The Zodiac of PRAIII: Revenge - by Jenny Tran

Chapter 13

Erin knocked on the office door, it was the last room down the hallway “Come in.” Chuck answered. She entered and found Ted sitting down on a chair across from Chuck’s desk “Erin. Have a seat.” She nodded and took a seat quietly “You’re probably wondering why I called you both in here.”

“A little curious.” She smiled.

“What leads did you two find on Brad’s killer?” Chuck asked.

She turned to Ted, who smiled “He dragged it out of me.”

“We didn’t find out much. We know the guy’s name is Tay Keung, he’s homeless but owns an old Honda Accord. His record is clear and he has no connections to Reina, Andrew or Chris. Frankly, we have no idea why this guy wants to kill us. And how he knows me.” Erin eyes drifted away as something occurred to her “Wait…a fire. His home was burned down by a fire too.”

“So?” Chuck asked.

“I can’t shake the feeling that it has something to do with my family. My parents were killed by a fire too.” Erin explained.

“Really?” Chuck nodded after a moment “So you think the connection is between the homes?” her head bobbed up and down “How do we find out?”

“Eric!” Ted offered, “He is a firefighter. He’ll help us out, I’m sure of it.” Chuck turned to him questioningly and he explained “He use to be an agent, for a couple of months, he took over for Doug during the time we loss Jessie.”

“I see.” Chuck’s face wrinkled “That’s a good idea. Why don’t you two look into that. In the meantime, I’ll have the rest find other clues on this Tay Keung guy.” He saw Erin’s face turn away “You don’t mind do you, Erin?”

She shook her head “No. It’s just…I have this bad feeling down at the pit of my stomach. I don’t want to drag anyone down with me. The last thing I need is to be responsible for another agent going down.”

Chuck moved his eyes towards the door and nodded at Erin before getting up “I know what you mean.” He walked over to the door while Erin and Ted exchanged glances. He smiled at the two “Let’s ask them ourselves.” He whipped the door open. Mia and Becca was leaning on the door, which led them to fall onto the floor leaving the other two guys looking at Chuck wide-eyed.

“I told you a million times Doug, the bathroom is over there!!” Darren pointed to the opposite end of the hallway.

“Get in here!” Chuck ordered. The guys stepped inside and dodged the girls who were still lying on the floor. He closed the door behind him “Since you guys heard everything, what do you think?”

Mia raised her hand “We actually didn’t hear much. Becca kept hogging the good side.”

“Hey, you snooze, you lose.” Becca retorted.

Darren crossed his arms with a solemn look “Is this regarding Brad’s death?”

Chuck shook his head at the four “If you guys don’t already know…yes. We’re talking about Brad’s killer. It seems we have a small lead. We know his name but he has no home and has no felonies so we can’t track him down. I want you four to dig some dirt on him.”

“Oh! Can I do it?” Becca asked eagerly.

“It’s dangerous Becca.” Erin warned.

“Danger is my middle name!” Becca reminded her.

“It is? I thought it was Chu? Is that—” Doug quipped.

“We already went through this!!” Becca cried.

“You started it. Again.” Doug pointed out.

Erin smiled at the two “I think you two would be cute together.”

“That’s what I was thinking!!” Mia added with a laugh. The two girls high five each other while Becca beamed and Doug once again looked stunned “Oh great, we lost him again.” Mia sighed sadly.

********

Darren and Doug did the dirty work as they searched the bars during the night. Asking around if anyone knew of a guy named Tay Keung. They were blown off most of the night and after 10 bars, they heard of a guy named Ah Bat, who was known for his connections with the Triads and cops. He was a ‘messenger’, he knew of everyone and everything that came down in the underworld.

Darren was talking to the bartender casually “So how do I find him?”

“Are you looking to kill someone?” the guy asked while cleaning off his glass cups. His eyes were suspicious, which he eyed Darren and Doug.

“No, I’ve got a friend that I lost contact of since high school. I just wondered how to get a hold of him.” Darren answered nonchalantly.

“Well, why didn’t you say it sooner? Ah Bat could help you.” The guy finally put on a friendly smile “On Saturday nights, he’s always at the Tin Bar. I hear he’s a real ladies man. You got a pretty girl, he’ll spill all the beans he has.”

Darren turned to Doug with a smile “Thanks, man.”

The guys left the bar and called Becca “Meet us at Mia’s place. We’ve got a lead.” Doug said into the cell phone. He was about to hang up when his face turned a flushed color of red “No, I will not say I love you!!”

