To this day, I could still hear my father’s booming voice loud and clear. “Abby, you’re a Kane and you’re Irish. Those two things mean you don’t take shit from anyone. If I hear of this nonsense, I’ll be the one that shits on you.” Maybe it didn’t sound like it, but he meant well.
I shoveled a few more mouthfuls of food into my face before pouring myself a cup of tea. I had two hours to kill before heading to the address where Po Po was being held. I decided the best thing I could do was not to stress too much about it. Instead, I devoted all my attention to the kids.
Lucy showed me two Chinese dolls she had handcrafted. I was actually surprised by the amount of detail in the outfits. Ryan produced a notebook filled with illustrations he made of the sea life that flourished in the harbor. Both kids talked over each other in their excitement. I sat back with a smile on my face and basked in the glow of my family.
Chapter 56
I arrived at 219 Cheung Sha Wan Road a little before nine. It had been years since I had been to that part of town. It was far enough away from the popular flea market that occupied the four blocks next to the Sham Shui Po MRT stop that tourists would never find their way that far in. Locals only.
Most of the block consisted of residential buildings stacked next to each other like Lego bricks with storefronts occupying the ground floor. The facade of each building was made up of the butts of portable air conditioners and casement windows with an intricate web of jerry-rigged clotheslines covered with drying laundry.
A few rats darted across my path; aside from that, I walked alone as the shops were closed for the day. The building I was looking for didn’t have a name, but that didn’t matter. Two Triads appeared from the shadows and greeted me quietly just outside the single-door entrance. They motioned for me to raise my arms and gave me a thorough pat-down. Convinced I had no weapons or a wire attached to my body, they escorted me inside.
The elevator probably held four people max. The two men stood directly behind me, so I never got a solid look at their faces. They had the typical build of a Chinese male: skinny and about five foot seven. They were dressed in designer jeans and trendy button-down shirts. The smell of cologne permeated the metal container we rode in.
We exited on the seventh floor and walked down a narrow hallway flooded with brutal fluorescent lighting. We passed a few doors marked with the services provided by the women who lived behind them. The studio apartments in this building were known as walk-ups. Essentially a man could walk up to any door and look at what was being offered. If the woman was busy, there would be a sign to say when to come back; if not, the lady would answer the door, and a physical inspection could be made. Organized prostitution in Hong Kong was illegal, but a woman working for herself wasn’t. So there were walk-ups in almost every district.
We took the stairs up two floors, so I wasn’t clear on whether the floor in between was part of Jack’s headquarters. At the top of the stairwell was a small foyer housing a steel door guarded by two men. They were expecting us, as one of my escorts had called ahead on his cell phone. I noticed surveillance cameras recording our movements.
On the other side of the door, I was greeted by a plush, open space lit by warm floor lamps direct from Ikea. Antique chairs and tables fashioned from teak wood made up a sitting area off to the left of the room, along with a fully stocked bar equipped with a granite counter and four tall chairs. The entire right side of the room was adorned with tinted floor-to-ceiling windows, allowing me a view of all of Kowloon. I could see Hong Kong Island sparkling in the far distance. Chinese paintings and vases completed the décor.
We continued straight ahead toward double doors fashioned out of some sort of dark wood. The doors opened to a forty-by-forty-foot room. There were no windows, but carefully positioned candles on iron stands provided lighting. Traditional Chinese artwork consisting of landscapes and characters were painted on paper scrolls that hung on the wall. There was a floor table on the opposite side of the room and an array of colorful, silk sitting pillows surrounded it. Sitting with his arm resting on a leg bent at the knee and the other leg tucked underneath him was Jack Woo. He smiled at me as he rested his body weight on his left palm.
“Welcome Agent Kane. Please have a seat,” he said, motioning to a pillow. Jack dismissed the two men before grabbing hold of a teapot and filling a small cup. “It’s oolong tea. Tieguanyin, to be exact. I was told it’s your favorite.”
I sat cross-legged two pillows away from him and took a sip.
