BooksBarbecue
Back The Preserve
Chapters (56)
  1. Front Cover
  2. Half-Title Page
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright Page
  5. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  6. 1.
  7. 2.
  8. 3.
  9. 4.
  10. 5.
  11. 6.
  12. 7.
  13. 8.
  14. 9.
  15. 10.
  16. 11.
  17. 12.
  18. 13.
  19. 14.
  20. 15.
  21. 16.
  22. 17.
  23. 18.
  24. 19.
  25. 20.
  26. 21.
  27. 22.
  28. 23.
  29. 24.
  30. 25.
  31. 26.
  32. 27.
  33. 28.
  34. 29.
  35. 30.
  36. 31.
  37. 32.
  38. 33.
  39. 34.
  40. 35.
  41. 36.
  42. 37.
  43. 38.
  44. 39.
  45. 40.
  46. 41.
  47. 42.
  48. 43.
  49. 44.
  50. 45.
  51. 46.
  52. 47.
  53. 48.
  54. EPILOGUE
  55. AFTERWORD
  56. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Selfer muttered something under his breath. He let out a long sigh. “There is something new going on, yes,” he said. “I’m afraid that things have changed. Just in the last week or so.”

Kanani had a hand up. “How you know all this if you’re so in the dark, eh?”

Selfer touched an ear. “Loose lips.” He added a bitter smirk. “I told you. I listen. That’s what a host does. I’m headwaiter and a maître d’ all in one. The host staff in the secret clubs know all the secrets of the world, I expect. And they’re trusted to keep quiet. And, sometimes maybe I do see papers, reports, not many.”

“What does Golden Lily mean?”

“Oh, you are a good listener too, aren’t you?” He stared at her a moment. “I heard the name you mentioned. Miss Mae.”

“You did? Where is she?”

“Overheard, I should say. All I heard is that she’s still in Hawaii. But she’s been given travel papers.”

Kanani clapped, bobbed on the bed.

“She’s where you first heard about all this, isn’t it?” Selfer said. “From Chinatown.”

“Yes.”

“And you must have gotten that other tidbit from Kodama when you slipped him the Mickey? Yes? That’s what I thought. So, yes, Golden Lily. Kodama was once Japan’s top gangster. Then the Imperial Japanese Army calls him to China after they invaded. They need a man who can deal with the local gangsters there. Golden Lily was the program for moving all the loot, the plunder. Sometimes it involved gangster measures like swapping for drugs. So Kodama was Golden Lily’s number one negotiator with gangsters in all of Southeast Asia, Indochina, Siam, Malaya, Burma, the Philippines, and Indonesia, doing whatever it took to get them to play along. Damn clever of the Japanese, really. Why not simply commission a gangster as an army officer?”

Selfer fell silent a while after that.

“You said something has changed,” Kanani said.

“Yes. Lansdale, this whole camp, it’s under new ownership.” Selfer wiped at his mouth as if he’d just spat.

“Who’s the kahuna?”

“Ah, you want the big kahuna. At the very top? I don’t know. I’m not supposed to.”

“General MacArthur?”

Selfer shrugged. “I doubt that. Not directly at any rate. The generalissimo would have it arranged just so, so that he could deny anything if he needs to. No, it’s bigger.”

“What’s bigger than MacArthur?”