“You just did.” Becca laughed and hung up before he could argue.

“Psycho!!” he yelled into the phone with Darren laughing and walking towards the car “It’s not funny, man. She’s crazy!”

The three met up at the bottom of the building as they rode up together in the elevator. Doug leaned into the corner while Becca stood next to him chewing her gum and smiling at him. Darren covered his mouth with his hand, he was trying hard not to laugh. When the elevator stopped, he turned to Becca “Did you tell Mia we’re coming?”

“Me? I thought you called her?” Becca said.

Doug frowned “Is she even home?”

Suddenly Darren’s eyes brightened “I have an idea!”

“Yes Batman, what is it??” Becca asked with much exaggerated excitement.

Darren frowned at her “Ha ha… I was going to suggest that we test Mia. You know scare her and see how she fights back.”

“Yeah because she won’t recognize our faces!” Becca answered with sarcasm.

Doug laughed, “Hey, you are funny.” He pushed her playfully.

Becca leaned over and moved her body closer to him “You like that baby?” she flirted.

Doug froze and then swiftly moved behind Darren’s body to hide “Get her away from me!”

Darren rolled his eyes “Come on guys. Be serious…I have a couple of ski masks in the trunk of my car, we can use those to scare her.”

“What are you doing with ski masks in your trunk?” Becca asked curiously “What do you do when you’re not with the team? Is that how you got rich?”

“No, genius. I bought them when we went on the mission the other night but Chuck told me we didn’t need masks.” Darren explained.

“Hey, how come you knew about it first?” Becca gaped at him with rounded eyes.

“Because he asked me where I would keep a 35 million dollar diamond. I said the bank, but not just any bank, the biggest bank that this country has.” Darren took them back to the car and retrieved the masks. Together they rode up again and knocked on the door. Their faces covered in the knit ski mask. Shelly opened the door and her face covered with fear as she slammed the door shut and ran over next to Mia.

She was sitting there watching TV with a peeled orange in her hand. She took a piece and popped it in her mouth while Shelly screamed “Robbers!!” she pointed at the door.

Mia remained calm while the girl squirmed next to her. The three jokesters walked inside with their hands in their pockets and pointing their fingers at them so that they looked like guns “Don’t move or we’ll kill you!!” Darren disguised his voice lower.

She widened her eyes while she chewed and swallow her piece of orange. Mia turned to Shelly with a smile “Look, a show. Wait.” She put up a hand at the three and reached out to turn off the TV “I can’t miss this one. Okay, go ahead.” She nodded before popping another piece in her mouth.

Becca peeled the mask off her face “How did you know it was us?”

Mia almost choked on the orange juice as she laughed, “I let you borrow that t-shirt, Becca. And Darren, your Armani shoes cost more than this couch I’m sitting on. And Doug…” she rolled her eyes “I can recognize your figure anywhere.”

The guys whipped off their masks “You’re no fun!” Doug frowned.

Darren turned to Becca “Don’t you have your own clothes?”

“I like her clothes, they’re cute!!” Becca imitated Darren’s stance with his hand on his hips.

Shelly sighed while she clutched her heart “Gosh guys, the next time you test Mia. Make sure I’m not home. I can’t be scared like that.” They laughed apologetically “Where are you guys going? Can I go too?” she asked with urgency.

Becca and Mia looked at each other “Awww, isn’t that cute. Little Shelly wants to come along.” Becca swooned adoringly while she put on her cute voice “We’re going to an adult place, it’s very noisy and not good for a young girl like yourself.”

Mia pushed Becca away as the girl stumbled back “She’s 25, not 13. Don’t talk to her like that.”

Shelly smiled at Mia “You use to talk to me like that too.”

“I did?” Mia scratched her head “Sorry.”

“It’s okay!” Shelly replied brightly “Can I go with you guys then?”

Darren shook his head “No, Erin would kill us if she knew we were going to take you to a bar.” He laughed at the thought “I mean literally too.”

“I’ve never been to a bar!!” Shelly exclaimed.

“And you shouldn’t go there.” Becca assured her “There are too many bad people there.” She turned to her teammates “Come on. It’s getting late, we wanna get there before the bees start stinging him.”

Doug knit his brows together “Don’t do that. You can’t pull it off.”

“Matt use to be the best with that.” Mia said suddenly, her eyes distant. The three turned to her and she quickly shook off the feeling “What?” she asked when they continued to stare.

“Mia, are you starting to remember things?” Darren asked with a sense of urgency.

