by Don Easton
Jack sighed and looked directly into her eyes. “Does your family really believe you are a maid in a hotel?” he asked, skeptically.
Jade’s face darkened. She replied, “Other girls send money home. Some peoples talks. Maybe my family say they think I in hotel ...” She stopped talking and burst out crying. Between gasps of air she said, “They no believe that—but they still take money I send.”
The sound of her crying brought hurried footsteps down the hall. A fist pounded on the door and a Cuóng yelled in Vietnamese.
Jack put his hand behind his back and rested it on the 9mm tucked in his belt.
Jade yelled something in Vietnamese and Jack heard Cuóng laugh and walk away.
“What did you just say?” he asked.
“I tell Cuóng you want me pretend to cry because you are too big inside me. Okay?”
Jack took a moment to take a deep breath and said, “Okay.”
“My family ... know,” continued Jade. “They know I am whore. They never take me back—but they buy house ... so that is good for me to give to brothers and sisters.”
“I’ll figure out a way to get you out of here,” said Jack. “Just give me a little time.”
“No. I need send more money home,” said Jade.
“Jade, you are smart. Think about it. You need to get out of here.”
“No. Too late. I am already a whore. If I go now—I am still a whore. Only a whore with no money and my family die.”
“You’re not ...” Jack paused when he saw that Jade had made up her mind. “Damn it ... do you have access to a phone?”
Jade nodded and said, “Sometimes I pick up lunch for people and bring here. Sometimes I go get laundry for beds.”
“I’ll give you my cellphone and home phone numbers. If you need help, call me. There are other ways to make money.”
“Not so much as this,” said Jade.
“This is costing you too much,” said Jack.
“Fruit now rotten,” said Jade. “Can never fix now.”
“You’re wrong. Think about my offer. If you want out, I will do it in such a manner that nobody will know.”
“How?”
“Do you want out now?”
Jade paused, and shook her head.
“When you do, I’ll figure out a way. You work for me and soon Dúc and the two men in the picture will be arrested. Then for sure I will get you out of here safely. Is it a deal?”
Jade sighed and said, “Yes ... I deal.”
“In the meantime, if something happens, or if the Russians show up, let me know.”
“Okay.” Jade looked at the clock on the wall and said, “Only five minute more. You pay for me ... you want?” she asked hesitantly.
“No!” exclaimed Jack in frustration. “I’m here to help you, not to fuck you.”
Jade threw her arms around Jack’s neck and kissed him on the cheek. He was startled and grabbed her arms to fling her off.
Damn it! Doesn’t she understand why I’m here?
He heard her sob and knew that she did. He felt guilty that he had misinterpreted.
It was dark and Linh and her fellow passengers were allowed on deck for a chance to walk and breathe in some fresh air. Linh felt the ship shudder and a sense of dread overtook everyone as the ship’s engines slowed. The sound of worried voices arose from different clusters of women around the deck.
Dread was soon replaced by excitement as the message spread like the ripples from a rock being tossed in a pond.
We are slowing down on purpose so that tomorrow night it will be dark when we enter Canadian water!
chapter sixteen
“How did it go?” asked Laura as soon as Jack returned to the car.
“You were gone long enough,” said Pasquali. “Hope you didn’t get cold feet and stiffen up in there.”
Jack ignored the comment and said, “I met one of the working girls. She talked.”
Jack relayed everything Jade had told him, including the Russians being in Hanoi.
“Where to from here?” asked Laura, her mind still sickened by what she had just heard.
“I’m going after Giang,” said Jack, bitterly.
“How?” asked Pasquali.
“UC. First, I’ll gain his trust on a coke deal. Then play it up that Laura and I are opening a massage parlour. Not here, Dúc wouldn’t want the competition. I’ll tell him it’s in Edmonton and we’re looking for Asian girls because they’re popular. I’ll ask him if he knows anyone or someone who would want girls to work the circuit for a little variety.”
“Hoping he will lead you to Dúc,” said Pasquali.
