Truth or Lies? by A. Gomez (book club recommendations txt) 📗

me all at once. My hands started to shake as I read, my heart began to race, and my mouth went so dry I was unable to swallow. I looked up from the card in the direction of the living room. I locked eyes with Josh. Unable to move, I just looked at him, my eyes wide, calling him. I was frozen with disbelief. Josh headed my way, not taking his eyes off of me. I was still holding the card and my hands were still shaking. Samson jumped at the door, barking, asking to be let in. It startled me and I jumped in my seat, gasping. Josh let him in, secured the door and made sure all the shutters were closed. He came to my side and took the card from my hands and began to read it. He then reached for the envelope and looked at it.

“Isabel, tell me what this means.” His voice was low and calm. I didn’t look at him. I only half heard him. I was numb with confusion, fear and anger. I watched Samson go into the living room with my brother and lay at his feet by the fireplace. My brother was still engrossed in the basketball game. It all looked so picturesque, so happy and so loving. I loved my brother. I loved both my brothers. Had I put them in danger? Was testifying really that important?

“Isabel, baby, focus, tell me what this means!” Josh’s voice was more insistent but still calm. He sat down beside me, placed his finger under my chin and turned my head so I could look at him. I blinked a few times and shook my head as if shaking the fogginess out. I took the card back from him to look at it again. I had to make sure I saw it correctly and just didn’t imagine it. When I opened the card, on the left side of the card was my full name and title, again in the same elegant writing, but the rest of the card had no writing or words after that. On the right side of the card was a picture or drawing of the tattoo that all the Asian men had on their right arm in the pictures Jill had as evidence. It was the red serpent-like dragon enclosed in a red circle. The head looked as if it had fangs coming out of its mouth. The rest of the head and body had wavy or wiggly spikes sticking out of it. I couldn’t tell if they were tentacles. The creature was upright like a question mark.

“Isabel.” Josh’s voice still low and calm.

“This is their call sign, the Chinese Triads. At least, this is the one I’m familiar with—the Triads that drifted into criminality. This is the symbol that was tattooed on all the men I saw in the courthouse that day we met,” I offered. “This is the tattoo I told Jill to look for in her pictures.”

“So, they know where you live.” It wasn’t a question. He let out a loud sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Yes, they do and they know my full name, which means they must know a lot of other information about me,” I said, my voice sounding emotionless.

“You said the Triads you’re familiar with. What do you mean by that?”

“I don’t really know a lot. I just remember a few things from a world history class I took in college. We studied an entire unit on secret societies. It was really quite fascinating.” I was rambling.

“Baby. Focus. The Triads.”

I nodded. Right, focus, easier said than done. “The Chinese Triads are a secret society just like any other secret society,” I began. “You have the Free Masons, Opus Dei, the Illuminati, Skull and Bones and so forth. Most of these societies were founded to better the situation of the time or just another boys club or what have you. However, the Triads are an offshoot of the secret Hong Society, and the Hong were a by-product of the Tiandihui. It’s a long story, one I can’t remember. It goes back to the eighteenth century but the short version is the Chinese Triads, some of them, did not remain true to the Tiandihui ideals of patriotism, loyalty, and justice.” I paused, “But some Hongmen did and those are the Triad members that are still battling the Chinese Triads that we are dealing with today—the ones that sent me this lovely card. I don’t know much about the Hongmen who are also part of the Chinese Triads… they’re the good guys, if you will. I only know what we’re dealing with now and they are evil as Satan himself. They’re modeled on the Italian Mafia and Japanese Yakuza. All new members are subjected to rigorous examination and must pledge an oath to the society, and so on and so forth. Like the Mafia, each group is in charge or has full control of a specific area or region. These men are extremely dangerous,” I declared, glancing at my brother.

The game was still on and he was fast asleep on the sofa with Samson. Josh was texting. I headed to the living room to turn off the fire in the fireplace and cover Charlie with a blanket. I turned out all the lights, except the kitchen where Josh was on the phone. I headed to my bedroom and decided to brush my teeth. My mind was racing. How did they find out where I live? How did they get my full name? Did they know where I was from and where my family lived? They must if they knew my name and address. If they were watching me… us, then they must have seen my brother coming in and the agents swarm down on him, which meant they wouldn’t try anything at my house because of that. I felt somewhat comforted from that thought.