The Code War (49 page)

'Ah Fen, what a pleasant surprise.' Dan
looked at his watch. 'Why are you here?'

'I don't know. Missing this place, I
guess.' She looked around at the spartan room.

'Don't you start,' said Dan, wagging his
finger. 'What is it?'

'One of my contacts came to see me
while I was out having dinner with my husband at a stall. He is a
member of Brother. He works for Nescafé Mao.'

Dan butted in.
'Nescafé is the Red Pole Enforcer who sends heroin around
Kowloon in coffee jars along with groceries, isn't he?'

'That's the one,' replied Hui Fen.
'This contact, let's call him Fang, is disappointed with Brother
because of the turmoil the organisation is going through right now.
He already hated his boss, Nescafé Mao, because of not getting paid
enough for a job he did some time ago. But now he says he wants to
shop Nescafé. He wants us to arrest him. He's given me information
about how we can catch Mao in a warehouse in Wong Tai Sin where
they are packaging up red chicken heroin in Maxwell House jars
before shipping it to the Island. Thing is, sir, we only have an
hour before they leave the warehouse. If you're going to ambush
them, it's got to be now.'

'What does he want in return?'

'Nothing. Though if I took a guess
I would say that he wants Nescafé out of the way so he can set up a
similar operation later. Whatever his motives, you have a chance to
make an impact on Brother. If that's what you want to
do.'

'You're darned right it's what I want to
do,' said Dan, thinking furiously.

'OK, I want both of you ready to
roll in ten minutes. Don't tell anyone else about this, Hui Fen,
because Brother have spies everywhere, including in this
building.'

'Sir, begging your pardon,' said Hui
Fen.

'What, Ah Fen?'

'Sir, I'm happy to go on the raid.
But not as a shock troop. I'm not a good shot with a gun. Just in
case it comes to that. You need more people with you sir, the three
of us are not enough.'

'I know Ah Fen.'

'Sir,' said Liu Jai. 'I will call
Sergeant Tung. He lives nearby. He did not want to be part of a
special Brother investigation team but I know he will join us for a
hot mission like this. It's his job and he will do it.'

'Thanks Liu Jai. OK phone Ah Tung and
get him here now. I'm going to the bar.'

'The bar sir?'

'I saw Tse Siu Lung, the DDI, and two
uniformed inspectors heading for the officers' mess a moment ago.
If I'm lucky they won't have had a beer yet. I'll try and get them
to join us. Then we'll be seven, including Hui Fen. OK everyone, we
leave here in eight minutes, no matter what happens.'

Six minutes later, just as Ah Tung
walked in, Dan began his briefing.

'Welcome all of you to this impromptu
SWAT team. We're going to rush a warehouse in Wong Tai Sin. Hui Fen
has the address. We believe there are drugs there but we don't know
how many bad guys. We're going in two cars, mine and the DDI's Mr
Tse. We'll just have to get there, survey the scene when we arrive
and make an onsite decision as to how we're going to make the bust.
We have no time to do a recce. Any questions?'

'I can help,' said one of the uniformed
inspectors. 'My name is Cheng, I've just come off shift with
Emergency Unit. I'm going into the yard now to round up a few lads.
We'll take a Land Rover and follow you. The Land Rover has some
axes and crow bars in the boot in case we need to smash our way in.
OK?'

'Brilliant,' said Dan, checking his
watch. 'Thanks Cheng, your initiative is really appreciated. OK, to
the vehicles everyone, let's go.'

The Blue Diamond
Warehouse and Godown

There were brothers standing in tiers on
boxes and crates. There were brothers lining both of the side walls
and brothers had even climbed up to the gantry and perched
themselves along its length, legs swinging into the space
below.

Rank had its privileges of course so at
the front of the ensemble were current Brother of Brothers, Fatty
Lo flanked by Frenchy and Chopper Kwok. Beside and behind these
were the other senior men in the organisation with their odd
titles: Red Pole Enforcers, White Paper Fan Organisers,
'Forty-Nine' Fighters and even some Blue Lantern initiates.

