Black Orchid
Nighttime had fallen over Grant City. The nightlife made its presence known in the streets of Chinatown. Jack, along with Shadow, made his way to Chinatown, the area where the triads roamed and ruled. On top of that, the grounds were getting damper and damper as rain started to fall from the sky.
Sometime after Jack had paid Hildy a visit and went back to his hideout, he had received a call from Chris. It turned out that the car with the MSILT license plate belonged to Marvin Silt. Chris filled him in on who he may be associated with, such as the Sanderville crime family, as well as an organization known as Mayhem Incorporated, a squad of assassins and terrorists in Grant City, usually hired to do the bidding of anybody for a price. When Chris mentioned Mayhem Inc, Jack somehow wondered if that assassin who shot him, as well as Augie Blatz worked for that assassin's guild. There was only one way to find out.
But given Jack's profile and that he was a wanted man, he still had to keep a low profile, especially if there was any police around. Jack and Shadow got out of the black car and parked it somewhere. The two walked down the garish streets of Chinatown, with many of the businesses having signs containing Chinese characters written in Hanzi symbols, likely what was written was what the businesses were called with English translations written on the signs as well. One example was a store called "Keng Cu Clothing," and another was a store called "Chen Shoes."
Jack and Shadow found a large delivery truck and quickly hid behind it as a GCPD officer was seen walking down the street on this rainy night. Near the doorway of the Tao Wong Market walked an overweight Chinese man with a crew-cut, wearing a red jacket with white stripes and an FC insignia on the left side of the chest area, along with white sweatpants with red stripes on the side. By this man's side was a taller and muscular Chinese man wearing a gray suit with a black button-down shirt, but the top buttons were undone a bit. The muscular man had goatee on just his chin.
As Jack and Shadow hid behind the truck, they saw the cop approaching the two men. One of the men was known in Chinatown as Fat Chow.
Fat Chow was always known for getting good hardware, but he mostly provided for the triads and yakuza, exactly the type of guys you don't want to have using it. Jack thought to himself. But right now I didn't care, so long as he could hook me up with something powerful. Wherever you find Fat Chow, trouble's never too far behind. He's one of those wannabe triads, but he's as slimy as they come. Sometimes I think that that big motherfucker Hong-Tse is the real leader of this triad faction. I even hear that they got a guy named Tseng working for them. Word has it that he's a real psycho, though Hong-Tse is no slouch himself.
As Jack looked on with Fat Chow talking with the cop, some other triad members had come out. Fat Chow busted out what appeared to be a wallet.
And what do we have here, a little payoff? Jack thought as he saw Fat Chow handing the cop some money, and then the cop was sent on his way.
Jack continued to hide until the policeman was no longer in sight. Jack went to approach Fat Chow, along with bodyguards. Chow turned his attention towards the left and saw Jack and Shadow approaching him. Hong-Tse even turned his attention towards Jack as he is the muscle for Fat Chow. One thing that caught Jack's attention was the scar over Hong-Tse's right eye, which was also meant that that eye in particular no longer functioned as he could only see through his left eye.
"Jack Slate? You got a lot of balls coming to a place like this," Fat Chow said with a heavy accent.
"I'm here on business, Chow," Jack said. "Word has it that you have a good supply of guns and I am willing to buy one off of you."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Fat Chow said. "What are you doing here, anyway? From what I hear, you're not even a cop anymore. So do us all a big favor and get the fuck out of here."
"Fat Chow, why are you talking to me like that?" Jack said. "I just want to buy a gun, that's all. Is that really so much to ask?"
"Why should I trust you? I don't make deals with fucking cops," Fat Chow said.
"Oh no? I just saw you pay off that cop just a bit ago," Jack said. "Besides, you said that you hear that I'm not a cop anymore, which you are right about. I am not a cop. I got some shit to settle and all I want is a fucking gun, and some answers."
