Chapter
2 The
Trap
Her first encounter with
the criminal element was not her last.
The name
Jade
Dragon became
synonymous with terror and retribution for those criminals foolish enough
to dare the nights of
“This Oriental bitch is destroying our business,” complained James
Laroche also known as ‘Boss
Crunch.’ “Profits from
nighttime ventures are down 70%. We
have to do something about
her.”
“Yeah,” agreed Weasel.
“Trade in goods from burglaries and muggings
is almost nonexistent, and now she is even going after the pimps,
encouraging the pros to get clean and leave the
street. Prostitution is down
by almost half.”
“There must be something we can do, boss,” said
Brick. “Maybe set a trap
or
something.”
“A trap,” said Boss Crunch
thoughtfully.
“A
trap. That’s a good
idea, Brick. You’re not
as dumb as you look.”
“Thanks boss,” said the hulking
giant.
“What we need is some sort of bait.
Call Janet in
here.”
“Right boss,” replied Brick.
He strode out of the room.
A few minutes later he was back.
Behind him was a rather worn looking
blonde. She may have once been
beautiful, but she had certainly seen better
days. “Brick says you want
me. It’s been a long, long
time.”
“Yeah I want you, but not for what you
hope. I need you for
bait.”
“What the Hell do you think I a,” asked Janet, “some sort
of fish?”
Crunch explained his plan. It
was simple, but it should work.
“Alright,” said Janet, “but I want a larger share of the
profits. If that Chinese bitch
finds out I’m betraying her, she’ll kill
me.”
“If this works,” replied Crunch, “I’ll see you get what
you deserve.”
The Jade Dragon was on her usual night
patrol. This time her wanderings
had taken her quite close to the
waterfront. It was part of her
usual loop. There were often
a few villains up to no good in this part of
town. “It’s pretty
quiet tonight,” she mused.
“Not like when I first
started. I’m slowly putting
myself out of a job.”
She fired a line across to a neighboring
building. It was about three
stories lower than the rooftop she was on, so she had to slide down her line
to the next roof rather than swing
across. She checked her connection
carefully. Although she had pulled
off this maneuver hundreds of times, she was all too well aware of the fact
that a single mistake could kill her. Hooking a pulley over her secure line
she slid down to the next rooftop at a dizzying
speed. She really enjoyed this
particular way of travel. Reaching
the rooftop, she absorbed the shock of impact with flexed knees and stood
up. Then she headed across the
roof. At that moment she detected
a faint cry.
She stopped. The cry came
again. It was someone calling
for help. The sound came from
a street a few blocks to her right.
Quickly, she raced across the
rooftop. The building next to
the one she was on was about the same height, but the gap between the two
of them was about thirty feet, too far for any normal person to
jump. But the Jade Dragon was
not any ordinary person. Without
hesitating, she hurled herself across the
gap. Using her psychic talents,
she amplified her jump and crossed the gap
easily. It was not something
she did ordinarily, as expenditure of psychic energy required just as much
effort as that of muscular power, but this was an
emergency.
The building took her to the next block.
Rushing to the edge of the building she looked down into the
street. The cries for help were
now coming from directly below her.
At first she could not make out
anything. The street below had
no streetlights. But then in
the gloom she made out the figure of a woman struggling in the arms of two
men. She was screaming mightily
as they dragged her toward the doorway of a large waterfront warehouse just
opposite the building on which Sun Lin
stood. “Hold on,” she
thought, “I’m coming.”
Quickly, she hooked her grapple onto the edge of the roof and then rapidly
dropped to the street. By the
time she got there, the woman had disappeared, but Sun Lin could still hear
her shouting inside the warehouse.
Leaving her silken line dangling from the roof, she raced across the
street to the door where she had last seen the hapless woman.
Grabbing the handle she found
that it was not locked. Loud
banging sounds as of someone struggling came from
inside. Pushing the door open,
Sun Lin found herself in a dark hallway.
A single naked light bulb provided
illumination. There were several
doors on either side of the hall and a large door at the
end.
“Oh God, won’t someone please help
me!” It was the sound of
a woman in terror, and it came from the other side of the door at the end
of the hall.
Without any thought to her own safety, Sun Lin dashed down the
hall. Finding the door unlocked
she burst through it. She found
herself in a large room with a low
ceiling. On
the other side of the room stood a middle-aged blonde
woman. The blonde looked
at her and smiled. “About
time you got here, cutie,” she said, “I’ve been screaming
for five minutes.”
Confused, Sun Lin looked around her.
Then her eyes widened. The
room was filled with men. At
least a dozen she estimated. She
had fallen into a trap!
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