Angel in the Full Moon. Don Easton

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around where he ended up speaking to Detective Rocco Pasquali of the Anti-Gang Unit.

      Jack had met Pasquali on past investigations and knew him as a good cop who was not afraid to work. More importantly, he didn’t let inter-agency rivalry affect his work. All he wanted was for bad guys to go to jail.

      “The Tr

n brothers are well known to us,” said Pasquali. “Guess I don’t need to tell you that the massage parlours are just a front for prostitution, but there’s a lot more to him than that. c expanded his operation out to Surrey last year.”

      “The Orient Delight,” said Jack.

      “You got it. Physically, he’s a small man. A good fart would probably knock him over, but he’s got the power. He heads a Vietnamese gang of at least fifty. They’re into just about everything. Extortion, robberies, drugs, juvenile prostitution ... you name it. They’re extremely violent. Not afraid to take a machete to someone just for making eye contact with them.”

      “I’ll keep that in mind.”

      “Lately, the asshole has insulated himself enough as to be basically untouchable. His top lieutenant is a guy by the name of Giang. A real psychopath. I mean that. He deals coke at the pound level. He came to Canada when he was seven. I really think the Vietnam War did something to him before he came over. He really is one disturbed individual.”

      “So Giang gets his coke from

c?”

      “No, Giang freelances that on his own.

c uses him more as an enforcer and to keep his girls in line. The two don’t hang together as friends. Giang uses a place called Lucky Lucy’s Bar and Grill as his base of operations. That’s downtown here in Vancouver, on Kingsway, close to The Asian Touch.”

      “Any other hangouts?” asked Jack.

      “There is also a restaurant close to Lucky Lucy’s called the Mekong Palace. The owner of the Mekong is a nice old guy. Doesn’t want these guys in there but doesn’t have much choice. If Giang is not at any of these places, he usually can be found hanging out with the other punks in

c’s gang at Billiard Bill’s out in Surrey. That place is just a block down the street from the Orient Pleasure.”

      “I really appreciate this, Rocco.”

      “No sweat. I’ll send a copy of everything we have on this group over to you. You need a hand with anything—surveillance, takedowns, you name it—give me a call. Day or night, doesn’t matter.”

      “Sounds like you want him bad,” said Jack.

      “I do.

c’s gang ... half of it is composed of juveniles, for Christ’s sake.”

      “Their conscience isn’t as developed. They don’t think of the real consequences of their actions. Explains the extreme violence.”

      “Yeah, and they’re more easily influenced and brainwashed ... and usually get probation. You catch

c and there’s a bottle of tequila in it for you.”

      “Thanks. Actually I’ve switched to gin martinis.”

      “Catch him,” said Rocco, “and I’ll be buying the gin.”

      “No reward for Giang?” asked Jack.

      Rocco chuckled and said, “What are you trying to do, bleed me dry? Giang’s not real smart. He’s been caught before. Unfortunately he’s smart enough not to cross

c.”

      “Tell you what,” said Jack. “When I nail

c, you buy the gin and I’ll bring the vermouth. If I happen to nail Giang along the way, then you can bring the olives, too.”

      “That’s a deal!”

      The next week and a half went by quickly for Jack and Laura. They focused their energy by doing surveillance of the Russians while doing intermittent surveillance on

c.

      

c had a routine of sleeping in late and then going to the Orient Pleasure for an hour over lunch. He would generally spend the rest of his day and evening at the Great Canadian Casino in Coquitlam. His skill as a gambler left much to be desired.

      Surveillance of the Russians showed that they varied their sleep patterns. Sometimes they would appear early in the morning and go to a restaurant for breakfast. On these occasions, Jack surmised that they had not been to bed yet, or, at least judging by the escorts that left the building moments before they appeared, they had not been to sleep yet.

      Other times the Russians would not appear until early afternoon, when they would go and drink espresso in different restaurants. At night, they would throw their money around at various nightclubs or go to more expensive restaurants. If they didn’t pick up any women at the nightclubs, they would often call an escort service when they returned to their penthouse.

      H

ng lay on her side on the foam mattress, staring at the calendar. Pops never shut the light off and she found herself switching her attention back and forth between the calendar and the chain and shackle at the opposite end of the room.

      Now she felt so weak that she could barely move. Going by the large X marks that Pops penciled on the calendar each day, she had been there thirteen days. She had been given a plastic cup to drink water from out of the toilet tank. The only food she had been given was one loaf of white bread.

      Her fingers had quit throbbing, but any attempt to move them brought immediate pain. The same went for her ribs and she had learned to take shallow breaths.

      On the first night she was chained,

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