“Not too shabby,” lied Jack as he stepped onto the stained carpet.
“I like it. Want a beer?” asked Yu from the kitchen.
“Sure. So, what’s the job Lóng wants me to do?”
Yu returned and handed Jack a Sapporo beer. “The Dragon Head wants you to find the undercover cop that ratted us out so he can deal with him,” Yu said, emphasizing Lóng’s position and not missing a beat.
“Where do I start?” Jack said, not missing a beat either.
“We don’t know. We had some guys looking for him, but they kept coming up empty-handed. Now they will be busy watching Lóng and finding the bastard assassin from yesterday.” Yu plopped himself down on the couch. Jack walked behind the sofa to look out the balcony onto Hong Kong. Yu added, “Since you did such a great job finding Li, this shouldn’t be any harder.”
“Yeah, but Li wasn’t in protective custody. I bet this guy is.”
“Yes, but we have some stuff you can work off of.” Yu pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Jack. “This is all the info I have. Basically, he is from our Chinese division. Surprisingly, they placed him in Hong Kong. There is also a picture of him when he worked for us about four years ago.”
Jack read the paper but found nothing useful other than the picture and his habits of clubbing.
“So, can you find him in two weeks?”
“It will take some luck,” said Jack, “but yeah, I can find him. I’ll need to make some new friends first.”
Chapter 9
Smile
O fficer Fu walked into Inspector Ko’s office with a folder in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. He placed both of them on the Inspector’s desk as Ko hung up the phone.
“Here’s your tea and my report from the night at the Little Bowl.”
Ko took a sip of his drink, smacking his lips and scrunching his face. “Took you long enough.”
“Sorry, sir.” Fu lowered his head, though the incident happened only a few days ago.
Ko looked up from the report to Fu, who was still standing in Ko’s cluttered office. “Anything else?” Ko asked, annoyance in his voice.
“Uh, yes,” Fu said. “Out of curiosity, why didn’t you check upstairs?”
“It would have been a waste of time.” Ko went back to the report.
“Why?”
“Because,” Ko said, not even looking up. “That gweilo kept us delayed too long. The triad would have been cleaning that up as they were shooting them. Also, I don’t waste my time with bar fights.”
“How did you know it wasn’t them?” said Fu generally curious.
“Because,” Ko closed the report roughly, “you don’t catch the triad off their feet. You aren’t lucky with them. You have to be ahead of them. Also, the triad doesn’t use guns unless it’s absolutely necessary.” Ko handed the report back to Fu. “The report’s a bit long and lazy, but it will do.”
Fu took the report and opened his mouth for another question, but Ko cut him off. “And no, you can’t have more patrol time.”
Fu left Ko’s office, gingerly closing the door behind him. The police station’s low buzz filled the air with white noise. Fu walked through the light bustle of cops towards the front desk, his desk, a place filled with papers, an ancient computer, and a single picture of his young wife holding an ultrasound of his first child, who he hoped was still well. He sat himself down and pushed his disappointment to the back of his mind and a smile to the front of his face that could fool even himself.
Unnoticed to Fu, someone did see through the smile - because he had worn it himself for the past six months. Jack took a moment longer blankly staring at Fu as he thought of the long days he had to wear that smile, that fake smile, the façade that everything was alright, though the memory of Mallory still ate Jack up at night. He took a breath to regain his thoughts before approaching Fu with his own fake smile.
“I didn’t know you worked here?”
Fu looked up to see the familiar face he met two nights ago. “Hey Jack, yeah this is my station. Your head looks better.”
Jack touched the two small band-aids that covered his wound. He was cautious not to smear the makeup over his other cut.
“Thanks, it wasn’t as deep as I thought it was, luckily.”
“That’s good. So, what can I help you with?” Fu gave Jack his full attention.
Jack rested his arms on the front desk to say, “Well, I seem to have misplaced a friend.”
“That’s not good.”
