See You in Saigon (4 page)

Montreal, Canada,
late morning

“Addley,” Jonathan
answered the phone, pleased with the interruption from his ‘official title’
paperwork duties. Though much of his time was spent on the
Discreet
Activities
portion of his job, Jonathan was also Director of Police Relations
for the Ministry of Defence. “What’s up, Nick?”

“Do you have a few
minutes to spare me?” asked Nick Sharp, RCMP Commanding Officer for the
province of Quebec. “I have a couple of distinct but clearly related issues on
which I’d like your thoughts.”

“I’m all ears,”
Jonathan replied.

“Okay, here we
go,” said Sharp. “You’re familiar with the Devil’s Delight?”

“Big time North
American biker gang a number of years back,” Jonathan recited. “Word is they
moved away from the bad boy scene but stayed in the business, putting all their
efforts into drug imports and distribution. We’re sure they still exist but
they’ve become elusive as hell and haven’t been associated with a bust in
years.”

“You
do
know your stuff, Mr. Addley,” said Sharp. “So, here’s what I have. I received a
call, off the record, from General Quang who heads the People’s Police of
Vietnam. From what he told me, the Devil’s Delight has set up shop over there.
They’ve taken over opium and heroin production, from poppy farming to
distribution, with definite plans for expansion to allow for export.”

“Ah, the
explanation behind the recent demise of Cao Van Minh,” said Jonathan.

“You also keep up
with current events,” Sharp replied, impressed, “And, yes, Quang believes Cao’s
death is related.”

“Before you go on,
why was this call off the record?” asked Jonathan, “And why did Quang call
you?”

“I’d met the
general at summits on a few occasions and we got along,” Sharp explained.
“Since, I’ve consulted him a few times about troublesome Vietnamese immigrants
we were dealing with here and, on one occasion, one guy even ended up being
sent back to Vietnam on an outstanding arrest warrant. Anyhow, when this
current situation came up, Quang knew he could trust me with this and believed
I could help. It will get clearer as I go on.”

“Good enough,”
said Jonathan. “Go for it.”

“Last week,
following Cao’s death, someone contacted Colonel Hoang, Quang’s second in
command, to request a meeting,” Sharp went on. “As it turns out, Cao had a
payoff agreement with the police and Hoang was the appointed liaison. This
person informed Hoang that his group had taken over Cao’s dope operations and
he wished to maintain a similar relationship with the police. Hoang met with
the guy and, following their discussion, he made it clear he didn’t agree with
what was being proposed. Less than an hour later, Hoang and his two bodyguards
were dead.”

“Presumably not
from natural causes,” Jonathan suggested.

“The boat they
were on exploded,” Sharp confirmed. “Quang was subsequently contacted for a
follow-up meeting but never got a face to face. He was directed to a throwaway
mobile phone and was basically told the gang
would
go ahead with their
plans. It was insinuated rather clearly, via a veiled threat to his family,
that Quang would cooperate. Twenty thousand in cash was left to him as an
additional incentive.”

“If Quang doesn’t
agree with this, why doesn’t he rally up the troops and take on the Devil’s
Delight?” asked Jonathan. “He runs the police force. It
is
their job to
fight crime over there, right?”

“His biggest
problem is he doesn’t know who to trust because the gang seems to have already
established its presence right under his nose,” Sharp replied. “Any number of
his own men could already have been bought out. The same is true with the
People’s Security which oversees national and border security. Key people in
the military and government might now also be on the Delight’s payroll.
Unfortunately, this kind of corruption is pretty common over there. Quang
himself had been accepting Cao’s money for years.”

“Why the sudden
change of heart?” Jonathan asked. “Is the general actually that concerned about
increased opiate exports from Vietnam to other countries?”

“As the head of
the country’s police force, I think he is but that isn’t his main issue for
now,” said Sharp. “What he
is
concerned with is the control, or rather,
the lack thereof the police will have with the Devil’s Delight. Cao was
manageable, easy to deal with and, strange as it may sound, trustworthy. He was
a man of his word who played the game and ran his syndicate according to the
rules agreed upon with the police.

