Chapter 4
Rock was able to walk slowly to the elevator and get into the car the next morning. Lotton drove him and Revy back to their apartment. Along the way, Revy told Rock about the news that Dutch was planning his retirement.
"Good for him!" Rock nodded. "He's been doing this long enough. That's for sure. And he's going to give you the boat?"
"Nope," Revy answered, lighting a cigarette, "Offered to sell it to me at a discount. Didn't name a price though."
Rock nodded again.
"So, are you going to take it?"
Revy didn't answer. She didn't like to make-believe.
"Says it'll still be about two years before he pulls the plug," she said, looking out the window, "No need to think about it yet."
Rock's shoulders fell a bit, but he persisted.
"It's just that if you're going to buy it, you're going to need a lot of capital up front. Not just the cost of the boat itself, but all the things it'll need to keep running. Gas, maintenance, and that's not even getting into all the legal stuff…"
Revy turned to him with a look that clearly said, "shut up," and Rock fell silent. She looked back out the window.
"I don't wanna talk about it now."
As they reached a red light on one of the main thoroughfares back to Rock's apartment, Revy suddenly snapped out of her thoughts and sensed danger. She'd learned years ago to trust her instincts when it came to violence. She turned around. A white van had pulled up behind them with tinted windows. Even through the car, Revy could smell it was reeking of smoke and blood.
Suddenly, she saw the side doors open.
"Rock!" She yelled as she drew, "Get down! Move wizard!"
Rock ducked.
Lotton hit the accelerator, but the mass of cars going through the intersection slowed his progress. Four men wearing body armor and ski masks got out of the van carrying uzis and opened fire on the benz. The bulletproof rear window absorbed dozens of shots and shattered due to the damage.
Had anyone else been in the car with him, Rock might have died.
"Game time!" Revy yelled excitedly as the killer inside her reared its head.
She turned around in the backseat and then unloaded both clips at their attackers. Rock covered his head.
"Too easy!" she screeched, smiling at the carnage.
Rock listened, but he could no longer hear gunfire. Apparently she had silenced them all with a single salvo.
"Morons," Revy chuckled, turning back to face the front, "Should've pulled alongside us and taken out our gas tank."
"Revy!" Rock had the presence of mind to say, giving her the thumbs up. "You're a war goddess, as always!"
Revy gave him a rare unadulterated grin.
"You okay there, baby?" she asked, reloading her Cutlasses.
"Yeah. I'll call Benny. We should have his team get whatever evidence they can."
Rock made the call, as they drove back to the apartment. The rest of the ride was tense. Revy stared out the window with a cigarette dangling from her mouth and her Cutlassess in her hands. Only when they got back to the apartment and were greeted by the guards at the front entrance did her adrenaline subside enough that she holstered them.
One of the assets the Special Tasks Group (STG) had inherited from Rock was a portfolio of street children who served as highly effective primary intelligence gatherers. During the war, they had gathered the photographic evidence with which Rock had threatened Balalaika and Chang. Had the lovers refused to end their conflict, Rock and Benny would have leaked those photos to the international media. The pictures contained such disturbing content that had they been made public, the Thai government would have had to clamp down on the gangs in order to rehabilitate its reputation. That would have likely destroyed both the Triad and Hotel Moscow's sources of revenue, if not their very existence. Thus, both had backed down and agreed to make Rock their arbiter.
The STG continued using street kids to gather intel after the war. The kids would bring their photographs to one of several specific drop off points around the city at certain times. If the STG operative liked what they brought, they were given enough money for three hot meals. The whole operation was overseen by Jane Bahai, who in addition to being an expert computer hacker and counterfeiter, also had certain gifts when communicating with kids. Her attention to detail and childlike friendliness with the children had been of tremendous help. It had taken a lot of trial and error, but STG had now gotten this process down to a near science. The children who had been part of it for long enough now knew what to look for to earn their keep. STG had entrusted the most adept among them with disposable cell phones to receive instructions. So, when it became known that Rock had survived another assassination attempt, it was only a matter of minutes before the first kids arrived on the scene, snapping pictures from every possible angle.
As he snapped another picture of the wrecked van and the body of one of Rock's assailants, one such boy named Anurak was approached by a young Thai girl in a backwards baseball cap and dirty white shirt. After hearing her story, he called Miss Jane immediately. Since he was one of her best boys, she agreed to meet with him.
As she approached the market, Jane spotted Anurak sitting with the young girl at a table in front of a cafe. She strode up to them smiling confidently.
"Heya, Anu!" she grinned happily down at them. "How's it going?"
Anurak smiled and nodded up at her.
