CHAPTER FOUR

4 Hours Before MoT

Vietnam

The marathon had been carrying on for 12 hours already.  It had been sweaty and tiring, each round had ended with escalating excitement.  And now, finally, the end was in sight.

The final round of the Mahjong tournament. 

B-Bomb and P.O, upon completion of the semi-finals, were led from the gaming room to a more private room down the hall.  They sat on adjacent sides of a small square table in the middle of the small room.  B-Bomb leaned forward and placed his forearms on the table; hands clasped together.  P.O leaned back in his chair; one hand fiddling with a Mahjong tile on the table.  Both young men were nervous though neither showed it.  Their faces and postures were relaxed as their opponents took the last two seats. 

“Congratulations on making it this far, boys,” the thug in the purple shirt across from P.O said. 

“This is your last chance to throw in the towel,” the thug in the white shirt seated at the remaining side of the table added, cracking his knuckles.  “You sure you’re ready to take us on?” 

B-Bomb raised an eyebrow.  “You got the money?”

Purple Shirt grinned.  He shouted an order in Vietnamese and turned towards the open doorway in the back.  The click of a woman’s heels against tile announced her presence before she appeared in the doorway. 

The shoes were blue stilettos decorated with fake flowers on the outside of the ankle.  The legs were long and well toned.  The blue dress ended mid-thigh but was so tight, it left little to the imagination.  It had one sleeve and covered one shoulder but left the other shoulder and arm bare.  Her hair was long and black and styled in large curls.  Her facial features were delicate, her makeup carefully applied.  She carried a battered brown briefcase in one hand. 

Her eyes were blue.

That was the first thing B-Bomb noticed.  He froze in his seat as the girl came closer.  He had only known one other Asian with eyes that blue.  But Suhwa was dead.  B-Bomb mentally shook himself.  This girl was probably just wearing contacts.  He needed to concentrate on the game. 

The woman in the blue dress approached and draped herself over Purple Shirt’s shoulder to place the briefcase on the table before him.  She offered the table a great view of what her low cut dress revealed before straightening again. 

“Need anything else?” she asked, her voice a low purr.  She looked down at Purple Shirt and rested her hand at the back of his neck, beneath the collar of his purple shirt. 

He lifted her other hand to his mouth.  “No, sweetheart, we’ll take it from here.” He pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. 

The woman in the blue dress met B-Bomb’s eyes and held them.  “Good luck,” she purred and B-Bomb wasn’t sure if she was speaking to him or the man in the purple shirt.  She let her hand trail over Purple Shirt’s shoulder as she turned and left the room.  B-Bomb didn’t notice his eyes had dropped to her swaying hips until P.O kicked him under the table. 

B-Bomb’s first instinct was to kick him back, but he stopped himself as Purple Shirt undid the latches of the briefcase.

“Tien’s a beauty isn’t she?” White Shirt said with a sneer.  He had seen B-Bomb watching her.  “I hope you’re not planning on leaving with anything that’s not yours, for your own sake.” 

B-Bomb didn’t bother holding back his smile.  This guy thinks he is so tough, but he doesn’t know the half of what’s going down today.  “We’re only here for the cash,” B-Bomb answered, his voice cool and bored.

P.O tapped the tile in his hand against the table top.  “Let’s get this game started already.  Is that the money?”

Purple Shirt opened the case and removed a handful of paper currency for everyone to see.  B-Bomb and P.O shared a look.  This is what they had come for. 

“Winner leaves with the money,” White Shirt said, stating the rules everyone already knew.  “Game?”

B-Bomb looked at P.O who nodded quickly.  “Game.”

Purple Shirt placed the briefcase on the floor between him and B-Bomb, just to be fair.  He slapped his palms on the table.  “Let’s start.”

While P.O and B-Bomb battle with tiles

Zico took off down the hall.  The briefcase containing the two diamonds was tucked securely under one arm.  With an energetic energy he only got from the adrenaline rush of a top-scale heist, he raced downstairs and around the corner. 

Finally, he arrived at the store front of the shop his business man, Taeil was running.  B with excitement, Zico rushed up to the entrance of the store and held out the briefcase for Taeil to see. 

Taeil did a double take and pulled the lollipop from his mouth.  “You got it?!”

“What did you expect?” Zico said with a smirk.  “Want to see them?”

“You know it,” Taeil eagerly agreed.  He rubbed his hands together as Zico placed the case on the counter of the shop and flipped the latches that kept the case closed. 

Zico readied to lift the lid of the case but paused and gazed at Taeil.  “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

“Dude, just open it.”

Zico grinned and returned his gaze to the case.  “Nillili mambo,” he said and tugged up on the lid.

When the lid refused to move, he tugged harder.  He continued to tug harder still resulting in him banging the case against the counter. 

Taeil lifted an eyebrow.  “How do you know the diamonds are even in there?”

“The guys that delivered them opened the case for me to verify that they’d been delivered,” Zico answered.  He picked up the case and shook it as if he hoped the motion would magically spring the latch.  “Why are these things so incredibly complicated?”  Frustrated, he dropped the case to the floor and stomped on the latch instead. 

“Careful! You’re going to damage them!” Taeil warned.

Zico paused and looked at him.  “They’re diamonds, Taeil,” he said.  “That means they’re nearly indestructible.”

“Oh, right.  Okey Dokey.  Continue.” 

Zico picked up the case and shook it again before dropping it back to the floor.  “Any ideas you might have would be helpful right about now.”

Taeil shrugged and spread his arms with his palms up.  “How should I know?  Weren’t you paying attention when they opened it before?”

Being deliberately vague, Zico said, “I didn’t see them open it, I heard it.”

“Did you hear anything weird that might clue you in on how they opened it?”