“However, Quang
has had some confirmation from counterparts in neighbouring countries in the
past that when the Devil’s Delight settles in,
they
dictate the terms
and call the shots. The general hopes to stop them before they become
entrenched in Vietnam but is already worried it may be too late.”

“And what does he
expect from you?” asked Jonathan. “What kind of help is he looking for?”

“To start, he’s
looking to identify the Delight’s man out there,” Nick replied. “I’m emailing
you some photos he sent me. All he had besides those is the man’s street or
code name, which is Scorpion.”

“For some reason,
that sounds familiar,” said Jonathan, “But Scorpion is probably a pretty common
street name. I can have someone run the photos and name through our databases
to see if we can find something useful.”

“Don’t bother,”
Sharp replied. “On Quang’s behalf, I contacted a couple of well-placed folks
south of the border, one with the FBI and the other with the DEA. They both got
back to me earlier today and sent me a report which I’ll be sending you. That’s
the second distinct but related issue I wanted to talk to you about and I know
you’re going to love this because it’s one doozy of a story.”

Tân Sơn
Nhất International Airport, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam

The last passenger
to board the plane, Scorpion settled into his business class seat on flight
VN234 as an attendant was securing the hatch and a moment later, the Airbus
A321 started backing from the terminal. The two hour flight would put him in
Hanoi shortly before noon, giving him ample time to deal with the meetings he
had scheduled before taking the overnight train to Sa Pa.

He was pleased
with how the Devil’s Delight’s integration into Vietnam had proceeded so far.
His approach, a carbon copy of what he had done in other countries over the
years, was a fairly simple one and he often wondered why other crime syndicates
involved in narcotics had never attempted anything similar.

He had initially
sent a number of carefully selected scouts from the U.S. to Vietnam to do the
groundwork. As with other countries in the past, the ability to blend in and
effectively deal with the locals was paramount so chosen candidates had been
recruited from Vietnamese gangs affiliated with the Devil’s Delight. Over the
next year, the team had kept busy, gathering intelligence, identifying players,
locating existing poppy farms, processing facilities and locales for new ones
as well as developing relationships and network building at a variety of
levels.

Agreements had
been reached, payments had begun to flow and land and facilities had been
acquired, all without the slightest rumour getting back to potential obstacles
such as local crime magnate, Cao Van Minh or his top brass police cronies. It
was amazing what money coupled with not-so-veiled threats could do to encourage
confidentiality. By the time Scorpion had made his first ‘public’ appearance to
meet the Vietnamese mobster, the Devil’s Delight was already a going concern in
Vietnam with initial shipments destined for North America ready to go.

As the plane
taxied toward the runway, Scorpion checked his mobile to see if Pablo Martinez
had responded to his email but there was nothing from his man in Houston. Pablo
had
sent a message the previous Thursday informing Scorpion he was
heading to the Caribbean for a few days with a
chiquita
he had met so he
was likely drunk, naked and having a great time. However, he should know well
enough to reply in a timely manner when the boss contacted him, regardless of
where he was or what he was doing, particularly when the boss was halfway
around the planet. He would have a chat with Martinez on the subject when he
returned to the United States in a few weeks.

The plane veered
into position on the runway and as the engines revved up, Scorpion turned off
his mobile, slipped it into his shirt pocket then leaned back and closed his
eyes to enjoy the rush of the takeoff.

* * * *

Montreal, Canada,
morning

“Dave!” cried
Leslie Robb as she rushed into the conference room and hugged the ex-police
captain. “I’m so pleased you’ve joined the team.”

“I’m happy to be
here,” Dave replied, standing to greet the attractive, thirty-one year old
operative. “I was starting to think you were avoiding me. I’ve been here almost
a week and it’s the first time I see you.”

“Dominique and I
were on vacation, silly,” Leslie replied, slapping his arm. “Now, I’m back and
you’re going to get to see a lot of me in the coming days.”

“You’ll get no
complaints from me about that,” said Dave. “I’ve been spending most of my time
with Chris and his evil computer wizardry so I’ll welcome the change.”

