10: LOOKOUT OVER VULCAN

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PHOTO above - Clint

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PHOTO above - Clint

**

"I just don't get it," Clint complained as he and Brad hoofed it up Causarina Avenue back out in the heat of the sun and the busy Rabaul traffic. "That Chinese man was just too damn informative. We walked right in there and found out everything we wanted to know. It was way too fuckin' easy."

Brad punched him playfully on the arm. "Relax, Max. We can't be distrustful of all the Chinese people we run into."

"Why not? They all act suspiciously. For all we know, that Mr. Wong could be a member of the tong."

"Come on now," Brad kidded him. "They're not all bad. Jimmy's part Chinese."

Clint glowered at him. "Right. From his grandfather. And he was the leader of the tong!"

"Don't be so paranoid. As long as we're on my dad's trail, that's all that matters. We'll handle complications as they come."

Clint snorted and forced a grin. "Yah, like we always do!"

They turned west on Papua Street and walked down toward Chinatown. The government offices and commercial establishments gave way to more utilitarian-looking buildings as they approached the Chinese neighborhood.

There were only a few of the dark-skinned natives here. Most of those milling around were young men dressed fashionably in white tropical suits, dark hair slicked back and eyes slanted, and only a few of their female counterparts were visible. There were white men too, from all over the globe, rough-looking characters, unshaven, with holstered guns swagging their hips and brimmed pith helmets and Panama hats shading their eyes. They moved up and down the sidewalks in front of the shops where windows were filled with displays of goods from all over Asia and the islands. Brad couldn't help wondering where they were all going and what they were all doing.

"Those guys must be the gold seekers and adventurers," Clint said as if in answer to Brad's thoughts. He chuckled. "They probably all come here to Chinatown because the food is so good."

"And the rates cheaper." Brad pointed to a wood-frame hotel on the next corner. "There's Ho Wah's. Big place, huh? I bet rooms there are a lot lower priced than at the European Hotel."

"And there's Jimmy." Clint jerked his chin ahead. "He's got a Jeep. Sure looks like it's been through a war."

"Right. The same one you went through."

"But I don't look that bad."

Brad hooted. "If you'd had to carry around all the soldiers that thing did, you'd look every bit as beat up."

Brad was watching Jimmy as they crossed the street. He was leaning against the vehicle looking  as handsome and sexy as possible. His t-shirt was pulling against his broad chest and his shorts were hugging his muscular thighs. With his dark good looks, the curly blond hair and slanted blue eyes, he was the perfect composite of the people all around him.

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