“We’ve seen enough. We’ve tossed the gauntlet and now we must wait to see what she might do. But we witches must never go anywhere alone. That would give her an advantage. Meanwhile, there are plenty of other things for us to do.”
They got up and, nodding at Missy who was still watching them, they made their way down from the stands and left. On their drive back to New York City, they discussed how well their infiltration into the mob families was going. They were quite happy with that. Their other goals, freeing their men from prison and dealing with Missy McCrea … those could wait until later.
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On the bus ride back to the academy, Brooke was a chatterbox. Her enthusiasm was infectious and helped Missy put thoughts of Wagner and Antony in the background. Not only had they won the game, thus winning two out of three that weekend, but Brooke’s sister had called. Janey was coming out of the closet and would be telling their parents. No more hiding.
“It was that psychologist your friend Alice arranged for them to see.” Brooke had been explaining Janey’s decision. “After meeting with her, explaining things … well, now she’s manning up. I can say that right? Or, is that too sexist?” She giggled. “You know … for a lesbian?”
Missy laughed and said, “It’s perfectly alright. And, appropriate. It takes courage to not only accept what you know is true about yourself but to then bravely own that in front of the whole world. Especially, when that world includes your parents.”
“It took me some time to accept her when she first told me. But I realized I didn’t have to understand why she feels the way she does to just love and accept her anyway. After that, our relationship actually got better. We’re closer now than ever before. I know our parents will get there. Eventually.”
Missy nodded and said, “If they don’t, then that’s on them and not on your sister. I know a couple of girls who are true soulmates and have been together that way for years.” She thought back to Lisa and Marie and the adventures they’d shared. Those had led to the Missy virus which she had been infecting WIJO computers and phones with and which had allowed Robert’s task force to save countless lives.
“Yeah. Soulmates.” Brooke sighed. “I know you found yours. Everyone here knows how much you and Mike are in love. I hope I find mine someday. Whoever he is. And, I am certain it will be a he. I can accept Janey but, to be honest, I guess I’ll never quite understand it. I mean, I’m attracted to men.”
Missy laughed and said, “Ah, well! You’re in the right place then. Lots of real men all around us, every day.”
“Please!” Brooke snorted. “I don’t see myself falling for any of them. Nor do I anticipate they’ll be interested in me. But after we graduate? I’m hopeful.”
They continued talking about hopes for the future all the way back to the academy. Then, after saying goodbye to Brooke and finally being alone where she could talk privately, she called Robert. She knew he and Connie had returned from their honeymoon and this was her first chance to check with him on how that had been. She also wanted to let him know about seeing Wagner and Antony.
“Hey, Missy!” answered Robert. “I heard you and Tracy were busy while I was away. It took Ed and Dale two days just to fill me in on everything. Then, Colonel Schermerhorn had me watch the video. Great job by all!”
“Welcome back, Robert. We did enjoy ourselves and have hopefully stopped WIJO for a while. We’ll see. Of course, I hope you and Connie were able to forget all about WIJO and were able to really enjoy your vacation.”
“We did, we did. It was even better than those days we spent in Cancun when I was recovering and we first got back together again.” Robert realized he had never been happier than the days he’d shared with Connie since they’d reunited.
“Wonderful. I couldn’t be happier for both of you. I know your entire team feels the same way, Robert. We all look up to you, you know.”
“Thanks, Missy. That means a lot, coming from you.”
“Well, not to put a damper on your honeymoon glow and everything. But I actually saw Wagner Shen and Antony Ying today. They showed up at my softball game down at Bucknell. That’s in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, in case you don’t know that.”
“Wow, that’s interesting,” said Robert. “Ed has been talking to his former FBI unit in New York, looking for Zhu-Gung. He’s pretty tight with Glenn Paxton, who’s heading up the Organized Crime Division down there.”
