Donovans 02 - Jade Island

Fourth Sons are also behind me.”
    “Harry?” Wen asked.
    “He is in Shanghai,” Joe said after a brief hesitation. “He has not responded to my messages.”
    Though Wen said not one word, his face seemed to age even more. A whispering sigh rattled his chest. He ran one hand over the jade shroud as though measuring it for size.
    “Speak to your younger brother,” Wen ordered.
    Reluctantly Joe turned to Johnny. “I have brought shame and dishonor on my family and on my ancestors,” he said, his voice strained.
    Johnny’s eyes widened. Whatever he had expected, it wasn’t this. “I find that difficult to believe.”
    “I…” Joe’s voice faded. He cleared his throat. “I have gambled too much.”
    Johnny looked perplexed. “You have always gambled too much. Wen has always scolded. The sun continued to rise and set in its usual way.”
    “Our father refused to give me more money,” Joe said slowly. “I knew I could make it all back, all the wealth I had lost and more, much more. Just one race. One horse whose jockey also needed money. The RedPhoenix triad had it all arranged. I just needed funds to make a bet.”
    Kyle and Archer glanced at each other. Though Lianne was translating for the Donovans, she looked only at her grandfather. His face was impassive, but his eyes were as ancient and bleak as betrayal.
    “Han Seng offered a way out of my dilemma,” Joe said softly. “I would trade fine Tang jade for inferior pieces from Seng’s collection. Not only would I pay off my old debts that way, I would have enough money left over to wager on future races where the Red Phoenix knew who would lose before the race was run. When I made enough money, I would be able to buy back the Tang jades. No one would ever know….”
    Johnny looked at his father. Wen looked neither right nor left nor even ahead. His eyes were blind, his hands crippled, his body brittle with age and betrayal.
    “It did not happen that way,” Joe continued, his voice barely a whisper. “The money that I won, I bet again, and I lost again. More Tang jades left the vault, replaced by Seng’s less virtuous pieces.”
    “When did you decide to set up Lianne?” Kyle asked.
    Lianne translated, her face as impassive as Wen’s and her eyes as bleak.
    Johnny flinched. Joe didn’t. He had already shamed himself in front of his father and his ancestors. He had no pride left, simply a need to redeem himself however he could.
    “I did not think of it,” Joe said simply. “Harry did. Somehow he discovered my trading with Han Seng.”
    “Somehow?” Archer repeated coolly. “I’ll tell you how. Harry, Han Seng, and the Red Phoenix triad are in bed together. That’s why I advised my father against any partnership ventures between Donovan International and the Tang Consortium or SunCo.”
    Lianne’s translation brought Wen’s head around toward Archer. The old man squinted as though he could actuallysee. Quick, choppy words poured out. Lianne didn’t translate until Archer prodded her.
    “Wen dislikes America’s narrow view of the triads,” she summarized.
    “Really?” Archer said dryly. “Ask him why he has refused many Red Phoenix overtures for a closer partnership. To be precise, their scheme to launder drug money through Tang overseas financial institutions.”
    Lianne’s eyes widened. “Is that true?”
    “Ask him,” Kyle said.
    After she did, Wen positioned his head so that he might be looking at either Donovan. He spoke quietly. “Some triad business is inevitable. Some is avoidable. As long as I lead the family of Tang, the drug entanglement will be avoided.”
    “Good idea,” Kyle said. Then he measured Joe with cold eyes. “So Harry caught you with your hand in the cookie jar. What happened next?”
    Joe barely waited for Lianne to finish translating before he answered. “Harry started taking control of the trades. He made certain not only that Lianne was the go-between, but that no pieces of jade would be removed from the vault unless she had been there recently.”
    Joe gave Lianne a look that was strained, resentful, and apologetic at once. “I did as he wished. Then I did…more. The tips Han Seng gave me did not always work. Soon I was more in debt to him than ever. I doubled my bets and then I redoubled them. I was desperate to stop the flow of jade out of the Tang vault. Yet the more I wagered, the more deeply in debt I became.”
    Kyle watched slow tears well from Joe’s dark eyes and down his