She quickly denied it “No…it’s just random thoughts that came to mind. I don’t really know where it’s coming from.”

“We could talk about this later.” Doug noticed Darren getting too misty in the eyes “We have work to do.” He ushered the three out while Shelly watched with a pouty lip. Suddenly, there was a twinkle in her eye as she thought about following them. I won’t get into trouble, she thought.

Darren and Doug split up with the girls as they moved around looking for Ah Bat. The girls walked around and flirted randomly with certain guys that were looking at them. Doug had said Ah Bat was a sucker for pretty girls “Maybe I’m not pretty enough?” Becca asked after a while when they found no leads.

Mia laughed, “That’s an understatement.”

“Really?” Becca was touched “You are my favorite person!” she reached out suddenly and hugged Mia.

“Hey, no lesbos allowed in here.” A male voice broke into their moment.

The girls broke apart slowly and Becca gave the guy a look of attitude “What if we are?”

“Then it’s a shame. You two would be perfect on my arms.” The arrogance was leaking from his nose. He was an average looking guy but his aura told the girls he was who they were looking for.

Mia raised her brow “What’s your name?”

“Don’t get scared.” He warned, “They call me the ‘messenger’, but if you want, you can call me Bat Gor.” He flicked his brows up flirtatiously.

“Oh…you’re Ah Bat…I mean Bat Gor.” Becca cooed while she inched her way closer to him. Her fingers trailing up his arms “I heard so much about you.”

Mia joined in quickly when she picked up Becca’s eyes “I hear you’re good in bed.” She whispered in his ear. He smiled smugly and she added, “Ever did a threesome in a public bathroom?”

He was quickly turned on as he grabbed the girls by their hands and practically dragged them to the men’s restroom. On the way, Mia caught Darren’s eye and waved him along using her eyes. He grabbed Doug and followed the three to the men’s bathroom. Ah Bat quickly checked the stalls and noticed it was empty. He brushed the palm of his hands together with a perverted smile “Now where were we?” his face fell when he saw Doug and Darren at the door, guarding it “Hey…I thought it was two girls and me?”

“Shut up!” Becca snapped as she kicked him down. The guy fell quickly as he backed up against the corner.

“Who are you people? Did Hung Gor send you? I swear, I’ll get him the info. I just need more time!” The guy was shaking with fear.

Mia frowned “No. We don’t know who Hung Gor is. And don’t pee on yourself!” She scolded. She stepped closer to the guy and placed her foot at the nape of his neck “Do you know a guy named Tay Keung?”

“No, but I know a guy named TK.” The guy answered fearfully.

“Who is he?” Becca continued.

“I don’t know. Just some guy on the streets.”

Darren stepped up as he leaned down and grabbed the guy’s shirt with both hands. Mia retrieved her foot while he questioned the guy “So you know this Tay Keung?”

“No, but I know a guy named TK.” He answered swiftly.

Darren reached his arm back and punched him in the face “That wasn’t funny!” he snarled, “Now do you want to play more?” his arm ready to attack.

The guy wiped the blood from the corner of his lip “Okay…okay…” he stuttered “Rumor says it that he buys these guns from the underground Triad gang called Red Dragon. He’s a very calm guy, he doesn’t get in anyone’s way…what happened? Did he kill one of your people?”

“Keep asking and your head will be in the toilet.” Darren threatened. He got up and turned to Doug to see what they should do next.

“Where do we find this guy?” Doug asked.

Ah Bat shrugged “He likes to hang out at bars too. But he doesn’t have any friends, he just roams around by himself. No one can get a hold of him, only he contacts people.”

“Find him.” Mia ordered.

“I told you…” Darren whipped his head down at the guy warningly and he quickly added, “I hear he contacts his friends in prison. You can check there first.”

Mia shook her head “You are really looking to drink some toilet water aren’t you?”

Darren reached down and pulled the guy up with his hands “Say hi to Mr. PeeWater…”

Ah Bat began struggling as he eventually surrendered “Okay, I give up. I’ll help you find him.”

Darren smiled as he let go of his shirt and smoothed it out “That’s a good boy.” He patted him on the head while the girls laughed.

Chapter 14

Ted and Erin were taken in by one of the fellow firemen from the Sa Tin Fire Department “It’s been a slow morning for us.” The fireman named Jerry advised with a friendly smile. He took them up the stairs where they lived. The red truck was below them in the garage waiting to be driven.

When they got there, they noticed a group of men were sitting around playing cards. Ted smiled as he took a step up “So is this what our hard earning tax money goes to?” he teased.

