24

Melissa started her shift at 6 pm. It was Saturday and the end of the month. That meant a lot of activity.

-- It's going to be tough," she said, adjusting her uniform.

By 10 p.m. she had already backed up an elderly woman who had been run over, ticketed 15 drivers, participated in three traffic stops and decided it was time for a juice.

He parked his motorcycle and entered a small shop.

A man came in and sat down in front of her.

-- If you want to eat a good rice roll "Bocado de Tigre" I can point you to a very traditional restaurant.

-- Here I have credit.

-- Here is an invitation," the man said, leaving her a 100 Hong Kong dollar bill with a picture on it.

She saw the picture.

And an address.

-- Oh, man. Ugly, ugly," she said, tossing the bill into the garbage can.

An hour later she arrived at the restaurant. Saturday and totally empty. He saw a beautiful young woman dressed in black.

-- An emissary," Melissa whispered, "This is getting good.

-- Here is the best pork and vegetable baozi in all of Hong Kong," said the woman.

-- I've already had dinner. And I'm actually in the middle of a very busy night.

-- But she came... She's asking around.

-- Just a couple of police buddies.

--He wants to know.

-- Why are 14K people interested in what a traffic cop is asking about?

-- Maybe because we have a common interest.

-- And it is?.

-You'll find out. -But first we need proof...

****************

Melissa sat up from the table and said to the woman.

-- I think our conversation is over.

-- The man who appears alone in the video is called Hang Hing. He's the one who raped the teenage girl who jumps with the nurse. You have an interest in him. So do we.

Melissa had a horrendous end-of-month Hong Kong Saturday... Exhausted at 7 a.m. Sunday morning, sleepy-eyed, she rode an almost empty subway home.... She walked distractedly and a closed Mercedes Benz Sprinter stopped next to her.... It was a security failure... Total... 10 minutes later she was moving around blindfolded, and despite her sleepiness and tiredness, she was trying to guess where she was being taken to...

After a while the van stopped, they pushed her out and off she went.

She was in the new territories. She saw the Maybach Suv coming and it stopped next to her.

The rear window rolled down and a sleek, slender old man was sitting there.

-- Hello Melissa. We see you've been sticking your pretty little nose in a lot of places. You don't really know what you're looking for.

-- That's right. What am I looking for?

-- What you're looking for is in Tai Shang Po.

-- And where is that?

-- There's google maps, it's a good place to start.

-- They told me about a General Hang Hing and they gave me information about a major crime he committed. I want to question him.

The man was silent. Finally he asked him.

-- What do you hope to gain from this?

-- I am the law and you are the crime.

-- We've always had our status quo. I like you. I'm sorry I'm not 20 years younger. I'd buy you dinner.

-- If the food is good, I'll take it.

The old man smiled.

-- We'll talk again," he said, the glass went up and Melissa memorized the plate.

Her hands were shaking. She was on the road and watching her way home from rural Hong Kong.

-- What the hell am I getting myself into? she said to herself in fear. She was starting to get really scared...really scared....

III

General Hang Hing smiled with satisfaction at the beginning of the harvesting of the crop. He had fed the peasants well, the women were treated with respect. All the peasants expected to be returned to their homes at the end of the harvest. It was evident that new planting would be done and labor would be needed, and the deal given did not indicate any danger on the horizon.

-- How much longer?

-- In just five days everything will be ready...

-- Well... Well...That girl..." Hang Hing pointed out.

The assistant nodded.

--Well bathed and perfumed," Hang Hing said.

--Yes, my lord.

IV

Four months before General Hang Hing was watching the harvesting of the crop from his horse. ....

....-- My lord Qiang Ling; we come to report that all the people of the Purple Rice Valley have disappeared. We informed the viceroy in Xian and he did not even bother to investigate.

-- The viceroy is too old now. He's not in the mood for such things.

-- That's why we asked him to investigate.

-- In my capacity as prefect of the 10th district, I will investigate.

-- Thank you, my lord.

Qiang Ling went to the village. One of the poorest outside his domain. Neither were Hang Hing's vassals.

He checked the village. Signs of fighting were everywhere. Broken utensils. Horses and donkeys grazing everywhere. Even burning ovens, bedrooms in disarray. Not a single person.

-- I don't want to think badly. But it smells to me like Hang Hing's in on it.

V

Now, as Qiang Ling recalled all the days he had spent fighting, trying to guess the next move of his rival, and a feeling of something bad came over him...

2---

The group of peasants received their pay. It was not much. Nor was it insufficient. They marched silently in line towards their village... Some stopped their march and they all started to look around... A troop of Huns appeared at full gallop, brandishing long swords and another group appeared cutting off the retreat. The peasants, their women and children disbanded; but they were unable to flee. Then a heavy silence descended over the prairie.

VI.

Qiang Ling observed in the distance the movement of a flock of birds of prey....

-- It is not good... Let's hope it's not an outbreak of black plague in one of the villages--for a moment he stood silently watching the distance.

-- Damn it," he said in understanding, hurrying toward the stables.

Two hours later Qiang Ling arrived at the sector of the meadow, full of corpses. The count walked among the corpses.

-- My lord. Here is a living person.

The count rushed to where his warriors surrounded the wounded.

The count arrived and immediately realized that the wounded man had at most ten minutes to live, because of the atrocious wounds...

-- Who were they? Was Hang Hing among the attackers?

-- They were foreigners. They were Hun barbarians.

-- How is it possible?. Were they warriors in disguise?

-- No, my lord," said the wounded man, vomiting blood, "they spoke...they spoke...they spoke...they spoke...they spoke...they spoke...

The wounded man died, without finishing the information.

-- We have to bury them... In just one day we were attacked in the middle of the night and now this massacre... I think my cup has run over..." finished Qiang Li full of anger and pain.

VI

Melissa searched the database for the van's license plate. It did not exist. It was a fake license plate.

She was a young cop playing James Bond and it could go bad.... She had already seen two faces. One very important one. The old man's. The beautiful woman. They were not innocent people...

Melissa was going out for her Monday morning shift. She bumped into the policewoman from Saturday night...

-- I don't know if you're a policewoman supposedly infiltrating crime or a criminal infiltrating the police," Melissa greeted.

-- Hey, girl. Learn to wipe your boogers first and then talk to me. I've been doing this for twelve years and you're not going to teach me my job.

-- They put me in a van, drove me up north and an old man in a Maybach came up to me and invited me to dinner.

-- In a Maybach?. Inviting you to dinner?. I tell him to set me up in an apartment and we live together.

-- He said that what happened at Kowlong's hospital can be solved in one place.

-- Well, what the hell do I have to do with that?

-- I think the guys you're watching have a lot to do with it...

-- Do you want to go around in civilian clothes for a while, not waste time vegetating in a downpour and drive a Nissan sports car?

Melissa remained silent. Finally she asked.

--Are you going to corrupt me?

The woman laughed. She started to walk away.

-- I knew it... Keep your scooter. And mind your own business.

Melissa stood still. Finally she ran through the cops after the other one.

-- I accept. I'm in. I want to get to the bottom of this.

-- Go to hell," the other one told her, getting into a Bmw grand coupe.

-- Go in a Bmw... Go in a Bmw..." Melissa whispered stupefied...

VII

The city is awash with illegal substances... There has been no unusual movement either at sea or at the airports. Many young people have died. We must stop this..." cried the press, TV, independent journalists.

The police were stunned. They asked for help from international agencies and mainland police.

It was a matter of triads... Someone had broken the status quo.