Jack continued before Fu could reach down to get the missing person paperwork. “It’s not like a missing person thing, I just don’t know what name he is using nowadays.”
Fu raised an eyebrow. “Nowadays?”
Jack chuckled and wondered if it was convincing enough. “See, I knew him before he moved to Hong Kong when he had a small gambling problem. So, he created, I guess you could say, a habit of changing his name when he got into too much debt. Anyway, he told me he was moving here last time I saw him and gave me a number so I could get a hold of him but…”
“The number doesn’t work?” said Fu, filling in the missing pieces.
“You got it. And I know he’d changed his name at least a couple of times before this. So…”
“You would like me to help you find him?” Fu filled in the pieces again.
Jack’s face lit up. “Yes. If you can? I really want to get him some help, because as you can probably tell, it’s a problem.”
Fu laughed. “It seems like it. I would be honored to help, but I need something to go off of.”
Jack held up a finger and reached into his pocket, pulling out a photo of a young man of Chinese descent and a name. “He may not look just like that, hair and beard could be different. Does that help? To be honest, with his habit, I’m not sure if he’s alright.”
Fu looked over the picture then up at Jack. His face worried. Fu cracked a smile. “Sure, I can help you find him. Can’t promise more than a working number, though. Security stuff.”
Jack smiled and nodded. “Totally understandable,”
“Well, give me a day. Where I can reach you?” Fu took out a Post-it Note and a pen.
“Well, I don’t have a phone yet, so how about we meet at the market you were talking about tomorrow for lunch? My treat.”
“Sure, we will meet where all the food carts are. You can’t miss it.” Fu wrote it down and placed it on the photo. “I’m always down for a free meal.”
Chapter 10
Extra Hours
O fficer Fu sat quietly at the front desk as his twelve-hour shift neared a close. He was one of a few officers left in the station. They were all working with their patrol partners. It was a quiet evening for their sector of Hong Kong. Fu was checking the time when Inspector Ko walked in front of his desk.
“I’m gone. If anything comes up triad-related, give me a call.”
Fu looked up confused. “Sir, I’m about to clock out, if you want…”
Ko cut Fu off with an irritated sigh and stopped in his tracks halfway toward the door and turned around. “No, you’re not clocking out. You said you wanted more time; I’m giving it to you.”
“I was asking for patrol hours, sir.”
“Then walk around your desk if you want to patrol something.” Ko turned back toward the exit.
“Sir, I do have one more question about…”
Ko stopped at the door with one hand on it and turned around again. “I don’t know what they taught you at the academy, but here at the heart of Hong Kong, at this low-life station, I give orders. You take them. That’s it. If I hear one more question from you, I’ll take your badge. Do I make myself clear?”
Fu nodded, his eyes facing the floor. Ko left the building.
“Sorry about that,” said Officer Cho a few desks behind Fu as he packed up his things to go home. “Ko can be a bitch. Even my dad had difficulty with him, but he’s talented and will be there when the chips are down.”
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Fu kept staring at the floor in the direction of Cho. “It’s alright. I don’t remember Ko being that angry when I first started a few months back.”
“Didn’t you hear? Funding for the anti-organized crime section got the biggest cut a few days ago. They are underfunded and undermanned at the moment.” Cho packed his things and started toward the door but stopped in front of Fu’s desk first. “Ko once had an office at the Central Government Complex before his demotion with a few other men and my dad.”
“He was demoted?”
“Yeah, he took a pay cut, demotion, and an office move all for the ‘cause’. The problem is you still need the people upstairs for support, and right now they don’t see the triad as a threat. That department is probably running on a fourth of what they were.”
“So, they don’t want him doing any triad stuff?”
Cho snapped his fingers. “Yep, unless it falls into his lap. And even then, it would probably end up being taken from him and passed up the chain. Anyway, I have to go, but keep your spirit up. The longer you are here and the older you get, the more respect he will start having for you. Goodnight.”
