CHAPTER NINE

3 Years Before

The First Vietnam Job

“Zico should have been back an hour ago,” Jaehyo said as he continued to pace the length of the room.  “We shouldn’t have let him leave last night.  Why did you let him leave last night?”  Jaehyo U-Kwon. 

U-Kwon sat at the table at the room’s one table and cleaned his prize gun.  The same one he had cleaned the night before.  “Jaehyo, you know as well as I do that nothing we could have done would have stopped him if he wanted to go.  And something happened to him in Japan, were you sure you wanted to continue arguing about it?”

The night before, Jaehyo had stopped Zico from leaving.  Even when Zico promised to be back in the morning before they were scheduled to begin the job Jaehyo had told him to stay.  When the rest of the crew got behind Jaehyo, U-Kwon had known it was quickly going to come to blows and thus stepped in telling everyone to let Zico go.  It wouldn’t have been a problem if Zico had returned.  But the sun was going to rise soon and when it did, they needed to be out of Vietnam. 

“U-Kwon, we have spent a month in this country up to PD Tran and his crew to make them think we’re the best of friends.  Are we seriously going to let all that hard work go to waste?”

“I still say we need to go after Zico,” Kyung said.  “What if something happened to him and that’s why he hasn’t come back yet?”

“I’m with both of you,” B-Bomb said.  “We can’t waste everything we’ve put into this job already, but we can’t leave without Zico either.  Why don’t me and Kyung go after Zico.  Jaehyo, you, U-Kwon, and P.O can go with the original plan and grab the prize.”

“That’s dangerous,” P.O spoke up.  “The plan was for there to be seven of us there when we grab the prize, not three.”

“We don’t have much of a choice right now,” U-Kwon said, softly. 

“Where would you guys even start looking for Zico?” Jaehyo asked.

“I have an idea where he went last night,” Kyung admitted.  “We’ll start there and see if anyone has seen him.”

And so, B-Bomb and Kyung headed to find out what happened to Zico while Jaehyo, U-Kwon, and P.O headed to snatch the thing they had come to Vietnam for in the first place and left Taeil with the getaway vehicle so they would be ready to leave in a hurry. 

But everything turned out to be a trap.  Jaehyo’s team had no problem sneaking into PD Tran’s trophy room where the prize was on display, it was almost too easy. 

Standing in front of the case, P.O questioned it.  “Something’s not right.”

“I feel it too,” U-Kwon agreed.

The words were barely out of his mouth when the lights in the dark room snapped on and they were surrounded by PD Tran’s men.  U-Kwon’s automatic response was to raise the gun in his hand and aim at the nearest foe, but the gun was immediately knocked from his grip.  There were too many of them.  There was nothing they could do, not with only the three of them. 

U-Kwon watched as his gun skidded across the floor.  A foot shot out and stepped on it, effectively stopping its movement.  U-Kwon’s gaze shot up to see who the foot belonged to and snarled at the man. 

PD Tran.

The man himself had come to see them captured.

Men rushed Jaehyo, U-Kwon and P.O.  They tied their hands behind their backs and forced them to kneel on the floor before Tran. 

Tran had U-Kwon’s gun in his hands now and was admiring it.  “I must admit, I’ve wanted this gun since I first saw it,” he said.  His voice was smooth and oily.  He petted the barrel of the gun.  “It’s such fine craftsmanship.  I believe this will go nicely with my collection.” He looked down at them.  “The gun of The Block’s fancy gunman will serve as a reminder for those who oppose me that not even The Block was able to infiltrate my compound and best me.”

He crouched down in front of them.  “Did you really think you were going to get away with this?”  He asked, a pitying smile on his face.  “I’ve been onto you boys from the start.  And now you’re mine to do with what I will.”

He opened his mouth to continue, but someone entered the room and drew his attention. 

“Sir,” one of Tran’s men came to stand before him.  “We have B-Bomb and Kyung in custody,” he informed the room.

Jaehyo stiffened.  “It was all a trap,” he whispered. “We never stood a chance.”

“What about Zico?” Tran asked.

“No sign of him yet, but we have men searching for him and anyone else that may have helped them.”

“Someone take these three to the basement,” Tran ordered.  “Anyone not doing that is to be searching the premises for Zico.  Double the guards at every entrance.  Do NOT let him get away!”

“They don’t have Zico,” P.O whispered to U-Kwon and Jaehyo.

“Then where the hell is he?” Jaehyo asked.

“Let’s hope he’s not too far,” U-Kwon said.  “With any luck, we may still have a chance to get out of here alive.”