The men looked up and a few chuckled at the truthful words “Ted!” Eric quickly greeted and got up to shake his hand “Erin.” He nodded at the quiet girl beside Ted “What are you two doing here?”

“We need your help.” Erin began “We figured out who Brad’s killer is…” she explained briefly about the guy’s background “I saw on his record which says his home was burned in a fire. I wanted to know if you can somehow find any records about that fire.”

Eric brows knitted thoughtfully “I can’t help you.” The two looked disappointed “But I know who can.” He smiled when they looked up with hopeful eyes. He nodded for them to follow him out to the long hallway of doors “My father is the Captain here. He has all the connections to find old records. I’m sure he could help you two. Plus I want to help catch this psycho.” He led them to the end room. Inside was a man well in his fifties. But he was distinguished looking with the gray weaved into his black hair.

The man smiled at his son and at the guests “Eric, what pleasure do I owe this greeting?”

“Dad, this is Erin and Ted. They have a few questions about a fire that happened right here in this town over 20 years ago. Is it possible we still have records?” Eric asked his dad.

Erin held her breath as the man hesitantly nodded solemnly “If it is too much trouble…” she didn’t want to bother the man.

“No, no. It’s not that.” He assured her “But I am a little curious as to why you need this information.”

Ted turned to Eric “You didn’t tell him about the P.R.A.?”

“Oh, is that where you two are from.” Mr. Leung nodded “Why didn’t you say so. Since Eric told me about it, I’ve become such a fan of your agency’s work. I’d be glad to help. Just give me a few minutes to do a search.” Erin and Ted exchanged smiles. At last, this was getting somewhere. They gave the man the address on the computer and after a long moment they had found the answer “I remember this fire…” Mr. Leung’s memory was vague but the case was a peculiar one that he knew it would be hard to forget “I worked on this home that one day. It was actually a double fire.”

“A double fire?" Erin was on the edge of her seat.

“It means two homes were contained.” Eric explained. He looked over his father’s shoulder “It says here that a home was burning and the home next to it also came down.”

“Does it say the homeowner’s name?” Erin asked anxiously.

Mr. Leung checked his computer “Looks like a married couple. Mr. and Mrs. Yeung Ga Wai. Investigation showed that it was actually an arson, but the person was never found. Police indicated at that time that it was a kid playing around with candles and matches. The flames devoured the home and the fire spread out to the neighbor’s home causing it to go down too. Four people killed.”

“Four…” Erin’s eyes dazed glossily.

Ted looked at Eric and back at Erin worriedly “Erin…are you okay? Do you know those people?”

A chill ran through her spine “They were my parents. Darren dug up the information for me about 9 months ago. I couldn’t forget the names. What’s the names of the neighbors?” she asked Mr. Leung.

“Keung Siu Yu and his wife Lam Bui Lan. It was very sad, they had a son who had to be taken away. The boy was only 12. Lucky for him, he was taken in by his Uncle.” Mr. Leung sighed sadly “But I felt most sorry for the little two year old girl that had to be put in an orphanage.” His eyes landed on Erin’s earnestly. Her eyes were brimming with tears.

“Keung…Tay Keung. You think he was the 12 year old kid?” Ted asked with a gentle hand rested over Erin’s hand.

She looked up and a tear fell from her eye “Maybe. But the fire had nothing to do with my family? Why would he revenge now? After all these years?”

“Maybe there is something else that we don’t know about? Let’s wait for the others and then we’ll discuss what to do next.” Ted smiled assuring her. He turned to the father and son “Thank you very much for your help.”

“If you need anymore information, you know where to find me.” Eric offered.

“Thank you.” Erin whispered as she nodded to Ted. The two returned to headquarters to report with Chuck.

**********

Shelly walked into the bar but she had lost track of the other four. The placed was crowded and noisy. Not to mention the awful stench of cigarettes roamed the air. She waved her hand in front of her face while standing on her toes to search for her friends “Little girl, this is not a place for you.” A man spoke up from behind her. He’s watched her the whole night and she stood out from the rest.

She turned to face him. He had a friendly smile and his eyes wrinkled at the edges “I’m not here alone. I’m looking for my friends.” She said.

“Really?” The guy nodded “Do you need help? I know almost everyone in here.”

Her smile beamed “Yes, please! Their names are Mia, Becca, Darren and Doug. Do you know them?”

“As a matter of fact I do. And you actually just missed them, they had left about five minutes ago. But they told me where they were going. Do you know where the Sa Tin race track is?” he saw her shake her head “Well, I do have something to do tonight but I don’t want you to be going there by yourself. How about I take you there?”