“Who might introduce us to the Russians,” finished Laura. “It might work.”
Jack looked at Pasquali and asked, “You once told me that Giang hangs out at either Lucky Lucy’s Bar and Grill, Billiard Bill’s, or what was that restaurant?”
“The Mekong Palace,” said Pasquali, “But it’s closed now. I have to tell you ... Giang isn’t too susceptible to a UC. We just tried. Giang wouldn’t even talk to our operators.”
“A couple of weeks ago you told me Giang wasn’t all that important,” said Jack. “Not worth the price of a bottle of olives for my martinis. What’s changed?”
“The assholes, Giang’s boys, put the Mekong Palace out of business. The owner was a nice old guy. Worked hard all his life to get his own business, now it’s gone.”
“What happened?” asked Jack.
“Xuân, being the sweet fourteen-year-old kid that he is, went in there a couple of weeks ago with some of his buddies. He demanded two hundred and fifty dollars of protection money. The owner refused so the gang terrorized the place and threatened to kill everyone inside.”
“These are kids?” asked Laura.
Pasquali nodded and said, “Xuân, at fourteen, led the bunch. They held a filleting knife to an employee’s throat while they robbed the cash register. Xuân shouted, you play with God; from now on you have to pay five hundred! He made a waitress kneel on the floor and fired a round from a semi-auto handgun into the floor beside her. The floor was concrete so the bullet fragmented and went everywhere. When they left, they told the owner that if he called the police they would return and kill everyone.”
“What happened?” asked Laura.
“The owner called us. We scooped up Xuân and he’s being held. I searched his bedroom myself. The walls were covered with cut-out pictures of guns. Unfortunately for the Mekong Palace, most of the employees quit and customers are now afraid to go there. The owner is trying to sell, but the word is out and nobody is even looking at the place.”
“Was Giang involved?” asked Jack.
“The protection money thing would be right up his alley, but nothing we could prove.”
“I want Giang,” said Jack angrily.
“So do we. As a result of the Mekong Palace we had the narcs do a UC and try to buy coke from him. No luck. Since Xuân got busted Giang is even more paranoid, and if you think Xuân is bad, Giang is even scarier. Wild mood swings. He’ll be laughing one second and then go into a rage and slash your throat the next. You know what he did to your CI. He’s not the type you can just approach on your own. Our guys had a snitch do an intro and he still wouldn’t deal with them.”
“Then I’ll get him to approach me,” said Jack. “Do you know what Giang drives?”
“A new Pontiac GTO sports car. Red. Why?”
“Let’s take a drive and see if we can find him,” said Jack.
“You got the money on you to buy a kilo of coke?” asked Pasquali. “Giang doesn’t deal in the small stuff.”
Jack shook his head and said, “Our boss doesn’t want us to work on him so we don’t have any budget.”
“Our department can’t afford this. Sorry. How the hell can you even approach him?”
“As I said, I’ll get him to approach me,” replied Jack. He looked at Laura and asked, “Do you mind giving our narcs a call? See if any operators are working tonigh
t that could spare half an hour to help me?”
“You need an operator?” asked Laura. “What am I? Chopped liver?”
“Far from it,” replied Jack. “If this works, you’ll be needed in Act Three.”
Jack explained his plan as they drove over to Billiard Bill’s. The red GTO was not around so they drove back to Vancouver and headed past The Asian Touch and arrived at Lucky Lucy’s Bar and Grill farther down the street. They saw the red GTO parked nearby.
Laura learned that a trained undercover operative from Drug Section by the name of Sammy was available.
“Jack, don’t do this,” pleaded Pasquali. “They’re violent. Knives guaranteed and someone is always packing a piece. They’ll slice and dice your ass and feed your body to the rats. I mean that.”
“I’ll be in and out before you know it,” said Jack, while taking off his gun and holster and passing it to Laura. He next gave her his police identification.