Fat Chow looked at Hong-Tse and their other associates with so much skepticism and suspicion. It appeared that Jack wanted no trouble with the triads as much as he wanted to find out who killed his father as well as set him up. In Jack's mind, the only person there was that man with the eye-patch and purple hair. He was definitely a hired gun. Could that man Marvin Silt know who that guy was? He was ready to find out.
"Okay, let's go step into my office," Fat Chow said.
Fat Chow led Jack and Shadow, along with Chow's associates nearby. Jack knew that he was around some shady figures, but even that's a common thing in a place like Grant City. It made Jack wonder what happened to the city and when it became such a hellhole. The group walked their way up the street, with many cars and trucks parked on the sides of the road. It was quite a stretch of road where they were going, but it wasn't too far. It wasn't too long as they finally reached a concrete stairwell adjacent to a red phone booth with a yellow light sign at the top. Fat Chow led Jack and his associates up the stairs towards a red gateway with hanging lamps. Nearby were small hotels and a Chinese restaurant. As Fat Chow headed towards a door near the restaurant, this had to be his base of operations. Jack signaled to Shadow to go hide in an alley as he will be back for him really soon. Shadow ran and crawled to the alley and hid behind some trash cans.
The door opened, the stocky triad leader continued to lead the way as they walked down a stairwell through a doorway that looked like a gate. Inside were a bunch of people standing near roulette and craps tables, as well as blackjack tables. It was clear that Fat Chow ran an illegal gambling den in this part of town. If Jack was still on the force, he would have tried to use this against them and tried to get the place shut down, but he wasn't and this wasn't the time.
Fat Chow opened the gate into the cashier area. Behind the cashier stand were some lockers. The triad boss opened the lockers, revealing some high-powered weapons, ranging from pistols like Berettas, Desert Eagles, Magnum revolvers, to even submachine guns like MP5s, Tec-9s, Uzis, etc. On top of that, another locker revealed the bigger guns like assault rifles, shotguns, and sniper's rifles. It was true – Fat Chow was the man to go to for any hardware.
"Take your pick," Fat Chow said.
Jack looked at a lot of the weaponry that this guy had. He was certain that if he had to wage war on anybody who would get in his way, he would likely come back. But he didn't want to get too messy, so he started off with something simple.
"I would like to take two of those," Jack said pointing towards two Glock 17s. "And two of those." He said pointing towards two Beretta M9s.
"You sure you don't need anything bigger?" Fat Chow said. "I hear you're a wanted man out there."
"If I do, I know where to go," Jack said. "Like I said, I have no problem with you, so I need to take what I can get right now. Also, give me some extra clips."
Jack reached for the wallet he was using. He didn't have his, so he used Augie's wallet that he had lying around. He said "Here" to Fat Chow and gave him the money to pay for the guns he was buying.
Jack pulled out some more money. "Here's a little extra," he paused a bit as he pulled the dollar bills back. "If you can tell me where I can find Marvin Silt."
A smirk grew on Fat Chow's face. He put his right hand to his mouth like he was ready to laugh. Something told Jack that not only was this guy known among some crime circles, but also that he was also a joke.
"You want to find that idiot?" Fat Chow said. "That fool hangs out at Black Orchid all the time. Always wanting a massage, or to fuck some of the women there. He's known there because I own that place, too. What do you want with him?"
"That's for me to know and you to find out," Jack said. "Thanks for the tip."
Jack turned around ready to leave. He was stopped; he looked up and noticed that Hong-Tse stopped him with a glare in his left eye. Even the glint in what was left of his right eye gave off an intimidating vibe and shook his head. He nodded his head to signal to look towards Fat Chow.
"Just one more thing, Jack Slate," Fat Chow said. "If I find out that you shot up Black Orchid, I will fucking kill you. So you better not do any stupid shit."
"I'm just looking for answers, that's all," Jack said. "Besides, I was a cop before. I know what to do, and what not to do."
Jack turned around and made his way out of the cashier area and then right out of the gambling den. He didn't want to cause any trouble. If this Silt guy was at the Black Orchid Massage Parlor, then he would come close to finding his father's killer.