Shelly smiled with a nod “You are such a nice man!” she gushed “What’s your name? I’m Shelly.” She put out a hand while he led her outside.

“They call me T.K.” his smile was wide. She turned away and the grin grew slyly.

“Do you see him?” Mia asked Ah Bat. Darren’s hand was on the back of his neck just in case he wanted to try something funny.

The guy didn’t answer Mia and Darren quickly shook his neck “The lady asked you a question!”

“No! I don’t see him.” He cringed painfully “But it’s a big bar. Let’s keep looking.” He offered and began weaving through the crowd. He nodded a couple of people he knew and they looked at him strangely “Hey, I need some face too. Can you let go of my neck?”

“No.” Darren replied flatly.

“I won’t run.” He tried again.

Becca’s nose flared angrily as she took over for Darren “What part of NO do you not understand?” she pushed him roughly “Now come on!!”

Doug and Darren looked at each other with smiles “The dominatrix.” He whispered to Darren with a fearful look.

Ah Bat had seen Tay Keung talking to a girl but he decided to have a little more fun with the four. He didn’t like being threatened. He came upon a guy in a group and reached up and tapped him on the shoulder “TK!! Man, how have you been?”

The guys quickly held onto the guy Ah Bat was talking to “Hey…what are you guys doing?” he asked.

Mia’s eyes wandered around and she glanced over the exit and quickly caught the back of Shelly’s head. She was following someone outside “Becca.” She nudged her friend “Is that Shelly?”

“Where?” Becca followed Mia’s finger pointing “It looks like her. Who is she following? Do you know that guy?”

She shook her head “No, but something stinks if you ask me.” She turned to Ah Bat who had a sneaky smile plastered on his face. Suddenly, her stomach knotted up “Guys, that’s not TK. That guy is!!” she yelled and began running towards the door. Becca tailed after Mia and the guys gave Ah Bat some threatening words before going after the girls.

“Stop!!” Becca yelled while pointing to the guy.

But it was too late, they were already in his car. Mia was positive the guy looked up at them and smiled crookedly “Shit!” she cursed under her breath. Darren and Doug caught up to them “He’s got Shelly.” Mia’s hand lifted over her forehead as she lowered her head “Oh my God…Erin.”

“She’s going to kill us.” Doug said and then anger over took him “That damn sleeze! I’m gonna kill him!!” he yelled and prepared to run back inside to get Ah Bat.

“No.” Darren stopped him “We’ll take care of him later. Right now, we have to tell Erin.”

“I don’t think it’s our fault.” Becca spoke up. Her eyes bulged out “I mean, we did warn Shelly not to follow us and she did anyways. How would we know that she didn’t know how to listen to orders?”

“So YOU wanna tell Erin?!” Doug blurted out “We may not be responsible but we are partially responsible since we were the last that saw her.”

They were about to walk back when Mia received a call. She looked at the name and her eyes widened “Is it Erin?” Becca asked.

“No, Ryan.” She let out a sigh and answered the call “Ryan? What’s up?” she tried to be casual.

“Nothing. I had a dinner date with Shelly tonight. But I’m over at the apartment and no one is answering. I thought you were with her or something?” Ryan wondered.

“No…she’s not with me.” Mia was reluctant to tell him.

“Is something wrong, Mia?” Ryan caught the hesitant in her voice “Tell me, please…is it Shelly? What happened to her?” Mia had no choice but to tell him. She told him to meet them at headquarters.

They decided to head off to headquarters to talk to Chuck first. But to their shock, Erin and Ted were already there talking to Chuck. He turned up to greet the four and noticed their long faces “What happened?” he asked.

“Damn, this is not a good time to be face- readers.” Becca snickered.

Erin’s heart fell when she saw the dodged eyes “Mia…” she said but the girl couldn’t even look at her in the eye “Darren. Tell me.” The four didn’t move, it was Erin that pushed her chair back as she walked towards them. They took baby steps back “What happened? TELL ME!!!” she cried.

“I’m sorry…” Mia began with a guilty look. Her head was glued to the floor “Shelly was kidnapped.”

“But the good news is that we found TK…I mean Tay Keung.” Becca nodded at Erin “We know that he’s been buying these firearms.”

“Shelly?” Erin had blocked out everything from the minute Mia said her sister’s name “How…why?” she shook her head. The cold feeling moved through her body like the wind. No, she couldn’t lose her too. She already lost Brad.