Officer Fu thanked him. Officer Cho tapped the desk and left the station, telling him not to mention it. Fu opened his drawer and picked up his cell phone and texted his wife that he wouldn’t make it home for dinner… again. Fu placed the phone on his desk and closed the drawer but not before noticing the picture with the Post-it Note on it. He took the picture out and rolled over to the fax machine to scan it into his computer. He breathed slowly trying to ease his frustration at his superior. Fu had been with Ko for almost half a year now, since graduating from the academy, and hadn’t heard a single positive thing from him. The scan finished. His phone buzzed. He rolled back to the desk and opened his phone before his computer. His wife had asked if he could still pick up her newest prescription. He agreed, of course, and asked how she was feeling. He thought through the drug stores that would still be open as he opened up the database and the cost of her new prescription. The computer searched most of the people in Hong Kong, though some were still not in the system due to its relatively newness. A denied access screen popped up asking for a login name and password. He typed in Ko’s name and password. Fu was almost Ko’s personal secretary, so he knew the password naturally as Ko kept it on a note beside his desk. His cell phone buzzed again. She’d sent a single emoji with a medical mask. He sent back an emoji with a single tear.
“This doesn’t pay enough,” he whispered to himself. He looked at the loaded results. Fu leaned forward, surprised that the system was able to find Jack’s friend. That was soon dwarfed by what else he found.
Chapter 11
Pork Buns
J ack was observing an older merchant selling fish to an older group of ladies when Fu found him.
“Hey Jack, how are you?”
Fu’s face looked like a perfect picture. Jack hoped that it would stay that way.
“Better that you are here. Were you able to find my friend?”
Fu’s smile remained, but his eyes narrowed. Jack’s muscles tightened. “Yeah, but it’s complicated.”
Jack watched Fu’s movements as he stood still in civilian clothes. Jack glanced behind Fu. “What kind of complicated?”
“Let's find a place to eat, and I’ll explain.”
They found a place further into the market at Fu’s suggestion, with no objections from Jack. It was a small vendor who had set a few cheap, two-seat tables and chairs near his cart to portray the sense of a brick and mortar restaurant. The middle-aged owner only offered three variations of steamed pork buns. As they waited to order they talked about small things. Fu seemed to ask a lot of the personal questions toward Jack, which Jack tried to return to him, but Fu kept his answers short. After they had ordered, they sat at a table away from the busy street. Looking behind Fu, Jack could still see the old man bartering with the group of ladies, mainly with the youngest one as the other two seemed to have lost interest.
“That’s a good Cha Siu Bao! How’s yours?” asked Officer Fu with a mouth half full.
“Amazing, though it may be better if I knew what this mysterious complication is?” His voice quivered for a second. He hoped Fu didn’t notice. Fu had already taken another bite. “Don’t tell me he’s in prison?” Jack asked in a sarcastic voice to cover up his earlier vocal mistake.
Fu chuckled. “Not in prison.” Fu’s voice quickly changed to a serious tone. “Protective custody.”
Jack wasn’t surprised by this but made out to be. “What? Why?”
“I can’t tell you, to be honest. I’ve already said too much.” Fu took a bite of his pork bun, as if he wanted a reason not to talk.
“Can you at least tell me he’s alright?”
Fu shook his head, his shoulders hunched, eyes on food. Out of the corner of Jack’s eye, he saw the two older ladies leave the old man selling raw fish, though the man kept aggressively bartering with the younger woman. Jack knew he would have to take a risk.
“Why not? Don’t you trust me?”
Fu’s face frowned in guilt. “It’s not that I don’t trust you,” Fu said. “It’s where and when I met you that is questionable.”
Jack widened his eyes. “Is it because I’m an American? A gweilo?”
Fu almost dropped his pork bun. “No! Not at all! The restaurant we met at is rumored to be backed by triad members, and I don’t want to put you in a dangerous position.”
“Ok,” said Jack, rethinking his tactics. “Let’s assume your fears of me are true,” started Jack. “That is at the core of it: the fear that I’m a triad member. If that’s true you would report it to your superior, bring a gun, a badge, and some other officers to arrest me when I give any hint of triad involvement or illegal stuff.”