“Yes, I know. He told me he’s been able to locate where Wagner, Antony and several others they brought back with them are staying now. The surveillance on that lawyer of theirs … Simon Yang? Watching him and his office has paid off. But, so far, they haven’t been able to find out much that’s interesting, other than where they’re staying.”
“Yes, Ed has filled me in on everything,” agreed Robert. “He thinks they know about the surveillance and don’t bother to avoid it when they’re not doing something illegal. I’m sure they were followed down to where you were today, for example. But, they do manage to avoid it when they want to. It’s impossible to keep them in sight twenty-four seven.”
Missy laughed and said, “Yeah … I’m probably the only one who could do that. But, I think it’s more important I continue here at the academy.”
Robert chuckled and then asked, “What do you make of their appearance at your game?”
“Oh, I’m sure they were confirming I’m the one they had sensed earlier. Wagner was there when I killed Richard and I’m sure he now is satisfied I’m the witch he’s been looking for. But, I don’t think Zhu-Gung is ready to make any move against me. Yet. But they’re planning something. They’re famous for being inscrutable, right?” Missy chuckled.
“True,” agreed Robert. “Ed thinks you might want to get in touch with Carlos. Fill him in on what’s going on. And, let him know we’re working this.”
Missy hadn’t expected to hear about Carlos and paused a moment. Then she said, “I assume this is because Zhu-Gung is interfering with the distribution of drugs coming up from South America. He has a huge organization now and some of the cartels down there might be unhappy to learn they have competition from Hong Kong.”
“Exactly. You still have a way of contacting him, right?” Robert knew Missy had established her own communication link, completely independent and separate from all others, and they had reached out to one another from time to time, when one of them considered it appropriate. They had a unique relationship of trust which had evolved over the past two years.
“Yeah, I’ll have him send Rafe up to talk to me. Please make sure he doesn’t get flagged by any of the FBI or Homeland Security folks.” Rafe Santiago was Carlos’s right hand man and had visited her at West Point before.
Robert laughed and said, “Sure. No problem. By the way, I heard the Supe down there figured out a way to get you excused when you come up Tuesday night to be with your pack for the full moon.”
“I figured that was his idea,” replied Missy. “Let him know I appreciate that. Hopefully, he’ll be back soon and I can tell him myself.”
“I will. And, congratulations on getting assigned to Team Twenty-Two this summer and then on being selected to attend the Naval Academy for the fall semester.”
“I am thrilled about both of those things. I know there are probably several people who helped make those happen for me and I would love to thank them all. Of course, that’s probably not possible as things like that must be happening at very high, very classified levels. But, get the word out regardless. And, for Tracy too. She’s thinking her dreams coming true are probably because of our friends in high places, even though we might never know who they all are.”
Robert chucked and said, “I will do that. And you’re right. It’s way above me or even Drew. We think the Secretary of Defense and General Blake were certainly involved but the list goes a lot further, and probably even higher, then them.”
After Missy disconnected her phone and headed off to her room at the barracks, she smiled inwardly. Yes.
And, as far as higher places went, she and Tracy had often talked about there being those Fabulous Fates who were surely very much responsible, working their magic for the two of them in mysterious ways.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Monday, Apr 6, 2020
Ricardo Salvi snarled “Look, I’m not interested in any more of your excuses. First, you don’t stop those FBI assholes from arresting me. Second, you don’t even warn me about them. Third, it’s three days now and you still don’t know how they learned where I’d be picking up my drugs that day? And, now you’re saying you can’t be sure why they’re making all these arrests, none of which make any sense other than as harassment? What the fuck am I paying you for?” None of his guys on the police force had been able to explain what was going on with the FBI. “Call me back when you finally have some answers for me!” He slammed the phone down and cursed.
It had taken forty-eight hours before his lawyer had gotten him released and he had not enjoyed spending two nights behind bars. Then, when he’d checked in with Hands, he’d learned the Chinese were helping Clay and Frank handle things. They had provided drugs to replace what the FBI had grabbed. The good news was business had not suffered and things had continued pretty much as normal. The bad news was Hands now wanted those guys to continue helping.
