by Ed Lin
My fingers tightened against the frame.
There was sure to be a commotion in the night market over this and Peggy was going to be here in the middle of it all.
Uncle Bing gingerly took the tablet and stashed it behind the register. “I guess you didn’t know about that, Jing-nan. It looked pretty real to me, too. Two hours from now, huh? I guess it could still be a prank, but do you think I should turn to the channel? I should probably charge a minimum to everybody who gathers around the TV, right?”
I was still stunned. “I don’t know, Uncle Bing,” I said absently.
“I admire your prowess as a businessman, Jing-nan. You really turned around your business. Help me out here!”
“Just follow your heart,” I muttered and walked away.
“What kind of advice is that?” I heard him say.
I called Peggy but she wasn’t answering. No sense in leaving a voicemail. I tried to send her a text: On second thought how about I go to where you are?
But the text wouldn’t go through. You suck, MobileTone!
I was bagging up chicken gizzards for a sullen teenaged boy when Peggy, Huang and Kung showed up about fifteen minutes later. I came from behind the counter and shoved the bag at the boy.
“Hey, kid. Just take ’em.” He broke into a smile and made his getaway. “Peggy, I tried calling you.”
She punched my arm. “My battery died after I talked to you. You must be the grim reaper.”
I tried to laugh it off.
Huang looked worn out. He stood there, rubbing his big nose like a molt was coming on. It must have been exhausting being with Peggy around the clock.
Kung looked worse. She had dark circles under her eyes and her body language said she couldn’t pull the plow anymore. Peggy must have the worst slumber parties.
“I’m glad you’re here, officers. Please sit down. I want to talk to my good friend here. Dwayne, how about you get these two nice officers a plate of skewers?”
Dwayne bowed. “Yes, my Han Chinese master!”
I grunted and threw an imaginary dagger at him. “Peggy, I think the kidnappers are going to stream a shooting tonight.”
She squared her stance. “I know. I saw the GIF. Isn’t that why you called me?”
“No. I found out later. If I knew about it, I wouldn’t want you here, basically surrounded by a gaggle of people watching it. Some of these losers might even film you.”
Peggy flared her nostrils. “I don’t fucking care. I’m already living my life in public, thanks to the kidnapping.” She narrowed her eyes. “It’s not like I’m going to be sobbing. No matter what happens.”
At seven o’clock, there was a noticeable slowdown in people going by. There weren’t fewer people—they were just moving slower because their eyeballs were pressed against their phones. I went back and forth between drumming up business and telling Peggy stories about food. For example, armies were responsible for many of China’s traditional foods. Skewers were originally cuts of meat cooked on swords after a battle.
At 7:30, word seemed to get around that Beefy King would show the stream across all three of its widescreen monitors. Viewers were expected to make a minimum purchase of an entree and drink in order to hold a spot.
At 7:45, Uncle Bing came to Unknown Pleasures to personally ask Peggy if she and the officers wanted to watch the stream on his monitors. He reasoned that the cops could get a better look at the environs on his big screens. Maybe they could find clues.
Kung put a hand on Peggy’s shoulder. “We don’t want to put you on public display. It could invite a copycat.”
I think it was Kung’s patronizing touch rather than what she said that compelled Peggy to tell Uncle Bing yes.
Uncle Bing had roped off a small area in the front for us. Dwayne came along since business was probably going to be dead, anyway.
Peggy scoffed at the barrier posts and unhooked the retractable belts. “We don’t need this,” she said.
A Beefy King flunky moved the posts aside. Huang reached across my chest to touch Dwayne’s arm. “Hey, tough guy. I need you to stand behind Peggy. And you, Jing-nan, stay on her left side.”
I moved without questioning my orders. Dwayne puffed out his chest and pointed at his own nose. “I have a name, you know?”
“Everyone does,” said Huang as he plugged in an earpiece. Dwayne grumbled as he moved into position. I looked around for Kung and saw her standing in the back, just outside the periphery of the crowd and also wearing an earpiece.
