The Chinese Woman: Red Dragons: A Spy Mystery Thriller: Li Mei Spy Action Series (The Chinese Woman: Li Mei Spy Action Series Book 4)

by Brian N. Cox

  “This is the most heart breaking case I have ever worked on. The inhumanity of the Red Dragons is difficult to understand. I will not soon forget this,” said Li Mei feeling a great deal of anger.

  Sean and Shirley Gong nodded in agreement and Sean said, “Now, tell me what happened to you, Lei Mei,” again looking at Lei Mei’s injury with great concern.

  “It was nothing. I just stumbled and hit my head. I deserve it for being so sloppy. Let’s go up to your office and we can talk in private,” said Li Mei.

  ***************************************************************************

  When they were in Sean’s office with the door closed, Li Mei enquired, “Are you recording this conversation?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “Good. While driving down I-5, about an hour north of Seattle, a car pulled alongside and the driver, a white male, shot at me. I went into a shallow ditch and saw the driver of the car walking back to my car with a gun in his hand. I slumped down and waited for him. He was obviously coming to ‘finish the job’ as you Americans say. When he looked in the car and raised his revolver, I shot him twice in the face. I have his two guns, wallet and something else in this bag,” which she handed to Sean.

  “Holy shit,” exclaimed Sean. “This is a Seattle Police badge and ID. He’s a detective….Eric Weins. Who is this guy? Have you seen him before?”

  “No, I have no idea who he is or why he tried to kill me. I don’t think it is connected to the Red Dragons. Only Fong Lei, and probably Wang Xicheng, know my real identity and they are being held incommunicado. I am assuming he is a contract killer. Why else use a revolver that doesn’t leave casings at the scene of a killing?”

  “I’ll hold on to these things,” said Sean. “They are going to find a body at the side of the road which is going to start a big investigation, especially when he is identified as a Seattle cop. They will immediately assume he was killed by some criminals with a grudge. How about your gun; where is it?”

  “I disposed of my gun. The bullets in his head will never be traced,” replied Li Mei.

  “I have some close contacts in the Seattle Police who I can trust. I’ll meet with Lt. Mike Kelly, in charge of their Organized Crime Bureau, and find out who this Weins is. We can meet later about this.”

  “OK. Completing our investigation of the Red Dragons takes priority right now,” said Li Mei.

  “Where are Fong and Wang….and where is Chan Meng?” asked Sean. “What in hell did you do with those assholes?”

  “I did not harm any of those animals,” said Li Mei, “but I did arrange for them to be dealt the justice they deserve. I believe they would not be convicted in the American criminal justice system. They would have the best high-priced lawyers; it is extremely unlikely that any of the girls will testify, and they have also taken precautions by registering an organization to indicate they are caring for orphans and unwanted children. Raising a reasonable doubt will be extremely easy for them. Don’t forget, there were no pedophile customers on the premises during the raid. On the outside chance they were convicted, the justice they would receive is nothing compared to the justice I have arranged for them. I promise I will give you a full account of the story later, but not now.”

  Sean was pretty sure he knew, or at least strongly suspected, what Li Mei did with the Red Dragon leaders. He couldn’t openly condone it or even suggest he suspected what happened to them, but he was secretly happy. He was well aware the Mei Hua Triad would be extremely angry with the Red Dragons.

  “I can wait, Li Mei, but we have a problem. Our initial reports of the investigation named Fong Lei and Wang Xicheng as the leaders in this criminal enterprise. We even mentioned Chen Meng when we found out about him. We are going to be asked what happened to them not only by the prosecutors but by the FBI brass and possibly even the media. We can only put them off for so long; there will have to be a manhunt.”

  “Can you say the Beijing Police officers assisting in the case apprehended them and returned them to China on a private jet without telling you? By the time you are ready for trial of the others, Fong, Wang and Chan will have been tried and executed in Beijing, at least that is what you will be told in an official report from China State Security.”

  “That should work,” said Sean. “The FBI brass and prosecutors won’t be happy but there is nothing they can do about it. The case started in China and we were technically assisting the Chinese authorities. There will be very few complaints when people are told what happened to them. Most people will probably be impressed with the fast justice. Even if they were convicted here, which is unlikely, the appeals would go on for many years. Can I assume that is close to what actually happened? Were they taken back to China by State Security?”

  “You can assume that,” said Li Mei. “I will tell you in two days exactly what happened.”

  Sean was used to this secretive, if not stubborn behaviour by Li Mei and knew that insisting she give him an answer to his questions would lead nowhere.

  “I do agree with you, Li Mei. Getting a conviction of the Red Dragon leaders would be very difficult, if not impossible. Even convicting the three we found in the brothel won’t be easy and I wouldn’t hold my breath about getting convictions on the two managers at the Lounge.”

  “I have every confidence in the American criminal justice system, Sean,” said Li Mei with a big smile. “I suspect they will all be convicted. I will send you an email shortly that will explain everything.”