Apparently, they’d agreed to provide drugs provided they had some say in how things were run. According to Hands, the deal was for them to work with Ricardo’s people and Hands would continue seeing nice profits. The catch, of course, was should he insist on running things without them, as he’d done before, then they’d no longer be his supplier and he’d have to go back to buying from Mendoza or someone else. Since that would be at higher prices, Hands would not agree.
The tables had been turned. He had been the one to convince Hands to buy from Zhu-Gung and now Zhu-Gung had convinced Hands to allow them to “work with his people”. Fuck! Since he couldn’t complain his own profits weren’t benefiting, until he could show Hands these Chinese fuckers were bad for his business, he was stuck. He needed to accept their “help” in running his operations, or else.
Just then Clay and Frank arrived. According to Hands, they had his share for everything that had gone down while he’d been in prison. Clay said, “You wanted to see us, boss?”
“Yeah, come on in.” He waved them over to the chairs in front of his desk and watched as they sat down. “What can you tell me about these Chinese guys? Hands seems to think they’ve been helpful.”
Frank nodded and said, “Actually, they have. We thought everything was gonna fall apart for a few days until you got back. You know … from you being in prison and everything. But then, Hands told us we should talk to a couple guys in charge of things here in New York for that Zhu-Gung organization. Wagner and Antony. After we saw them, they had their guy Jiang Linn come over with enough drugs to satisfy all our customers and maybe a bit more.”
Jiang Linn was one of the Chinese who had first approached Ricardo in front of Mendoza. But he had not seen him after that. Once he’d agreed to buy from Zhu-Gung, he’d been dealing with other members from their organization.
Clay said, “Yeah, and Hands took care of payment for that. All we had to do was make sure all your guys took care of business. Then, we gave Hands his money, same as you always do.” He placed an envelope filled with money on Ricardo’s desk. “Here’s your share. Everyone paid us what they’d have paid you.”
“Everyone, huh?” Ricardo opened the envelope and checked the contents.
“Sure. Jiang reminded us how Hands wanted everything to continue, same as if you were here, and how we was to handle things until you got out.” Clay didn’t feel it necessary to mention he was referring to himself, Frank and Jiang as the ones handling things.
Ricardo noted there were payments from all his guys, including the pimps working for him. While Clay and Frank had worked the gambling, drugs and loan sharking stuff, they’d never been involved with the prostitution side before. He looked up at them and asked, “How come this includes the money from all my hookers?”
Clay answered, “Yeah … um, well … see when we told Jiang about them, he insisted on seeing your guys in charge of them, just like he did with all your other guys. I mean, Hands told us we were supposed to handle things, business as usual, and let Zhu-Gung help with that. Right?”
“So, this guy Jiang? He was with you when you collected from everyone?”
“Sure! He’s been bringing us more drugs every day, too,” explained Clay. “He delivers those to your guys. We pay him half up front and the other half the next day, when he comes back with more. By then, your guys have sold the stuff he brought them the day before and can pay. He’s even provided stuff for your hookers, you know?”
“Who pays for that?” asked Ricardo.
Frank was quick to answer and said, “The girls do. They take that rather than their share of the money from their johns. Jiang was willing to give them a discount. They’re only paying half price for the first week.”
“Didn’t my guys explain how we don’t really want our girls getting hooked on drugs?” asked Ricardo. “They get burned out too quickly.” He was not happy hearing how this Jiang had been involving himself in so much of his business.
“Well, yeah,” said Frank. “Only, Jiang promised business would be better. He claims for every girl who gets too wasted, his organization can provide two girls to replace her. Your guys were kinda happy about that. Their customers are gonna really like these Asian whores too, especially the young ones. Jiang showed us photos of all the girls Zhu-Gung is bringing over from China.”
Ricardo could see where this was going. Hands would definitely be pleased with not only higher profits but more business as well. He realized he’d better work with this Jiang Linn or Hands might want to replace him.
