A Warning From Beyond Part V
By: P.G. Barnett
Tags: Storytelling, Henry And Sunny, Stories, Fiction Writing, Short Story

We’d finished our breakfast, and fruit by the time Manny Hermanos stepped through the revolving door with a pair of gentlemen of Asian descent in tow.

As if he didn’t even recognize us he and the two men walked past us toward the elevators. We watched in shocked silence as they disappeared behind the elevator doors.

“Either of you want to tell me what the hell just happened?”

“Got me by the ass, Sunny. Rebecca?”

“I think it’s Manny’s way of telling us to follow. We probably need to go upstairs to his suite. Too many eyes around here. I think he wants to make sure nobody connects us to him or vice versa. We can’t run the risk of this thing going wrong.”

“Makes sense. He should have told us what he was going to do last night.”

“Henry, I think with Manny, somethings he does are on a need to know basis, and we probably didn’t need to know.”

We all pushed ourselves out of the couches and chairs in the lobby and headed for the elevator. Somehow Manny, by his actions, had managed to give us a sudden case of the nerves, an awareness of the seriousness of the situation.

And none of liked it one bit.

For that very reason, that feeling of uneasiness, we parted company at the elevators. Two of us taking one car and the other another elevator. We huddled up, quickly walking down the hallway until we reached Manny’s suite.

After a long minute and a half, the door finally opened. Manny stepped back to allow us entry, but none of us missed the motions of the two Asian men as they withdrew their hands from the insides of their jackets.

“Introductions are in order. This is Bo Chen and Li Wei Huang. They work for the bureau’s JTTF and have probably spent more time following the tracks of some of these gangs than anyone in the bureau.”

The smaller of the two men, although both seemed perfect specimens for an MMA cage fight, shook our hands and stepped back as his partner did the same.

“So Bo, how much do you two know about the Triad?”

“It’s Wu, right?”

“Yes.”

It depends on which one you’re talking about, Ms. Wu. We know the FDS very well. We know most of the forty nines, and of course, we hear about the blue lanterns as well. We know your brother is a blue lantern, and what we hear on the street an initiation ceremony is going to be happening pretty soon.”

“What the hell are forty nines and a blue lantern?”

“Remember what I said last night, Henry? They don’t go by titles or names. Forty nines are the ordinary members, the grunt work guys who usually do all the heavy lifting. The blue lanterns are uninitiated members. What do you know about the Wo Hop To?”

“I’ll have to let Lilly take this one ma’am. He spent some time in San Francisco.”

“Yeah, the Wo Hop To was run by a Mountain Master named Leung. Word on the street is that Harry Chow had one of his boys pull the trigger. Chow was on his way to becoming a Mountain Master of the Hop Sing until the feds took him down for murder and corruption. He’s doing life in San Quentin.”

“So If Sunny and I approached some of the forty nines indicating we knew Daniel was the shooter and we wanted him for our own justice, do you think FDS would give him up?”

Both men looked at one another, and then the shorter of the two gazed at the three of us.

“Wouldn’t be their decision. You would have to meet with a Deputy Mountain Master and probably the Vanguard. If you managed to convince them, then yes, they’ll probably hand Daniel over to us.”

“And if I can’t?”

“Then they’ll probably kill all of us, and then Daniel as well.”

“Wow, talk about some great odds here. I do not like this shit at all, Manny. You expect us to risk our lives on a maybe?”

The man calling himself Lilly grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s Henry, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, Henry. Ms. Alexander and Ms. Wu may be able to get inside FDS, but I’m afraid an old white guy won’t. A black lady like Ms. Sunny and, of course, Ms. Wu being Chinese, won’t raise much suspicion. No offense, but they don’t trust white folks very much.”

“I…”

“Henry, don’t start. These two operatives know their shit. Besides, I’ll need you in the rolling surveillance van once these two and Bo and Lilly start making their move.”

“Sitting in a surveillance van? Seriously Manny?”

“Seriously, Henry. Haven’t you been paying attention here?”

Manny got up from the couch and walked over to a large suitcase, then opened it up on the coffee table. From it, he produced four earbuds and handed one to each of the four people who would be in the field. After a quick com check, Manny nodded then pulled out four, button cams from the suitcase.”

“Make damn sure these are high up on your blouses, ladies, and gents. Henry and I aren’t interested in seeing nothing but crotch shots.”

“Well, it depends on…”

“Shut up, Henry. Okay, you guys ready? Remember, at first, just be a tourist. Don’t try to do a deep dive into this just yet. We want them to come to us, not the other way around. We start at Worth Street and work our way east and west, then north, then east and west. Everybody got it?”

Manny handed a glossy photo that showed a cropped photo of Daniel Wu to Rebecca waited until she put it in her purse then looked at all of us to be sure we all understood. With a nod of his head, he headed for the hotel room door.

“Come on, James, the surveillance van is around back. It’s going to be a little cramped, but you’ll get used to it.”

“Manny, please tell me we’re not eating burritos for lunch.”

READ ON — A WARNING FROM BEYOND PART VI

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© P.G. Barnett, 2019. All Rights Reserved.