The Gaze of Caprice (The Caprice Trilogy Book 1) (35 page)

The restaurant wasn’t over the top but close enough to be mistaken.  Everything in the restaurant was hard to find, even in Hong Kong, where East met West.  The first floor was India with an elephant herd.  The space was open with porcelain elephant candleholders at each table.  Large elephant tusks crisscrossed each other on the far wall.  Authentic oil paintings of Asian elephants adorned the walls adjacent.  A single rug stretched from one end of the foyer to the other.  The rug told the story of peasant farmers and elephant riders.  Although the rug’s story was humble, the rug itself was not—hand-woven in the deepest mahogany-hued threads.  Black threads were used for the elephants, rust for the riders.  Headscarves were somber gray, not white.  There was no white.  The rug was manufactured in Panpat—one of a kind—made for the feeling of walking on busy earth not enchanted sky.  It came to Hong Kong by way of a private collector and came to the restaurant by way of his son.  The rug was a reminder from father to son to work hard and build a franchise.  The son practiced this lesson but the second part he learned on his own.  Once the money came in, he hired others to do the hard work for him then left Hong Kong for London and sold to a man named Lim Lee Geok, Raphael to his friends.  Deni Tam was one of his friends.  The restaurant was called
The Cavendish
after its British entrepreneur, Bentley “Ben” Cavendish and his father. 
The Cavendish
specialized in South Asian cuisine—more coconut and curry than soy or Sichuan. 
The Mynah Prime Palace
had been Uncle Woo’s favorite restaurant. 
The Cavendish
was Deni Tam’s. 

• • •

They were seated in Room 2 on
The Cavendish’s
exclusive second floor.  The second floor stayed with the elephants, but was more Thai-themed.  At the table were eighteen people, seven Dragon Heads not including Deni.  Mr. Cheung was there, along with a few more members of the other Triad branches.  Missing were the Jade Soldiers.  The Moons and the Blues were the only Triad branches with living Soldiers.  The Soldiers weren’t required to come to the initiation ceremony.  They weren’t needed.  The meeting of all Dragon Heads provided its own protection.  The ceremony was designed by tradition like the Soldier’s tattoo.  The eight Dragon Heads were to be present, representing the eight Triad branches.  A bowl symbolizing the dragon egg of Hong Kong was filled with rice wine.  All Dragon Heads passed the bowl to their right to let the next Dragon Head take a sip, only Dragon Heads drank from the bowl.  All Dragon Heads were required to say something about the others saving the guest of honor—Deni—for last.  Deni’s speech was to be at the end. 
The end of the rice wine.  The end of the meal.  The end of everything
.  Although Xiaoyu wasn’t required to attend the ceremony, he
was
required to take a polygraph test.  He had to remain in the hospital for two more weeks after he woke from his coma.  Deni wanted to purge the Moons of any untrustworthiness.  He had all Moons submit to a lie detector test.  According to Deni, he also took the test.  Deni’s explanation was to find out if anyone might have had a connection to Uncle Woo’s murder.  There were rumors that reached Deni’s ears that someone in the Moons’ organization had to play a part in Uncle Woo’s death.  Other Triads knew he ate at the
Mynah Prime Palace
, but only the Moons knew when he’d be there.  There were even Moons at the table with him before he died.  Xiaoyu was the last to take the lie detector after being released from the hospital.  Afterward, Mr. Cheung took him to an auto repair garage on Jervois Street.  As Xiaoyu followed Mr. Cheung into the garage, he saw it was cluttered—not with cars—with people.  Seven young men were occupying the tight two-story space.  One of the Triads’ telltale black
Mercedes
was on a rear-wheel jack.

“
They remember you
,” said Mr. Cheung.  Seeing Mr. Cheung made all of the young men come forward. 

“
This is Wang Xi, he’s great at body work and detailing.  We don’t take our cars to regular places
,” said Mr. Cheung.  Wang Xi extended his hand toward Xiaoyu.

“
Congratulations
,” said Wang Xi.  Xiaoyu took the hand and nodded. 

“
This is Huang Sitian, mechanic
,” said Mr. Cheung, “
That’s Yu Hong, he makes modification to our cars and makes sure they run better than factory specs. And he keeps track of what modifications are legal in Hong Kong.  Yue Tian he’s our cell phone and computer guy he also works on cars.  Yi Le works with him.  That’s Lin Jun who does nothing
.” Lin Jun shook his head. He looked at Xiaoyu and said one word,
electronics
.  One out of the group walked around Wang Xi and stood against the wall.