I looked up at the three monitors. They were all pointed at the streaming account, which displayed a large number 10. I looked over the crowd. There were probably three hundred people here. I doubted if all of them could see the monitors clearly. I looked at Peggy. My old classmate stood somberly, arms at her sides.
“Peggy, maybe we should get out of here.”
She shrugged. “And go where? I’d only be thinking about this.” Peggy looked at me sideways. “It’s not like I’m going to be the center of attention. Nobody’s going to be looking at me.”
I turned around and found that assessment true. Everybody’s eyes were up. I noticed that Kung was now standing on top of an overturned bucket to get a better view of the crowd.
People suddenly let out a collective gasp. I turned around and saw that the “10” had become a “9”. The countdown was on. At “5,” Peggy grabbed my hand and held on. I closed my fingers around hers to reassure her.
She had nice hands.
At “1,” Dwayne clamped a hand on my left shoulder.
There was no “0” count. The monitor displays flipped to the dog cages in triplicate. The kidnappers had set up rudimentary lights so that the shiny fear in the gagged faces of Tong-tong and the executive came through. Beefy King’s PA system amplified the sounds of fingernails scraping metal cage bars as the men wallowed.
The kidnapper didn’t make any speech before the gun came into view, clutched in his right hand.
“Which one will it be, huh?” the off-camera voice asked casually as the thumb caressed the side of the gun.
He began to sing “Two Tigers,” a nursery song in Mandarin set to the tune of “Frere Jacques,” and playfully swung the barrel of the gun from one cage to the other with each beat.
Two tigers
Two tigers
Run so fast
Run so fast
One of them has no eyes
One of them has no tail
Very strange
Very strange
The song ended with the gun pointed at Tong-tong.
“Let’s give it one more beat,” said the kidnapper. He turned to the executive’s cage, pushed the barrel of the gun through the bars and fired three times. The shots were so loud that each one caused the sound to cut out momentarily.
People in the crowd cried out. Peggy’s hand was hot and sticky like melted cake icing. Dwayne dug his fingernails lightly into my skin.
The echoes of the shell casings bouncing on the floor died away. Agonized moans came from Tong-tong. The gunman’s free hand, which was gloved, stroked the cage bars.
“Oh what’s wrong there, little tiger? Don’t worry. Now you get to have twice as much food!”
The impact of the shots had carried the executive to the back of the cage. Only his bare feet were visible.
The kidnapper retreated and the camera view wiggled slightly before shutting off. All three monitors went black.
I pulled Peggy to me and I hugged her. I never thought she could feel so soft.
Ten tactless seconds later, the monitors switched to Beefy King menus. Callous to his core, Uncle Bing called out to the crowd, which had been stunned to silence.
“Well, the show’s over, but combos are ten percent off for the rest of the night!”
Chapter 9
Now that there was a confirmed death in a public execution, the police ratcheted up their response level. Huang and Kung’s radios squawked with commands for the rank-and-file beat cops and street patrols.
After the crowd melted away, about thirty people remained. I wouldn’t have expected so many people to respond to Uncle Bing’s discounted food offer, but then again, a shouted bargain on good food will never fall upon deaf ears.
The five of us walked in silence back to Unknown Pleasures. We instinctively formed a protective ring with Peggy in the center.
We reached the stand where I found Nancy sitting in a booth. She stood up and I patted her shoulders.
“Did you see it?” I asked.
“On my phone,” she said, her face somber. “I got here a while ago. Frankie said you guys were at Beefy King but it looked too crowded for me to get up front and join you.” Nancy reached out and touched Peggy’s arm. “I’m sorry about the situation.”
Peggy rubbed the back of Nancy’s hand. “Thank you, thank you,” said Peggy, sounding tired. “I hope this nightmare ends soon.”
Kung leaned in with her shoulder and broke the physical bond between the two women. “Nancy, it’s nice to meet you in person. I’m Kung. I called you on the speaker from the lobby last night.” They shook hands before Kung turned to Peggy. “I have some not-so-great news. I’ve just heard from our commanding officer. We have to move you to a safe house.”