“Think about this!” snapped Pasquali. “Nailing a pair of Russians for bringing in hookers isn’t worth the risk. We’d be lucky if they each got two years in jail.”
“I just met one of the hookers,” said Jack. “It’s worth it to me.”
Jack carried a small backpack in one hand as he shoved the door open into Lucky Lucy’s. He dropped the backpack on the floor and stumbled as he picked it up before gawking around as his eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room.
Giang, along with about twenty of his cronies, sat at tables near the only pool table. There were no other customers and everyone except Jack was Asian. The only woman in the place worked behind the bar.
The silence that descended and the glares he received would normally have caused any sober man to turn around and head back out the door.
“Hooray!” yelled Jack, looking at them. “Men! Not lying, forgetful broads who don’t remember to treat a guy like how he should be treated!”
Jack turned to the barmaid and yelled, “It’s my birthday today! I’m buying a drink for every man in this place! Make mine a gin martini.” He paused to regain his balance and said, “Aw, okay sweetie. You’re doing the work ... you can have a drink, too.”
Jack tossed a wad of cash on the bar and said, “If it ain’t enough, let me know. If it’s too much, keep the change.”
He turned to the group of men and shouted, “Sorry guys, I’m not cheap, but I can only stay for one.” He paused and said, “What the hell, I bet you guys don’t even speak English.” He made a motion to drink and said, “Birthday!” and gestured with his thumb at his chest.
By a few of the amused looks and a couple of smiles from the men, Jack knew that he was at least temporarily welcome. He sat in a chair at a table that was one table away from where Giang sat and placed the backpack at his feet.
Act One, successfully completed, mused Jack.
Giang’s suspicions were aroused seconds later when he heard Jack use his cellphone.
“Sammy! I’m at a place called Lucky Lucy’s. Twelve-hundred block on Kingsway. You have twenty minutes or I’m gone. No more jerking around. Now or never!”
Giang studied Jack carefully. He only appeared to be drunk when he came in. He forgot to sound drunk when he made the call.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw Giang whisper to a couple of the men. Their smiles disappeared and one of them reached inside his jacket, but Giang shook his head and whispered to him again.
Twenty minutes went by and Giang watched as the newcomer slurred his voice and carried on a one-sided friendly banter with those who were enjoying their free drinks. Then the next newcomer strode in.
“Hey, Sammy, over here!” commanded Jack.
To Giang, it was obvious that the man playing the drunken fool was not drunk. Perhaps a fool, though?
Sammy approached and stood squinting down at Jack as his eyes focused. “You got it?” he asked.
Jack picked up the backpack from off the floor and it landed with a thud as he dropped it on the table in front of him. “You seen it before. It’s all here. Now where’s the stuff?”
Sammy gave a pertinent little grin and unzipped his jacket.
“You’re looking a little thin these days,” said Jack. “I’d say you’re down about a kilo from what you should be.”
“You got that right,” snarled Sammy, pulling his jacket back slightly to expose the handle of a pistol shoved in his belt. “Hand it over and keep your hands where I can see ’em!”
The reaction from the men sitting at the tables was instant. Several reached inside their own jackets and in other men’s hands, knife blades appeared and were held ready under the tables.
“Sammy, take a look around,” said Jack coolly. “Have you met my friends?”
Sammy glanced at the men sitting around Jack, as if seeing them for the first time.
“Jesus!” Sammy yelled before bolting out the exit.
Jack was already on his cellphone. “Laura! It ain’t snowin’ tonight. Sammy was gonna rip me. I told you he was no good! See ya back at the apartment.”
Jack grabbed his backpack and was two steps away from the table when Giang shouted a command in Vietnamese.
Several men immediately grabbed Jack by the arms and shoved him back into his chair.
“You’re not going anywhere,” said Giang.
“Oh shit,” said Jack. “You do speak English!” He paused as he felt the sharp edge of a knife prodding his Adam’s apple toward the back of his throat.