"Quite well, Ms. Jane," he answered, "This girl has something about Mr. Rock she wants to tell you."
"Does she?" Jane said as she took a seat, "And what would you like to tell me sweetie?"
The girl hesitated. She had been willing to approach Anu since she knew him from before. However, now that she was confronted by an adult, she was suddenly more nervous. She knew never to talk to cops. She knew this woman was connected to Rock, and she'd tried to pickpocket him not long ago. Would the woman want to punish her somehow?
Sensing the girl's nervousness, Jane decided to break the ice.
"Hey sweetie," she said, still smiling. "Are you hungry?"
The girl nodded.
"How about I get you something to eat, and we can talk over lunch?"
The girl perked up at the prospect of food. It had been some time since she had eaten. The money given by the beggar in sunglasses had run out awhile ago.
About an hour later, Jane called Benny, bursting with excitement. The little girl and Anu were in the back of her car, both with fresh ice cream cones. He looked up from his computer as he answered his phone
"Hey, sweetie!" he answered heartily, "How's it going?"
"Baby," she answered. "You are not going to believe this!"
Once inside the apartment, Rock double locked the doors. He had to make a series of urgent calls. Revy listened as he called Benny, the other faction leaders, and the police, among others. The underlying point of the calls was that he'd been attacked but was still alive and able to perform most of his duties. Revy understood that these calls were important, but after the first two she found herself losing interest. She allowed her mind to wander to other things.
She had been given her list of tasks by the nurses before leaving the hospital. Make sure Rock took his medication, make sure he ate, help him move around when needed, and ensure he didn't fall and hurt himself again. She was also supposed to call the hospital periodically to let them know of his condition and alert them of any changes. All in all, she didn't expect the next two weeks to be hard, unless there was another assassination attempt, just boring. Rock wouldn't be able to have sex properly for a few days, but so far that and the boredom were the only downsides. She still had her gym, rum, and the gun range not far away to look forward to.
She also started thinking about his request and what she felt she could tell him. There was definitely some stuff in her past that she wanted to keep to herself, but she also knew that he had his STG exactly one phone call away. If she gambled on a lie and lost, it might very well be over between them. Besides, maybe she should give him more credit. After all, she'd tried to shoot him once, and he hadn't left.
Rock had just finished his last call with the chief of police when he received a surprise one from Benny.
"Benny!" he exclaimed, "How's it going?"
"I'm fine, Rock. I just had a question. Did a little girl try to pick your pocket a couple days ago?"
Rock suddenly remembered.
"Yeah!" he answered, "Why?"
"The same girl just made contact with one of our field agents," Benny explained. "She says she wasn't really trying to pick your pocket at all. Whoever hired her wanted to know what kind of clothes you were wearing."
"What I was wearing?" Rock repeating, confused.
Revy looked up from the kitchen table where she had been cleaning her guns. This sounded strange.
"Yeah," Benny answered. "She was specifically told to run headlong into you to see how 'hard' your clothes were."
Rock was still confused.
"I'm sorry. I don't understand."
Benny clarified.
"This girl was instructed to run into you at full speed, try to pick your pocket, and report back to some guy in sunglasses how solid your clothes were. Rock, I think she was testing if you were wearing any body armor."
Rock's mouth fell open. He hadn't been wearing the flak jacket that day. He'd finally caved to Lotton's suggestion that night after the run in at the market. Had he done so just in time?
Revy noticed her boyfriend's expression.
"Benny," Rock asked. "Do you still have the girl?"
"Jane's bringing her in right now. We're going to do a full interrogation and see if we can figure out who hired her, but I thought you'd like to know this ASAP. Rock, whoever tried to bump you hired a disposable Russian to take you out and a street kid to see how good your protection is. This is bigger than we thought."
Rock hurriedly jotted down some notes. Revy continued staring at him.
"Okay. Thank you, Benny. And please thank Jane too. And the girl. And Benny?" Rock continued with added emphasis. "You tell Jane to take her time with her. This kid might have seen whoever's trying to kill me first hand. You make sure she knows that if she cooperates, she will be rewarded. And if it would be helpful for me to come speak to her myself, let me know."
"You got it, boss!"
Rock hung up. He turned to Revy.
"We might have just had a breakthrough," he reported.
He recounted the story of the girl who'd tried to pickpocket him and what they'd just learned. Revy scowled.
"You let her go?" she repeated in obvious disappointment. "Moron. If you let them get away with that crap, they'll just do it more."
Rock nodded and shrugged.
"I get your point, Revy," he admitted. "But I couldn't send her to jail. She reminded me of you. If you'd seen her, you'd understand."
Revy turned away from him.