“Erin…” Ted was quickly by her side when she slumped back on the chair “Erin!” he yelled her name when she had no answer. The last thing they needed was for her to freeze up.

“He’s got her.” Erin whispered. Her head moved over to Ted, who was kneeling beside her “He’s got her!!!” she yelled “What the hell does he want???” she gripped on his shirt until her fingers turned white “Why??”

“Calm down, Erin.” He soothed gently.

“Calm down?!” Erin shrieked. She let go of his shirt and got up as she turned to the four “How did it happen??” she demanded.

Mia, Darren and Doug took a step back leaving Becca in the front to answer. Becca turned and saw she was the leader, she let out a sigh “Okay, cowards.” She turned back to Erin with an earnest look “It was an accident. If that guy didn’t play us…” Erin wrinkled her brows in frustration “Okay, we found this guy named Ah Bat, he’s the so called ‘messenger’ because he knows who and where everyone is. He was supposed to take us to find TK but I guess he was pissed that we beat him up and threatened him. So he mislead us. Shelly was at home and before we left to find Ah Bat, we told her NOT to follow. But she did anyways. So if you think about it…it’s not ENTIRELY our fault.” Becca took a step back as she moved her lips to the side “How was that?” she whispered to her three backup singers.

Mia rolled her eyes “I couldn’t have said it any worse.”

“What?” Becca turned to her in shock “I thought it was very good.”

Erin was in total shock but she told herself not to get carried away “It’s okay.”

Darren wasn’t sure he heard right “Excuse us?”

She took in deep breaths “It’s okay…if she looses even a strand of hair, I’ll make sure he’ll rot in hell.” Her voice was low and her eyes cold as ice.

Becca shivered “Any of you guys scared?”

Chuck clapped his hands to get their attention “Okay guys. Let’s get back to business. Everyone sit down.” He ordered. They quietly took their seats as he continued to stand “We have to get Shelly back. But it seems we are not dealing with a simple guy here. He knows us and it makes us in grave danger. Especially you, Erin.” He nodded at her.

Suddenly, the doors of the conference room burst open, it was Ryan “We have to get her back!!” he yelled.

Chuck turned to the interruption “How did you get a key to get inside?”

“I stole my brother’s.” Ryan explained shortly while taking a seat next to Becca “I want in.”

“What do you mean you want in?” Mia asked “You’re not an agent.”

Ryan shook his head “I don’t care. I want in. I have to save her. You guys can’t stop me.”

Chuck turned to Erin “What do you think?”

She looked up at Ryan who was begging her with his eyes. Erin turned to Chuck calmly “I have no disagreement.” Ryan sighed with relief while Chuck continued on with the plan. Darren, Ryan and Doug’s job was to retrieve Ah Bat. The girls were to look around and ask questions about TK’s whereabouts. Ted was to dig up more information on the guy since his leg was still healing.

Chapter 15

The following day Doug and Darren returned to the bar with Ryan trailing close behind “There he is.” Darren pointed out Ah Bat. Before he even had a chance to take the first step, Ryan had beaten him to it.

“Are you Ah Bat?” Ryan asked the guy who was busy flirting with a group of girls.

“What’s it to ya?” he asked with much annoyance. But the minute he saw Doug and Darren behind Ryan, he began to take off. Only long enough to be pounced on by Ryan.

“Don’t you remember your new friends?” he retorted with some rough pushing. Ryan pulled the guy on his feet “You’re not going anywhere.” He warned.

“Good job, Ryan.” Doug said. He was a bit surprised by the guy’s quickness, he had his brother’s love for the work. He could already tell “We missed you!” he said with sarcasm while patting Ah Bat on the head roughly.

“What do you want? I already told you…I don’t—” he began only to be slapped by Darren.

“Shut up! Take him back.” Darren said while nodding to Ryan “You’re quick.”

“Thanks, I learn from the best.” Ryan smiled while pulling the guy’s arm behind him and pushing him out of the bar.

They returned with Chuck waiting in his office. The guys had blindfolded Ah Bat so he would not be able to recognize the headquarters. Ryan pushed the guy in the little office and slammed the door shut “Hey, don’t take it out on my door.” Chuck warned with a finger wagging.

Ryan smiled shortly “Sorry Chuck.”

“Who are you guys? What do you want??” Ah Bat cried with fear. His hands were tied behind his back “Let me go. I’m not worth any money!!”

“Well, he does have a point.” Chuck spun around on his chair “Kill him.”

Doug smiled as he began to play along “Yes, sir.” He reached down and pulled the guy up on his feet.