“
Xu Dong, I’m a mechanic and work with munitions
,” said the one against the wall.  Xu Dong stared passively at Xiaoyu, with steady eyes and a certain amount of something else—fear.  Xiaoyu didn’t recognize Xu Dong but Xu Dong was the Alpha of the group when Xiaoyu arrived in Hong Kong at eight years old.  He was the Alpha whom Xiaoyu had been made to fight, the one against whom Mr. Cheung said to hold nothing back, the one Xiaoyu sent to the hospital.  Now he didn’t care to be the leader, his will wasn’t strong enough to carry the lead; he saw leadership as a fool’s errand. 

“
There were twelve in the storage facility when I first came.  Where are the others and the ones from the hospital
?” asked Xiaoyu. 

“
While you’ve been training they’ve been training
,” said Mr. Cheung, “
They all have their jobs they do.  They don’t stay here because it’s too small.  The others share a flat in Sai Wan
, “said Mr. Cheung, “
High Street
,”

“
I need them here
,” said Xiaoyu.

“
I told them to come when they’re done
,” said Mr. Cheung.

“
I need them here now
,” said Xiaoyu.

“
Why
?” asked Mr. Cheung.

“
The Jade Soldier guards the Dragon Head and leads his arsenal
,” said Xiaoyu, “
This is not all the arsenal
.”

“
You’re right about that
,” said Mr. Cheung, “
OK
.”  Mr. Cheung removed his cell phone from his inside pocket and made a call to an oft-used number.  Over thirty minutes later, Liu Ping and four others were standing in the garage.  Xiaoyu gave Mr. Cheung a look that was easy to translate. 
You’ve put your trust in me before
.  Mr. Cheung raised both eyebrows and turned toward the door.  The sound of the door closing was the only sound echoing in the garage. 

“
Some of you I remember better than others
,” said Xiaoyu, “
That makes no difference.  We’re all here now.  Focusing on what has already happened is no way to fight.  I’ve seen a lot of fights and the loser is not always the slower or the weaker, but he’s always the most complacent—that dwells on what he’s done well in the past.  To fight and win you have to focus on what you haven’t done well and change that—adapt.  You have to be able to do it while in the fight, not in between.  If you wait for the next bout to fix it, you’ve already lost
.”  Xiaoyu removed his jacket and his shirt.  It was the first time the young men in front of him had seen the
Mark
.

“
This is what I’m talking about, dragons, Triads, respect, honor
. 
We lost our Dragon Head to five bullets.  Those five bullets took our respect
,” said Xiaoyu pushing one of the young men.

“
And our honor
,” he said pushing another.

“
You understand? Look back and look at the failure of the Moon Dragons.  Everyone here bears that guilt.  Me overall.  Look at it; it’s shame.  Now we have to adapt.  We have to do things differently.  First we look back, looking back I see three bullets in Uncle Woo’s heart.  Two in his head.  Three bullets form three points.  A Triad.  Now we have to look forward.  And that should be clear to everyone here.  Uncle Woo’s killer is a Triad.  If you say no, I’m saying he is.  That’s all that matters.  We have to lean on the other branches, shake the family tree, and see what rotten fruit falls.  We put the pressure on and we’ll find our uncle’s killer.  They’ll hand him over soon enough
.”  Xiaoyu looked down at the ground and paused.

“
It won’t be worth hiding him, when we’re done
,” said Xiaoyu pausing for the moment, “
If you want to talk about me or talk to me, call me Gui
.” 
Devil
.

• • •

The Grand Bay Island Hotel
was near Victoria Park in the Earth Dragons’ territory.  The hotel had a built-in sauna and bathhouse bearing the hotel’s name.  The sauna did its best to reply to the Roman bathhouses of antiquity, while adding modern updates out of modern envy.  Four men sat in the wide steam room called Olympus—two aged, two aging.  Although smoking was prohibited inside the bathhouse, one of the aged men did so without fear of reprimand.  The conversation ranged from business to politics to retiring.  One of the aging men rose to his feet, walking to the middle of the room to stand on top a steam vent.  He inhaled steam in his lungs and let it out.  He inhaled again but lost the opportunity to let it out.  A piece of flesh in the man’s back tore open and he fell face forward to the tile floor as if he had been knocked out.  The two aged men and the other aging man absorbed a brief shock.  The other aging man stood up with the idea to run and help but realized his friend had been shot.  Knowing he would be running into the line of fire, the aging man sat back down.  Xiaoyu was the first to appear in their line of vision, followed by Xu Dong and Wang Xi.  On the other side of the bathhouse came Liu Ping followed by two of his own.  All had guns drawn but not aimed; Xiaoyu was empty-handed. 

