See You in Saigon (10 page)

Silverberry
blanched somewhat but held his ground. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.
There must be some mistake somewhere.”

Adler gazed at him
then addressed the constable who had handcuffed their captive a moment before.
"Read our friend his rights and take him in. I’m going to visit a couple
of his properties nearby and then I’ll catch up with you.”

He headed down the
hallway but stopped and turned when he reached door.

“By the way,
Silver,” he called out. “Just so you know, the same kind of deal is going on
with your places in Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, everywhere. We got
the full list and they’re all getting hit. Have a nice day.”

* * * *

By the end of the
day, authorities across North America had conducted some three hundred fifty
raids, arresting eight hundred eighty four people connected with the Devil
Delight’s narcotics network. Though quantities would likely never be compiled
across the continent, over one ton of heroin, six tons of cocaine, one hundred
fifty tons of marijuana and other illicit products including meth, Ecstasy and
LSD with a street value of close to two billion dollars were seized.

Through it all,
Dennis ‘Scorpion’ Roy slept in the luxurious apartment where Thao lived in
Saigon, unaware his empire back home had been decimated.

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon),
Vietnam, morning

“Good morning,
gentlemen,” said Jonathan as he ushered the four men into the anteroom, closing
and locking the door behind him. “The others are all here.”

He led them
through another door into the conference room he had reserved where his team
and the Americans chatted while they waited.

“You can help
yourself to refreshments if you like,” said Jonathan, gesturing to an
assortment of beverages and snacks on a side table.

“Thank you. Let us
formally introduce ourselves before we take advantage of your hospitality,”
General Quang replied before nodding to his men.

“First Lieutenant
Lâm Nhat Tanh,” announced the first officer as he briskly stepped forward and
saluted, an amusing gesture considering his casual attire.

The second officer
did likewise, barking, “Lieutenant Mai An Xuan.”

“Lieutenant Nguyen
Chinh,” said the third, replacing the salute with a slight, formal bow.

“And, of course,”
said the general, “I am Quang Tich Ty.”

“It’s good to
formally meet you, General,” said Jonathan, extending his hand. “Jonathan
Addley.”

“It is good to
meet you as well, Mr. Addley,” Quang replied, “And please, I would ask all of
you call me Ty. With the assistance you have graciously offered to deal with
this situation, I certainly do not deserve to be addressed by you with any
official title.”

“Not a problem,”
Jonathan replied. “We work well with first names as well. I’ll let these people
tell you what theirs are and then we can get down to business.”

Chris, Leslie,
Dave and their four American associates introduced themselves and once the four
officers had gotten themselves something to drink, they settled down around the
large conference table for their meeting. Without a set agenda, its purpose was
to establish initial contact and rapport, share information, brainstorm and,
hopefully start to develop a semblance of a plan to trap Scorpion.

“I’m certain we’ll
have a much better chance at getting results by working more closely together,”
said Jonathan as he opened the discussion, “Though I have to admit I was
surprised when you called yesterday to propose this meeting, Ty.”

“I had been
thinking and making personal plans for several days,” Quang replied. “Then
Scorpion called me yesterday with another threat to my family and I decided
enough was enough. I sent my wife, daughter and grandsons somewhere safe which
few people are aware of and I called you. I cannot live the rest of my life in
constant fear for my loved ones. A man who is willing to harm innocent women and
children for his personal gain is a monster who must be stopped.”

“Why was he
threatening your family again?” asked Chris. “Have you done anything to make
him angry?”

Quang smiled
faintly and replied, “No, but it seems you have and Scorpion believes I was
somehow involved, which I guess I was to some extent.”

“What exactly have
we done?” asked Jonathan, offering a smile of his own.

“You apparently
paid a visit to the Pham brothers,” said Quang, “And it seems you have damaged
his lab in Tây Ninh.”

Jerry Washington
let out a low, rumbling laugh. “Damaged. I like that, Ty.”

“A question,
General, if I may?” asked Mai An Xuan. “What did you mean when you said you
were involved to some extent?”