From the table,
Chris laughed and said, “You may live to regret those words. I guess Jon didn’t
tell you Leslie will be giving you the intense version of her martial arts
crash course.”

“Aw, crap,” Dave
replied before winking at Leslie. “Promise you’ll be gentle, okay?”

“Not on your life,
mister,” said Leslie as she settled into chair. “So, do you guys know what this
briefing is about?”

Chris shook his
head. “Nope. Only that Nick Sharp contacted Jon with something yesterday and he
ended up spending the rest of the day in a number of telephone and online
meetings.”

“We’ll find out
soon enough,” said Leslie.

“You will indeed,”
said Jonathan as he entered the room and closed the door behind him. “Good
morning, folks. I’ll start by welcoming Dave to his first briefing with us and,
let me tell you, he’s starting his new career with a bang because this is
something huge. In fact, it’s likely the biggest project we’ve ever been
involved with. Does anyone care to venture a guess?”

“Let’s see,” said
Chris, stroking his chin in thought. “By process of elimination, it has nothing
to do with Hitler, Hussein, bin Laden or Gaddafi so, nope, I don’t have a
clue.”

Jonathan smiled as
he slid three file folders to the centre of the table toward them. “That’s the
detailed report for your reading pleasure later but I’ll give you a quick
summary to start. I’m not sure about Leslie but I know you two gentlemen are
familiar with the Devil’s Delight.”

“Damn, I haven’t
heard that name in a long time,” said Chris, his expression turning serious.

“Aren’t the
Devil’s Delight a defunct biker gang from the late nineties?” asked Leslie.
“The name was always popping up in the papers in relation to the biker wars
back then.”

“Same gang
indeed,” Jonathan confirmed, “Except defunct only applies to the biker
reference. The Devil’s Delight never ceased to exist and is now believed to be
one of the biggest criminal organizations in the world, definitely the biggest
in terms of drug distribution. They left the biker scene rather suddenly in
1998 and have only been rumoured of since, until recently.”

“What happened
recently?” asked Dave.

“A couple of
things, one being a fellow by the name of Pablo Martinez getting arrested for
capital murder in Houston,” Jonathan replied. “Rock solid case guaranteeing him
the needle. However, it so happens that the DEA had been keeping a close eye on
Martinez for several years, looking for the slightest shred of evidence to
confirm he was a top man with the Devil’s Delight.

“He was offered a
deal in exchange for information and he had quite a story to tell. Players,
locations, routes, records, the works. The DEA and FBI are currently
coordinating with state and local police across the U.S. in preparation of what
promises to be the most important series of simultaneous raids in history. The
RCMP is organizing similar raids at a variety of locations across Canada.”

“That
is
huge,” said Chris. “When is all of this going to happen?”

“I don’t have a
date yet,” Jonathan replied, “But an operation of this size is going to take
some time to organize if they want to pull it off without screwing up.”

“Tell me about
it,” Chris agreed, “And how are we involved in all of this?”

Jonathan offered a
grim smile before replying. “To crush a monster like this, one has to cut off
its head. Along with some American counterparts, we’ll be looking after finding
and extracting the leader of the Devil’s Delight.”

“Do we know who he
is?” asked Dave, “And where to look?”

“He’s currently in
Vietnam,” Jonathan replied, “The latest country in which the Devil’s Delight
has established production facilities.”

“Ah, the answer to
our question about Cao’s assassination,” said Chris.

“That’s the
popular opinion,” Jonathan confirmed.

“Who’s Cao?” asked
Leslie.

“Cao Van Minh was
Vietnam’s biggest mobster,” Jonathan replied. “He dabbled in various activities
including prostitution, gambling and loansharking but his big thing was almost
complete control of the country’s opium and heroin production and distribution.
The assumption is that he refused to sell out to the Devil’ Delight and told
them they weren’t welcome in the neighbourhood. They responded by simply
eliminating the obstacle, taking over his production and distribution network
and incorporating it to complete their own newly established infrastructure.”

“What are the
Vietnamese authorities doing about this?” asked Dave.

