Chapter 10: A Night In Shanghai:
It was about 9:30 at night, when Felix, Arnie, and Lulu got dressed and left the hotel to go to a nearby nightclub. Being a Saturday night, it was a busy place with lots of people and cars going places.
The three of them were finally able to call a cab and headed their way towards club. They could hear the music blaring from the club two blocks down, where the trio had to walk the rest of the way.
Both Felix and Arnie were wearing nice, black suits and ties with their black shoes. Lulu was wearing her black flats, white socks, a plain blue dress with short sleeves and that went down to the bottom of her knee caps, and carrying her black purse strapped around her shoulder. She quickly stretched her arm down to check that her gun was still strapped around her left leg and concealed underneath her dress. Finding it still in its place, her anxiety eased away and continued with her walk.
About halfway there, Felix turned to face them, grabbed two cards out of his suit pocket, and handed one to each teen.
"What are these?" Lulu asked, flipping it back and forth. It was a card with their picture on it and a false name and information about them.
"Fake IDs. You're both from the United States and 21 year old college kids here on spring break. Get rid of those as soon as this assignment is over, though. Not trying to promote fake identification use," the American answered.
"No problem. My parents' are already gonna kill me enough as it is for skipping school and sneaking out of the country," Arnie said, putting the fake ID in his wallet. Lulu did the same with hers.
The three resumed walking and soon enough were in a long line to enter the club. There was a huge body guard manning the entrance. He was a tall, muscular Chinese man wearing all black clothing and looked like he could crush a person's neck with the force of just one of his hands. The bodyguard had both kids intimidated and questioning whether this was a good idea or not. They both turned to look at Felix, their eyes sending the message to the CIA spy.
"You guys are alright. Just play it cool, and you'll get in just fine." He answered.
Both Arnie and Lulu nodded, took a deep breath in, and kept their faces as neutral as possible.
It was soon their turn, and just like Felix said, all three got in without any problems. The place was filled with colored lights or dimly lit with actual lights. There was a stage up front where people were performing either singing, dancing, or playing instruments. On the opposite side of the room was a bar and bar table to sit at.
"This place is so loud!" Lulu yelled.
"I know! I think I lost hearing in my left ear!" Arnie shouted back.
"It'll mellow down with live players in a while! You guys go over there to the bar and order a soda or glass of water! I'm dancing a little before finding who I'm looking for!" Felix shouted over the music, and soon made his way off onto the dance floor. He spotted a pretty Chinese woman wearing a red dress and joined her in dancing for awhile before a pretty blonde in a satin dark purple dress joined the two.
The booming music soon ended, a few more lights turned on, and people could finally hear one another speaking. Finally able to talk and able to understand others, the two teens made their way to the bar and got up in the tall chairs to order.
"I'll have a glass of root beer," Arnie said.
"I'll take a glass of water. Add a slice of lemon, please," Lulu requested.
Both teens had their drinks quickly, turned to watch the dance floor, and took sips of their beverages while talking with one another.
"Who do you think this guy Mr. Leiter's talking about is?" Arnie asked.
"Don't have the slightest idea, my friend." Lulu answered, and took another gulp of her water.
"And how are you doing?"
The girl turned to look at her friend, wondering what he meant by that.
"How I'm doing?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Your…" Arnie started circling his hand around, trying to ask what he meant without finishing the thought. He did not want to upset Lulu, especially when she seemed to be doing better since coming to Shanghai. "G-R-I-E-F?"
Lulu spelled the word out in her brain and finally understood the question. Her facial expression changed to a tired frown and sighed heavily.
"I'm alright…just hard to think about is all," she said.
"Did I upset you?"
Lulu shook her head with a sad smile.
"No…I'm alright…just tired…it wears a person out for awhile."
"Indeed."
Lulu looked at the dance floor, back at Arnie, and gave a small smile.
"Let's dance," she said.
"I beg your pardon?" Arnie remarked, as if she had just spoken a foreign language.
"Dance," she answered, moving her arms up and down a little.
"Kid, I don't dance."