The cock pit was concealed with oak
beams and covered with rugs as if it did not exist. Sitting
cross-legged on the rugs and surrounded by the thick wall of
Brother men were the twenty or so members of Golden Horse who had
been present on the night Nancy was raped. They looked about them
cautiously and awaited their fate with resignation. Whatever would
be, would be. Many claimed they had not touched Nancy and had
simply enjoyed the brandy, the drugs and the gambling. Few believed
them.

All were facing towards a small area at
one end of the godown on which was placed an ordinary fork lift
pallet, covered with a sheet of clean dark plywood.

Lighting was limited to a number
of wall lights, installed by Brother specifically to create the
right atmosphere for cockfighting nights. Someone with thespian
pretensions had helpfully installed a temporary floodlight which
rayed down on the pallet. Many were smoking cigarettes but there
was no drink. It was not that kind of night.

The Golden Horse men were sullen and
subdued. But they were also frightened. They knew that if the mood
turned nasty it was quite possible that some or all of them could
be executed. There had been little contact between Brother and
Golden Horse before now so there were no fraternal relationships,
no joint money-making escapades to reflect on and no shared
histories of drinking and whoring to bind them together.

A low murmur continued around the room
as gangsters deliberated with their mates about what would happen
next. There was no precedent for this gathering, no guideline. And
it came at a time when Brother itself was already riven through
with fractures. Cliques of brothers stood with each other, ignoring
other cliques. Suspicious glances abounded. All organisations had
cliques and politics. Brother's were now bubbling to the
surface.

Outside, tin man tois - royal
observatories - stood guard in case of a police raid. Though if it
happened, well, they were just a voluntary organisation having a
conference, what harm in that?

Inside, smoke drifted upward and the
ubiquitous mosquitoes dived, settled and gorged their fill on the
many veins that stood high, blood pumping through them in tense
excitement.

Fatty Lo cleared his throat and the room
fell silent. His position as ultimate boss was under threat but
until that particular question was resolved he was still Brother of
Brothers, Dragon Head, Fraternal Master.

'Brothers,' he called out in his
familiar calm voice. 'We are gathered here tonight because of a
shocking event that has befallen one of our own. You all know what
happened. In front of us we are joined by the entire membership of
Golden Horse who all took part in that event. They inflicted a
grievous insult on our ancient and estimable order when they
insulted our sister.'

Here there was a general murmur of
approval, tinged with anger. Whilst many of the Brother members in
the room had seen Nancy at the cock fight, few of them knew her
well and some had not met her at all. The most they knew was that
she was an effective casino hostess who had learned Cantonese in
double quick time. She had worked her way into Fatty's confidence
after performing some unknown, but apparently very difficult,
mission overseas. However, she was one of them and that's what
mattered. In an organisation that saw itself as besieged by the
police, the media, other triads and an unfriendly public, anyone
who could be called 'one of us' got a sympathy vote.

'Nevertheless,' Fatty raised his voice
realising that he needed to tone things down before they got out of
hand. 'Nevertheless,' he repeated, 'before we rush to judge our
colleagues from another band, a band that may still one day become
part of Brother..'

There were mumbles of both agreement and
disagreement at this

'..we must ask the one who was offended
to join us. And when she does I am going to ask each member of
Golden Horse to stand up and offer their apology. Once that is
finished I and the other leaders will gauge the sincerity of the
apology and decide the forfeit they must pay.'

Some of the Golden Horse men
looked around them at the shining, sweaty faces that outnumbered
them ten to one. They quickly looked down at the floor again, eager
not to inflame the already hostile gangster shell that encased
them.

Fatty Lo made a gesture to the
front with his hand and the room fell silent again. All eyes
focused ahead, many standing on tip toe to make sure they missed
nothing.

A slim figure emerged from the side and
walked with measured step to the pallet, stood on it and turned to
face the assembled throng.

But if any in the room had expected a
meek and mousey administrator type, or an elegant arm-dressing for
a rich, fat mobster or even a frightened abashed little girl whose
ambition had outstretched her ability and was now shaken to the
core, they were to be disappointed.

