chapter 175

word count: 1426

mr. yoo had called tiffany to meet him at the jewelry shop, as he had received a most disconcerting call while he was relaxing and enjoying the better part of a bottle of plumb wine with mr tsung..  it had been from an associate of the big guy requesting not only his presence at the compound at precisely 2 am,, but also demanding that he bring the stone with him.. 

at first glance, he firmly reprimanding her for her style of dress,, she was not, as he reminded her,, “a common street whore!! why would she disgrace him and dress in such a way?”

despite his disgust,, he went on to confide his plans for the evening in tiffany,, just in case something went awry during his meeting with mr. big,, and he suddenly disappeared..  tiffany was the only one in the family who knew where the vast storehouses of money mr. yoo had amassed over his extensive fencing career were hidden,, and he wanted to make sure she was ready to put all safety measures they had previously discussed in place should he meet with an untimely demise.. being the only child in a chinese family carried much responsibility.. she had been groomed for a moment such as this her entire life.. but somehow when it was really happening it felt surreal.

he firmly reprimanded her once again on the slut like quality of her chosen clothing,, and told her to go home immediately and change out of the unacceptable dress,, and to wait to hear from him there.. 

tiffany accepted her father’s reprimand and direction without question or any visible emotion,, bowed honorably and then left him alone in the shop.. as mr. yoo watched tiffany exit the premises via one of the many security cameras he had in place,, he could not help but notice the unmarked crown vic, most often utilized by the upper echelon of the new albany police department, pull away from the curb across the street from the shop,, and follow her at a safe distance.. 

how had he allowed himself to be so involved in his own set of circumstances that he had failed to notice that tiffany had been followed?? and not only followed,, but by a detective?? he cursed his own selfish distraction loudly,, and placed a call to tiffany.. with his own future obscured at present by the urgency of this clandestine meeting with the big guy,, it would not serve his purposes to have his daughter,, his only child,, in whom he had placed all of his trust,, to be in such a precarious position as well.. 

“tiffany?”

“yes father.”

“i observed a police vehicle follow you as you exited the shop. under what circumstances are you being followed?” mr. yoo demanded.

“oh that.” tiffany tried to play it off like she had known about the tail all along.. “that is just some guy that followed me from the tea room.. american man..  big tipper.. you know…”

“i have not raised a daughter that cannot tell the difference between an amorous man,, and a police detective. i give no credit to your explanation!! as you know i have a prearranged meeting of great importance i cannot see to this matter on my own.. you are not to go home.. to do so would put your mother in much danger..  i shall place a call to mr. tsung at once.. you are to go directly to his home and place of business and stay there until i either come to collect you,, or you hear otherwise. i have put my trust in you. do not dishonor me.” with that,, he disgustedly clicked off the call.. he had no time for such folly.

as he readied himself to leave the shop, he placed a call to mr. tsung.

我的女兒是她的方式給你。周圍的情況非常可疑。我是業務上的問題。我不應該回來，她立即被殺死。我相信你會按照我的訂單隱式。

(“my daughter is on her way to you. the surrounding circumstances are very suspicious. i am off on a matter of business. should i not return, she is to be killed immediately. i trust you will follow my order implicitly.”)

it was not a question.. it was an order,, and he waited not for mr. tsung’s reply.. with that well defined order in place, he collected the diamond and placed it safely in a steel briefcase that he secured to his wrist with a hand cuff, to which only he and mr. big had a key,, locked the safe securely, turned off the lights and entered the well-lit alley behind the store.

***

“fuck, fuck, fuck!!” tiffany beat her hands against the steering wheel as she drove toward the tsung’s. this evening had not turned out the way she had planned at all..  first the little misunderstanding with steve.. then this cop picking up her trail at the tea room?? she was not so naive as to believe that could have been a coincidence.. 

then the most unusual meeting with her father, that not only made it clear she would not have access to the diamond as she had planned,, but caused her to believe mr. big had already gotten word about steve’s untimely demise.. he would not be pleased,, as steve was a man in whom he had put great trust.. what if he had already made the connection??  

now she was being sent into exile at the home of her father’s faithful business associate knowing that she was to be held there under mr. tsungs watchful eye,, and in the event that her father did not return,, he would most certainly be under orders to kill her.. she had seen it done too many times to believe the unwritten law would not apply to her.. such determinate fate went hand in hand with knowing too much.. and she definitely knew too much.. way more, in fact, than they even knew she knew…

she wanted to hit the gas,, lose the cop and just take off.. but she also knew to do so would have not only mr. big,, and the cop’s, but all of the chinese underworld gunning for her.. she decided to take her chances and do as her father had instructed her to do.. for the time being she would be safe with the tsungs.. her mind was quick,, she would think of a plausible excuse while she was there.. she had to.. her very life depended on it..

her mind was a hailstorm of questions.. ‘did they know about steve?? if so,, who knew?? mr. big?? her father?? this fricking detective that had somehow tracked her to the tea room and then ended up  following her to her father’s shop??’ 

no one at the pizzeria knew her name.. sure,, they had briefly seen her face on many occasions over the course of the last few years, but to those white people, all chinese girls look alike.. no one was going to be able to give a detailed enough description of her,, and even if they did,, she had never been arrested.. they would have no mug shot with which to compare the sketched composites.. no fingerprints on file to compare, even if she had carelessly left one or two in the room.. certainly that pig sty of a room was ravaged with fingerprints, making hers indistinguishable anyway.. 

“fuck, fuck, fuck!!” she screamed out at herself as she pulled up the narrow alleyway to the back of the tsung’s restaurant.. “how could you be so stupid??”

as she prepare to exit the car she reminded herself to put on her most honorable face.. she checked her make up in the rear view,, and watched closely as the white crown vic passed slowly by the entrance way to the tsung’s narrow driveway.. 

tiffany stepped from the car,, tried to pull her clingy black dress into as modest a position as it could possibly stretch,, assumed her most innocent smile and approached the rear entrance of the tsung’s.. 

she didn’t even have to ring the bell.. mr. tsung was already standing in the doorway in anticipation of her arrival. he too greeted her with a look of extreme disapproval when he saw how she was dressed.. without saying a word,, he  ushered her in the door,, and up the stairs that lead to his families humble living space..