Zhong Bai then cleared his throat. "It's the markings of a tattoo. More specifically, a tattoo removal."
Shao Lin looked at him puzzled. She never recalled her father possessing any tattoos, but then again, he was a man of secrets. "What does this have to do with anything?" she questioned.
Zhong Bai looked unsettled as if he was hesitant to tell her.
"It's your job to tell me," she reminded him coldly. Her response surprised him. Perhaps because he remembered her as the sweet, submissive girl that held his hand when it got too dark. When she relied on him. Shao Lin was tired of the old version of herself that was too trustful and hopeful, naïve.
He nodded, knowing she needed to hear what he discovered. "I traced the markings of the tattoos. It looked like he had some work done to make it unrecognizable, but the shape, the detail…I ran it through my database to find any matches and it came close to one."
He flipped the next page in the folder she held. The image of a black dragon coiled around a dagger came into her view. The tattoo was intricate with beautiful scales and teeth.
Shao Lin looked puzzled as she glanced at Zhong Bai. He then continued, "This tattoo is a marking of initiation for the Dragon Syndicate of the Underworld."
Shao Lin's eyes widened, her breath escaped her. Her heartbeat thumped in her ears. "The Underworld?"
"The lines and shape of his back match of the Dragon tattoo. It's difficult to replicate and only members of the syndicate can mark new members in their parlours," he filled her in.
Shock. Pure shock had overwhelmed her. Her father was part of the underworld.
"How?"
"I'm not sure," he replied. "But my theory is that he left that world a long time ago. The tattoo removal proved it."
Shao Lin shuddered. "Then why?" Why is he dead? She didn't ask the second question out loud.
As if he read her thoughts, he replied, "The Underworld does not let people go. They remain members until the day they die. There's no escaping that world. Whatever your father did, if he did anything, must have angered the Dragon Syndicate. To them, your father was a deserter, a traitor, and he must have died for it."
"And how do you know so much about the Underworld?" she questioned.
Zhong Bai swallowed. "I'm a detective, Lin. There are many things I know, learned, seen, that weren't pretty. None at all. I've been trying to undermine their operations for years. But I did not know your father was part of it."
Shao Lin forgot how to breathe for a moment. Her father was a criminal, or had been, and to make matters worse, they caught up to him.
She then wondered how often her father must have been watching his back all these years. How he made sure she never left the house without a chaperone.
Shao Lin used to find it suffocating and annoying. She once snuck out of the house alone, and was punished for weeks when her father found out. She'd never seen him so angry before, and then she never disobeyed him again. But she was stupid to have never questioned him on his extreme coddling.
How she let herself get pampered and distracted with shiny objects, that she never suspected things were amiss, she didn't know. But she hated her past self. She should have been smarter, more perceptive, and curious. But there wasn't time to dwell or change anything now.
Shao Lin collected her thoughts. "Where do we go from here?" she questioned.
"We deepen our investigation," he informed her. "First, we need to find out who runs the syndicate. We know there are many members, but who among them is their leader? After that, we find their motivations, and we can eventually take out the entire operation." He paused. "Lin…this is a good thing. Brave. Not many dare to look into them, and if we do this we can finally rid of these criminals. We can save people. But…"
Shao Lin straightened. "But?"
"But it's dangerous. I don't want you to do anything stupid, reckless. Your father wouldn't want this."
Shao Lin rolled her eyes. "Save it. Whatever speech you have about wanting me to safe and what you think is best for me, you don't have to bother. Don't pretend like you actually care when you haven't reach out to me in years."
"Lin..."
Shao Lin lifted a hand to silence him. "I'm not that fragile, naïve girl you need to take care of. Not anymore," she told him. That wasn't entirely true. There were parts of her that was still clueless and afraid, but she would reveal herself like that in front of Zhong Bai or he'd continue the investigation without her.
"All right, then," he said. "As long as you are aware of the dangers."
Shao Lin felt like trembling but she didn't show it. She was well aware of it now, though she did not know the exact details but she could picture it. It would not be pretty, the life she had propelled herself in when she could have moved on with her life and not poke into matters that may or may not concern her.
"Is that all, detective?" she asked, her voice coolly detached.
"Yes," he rose from his seat, straightening his tie. He glanced at her with something like admiration and something like longing. She ignored it.
"Contact me when you find another lead."
"Will do," he replied and started. He paused to look at her once more, "It was nice seeing you Lin, and how far you've come."
Shao Lin shivered. His words and voice reverberated down to her spine. She almost forgot how much he affected her and how much her body remembered. She gave him a nod.
Zhong Bai left and she released the breath she had been holding.
It was the late evening, so Shao Lin went to eat something light before she went to change again into a black evening dress. It hugged her body, complimenting her curves. She took her purse and found her driver waiting outside her home.