We were quiet for a few moments, staring at each other while slurping our tea. Jack’s hair had gone completely gray since I last saw him, but he had aged gracefully. Still very much easy on the eyes, and he kept his physic fit. Not bad for someone his age. I had first encountered him when I was a newbie out of the academy. Over the years, I watched him beat our every attempt to prosecute him. Eyewitnesses would amazingly recant what they said or saw. In some cases, they would disappear, never to be seen again.
Throughout that time, I had gotten to know Jack fairly well, thanks to my work in organized crime. Our relationship grew over the years. I watched him climb the ranks as he watched me do the same. Eventually, we cultivated a relationship. I never fully trusted the guy, but I realized working with him instead of against him was a better approach to keeping the violence in the city to a minimum.
His brother, Tony, the Dragon Head at the time, was a loose cannon. No one in the department had a relationship with him, but through Jack, we were able to somewhat manage him. In the end, it was in both parties’ interests to work together. By the time I left the department, Jack had risen to Deputy, the second-highest position in the Wo Shing Wo. Now he was the Dragon Head, overseeing the largest Triad faction in Hong Kong.
I cleared my throat. “Surely you didn’t ask me all the way over here to sample your tea.”
“No, I didn’t.” He placed his cup on the table. “We should discuss the business at hand.”
“Where is she?”
“She’ll be here shortly. You should know I’m aware that you didn’t come alone as I had instructed.”
“Leslie would have never allowed it. We have thirty minutes before she and her team advance. So if I were you, I’d put a clamp on the unnecessary small talk we still seem to be having and tell me what the hell is going on here.”
“This is all a big misunderstanding. I didn’t kidnap Ethel. As I said earlier, we had some things we needed to discuss.”
It had already become clear to me that Po Po didn’t appear to be in any sort of immediate danger. She was simply being held at Jack’s penthouse.
“I’m really losing my patience with your ambiguous talk. So let’s start with the obvious question. Why did your men steal those skeletons from the coroner’s office? And don’t deny it like your underling Jo did. We have Fai Wu on video surveillance forcing Dr. Fang into the building and then leaving with the bones inside duffle bags. Are you responsible for putting those two bodies in the building? Is this a way to keep the identity of the bodies quiet? Are you responsible for the murder of my husband?”
A smile formed on Jack’s face. “I knew the conversation would eventually steer to Peng’s death, but I didn’t expect it so soon,” he said. “I can tell you in all honesty, neither I, nor my men are responsible for your husband’s death. You have my word. But you should already know this because you investigated us years ago and found no connection.”
“How can I believe you after all that has been revealed? My husband developed a building that contained two bodies embedded in the walls. We now have video footage of your men stealing those remains from the city morgue.”
“Abby, you and I go back a long way,” he said, motioning with the hand. “We’ve always had a high level of respect for each other. Although you are no longer with HKP, I still consider you a friend. And I hope you also feel the same.”
“We’ve already identified one of the bodies as Rong Yee, Peng’s brother.”
“Yes
, I’m aware of it. It’s a shame. But I do commend HKP on identifying Rong’s body. I understand the FBI is lending their help.”
The fact that Jack new the FBI was involved didn’t come as too much of a surprise since I had already learned earlier from the attack at Fang’s office that someone on the inside was feeding information to the Triads. “You seem to know a lot about something you claim is just a big misunderstanding. I’m guessing your concerns are with the identity of the other skeleton. That’s the big secret isn’t it—the reason for all of this?” I asked, gesturing broadly. “Does Po Po know who that skeleton is? Is that why you kidnapped her? Did you threaten her to keep her from revealing that information?”
“That is no concern of yours, nor of the HKP’s.”
“A dead body is of no concern to law enforcement?” I asked, crinkling my brow in exaggerated confusion.
“I assure you this person was not an innocent victim. This is Triad business, and that’s all you need to know. So please convey this to Inspector Choi and tell her to stop her investigation.”
“I can’t make Leslie do anything. I’m no longer her boss.”