Zico put the case back on the counter.  One hand to his chin, he thought about it.  “You’re right,” he said.  “I did hear a third snap.  But that still doesn’t really help us…”  He trailed off and bent over the case, examining it at all angles. 

Taeil stood on tip-toes to gaze over his shoulder.  “Man, Chief, the problem is right there,” Taeil said with a sigh.  He nudged Zico aside, tucked the lollipop into his cheek, and bent down in front of the case.

Zico bent over to rest his elbow on the table and rest his chin on his hand and peered intently at what Taeil was doing. 

After a little configuring, Taeil undid the secret latch at the top of the case.  Really, now that Zico knew it was there he could not help but wonder why he had not found it before.  “All yours, Chief.”  Taeil turned the case back to him and went to stand on his other side. 

Zico rubbed his hands together.  “Alright, baby, come to daddy.”

Taeil’s eyes went wide as Zico opened the case to reveal the two diamonds.  “Dude,” he said.  Taeil watched as Zico picked one up and bounced it in his hand, testing the weight.  “Do you have any idea how much these would go for?”

As Zico lifted up one diamond to the light, Taeil gazed at the one still in the case and tried to work up the courage to at least touch it.  “On the legit market they would be millions at least.  On the Black Market, maybe a billion?  How on Earth did PD Tran manage to get these?”  Taeil continued muttering to himself. 

“Time to go,” Zico announced suddenly. 

“Why?”  Taeil looked up at him then to the diamond he still held out, then down the hallway to see men in suits running toward them.  “Escape route is set up out the back.”

Zico clapped a hand on Taeil’s shoulder.  “I knew it was a good idea to bring you along this time,” He said.  He threw the diamond back into the case grabbed it and disappeared into the store. 

Taeil was right behind him.  “Hana!” he called out to girl he had hired to run the store for him.  She sat at a stool behind the cash register flipping through a magazine and smacking her gum.  “Look after the store for me!”  He disappeared through the back door as she blew a bubble with her gum and reached for her cell phone.

They were supposed to have had more time.  How did they find out so soon that the diamonds were gone?  Had someone tipped them off?

As Zico and Taeil raced down the hall and around corners to their next checkpoint, they both wondered how they had managed to get into a mess like this. 

While Zico and Taeil battle the briefcase

All four men at the table were tired.  White Shirt was getting anxious.  His leg was bouncing beneath the table and his fingers tapped the table top.  Purple Shirt’s tells weren’t so obvious, but sweat rolled down his temple.

P.O picked up one final piece.  His face twisted in a smile as he stood and laid his tiles down – a winning set.  “Take that!” he exclaimed in excitement.  He turned to B-Bomb and gripped his friend’s hand in celebration.  “The money is ours!”

White Shirt slapped a hand down on the table and stood.  “Not so fast,” he snarled and pulled a gun. 

P.O smiled into the gun now pointed at his head.  Finally, the fun begins, he thought. 

“You didn’t really think we were going to let a couple of wanted men get away with the money did you?”  White Shirt said.  His gun was aimed at P.O’s head.  “PD Tran really wants to get his hands on you and your friends.”

“When we turn the two of you over, we’re going to double our profits for the day,” Purple Shirt explained. He didn’t have a gun, but stood face to face with B-Bomb. 

P.O rolled his eyes.  “The reward is only if we’re alive, idiot.  What do you think you’re going to do with that gun?”

“You’d be surprised what kind of-“

P.O shoved the gun pointed at his head away as B-Bomb kicked the game table into White Shirt.  As tiles spilled onto the floor, the gun clicked; White Shirt had pulled the trigger, but it hadn’t fired. 

“What kind of idiot brings an empty gun to a fight?”  Without the threat of the loaded gun, P.O took a moment to pummel the guy. 

B-Bomb grabbed the briefcase off the floor and dodged Purple Shirt.  With a well designed push, Purple Shirt went sprawling across the game table, spilling more tiles to the floor, and B-Bomb made his escape.  P.O was right behind him as they raced out into the halls.  They sprinted down empty hallway after empty hallway, the thugs hot on their heels.    

As Zico would say, Nillili Mambo, P.O thought to himself.  He smiled. 

 The thugs were fast but B-Bomb and P.O were faster.  After a few sharp turns, P.O was starting to think it was finally okay to slow down when they e final corner and ran straight into a couple of familiar figures. 

P.O managed to slow himself down and reached out to grip Taeil’s face in his hands.  “Yah! You’re still alive!  Zico’s managed not to get you killed yet.” 

B-Bomb, on the other hand, smacked straight into Zico’s hands which he had held out to keep from slamming into his friend.  B-Bomb’s arm not holding the briefcase pin wheeled as he tried not to fall over backwards.

“Why are you two in such a hurry?”  Zico asked, looking from P.O to B-Bomb to the case.  “You were supposed to win the game fair and square, not steal it.”

“We did,” B-Bomb said and rolled his eyes in exasperation.  “They decided they wanted the price on our heads more.”   

“Why are you in such a hurry?” P.O asked back.  He looked at the case Taeil held.  “Did something go wrong?”

“Nevermind that,” B-Bomb said.  P.O looked up and saw what B-Bomb did.  Two men in black suits were running toward them.  “You’ve got two men coming after you!”  B-Bomb and P.O both pointed over Taeil and Zico’s shoulders.

“You, too!”  Zico and Taeil cried, pointing in the opposite direction. 

B-Bomb and P.O quickly took off down a side stairwell and pulled Taeil with them leaving Zico to fumble in confusion for a moment before racing after them.  “Wait up!  Don’t leave me!”   

Now the four of them had four thugs on their heels.

“What are we supposed to do now?!” Taeil asked.

“Stick to the plan,” Zico ordered as they come to an intersection in the hallways.

“Split!”