Mal followed his gaze to the girl standing beside the table. There, in the same diner uniform as Kimmy, stood Lisa. LikeKimmy, her glossy black hair was pulled into a ponytail, her makeup flawless, though more subdued.
She took a seat opposite them, pulling a dinner-sized salad they hadn’t ordered towards her, grabbing a fork and diving in.
They watched in awe as she stabbed her salad, piercing a cherry tomato and bringing it to her lips. When she noticed them staring, she widened her eyes at them, defensive. “What? I only get a twenty minute meal break. I’m hungry. Talk.”
“You work here?” Nico asked.
Lisa gave him a look. “What gave it away?” she asked, sarcasm dripping from every word.
“You were nicer this morning,” Nico muttered, picking up his bacon and taking a bite, chewing aggressively.
“Yeah, well, part of my job is customer service. But I’m off the clock. I’m not obligated to be nice to people. If you’ve got questions, ask them now. I’m not meeting you like this again.” She looked out the window. “This is the only place I know where they don’t watch me.”
“They?” Mal echoed.
She flicked her gaze at Mal. “Yeah, they. The ghosts. They’re always watching us.”
“Ghosts?” Nico repeated, his fork halfway to his lips.
“Yeah, the GTB. Ghost Talon Brotherhood.” She rolled her eyes. “That’s what they call themselves. They’re an offshoot of the Red Lotus Clan out of Hong Kong. GTB are trying to make a name for themselves, trying to impress the elders. But their leader isn’t as smart as he is sadistic.”
“So, we really are dealing with triad,” Nico said, looking at Mal.
Lisa looked around, dropping her voice. “Like I said, they’re not very smart, but what they lack in smarts, they make up for in brutality. The guy in charge, Liang Wei, he’s the son of the Dai Lo.”
“Dai Lo?” Nico parroted.
“The Dragon Head,” Lisa said. “The big brother. The boss. The scariest of the scary. Liang Wei fucked up back in Hong Kong and got shipped over here to try to prove himself by running some of their smaller operations.”
Mal tilted his head, stealing a fry from Nico’s plate. “Smaller operations?”
“Over there, they’re making their money off narcotics and human trafficking. Here, it’s counterfeit goods. But Liang Wei—Leo—has fucked up. He’s trying to expand too quickly and he’s put the twins in charge. Now, he’s in over his head.”
Mal didn’t know if any of this had to do with Amy, but Jericho should know this was happening in their neighborhood anyway. “Who are the twins?”
“Zhao Jun and Zhao Feng. Jason and Frankie over here. They’re not actually twins, just brothers, but they look similar enough that people just call them the twins when they want to talk shit about them without naming names.”
“Do people talk a lot of shit about them?” Nico asked, feeding Mal another fry without looking.
Lisa took a sip of her water, then shook her head, her expression grim. “Not anymore,” she said cryptically. “Leo brought in Jason to try to fix his mistakes in the business here, hoping his father wouldn’t see how badly he’s screwing up. If he did notice, he would have Jason there as a buffer. The Dragon Head loves Jason, so Leo figured it would win him some points with daddy. But bringing in Jason meant bringing in Frankie, and Frankie is a psychopath who runs a gang of little mini-psychopaths, like that guy Eric, who was killed.”
“So, this Eric guy was one of Frankie’s men?” Nico asked, his brows furrowed in concentration.
She nodded.
“Do you know where Amy is?” Mal asked. “Casey is really worried about her.”
“Casey?” Lisa asked. “Her daughter? You mean she’s not with her mother?”
Nico frowned. “Did you think she was?”
Lisa nodded, her unease obvious. “The story around the stalls is that Amy killed Eric then ran off with Casey. Leo is big mad about it. He’s got everyone looking for her.”
“Do you know where Amy might be?” Mal asked again.
Lisa gave a helpless shrug, shaking her head. “Up until right this second, I thought they were telling us the truth. That Eric had gone after Amy and she’d defended herself and ran with Casey.”
“Why did they send Eric there in the first place?” Nico asked around a forkful of pancakes. “Does she owe them money or something?”
