They heard about the Cajun thief, they heard that his friend was a member of the White Dragon. This friend was of no concern to them. Neither was the thief.

It was too bad the little Lee girl had found out about them. They had hoped that she would fade into the mundane life of urban America. She was of no consequence to them in China.

Except she had found that FBI report. She was clever and smart, hacking into their database. And she had style, sending false signals that would lead the FBI back to their own headquarters. But she hadn¡¦t counted on the Red Dragon watching that file. And so she had tripped their alarms.

They had files from Genosha. She was a mutant. So was that thief with her. But all they wanted to do was to kill the little Lee girl. Then they could return to Mother China in peace.

They had tortured that motel clerk for the information. And then they had killed her. No sense in leaving witnesses, after all. Then they had wired the Lee girl¡¦s Jeep. As soon as she opened the door, she would die.

For a moment, they had thought that their plans were ruined. The thief had found the clerk before the Lee girl had died. So she saw him in the side view mirror, running. They watched as she scanned the surroundings, and her eyes seemed to settle on them. Then they had watched as she smiled at the thief, and had opened the door.

No one could survive that explosion. They didn¡¦t wait to see the aftermath. They simply retreated.

The Lee girl was dead.

*****

In a distant American city, a phone rang late at night. "Hello?"

"Bonjour, mon ami."

"Remy?"

"Oui."

"What are you calling me for? It¡¦s two fucking AM."

"Miss me, non?"

"Remy¡¦answer my question or I¡¦m hanging up. Call back at a decent hour. Say, eleven AM."

"Ah, y¡¦ do miss me. Remy need y¡¦r help."

"Where are you?"

"Remy be in Nawlins righ¡¦ now. ¡¦N Remy need shelter from de Red Dragon."

A pause. Then, "Fuck. You think I¡¦m still connected to the White Dragon?"

A soft laugh. "Remy know dat y¡¦ still are. Y¡¦ told me dat dis was a lifetime membership, non?"

"Why do you need shelter?"

"Dat no concern of y¡¦rs, mon ami. Y¡¦ give it or no¡¦?"

"They¡¦re raising all sorts of hell around here, Remy. I almost got jumped by two young bucks who apparently didn¡¦t see my tattoo."

"Oui or non?"

"Pushy bastard." There was another pause. "You know where I¡¦m at."

"Thank y¡¦."

"De nada. You owe me now, Cajun." There was a click.

-Finis Interlude 1-