by Brian N. Cox
“Where can we find these morons, Li Mei? We will deal with them immediately.”
“I don’t know, but I will be able to find out. Leave it to me; I have good sources. When the time is right I will deliver their leader, Fong Lei, to you on a platter.”
“OK, we will not take action until we hear from you. Why are you giving me this information? It does not sound like a State Security matter.”
“Because one of the girls abducted by the Red Dragons was a close family member of a State Security official,” said Li Mei. “I am trying to keep them calm in Beijing, but that will only be possible for a short time. Law enforcement attention may be the least of your worries when kill teams start arriving from Beijing.”
“I am relying on you to contact me when you have the leaders available, Li Mei. I will send their heads back to their Dragonhead in Beijing.”
“That is exactly why I am telling you about this Ma Shan.”
After the meeting, which took only fifteen minutes, Li Mei phoned Sean.
“Sean, how would you like to go to dinner tomorrow at eight o’clock, my treat?”
“Great idea, Li Mei; where do you want to meet?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Sean and Li Mei sat in their favourite seafood restaurant enjoying delicious lobster with melted butter, topped off with an excellent bottle of a fine white wine. Even though both usually preferred red wine, they agreed that the lobster called for a good white wine and on this occasion they selected a California Stoller Chardonnay. Li Mei would often cook fish at her apartment in America, but never ordered it in a restaurant except for Chongqing and Sichuan restaurants. In her opinion, only the Chongqing and Sichuan cooks knew how to prepare fish, but the advantage in the USA was that the fish were filleted. Unfortunately in China, the fish were never filleted and you had to contend with hundreds of bones while eating fish. She never understood why they didn’t remove the bones as they did in America, especially since they were such outstanding fish cooks. In Chongqing, the hospitals actually have a special department just for removing fish bones from people’s throats.
At approximately twenty minutes after nine, as Sean and Li Mei had just been served a dessert of warm apple pie and ice cream, Sean’s cell phone rang.
“Hello Gary, what’s up?” After a pause, he continued “Holy shit! You’re kidding! Well I consider this very good news.”
After he terminated the call, he said to Li Mei, “It seems you are out of danger, Li Mei. Otto Dressler, Alvin “Shorty” Tachman and one other associate were all found shot and killed about fifteen minutes ago. Gary just got the info from the Seattle Police.”
“I can’t say I am unhappy to hear it, Sean. Do they know who killed them?”
“They have no idea and apparently no leads,” said Sean.
Then he continued with a slight smile, “It seems you have the perfect alibi, sitting here with me when they were killed.”
“It seems like I am a very lucky person,” said Li Mei with a perfectly straight face. “I’m sure you have noticed that when people threaten to hunt me down and kill me, things just don’t work out well for them,” and she started to laugh.
Although he didn’t care who had killed them and was happy they were all dead, he would have loved to know how Li Mei had arranged it. He knew it was possible that they had been eliminated by Chinese State Security agents; they couldn’t allow Li Mei to be killed. Sean decided that it probably wasn’t State Security agents, not because they weren’t perfectly capable of doing the job without detection and without leaving any evidence. What made Sean doubt they were responsible was because they wouldn’t know how to locate them so fast since even the local police and FBI didn’t know where they were and they both had been hunting them for months.
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“I wouldn’t call her an expert Sir,” said the young man in the dark blue long-sleeved shirt which he wore over a pair of faded blue jeans. “I’ve been tailing her for almost four hours and she hasn’t got a clue. Seems that Chinese intelligence needs to upgrade their training,” he laughed into the microphone attached to his sleeve. “She’s just ahead of that crowd of about seven people approaching you at the corner.”
Suddenly the man’s head jerked back as someone grabbed the back of his shirt. He felt the gun barrel in his back just above the belt line.
“If you want to see you family tonight you had better tell me who you are and why you are interested in me,” said a female voice. He felt the gun barrel press into his spine even harder and decided to speak.
“F-F-FBI,” he said with a nervous stutter.
“No you’re not. You’ve been following me for several hours and doing a terrible job of it. Your friend across the street in the brown jacket is just as amateurish as you. I’ll tell you who you are,” said the female voice. “You’re CIA and I assume you and your bumbling friend are new on the job. Your leader is around the corner wearing a tan safari jacket. Tell him to meet me in the Starbucks across the street; I’ll be waiting for him.”
The young man in the dark blue shirt stood dumbfounded and embarrassed for about ten seconds watching the Chinese woman walk towards the Starbucks restaurant. Then, he went around the corner and gave the message to his boss, senior CIA Case Officer Jerry Poulton.