“But you have sway. This is in everyone’s best interest.”
Just then, the door behind Jack opened, and Po Po entered the room.
Chapter 57
I jumped to my feet and met Po Po with open arms. “I’m so happy to see you,” I whispered into her ear as I hugged her. I stepped back and looked her over. “Are you okay?”
She patted me on the arm. “I okay.”
I believed her. She didn’t seem to be experiencing any physical trauma or even to be bothered by the situation. Jack had spoken the truth. Po Po showed no signs of a victim held against her will.
She calmly sat on a pillow next to me and proceeded to pour herself a cup of tea. I looked at both Jack and Po Po, and there seemed to be absolutely no animosity between the two. They even gave each other nod of acknowledgment. What the hell?
Jack stood. “I’ve known Ethel for a long time. She’s a good woman. You’re lucky to have her in your life.” With that said, he exited the room through the same door Po Po had entered, leaving us alone and me to pick my jaw up off the floor.
Po Po sipped her tea slowly and watched me as I stared at her, gathering my thoughts. I didn’t know where to start. I had a million question queuing in my brain, all of them vying to be the first one asked.
“Please tell me he was joking about you two knowing each other.” I said, figuring that revelation shocked me the most. Po Po and Jack were roughly the same age, so theoretically they could have known each other for a long time, but still I found the idea that they were acquaintances hard to swallow. I had spent a large part of my career keeping that man in line, someone who was apparently friends with my mother-in-law all along.
“I know him long time,” she finally said. “I met Jack when Liu and I work at cabaret club. We were young. We wanted attention.”
She said at the time she had no knowledge of Jack’s gang involvement, but men were constantly acknowledging him with head bows and bottles of whiskey. Some sent pretty women over to his table to entertain him. The Wo Shing Wo hadn’t existed back then, but I was sure he associated with some gang organization. It appeared that even in his twenties, Jack was destined to rise.
“One night he ask me to sit at his table,” Po Po said. “But I only sit if Liu sit.”
Jack had agreed to her requirement, and the club’s manger didn’t say a single word when the two newly hired cocktail waitresses left their duties to drink champagne and nibble on French chocolates with Jack. She said he was a perfect gentleman and was very pleasant to both of them all night. They had joined Jack at his table for the next three nights.
“It was exciting. We had fun. Everybody in the club treated us special when we were with him.”
I didn’t blame her. Po Po was barely twenty at the time. All this attention from someone as handsome and powerful as Jack would make any young lady swoon.
After her third night of sitting at Jack’s table, Po Po said, he had asked her to go on a weekend getaway with him. He had business in Shanghai and wanted her to accompany him. I couldn’t believe my ears. Jack Woo courted Po Po?
I finally broke my silence. “I’m guessing you went, right?”
She nodded. “Sure,” she said. “He take me shopping, we eat at nice restaurants, and we stay in very nice hotel.”
I quickly did the math. She would have traveled to Shanghai in the ’60s, during its cultural revolution. The Asian-Pacific War had long ended, and the city transformed into a financial and cultural hub of China. So far, I bought the story. I motioned for her to continue.
Upon their return to Hong Kong, Po Po said, she stopped working at the club and so did Liu. One of the conditions Po Po required to be Jack’s girlfriend was that he not only take care of her but her best friend as well. He secured a large two-bedroom apartment for them to share and gave them each a generous monthly allowance. It was a whirlwind romance for the next six months.
I expected the next words out of her mouth to be that it ended. Men like Jack rotate women in and out of their lives with a high degree of frequency. Oh, how wrong I was.
“I get pregnant,” Po Po said, avoiding my eyes.
Po Po had hit me with the one thing I could have never fathomed. “Wait. Rong, Peng’s older brother, is Jack’s son?”
She nodded. “Now you know why he not the one to kill Rong,” she said, placing her teacup on the table.
“What happened after you told him? Did he break off the relationship?”
“No. We stay together.” She looked at me calmly. “After Rong born. I pregnant again.”