"Come on," Lulu said, with a gesture of her head. "I'll teach yah."
The teenage boy let out a deep breath of air, then nodded and got to his feet with his best friend. Soon enough, the two were dancing side to side, tapping their feet to the music, and Lulu was even teaching him a few dance moves like the jazz square. Arnie could not help but grin.
"You got some moves there, Lulu!" He cried, amazed with his friend.
"Papa said there are two things a Bond needs to know without thinking; that's dancing and sweet talk." The girl answered, with a wide smile.
Arnie's face lit up more, seeing Lulu enjoying herself for the first time since James had died, and started getting into it. Both teens were so engrossed in what they were doing and enjoying themselves, completely forgetting their personal problems and current assignment. They were in the moment, and both of them loved it and felt free.
As they continued dancing, two men in mob suits entered the facility and made their way towards the stage and performers. Both men had dark brown hair, piercing dark blue eyes, and were about six feet tall. They began scanning the area, as if they were in search for someone. Not finding them, both men turned to face towards one another.
"You see him, Fallaci?" The first one asked, speaking with a heavy Italian accent.
"No one that looks suspicious," the second man said. He, too spoke with a strong Italian accent.
"008's gotta be somewhere in this area."
"It doesn't help that we have no idea what he even looks like."
"Well, if we don't get rid of him, Don's getting rid of us!"
"So, what do yah suggest, Colombo? How the hell do we find this guy without knowing what he looks like?"
"Be on the lookout for now. Maybe he'll show up somewhere."
Fallaci sighed with frustration, then both turned to watch the live performers and began to dance to the music.
Across the room, Lulu caught something funny out of the corner of her eye and turned to look at the two men that had just entered into the club. Seeing their clothing and physical appearances made her pause in her dancing and raise an eyebrow in suspicion. She was curious to know who they were and what made them dress the way they were currently. The two men looked as if they wanted to stay out of notice and hidden in the shadows, and it gave her an uneasy feeling.
Seeing his friend's sudden change in behavior, Arnie turned to Lulu and looked at her with concern.
"You alright, Lu?" He asked, worried.
"Look at those two men over there," she said, gesturing with her head.
Arnie turned to look in the same direction Lulu was and saw the two men she had spotted. His face changed from a look of worry to one of cynicism.
"Who are they?" He questioned, keeping careful eyes on their suspects.
"I don't know. But I don't like the feeling I'm getting about them."
"You think they might be Lobster's men?"
"It's a good possibility."
"What do we do?"
"Act like you don't see them. Keep careful observation, though. We need more to go on than just their physical appearance in order to make contact."
"No problem, my friend."
Both teenagers went back to dancing and acting like everyone else, though watching both men for anything that caused further suspicion or interest to them.
At the end of the bar table, the man that had been spying on Lulu, Arnie, and Felix was again watching the two kids while drinking a glass of lemon drop. He kept reserved, to himself, and did not talk or socialize with anyone. He observed the two before him, studying each of them carefully. He paid most of his attention to the girl, Lulu. The man watched her every move, who she talked to, what she did, and what she said to others. He took another drink and continued observing both teens underneath the black hat that concealed the top part of his face.
While dancing, Colombo and Fallaci turned their heads and spotted both Arnie and Lulu. Both men found her attractive and a decent dancer. Her blue dress complimented her light brown hair and brought out her eye color of a bright blue from what it appeared to look like.
"Who is she?" Fallaci asked, staring in awe at Lulu.
"I don't know…but she certainly is gorgeous." Colombo answered, stunned by the young girl's appearance.
"You think Don would mind if we put off looking for 008 for a minute?"
Colombo gave an irritated sigh, but gave in.
"Fine. Go dance with her. I'll remain here and keep watch for anyone suspicious." He answered, gruff.
Taking interest in her, Fallaci started making his way towards the young Bond and her friend.
Arnie, listening in on their conversation and seeing some movement in the corner of his eye, he spotted the one man making their way towards them, while the other one stayed back and observed them.