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“Good afternoon Jerry,” said Li Mei with a big smile as Poulton approached her table. “I see you have been busy this morning.”
“A couple of raw rookies, Li Mei, at least at foot surveillance. I thought it would be good training for them to try and follow you undetected. Maybe in twenty years they will succeed,” laughed CIA case officer Poulton. “I got a good laugh when he radioed me that you were clueless. That’s when you stuck the gun in his back.” Poulton laughed even louder when he recalled this.
“It wasn’t a gun; just my knuckle. I assumed they were both harmless,” laughed Li Mei.
“Our friends in the “The Group” seem to be planning an attack. So far, all we have ascertained is that it may be on the other side of the Pacific. They made some reference in a semi-coded message that Hawaii was about halfway. We suspect they are targeting China, Taiwan, Hong Kong or Australia. At this point in time, we don’t have a clue which one, maybe none of them. Maybe our assumption is wrong.”
“I’ll join the task force as soon as I can,” said Li Mei. “I’m working on a very important matter that I can’t abandon. In the interim, let Bill Dowey, the RCMP, be my proxy. I will keep in touch with him through a secure line. I hear he is working out of Vancouver now.”
“Which brings me to the other reason I wanted to talk to you in person,” said Poulton. “Their proxy group of terrorists are holding more meetings and purchasing more equipment. We believe they are large enough and sophisticated enough to hit more than one target at the same time so we’ve decided to expand our unofficial task force; we’ve even given ourselves a name, “Department R”. The “R” is for response, retaliate, reaction…you name it. Do you know anyone in your Second Bureau who would fit into our plan? They aren’t getting in on the ground floor like you and me, so they would have to be a quick study, and speak fluent English,” he added.
“I can think of several, but only one is here in the US now,” said Li Mei. “The agent is a female with a police background before joining State Security. Do you want me to approach her?”
“Yes, as long as you vouch for her, go ahead. Don’t tell her too much until you know she’s on board.”
“I’ll try to contact her today.” As they both got up to leave, Li Mei said, “Oh, by the way, I took this notepad from the back pocket of your trainee in the brown jacket about an hour ago. He might want it back.”
“Will do,” said Jerry Poulton with a laugh as he went to pay for their coffees.
“Li Mei,” he added, looking very serious, “we really need you on this.”
> CHAPTER TWELVE
“Sean, I doubt we’ll find the brothel through real estate transactions. There have been too many of them and there are so many that could be renovated to become a brothel to house twenty girls. Besides large old homes, many warehouses, apartment blocks and office buildings could suit their purposes as long as they are prepared to spend the money on renovations,” said Gary Webster to Sean as they met in Sean’s office.
“Any luck on a possible place for the pedophiles to meet and then be taken to the brothel? There is no way they will be given the brothel’s address and be told to go there on their own?”
“That might be an easier task as there are only a few places that would suffice for their purposes. There’s one place that might be worth looking at,” said Gary. “There’s a former night club in the north end of the city that was bought by a company call Northwest Recreation and Events Ltd., with a head office in Portland. I contacted the Portland Field Office and they found this so called head office is just one of those rented mail box places. Oregon records show that the head office is here in Seattle, and it too is just a rented mail box. We’re still trying to track ownership of the company. The transaction was conducted by a Mervin Forsythe who gave a background that doesn’t check out. We’ve got him on CCTV in Oregon and here, so we’re running him through facial recognition databases. I’ll check downstairs, we may have something by now.”
“If Fong Lei isn’t behind it, I’m guessing it is some other criminal enterprise or scam. This is our best bet so far. Put sixteen hour surveillance on it starting at ten am. If and when we decide this is the right place, we can extend the surveillance,” said Sean.
“Will do, Sean. Hopefully there is some room we can rent nearby, but if not we’ll use a surveillance van.”
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“Hello Older Sister,” said Li Mei to State Security officer Rhona Lu. “Are you on a secure line?
“Yes. Hello Li Mei,” replied Lu. “It is always nice to hear from you. How are things in Seattle?”
“Got a big case here, Older Sister, but I am calling you about something else. I am the Chinese representative in a group that is trying to gather intelligence on a terrorist organization in the USA.”
“In the USA? That is strange. Why are you interested in US domestic terrorism?” said Rhona.
“They are based here, but we think all their activities are outside the country and China is one of their targets. To be truthful, we are not really sure what their plans are or where they will be active.
“What can I do to help?” said Rhona
“We want to expand the size of our group and I have recommended you. Are you interested?”
“Who are the other group members, Little Sister?”
“CIA, FBI, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, MI6 and French DGSE.”