Jack looked up at the circle of men standing around him. “Okay guys, take it easy,” he said, realizing that the nervousness in his voice was real. “Stupid thing for me to do. Let me go. I’ll just walk out of here and leave the backpack behind.”
Giang bent over so his face was close enough for Jack to smell the fish sauce on his breath. Giang sneered and said, “Maybe you will walk out—first, let me see what present you have decided to give me.”
Giang picked up the backpack and smiled as he opened the zipper. He looked inside and his smile vaporized. His jaw clenched and the tendons rippled on his neck as he reached inside.
The man holding the knife jerked slightly and Jack felt the abrasion on his throat as Giang slammed the phone book down on the table.
chapter seventeen
“I don’t like it,” said Pasquali, staring at his watch. “Two minutes and counting.”
“Nobody has come flying out through a window,” said Laura. “That’s a good sign.”
“Laura, you copy?” asked Sammy.
Laura thumbed the mike and said, “Go ahead.”
“No activity out back. Quiet as a tomb.”
Great choice of words, Sammy ... you jerk. “It’s quiet out front, too,” radioed Laura. “Just keep the alley covered. We’ll give him another three minutes. If I haven’t heard from him by then, I’ll go in for a look.”
“Damn it, he could be chop suey by then,” muttered Pasquali. “I should have uniform walk through.”
Laura shook her head and said, “How often does that happen? If everything is okay, that could burn him.”
“If everything is okay, why hasn’t he called?” responded Pasquali.
Laura didn’t reply as she stared at her own watch. Oh, man ... I hate this!
Jack looked at Giang and pointed to the phone book and said, “Keep it. You never know when you might need to call someone.”
Giang stared at Jack incredulously for a moment and started laughing.
Pasquali’s words came back to haunt Jack. He’ll be laughing one second and go into a rage and slash your throat the next second.
“What you just did ... that is funny,” said Giang. “You are smart, using us like that.”
“Glad you have a sense of humour,” replied Jack. “I’ll buy you all another round on my way out.”
“No,” replied Giang. “You just used us. I don’t like being used.”
“My apologies.”
“Perhaps you can make that up to me.”
“What do you have i
n mind?”
“I will buy you a drink ... for your birthday. And then we will talk.” He gave a command in Vietnamese and the man with the knife returned to his own table.
Jack looked nervously at the men around him.
“It is okay,” said Giang. “We will talk in private ... up near the bar. Don’t forget your phone book.”
“You can have it,” said Jack.
“I don’t need it. If I need to reach out and touch someone, I use them,” he snickered, gesturing to the men with his thumb.
“Think I could use another martini,” replied Jack. “A double, if you don’t mind.”
“My men scare you?” said Giang. “A double ... yes,” he said, giving a shrill laugh.
“Also better phone my girl,” said Jack. “Let her know I’ll be late. Don’t want her to freak out and think Sammy came back.”
An hour later, Jack joined Laura and Pasquali back in the car.
“Went well,” said Jack. “Giang wants to sell me a key of coke. I told him I was too rattled after what happened tonight to do anything. We agreed to talk in a day or two. I told him I was starting a business in Edmonton. I said that one more dope deal would mean I wouldn’t need a mortgage.”
“Wasn’t he pissed off over the Sammy thing?” asked Pasquali.
“He was irked to start with, but ...”
“Irked?” said Pasquali. He had too much experience investigating gangs to know that irked was not a strong enough description for the likes of men like Giang.
“Okay, it was a little tense, like you said it would be,” admitted Jack. “But, like I said, he’s greedy ... and that won out. Actually, when he calmed down he decided it was funny.”
“Nothing about Giang is funny,” said Pasquali. He looked at Jack closer and added, “I don’t recall seeing that you cut yourself shaving this morning?”
Jack gently rubbed the abrasion on his throat and said, “Okay, he was really pissed off, but he’s okay now.”
“Damn it, I tried to warn you,” said Pasquali.
“You’re just upset that you’re going to have to fork out some money for a jar of olives,” said Jack. “Everything is okay.”