"Lu, I think we're in trouble," he said, soft.
"Why'd you say that?" She asked.
Arnie tapped her on the shoulder and pointed in the direction of the two mysterious men.
Lulu looked quickly at them.
"I heard them talking about 'searching for 008' and 'if Don would mind a minute break'." He reported.
Lulu turned her eyes to her best friend quickly, then back to the front.
"Just act casual. Follow my lead and don't ask questions," she directed.
"Got it, kid." Arnie answered.
The two of them continued dancing and were soon joined by Fallaci, who took interest in Lulu quickly.
The young Bond looked up at the older man, gave an innocent smile, and continued her dancing. Following in her father's footsteps, she tried acting as attractive and charming as she could in order to catch the two men off guard.
Fallaci was turned on with Lulu's moves and dancing skills. Though attracted to her and believed she was like any other young lady, watching from afar, Colombo could not help but feel something a bit off with Lulu. Something about her seemed familiar, but he could not understand why. Shrugging the feeling off, he continued watching his fellow co. worker, Arnie, and the undercover spy.
Lulu continued on with the act a little longer, watching for something in Fallaci's eyes that said he was only focused on her and her physical attractiveness. Once she finally found it, she grabbed a hold of Fallaci's jacket and pointed her gun at his chest, her eyes glowing with fury and fire.
Stunned briefly, the mobster quickly came out of it and gave a sinister look at her while stifling a chuckle.
"008." He sneered.
"Pleasure to be acquainted myself." Lulu growled.
Fallaci made a reach for his pistol, when the young girl's voice caught him off guard.
"I wouldn't try, if I were you," she warned, without her eyes ever off of him. "I'll have you shot so fast, you won't know what hit yah."
Glaring coldly at her, the man followed orders and put his hands in the air.
Lulu gestured with her head to the wall on the far right side of the room.
"Up against the wall," she ordered, her tone icy. "Now! And I tend to be a bit trigger happy!"
Arnie shoved Fallaci, grabbing the man's gun out of its holster, and kept watch from the back while Lulu did so in the front.
While in route to the wall, the man watching them earlier turned his head in the direction they were headed, taking careful note on what was happening. He wanted to report as much detail back to his superior as possible. He took another sip of his lemon drop and continued his gaze on the two children and the mob member.
Colombo, witnessing everything from the opposite side of the room, started making his way towards the three of them, when spotting that both children had firearms in their hands, and the boy had Fallaci's in the other. Not willing to risk his own life with an attempted rescue, he hurried out of the club to report back to Lobster he had located 008.
Lulu had Arnie slam Fallaci against the wall, while she began frisking the man for any other hidden weapons on him. During the middle of it, Fallaci tried to make a run for it, but he was struck down onto the floor with the back of Lulu's gun hitting him right in between the back of his shoulders.
The man landed with an 'oompf' and lay there in pain.
"Get up!" Lulu barked, her gun aimed right at the mobster's head.
Fallaci tried to jump up and suddenly attack the girl, but she was one step ahead and kicked the man back to the ground. She then let Arnie pass by, who grabbed Fallaci by the shirt collar up off the ground and slammed him into the wall.
Lulu came closer and placed her gun at the man's neck, aimed right for his aorta.
"Start talking," she said, soft.
Fallaci tried grabbing for something in his jacket, but Arnie whacked his hand away.
"I need a drink. Get me my drink out of my jacket." The man begged, completely out of breath.
Lulu turned to her best friend and gestured for him to grab the man's drink out for him.
Arnie followed orders, found a small bottle with blue liquid inside the man's jacket, and handed him the drink.
Fallaci had the whole thing down in one gulp, then began to make a noise resembling someone being suffocated. His eyes soon closed and fell to the floor unconscious.
Both kids watched the man fall to the ground, turned to look at one another with confusion and slight worry, then Lulu bent over to pick up the bottle and sniffed the inside of it slightly. She turned to Arnie, her facial expression somewhat shocked still from what had just occurred.
"Tetrodotoxin," she said, quiet. "He's dead."