“No!! Please, don’t kill me!!” Ah Bat began groveling as he struggled to stay kneeling “Please Chuck, I’ll do anything you ask me to. Just don’t kill me.”

Chuck smiled crookedly as he got up and walked around his desk and leaned on the edge “Okay. I’m in a good mood today. So let me hear something good. Because you should see my boys faces right now. They’re ready to smell blood.”

The scared guy thought fast as he began sputtering out the words “I…I can contact him! And then you guys can do what you want. Just don’t kill me!”

“What a coward!” Ryan spat despicably.

Darren laughed as he bent down and wrapped an arm over his shoulder “Better his ass than yours huh?” he tortured Ah Bat with more head smacking.

“Yes…yes. I don’t even like the guy!” he added quickly. His face looking around but he still couldn’t see anything “Who are you people anyways?” he asked with special curiosity. They didn’t sound like the triad, he would have been beaten or worse raped already.

“There you go asking questions again!” Darren shook his head while his hand began slapping the back of the guy’s head.

“Alright! Alright! I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have asked.”

Doug laughed humorously “Now you’re learning.” He saw Chuck nod his head to let the blindfold off. Doug ripped it off and the guy quickly blinked away the blurriness from his eyes. He only made out a very fat figure in front of him.

“Remember my face.” Chuck pointed to himself “I’ll be haunting your nightmares if you don’t do what you just promised. I expect you to get back to us in one day.”

“ONE DAY?!” the guy was outraged “It takes longer than that when I do something for the Red Dragon.”

Darren turned to him with a shaking head “Don’t you learn?” he put his hands together and cracked his knuckles as if ready for a fight.

“Okay…okay…I’m sorry.” Ah Bat backed away and bumped into Ryan who stared down at him viciously. He quickly moved away closer to Darren “How do I get in contact with you guys?”

“Don’t worry about that. We’ll come looking for you in one day.” Doug replied.

Chuck crossed his arms “Get him out of here, his stench is killing my desk plants!”

“Yes, Sir.” Doug placed the blindfold back took the guy out with the help of Ryan.

Darren turned to Chuck “I hope we can trust him.”

“We have no choice at this moment.” Chuck sighed “I just hope we get Shelly back.” Darren nodded in agreement “Hey, so Erin was telling me about her past. How her parents were killed in a fire. Its really sad for a young girl to be moved from one orphanage to another.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m just glad she settled at St. Mary’s. We got off on the wrong foot but she’s become this important person in my life.” Darren had distant gaze in his eyes as he recalled the past two years “Can you believe she wanted to kill me at one time?”

Chuck laughed, “Well I’m glad she held back. We would have missed a very good agent and not to mention donator. Can I ask you something?” Darren nodded “What are her parents names?”

“She didn’t tell you?”

“No.” Chuck shook his head “She didn’t mention it. I was just curious.”

“I think her father was Yeung Ga Wai. The mother…she was only Mrs. Yeung Ga Wai. I didn’t get her maiden name.” Darren turned and noticed Chuck was silent “Chuck. Chuck…” he reached out and shook the man when he didn’t answer.

“What?” Chuck raised his brows.

“You okay? You blanked out there for a minute.” Darren frowned with suspicion.

Chuck shook his head “I’m okay. I was just thinking how hard it was for her. And after all these years, she’s finally found her sibling. Unfortunately, we don’t even know if she’s alive.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll find her.” Darren nodded firmly.

“We have to.” Chuck replied solemnly with a look of determination.

***********

The girls walked around the darker parts of town asking if anyone knew of a guy named TK. But to their dismay, no one even heard of him. It seemed the guy didn’t even existed and it was the home town according to the files that Ted dug up. Mia let out a sigh when Erin looked saddened “It’s okay. We’ll find them.” She soothed.

“Yeah. Justice will always prevail.” Becca nodded firmly.

“I hope so.” Erin nodded to a nearby food shop “Let’s get something to eat. I haven’t had anything in my stomach since last night.”

Mia nodded as she linked her arms through Erin’s and Becca raced the girls to claim a table “Mr. Owner, can we get some tea please?” she asked.

Erin shook her head at her friend “Always ready for food. I don’t know how you could stay so skinny.”

Becca smiled “Easy. After I eat, I stick my finger down my throat and barf it up.” Mia looked grossed out while Erin wrinkled her brows with a horrified look “I’m kidding!!” Becca laughed while she pointed a pair of chopsticks at the girls “I would never do that.”

