by Ian Hamilton
“No, you’re right, Tian is not a man to exaggerate,” Pang said. “What does Wang say about this? This is his responsibility.”
“We haven’t been able to contact him and we have no idea where he is,” Chow said. “It would be helpful if you could help in that regard — by making some calls, I mean.”
“Of course.”
“But I think the first call you should make is to Ren’s lawyer in Hong Kong. Tell him what’s going on and get him to pass word to Ren. We need Ren to phone his friend Tso and tell him to back off.”
“Tso and he aren’t really that close.”
“That’s not what I’ve heard, but that doesn’t matter. What’s important is that Ren contact him and they sort this out,” Chow said. “In the meantime, I’ll keep trying to find Wang.”
“Don’t do anything rash, and keep me informed,” Pang said.
“The same advice to you,” Chow said, not willing to concede an ounce of leadership. “Now go call Hong Kong.”
Chow tried Wang’s number one more time, with the same result. He called directory assistance again and got the numbers for two more betting shops. No one picked up the phone at either shop. He called Dong’s. This time Tian didn’t answer.
Chow left the office, frustrated and anxious in equal measure. Xu was sitting in the booth when he reappeared, but quickly stood up. “What’s going on?” he said.
“It appears that Tai Po is making a run at us, or at least at our gambling operations,” Chow said. “They’ve shut down Dong’s and, I think it’s safe to assume, at least a couple of our other shops.”
“Holy fuck.”
“There’s more,” Chow said. “Ren is in Hong Kong being interviewed by the police about yesterday’s killings, so he’s out of touch. No one has been able to contact Wang. He isn’t answering his home phone, probably because he’s out on the street somewhere. We need to find him. Do you know where Fong is?”
“I imagine he’s at home.”
“Get hold of him. I need both of you on the street looking for Wang. You take the western part of town and tell Fong to look in the east. I’m going to see if I can find him around here.”
“How do we reach you if we do find him?”
“Let’s meet back here at the restaurant in an hour. Hopefully, when we do, one of us will have found Wang.”
( 23 )
Chow found Wang sitting in the Lucky Eight mah-jong parlour, which did extra business as a betting shop for the Happy Valley races. It was the third business Chow had gone to after a restaurant and a massage parlour, and it was markedly different from the others because a dozen tough-looking armed men formed a wall in front of it. Chow saw gun butts sticking out of waistbands and the outlines of guns under several shirts; one man was openly carrying a machete.
A larger group — maybe fifty or sixty men — was milling about on the street, talking to each other and pointing to the parlour. Chow assumed they were frustrated bettors. Moving closer to the toughs, he looked into the Lucky Eight. Through a plate-glass window he could see Wang sitting at a table with three other men, two of whom Chow knew were betting clerks. The third man had his hand on a gun that was lying on the table, pointed in the direction of Wang.
“I’d like to go inside to place a bet,” Chow said to one of the toughs.
“The place is closed.”
“When will it open? The races start soon.”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, could I talk to one of the guys inside? They must know.”
“Move along.”
“What’s going on here?”
“You should mind your own fucking business and move on like I told you.”
“This isn’t right,” Chow said, staring through the window and trying to get Wang’s attention. But the Red Pole’s head was lowered and his eyes were focused on the table.
“I’m not telling you again . . .” the man said, taking a step towards Chow and pointing at him.
“Okay, I get it. I’m leaving,” Chow said.
He checked his watch as he moved away from the Lucky Eight and saw that he had fifteen minutes to get to the congee restaurant to meet Xu and Fong. He hurried along the street, his mind turning over calculations. There wasn’t any doubt that Tian was correct about their gambling establishments being targeted, but was it just Tai Po or were other gangs involved? Logically he thought it would be Tai Po alone, but he kicked himself for not trying to find out where the man with the machete was from. Assuming that it was Tai Po, what was their end game? As he struggled to answer that question, he saw two men standing on the next street corner whom he recognized as Fanling forty-niners.
“Hey!” he shouted as he drew near to them.
They saw him and immediately looked uncomfortable.
“Where are you guys supposed to be? Not here, I bet,” Chow said.
“We were at the Lucky Eight. We were outside when that gang arrived. They ran us off,” the taller of the men said.
“They outnumber us five to one, and they’re armed to the teeth,” the other said.
“I saw how many of them there are,” Chow said. “Where was Wang when they showed up?”
“He was inside the parlour. They trapped him. They wouldn’t let him leave.”
“And what did you do then? Go for tea?” Chow said.
“We didn’t know what to do. We didn’t want to do anything that might put Wang at risk. We didn’t know who to talk to. We’ve been standing here trying to figure out something,” the tall one said, his discomfort growing. “It hasn’t been that long since those guys moved in on us.”
Chow shook his head. “You know who I am, right?”
“Uncle.”
“Are you armed?”
“We don’t have guns on us. That’s part of the problem.”
“But you do have guns?”