As soon as Jack exited the gambling den, he whistled and Shadow made his way out to join his master. The two went to the car that Jack drove to get here. It was only parked nearby. Jack opened the door to the backseat and Shadow jumped right in and then Jack went into the driver's seat, started up the car, and he was off to Black Orchid.
It only took a few minutes as the place was only a few blocks away. Jack parked the car nearby. The place was not hard to miss as the bright orange light with it reading "Black Orchid Massage," along with some Hanzi symbols in between the English wording. To the right of the right entrance was another Tao Wong Market location and to its left was another phone both. In the front was another Chinese lamp with its light on.
So this guy Silt practically lived at this massage parlor. Jack thought. Time to find out why he tried to run me down. Maybe he has connections to that killer.
The moment Jack walked through the door, a blonde Chinese woman in a green cheongsam with a dragon symbol on her chest area approached him with two other Chinese women in red cheongsam dresses with dark hair. The blonde woman was known as Lotus, as she seemed to be the hostess, among other duties for this place. At a distance stood a muscular Chinese man with a bald head, sunglasses with orange lenses, and a white long-sleeved shirt and black slacks with suspenders near the bar and lounge area. This man was known as Horse, as he was likely the bouncer at this place.
"Welcome, please, may I take your coat?" Lotus said with a Chinese accent and bowed to Jack with her hands together in a praying position. The other two ladies stood there in silence and bowed to the ex-cop.
"I'll hang onto it, thanks," Jack said. "Just want to see what this place has to offer."
"Oh, you've come to the right place," Lotus said. "This way, please." Lotus pointed with both arms like any host would do at a place like this.
Jack looked around. He knew that though it seemed like a massage parlor, he was certain that it was a brothel. It had to be the reason that someone would frequent a place like this. No one would have constant aches and pains that he or she would need to come and get a massage.
The place had quite a Chinese atmosphere with the walls have Hanzi symbols scribed on them, as well as Chinese lamps. There was quite a red and orange color scheme. At the center was the bar and lounge area as it was one big square with steps going down through gateways.
"Why don't you grab something to drink?" Lotus said. "One of my ladies here will be done soon and I will guide you to your room."
Jack nodded and went up to bar and pulled out a stool. An attractive Caucasian Brunette turned around to face Jack. This woman wore an orange headband, along with a gray tube top that covered mostly her chest but bared her midriff, and also tight gray Capri pants. This woman was named Heather.
"Hello, what can I get you?" Heather said.
"What do you have?" Jack said.
"I got Dancing Devil Tequila, Hammer Beer, Green Demon," Heather said. "Or if you don't want alcohol, I can give you some Xlixir, or some tea."
Jack knew what he was here for and he was not about to lose focus if he could help it. So alcohol was out of the question. "I'll take some green tea."
Heather went to handle pouring the tea into a cup and then served it. "Here you go."
"Thanks," Jack said. "Hey, listen, I was wondering." He pulled out the wallet and pulled out a good amount of money.
Heather looked at Jack all puzzled, like wondering what this man was about to get at.
"I hear that Marvin Silt hangs out here quite often," Jack said. "Some of this extra cash can be yours if you tell me."
Jack lightly slammed his hand against the counter and slid the cash towards the bartender. Heather paused, even more puzzled than before like what just happened was unexpected. Other times she would expect any male clientele asking if she "serviced" any of them like any other women who work here. But nonetheless she shifted her eyes both ways and leaned forward a bit.
"Listen, you didn't hear it from me," Heather said it as quietly as she could, like somewhat whispering but her voice was still audible. "But Silt is in—"
"Are you looking for a good time?" Jack turned to his right and saw a total stunner. She was Chinese with black hair done in a top ponytail with lacquered chopsticks keeping her hair up. She wore a gray cheongsam with some orange-yellow Chinese symbols on her gown and the collar closed around her neck but also had an opening that bared her cleavage. On top of that, she had a black dragon tattoo on her right shoulder, maybe it was a symbol of the triad's insignia.
