The Dragon Within His Shadow

by Phyllis M. Rumore

  Tang didn’t like James and James didn’t like Tang. They had an argument after the Greek incident and the virulence between them stood to this day. It was so long ago that he had forgotten why they were angry, but he remembered the gist of it, the part he couldn’t tell his mother. He had tried to give Tang an order. Tang had put him back in his place, expertly, quickly, and succinctly. Even though the exchange of words were private, he felt the vibrations for months afterward by the mere sideways glance of Tang’s penetrating eyes.

  James got off the Great Highway and found a spot to park. He got out of the car and started wandering along the trails. Flowers had begun to bloom and the trees were full of leaves bending softly in the wind, which calmed him. He felt weighed down by events and was trying to chill out. He tried to relax and not think but that was impossible. As soon as he’d clear one thought, another would pop into his mind. He felt baffled by his uncertainty, which others were picking up. As a result, his rival’s position was strengthening in San Francisco. He refused to see Charlie for who he really was, even though the evidence was plainly there. There was also Kai. He didn’t like the guy’s pushy, backhanded nature, but always passed it off as a personality conflict. Was there more to him that he should worry about?

  Chapter Fifty

  Tang walked into the new office back at the Choi apartment with a feeling of satisfaction over the results of his night work. He stood respectfully in the doorway, waiting for George to finish his phone call and invite him inside.

  “Yes, Tang.”

  “Our earlier problem has been resolved.”

  “But not eliminated?”

  “If you want Richard- -”

  “No. Let us see how he weathers the storm and what he’s willing to pay,” said George.

  “Yes sir.” Tang was confused as to the reasoning behind this, for as far he was concerned any traitor deserved only one thing, death. “Is there anything else, Mr. Choi?”

  “Yes, Tang. There’s one other thing. John’s going back to San Francisco.” George noticed Tang’s blank expression. “I want you to take a plane later the same day and keep an eye on things there for me. Follow, but don’t interfere with John and James. I want a full, detailed report.”

  “Uh, George?” Tang wasn’t fond of spying on the Choi sons.

  “I need to know Tang, report the truth.” George raised the volume on his TV. He didn’t congratulate Tang as that wasn’t called for and he didn’t praise him either, because that wouldn’t be responsible. He merely acknowledged that he knew what was done and that Tang had earned back a small measure of the face lost when the attack took place. Concerning James and John, he needed to know which son held the key to his future. Tang knew without being told that was the case. By showing this trust, he showed Tang he was forgiven for his failure.

  George allowed a smile of satisfaction to light his face, once Tang had left the room. Richard had been dealt two additional blows. That made the count three, he thought. His daughter countering Richard’s activity at the office was the first. The deaths of Richard’s two hired men were the second count. The destruction of his drug business was the third. Just two more to go, he thought, for the total of five. Five strikes to stand for the five thunderbolts that each man knows is the punishment for disobedience. Break a society’s oath and the punishment is usually death. For Richard, thought George, his death would be as slow, painful, and humiliating as he could make it, assuring a total loss of face. Some fourteen or fifteen oaths were violated and for such disrespect, he would have Richard’s total destruction, along with the destruction of his entire family line.

  “The price will be very high, Richard. I cannot kill you outright, but I’ll destroy you.” George stared into the monitor at Richard shuffling papers with the malevolence of an angry scorpion and like a scorpion; he was not one to forget the injustice done upon him by a sworn brother.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Xie-Li walked into Richard’s room and saw him hunched over a stack of paper rubbing his forehead. “Let’s go, Richard,” said Xie-Li.

  “Go where?” Richard looked up at Xie-Li and didn’t like the look on the man’s face.

  “According to the police, you are needed cross town and I’m going to take you there. Guys, tell Tang I’ll be back in a few hours.”

  “I see.” Richard looked at the door held open for him and wondered if he would ever walk this way again. “I don’t suppose I have a choice, do I?”

  “No, Richard, you don’t. Let’s go.”

  “I see,” Richard rose slowly from his chair. He closed his eyes for a brief second as he took a deep breath to steady himself, before turning and following Xie-Li through the apartment. It was a short walk to the apartment door and an even shorter elevator ride but he felt as if it was taking an eternity.

  Richard smoked heavily while Xie-Li drove the car pass the Jade Market under the Gascoigne Road overpass, before going down a side street. They stopped abruptly when they came across four police cars blocking the road. Richard’s face registered shock as he realized they were going to his warehouse. How did they learn about this place, he wondered. He tried to argue with the police officer, who upon figuring out who he was, ordered him out of the car. Numbly, he got out. For the briefest of moments, he thought he might be able to walk into the crowd and get away. Xie-Li, however, had haphazardly parked the car and was standing behind him, while the police officer tried to move him forward. He barely heard the officer telling him that he had to speak with the Inspector in charge. Xie-Li followed closely behind him.

