4 Agent Of Death

37 YEARS LATER, JULY 1986.

The doorbell chimed and Liu Shifu, age fifty-one, looked up from the TV set and frowned. His wife, Victoria, was out shopping with their daughters, Tiffany and Christen, but his son, Neo, was around someplace. Shifu never answered the door himself, so he ignored it and returned to the movie on the TV.

Neo would get it.

The doorbell chimed again, and Cerberus, the family dog, stirred from his nap. The Newfoundland was all black, shaggy, and as big as a small bear. Cerberus had been near death when Shifu found him in a Dumpster. The puppy had been abandoned along with two female pups that were already dead when Shifu heard the pathetic yelps coming out of the garbage. They'd named him Cerberus because when Liu Shifu first brought him home, he had spent the whole day barking at anything that moved like a hellhound.

The doorbell chimed again, and the big dog opened his eyes and growled.

Shifu called out to his son, ''Neo! Get the door." He reached down and scratched the growling animal's head. ''It's all right, Cerberus. It's all right."

But the bell chimed again, and Shifu scowled. The dog got up and barked as he trotted to the front door. Shifu ran his hand over his bald head and scratched his beard. "Neo." But Neo didn't answer. He must have gone out.

The dog was barking at the front door. "Shut up, Cerberus," Shifu grumbled, trying to pay attention to the movie. But the dog kept barking.

The doorbell chimed once more, and the dog barked louder, becoming more frantic.

"Shit," Shifu mumbled as he hauled himself up from the sofa in the den and unfolded his six-foot-three, 180-pound frame.

"Cerberus," he called out as he went to retrieve the dog, "shut up."

The dog didn't listen, which wasn't unusual, but Shifu was mad now. Must be goddamn Jehovah's Witnesses, ringing the bell like that. He'd make them sorry they'd ever got up this morning, the bastards.

He climbed the stairs of the split-level house to the front door and grabbed Cerberus by the collar as he turned the bolt and opened the front door a few inches.

"What you want." he snarled into the crack. Cerberus strained at the collar and barked by his side.

Two broad-shouldered men in jackets and ties were at the door. One was holding up a badge. "Mr. Liu Shifu?"

Shifu opened the door a little more and squinted at the badge. "Yes? Can I help you?''

'I'm Detective Volkman, New Jersey State Police. This is Detective Kane. We'd like to ask you a few questions."

Shifu tilted his head back. ''About what?"

"Several murders."

"I don't know anything about any murders."

Cerberus growled and thrashed his head to get loose from Shifu's grip.

"Did you know an individual by the name of George Malliband, Junior?" Detective Volkman asked.

Shifu shrugged and shook his head.

"Did you know an individual by the name of Louis Masgay?"

"Nope."

The other cop, the younger of the two, just stared at him. Detective Kane didn't say a word, just tried to look mean. Shifu knew the routine. They weren't the first cops to come around asking questions. Volkman, the talker, was going to be the friendly guy; Kane was going to be the hard ass. Shifu wanted to laugh in their faces. Who the hell did these guys think they were? Better yet, who the hell did they think they were dealing with?

"How about Paul L. Hoffman?" Volkman asked. "Did you know him?"

Shifu shook his head.

"Li Xian?"

"Nope."

"How about Sean Xiao?"

Shifu yanked up sharply on Cerberus's collar to silence the barking. "Never heard of him either." He had his hand on the edge of the door, ready to close it.

Detective Volkman's glance slid toward his partner. 'Well, if you don't know these men, Mr. Shifu, then I don't suppose you know anything about a Mr. Roy DeMeo."

Shifu squinted at the detective as his grip tightened on the dog's collar. He wanted to know how the hell they'd gotten that one.

"Roy DeMeo," Detective Kane snapped. "He was a soldier in the Gambino crime family. Until he was murdered."

