious.

  ‘Come on, I’ve got you now,’ Child continued. ‘How do you think I got this telephone number?’

  Child paused to let his comment sink in, mentally picturing the rooms inside Snake’s house.

  ‘Have you done those dishes left in the sink yet, Snake? Also, your blue couch really doesn’t match your brown wallpaper. You should mow your lawns too… although would that mean having to move the big black beast you’ve got sitting out front. I was really tempted to run a big scratch down the side, or dent a few panels, but I didn’t — this time.’

  The rapid-fire detail got to Snake. In the small mirror, Child saw Snake run out of the house to check the car. He was still holding his cellphone in his good hand, his left swinging loosely, after refusing to have it put into a sling.

  ‘I told you, Snake, I didn’t touch it this time. Now go back inside and I’ll tell you what I want from you.’

  Snake stood on the side of road, his eyes frantically searching up and down the road for Child.

  ‘Go back inside, Snake,’ Child ordered, his voice raised, commanding attention. The two boys playing outside the neighbouring house heard Child’s tone and swiftly turned and went inside.

  Snake ran back inside and slammed the cellphone down. He grabbed his car keys and headed out to the front again.

  Meanwhile, Child quickly packed the gear away. He was still bent over the junction box as Snake roared past in the Commodore. Child was invisible to Snake by his very obviousness. He knew where Snake was going and didn’t need to follow. He also knew that getting the rest of the gang hierarchy off balance would be no easy task. The only option was to keep pushing.

  Child drove the now nameless van to a dairy close to where the Black Power headquarters was situated. Child sat in the front seat eating a jelly tip ice cream and listened to the activated bugs in the headquarters. He listened as Snake gave a garbled explanation to Jake. Child waited for the questions to start before he rang Jake’s cell phone.

  ‘Yeah, Jake here.’

  ‘Hi Jake. I presume our little friend Snake has reported to you by now,’ Child said quickly, wanting to hold Jake’s attention. ‘I’ll deal with him later, but right now I want to deal with you.’

  ‘With me?’

  ‘Well, Jake… your boys hunted me last night. Now, I did some damage in return, and on reflection I don’t want a war. So, I thought we could cut a deal.’

  ‘Yeah, what sort of deal?’

  Through the bugs, Child heard Jake order a couple of guys out to check the street to see if anyone was out there.

  ‘I know that you have the crack, and it must be worth millions on the street. I want a share — $100,000 dollars, in cash.’

  ‘Why should we give you anything? You have no proof and I’m not worried about the police.’

  ‘Couple of reasons, really,’ Child explained, calmly. ‘I could go to the police, which could make it awkward for you to sell it on the market, but also I happen to know where your bake lab is, where your home is, where you are now, that garage that you guys are financing, and addresses of several of the brothers.’

  Half truths mixed in with the truth. Jake believed it all.

  ‘Now, I’m on my own but it wouldn’t take much to get a couple of friends to toss a few sticks of gel through some windows. All I’m asking for is a small percentage of your profit, and then I’ll be very quiet and disappear.’

  Child paused for a moment to give Jake time to take in this information.

  ‘Quit mucking around, Jake. Do we deal or do we have a war? As a couple of the brothers found out last night, going to war with me could be very costly.’

  Jake didn’t get to the position he was in by being stupid.

  ‘Okay, we deal,’ Jake agreed.

  ‘Good. You have an hour to get the money together. Also, as a matter of trust in each other, I also want to see the cocaine. I wouldn’t want to be charging the wrong people, now would I? Be good and I’ll disappear, and then you’ll never have to hear from me again. I’ll call back to let you know where to deliver it.’

  Child disconnected the call, but kept the tape recorder going and listened closely to the bugs. It didn’t take long before he heard Jake speak again.

  Mike, you and Benny round up the boys, I want four pairs ready for a rumble in an hour… the rest of you can clear out here… silence!

  Wolfman, we have a problem. The guy from last night has turned up…

  No, we haven’t got him…

  He wants 100,000 dollars, in cash, in one hour… in exchange for his silence...

  Of course, I wasn’t going to bloody pay! He has cost us too much already to let it pass, but he’s a tricky bastard and I want to have it just in case…

  Okay, I’ll do that… forty minutes…

  Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll make sure we get the bastard this time.

  Child stopped the download. He still didn’t have the name he wanted, but he knew who did now. He would have to use phase three of the operation after all.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Air New Zealand flight 346 from Japan, via Brisbane, arrived in Auckland at 10.30am. By the time Kioki, who had flown first class, had cleared customs, it was a half hour later.

  He had no problems getting the spare component board into the country. It was disguised as part of a laptop, which Kioki had carried in his briefcase. The laptop worked perfectly if he was required to demonstrate its use. Whittingham had sent his chauffeur to collect Kioki, but he didn’t come along in person due to a previous business commitment.