  Sean wondered what the smile meant. The Chinese are often described as inscrutable and this certainly described Li Mei. Along with Inspector Gao of the Shanghai Police, she was the Mei Hua Triad’s greatest enemy, but she sometimes used them for her own purposes. How she managed that, Sean couldn’t even hazard a guess. Nevertheless, almost everything she said or forecasted came true. He sure hoped she was right this time.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  After talking to Li Mei in his office, Sean walked to the third floor interrogation room where the Lounge manager, Wei Jun, was waiting with his lawyer, Conrad Addison. Sean and Addison knew each other very well as both had been in Harvard Law School at the same time. Addison had worked for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office for five years and then entered private practice. He now was a senior partner in a very large law firm with branches in most major cities. The Red Dragons obviously had deep pockets as Conrad Addison, who had been on retainer, did not come cheap. Addison’s expensive three-piece suits and designer haircuts were a far cry from his appearance when scraping by on an ADA’s salary in Brooklyn.

  Sean entered the interrogation room and greeted both Addison and Wei, shaking Addison’s hand with genuine warmth. Addison was, in Sean’s opinion, a lawyer with integrity but he would pull out all the stops to get his clients off. He would probably outclass the federal prosecutor, Marie Phillips, at the upcoming trial. Phillips was very competent but not in Addison’s class, at least not yet.

  “I didn’t think the ASAC would be conducting the interrogation, Sean. This must be a very high profile case for the FBI,” said Addison.

  “I don’t think it is high profile, but we are taking this one very seriously due to the nature of the crime.”

  “I don’t blame you; it’s revolting,” replied Addison, “however my client had nothing to do with it. He will not be answering any questions so the interrogation is basically over.”

  “Actually, I have no questions for Mr. Wei. I am only going to present him with two options and he can take his choice,” replied Sean.

  “On one hand,” continued Sean, “Mr. Wei can refuse bail, plead guilty, testify for the prosecution and accept a lengthy sentence.”

  Addison laughed quite loudly at this, while Wei showed a big smile.

  “I suspect we’ll be taking the other option,” said Addison, with a big smile.

  “The other option is to plead not guilty, go to trial, and in the interim, we will not ask for a high bail as long as Mr. Wei tur
ns in his passport. In fact, there is a local Chinese support group who have offered to put up his bail if Mr. Wei is short of funds.”

  “Well you can rest assured, that is the option we will be taking,” said Addison while both he and his client smiled. “I wish these options were available to all my clients before their trials.”

  “Just one thing before you go,” said Sean. “An email was sent to Mr. Wei, and since it was directed to him, not to me, I don’t believe I have the legal right to hold it back or censor Mr. Wei’s emails since he has not been convicted of anything at this time.”

  Having said this, Sean showed Wei a photo on his smartphone. Wei literally turned white and started shaking, saying, “I don’t want bail. I will plead guilty and testify for the prosecution.”

  “Now just a minute, what is going on here?” said Addison. “Let me see that phone”.

  Sean showed Addison the photo on the smartphone and he also turned white.

  “My god,” said Addison. “Who is that? This is outright intimidation. I will be reporting this to the Attorney-General. I am surprised at you Sean; you should know better than to pull a stunt like this.”

  “I suggest you don’t report this Mr. Addison,” said Wei. “I don’t need a lawyer now. You’re fired.”

  “We’ll see about this. This is going to make the national news,” exclaimed Addison.

  “Conrad, you do what you have to do, but come to my office first and I will provide you with more information,” said Sean.

  Wei Jun was returned to his holding cell while Addison accompanied Sean to his office.

  When they both were seated and the door closed, Addison was about to light into Sean, but stopped when Sean held up his hand.

  “Before taking whatever action you intend to take, you had better listen to what I have to say,” said Sean.

  “I don’t have to listen to anything,” said Addison as he began to rise from his chair.

  “If you don’t listen,” said Sean, “there is a very good chance that you, your wife and kids will not live to see tomorrow’s sunset.”

  Addison slumped back into his chair. “What in the fuck are you talking about?” Addison was even more outraged but now decided he had better listen to what Sean had to say.

  “There is a very powerful Triad operating in Seattle and throughout the west coast and they are very angry with the Red Dragons, not only because the Red Dragons set up their child brothel in their territory, but for a much more important reason. This Triad, the Mei Hua, is very high-end, sophisticated and dangerous, yet very few know they exist or who they are. They operate below the radar and the very last thing they want is publicity and law enforcement’s attention.”

  Normally, when they kill someone, the victim just disappears with no sign of foul play. They don’t want the Red Dragons to go to trial, because that will be high profile publicity with the words “Chinese Triads” in the news daily. The photo that was sent to your client by the Mei Hua Triad, was the Red Dragon leader, Fong Lei, who had the children kidnapped in China and enslaved in the brothel here. This is a warning to the Red Dragons we arrested to plead guilty, keep quiet and accept the punishment of the courts. Anyone who opts to plead not guilty and get out on bail probably wouldn’t last two hours alive. You will find that all the arrestees will react exactly the same as your client.”