“I supplied some
information to our friends here when they arrived,” Quang replied. “Names,
addresses and photos of people and locations linked to Cao and now likely under
Scorpion’s control. Our friends have obviously already put some of this
information to good use.”

“We have no idea
where he is so we’re trying to shake him up and draw him out,” Jonathan
explained, “But before we go further, there’s something which I learned minutes
before we gathered here which I must share with all of you because it will
definitely have an impact on what we’re trying to accomplish. Over the last
twelve to fourteen hours, authorities across the United States and Canada
successfully initiated several hundred raids against the Devil’s Delight. These
raids resulted in the confiscation of hundreds of tons of drugs and almost a
thousand arrests including Scorpion’s top men.”

“Freaking
awesome,” said Brian Kelly as several others around the table nodded in
approval. “Do we have any idea how badly this will hurt their organization?”

“My understanding
is this may wipe them out,” Jonathan replied. “Thanks to reliable information,
key players from the top down were targeted so the Delight’s distribution
network has effectively been eliminated. Scorpion could ship tons of dope back
home but there isn’t anyone there to receive it except for the authorities.”

“I wasn’t
expecting these raids to happen so soon,” Chris commented. “All of this may not
work to our advantage.”

“How’s that?”
asked Steve Chen. “If he can’t get his shipments out, they’re worthless. He’s
finished.”

“I completely
agree but that’s not what I’m talking about,” Chris replied.

“I don’t follow,”
said Chuck Whittaker. “What are you getting at?”

“I see what he’s
getting at,” Dave stepped in. “Scorpion finds out his whole distribution
network back home is blown so it’s game over. What’s he going to do?”

“Disappear,” said
Leslie.

“Correct,” said
Chris.

“Shit,” said Jerry
Washington.

“Exactly,” said
Chris. “If finding Scorpion was tough so far, it will be damned near impossible
once he learns his organization is gone.”

“I believe this
can
work to our advantage,” said General Quang.

“What do you have
in mind?” asked Jonathan.

“If, as you are
saying, Scorpion’s empire has crumbled,” Quang replied, “He will quickly become
of little interest to anyone he was bribing here in Vietnam. In fact, I would
think he will no longer be inclined to pay anyone. I am most certainly in a
position to transmit this information and we could quickly have the entire
police forces and military working with us to help find him.”

“When he learns of
this, General, he may decide to retaliate against you,” said Nguyen Chinh. “He
may still have the support of Cao’s people.”

“I doubt Cao’s
people will support him for any length of time,” Quang replied, “Once they are
informed that doing so will result in severe consequences for them.”

“Based on the
information we have,” said Jonathan, “Scorpion has six men here with five of
them scattered around the country to manage local operations. Even if he calls
them in, he’ll have far from an army. How quickly can you get the word out, Ty?”

“As quickly as it
will take to write a communique on the subject and email it,” Quang replied. “I
will also speak to my counterpart at the People’s Public Security and to the
Minister of Defence to let them know what is going on and to inform them of your
presence. I presume I can share what we have discussed with them?”

“Absolutely,”
Jonathan confirmed. “News of the raids should already have started showing up
on the internet with a lot more to come as I have been told several major press
conferences have been scheduled. Will your bringing up our being here cause any
problems?”

“I wouldn’t think
so,” said Quang. “Since it’s likely some of the very people I will be speaking
to received money from Scorpion, they will be happy to have a team from North
America here to handle him. One thing I am concerned with however is the safety
of your spouses. Should Scorpion learn of their presence, they could
potentially become targets as we make his life more difficult in the coming
days. It might be wise to have one of my men keep an eye on them when they
aren’t with you.”

“That would be
much appreciated,” said Jonathan. “They’re already gone for the day to the
Mekong Delta though I’d doubt they would currently be in any danger. I’m not
sure what they’re planning for tomorrow.”

“They’re doing
another tour tomorrow,” said Chris, “Visiting a temple in the morning and the
Cu Chi tunnels after lunch.”

“That would be the
Cao Dai Temple near Tay Ninh,” said Nguyen Chinh. “With the general’s
permission, I will be happy to accompany them if you can tell me which tour
company they are going with.”