  Richard’s apprehensiveness increased. To his horror, he saw several of his people were under arrest. The doors to his warehouse were thrown wide open and police were examining everything within sight. Richard’s most private and up to this moment, most secure location had been violated. What money he had obtained, he had used to seed his son’s respective business ventures; hence, what he had left was concentrated in this one building. Even though he owned other real estate, this was the only piece that wasn’t rented. He turned, took notice of the crowd and saw off to one side his son Eric standing by quietly, watching. Eric nodded his head toward him in acknowledgment. He nodded in return, sorrowfully. Xie-Li caught the exchange and made a mental note to check out Eric later.

  Richard was prodded by an officer and when he turned, he saw Thourson. “I thought your territory was Peak and Central, Thourson.”

  “Good Morning, Richard, this way please.” Inspector Thourson ignored Richard’s attitude. He finally had the bugger and was determined to make sure he couldn’t squirm out of this predicament.

  “What is it Inspector?”

  “Murder and drugs Richard.”

  Richard didn’t appreciate Inspector Thourson calling him by his first name. He preferred more formality between himself and others in general, and with police, specifically. But he wasn’t going to argue the point, until he knew what had occurred. “Murder? Murder Inspector? Did one of my employees- -”

  “We don’t know yet, Richard. This way, please.” Thourson saw Xie-Li. “Ah Xie-Li, if you please. I believe this officer has the papers that Tang said were missing from the Choi complex, wont you please go with him?”

  “Thank you Inspector, but I was told to accompany Richard.”

  “That won’t be necessary, Xie-Li. We’ll make sure he’s escorted back to Central.”

  “Very good Inspector, I’ll see you later, Richard.” Xie-Li walked off with the officer.

  Thourson led Richard into the innermost recesses of his warehouse. One of the women who worked for Richard was sitting on a creaky, old, wooden folding chair, crying, while two police officers stood over her. There were police everywhere, getting into everything, opening each and every box. “What do you manufacture here, Richard?”

  “Nothing,” Richard’s eyes darted in all directions as the realization that he was ruined struck a cord within him. His legs started shaking, as did his hands and entire body.

  “
Nothing? Then, what do you do here?”

  “We’re an importer/exporter. We help businesses overseas import raw materials into Hong Kong. After processing, they bring the goods here and we export to whichever country the order is to be sent.”

  “A facilitator of sorts,” Thourson smiled, smugly.

  “I suppose you could say that Inspector.”

  “And you never alter the contents of these um boxes, Richard?”

  “Alter? We package the goods in the larger boxes in order to ship them.”

  “This is an interesting item, Richard.” Thourson lifted a porcelain doll from one of the boxes near where he was standing. “Do you know what we found in these boxes, with these pretty dolls, Richard?”

  “No Inspector, but I’m sure you are about to tell me.”

  “Drugs.”

  “Really? How interesting Inspector. Perhaps you can tell me how they got there?”

  “We don’t know yet Richard, but I’m sure you are involved.”

  “Inspector really! Me? Why? Because I own this building? You, yourself, know that I’m seldom here. I might own the building, but - -”

  “But what? You’re working steadily every day, very hard for Choi, over in the office tower on Hong Kong. Richard, I know you’re involved and I’ll prove it,” he said as he ‘accidentally’ dropped the porcelain doll, which in shattering on the hard floor, revealed it secret treasure. “Hmmm. Thai Sticks and the others had heroin. No telling what surprises we’ll find here. Officer, mark this as evidence.” Thourson indicated toward the floor as a rookie officer who was very young rushed over. “It came from this case and be sure to check everything. This way, Richard.”

  Richard’s face drained of color and looked even paler than normal. To his dismay, a bead of sweat dripped down his face.

  “Inspector,” said Xie-Li who approached with an officer.

  “Yes, Xie-Li,” said Thourson.

  “The papers this officer showed me are the missing papers from Mr. Choi.”

  “Thank you, Xie-Li. Officer, please help him fill out the paperwork so the Choi’s can retrieve their property later.”

  “Yes, Inspector. This way please,” said the officer as he led Xie-Li back outside.

  Thourson and Richard continued walking between the stacks of boxes to the rear of the warehouse. Thourson was amazed that Richard showed a lack of curiosity about the papers. Finally they reach the area where numerous police officers where huddling about making notes. There was an opened box and a police photographer leaning over it, photographing the contents. They had to be very cautious in order to avoid a large pool of blood that had accumulated around the box. Inside were Fong and Ming who both had their wrists and throats slit. In Ming’s case, the knife was still embedded in his chest. The sight was sickening to Richard.

  “Do you recognize him, Richard?” Inspector Thourson waited a mere second and in that second, he saw the expression on Richard’s face display betrayal. “You should. His name was Fong and he worked for you. The other is someone we don’t know. Do you, Richard?”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “And you don’t know why they were killed. Do you?”

  “No. No, I don’t.”

  “When was the last time you saw Fong alive? When was the last time you were here?”

  Richard turned away. He didn’t want to look at the bodies, but his eyes were drawn to the carnage. He received the message very clearly. They knew, George and Tang knew. How he could recover from the precarious ledge upon which he found himself, he wondered. Would this be a sufficient price to pay, or was more to be expected? What of his sons? Was there danger for them, too? He looked to Inspector Thourson with a blank expression, hoping the man would offer him a way to escape. He needed to sit down a moment.

