Killer Nights

Right as Peng had reached out a hand to take back the pliers, Jiang Zhengkai quickly grabbed both of them and snapped a pair of handcuffs on them.  Peng was quite taken aback at first and looked incredulously at Jiang Zhengkai when he saw that his hands had been cuffed.

"Sorry, Bro!" said Jiang Zhengkai as he pushed Peng onto the table.  "I"m with the police, and I need you to tell me where your accomplice is."  Though he spoke in a very casual tone, the fact that he pointed his service pistol at Peng showed the gravity of the situation.  Being the clever young man that he was, Lu Xiaoqiang had already led Mr. Song and Zhang Qian out of the room.

"Inspector Jiang, there"s heroin hidden in that grain pile over there," said Lu Xiaoqiang as he held out the dime bag of heroin in his hand.  "There"s a lot more of these bags, from the looks of it."

"Really?" asked Jiang Zhengkai.  He turned back towards Peng. "You have two choices right now.  One, you can take the rap for your gang"s heroin operations, or two, you can rat your gang out in exchange for a lighter prison sentence.  So, which one is it going to be?"

"Just f.u.c.king kill me!" shouted Peng.  "f.u.c.king pig! Shoot me if you"ve got the b.a.l.l.s!  I wouldn"t be in this business if I were a f.u.c.king coward!"

"Very well!"  Seeing how Peng was in no mood to cooperate, Jiang Zhengkai immediately sent his knee towards Peng"s crotch.

"Ugh!"  Peng let out a beastly roar as the pain overwhelmed him.  "You dirty motherf.u.c.ker!" he yelled as he slid towards the ground.  However, Jiang Zhengkai yanked Peng up by the shoulder with his left hand as his right hand pistol-whipped the same region on his body.

"Ah!  Fine, I"ll talk!" pleaded Peng as he writhed in pain on top of the table.  "I"ll talk! I"ll tell you everything!"

"That"s better," said Jiang Zhengkai as he pulled Peng off of the table and shoved him onto the ground.  He then took one of the room"s metal chairs and placed it on top of Peng before sitting on it. From there, he stomped his foot directly on top of Peng"s chest.  "Alright, what would you like to discuss with me?"

"What the f.u.c.k kind of a cop are you?" Peng painfully complained as he lay on the ground.  His body was pinned by Jiang Zhengkai"s foot, while the chair"s legs restricted his ability to move his arms.  As such, the only thing he could do was to wiggle about uncomfortably within the confines that Jiang Zhengkai had set out for him.

Jiang Zhengkai smirked at Peng and said, "I don"t know.  Why don"t you tell me what kind of a cop I am?"

"You"re a crooked cop on Tao"s payroll!" Peng loudly accused.  "Whatever you do to me, I promise you Brother Li will do it ten times worse to Tao"s little b.i.t.c.h of a sister!"

"Tao"s little sister?"  Clearly, Jiang Zhengkai didn"t realize that "Tao"s little sister" was in fact Jiao.

"Yeah, that preschool teacher b.i.t.c.h!"  yelled Peng. Jiang Zhengkai responded by pressing his foot down harder, which caused Peng to try to turn to one side in pain.  At the same time, he kept shouting. "Kill me if you"ve got the b.a.l.l.s to do it, and I"ll see you in h.e.l.l if you do! Argh!"

"You"re pretty clever for a gangster!"  It appeared that Peng incorrectly believed that Jiang Zhengkai was a corrupt police officer who had been bought off by a rival gang, and he had every intention to let him keep believing that misconception.  "Since that"s the case, I"m afraid I definitely can"t let you live." As he spoke, he reached his hand out towards Lu Xiaoqiang. Lu Xiaoqiang hesitated for a moment before handing over the dime bag of heroin.

"How about it?" said Jiang Zhengkai as he opened up the dime bag and pretended to sniff it.  He then placed the bag next to Peng"s mouth and said, "Word on the street is that your gang"s heroin is some weak s.h.i.+t, mostly just flour.  Care to find out?" As he spoke, he acted as if he was going to pour the contents of the entire dime bag into Peng"s mouth.

"I… Bro… please don"t!  I"m sorry, Bro!" Peng"s eyes opened wide in terror when he saw what Jiang Zhengkai was about to do.  Some drug traffickers partook in their own goods, while others were only in the business to make money. Peng was of the latter variety.  He"d seen far too many people die from overdosing on heroin, so he feared its effects more than the average person, especially when someone was about to dump a whole bag"s worth into his mouth.

"Sorry?"  Jiang Zhengkai moved the dime bag when he heard Peng apologize.  "Why are you sorry?"

"I… I…"  Peng was already a nervous wreck and could hardly make a coherent sentence.  "I"m sorry! Please… please don"t!"

"Alright, I"ll give you a chance to save yourself," said Jiang Zhengkai as he moved the dime bag close to Peng"s mouth again.  "Where is the woman you were talking about? Where are you hiding her?"