“Of course,” Quang
approved.

“Thank you,
gentlemen,” said Chris. “They booked it through the hotel here.”

“Very well,” said
Nguyen. “I will make sure to get a seat on the same tour when we are done
here.”

“Lieutenant, you
are no doubt familiar with the temple and the tunnels?” asked Quang.

“Yes, General,”
Nguyen replied. “I have visited both on many occasions.”

“Then perhaps you
should take the ladies yourself rather than go with the tour,” said Quang. “I
will authorize a vehicle for your use tomorrow.”

“That’s rather
generous of you, Ty,” said Jonathan. “We’ll have the tour cancelled and inform
our wives the lieutenant will be taking them instead.”

“It will be my
pleasure,” said Nguyen. “I will meet them in the lobby tomorrow morning at
eight o’clock.”

“Good. That is
settled,” said Quang, “Unless there is something else to discuss, I think we
are done for now. I wish to get the word out about Scorpion as soon as
possible.”

“The sooner you
can, the better,” Jonathan agreed. “We want to have all the people we can
looking for him.”

“I’m even thinking
some of those connected to him will come forward,” added Quang as he stood.
“With no financial incentive, few will wish to help or protect the man and a
number of them may turn against him.”

“I hope you’re
right,” said Jonathan, “Although some may hesitate, fearing reprisal for having
accepted the payoffs in the first place.”

Quang smiled. “I
will make sure to officially mention that any useful information supplied,
regardless of how such knowledge was obtained, will result in commendations and
not penalties. Together, we will get this man. Now, we shall be on our way as
there is work to be done.”

“Happy to be
working more closely, Ty,” Jonathan replied as he shook the general’s hand.
“Keep me posted of any developments. We’ll be spending the day looking into
more of the locations and people you supplied us with information about. I’ll
let you know if we come up with anything.”

* * * *

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon),
Vietnam, late morning

“THAO!” Scorpion
roared from his suite in the lavish apartment which served as home base in
Vietnam.

“What going on?”
Thao asked as he rushed into Scorpion’s den, a pistol in hand.

“Put that damned
gun down,” Scorpion snarled. “You’re going to hurt someone.”

“Sorry, boss,”
said Thao as he holstered the weapon. “I thought there was someone in here.”

“I wish it was
that simple,” Scorpion replied, fuming as he paced back and forth.

“Well, what is
it?” asked Thao, hoping it was nothing he could be even distantly held
accountable for.

“I got a call from
one of our cop friends here,” Scorpion replied, dropping into an armchair as if
suddenly exhausted. “From what he told me, there’s been a ton of raids back
home. The bastards have ripped us wide open.”

“Holy crap,” Thao
exclaimed. “Did you talk to anybody over there?”

Scorpion shook his
head. “I just got off that call but anyhow, I don’t want to take any chances,
even with throwaway phones. Those bastards can track you a hell of a lot more
than you think. We’re going to have to be real careful going forward.”

“You don’t think
we’re at risk here, do you?” asked Thao, his tone doubtful. “These raids just
happened and that was halfway around the world.”

Scorpion offered a
grim smile. “There’s already a team here looking for me. Quang and a few of his
men met with them less than two hours ago. These are the people who had a chat
with the Phams and who destroyed the lab. As I suspected, they aren’t some
other crew who had an agreement with Cao. They’re here and they’re trying to
draw me out.”

“Sounds like it’s
time to get out and lay low,” Thao replied. “I’ll make a few calls to get us
across the border to Cambodia and –”

“Thao, shut up,”
Scorprion interrupted. “I’ll be deciding what the hell we do, not you, and I
need to think about it a bit so we don’t do anything stupid. From what I was
told, Quang is putting the word out nationwide for the troops to be on the
lookout for me. If the extent of these North American raids is as big as I was
told, the general won’t have a problem convincing a lot of people I’m not worth
protecting so the last thing I want to do for now is contact anyone who might
turn me in.”

“So, what do we
do?” asked Thao.