Nancy cautiously held up a hand and turned to Peggy. “I want you to know that I’ve found Liu Ju-lan, Ah-tien’s friend with the emails that prove he’s innocent. Maybe now your lawyer can use them to help get Ah-tien a new trial.”
Peggy smirked. Confused, Nancy looked to the cops and then turned back to Peggy, who now raised an admonishing finger. “Why should I help that bastard get a new trial? Because of him and his selfish stubbornness, a man is dead. Maybe Ah-tien deserves to die in jail.”
Nancy’s face turned completely neutral, which indicates that an Asian is at her angriest. “Your father is still alive,” she said evenly. “You can probably keep him that way if you contact this woman.”
Huang stepped in next to Kung. “We have to go right now,” he said. “The car’s here.” The crowds parted as a sedan rolled to Unknown Pleasure’s storefront.
“Hey!” I yelled at the car. “You’re not allowed to drive up here! It’s for pedestrians only!” I went around Huang to confront the driver.
A man of aboriginal descent in a suit stepped out of the car and looked through me. He glanced at Dwayne before nodding at Huang and Kung.
“Ready,” he said.
“Let’s go,” said Kung. She didn’t grab Peggy, but her raised arms blocked any escape from the car.
“We have to go back to my place so I can pack a bag,” Peggy protested.
Kung nodded. “We’ll make a list later and I’ll go get what you need.” Peggy must’ve been worried for her own safety; otherwise she would have never tucked herself into the back of the car so readily. Kung followed her in.
“We’ll help you out,” said Huang as he shut the door. He went around and dropped himself into the driver’s seat. The aboriginal officer looked around, smelled the air and then sat in the front passenger seat. The car was gone a few seconds later.
“She didn’t intend to sound so mean,” I told Nancy. “She’s under a lot of stress right now.”
Nancy nodded. “I understand that, but that doesn’t make this any less urgent. They’re still going to need the chip plans from Ah-tien.”
“I’ll send the information to the cops.”
Nancy pushed her mouth to the side. “Actually, I should be sure it’s the right person. If Peggy had given me a minute I would’ve explained that I was only ninety percent sure it was the right Ju-lan.”
Dwayne picked this moment to give me his assessment of the aboriginal officer. “That brother has killed before,” he said. “I can tell.”
I put my arms to my sides. “Hey, let’s not talk about killing people, all right, Dwayne? I still can’t believe what we saw tonight.”
Dwayne and Nancy nodded. Frankie turned down the heat on the grill and approached us. “I just happened to notice something,” he said in his understated way. “Look.” He showed us a screen shot of the dog cages on his phone and pointed at a shadow on the wall that looked like a thick line. “Keep your eye there.” He slid to the next image, which was a video capture, and pressed play. It looked like the shadow was wiping a corner of the wall over and over.
“That shadow’s moving back and forth,” I said. “That’s weird.”
“It looks like it’s repeating, but it’s not,” said Frankie. “It’s not even the same shadow.” He spread out his fingers and moved them over his phone display. “I think they’re spokes of a big wheel. The dog cages aren’t in a basement. They’re holding Tong-tong in a warehouse with windows high up.”
“Do you mean that could be a wind turbine,” said Nancy. “Do you think the warehouse is by a coastline?”
“That’s not a wind turbine,” said Frankie. “Turbine blades aren’t that big. I think we’re talking about a Ferris wheel.”
I spoke up. “The only Ferris wheel I’ve seen in Taipei is from the MRT when it crosses over the Tamsui River.”
“That’s Miramar Park,” said Dawyne.
“Miramar Entertainment Park,” said Frankie. “Have any of you been there?” All of us shook our heads. “It’s this giant, high-end shopping complex, topped off with that Ferris wheel. Guess who owns a big chunk of the commercial real estate around there?”
“That couldn’t be Tong-tong, could it?” asked Nancy.
