by Kailin Gow
Zara and Peter went out to a pub for dinner and a beer and a game of darts after Lord and Lady Brock left. It was a pleasant diversion from their everyday life in Hong Kong, and Peter bumped into a few classmates while there.
They were excited for Peter after hearing his engagement with Zara, and said he couldn’t do better, knowing how he could barely ask a girl out back when he was in school. Peter laughed it off, and seemed to fit right in with everyone as though he had never left for Hong Kong.
After returning back to their room, Peter surprised Zara with red roses on the bed and in the hot tub. He had champagne on ice and even chocolate strawberries. “I thought we’d have dessert and a bath before bed,” he said. “What do you think?”
“Peter,” Zara said, “You’re so amazing. This is wonderful, and…”
“Zara, if you had said, ‘no’, I probably would have kept trying. This is Plan B, and I had a Plan C and a D…”
“Peter, your father was right,” Zara said.
“About what?” he asked, cocking his head.
“About you knowing how to get what you want.”
“Did I get what I wanted?” Peter asked.
“I’m here, aren’t I?” Zara said. “And we had sex for the first time together and many times afterwards, and…”
“Okay,” Peter said, “You got me. I did get what I wanted. I wanted to bed you and to devour you, and…” He laughed. “I got more than I wished, today Zara. But of course I want more, and soon, we will have all that.”
*****
The flight back was as romantic as the entire weekend. Peter held Zara in his arms the entire way and kept kissing her. He kept telling her how he could die a happy man knowing she loved him and wanted to marry him. The weekend felt so magical to Zara, she didn’t want to see it end so when Peter told her he thought about it a lot through the trip, that he wanted her to move in with him; she hesitated and said she’ll have to think about it. Seeing her grandmother brought back her reality, and it was something she had to bring up with Peter. What was she going to do with Grandma being in Hong Kong?
Also, there was the whole incidence with Lord Brock. Something was up, and her detective instincts told her it wasn’t as unassuming as it seemed. She had to check him out.
Back at work the following Monday, Zara felt the entire fairy tale and fantasy fall apart in front of her as she stared into some hidden files on the screen.
Lord Brock had his hands in almost every transaction between Hong Kong and England and then Macao where there was some police activity, which then got cleared immediately.
She looked for the reason why they were cleared, and saw that it was due to mislabeling of products. What was thought of as illegal, was actually mislabeled in the first place, but the products coming through were cleared.
Years ago, there were several shipments between Da Hwa and England, as well as France. Again, there was an inspection that blocked some shipments until Lord Brock signed them through.
The following day, when she went into Lee Holdings, she was able to pull up Da Hwa’s shipment information and see that Lord Brock had waived some inspections of shipments. She looked at the shipment logistics of one particular shipment to England, France, and other parts from Da Hwa and noticed that was the time Da Hwa began losing sales. Yet the shipments were consistent with previous years.
“Leo,” Zara said. “Can we find anyone who worked at the factory at the time these shipments were made?”
“I can get my guys to look up old employee records and see where they moved,” Leo said.
“Good,” Zara said smiling at Leo, “I think I’m onto something with Da Hwa that could lead to us finding out why it was closed down, and why that man wanted to kill you. Maybe it will lead to finding out who is behind the crime ring?”
“Sure,” Leo said, watching her closely. He was acting friendly enough with her, but the tension between them before had dissipated a bit since she got back from England, and showed him her ring.
He was silent and distant after that, and Zara knew it was because she was officially off the market for him, and he wanted to respect that. It was an odd feeling, but Zara felt strange showing him the ring at first, but she felt like she had to in order to set things straight between them once and for all. It also gave Peter his sense of control back.
Accepting Peter’s proposal was the right thing for her to do. She knew that now.
But then again, she was becoming more and more unsure about Lord Brock.
Chapter 19
Zara
Zara had a break through the next day when Leo called her into his office.
“Guess what?” he said excitedly. “We found a woman who worked at the factory stuffing the packets into the noodle packages right here in town. She lives with her daughter down the street. I’ve arranged for you to meet her for coffee near her apartment.”
“When?”
“She’s at Heavenly Café just down the street, go now, and you should be able to catch her. She goes by Mrs. Yip.”
“Great, thanks, Leo, this is going to hopefully help our case.”
“Good, anything to help,” he said looking unusually cheerful.
Zara ran out to the elevators and out to the street to Heavenly Café just in time to see a woman in her fifties wearing a jogging suit walk out of the café. “Mrs. Yip?” Zara asked.
The woman looked cautiously at Zara and then saw that she had a badge from Lee Holdings. “Yes, Zara Zee?”
“Yes, please don’t go yet, I need to ask a few questions.”
“What can I help you with?”
“When you worked at Da Hwa, did you get a chance to see what were in those flavor packets? Did you get a chance to see what was in any of the packages that was sent to England and Europe?”