"I'm Pearl," the Chinese woman said with what sounded like an American accent. "Come with me. I'll give you the time of your life."
Maybe this woman would know if Silt is here. Though Jack had been in prison for months and had been starving for some sex, this was the last thing he wanted or felt he needed in that moment. Pearl went ahead and led the way for her and Jack to go to a room. Horse and some other triads looked on and looked at Jack with some mild suspicion, like they knew this guy from somewhere. It shouldn't be much of a shock to anybody as he just broke out of the penitentiary, but to anybody else, it would probably be assumed that he was looking for a good time.
By this point, Pearl had found an open room to use. Unbeknownst to the two, around a corner from the distance a Chinese woman in a red and black cheongsam peered towards the two. Jack quickly turned around towards that direction, as he felt someone was looking their way. The woman quickly got out of sight. It was Eve, who disguised herself to blend in and had her red hair done up and had lacquered chopsticks in her hair to keep it up. Eve pulled the hemline of her gown to check her legs. On her right leg was a pistol with a silencer held by a garter. On her left leg was knife in a sheath held by the other garter.
Pearl opened the door and put her arm out to have Jack enter the room. There was a bed, along with a hot tub. No massage table in sight, as it was clear what this place also specializes in.
"Go make your comfortable," Pearl said. "I will be right with you."
Jack sat down on the bed and looked away as Pearl started to undo her gown while moving in some suggestive motions as she pulled the cheongsam over her head, revealing some rather skimpy black lingerie. Though he acknowledged that this woman was stunning and could probably use a woman's touch soon, he was not interested in doing this right now. Pearl walked in a seductive fashion towards him as she reached for her back to unhook her bra. Jack was clearly not having it as he looked away.
"Is there a problem here?" Pearl said.
"No," Jack said, trying to be calm in this situation.
"Good, because there is no reason to have a problem," Pearl said as she approached Jack and got on her knees, reaching for Jack's pants like she was ready to undo them, including the belt.
"I'm gonna make you feel real good," Pearl said as she knelt before him continuing in her attempt at undoing his pants and then went to his shirt. "Please take off your jacket. When I'm through with you, you will be a happy man."
As Pearl continued to try undressing him, Jack put his hands right in front of her, stopping her from proceeding, causing Pearl to shoot him a look of confusion.
"Okay, listen, I'm not here for sex," Jack said. "I just want to know if Marvin Silt is here. I need answers."
"Look, I don't give a shit if you want sex or not, but you're paying me for my time," Pearl said.
"Maybe with the money I will pay you, you can tell me," Jack said. "I just need answers, that's all."
Pearl sighed and quickly got to her feet. "Okay, mister, you want Silt. I know which room he's in. He's with one of our new girls. I can take you to him."
Pearl went ahead and started putting her clothes back on. The door had opened. Eve stood by and quickly got out of sight. Her contract was still in her sights, but with potential casualties around, she wasn't about to fire her weapon right then and there.
Jack walked with Pearl across the parlor. Lotus and her assistants, along with Horse and goons just hung around. To them it was nothing. It might have seemed that Jack wanted some extra action. However, Lotus saw something irregular farther ahead in the back of the parlor, as the woman walking over there seemed unfamiliar, at least not someone who worked there.
It wasn't long until Jack and Pearl went to a stop and found the room.
"Silt's in this room," Pearl said. Jack looked up and around. With many closed doors in this place, it was likely that they were occupied with other clientele getting their freak on.
"Are you sure?" Jack said. Pearl nodded and told him that he is a regular and that she saw him with the new woman enter that room earlier.
"Okay, I'll take your word for it," Jack said. At that moment, Pearl walked away. There was no one else in sight. Not Horse, not Lotus, not any other triads.
Here goes nothing. Jack thought and got out a credit card from the wallet and slid it into the crack going into the latch. Once the door loosened, Jack quickly raised his right foot and kicked the door open.
Inside, a naked bald man who had the woman in the doggie style position quickly looked up the door being busted open. In an instant the man broke away from the woman. The same happened with the woman, who turned out to be a blonde white woman who rolled off the bed into the floor and looked up at who was at the door.