“Very impressive. I am interested but I will have to get clearance from Beijing.”
“It is already authorized by Director Duan; you can confirm that. Can you come to Seattle soon?”
“It may take a few days. Thanks for recommending me. I’ve been spending too much time at my desk lately. Like you, I am a field officer not a desk jockey.”
“Good. Let me know when you’re coming and I will meet you,” said Li Mei.
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We’ve located a very likely building that could be used as a transit point for clients, Li Mei,” said Sean as he closed his office door while Li Mei sat in the chair opposite his desk.
“It is a rather large bar or lounge purchased by an American male who we are still trying to identify. The purchase was made by a numbered company. We traced the ownership through a series of buffers back to China. We’re still trying to identify the American.”
“I might be able to trace the ownership in China, but I doubt very much if they can be connected to the Red Dragons,” said Li Mei.
“That doesn’t matter too much, as long as this in the meeting place for the clients. We’ve got surveillance on the meeting place. It’s only sign says “Lounge” in a dim green light on the front of the building. It is going to be more difficult to locate the brothel; there are literally hundreds of possibilities. So far, we can’t confirm this lounge is the place we are looking for but we have only seen Chinese around this lounge even though it was purchased by an American.”
”I know we have to rescue the children as soon as possible,” said Li Mei, “but we can’t overreact so we’re unable to tie Fong Lei and any of the other leaders to this. Remember also, these Red Dragons are smart and vicious. They’ll kill all the girls so they can’t testify in your courts.”
“If you think you can get inside, Li Mei,” you had better do it soon. A raid is risky for all concerned even if we can get Fong in the brothel. With bullets flying around, some of the girls could be hit.”
“As soon as you’re reasonably sure it’s the right place, I will approach them for a job.
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Gary Webster entered Sean’s office after knocking but not waiting for a reply. He never did this very often, and was the only agent who could get away with it. Sean knew it must be something important.
“Sean, I’ve had a few teams canvassing the major hotels to find out where Fong Lei is staying. The agents never showed his photo or mentioned his name because we never know who is on his payroll at these hotels. They were just saying that they were trying to locate a middle age Chinese man who had arrived from New York and was wanted for fraud.”
“At the Holiday Inn downtown, a desk clerk described a new guest that could be Fong Lei who was in his room at the time as far as the clerk knew. They staked out the lobby and within an hour, Fong came down for lunch. It was him for sure even though he is using another name. I’ve applied for a warrant to tap his phone.”
“Good work Gary. Pass on my thumbs up to the team that located him.”
“One other thing, Sean. Here is a list of names of new Chinese arrivals at these hotels for the past few weeks. I can’t put my finger on it, but something about these names rings a bell. Have a look at it and see if anything jumps out. There is a brief description beside each name.”
Sean scanned the list and instant recognition showed on his face.
“Geez,” said Sean. “This name, Chan Meng, is the name of the guy Li Mei and I saw in Sanya sitting with Fong Lei. The description indicates it could be him. I didn’t know he was involved with this. It says he is staying at the downtown Hilton. Li Mei sent his photo to my smartphone, which I am sending to you now. Pass the photo on to a team to stakeout the hotel to confirm his identification. Li Mei says he is a corrupt politician but to my knowledge, she never suspected he was involved in this. As soon as it is confirmed that this is the Chan Meng who was with Fong Lei in Sanya, get a warrant to tap his phone.
“I’m on it Sean. I think we are seeing progress now. If Li Mei can get inside the organization, we may be able to rescue those girls.”
“Assuming we have the right transit place and can locate the brothel fairly quickly, we’ve got to create a flawless plan for the raid. I am more than concerned some of the children will be shot, either by accident or on purpose,” replied Sean.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“I will try a few of these girls,” said Chan Meng, Deputy Party Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Beijing Municipality, and a senior member of the Red Dragon Triad. “I want to start with the granddaughter of Second Bureau Director Duan.”
“Good choice,” said Fong Lei. “She is the most beautiful of all.”
“Yes, maybe so, but I am choosing her first because I hate her grandfather. I know he dislikes me, and does not hide his contempt. I will enjoy having his granddaughter suck my cock. I think I will send him a photo of that.”
A few minutes later, Chan Meng entered room number seven
that had been assigned exclusively for Duan Xiaowei, both to please the pedophiles and for her sleeping after she had fulfilled her sexual duties each day.
“You are a very pretty young girl,” said Chan Meng to Duan Xiaowei who sat on the bed looking petrified and on the verge of tears.
“Now get on your knees. You are going to give me a blow job and I will tell you what to do. I think you will enjoy this as much as I will.”