“Yeah.”
“How long would it take for you to get them and come back here?”
“Half an hour, more or less.”
“Then go right now, and get back here as fast as you can,” Chow said. “If I’m not here, you wait. Do not leave.”
“Okay.”
“And if you see any of our forty-niners or Blue Lanterns on the way, or if you can get hold of some, I want them to get their weapons as well and meet us here. Tell them that’s an order, not a request.”
“Uncle, are we going to war against those guys?” the tall one asked.
He seemed to ask out of curiosity rather than fear, and Chow began to feel better disposed towards them. “What we’re going to do first is free Wang. I’m not sure what we’ll have to do to accomplish that, but whatever it is, we’ll do it. After that’s done, who knows?”
The tall man nodded. “We’ll see you back here soon.”
Chow watched them leave, then continued towards the restaurant with an increased sense of purpose. When he got closer, he saw that Xu and Fong were already there, pacing back and forth on the sidewalk.
“I found Wang,” he said before either of them could speak. “He’s in the Lucky Eight mah-jong parlour. I think it’s fair to say that he’s being held prisoner, because he’s sitting at a table with a gun pointed at him and the place is surrounded by a gang of thugs who won’t let anyone in or out. It’s exactly the same scenario as at Dong’s.”
“Do they know who Wang is?” Xu asked.
“I expect they do.”
“He must be going nuts.”
“He didn’t look happy.”
“What are we going to do?”
“Get him out of there.”
“How?”
“I met two forty-niners on the way here. They were outside the Lucky Eight when the gang arrived and got run off. I’ve sent them to get guns and as many other men as they can.”
“Are we really go
ing to resort to weapons?” Fong said.
“We are. Do you still have that Russian submachine gun?”
“No, but I have a slightly improved Chinese knock-off version of the same gun.”
“Get it. Do you have a pistol?”
“The Chinese Type 54 — another knock-off.”
“Bring it for me.”
“I have a pistol as well,” Xu said.
“Great. How many men do you think you can locate in the next half-hour?”
“Maybe two or three,” Xu said.
“A few,” Fong added.
“They don’t all have to be armed,” Chow said.
“Most of them will be,” Fong said.
“The more men we can get and the more weapons they have, the less bloody this should be. My first objective is to free Wang. After that, we’ll play it by ear.”
“What about the cops?” Xu asked.
“I didn’t see any there and there weren’t any at Dong’s. As long as things don’t get out of hand, they have no reason to get involved.”
“How can you prevent things from getting out of hand?” Xu said.
“I’ll figure that out when I see how many men we have to go with us to the Lucky Eight. Right now, the priority is for you to get your weapons and find as many men as you can. I’ll be waiting here for you.”
As soon as they left, Chow went back into the congee restaurant. There was still a line of people outside and a throng inside the door. He squeezed past them and waved at Jia. “Can I use your phone again?” he asked.
“Go ahead.”
He entered the office, sat behind the desk, and made his first call. As the phone was ringing, he quietly prayed that it be answered.
“This is Superintendent Zhang.”
“This is Chow.”
“Two phone calls in less than twenty-four hours. Something must have happened.”
“It has, and I’m calling you to ask for something I’ve never requested before — a favour.”
Zhang hesitated. “What kind of favour?”
“For the next three or four hours, I’d like you to keep the police away from all of our betting shops.”
“Uncle, you know that we always give your shops a wide berth on Sunday.”
“Yes, but that’s because they’re normally open and operating. Right now our shops are closed. They’re surrounded by triads who I think are from Tai Po, and they’re not letting anyone in or out. Unless I’m badly mistaken, our bettors are going to start getting fractious as post time gets nearer, and that won’t be a good thing. They’ll either initiate some kind of confrontation with the Tai Po boys or start flooding your phone lines with complaints.”
“Instead of keeping our force away from the shops, why shouldn’t I do the opposite and send some of my men?”
“How would the police intervening to help keep open illegal betting shops look to your superiors?”
“I could massage it.”
“Maybe you could, but I still don’t want you involved,” Chow said. “We’ve been hearing for months about another gang possibly trying to muscle their way onto our turf. Now it’s happened. We’re the ones who need to respond to it. We have to send a clear message that we’re capable of defending our own interests. If we don’t, they’ll just keep coming at us. They won’t stop and you’ll get that escalating violence we talked about last night.”
“Could this gang be behind the killings?”
“Possibly, which is another reason why you want us to make sure Tai Po doesn’t get a foothold in Fanling. They don’t hesitate to use violence against anyone, including civilians.”
“If that’s the case, how can you remove them without violence?”
“I believe I can do it, but I can’t promise that. I’ll do everything I can to avoid violence, and if it can’t be avoided, I’ll try to keep it to the absolute minimum. And I’ll make sure that no civilians get involved,” Chow said. “Zhang, you need to trust me on this one.”