“Oh those? They were specially marked shipments. We made the noodles the same way as everyone else’s but the flavorings had to be changed to suit their taste. We didn’t have the ingredients for those specially marked flavors in the factory, so they came from elsewhere. Some were pre-packaged. All we did was stuffed them in with the noodle packages.”
“Did you see where those special flavor packages were from?”
“I couldn’t tell. They weren’t labeled, and were brought in through special carriers. Must’ve been some kind of super fancy flavor,” she laughed.
“Anything you can remember about the delivery trucks? The uniforms of these men?”
“Come to think of it, the delivery trucks had the word, ‘Glorias Flavor’ on there.”
“Okay, that is very helpful,” Zara said. “Can I get you anything? More coffee? Cake?”
“Just knowing someone cared about what happened at Da Hwa is payment enough,” Mrs. Yip said. “I loved working there, and met my husband through the factory. We have a daughter together, and it wouldn’t be possible if we had never been working there.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Yip, I will let the Chairman of Lee Holdings know. He would appreciate hearing that the factory did have some good to it.”
“My pleasure,” Mrs. Yip said and left.
Zara walked back to the office and pulled up more records of suppliers to Da Hwa and saw that Glorias Flavor was some dubious company that had been cited and busted for being part of a drug trafficking ring, back at the time Da Hwa was using them.
Oh no, Zara thought. Please don’t let it be what I think it is.
Then she pulled up more records of Glorias Flavor supplying other goods to other factories which were shipped to England and Europe. All signed for by Lord Brock.
That night she had to tell Peter what she had decided on whether to move in with him so they met for dinner.
“Feeling better about being back in Hong Kong?” Peter said.
“Hardly,” she lied. “I can’t stop thinking about that estate. It’s the type of place you read about, the type of place you dream of visiting.”
“Imagine living there.”
“I’ll admit,
it’s very enticing.”
“I’m happy to hear that.”
“You know, if we do move to England and you take on your father’s role as commissioner, and I manage to get a position that pays moderately well, we might have a hard time with the upkeep of such a large estate, don’t you think?”
“Hmmm, you make a good point. I know my father has struggled to maintain the place in tip top shape from time to time, but he’s managed. I guess I will too.”
“How much do you estimate it will cost to keep it running so smoothly?”
He shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. I would imagine a few hundred thousand dollars should cover it… a million tops.”
“Our combined salaries couldn’t possibly cover that.”
“Well then, we’d just have to find a way to make it work… cut back on the staff. We’ll see when the time comes.”
“But how does your father manage? It must be impossible.”
A vague look came over Peter’s handsome face. “Look, I’ll admit I’ve asked myself that question a few times. A man in my father’s position is easy to bribe. There are lots of people all over the world who could benefit from a favor from my father.”
“I hate to say this, Peter, but I think we’re going to have to take a closer look at your father.”
His face blank, he nodded. Then he let out a big sigh, “He’s my father, but I’m going to do what’s right, Zara. What do you have on him?”
Zara pulled out a few folders and said, “He had been accepting bribes for years, mainly from factories who were aiding drug traffickers to push heroin into Europe – England, France, Italy…”
“Oh my God,” Peter said, wiping his brow. “How did you find out?”
“Looking at records, interviewing a woman who worked there…finding out what Glorias Flavor was.”
“I can’t believe it,” Peter said. “I don’t want to believe it, but I have to question him on it, and I don’t know what it will all mean?”
“I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news on this, Peter,” Zara said, “But he may have something to do with some of the inspections at Da Hwa too.”
“Your parents?” Peter looked angry. “Are you telling me my father may have something to do with your parents’ deaths?”
“No, no,” Zara said. “I think he deals with shady characters and…”
“I won’t be like him when I become Commissioner, Zara,” Peter said.
“Peter, I’m sorry about your father.”
“Me, too, Zara, but just because he’s my father doesn’t mean I have to shirk my duties in investigating him for being part of the organized crime ring. Like I said, I will do what I have to.”
“This…your father knows I knew something was up,” Zara said.
“I love you Zara, and even if I don’t get my father’s approval in marrying you, it doesn’t affect how I feel about you or that I still intend on marrying you.” Peter sighed. “I’m sorry, Zara, but I need some time alone to myself tonight. I have to process this, and it’s just a bit much right now.”
Chapter 20
Zara
Disheartened, Zara sat back in the old vinyl chair in her cramped little office the following morning. His father’s influence reached to virtually every corner of the world.
“Peter,” she said as she rang his office. “Could you come see me?”
“Be right there.”
She knew it was going to be difficult, but it had to be done. Sullen, Peter walked in and took the chair facing her and sat down. “What do you have?”
“More details you should know. First of all, Leo was mistaken. Harold wasn’t involved in any of this, but Tommy Leung was in it up to his elbows.”