Fu stopped chewing.
“However,” continued Jack, “you didn’t bring a gun or any undercover cops. I bet you didn’t even tell anyone where or what you were doing for lunch.” Jack stole a glance at the young lady standing silently looking at the fish the older man was holding as if he had made his final case in their bargaining. Jack made his own final case. “Which means, you are open to the idea of telling me. Am I wrong?”
Fu swallowed and opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted again by a child who appeared from the busy street. The little girl’s hair was in small pigtails that bounced as she approached their table, eyeing their food. Jack watched Officer Fu as he switched gears and talked to the child with a bright smile on his face. The girl ignored him and started to reach for his food before her mother pulled her away. The mother apologized. Fu took no offense and stayed kind and friendly. Showing no sign of the type of talk he had moments before, Jack held a similar face as Fu and watched the scenario play out. After the mother and the daughter left, Fu returned his attention to Jack, face still smiling. Jack smiled in return, pulled out a folded envelope, and slid it to the middle of the small table.
“I hear,” said Jack, “that whatever stress the husband has, the wife will have. And whatever stress the wife has, the baby will have.”
Fu focused his gaze on Jack, his smile replaced by aggression. Jack watched the daughter and mother walk further away then continued, “And let’s face it, it is harder to be stressed when the bills are paid, the doctor is the best, your pockets are full, and you’re home on time.”
Fu’s jaw kept tight, but his eyes softened as he looked down at the envelope and whispered, “I don’t want her…Mallory…to be in on this at all.”
Mallory? Jack blinked once to gain composure. He wasn’t sure Fu had said Mallory or if grief was deciding what he was hearing. Glass had trained Thomas to play a part. They hadn’t warned him that the past would play him.
“They won’t,” Jack said. “No member will come near them, no information given. They will never know. All they will know is that you are a husband that supports them substantially.”
Fu took the envelope, his face gentler. He slowly ope
ned it and looked at the contents of it. He closed the envelope and his eyes for a moment. The old man was wrapping the fish up as the young lady was paying, smiles on both faces, a successful transaction. The mother and the daughter walked by the sale.
“I want the best doctors helping her,” said Fu as he glared at Jack with threatening eyes, a storm brewing behind them.
“The best and the brightest know nothing about me,” replied Jack.
The storm settled a bit behind Fu’s eyes. He reached into his pocket, pulled out the picture. He took out a pen and wrote down an address on the back of it and handed it to Jack, who folded it up and placed it in his pocket.
“I’ll keep in touch with you only,” said Jack. “Don’t worry about when or where. I’ll take care of that. If you need to get a hold of me, use a payphone and this number.” Jack wrote a number down on a napkin. “Just keep doing what you’re doing with that perfect smile, and you will start to feel that stress fly away, as well as the stress of your family.”
Jack stood and began to walk away but stopped behind Fu with one last thing. “I appreciate you for doing this, and I will continue to show my appreciation.” Jack left Fu to his thoughts and his new ‘bonus.’
Chapter 12
The Line
J ack tried to keep track of how many turns and how long of a distance between the turns as he was driven blindfolded to meet Lóng, the Dragon Head of the Red Dragon. After twenty minutes of driving and more than twenty turns and several stops, Jack gave up on trying to know where he was going. Once the car stopped and the engine turned off, Jack’s face was uncovered to a parking garage. Yu opened the car door as the other guard beside him went to the trunk to retrieve the unconscious mole. Jack helped the guard carry the bound man to the elevator with Yu leading the way. As they waited for the elevator, Jack tried to get a hint of where he was by his surrounding. The garage had only a few cars, and the ones it did have looked as if they’d just driven off the lot. The elevator arrived with a ding. They entered and rode it to the twelfth floor. Yu asked Jack why he was chuckling.
The Dragon and the Lumberjack Page 4