“
Which one of you is Old Lau
?” asked Xiaoyu.  The three men sat silent.  Xiaoyu grabbed the aged man on the far right and pulled him to his feet by his arm.

“
Old Lau
?” asked Xiaoyu.  The man stayed silent.  Xiaoyu snapped the man’s wrist backward and swept him to the floor.  He kicked the man hard in the stomach.

“
Stop
,” said the other aged man, “
I’m Lau.  What are you doing
?”  Xiaoyu looked at the aging man sitting next to the aged man identifying himself as Old Lau.  Xiaoyu kicked the aging man in the shin causing a rattling snap as the man tried to hold back his scream.

“
Is he really Lau
?” asked Xiaoyu.

“
He is
,” said the aging man.

“
Jade Soldier
,” said Old Lau, “
I can see the Mark on your hands and neck.  The jacket is covering the rest.  I never picked a Jade Soldier for us.  I came close twice but I decided against it.  Do you know why
?”  Convinced the old man was the Earth Dragon’s Dragon Head, Xiaoyu asked why.

“
Decency
,” said Old Lau, “
I always thought to be a good candidate you’d have to be a decent person.  It never mattered to me who was tough or street smart.  A Jade Soldier not only guards the Dragon Head, he represents the Dragon Head.  Too many boys these days are indecent.  It was more common to have a Jade Soldier years ago.  Despite war and occupation, people in Hong Kong were more decent in the years prior.  I was fond of Martin Ma Woo, he was nothing if not decent.  Now you represent him
.”  Old Lau paused and looked Xiaoyu up and down.

“
With little decency
,” said Old Lau.  Xiaoyu looked at Old Lau intently.

“
When Uncle Woo was around, things were more decent, but also less complicated
,” said Xiaoyu, “
Things have become very complicated.  I’m here not out of lack of decency but the excess of complications
.”  Old Lau looked at Xiaoyu with a slight smile.

“
Those dragons have imparted some wisdom on to you
,” said Old Lau, “
Use it well
.”  Xiaoyu nodded at Old Lau then spun on his left foot and kicked the old man in the left side of his head forcing his neck into an unnatural angle.  His body fell to the floor.  The slow filling and hollowing of his lungs caused his back to rise slightly as his body lay on the floor.  Seeing Old Lau still breathing, Xiaoyu used a quick kick from his right leg leaving Old Lau motionless.

Xu Dong holding the same suppressed pistol that shot the aging man shot the other aging man—three times.  Wang Xi screwed a sound suppressor onto his pistol and shot the aged man three times.  Xu Dong handed his pistol to Xiaoyu who shot Old Lau three times. 

Xiaoyu didn’t waste time.  Handing the pistol back to Xu Dong he signaled to Liu Ping to take his team out the same way they had come, through the men’s changing room.  The three with Xiaoyu hid their pistols inside their jackets and exited through the women’s changing room.  Huang Sitian was waiting outside in a black ’98
Opel Astra
.  Xiaoyu, Xu Dong and Wang Xi joined him in the
Astra
and headed East on Java Road toward Quarry Bay, Fire Dragon territory.  Liu Ping and his two, Li Tao and Xiu Ying, hopped into a silver ’96
Honda Civic
driven by Liu Jingyu and went west, back into Moon Dragon territory.  The
Civic
was followed by a green ’95
Mitsubishi 3000 GT
.  The
GT
covered the
Civic’s
retreat back to Moons’ territory.  Lin Jun, Yue Tian and Yi Le rode fully armed in the
GT
.  The last member of the group—Bai Feihong—stayed at the garage on Jervois Street as a failsafe.  If for any reason another car was needed, a white ’93
Mitsubishi
Lancer Coupe
was below ground in the garage’s storage space.  The
Civic
and the
GT
took a disjointed route back to the garage.  The black
Astra
headed for a busy intersection in Kornhill.