“You bet it is!” said Frankie.
Dwayne whistled. “Man, that would be so fucked up if he were being held in one of his own buildings! Frankie, can you tell from the video where he’s being held?”
Frankie shrugged. He pocketed his phone and rubbed his nose. “If it were daylight, I probably could. I’m not familiar enough with the area at night.”
I touched Frankie’s arm. “You should tell Huang and Kung!” I said.
He tapped out a cigarette from his pack and stepped away to smoke it. “They’ll find out soon enough. I’ve already sent a message to a guy I know on the force.”
Nancy decided to stay with me at Unknown Pleasures because she was freaked out by the shooting. We all were.
It was a weird night for me. It’s always strange acting out my Johnny persona in front of my girlfriend. I’m normally not conscious about what I do and say, but with Nancy right there, I felt like a fake. A cheery fucking fool. She wasn’t even actively watching me. Her eyes were on her phone and she looked grim as hell.
About an hour later, Nancy called us all over. Frankie’s guy had come through. The police were going to hold an emergency press conference to announce they had rescued Tong-tong.
None of us felt like walking back to Beefy King so in order to see it on a bigger screen, Dwayne fired up the tablet that he liked to charge at work, at my expense.
The cops said that Tong-tong was safe, in relatively good health, but the perpetrators were still at large.
While they declined to say where they found Peggy’s dad, they noted that after a night of medical observation and rest, Tong-tong would hold his own press conference tomorrow. The cops didn’t take any questions.
“They didn’t even mention the murdered executive,” said Nancy.
“Nobody needs an update on a dead man,” I said.
Dwayne put his tablet to sleep and zipped up the carrying case. “Somebody had to care about him,” he said. “He had to have a family.”
Nancy sighed. “If he did, he probably never got to see them,” she said. “If you’re working for Tong-tong, you’re probably doing eighty-hour workweeks at a minimum.”
I shuddered. “The guy worked like a dog and then
he took a bullet for his boss,” I said. “I would never ask you guys to be like that for me.”
Dwayne stashed his tablet up on a shelf for safekeeping. “I wouldn’t do it,” he said.
“Nope,” said Frankie.
If the televised shooting cut the crowd in half, the press conference convinced the remaining people to head home. Pretty soon all of Shilin Night Market was a ghost town. We packed it in before 10:30 p.m., possibly the earliest we have ever closed.
Tong-tong was one of these guys who lived to work and worked to live. In other words, a typical Taipei person. Even after a few days in captivity in a dog cage, that maniac had called a press conference at 7:30 in the morning at his office in the Taipei 101 building.
Nancy and I sat on the edge of the couch to watch and she held me tightly. Peggy had texted me beforehand to make sure we wouldn’t miss it.
You’d never know Tong-tong had been away from showers, clean clothes and a bed. He mainly looked as he always had. Tall, unattractive and wearing an expression that said he was somewhat dissatisfied with his life.
His mouth was different, though. It was tense, like it was a size or two too small. His words were different, too. As ruthless as a businessman he was, he had never come off as mean before.
“The past few days have been the most harrowing ones my family has had to endure since the civil war in China,” he declared. “In the depths of the pit, however, I have found new clarity. I know for sure now that there are people who hate me and my family and our money. I know those people need to be eliminated from our society.
“I am offering a reward of one million NT to whoever finds these bastards! I don’t care if you have to beat them up! I don’t care if you have to carry them to the police station in bags! And to celebrate our most vigilant and steadfast citizens for the Double-Ninth holiday, I am offering a bonus of one thousand NT for each year a claimant is over sixty!”
A thousand NT? That was like nothing, especially compared with the million NT reward. Well, people will just focus on the word “bonus.”
Tong-tong raised a fist. “Let us all unite and find these lowlifes. Mainlanders, benshengren, Hakka, aborigines, and even you people from Southeast Asia who snuck in here illegally. I promise that if you snuck into this country and you catch my kidnappers, I will get you citizenship or at least delay your deportation!