"What the fuck?!" the bald man said.
"Marvin Silt?" Jack said.
"Who the fuck are you?!" Silt said covering his parts up with the bedspread.
Jack quickly grabbed Silt by his arms and shoulders and pushed him up against the wall. It didn't matter if Silt was butt-naked, all Jack wanted was something out of this guy.
"Okay, okay, what the fuck do you want?" Silt said. "Do you want money or something?"
Jack pulled out one of the Berettas he bought earlier that evening and pointed it right towards Marvin's head. "I want to know who hired you to run me down outside of the prison."
"Jack?" The moment he heard his name, he turned around and saw the woman looking right at him. Jack's eyes bulged a bit. It was clear he knew this woman.
"Ruby?" Jack said.
"Jack, oh my God, I can't believe it," Ruby said. In the months that Jack had been in prison, Ruby appeared to have grown her hair out a bit.
"Not the time, Ruby," Jack said. "I'll get back to you."
Jack turned his attention towards Silt once again. "I want to know who hired you to run me down outside of the prison."
"Oh, that?" Silt said. "That was nothing personal, man. I was just told that if anybody other than Tattoo popped out of that pipe to give them the run-over. You were just at the wrong place at the wrong time, dude!"
A gunshot was heard. Jack and Marvin looked to their side - Silt's left, Jack's right. The hole was visible on the wall.
"What the hell?" Jack said. He turned around as he still held onto Silt. But Silt looked up and his eyes bulged a bit and said, "Oh shit." Right at the door way stood Eve with the silenced pistol in her hand.
"Jack Slate, I presume," Eve said. "Relax, I'm not here for you. I'm only here for Silt."
"Well, looks like we have something in common," Jack said. "I still need some answers from Silt, now if you'll excuse me."
"Relax, if you want to know, I need some answers from as well," Eve said and looked towards the floor. "Who's the girl?"
"Please don't shoot me," Ruby said.
"It's okay, I know her," Jack said and looked right at her. "Ruby, put your clothes on. We're getting out of here."
Eve pointed her gun at Silt some more. "Get dressed, baldy. I'm not done with you."
"Okay, okay, I will," Silt said.
It wasn't long until Silt and Ruby were fully dressed, even with Ruby wearing a cheongsam as well. The four were ready to leave the parlor as Jack and Eve wanted to get more answers from Silt. Jack even wanted to get some answers from Ruby, like how she just disappeared after he got arrested and convicted.
Eve stood close to Silt with her gun hidden right against his back. "Don't try anything stupid, baldy."
"Hold up," Jack said. "Who are you, by the way?"
"They call me Eve," Eve said. "Now let's get out of here."
Meanwhile out in the lounge area of the parlor, Lotus, along with her assistants and Horse walked down the hall towards that one room.
"Something was not right here," Lotus said.
"What are you talking about?" Horse said as he walked alongside Lotus.
"That one girl I saw," Lotus said. "She's not one of ours, but I think I know her. She looked familiar."
"Yeah?" Horse said. "I think that one guy is an escaped con. I'm going to care of that fucker."
"Shut it, Horse," Lotus said. "That one woman, she is dangerous. She's the one I'm worried about more. If anything happened, I will make sure to call Fat Chow and then he will handle her."
"We'll see for ourselves," Horse said.
The door opened. Jack was the first to get out. He heard a little pitter patter, which implied that those footsteps were headed towards them. Jack signaled to Eve to keep her eye on Silt and also on Ruby.
Horse walked a little faster and saw Jack, as well as Eve and the other two walk around a farther corner.
"Hey, you! Over there!" Horse yelled.
"Fuck!" Jack yelled. Horse came right towards him with a few triad thugs.
Horse stormed right towards Jack and grabbed him and pushed him right against the wall. "Where the fuck do you think you're going?"