“I sure hope not.” Erin frowned “That’s disgusting.”

“And sick.” Mia added.

Erin turned to her friend with a sarcastic look “I think we covered that, Mia.”

“Oh, you DO know how to joke.” Mia said with the same sarcasm tone “I was wondering where that humor disappeared to.” She saw Erin lips pressed into a forced smile “Hey, you know we’re here for you if you need to talk or anything.”

Their tea came and Becca quickly ordered them some food. Erin smiled “I’ll be okay. Don’t worry about me, Mia. You need to worry about that brain of yours.”

“My memory will come in due time. Ethan said I just have to relax and not stress it out, the memories will slowly come to me.” Mia nodded.

“He’s a nice guy.” Erin commented. She saw Becca wrinkling her nose in disapproval “You don’t agree?” she asked her long time friend.

“I just don’t think any guy is as nice and honest like Doug. He’s okay, if you like that nice boy type.” Becca shrugged “I like Darren more, personally.” She noticed Mia let out a sigh and she quickly added “But you don’t have to like him. You can like anyone you want, Mia. Plus I think smart guys have this really high standard for girls or potential girlfriends.”

“No, that’s not Ethan. He only believes in love, nothing else. He could care less if the girl was ugly or broke. If he loved her, that was all that mattered.” Mia stood up for him.

“Wow. If I didn’t know better, I would say Mia has a crush.” Erin teased. Her face instantly flushed over after Erin’s comment “I didn’t know you put on blush.” She pointed her finger at Mia’s cheeks.

“Stop it!” Mia cried. She felt like a school girl talking about her first crush with her girlfriends “I don’t like him!” she insisted.

“Hey, you don’t have to tell us. You’re a big girl now and you are more than capable of handling your feelings.” Erin wasn’t convincing. Becca laughed while she nodded in agreement.

“You’re the one to talk. How about Ted?” Mia blurted out playfully.

“And Chuck!” Becca chimed in.

Erin frowned “What about Chuck?”

“Please, we all can see that he likes you. He’s always snapping at me and when it comes to you, it’s like: ‘Erin, you’re perfect…as usual’. Come on, even if we were blind, we are not stupid.” Becca pointed out.

Erin laughed with her head shaking “You are crazy!” she turned to Mia “Can you believe her?”

Mia nodded hesitantly “Actually, I agree with her.”

“Ha…Ha.” Becca said smugly to Erin.

“Wow…I didn’t know I was having lunch with two nuts.” Erin sighed sadly “We might have to take a shortcut to the mental hospital.” She rolled her eyes “Girls, he doesn’t like me. I can guarantee it. I admit that he might be playing favorites with me. But I don’t think he likes me…” she laughed but slowly her smile faded.

“What? Suddenly remembered that he likes you?!” Becca laughed.

“No.” Erin shook her head. She pointed to the car across the street.

Mia frowned “What is it Erin?”

“It’s his car.” She turned to Mia shortly and turned back at the car.

Becca waved to the owner to come out “Mr. do you know the owner of that Honda Accord?”

“Oh, Mr. Keung. Yeah. He comes by once a month to have lunch at my shop. A very nice man. He came by this morning to get some porridge and bread.” He returned to work after Becca thanked him.

“Why would his car be here?” Erin thought out loud.

“Maybe he’s getting food to keep Shelly alive?” Becca contemplated.

Mia widened her eyes at the girl “Foot!!”

“What? That’s a good thing!” Becca retorted.

“Stop arguing.” Erin ordered “Come on.” She got up and walked over across the street to the parked car. She glanced inside the car but didn’t see any clues that Shelly would have left behind “Nothing.” She was disappointed.

“He must be around here.” Mia looked around but there was no one even the little bit resembled the guy she saw at the bar.

Becca tapped her chin thoughtfully “Maybe he’s using this as a trick?”

“But why?” Erin asked while she walked around the car to see anything strange. She bent down at the tires and her eyes lit up “Mia, Becca come over here! Look.” She pointed to the tires.

“Sand…so?” Becca asked.

“Yeah, maybe he works out by the harbor?” Mia guessed.

Erin shook her head “No. I don’t think so. If you park by the harbor, there is no sand. He actually drove on the beach.”

“Why would he do that?” Mia asked.

“I don’t know.” Erin stood up and looked around again “Where’s the nearest beach?”

“Tong Lau Wan Bay.” Becca answered, “Let’s finish our lunch first. I think the owner is about to call the cops if we don’t come back.” She had noticed the man glancing at the girls every so often.

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