“Uncle, I have never not trusted you. But you’re right, you’ve never asked me for a favour before, and I’m trying to figure out how this fits into the structure of our relationship.”
“If I’m granted this favour, it can only strengthen our relationship. And I’ll owe you a very large favour in return.”
“And if I don’t grant it?”
“I don’t want to consider that possibility.”
Zhang became quiet. Chow waited; he’d stated his case and saw no reason to expand on it.
“I’ll tell my men to stay away from all your betting shops until this evening. That should give you enough time to do whatever you have to,” Zhang finally said. “But Uncle, if things get out of control, you understand that I’ll have no choice but to move in. And if I do, it will be in numbers large enough to take care of both the Fanling and Tai Po gangs.”
“Thank you.”
“Good luck. And I sincerely hope I won’t hear your name for at least the rest of today.”
Chow sat back in the chair, feeling relieved and thankful. Then he took several deep breaths and reached for the phone again.
“Who is this?” Pang said.
“Uncle. I’ve located Wang.”
“Where is he?”
“At the Lucky Eight mah-jong parlour.”
“That’s good.”
“No, it isn’t. The place is surrounded by goons, and just like at Dong’s, they aren’t letting anyone in or out.”
“Are they from Tai Po?”
“I didn’t ask, but I assume so.”
“Is Wang hurt?”
“I couldn’t talk to him but he looked okay, other than being pissed off,” Chow said. “But if we don’t open the shops, our business is going to take a beating today. We all know that Sunday is our most profitable day of the week.”
“I care less about that than I do about keeping everything calm, and Ren feels the same way.”
“You spoke to him?”
“Not directly, but I did talk to his lawyer. I explained to him what was going on and he passed the message to Ren. Then he called me back with Ren’s orders.”
“And those are?”
“Do nothing. He’ll be back in Fanling this afternoon. He’ll find out what’s really going on and then he’ll deal with it.”
“Did you tell the lawyer we believe Tai Po is behind this?”
“I did. He told me that Ren said we aren’t to jump to any conclusions until he’s had a chance to speak to several people. I assume Tso will be one of them.”
“Or the only one.”
“It’s Ren’s decision,” Pang said.
Chow found himself staring at a calendar on the office wall. The photo was of horses barrelling down the stretch of a racetrack that looked like Happy Valley. “If we don’t open for business today, we’re going to lose a lot of income. As far as I’m concerned, it’s money that will have been stolen from us by Tai Po.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“And I can’t sit back and allow Wang to be held hostage.”
“No one has made any demands. How is he a hostage?”
“He’s being held at gunpoint and they won’t let him leave. That fits my definition.”
“Maybe they don’t know who he is.”
“Do you really believe that’s possible? Of course they know who he is.”
“Leave it alone, Uncle,” Pang said, sidestepping Chow’s question. “Let Ren look after things when he gets back from Hong Kong.”
“Wang is our Red Pole, for god’s sake. I imagine he’s going crazy being stuck in this humiliating situation. It makes him — and us — look ridiculous.”
“He should have been more careful.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“Ren told him more than once to be on th
e alert.”
“I’m quite sure he had as many men on the street as possible, and I’m equally sure he allocated them as best he could.”
“Well, his best wasn’t good enough.”
“Fuck you, Pang,” Chow said. “I’m not leaving him in their hands and I’m not going to let them steal an entire day’s income from us.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m going to get him and I’m going to open up our shops so our customers can bet like they do every Sunday.”
“No!” Pang shouted. “Leave it alone! Do as Ren says. Give him a chance to negotiate some kind of settlement.”
“If they’re still holding Wang, we’ll lose negotiating leverage. He runs our guys on the ground.”
“We can manage the guys on the ground without Wang.”
Chow started to argue and then stopped. It was pointless. “Whatever,” he said.
“Ren will be back here by midafternoon. He’ll get this settled in no time.”
“I’m sure he will.”
“So you’ll leave this alone?”
“Look, I’m using an outside phone right now. Later today I’ll be at my apartment or at the office. Call me when Ren gets back.”
“That’s a sound decision. We’ll talk to you then,” Pang said.
Chow ended the call and immediately dialled Sammy Wing. He got the answering machine again. “Sammy, this is Chow. Change of plans — I won’t be at Happy Valley today. Tai Po has made a move on us. Tell your boss I hope he keeps his word and doesn’t take sides.”
He stared at the calendar again. If I’m going to miss a Sunday afternoon at the races, he thought, I’m going to make it worth it.
( 24 )
Chow waited outside the restaurant for Xu and Fong. Fong lived closest but it was Xu who arrived first, with a man he recognized as the operator of three massage parlours. As they exchanged greetings, Fong approached from the opposite direction with two men whom Chow had worked with as Blue Lanterns. One now owned a restaurant and the other was on the fringes of the “insurance business” — Ma’s term for protection money. Fong and the restaurant owner were carrying large leather bags.
“What’s in the bags?” Chow asked.