“They aren’t doing
much for now,” said Jonathan. “When the Devil’s Delight decides to set up shop
somewhere, they do their homework. Part of that involves identifying people who
can either help or hinder their efforts. Once that’s done, they level the
playing field with bribes, threats, intimidation and the occasional murder. The
end result is a smoothly operating machine with little or no interference from
the government or authorities.”

“Do we know how
far they’ve gone with this integration in Vietnam to date?” asked Chris.

“Unfortunately,
nobody seems to
know
much for sure,” Jonathan replied. “However, logic
has it they’ve been there for a while, establishing contacts and infiltrating
Cao’s organization. How else could they assassinate him and be running his
network the next day without the slightest turmoil? The best guess is they’re
ready to roll, which is why their top man is there.”

“Will we be going
in on our own?” Leslie asked. “Or will we have any inside help?”

 “We’ll be pretty
much on our own,” Jonathan replied, “Because we don’t know who’s on what team.
General Quang, the head of the People’s Police, is our sole contact for now and
we can’t even count much on him.”

“Is it because we
don’t trust him?” asked Dave. “Do you think he’s a plant to track our
activities once we get there?”

Jonathan shook his
head. “I doubt that. For one, the Devil’s Delight don’t know anyone is on to
them. They think Martinez is vacationing in the Caribbean and there is no way
he could have leaked anything to anyone.”

“Not even through
a lawyer?” suggested Chris.

 “His lawyer has
been a voluntary guest of the U.S. government from the moment Martinez was
offered a deal,” said Jonathan. “Now, getting back to General Quang, he’s the
other thing I said had happened recently. When he learned of the Delight’s
presence in Vietnam and realized there were few people around him he could
trust for sure, he contacted Nick Sharp for help. In the meantime, Quang has to
play his cards carefully to give the impression he’s cooperating with the
Devil’s Delight. His family’s lives depend on it, which is why I don’t think
he’ll be able to help much, at least in the short term.”

“Do you have any
idea of the Delight’s structure over there?” asked Chris. “Where they’re based?
How many people?”

“According to
Martinez’s information, there are six guys who have been there for about a
year,” Jonathan replied, scanning some notes. “They originally worked in teams,
scouting the country, learning the ropes and developing contacts and networks.
Five of them now act as regional managers, for lack of a better term,
overseeing operations with the help of loyal locals they’ve recruited. The
sixth is the general manager, the top dog and the leader’s eyes and ears in
Vietnam. He goes wherever he’s needed and does whatever it takes to fix
problems.”

“So we’re
potentially looking at seven people to deal with when we find this guy,” said
Chris with a frown, “Plus whatever people they’ve recruited locally. We could
be dealing with a small army here.”

“Yep,” Jonathan
agreed, “With little Intel or guidance to count on.”

“This is sounding
more fun by the minute,” said Leslie. “Do we have any idea where to look for
this guy?”

“We don’t have a
specific address,” Jonathan said with a smile. “However, Martinez did supply a
few names under which our man might be travelling so we may manage to track him
down via passport information and flight bookings. For what it’s worth,
Martinez also mentioned his boss favoured Saigon as the place to stay when he
went to Vietnam in the past, which is also where his top guy is based.”

“Do we know what
this guy looks like?” asked Chris, “And do we know who he actually is?”

“I was just
getting to that,” Jonathan replied as he turned on a flat screen suspended on
the back wall of the conference room. “These are photos which were taken by
some of General Quang’s trusted men last Wednesday.”

They watched as
Jonathan scrolled through a number of photos, several in which two men
appeared, one Caucasian, the other, Asian. Several more followed, this time
face shots of the Caucasian, evidently cropped blow-ups of the first series of
photos.

“The Vietnamese
man in these photos is Colonel Hoang, General Quang’s second in command,”
Jonathan explained. “Shortly after the photos were taken, Hoang and his two
bodyguards were killed. We have every reason to believe the Caucasian is the
man we’re looking for, the head of the Devil’s Delight.”

He turned to Chris
and said, “You asked if we knew who he was. According to Pablo Martinez, this
is none other than Dennis ‘Scorpion’ Roy.”

“What?” Chris
exclaimed as Dave looked up in surprise. “Jon, that’s not possible.”