Peter flipped through the profile on Tommy. “Head of operation and supervisor at Da Hwa for over eight years.”
“Exactly.”
“But it says here he lost his leg in an accident and had to leave Da Hwa.”
“Right again. He took an early retirement, but he made regular visits to his buddies at the factory.”
“Oh?”
“He ran a very lucrative heroin smuggling operation via those flavor packets in the noodle packages.”
“Smart, I guess.”
“The boxes were specially marked and… well, your father simply let them slip in without going through customs.”
Peter went white.
“I’m sorry, Peter.”
“Go on.”
“As time went on, Tommy became more and more confident, and perhaps a little less vigilant. An inspector made a surprise visit one day and became suspicious. He forced one of the workers to open one of the specially marked boxes and found the heroine. That afternoon, he was run off the road.”
“Do we know who that inspector was?”
Zara swallowed the pain and heartache that seemed so insurmountable. “His name was Hulin Zee.”
Frowning, Peter looked up at her. “Zee?”
She nodded. “My father was that inspector.”
Ashamed and guilt-ridden, Peter set his face in his hands in disgrace. “Oh, my God.”
“So Leo’s father was running a decent operation.”
“All on the up and up.”
“But his employees took advantage of his trust.”
“There’s some indication in here that he was beginning to suspect something was going on. Maybe all the lost profits, or the number of missing shipments, but… well, he never had the chance to investigate further. He grew ill and his health became his priority.”
“What happened when he died and Leo took over?”
“They tried to figure out just what Leo knew, but he’d been away in the States when a lot of this happened, and once he returned to Hong Kong he was caught up with the opening of his restaurant the Oyster House. All those preoccupations probably saved his life. If he’d taken too much interest in the goings on at Lee Holdings, he probably would have been snuffed out more expediently.”
“As it was, they had free reign.”
“More or less. They had to move their operation to another factory, but aside from that, it was business as usual. ”
“Man, what an operation.”
“They even made sure Leo was kept busy, day and night, with parties, pretty women and a large variety of toys… cars, motorbikes, planes.”
“Then why these recent attempts?”
“Apparently Leo had started to ask a few questions, and they got nervous, so they implemented an insider.”
“You got a name?”
“Qingshan,” Zara said. “Qingshan Lee.”
Peter stared at her in disbelief.
“Leo’s trusted advisor?”
“And favorite uncle.” She shook her head in dismay. “We knew this ring liked to get in close, but never thought they would get in this close.”
“I think we owe Qingshan a little visit.”
Zara stood and reached for her gun belt. “I’m right behind you.”
They arrived at Lee Holdings and Zara made the familiar journey to the administrative floor, but instead of heading to the right to find Leo’s office, she turned to the left and came to Qingshan’s office.
“Hello, Uncle Qingshan,” Zara said in a cheery, upbeat voice. She’d met him only twice before, and he’d insisted on the familiarity.
“Zara , I thought you were at the hospital with your grandmother. How is she?”
“Recovering. Thank you for asking.”
“Well, it’s always a pleasure to see you. What brings you to my office?”
“To be honest, I’m a little worried about Leo. He’s been really distant lately, and I don’t know what to make of it.”
“Leo’s always been an over achiever. His head is in a dozen projects at the same time; his restaurant, a new movie, a new flame. Who know? Don’t take it personally.”
Zara smiled shyly. “I’m trying.” Her eye caught on a photo of a little boy walking between two sharply dressed men. All three wore super cool sung
lasses. “Is that Leo?”
Qingshan nodded.
“That is so adorable.”
“Leo’s always been my favorite, and even more so since his father died.”
“You must really love him to come to Lee Holdings as his advisor,” Peter said.
“Leo’s never had a head for business.”
“And what kind of business background do you have?”
Qingshan frowned and directed a glare at Peter.
“I spent a good portion of the day yesterday going through the books,” Peter said. “And there are a few numbers that just don’t add up.”
“What are you saying exactly?”
“I’m saying that millions of dollars are mysteriously disappearing, not to mention missing shipments, and a few inexplicable accidents.”
Qingshan rose and calmly made his way to the small bar where he poured some tea. Setting two cups before his guests, he said, “I have a feeling we’re going to have a lot to discuss. I think Leo may have been a little dishonest.” He returned to pour himself a cup of tea and returned to his large leather chair.
Raising his cup of tea, he invited his guests to do the same. “Now, let’s try to sort this mess out.”
They sipped their tea, and while Zara found it unusually bitter, she didn’t want to insult Qingshan by not drinking it, but before she finished her last sip, the room around her began to spin, and soon, everything went dull grey and finally pitch black.
Chapter 21
Zara
“Peter?” Zara called out in the dark, cold room.
“Right beside you. I was beginning to wonder if you’d ever wake up.”
“Any idea where we are?”
“No, but it smells like hell in here.”
“Like a dozen rotting rats.”