After Clay and Frank had left, he checked in with all his other guys. The story was pretty much the same. They were all happy with how they’d be making more money now with Zhu-Gung helping out. After all, Hands had okayed that, right?
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Later that day, Jiang arrived and introduced himself once again. Ricardo said, “Tell me about this new arrangement we have. My guys are all saying Zhu-Gung wants to help them get rich.” He was curious to see what explanation Jiang might have.
“Yes, Mr. Salvi. Zhu-Gung is very happy to help. First, we sell you our drugs at discount. You remember, we ask you to get boss’s approval.” Jiang watched as Ricardo nodded his head in agreement. “Then, when FBI interfere and arrest you, that bad for business. Wagner Shen and Antony Ying, they tell me to help. I bring you more drugs and I try to help in other ways.”
“Yes, I am hearing you want to sell us some girls from China. How much will that cost me?” Ricardo was suspicious about this part of the deal.
Jiang said, “Many ways to make this happen for you, Mr. Salvi. Many ways. Good ways. You will like. For example, we can trade some of our girls for your girls, and that cost you nothing, right? Other girls, we sell to you. These girls will be no trouble for you. You no pay them, only pay us instead. For one month only. Then, after one month, we do revenue share. Fifty-fifty, you understand?”
This was interesting. Most of his working girls were currently keeping a small amount of what they charged their customers; they used that for their food, clothing and other items. Their apartments were provided to them which gave his guys lots of control. So, if these Chinese girls wouldn’t be keeping any of the money, profits would be higher. Sure, the expenses would be a little higher since his guys would have to provide them with food and clothing and stuff. But that cost would be minimal. Since the girls would probably be young and attractive, they’d turn more tricks which would more than cover any expenses.
“What about drugs for these girls?” Roberto asked. Based on what his guys had said, it was obvious that would be needed. It helped control the girls. Yeah, they burned out faster but maybe that wasn’t going to matter so much.
“Zhu-Gung will provide, no problem. And, plenty more girls. You will make lots more money. Good business!” Jiang gave him a huge smile.
Ricardo asked, “Will payments continue as before? Half up front, the rest later, still using the same drops?” Since the FBI couldn’t charge him with any crime for merely leaving payments at the drops, that wasn’t much of a risk for him. It had been Zhu-Gung’s suggestion for all money transactions to be made that way at drops, completely separate from any drug deliveries, and never face-to-face.
“Yes, yes. Same, same. And, we now get drugs direct to your guys, so you no longer at risk from police or FBI.” Again, Jiang gave him a big smile. “We help your business. Win-win. No?”
While Ricardo appreciated the reduced risk, he was uncomfortable about having less control. He didn’t want his guys thinking they didn’t need him. But, at least until he could find some good reasons to give Hands as to why not, he guessed he’d go along with this new arrangement and see how it worked out. Yeah, more money for everyone would be good. And keeping Hands happy was always important. In Vincent Corallo’s organization, that was how things worked and how you got promoted. You made the bosses happy. Or else.
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When Clay and Frank met up with Jiang, they asked how things had gone with Ricardo. They knew whenever things got changed around, things could always go sideways. And, they were wondering whether their increased role in running things might continue, now that Ricardo was back.
Jiang smiled and said, “Mr. Salvi very happy. He like making more money.”
Clay asked, “Now that Ricardo is back, will you want Frank and me to still keep helping you? You know, with delivering drugs and checking with the guys, like before?”
“Sure, sure! We all one big happy family now, no?” Jiang grinned at them. “You maybe help me today … bring over some new girls, yes?” Zhu-Gung had smuggled in several girls and was holding them in a warehouse in Brooklyn. Now that they had successfully infiltrated several mob organizations, like with Ricardo’s gang, they were anxious to distribute the girls. Girls and drugs. It was all part of their master plan for establishing operations in New York City.
Missy Goes to Hong Kong (Missy the Werecat Book 8) Page 17
