The Green Dragon gang was a highly-structured organization. At the top was the Dragonhead, Johnny Chan, who was based in Hong Kong. Decades ago, his father had founded the gang in Shenzhen, then a small town in China, just across the border from Hong Kong. Senior Chan ran it for 20 years, eventually dying in a brutal gang war that broke out in the early eighties when China first opened its doors to Western-style capitalism. When he died, his only son, Johnny, was sitting for his bar examination in Dallas, Texas. He had just finished law school in SMU.
After the funeral, Johnny moved half of the Green Dragon remnants to Hong Kong. The other half stayed in Shenzhen. Before his unforeseen death, his father had squirreled away millions in Switzerland. Johnny used the money to good effect, muscling his way into the Hong Kong nightclub market. The gangs in Hong Kong were no match for the brutality and discipline of his men born in mainland China. In just five years, the young Johnny had rebuilt the gang so it was now almost as big as his father's. Even better, most of its income came from legitimate businesses in Hong Kong. Only his men in Shenzhen, involved in petty theft and stolen cars, operated outside the law.
With the business in Hong Kong stable and profitable, Johnny turned his intellectual firepower to Shenzhen. He knew he had to either restructure the small-time operations there, or close it down. Unlike his dad, he did not want to be involved in the usual large-scale criminal businesses. Drugs, guns, gambling, and loansharking were all violent, dangerous, and attracted the unwanted attention of the Chinese authorities.
But the flesh trade attracted his attention. In his analysis, there was a growing Chinese demand for white women from North America. Any blonde-haired woman with a little cleavage would satisfy the curiosity of the newly rich Chinese businessman. Best of all, the risks were low and the profit margins high. Part of the reason for this was that the barriers of entry for a Chinese gang were substantial. At the time, not many Chinese had contacts in the Western world.
To be successful, Johnny would need to reactivate his old contacts from law school. Fortunately for him, some of his old SMU classmates were still struggling to pay off their student loans. He contacted Jeffrey Giordano, who worked as a public defender, and dangled in front of him the prospect of a trip to Hong Kong. Jeff was deeply impressed when Johnny met him in a meeting room on the fifty-fifth floor of a building in downtown Hong Kong.
"Hey Jeff, how have you been all these years?" Johnny spoke with barely an accent.
"Johnny! It's good to see you again." Jeff could not help staring out the window to the Hong Kong skyline. "You must be doing really well."
"Well, the economy is a little soft, but we're managing." One of Johnny's role model was Teddy Roosevelt. Johnny believed the best approach for business was to speak humbly but carry a big gun.
"It's even worse stateside. Some of our classmates took years to find jobs after law school. A few of them had to declare bankruptcies when their student loans kicked in." The effects of jetlag were beginning to hit Jeff. There was an awkward pause before he continued. "I was lucky to find a government job."
"How's your lovely wife and charming kids?" Law school taught Johnny that a good attorney would never ask a question he did not know the answer to. Johnny was aware that Jeff was divorced and that his ex-wife had full legal and physical custody of the kids.
"Johnny, if you don't mind, I don't want to talk about it."
"Of course," Johnny said in an apologetic way. "Jeff, you should get some rest after that horribly long flight. I'll ask my driver to help you check in. We'll see each other tomorrow night."
"Johnny, I know you did not bring me here just to ask about my family. Do you have a business proposal in mind?" Jeff may be tired but his mind was still sharp.
"We'll have dinner tomorrow and talk about it. You'll like the offer." Johnny stood up. "Let me ride the elevator with you. My driver is already waiting for you."
The next evening, Johnny shared the details of his plan. Jeffrey was glad he had made the trip. He'd be the point man in Johnny's ambitious plan to expand to North America. With his background as a criminal defense attorney, Jeffrey Giordano was the ideal man for the job. He knew all the capable ex-cons willing to sign up.