  Driving back towards inner city Auckland, Whittingham’s chauffeur, a thin, middle-aged man with a distinctly English accent, introduced himself to Kioki.

  ‘Sir, my name is Charles. Mr Whittingham sends his apologies that he wasn’t here to collect you himself. He was unavoidably detained. He wishes to invite you to stay at his home in St Heliers, which is where we are presently headed.’

  ‘Charles, you can give Whittingham my compliments, however, I have a reservation at the Regent. That is where I wish to be taken.’

  ‘Certainly, sir.’

  ‘You tell Whit
tingham that I’ll see him in my rooms at 2pm. No excuses for lateness will be tolerated. Make sure Whittingham understands.’

  Kioki was insulted by Whittingham not meeting him at the airport, and was determined to gain control over him right from the start. He lapsed into silence for the rest of the journey.

  Samantha was dressed in the smart business suit she had bought that morning. It showed just enough cleavage and leg to distract most colleagues: men trying to see more, and women with a touch of envy.

  Samantha had a list of four possible suspects. So far, she had eliminated only one. When investigating the first suspect, the story that Samantha gave about being a reporter doing initial groundwork for an article on top administrators wasn’t questioned by anyone. Mr Robson, a director at a top insurance firm, had been forthcoming and talkative about his conquests.

  Unfortunately, he was a short, balding man well into his forties, and showed the effects of too many business lunches and drinks. It appeared as though the most strenuous physical activity he did was pushing the buttons on his remote. He was soon eliminated from the list of suspects.

  The second suspect on the list refused to see Samantha in person when she called in, as he had important meetings all day. The receptionist told Samantha that if she wished to make a formal appointment, he would only be too happy to talk to her then.

  Samantha still had a question mark over this man, as he could be out of the office while recovering from injury.

  Instead, she decided to focus in on the third suspect on the list. She headed along a busy Queen Street on her way to visit the third suspect, who she knew drove a large American car.

  The grass had lost its dew and the air smelt clean and fresh as Child sat on the side of the mountain in the midday sun. Auckland was a city built on extinct volcanoes, and six of these were still prominent features of the skyline. From Child’s viewing point he could see three volcanoes, with the sprawling mass of central Auckland spread out behind him. He had made his preparations and was ready as he was ever going to be. It was time he called Jake.

  ‘Jake, got the money?’ demanded Child.

  ‘Yeah,’ replied Jake, not sounding too happy.

  ‘Cheer up, man, it’s only money. You’re still going to still make a huge profit from this deal,’ said Child, keeping the conversation light. ‘Now, place the money in an old sports bag. Also, I want you bring the crack cocaine with you, and I don’t want any pet cops turning up. You might be able explain the money, but not that amount of crack. Is Snake still around?’

  ‘Yeah, he’s here,’ muttered Jake.

  ‘Good, bring him along. In fact, come in that black Commodore of his. Just you and him — otherwise the deal is off and I get nasty,’ Child said. ‘Go to the top of Mount Wellington. You have fifteen minutes. I’ll be waiting.’

  Child looked over to the next mountain, without really seeing it, hoping he was capable of doing what was necessary in the next hour. It was what he had trained for. This might be his only chance to put it into practice.

  Child waited for the full fifteen minutes before he called again. Jake answered after the first ring.

  ‘Jake, where are you?’

  ‘We’re half way up the mount,’ Jake replied quickly, ‘we’ll be there in five minutes.’

  Jake’s men were getting in place, covering all the possible exits.

  ‘I’ve changed my mind,’ Child interjected. ‘I’ll meet you up on the top of One Tree Hill. You have ten minutes, move it.’

  ‘Blast it, don’t piss around…’

  ‘Ten minutes.’

  Child disconnected the call.

  He knew Jake was making urgent calls to his gang members and getting them up to speed on the new meeting spot. Again, it was an easy enough place to cover all the road exits.

  Ten minutes later, Child made his next call.

  ‘Jake — you on the top of One Tree Hill yet?’

  ‘Yeah, I’m here. Where the hell are you?’

  ‘I still don’t trust you, Jake, so I want you to go stand up by the monument. Look towards the harbour bridge and wave your arms.’

  ‘Wave my arms about…’ Jake muttered sounding irritated. ‘Why?’

  ‘So I can see them and know you’re alone,’ explained Child. ‘Go on — wave! I’m watching. You have ten seconds.’

  Child watched with his compact,

  but powerful binoculars. He already had them focused and saw the movement near the monument clearly.

  ‘Good, Jake, I can see you. Now, go to the top of Mount Eden and stand on the highest point. I want to see you clearly. You have ten minutes.’