Nancy faced her inquisitors with a
look that would have stopped a Mongol invasion.

Her dark hair hung down behind her over
a mid-length black dress on top of black tights and open-toe black
shoes. Her right arm lay casually at her waist while her left hand
was placed on her hip making a v of her elbow. She slowly surveyed
the faces in front of her from left to right with an intensity that
made men falter. Many said later it felt like she could see inside
their minds and they were frightened what she might find there.
Such was the piercing quality of her look that many stopped
breathing in case the sound of it should draw her attention.
Eventually Nancy's eyes found their way to Frenchy, Chopper Kwok
and finally Fatty Lo. No judgement or condemnation did she make
with her regard. No sound did she utter, she didn't need to. All
were fixed on her as if the four horses of the Apocalypse had come
among them, for judgement day was surely here and Nancy held the
gavel.

Nancy lowered her gaze and began
to look from one to another of the huddled masses in front of her.
These too, could not unglue their eyes from her unflinching stare.
They had been told to confess their sin but all remained mute,
awaiting her order. It was Nancy, not Fatty, who would determine
what happened next. Still she was in no hurry. Her eyes probed the
gang and dwelt on each man in turn, holding them as if on justice
scales. Each one was weighed up, measured out, divided. The silence
was absolute. If a beetle had fallen to the floor, everyone would
have heard the thump.

Nancy let her gaze fall on a face in the
middle of the group. He was one of Monkey's right hand men, a
tough-looking former pimp and drug dealer. He too was transfixed.
Nancy jerked her chin a fraction of an inch, summoning him to the
front. He moved forward on his hands and knees until he crouched
before her. Nancy looked down on him until he raised his head and
met her gaze. For half a minute she continued to look into his eyes
with unblinking stare. He returned the look, too terrified to move
or drop his head. We both know what you did, Nancy's look said. If
you thought I was a willing prostitute, know this now, I was not.
You violated me.

There was no rancour or threat in
Nancy's eyes. There was no rage or revenge. Just the white hot
glare of ferocious fact. The triads behind were as silent as a
terracotta army and just as still. Only their wide white eyes
showed they were sentient beings, not clay. Slowly, almost
imperceptibly Nancy moved her right foot forward a few inches till
it rested just underneath the gangster's leaning body. She nodded
to it while still keeping her eyes on him.

After a moment the pimp
understood. He lowered his head to the floor and touched her
stockinged toe with his forehead through her open shoe. He looked
back at Nancy. She held his look until she was satisfied. Then she
nodded that he could go. As he crept back to his place, Nancy moved
her gaze to the next man. Soundlessly she summoned him too and he
shuffled forward and looked up into her eyes. After many seconds of
her soul-penetrating gaze he too was allowed to kowtow her foot and
then raise his head to look back up at her till he was
released.

So it went on until all of Golden Horse
had made their act of atonement. It was not the act that any in the
room had expected. But it was an act more powerful and more
cleansing than any had thought possible.

The mood in the room had changed.
Duty had been done. Ceremony had been observed. Honour had been
restored. Face had been given.

Nancy looked briefly from Frenchy to
Chopper and thence to Fatty Lo. They returned her look with a new
respect. All around the room, Brother men beheld her redoubtable
features and stern composure with wonder. They knew they were
experiencing a very special moment. In return, Nancy lowered her
head briefly as token of respect to the Brother men. Then she
turned and stepped off the stage and departed the scene as
noiselessly as she had arrived. Throughout the entire encounter
Nancy had not spoken a single word. People started to move and
breathe again. Death had put away his scythe. It was over.

Golden Horse men stood up and started to
look about them. They were still uncertain, but no longer
afraid.

It was Frenchy who now seized the
initiative.

'Golden Horse,' he called. 'You have
made your apology and it was seen to be sincere and has been
accepted.' He paused for a moment to let his words sink in. 'Your
former Dragon Head has told you that you are now part of Brother.
This is true. But it is not compulsory. If any of you want to
leave, do so now and you may go without trouble. If you stay, you
will become part of Brother and will become equals with us. Choose
now.'