With Johnny's money and Jeffrey's contacts, Johnny and Jeff, affectionately called J&J in the underworld, dominated the two-way trade of women across the Pacific. Young Chinese women, lured with promises of high-paying modeling jobs in the U.S., ended up servicing the ever-growing American male appetite in smooth yellow skin. The return traffic was newer but equally strong. White women were kidnapped and smuggled into booming cities along the coast of the South China Sea. The victimized women were almost always poor, uneducated, and ignored by law enforcement.
By the late 1990s, Jeff had helped Johnny expand his empire to seven cities in America. Jeff was so capable Johnny had not visited the U.S. since he was a law student. Jeff recruited Rocky and the six other chiefs, who ran the operations seamlessly. They had never met Johnny and had no idea what he looked like. They only knew him as Mr. Chan.
Rocky knew Mr. Chan and Jeff were watching the live feed of Susan dangling from the ceiling. For the first time in his criminal career, Rocky had the honor of hosting the other bosses of the country in East Texas. Rocky had long felt that Green Dragon associates in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Boston did not respect the brothers in Dallas. After today, that would change. For Rocky, his time had come.
Somebody had questioned Rocky's ability and dared to send an assassin to kill him, someone who knew about his weakness for slutty women. But they had badly underestimated Green Dragon Dallas. Rocky had a first-rate crew who turned the tables on the hit woman. Although Rocky got a huge break because of Paul's treachery, Rocky did not believe in luck. He believed that a smart and driven man like him manufactured his own luck.
Rocky's thoughts were interrupted by a convoy of six vehicles. Each bulletproof Hummer carried a Green Dragon chief and his bodyguard. One by one, each of the six chiefs stepped out, followed by the bodyguards. Ivan the Russian, together with half a dozen Mexican men, helped them remove their blindfolds. Nobody grumbled because security was taken seriously by the gang. The visitors took a minute to adjust to the bright Texan sunlight.
"Hello, brothers. Welcome to the farm." Rocky took his time to hug each brother in turn, starting with the boss of New York and ending with Boston, in exact order of the size of each business. "Please come inside." Rocky led the group into the huge lobby occupying the entire first floor of the house. Ivan entered the house last. The Mexicans remained outside.
Ivan pushed a remote-control button. The image of Susan instantly filled up the wall. "For the first time in the history of Green Dragon USA," Rocky spoke with a formal tone, "one of our enemies put out a contract on a boss of the Green Dragon."
"This is outrageous," The boss of New York Joey Laria spoke up. "An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us." All the other bosses voiced their agreements. "And to add insult to injury, they sent a woman. What the fuck were they thinking?"
"Fortunately, she failed. Our brothers in Dallas are well informed," Rocky continued. "We knew she was coming days before, giving us a chance to set up a traitor to be killed. Donald, our assistant boss of San Antonio, had been seen talking to an FBI agent. We set it up so she thought Don was the Dallas boss. I was in the room when she killed Don."
"How did you trick her into thinking Don was you?" Joey asked.
"Her partner sold her out. He fed her the wrong information."
"Does the dumb blondie know she killed the wrong guy?" Joey seemed to be the spokesperson of all the other bosses.
"No. She also does not know her partner betrayed her."
"I'm not surprised she trusted the wrong man. After all, she's a woman. Women have bad judgments." The other bosses nodded in unison. Joey continued, "Besides, they're too soft and weak to operate in the criminal world."
Rocky did not agree with the last sentence because he had seen her in action. But he decided it was not a good idea to disagree with Joey in front of all the bosses.
"I would like to suggest we do not tell her about what I just told y'all." Rocky said with a respectful tone.
"Rocky, we are all honored to be here. This whore is really your business. We'd do whatever you want." Again, Joey spoke for the group. "Have you found out who hired her?"
"She and her former partner had been contract killers for the last five years. They are especially dangerous because they kill only people associated with major felonies." Rocky regretted his choice of words because his audience might not understand; he wished he had simply used the word crimes.
"You are avoiding my question. I guess your people don't have the street credibility to find out. What don't you come right out and say you don't know who's behind her?" Joey was pushing the envelope on acceptable behavior among bosses.