  “What in earth did they do to that man?” asked Addison. “I have never seen anything so horrible.”

  He died the traditional death of Triad enemies….death by a thousand cuts or a thousand swords. They did not touch his head other than to cut it off and put it between his legs so he would be recognized by the men on trial. Those photos will also get back to China as a warning to anyone else who wants to set up shop in Seattle. We received two similar email photos of the other two leaders of the Red Dragons but Fong’s photo was enough.”

  “Why is this Mei Hua Triad allowed to operate? Have you discussed this with the States Attorney or the federal Attorney-General?”

  “Yes,” replied Sean. “I have submitted several reports and asked for meetings but to no avail. I have suggested the creation of a Joint Task Force but they are not prepared to spend money and assign resources to investigate an organization they are not sure even exists. We don’t have any hard evidence but we are one-hundred percent sure of their existence. We have received assistance from the Chinese authorities who know much more about them than we do.”

  “In the defense of the state and federal authorities, and the police, I understand where they are coming from.” Sean continued. “The police must react to what they see, what they know and complaints from the public. The biker gangs, for example, ride around wearing crests announcing who they are and intimidating people wherever they go. The local Mafia is much the same. They don’t hide who they are and much of their success is based on intimidation. These and the street gangs are the high profile gangs that the police must respond to. They have no choice. To engage in a long term investigation of a low profile shadow gang who no one ever complains about will never get approval. The Chinese police have been here to help us and have even agreed to provide information and training about the Mei Hua to police agencies but no one is interested. They are too busy being overworked dealing with the crime they see and receive complaints about.”

  “Just in case you think I am trying to coerce you to keep quiet about this, I want to call in a Chinese police officer, who is here in the building, to confirm what I said,” said Sean. He picked up the phone and asked Li Mei, who was in Gary Webster’s office, to come to meet them.

  Addison was more than taken aback by the appearance of Li Mei, not at all what he was expecting. Sean introduced them and then she took a seat by the coffee table.

  “Officer Li, may I ask what happened to your head?” said Addison.

  “It is nothing;” said Li Mei with a smile. “just an encounter with someone who couldn’t shoot straight.” Once again, Addison was rattled by this answer.

  “Li Mei, I have suggested to Mr. Addison that it would be unwise to make a public statement about the email photo of Fong Lei. What do you think about that?”

  “Mr. Addison, if you are planning to give this situation publicity, the only way you could do this is to arrange for your wife and child to move away from Seattle immediately with a name change. Take great care that their whereabouts could not be traced. I would suggest the same action be taken for your parents if they are alive, regardless of where they are living in this country. If you do not act quickly, and are extremely careful in effecting these plans, your family will not be seen again. As for you yourself, you will disappear regardless of what you do with your family. The Mei Hua Triad will not tolerate publicity.”

  Hearing this, Addison looked like he was going to be physically sick and possibly pass out.

  “My god. This is the United States of America. This can’t be happening here.”

  “The FBI, along with the Chinese authorities, are working very hard to neutralize the Mei Hua Triad,” said Li Mei. “I can’t promise we will be successful; the odds are against us, but it will take many years of hard work.”

  “If they are so powerful,” asked Addison, “why don’t they just wipe out the Mafia and the biker gangs and take over all their operations?”

  “To the Mei Hua, those gangs are involved in peanut money. They are not interested in their mickey mouse operations,” replied Sean. “The Mei Hua controls about twenty percent of the international counterfeit products market which runs at about two trillion a year. They are involved in high profit economic crime. There is no Fortune 500 company that brings in as much money as they do. Selling drugs and shaking down restaurant owners for protection money is chicken feed to them.”

  “There is an even more important reason that they don’t confront these gangs,” continued Li Mei. “These domestic gangs attract law enforcement attention and keep them occupied. They also keep themselves in the news with all their intimidation tactics and
high profile crimes. This is exactly what the Mei Hua Triad want. They maintain a low profile and make billions while the police are off chasing these other gangs.”

  “I hate to admit it, but it all makes sense,” said Addison. “Now that I know what is going on, I am extremely happy that Mr. Wei fired me. I don’t want to be involved in this case. May I assume that the support group offering to put up bail is actually the Mei Hua Triad?”

  “That would be my guess,” said Sean. “Whatever you decide to do, Conrad, you have our support. Unfortunately, we are not in a strong position. We can’t guarantee we can protect you, in fact to be quite honest, we can’t.” said Sean.

  “One more thing, Conrad. Do not mention this to your law partners, friends or family members. Once you have told other people, the story is out of your control. Most people won’t believe this story and will probably repeat it causing the story to spread. There will be quick consequences when this happens. The Seattle Police missing person files will expand overnight.”