Read Online Travis Justice by Colleen Shannon - Free Book Online

I’m sure you all know, seems to be winning the wars with its rivals. We know him only as Kai. We think he grew up around Okinawa, the son of a prominent Yakuza boss. He tried to take over his father’s gang and was disgraced and banned. That’s when he came to the U.S. He keeps a very low profile, obviously aware the DEA is trying to track him.”
    Abby switched screen shots yet again, flicking through various major U.S. ports: Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Houston. She shared her detailed research as she switched slides. “We think Kai had an ally in his father’s gang who helped him finalize connections in China with the source of this new drug known as Blue Moon. He outbid his rivals for a massive shipment. He’s spent the last few years setting up his trade routes and distribution channels, though he was a minor player in the hard stuff like heroin. However, rumor on the street is this new product is much stronger and more addictive than previously, so it’s priced higher.”
    She switched screen shots again, showing prostitutes plying various streets. “Until recently he stuck to nonviolent ventures like identity theft and prostitution. However, his rivalry with the Green Gang, the Chinese offshoot of a prominent Shanghai-based former Triad group, has heated up recently. They pride themselves on their roots as Friends of the Way of Tranquility and Purity.” Abby continued over Dexter’s scoffing sound, “In the last week, we’ve found the remains of two Green Gang members, or I should say former members.” Taking a deep breath as if she had to brace herself, Abby flipped to a new slide.
    Even the most hardened cops among them had to look away. Zach’s stomach roiled as he stared. Good God, he’d known their foe must be ruthless and brutal . . . but this. This was a message.
    The corpses were hardly recognizable as human, as they’d been butchered into pieces, like cattle. Zach had seen more than his share of dead bodies, mostly blown to bits by IEDs or machine-gun fire. These pictures, disgusting as they were, had an almost clinical air. The shots had obviously been taken well after exsanguination. The cuts on the torso where arms and legs had been attached were smooth diagonals, as if the blade that severed them had been very sharp and wielded with both power and experience, cutting through in one stroke. Zach recalled the feel and touch of that female ninja-like figure. Surely she couldn’t be involved in this? Was she even strong enough to do something like this in one stroke? His lunch bubbled in his throat and he had to force himself to concentrate on the presentation.
    Abby’s voice was soft. “The bodies were scattered. The coroner had a difficult time . . . reassembling, but when he finished we ID’d them as Green Gang from their tattoos. No next of kin came forward so their remains were cremated. The examiners had never seen anything like this, but I had once, in Japan, where I was called upon to investigate the Yakuza. These cuts are taught to those who profess to follow the way of the samurai. Each cut even has its own name, such as Do for the abdomen cut and Kiriachi for the lateral thorax cut.”
    Zach asked, “Are you saying they use humans as practice dummies?”
    Abby tilted her head slightly and eyed him with steady gray eyes so acute and assessing they might have looked through him to the wall behind his head. “If you mean is this barbarism, a twisted test of their artistry in battle, absolutely. Only the most advanced samurai can make such clean cuts and it requires a very sharp blade and a great deal of strength and accuracy. The medical examiner believes these cuts were each made with one blow.”
    Zach and his father exchanged a look.
    â€œSo you think this Kai had some of his rivals terminated like this to send a message?” interrupted Porter.
    â€œYes. While we have no proof, these two