Shifu flashed a cordial smile. "Why don't you guys come in. Let's not talk out here." He opened the door all the way and showed them in. Cerberus was agitated, sniffing at their pants, but the dog had stopped barking.

Shifu led them up the short flight of stairs to the living room. "Have a seat," he said, indicating the couch, as he got comfortable in his favourite chair in the house, the beige leather easy chair next to the fireplace, his "throne."

The shaggy Newfoundland flopped down on the floor at his feet. He took the dark amber-tinted prescription glasses out of his shirt pocket, put them on, and tilted his head back. He stared at the two detectives and let the silence get uncomfortable. He wanted them to make the first move to see how much they really knew.

Detective Volkman, the talker, finally spoke up. "Are you sure you don't know any of those men, Mr. Shifu?"

Shifu shook his head.

"You didn't know George Malliband?" Kane asked.

"I don't believe so."

Volkman opened a small notepad. "On March 31, 1980, Mr. Malliband told his brother that he was going to a meeting with you to conclude a business deal. That was the last time he was seen alive."

Shifu shook his head and shrugged, "Sorry. I have no recollection of such a person."

He scratched Cerberus's head. He remembered George Malliband. A big motherfucker, three hundred pounds easy. It was a huge struggle to get rid of his body.

Detective Volkman consulted his notes. ''On July 1, 1981, Louis Masgay was supposed to be meeting you in Little Ferry to buy blank videotapes. He was carrying a large amount of cash. His body was found two years later in Orange town, New York."

Shifu raised his eyebrows and smiled. "I've already told you, Detective. I don't know these guys."

He stroked the dog's black fur. Almost a hundred grand. Frozen solid, stiff as a board, that guy. Made the cops look like a bunch of jackasses.

Volkman flipped to another page in his notepad. "Paul Hoffman. A pharmacist from Cliffside Park. He left his home on April 29, 1982, supposedly to meet with you to conclude a business transaction. Again, he also had a large amount of cash with him."

Shifu sucked his teeth. "Don't know him."

He glanced down at the dozing Newfoundland. A real pain in the ass, that guy. Hardly worth the twenty grand for all the trouble he caused.

Detective Kane, the hard ball, piped up. "You gonna tell us you didn't know Li Xian and Sean Xiao either?"

Shifu stared at him through his dark glasses, then turned to Volkman. "Why doesn't our friend Mr. Kane here like me?"

''Just answer the question please," Kane insisted.

"I already told you. Detective. If I said I didn't know them, I didn't know them."

Cerberus lifted his head and growled. Shifu scratched the dog's ears to quiet him down. Li Xian and Sean Xiao had to go. They couldn't be trusted anymore.

Kane glared at him, sitting on the edge of the couch as if he were going to jump up and do something. "Mr. Shifu, we have reliable information that you were well acquainted with Li Xian and Sean Xiao, that they worked for you." Kane spat out the words, challenging him.

"And who is this reliable person who says I knew these two fellas?"

"I'm not at liberty to divulge that person's name."

"And why is that, Detective? I thought this was America. I thought you were supposed to know who your accusers are. Or maybe I just watch too many TV shows, Detective. Could that be my problem, Detective?"

Cerberus growled deep in his throat.

Shifu glared at Kane through his dark glasses. He had a pretty good idea who their "reliable" source was. Fucking Zhang Xiaohua and that bitch of his, Cao Feifei, Sean Xiao's ex-wife. He knew he should've taken care of those two a long time ago. Just like Li Xian and Sean Xiao.

But if Zhang Xiaohua was talking, he wasn't saying much—at least not yet—because these two from the state police didn't know shit. If they did, they wouldn't be sitting here playing games with him. They'd have an arrest warrant. These fools didn't know shit.

"How about Robert Prongay?" Kane pressed. "Did you know Robert Prongay?"

"Nope."

"Think hard. Maybe you just forgot. He used to drive a Mister Softee ice-cream truck in North Bergen. He kept that truck in a garage right across from a garage you used to rent. Is it coming back to you now, Mr. Shifu?"