  “How are you sure it's Fong? The face has been- -” but Richard couldn’t continue. The cutting was so severe that facial features were hard to determine and sickly to look at.

  The message was clear and stemmed directly from the thirty-six oaths, each person takes upon initiation into the organization. How did it go, Richard questioned himself. He couldn’t remember the exact words of all thirty-six oaths but he remembered the conditions. As a member, he must never endanger, hurt, betray or steal from any of his brothers. To do so meant death by a myriad of swords. Innumerable, infinite, endless were all synonyms for the word myriad. The fact that they were left in his warehouse to be found said that he was known to have hired Ming and that he did it through Fong. Damn Tang and all his generations, thought Richard with venom.

  “Richard? Richard?”

  Inspector Thourson was calling his name, but he barely heard the man. When he finally turned to look at Thourson he tried to put on a face that he thought would convey he was dumbfounded by all he saw but it was useless. When Thourson looked at him, he saw guilt.

  “Richard? Are you all right, Richard? This is a shock to you, isn’t it? You’ve never seen it this bad, have you?”

  “No. I’ve never seen such a death before,” he said haltingly, which was the truth. In the all the deaths Richard had caused, they were simple affairs done with one bullet mostly, a few more may have taken several, but they were clean deaths, swift deaths. The deaths of these two men were meant to scare him and death surely scared him now. He could feel his heart pounding heavily in his chest. It was getting hard to breathe.

  “Are you saying you didn’t cause this,” Thourson pointed angrily, to the box. “And, that these drugs are not yours, Richard? Do you really expect me to believe this?”

  “Inspector, I assure you I didn’t have anything to do with their dea- -” but he couldn’t bring himself to say even the word. He felt like he wanted to be sick.

  “What of the drugs, Richard? You’re not involved with these drugs?”

  “No, I’m not. They’re not mine.”

  “Funny then that it was your prints which were are on the knives we found. We’ll see Richard, whether or not you are telling the truth.”

  “I’m telling you the truth, Inspector. We merely repackage the goods, to be shipped. We don’t manufacture anything here. Look for yourself. There is nothing here that we could even use to open up all these dolls, stuff them with drugs and then reseal them. Nothing.”

  “I’m not convinced Richard. I know you’re the cause of all of this and I intend to prove it! Officer, take Mr. Cheng and escort him to our office for further questioning.”

  “Yes, Inspector.” An officer promptly stood by Richard’s side.

  Richard allowed himself to be lead away and when he exited his building, he looked up and saw Tang standing across the street with a smirk on his face. He couldn’t say anything and wouldn’t, until he had time to consider all the angles.

  Eric too saw Tang, but when he saw the police leading his father away, figured it was time to leave and left. He was neither happy nor unhappy with his father’s disgrace.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  James spent hours in the park thinking, trying to figure out how he could best survive. He didn’t like the lesson his father’s injury taught, but he saw its value. He felt like talking to someone, but that was clearly another problem, and lesson. He knew how to relate to the guys as the leader, but how to relate as a friend, well that posed a problem. He needed, wanted to turn to Charlie his oldest friend, but could he still be trusted, he wondered.

  He had asked Charlie to stay with them for a few days, until he could get settled on his own again. The case against Charlie had been dropped by the police primarily because of lack of evidence, but mainly because McDermott was found dead, with evidence indicating he was a dirty cop ready to make a run. The guys didn’t want to accept him back and thought he was foolish to let a possible traitor stay under his own roof. Things weren’t much better with his business. Some customers never said anything, they just went shopping elsewhere, but there were some who were brash enough to tell him that it was because he was connected with the gang. His support from some of the c
aptains and lieutenants had been ebbing away as well. His life was a mess and he didn’t know where to turn.

  James finally had enough and with the setting sun, got back into his car. He decided to find Frank and Tony so he headed into Chinatown. Passing under the archway on Grant, he felt like the weight of the beam was resting on his shoulders. He found the guys at one of the restaurants. He simply walked over, sat down and shared half-heartedly, a simple meal with them.

  Frank saw James’ troubled look, knew the stress and pressure he was under but also knew that unless he was asked, he shouldn’t interfere. There were all sorts of rumors running through the ranks. Most of these stemmed from Kai who was looking to take over and had been building a strong foundation over the past few weeks. What was worse, everyone but James seemed to have noticed. After an hour of watching James barely eat, Frank succumbed to his thoughts and spoke out. He told James what he thought about Kai, told him of the rumors of how Kai was heard talking about McDermott and linking James to recent gang problems, with the cops for one, drugs for another. He told about the flush of money that Kai was seen to have suddenly, and that he felt Kai was going to, or had been, setting him up.

  James sat and listened to all Frank had to say, but he didn’t hear Frank’s honesty or comprehend the trust of friendship he was showing. He wasn’t convinced Kai was out to destroy him, even though Frank made things seem very clear. He stood there a moment hesitating as if he was thinking about what they said. Finally, he just told them that they had to take him to pick up John from the airport in the morning. He gave them instructions as to where and when to meet him before he simply walked out feeling even more discouraged.