But now Kuang understands exactly how that rival felt. Moreover, as he watches his delightful television show, he considers what he’ll do for today’s promised episode.
Kill the white woman? Lop off one of the whore’s fingers and have it delivered to Rhode Island? Call in a doctor to induce labor so that Victor Zhang could watch her deliver his firstborn into a prison?
The possibilities are endless. And delicious.
However, the ringing of his personal phone interrupts his grisly plans. It’s his son.
Kuang answers the call with a smile, “I was just watching my new favorite television show. Your Hawaii contact really came through.”
“So he told me,” his son answers. “His brother texted that everything went off without a hitch.”
Kuang looks to the brother, Jason, who is currently standing in front of the discreet sliding wall panel, in his new role as a guard for the prisoners. The Silent Triad made a habit of inducting members into their ranks regardless of their country of origin. They are primarily composed of Chinese, but they’d also let in Filipinos, Vietnamese, Koreans, Cambodians, and if the rumors are correct, even a few whites.
Inviting outsiders into your triad was a completely repulsive idea to Kuang, Americanism gone too far. And he was reluctant to take his son’s advice to induct this particular Filipino into the 24K. But now he has to admit, “Your instincts were exactly right. Let this be a lesson to all of us. Partnerships are fine, but in the end, the only people you can truly trust are family.”
“That is correct,” his son agrees, his voice embittered with resentment. “I’m excited to make that Han pay next.”
Kuang’s chest tightens with pride. To think less than two years ago, he didn’t trust his son enough to handle the government’s investigation into their sex trafficking business.
But look at him now. Not only helping his father vanquish his enemy from over 3000 miles away, but also close to dealing retribution to the man Kuang technically sent down there to usurp him.
Kuang will not apologize. That is not something Dragons can do without losing face.
But feeling generous, he lets his son know, “I am proud of you. You have served the 24K well today. Especially your Dragon.”
His son goes quiet on the other end of the line. And Kuang immediately regrets saying anything. He hopes his son won’t become emotional. The temper tantrums he used to be known for throwing were bad enough. It would not do for him to also start making emotional displays of sentimental weakness, especially now that he and not Victor will eventually replace him as the head of the 24K.
But in this case, his son does not embarrass him as he has in the past.
“Doze, Baba, nei ge gu lai,” his son responds, simply thanking him for his kind words.
It’s a heartwarming moment, and Kuang once again glances at the computer monitor to get another hit of accomplishment from his prisoners’ misery.
But then he frowns. Both of the cameras on the screen have gone black.
“I will speak to you at another time,” Kuang quickly says to his son before hanging up.
He has two guards stationed inside the door and two outside, so he calls out loudly, “Whichever one of you knows more about computers come here!”
The guard to the left of the door steps forward.
“Maybe there’s something wrong with the monitor?” Kuang suggests when he comes over to the couch.
“I am not sure about that,” the guard answers carefully so as not to insult his boss. “But let’s see….”
He taps a few keys, and the picture on screen switches to a gallery view of the many security camera feeds situated around the house. They can see what’s happening on the other ones easily. Only two have gone black.
“It’s probably the cameras themselves,” the guard explains. “If you want, I can go down and check on them.
Kuang begins to say yes, but then a familiar fear gives him pause.
This game of spy versus spy with The Silent Triad has taught him to be careful about who you trust. Right now, only Jason knows the code to get into the panic room. And only Jason has the remote to let himself out. Kuang doesn’t particularly want to give another guard so much power.
“Go in there and see why the cameras are not working,” he commands the Filipino. “If you cannot figure out what’s wrong, bring it to this one. He will fix it.”
“On it, Boss,” Jason says before punching in a long code into a keypad located under a piece of artwork to let himself into the panic room.
After the wall panel closes behind him, he and the guard turn back to the monitor to see what will happen next.
But then, another one of the security camera feeds catches Kuang’s eyes. The one from the front gate.