Hush, My Sweet Darling

Chapter 18: Handsome Elevator Guy

"F-from me?" Porky asked with his eyes widened as he pointed to himself. "But I don't know anything about Vonnie Yen. I don't know where she is. She hasn't shown her face since her kid died. Besides, Superintendent Wu, she's just a crackhead. She has no importance in this whole triads business."

Kai stared at Porky, his handsome face totally calm. He inhaled another lungful of smoke and changed the direction of the questions.

"What about Rong Rong and Cherry Tsai?"

"We have nothing to do with them. I'm not sure about Rong Rong. Heard she was Little Fresh Meat's skirt, and that she went back to her hometown after he got killed. Cherry Tsai... Well, Big Boss wanted Little Fresh Meat to do time. At least we have people inside, and they'll be able to protect him. So he wanted Cherry to testify against Little Fresh Meat."

Porky took a sip of water and asked, "Are you sure you don't want anything to drink?"

Kai and Kimmy shook their heads.

"But somehow, Zagan got to Cherry and forced her to retract her witness statement. As to what happened to her afterward, I don't know for sure, but rumor has it, she got sent to a farm, if you know what I mean," Porky whispered as he made a gesture of shooting himself in the head.

"I'm not sure what really went down between Zagan and Wild Eddy, but I heard Wild Eddy went apeshit after finding out about his nephew's death. Everyone said he tried to avenge Little Fresh Meat but ended up biting the dust himself instead," he continued.

"How big is Zagan's crew? Can you give us names?"

"I have no names for you, Superintendent Wu. The only name I know is Zagan, and I don't even know what that name means. Nobody has ever seen his crew either, but make no mistake, they exist and they're everywhere." Porky gave Kai a serious look.

"They've been crawling slowly to the top for the last five to seven years. No one expected them to take down the White Lotus gang in Kowloon and take over, but they did... Now it looks like they're trying to expand their territory to the island, and later maybe the New Territories too."

Kai's cigarette had now burned down to its butt. He didn't question Porky anymore, but his eyes were still on him. Despite his expressionless exterior, Porky knew Kai was scrutinizing him.

"I've said everything that I know. I swear on my dead mother's grave, Superintendent Wu," Porky continued. A line appeared between his brows. 

"I can see that. But this is not enough," Kai said.

"But... What more do you want from me?" Porky groaned.

"Be my informant."

Porky looked at Kai in horror, slack-jawed and wide-eyed. Words had left him.

"Silence means yes, Porky," Kimmy said indifferently.

"Bring me more information related to Anson Yen's case. On Zagan," Kai instructed. "Oh, also on Vonnie Yen. I need more information on her background."

"I... I..." Porky stammered. He kept closing and opening his mouth as though he wanted to say something but couldn't voice it. After a good while, he burst, "This is blackmail, Superintendent Wu!"

"Well, you don't really have a choice, do you, Porky? Like I said, your own fault for being greedy," Kimmy mocked.

Porky narrowed his eyes at Kimmy, looking at her in disdain. Kimmy arched an eyebrow at him, taunting him. They stared each other down like they both owed each other money.

Kai stood up straight and walked toward the table to put his burned-out cigarette in an ashtray. "We will assure your safety, Mr. Poon. No one else needs to know about this, Just the three of us in this room right now," Kai said, interrupting the silly staring contest that Porky and Kimmy were having.

Porky looked down and away. Kimmy pumped her fist in the air—a gesture of victory—but quickly stopped when Kai raised an eyebrow at her.

Porky rubbed his face in his hands and conceded. "Can you really promise me that, Superintendent Wu? That they won't find out?"

"I will keep my end of the bargain, as long as you'll keep yours."

Porky sighed and nodded in agreement. "Superintendent Wu... Please make sure they don't know about this," Porky implored one last time.

Kai gave him a reassuring nod and announced, "That's all, Mr. Poon. We'll be leaving now. Thank you for your time and cooperation."

He proceeded toward the door but turned around to meet Porky's watery eyes. "One more thing. Send those girls back to their families. And don't engage yourself in vice and illicit activities anymore. Red Sun wants you to keep their front clean, so don't put yourself in unnecessary predicaments. Next time we catch you red-handed, not only is the deal off, but they'll also know about it. Understand?"

"Yes, I understand, Superintendent Wu," Porky gave Kai a respectful bow before rushing to open the door for him. At the door, he bowed at Kai again. He had really been caught between a rock and a hard place, but he might as well choose the rock and hit someone with it.

Henry, who had been waiting in the corridor as a lookout, greeted Kai. "You're done, Boss?"

Kai nodded and proceeded toward the stairs.

"Sir, what's with Vonnie Yen? Why do you want more information on her?" Kimmy asked, she and Henry trailing behind Kai.

"Just a hunch..." Kai answered plainly. "See if you can find some information about her background."

"Got it, sir." Kimmy then turned to Henry and asked, "Where are the girls?"

"I let them go after I got and confirmed their identities. Hakka people, my foot, they're from Thailand. Porky flew them here on a tourist visa. By the way, I didn't know you speak Hakka, Kimmy. How cool!" Henry gave Kimmy's shoulder a nudge. 

Kimmy deadpanned in response. "But I don't... Where would I get the time to learn another dialect? Cantonese, Mandarin, a bit of English. Those three are enough. Why would I learn Hakka?"

"Huh? But you were speaking in Hakka to them."

Kimmy burst into laughter as they walked up the stairs. "Idiot... That was gibberish. You think Porky would know Hakka? Besides, all the schools inside the walled villages teach Cantonese. If they were from one of those villages, how come they didn't understand Superintendent Wu's question? It was just a simple 'What's your name?', not a math question."

Henry's mouth fell open for a good few seconds before he pointed his index finger at her and started to laugh too. "You... You... That was brilliant."

Kimmy responded with a smug smile.

They reached the ground floor and were walking toward the entrance when Kimmy heard a disturbance behind her. She turned around and saw a woman struggling to get out of a man's embrace. The woman looked pale and intoxicated. Her head began to loll like a doll while her hands kept trying to squeeze herself out of the man's arms. 

Kimmy could sense something was wrong, so she brought it to Kai and Henry's attention. "Sir... I think we should check what's going on there." Kai and Henry turned around and saw the scene that Kimmy saw. The woman looked up and noticed them.

She shouted, "Ha... Handsome Guy! Handsome Elevator Guy!"

♡──── ❝ Author's Note ❞ ────♡

Hi everyone,  just a little heads-up from me; due to personal (medical) reasons, I wouldn't be able to update this coming Friday. The next update will be next week, Tuesday, and to make up for it, I'll make it a double one! 😊 I'm sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding!

It would mean a lot to me if you could share your thoughts about this chapter in the comment section. And please consider voting if you liked it.

Thank you so much for reading!

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