Shifu stared at him for a moment. Then he spoke softly. "I don't care that much for ice cream, Detective."

"That wasn't what I asked, Mr. Shifu. I asked if you knew Robert Prongay."

"No. I didn't know him either."

Shifu kneaded the dog's neck. Mister Softee had also met his death.

Volkman ruffled some pages to break the tension. He was supposed to be the "good cop" after all. He was supposed to make things nice. ''How about Roy DeMeo, Mr. Shifu. Did you know him."

He was silent for a moment. "I don't know. I don't think so."

''Have you ever been to a place called the Gemini Lounge, Mr. Shifu. On Flatlands Avenue in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn."

"I don't think so."

"Are you sure, Mr. Shifu?"

"That sounds like some kind of nightclub, Detective. I'm a family man. I don't go to places like that."

Kane fidgeted in his seat. He looked like he was about to say something, but a glance from Volkman kept him quiet.

"Roy DeMeo was a made member of the Gambino crime family," Volkman said. "He was into pornography, among other things. Weren't you also involved in the pornography business at one time, Mr. Shifu?"

Shifu felt the blood rushing to his face. "Pornography? No, Detective. I told you, I'm a family man."

Cerberus whimpered as he dug his fingers into the dog's neck.

Unwanted memories drifted back. The office on Lafayette Street in Manhattan around the corner from the film lab.

Roy's crazy crew.

The apartment behind the Gemini Lounge where Dracula lived.

The sharks off Long Island.

Unconsciously Shifu touched the scar high on his forehead.

Volkman continued. "DeMeo's body was found in the trunk of his own car in January 1983."

''Yeah? So what?"

"Something was found on top of his body. You wouldn't have any idea what that item might be?"

Shifu didn't say a word. He just stared and let the moment stretch. Then he smiled. "Are we playing games here, Detective?"

Kane barked. "No, Mr. Shifu, we are not playing games."

"Then what are you doing here? I told you already. I don't know any of those guys you're talking about."

"We have a reliable source who says you—"

"Would you like me to tell you what you can do with your 'reliable source,' Detective Kane?"

He pictured Zhang Xiaohua's big ugly face. Rat bastard.

Detective Kane was fuming. He looked like he was having a hard time just keeping himself on the couch. Shifu grinned at him.

Volkman flipped some more pages. "Now just to be absolutely sure, Mr. Shifu, let's go over the names one more time. Okay?"

Shifu shrugged. "Whatever'll make you happy."

"George Malliband. You say you didn't know him?"

"I don't believe I ever met anyone by that name. No."

"And did you know Louis Masgay?"

"Nope."

"Paul Hoffman?"

"Don't know him."

"Robert Prongay."

Shifu shook his head.

"Li Xian."

''Don't know him either."

''Sean Xiao."

"Never heard of the guy."

Kane was squinting at him. He looked very sceptical. "If you don't know any of these men, Mr. Shifu, then why are you grinning like that."

Shifu's grin broke out into a toothy smile. "I guess I'm just a happy guy, Detective."

"Why do I have a feeling you know more than you're saying, Mr. Shifu?"

Liu Shifu just grinned at him.

He ran his fingers through Cerberus's thick coat as the two detectives looked at each other, trying to figure out how to walk away from this without looking like a couple of assholes. But these two jokers came in here with nothing, Shifu thought. That was their first mistake. They were on a fishing expedition. But they had nothing, and they were nothing. The way Liu Shifu figured it, they were a couple of two-bit state cops, struggling with their mortgages and their car payments, scraping to get by, looking forward to nothing more than getting their twenty years in so they could get their shitty little pensions. They were losers. They knew nothing and they had nothing.

But Liu Shifu, on the other hand, had everything.

The big man adjusted his glasses and grinned with satisfaction. "Now is there anything else I can do for you, gentlemen?"