Without any warning, Jack kneed Horse right in the groin, delivered a hard punch to Horse's stomach, realizing that this guy is solid muscle. However, that didn't mean he didn't budge. Jack quickly laid a hard right elbow to the bouncer's jaw. Horse still had his shades on, but the elbow didn't reach his eyes. Jack quickly pushed him up against the wall. As more triad thugs started to surround him, Jack quickly drew his Beretta.
"Back up! Back the fuck up, now!" Jack yelled and looked right at Horse in his eyes. "Look, you're going to let me and my associates walk out of here, or you can fuck me up all you want. I got no beef with you. I got my shit to worry about. The last thing I need is some triads on my fucking ass. So I think it's best if you just let me get the fuck out of here. You got that?"
Horse glared right at Jack in the eye. If it was someone else, he would do his job, even if it meant getting his hands dirty. But Jack had enough on his plate already. There was no reason for the triad to try going after him. He was only one man. He could have been as good as dead right then and there as he was outnumbered.
"Okay, but just take this as a warning, out of respect for Fat Chow," Horse said. "Besides, unlike Hong or Tseng, I'm a much more honorable man, especially compared to Tseng."
"Good," Jack said and put the gun down. "See you around, Horse."
At that moment, Jack took off to go meet with his associates. However, Eve was holding Silt at gunpoint. Lotus, her assistants, and other triads, as well as any of the other masseuses, including Pearl, stood there in confusion. They all knew who this woman was, clearly. Ruby signaled to Jack to go meet with her as she had been told that Eve found another way out. It wasn't long until the quartet had gotten out of the building.
When they got outside, they reached Jack's car, even though it really wasn't his, but it was the car he was using.
"Open up the trunk, now," Eve said. Jack pushed the button on the clicker. The trunk had opened, Eve wasted no time in stuffing Silt into the trunk.
"You're not putting me in there, are you?" Ruby said.
"No, but you tell anybody about this, I will have no choice but to kill you," Eve said. Ruby nodded and Eve told her to get into the car.
"So where are we going?" Jack said.
"I'll tell where we will go," Eve said. "You drive."
As the motor started running, Jack turned towards the backseat and faced Ruby. "You and I are going to have a little chat soon." Once again, Ruby nodded her head. She knew she had some explaining to do.
Jack put the car in drive. They were on their way. Who exactly was this woman was one question that had been on Jack's mind. She clearly didn't work at Black Orchid. What was she doing there? Why was she packing heat? Why didn't the triads try to attack her? So many questions were on his mind in that moment.
Author's note: Man, this chapter was a pain in the ass to write it's not even funny. I had come up with different scenarios for Eve to make her presence known to Jack, but I also kept on wondering about incorporating other elements, such as characters into it. Oh, and if you're wondering, Heather and Pearl were in the comic book tie-in. Lotus and Horse were in the original game, but unlike the game, there was no big shootout in the massage parlor. Hong-Tse was a boss character in the second game, but I thought it would be best if I had him as the top muscle. I only mentioned Tseng, who was in Retribution, but that was it.
Now that I think about it, I was a bit iffy about doing this chapter because of that one real-life incident, but I didn't plan for there to be a shootout or anything like that. Don't get me wrong, there will be more action and stuff, but certain things work in games but not always in written form. Hell, in the game, the bits with the triad had nothing to do with the actual story, as this chapter was merely about Jack wanting to buy guns and get answers.
Oh, and the part with Jack and Pearl in the room, some of that sequence was inspired by the 2001 film, 15 Minutes. It was a scene when one of the villains had a call girl come to his hotel room but he wasn't interested in sex but rather finding a witness to a murder he committed, and had tried to talk to the hooker about an address to the business she worked at. I kind of want to watch it again soon. Also, the part with Jack reasoning with Horse was inspired by a scene from Smokin' Aces (2007) when Ryan Reynolds confronted Common and Alicia Keys, but Alicia Keys told him that they could either go on or start shooting each other, as well as told him that she had no problem with Reynolds or the bureau and they just let each other go on their way.
Next up I plan to do an interrogation/torture scene, as well as Ruby explaining stuff to Jack. Stay tuned for that.