Free Blood Passage by Michael J. McCann Page B

themselves, but there seemed to be no alternative.
    Unfortunately, Philip did not take the hint. Instead, he killed one of Uncle Sang’s nephews in retaliation. Peter did not hesitate. He picked up Philip’s security detail, a group of five men, and shot them all. Himself, personally, in a riverfront warehouse leased by one of Philip’s businesses. He could have delegated it to his men, but his strong loyalty to Uncle Sang made him very angry at Philip’s defiance, and the killing of the nephew was the last straw. Philip’s home was burned and his wife and children were taken and bundled off to Hong Kong. Isolated, Philip lashed out, wounding one of Peter’s men in a gun battle along the river. The next day Martin was found dead in the alley, and the dressing of the scene with heroin and syringes made Peter immediately think of Philip, since one of Philip’s business interests was a distribution network for heroin.
    Peter spread the word that Philip Ling’s life was forfeit. Philip went into hiding and eventually surfaced in Hong Kong. Peter traveled there to find him. Philip disappeared again, perhaps to the Philippines, and Peter returned to the United States. Shortly thereafter Philip returned to America and made an attempt on Peter’s life by hiring one of Peter’s own men, Foo Yee, to kill him. Foo told Peter about it. Peter caught Philip by pretending to be Foo coming around to pick up his payment for the dirty deed. Peter worked very hard to force a confession from Philip that he was responsible for Martin’s death. Philip denied it to the very end. His last words, forced through bloody lips, were: I don’t know who that is .
    Wasted time. While the real killers of Martin went free.
    Now his cousin Grace’s little boy was saying crazy things about having been Martin in his previous life. He knew things about Peter that he should not know. He was only three years old; how would he know these things? Grace swore she never talked to the child about Peter. Or about Martin, for that matter. What to think?
    Peter was ready to believe what the child was saying. He had begun a search for Shawn and Gary, the two men the boy said had hurt him. He asked his police contact to run the names in the system, but there was nothing useful. Then the university student showed up. Peter wanted to know everything the student was finding out. However, now that the police were apparently involved again in the investigation of Martin’s murder he was thinking it might be best if Grace and Taylor no longer dealt with them. He needed to find out the name of the cop. He also needed to talk to Grace, to tell her that little Taylor should be kept quiet. Grace should not talk to the police or the student, and Taylor should definitely not talk to them. He must go and see her right away.
    He must make sure that she would stay quiet.
    Peter chewed on his lower lip irritably. The renewal of the search for Martin’s killers was taking time from his primary responsibilities. Uncle Sang had ordered him to investigate rumors that someone was doing business with outsiders in a way that was detrimental to the society. The fact that these rumors had come to the attention of the council via Hong Kong only made it worse. Dealing with outsiders was not forbidden per se , but if it was against the interests of the brotherhood it was a violation of the thirtieth oath and punishable by death. Diverting revenue that should benefit the families of the brotherhood was construed by the Dragon Head as just such a violation, and it was Peter’s job as the Red Pole to enforce the oaths and punish violators. It was not up to him to make value judgments, merely to find the wrongdoers and deliver their punishment.
    Peter had talked to a few people and everyone swore they knew nothing about anyone doing anything irregular. Idiots. But he had deliberately started with the individuals he had known to be fools, in order that word might spread throughout the society