"She… she"s alive!" Peng nervously replied.  "But… but I don"t know… I don"t know where she is…"  

Not satisfied with the response, Jiang Zhengkai began tipping the dime bag towards Peng"s mouth.  White specks of heroin were now mere millimeters away from it.

"Ah!  Please!  I really don"t know!  Ah…" Peng begged for mercy as he struggled underneath Jiang Zhengkai"s immovable foot.  "Brother, please! I really don"t know!"

"Alright, then tell me who this heroin belongs to."  Jiang Zhengkai was almost certain Peng didn"t know about Jiao"s whereabouts, so he decided to change the topic.

"Brother Yi and Brother Li!" replied Peng.  Terrified that the dime bag in Jiang Zhengkai"s hand was moving closer to his mouth again, he immediately clarified, "Sui Zhongyi and Sui Zhongli!"

"Very good," Jiang Zhengkai nodded in approval.  "How many people are tasked with looking after the goods?"

"Two!  Just me and w.a.n.g," Peng crisply answered.  "But we don"t come here unless there are goods here."

"Then where"s w.a.n.g?" Jiang Zhengkai continued to ask.

"He… he went to grab some food…" Peng replied.

"Grab some food?"  Jiang Zhengkai"s hand inched closer to Peng"s mouth once more.

"No, really, I"m telling the truth!" Peng shouted nervously.  "He went to the supermarket to buy a week"s worth of food and beverages!  I swear I"m not lying!"

"A whole week"s worth?"  Seeing that Peng was being cooperative, Jiang Zhengkai"s hand stopped moving towards his mouth.

"Yes!  This s.h.i.+pment only just arrived, so we"re going to have to be here for about a week before distribution is complete," Peng hurriedly replied.

"Do you have some kind of secret pa.s.sphrase for opening the door?" Jiang Zhengkai continued asking.  "How do Sui Zhongyi and them know that the goods are safe?"

"Cameras!" replied Peng as he pointed at the warehouse ceiling.  "Those are WiFi-enabled security cameras. Anyone with the right username and pa.s.sword can login and see what"s going on here.  Sui Zhongyi and other gang leaders can check on the goods 24/7 from their smartphone or computer."

"Is that so?"  A chill suddenly ran down Jiang Zhengkai"s spine.  Does that mean Lu Xiaoqiang"s search for drugs was caught on tape?

"Everything I"m saying is the truth!" Peng continued to cry while on the ground.

"What"s the pa.s.sphrase for opening the door?" Jiang Zhengkai asked again.

"There is no pa.s.sphrase.  There is another camera right outside the door, which covers the area all the way to the doorbell," replied Peng.  "Someone only needs to look into the camera, and if we recognize them, then we will open the door for them."

"How many cameras are there in total?" asked Jiang Zhengkai as he moved the dime bag closer to Peng"s mouth again.

"Eight!" Peng hurriedly replied.

"And their locations?" asked Jiang Zhengkai.

"I can point all of them out to you–" replied Peng.  

Just then, the doorbell rang.  A man holding several bags of groceries in both hands appeared on Peng"s monitor.  He smiled at the camera and then raised the grocery bags so they were in clear view. This man was obviously w.a.n.g, returning from his trip to the supermarket.

"How do you open the door?" Jiang Zhengkai asked Peng while staring at the computer monitor.

"There"s a b.u.t.ton underneath the monitor…" Peng obediently answered.

Standing behind Jiang Zhengkai, Lu Xiaoqiang immediately drew his sidearm and ran over to the front door as soon as he heard what Peng had said.  When the front door to the storage s.p.a.ces finally opened and w.a.n.g walked in, what he found was Lu Xiaoqiang"s pistol pointed straight at his head.

After detailed explanations by w.a.n.g and Peng, Jiang Zhengkai was able to figure out the exact locations of all eight security cameras.  He also learned that only Sui Zhongyi and Sui Zhongli knew the right username and pa.s.sword to remotely access the cameras. Finally, w.a.n.g and Peng divulged that Sui Zhongyi and Sui Zhongli had left the city a few days ago to take care of business in another part of the country.  They wouldn"t be returning until later today, which meant that they were most likely oblivious to the fact that their drug warehouse had been raided. Soon thereafter, Sui Zhongyi called the warehouse, which confirmed what Jiang Zhengkai had thought.

Since the gang bosses had no idea what was going on here, Jiang Zhengkai believed there was no better time to strike than now.  With the cooperation of Mr. Song and Zhang Qian, officers from the sub-bureau secretly entered through the small side door connecting the drug warehouse with the resort"s unoccupied storage s.p.a.ces.  Meanwhile, Jiang Zhengkai filled Yao Tianyu in on the situation. Soon thereafter, Yao Tianyu had ama.s.sed a large police presence outside the warehouse as well.

The net had been secretly cast.  All that was missing now was the fish…