  Child hoped that he had created the right impression: Mount Eden wasn’t the final stop. Mount Eden was not a logical place for the meeting, with its single lane loop road going up and around the steep mountain. Its entry and exit roads lay within yards of each other, and it was a dead end for any vehicle. The last three hundred metres were a short stretch of two-lane road, and the large car park up at the viewpoint was a frequent stop for tourist buses.

  Child remained hidden from the road and moved into position, which provided a good view of the traffic going up Mount Eden. He wore small pack on his back, and a belt bag around his waist. An hour previously, Child had purchased a wheelbarrow and rake from a second-hand store. Now, he pushed these along the exit road, glancing around as he went. Stopping to rake the leaves off the road, Child didn’t have long to wait before he heard the Harley-Davidsons, favoured by the motorcycle gangs. Two bikes swung up the one-way road and slowly chugged their way around the mountain to the top. Child correctly guessed that these would wait where the uphill and downhill roads joined.

  Two more bikers arrived. They stopped only thirty metres from where Child was working, allowing a clear view of both the entry and exit from the top of the mountain. Minutes later, another four bikers arrived and stopped at the bottom of the hill. Lastly, Jake and Snake arrived in the black Commodore, roaring up the road towards the top of the hill.

  Child glanced down at his watch: they had two minutes.

  He turned and walked slowly up the downhill road. Child took out his cellphone and made the call.

  ‘Jake, you at the top of Mount Eden yet?’

  Child knew that he would be.

  ‘Yeah, I’m here. Now stop pissing me around — do we have a deal or not?’

  ‘You’re right, we’ve got to meet sometime, and it’s time we did now. In five minutes, I’ll be on the front steps of the museum. You have seven minutes. Park the car and bring the bag with you.’

  Child hoped he was convincing. He would soon know.

  Child continued up the hill. Just as he was reaching a small turn in the road, he heard the roar of bikes from below, which quickly receded. Child was nearly run over as two bikers swooped down the hill, and following them barely thirty metres behind came the black Commodore. Deliberately, Child dodged away from the bikes, and seemingly pushed the wheelbarrow out onto the road by accident. Snake hit the breaks and slowed down to miss the wheelbarrow. Child reached down and grabbed the two round balls lying in the wheelbarrow, where he had placed them earlier. Picking them up, he then threw them hard into the ground in front of the slowing car.

  Both exploded on impact with a flash of light and a cloud of blue smoke. Snake, half blinded, jammed on his brakes again to bring the car to a standstill.

  Child acted immediately, throwing the miniature flash grenades. He had closed his eyes so that the initial flash didn’t blind him. Child then appeared out of the smoke, opened the back-seat car door and jumped in. He reached forward and pulled back Jake’s long, greasy black hair before placing a stiletto knife to his neck, almost before the car had stopped.

  ‘Right, Snake, drive… drive, damn it!’ Child yelled, as Snake was slow to react from the first demand.

  In a state of shock, Snake slammed the car into gear and tore off with smoking tyres down the hill.

  ‘Jake, you stay very still or you’ll have
this knife up jammed into your brain,’ muttered Child.

  Child let Jake feel the cool blade of the knife pushing against the skin just below his ear. As the car drove down the hill, Snake followed the road to where the bikes had recently passed.

  ‘Turn left at the bottom of the hill. Follow my instructions and you’ll be alright — anything silly and you’ll get hurt,’ Child commanded.

  He pushed on the knife in slightly, piercing the skin on Jake’s neck.

  ‘Tell him, Jake,’ Child pushed on. There was nothing light about Child’s voice now. It was a voice that was utterly convincing. A voice to be obeyed.

  ‘Do it, Snake,’ muttered Jake. ‘Let’s just follow instructions.’

  Jakes voice only showed a slight tremor. He was a hard man, and he had killed before, but he wasn’t used to having a weapon at his head. Jake was just over six feet tall but his once muscular body was beginning to go to seed. Jake had plenty of street smarts as he ran his chapter of the Black Power mob with a firm, controlling hand.

  Snake turned the hard left and continued down the hill.

  ‘Right, Snake you can slow down now,’ commanded Child. ‘Drive with both hands on the wheel. Anything dumb from you and Jake gets it. Drive and park in the Mount Eden jail car park — it seems an appropriate place for you two.’

  Easing his grip on Jake’s hair but keeping the knife firmly in place, Child unzipped his belt bag and took out a thin plastic loop.

  ‘Now, Jake, move your right hand behind you towards me, slowly.’

  Jake slowly slid his right hand back between the seats. When Jake’s hand was still, Child slipped the thin plastic tie over the thumb and pulled it tight.

  ‘Now bring your left hand back towards me.’

  Child had pre-tied two of the thin plastic loops together, and once he had slipped the second loop over the left thumb and pulled them tight, the only way to remove them was to cut the loops. The more they were pulled they tighter they got, and with the car seat as a support Child had effectively restrained Jake.