Neon Dragon by John Dobbyn Page B

Kong looked at me like something he could put in an egg roll. I had no idea what Harry was saying with astounding composure, but it had a most desired defusing influence. When Kong spoke again, it was with deference, and it sounded like a question. Harry gave him a few clipped words, and he backed out of our way. I heard the door behind us open, and when I looked back, the gang of three had vacated.
    With Kong receding into the passageway, I could see a short, plump Chinese woman of what I guessed to be something over fifty years standing by the first door to the right. She was decked out in a green silk-brocade sheath that did not need a lengthy slit to reach her hips. Fifty pounds and thirty years previously it might have been becoming. At this point, her wearing of the uniform of the profession seemed as pointless as a baseball manager wearing cleats.
    I assume she had followed the exchange, because she was all grins and welcome in English, more or less.
    â€œYou most welcome. Come in. Come in.”
    Harry and I finished the last few stairs and followed her into a room that would have worked as a sumptuously decorated living room in any home in Brookline. Chinese red was the predominant color in fabrics that could have adorned a silkworm’s museum. The lighting was dim, the music was lush, and the aroma would make a water buffalo amorous.
    She spoke in a tinny voice, strained through a grin that suggested that she was at our service.
    â€œHow we please you, gentlemen?”
    Introductions seemed out of place. Since Harry had accomplished the impossible in getting us this far, I took it from there. The object ofthe moment seemed to be to get alone in a room with Mei-Li with as little explanation as possible. I came directly to the point.
    â€œMei-Li.”
    That did it. The toothy grin opened as her head went back.
    â€œAh. Excellent choice. Very beautiful. And you, sir?”
    For the first time that night, Harry was stuck for an answer. The best he could do was, “I’m with him.”
    I have no idea what that suggested to the honorable madam. Whatever it was, it did not upset her sensibilities. The grin was a fixture, but nothing even registered in her eyes.
    â€œSo. Please follow.”
    She opened a second door and welcomed us to a room that made the first room look like a freshman dorm. She closed the door behind us. I assumed that she went to hustle up Mei-Li.
    I looked at Harry, but not before taking in the essence of our surroundings.
    â€œI take it the clientele here is not off-the-street.”
    He exhaled as if it were his first breath since we came out of the cold. He was smiling, but shaking his head. The message he was sending was something between conflict and frustration.
    â€œYou can’t understand. There’s just no way.”
    I came close enough for a whisper to work below the level of the music.
    â€œI’m willing to learn, Harry.”
    Something caught in his throat that made his voice sound like gravel.
    â€œYou still don’t get it. The people they serve here have more wealth and power in their own world than you could dream of.”
    â€œDrugs?”
    Harry edged closer and dropped his voice below the level of the music. His hands went up in a gesture.
    â€œTip of the iceberg. Drugs are big, but this empire runs on everything illegal. Extortion big time. Illegal alien smuggling. Slavery, prostitution,those two go hand in hand. Police corruption. That’s a commodity they can sell to other organizations in other states. You beginning to get it?”
    â€œWhat I don’t get is how you know about it. You’re not into this.”
    For a fraction of a second I was tempted to end that last sentence with a question mark. I decided to go on faith. It probably saved our friendship.
    â€œYou don’t have to be a part of it to know about it if you’re Chinese. There isn’t any Chinese I know, no matter how far out of Chinatown, who