Ka-boom! The mother of all bombs had dropped. Po Po’s words sparked a series of connections in my mind. Jack is Peng’s father, which makes him Ryan and Lucy’s grandfather, which means the man I had been tasked with putting away as an inspector with HKP was…family.
I must have fainted because the next thing I knew I woke lying flat on my back with Po Po poking me in the arm.
“You okay?” she asked.
I sat up, still reeling from the news. As hard as it was to accept, I knew this story wasn’t something she had spun for my amusement. There, of course, was one more major connection forming in my head. If Jack Woo was indeed Peng’s biological father, then he had been speaking the truth when he told me the Wo Shing Wo was not responsible for Peng’s murder.
Po Po must have known what I was thinking. “Jack not kill Peng or Rong. He would not hurt his sons. This I believe.”
She told me that shortly after Peng was born, Jack wanted to end the relationship but not for obvious reasons. He wanted to shield her and his two sons from the life he lived. He told her it would be better if he stayed away.
“So he just left you alone with two young children to care for?”
“He gave me money.”
“Well, obviously it was a pittance because you raised Peng and Rong in public housing. You said you never had any money. That is the truth, isn’t it? Don’t tell me you fabricated living in the Shek Kip Mei housing complex in a small room with another family?”
“No, that was the truth. I did it because I hurt and want to forget about Jack. I keep the money he send me every month. I only use a little bit. I also don’t want Peng and Rong to know about him.”
“So they had no idea?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t talk to Jack for twenty years. We only spoke when Peng was killed. I ask him if he did it. He say no but he will try to find out who.”
“And did he?”
“He never say.”
“What happened to the money he gave you?”
“In the bank. I keep it for Rong and Peng, but now I keep for Ryan and Lucy.”
“Exactly how much money are we talking about here?” I prodded.
She shrugged. “A few million dollars. Maybe ten. Not sure. Jack give me money every month until Rong and Peng turn eighteen.”<
br />
My head felt like a top spinning endlessly as I worked to comprehend the situation. “Did Liu know about all this? I mean, I realize she knew you were dating Jack.”
“She know about everything.”
Just then, Jack came back into the room. “It’s nearly twenty minutes. Don’t forget about your watchdog.”
I glanced at my watch. I had lost track of time. “Come on, Po Po. Let’s go.” I stood and helped her to her feet. “We can continue this conversation later. Do you have any belongings here that you need to retrieve?”
She shook her head before looking at Jack and giving him a slight head nod.
“Abby,” Jack said, reaching out and stopping me, “I’m sorry about everything. I’m sure what you’ve learned tonight, is a lot to comprehend. But I need to ask you once again. Do we have an agreement on the other body? Will you leave it alone?”
“Jack, I… Look, I’ll call off the FBI, but I can’t speak for Leslie. She’ll be privy to what I learned here tonight but you have to give it time to sink in. That’s all I can say right now.”
Of course, I wouldn’t inform House until I knew whether the DNA profiles Fang provided matched any in the CODIS. If we didn’t get a hit, I would have ended the Bureau’s involvement anyway.
He nodded. “I trust the right outcome for all parties involved will prevail,” he said, his expression void of any emotion.
Even though there were times during my talk with Po Po where she had made me look at Jack differently, like a decent human being, I knew he was still the same violent and ruthless man I had always known him to be. His last words were nothing more than a veiled threat.
I collected my cell phone from the man who had confiscated it earlier and quickly sent Leslie a text that Po Po and I were okay and coming out. We weren’t hurt, but the truth was, it felt like things had gotten worse.
Chapter 58
The same two men who had escorted me up to Jack’s penthouse saw that Po Po and I made our way out without any unnecessary detours. Even with so much more to discuss, I kept my mouth shut. No need to continue our conversation in front of Jack’s men. I had to assume they both understood English, as most everyone in Hong Kong had a grasp of the language to some degree. Once outside, we found Leslie standing alone on the footpath in front of her SUV.
Kowloon Bay (Abby Kane FBI Thriller Book 3) Page 18
