Whispers of Refuge Box Set

CHAPTER 24-4

Old Joo sniffed the night air, a pungent mix of restaurant compost and stagnant water, and sauntered down the sidewalk. Even his encounter with the fat foreign woman in the long skirt didn’t upset him like it might have some other night. That boy in the alley was an alien, all right. And the police paid handsomely for help catching the illegal immigrants. If only he were young again, Old Joo wouldn’t have to split profits with anyone else.

He shook his head. These river hoppers thought they’d blend in with the rest of the Korean-Chinese population in Yanji. Didn’t they know Old Joo could single them out from half a kilometer away? Shabbily dressed and bone-thin, they stood out based on their stunted height alone but were even more recognizable by their eyes, their haunted, vacant, famished expressions. It didn’t matter if they were twelve-year-old boys or fifty-year-old grandmothers. Old Joo could sniff them out. And the police were always happy to reward him for his particular set of skills.

Of course, he couldn’t just tell the police he found an illegal alien. He had to bring him in. That’s why he needed help. Fortunately, there were always strong young men willing to come to his aid, especially this time of night as they passed Old Joo’s little corner on their way to the hotel district, their anticipation heavy but their pockets light.

He had learned from experience how to pick his brutes. He had been cheated more times than he cared to recount. The ideal candidate had to be strong, obviously, and calloused enough to turn in another human being, but also dumb enough to still share profits with Old Joo once the mission was complete.

He kept his eye on the river hopper in the alley while scanning the passing crowds for the right business partner. The man who stumbled by was tall, broad across the shoulders but not too bright in the eyes. He was drunk, too. Old Joo slid up to him and flashed his most winsome grin.

“I don’t have any money,” he grumbled.

“No, but you could.” Old Joo sniffed loudly. The stranger’s sweaty odor overshadowed the scent of beer. His nails were incrusted with dirt, and his body reeked of soil. A manual laborer with a weakness for drink. Yes, he would do the trick. “I gots a little business proposition for you. What’s your name?”

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