"Whatever," she muttered, blushing.
They talked for a few more minutes. Then, Rock showered carefully and went to bed. Revy started to make some eggs. He could use the protein and didn't like her shakes. After setting them on to cook, she strode over to the window and looked outside, lighting a cigarette. She was looking for any additional signs of trouble. She could see a boat in the distance, possibly some fisherman hauling in his catch. She could remember trying to get a job with them as soon as she came to the city back when she'd been a street brat herself. Smiling toothily, she dived straight into the water to show them she could swim. The fishermen had laughed at her. Some of them had seemed somewhat impressed, but she couldn't speak Thai, and none of them had hired her or given her anything to eat. She'd spent the next few weeks stealing on the streets until the cops had accused her of killing that one vendor and hauled her ass off to prison. That was where she had met Chang for the first time when he had come to bail her out. It turned out it was one of his guys who had knocked off the vendor, and his sense of justice wouldn't let her rot in prison for something one of his guys had pulled. He'd won her respect then for that sense of justice.
The smell of something burning brought her back to reality. Whipping around, she realized the eggs she'd put on to cook were smoking.
"Fuck!" she yelled, as she ran to put them out.
After clearing her first attempt, she tried again. This time, they at least looked and smelled okay. She tried some of the eggs herself, and they weren't bad. She dumped some ketchup on them, and they tasted better. She brought them to their bedroom.
Rock was lying in bed with the shades drawn and the bedside lamp on. He was sitting up and writing on a notepad.
"Chow time," she announced, as she entered.
Rock looked up and smiled.
"Aww, thank you, beautiful!" he exclaimed, "They smell great."
Feeling a bit gratified, Revy approached and handed him the plate and fork. He tried a bite and smiled.
"They're excellent. Thank you," he said.
Revy couldn't help but grudgingly smile.
"All good, baby. How you feelin'?"
"I'm ok," he answered, "A bit sore on this side," he indicated his left chest. "But I don't think it'll last for two weeks. I think I might be able to handle most of your stuff before that."
"Bitchin'," she returned.
She got him his medication and sat down next to him on the bed with her protein shake. They ate and drank in silence for a while.
"Do you want to start your story today?" he asked her after taking his meds.
Revy grumbled.
"Tomorrow," she answered, "I don't wanna today."
"Sure," he said, "I love you."
Revy looked at him darkly.
"Rock," she asked, finally giving voice to a question she'd had for awhile. "What the fuck does that even mean?"
"Hmm?" Rock asked through a mouthful of egg.
"I've told you what I think of that shit," she continued. "Anyone who tries to fuck you will try to fuck you over. And falling in love is the fastest way to get yourself killed. You remember me saying that?"
Rock nodded.
"Then, why you keep tellin' me?" she asked.
Rock extracted the fork from his mouth.
"Well, first of all," he answered. "If I recall correctly, Chang was the one who told you that. Same guy who tried to kill the woman he's with now," he shrugged. "Maybe he's not the best guy to learn about love from. Or, considering he's still with Balalaika, maybe he wasn't entirely serious when he told you that."
Revy's eyes narrowed. It was just like Rock to figure shit out. Chang had practically told her the line was bullshit after she'd already relayed it to Rock. She was just too proud to admit that to him.
"But, to your question, the word 'love' means sacrifice."
"Sacrifice?" she repeated, "the fuck?"
"Yes," Rock answered simply and firmly. He had been thinking about this often lately. "There's more to it, but that's the bedrock. One person who loves another will sacrifice for them."
Revy looked at him with a mixture of confusion and surprise. Rock persisted.
"Last year, the Triads and Hotel Moscow went to war, and Chang called you to fight."
Revy clicked her mouth shut. They hadn't talked much about that time since it had happened. This sounded interesting.
"I gathered enough evidence, power, and influence to persuade Chang and Balalaika to back down. It took time. I had to take a lot of risk and expense. And if anyone had decided to cap me, the city would forget me in an hour. But you're worth that risk to me Revy," he looked at her seriously.
Revy frowned back at him.
"I never fuckin' asked you to do any of that," she retorted. "If you'da kept your shit to yourself, Fry-Face would be six feet under right now and I'd be rolling in cash."
"Maybe," Rock admitted, shrugging. "Or maybe you'd be six feet under, and she'd be rolling."
"You don't think I can take her?"
"I love you too much to want to find out. Besides," he continued. "You said it would take a hundred grand a year for you to leave that life. How much was your starting salary as my bodyguard again?"
Revy didn't answer. She glared at him.
"I love you, Revy," he repeated, "enough to sacrifice, risk, and fight for you with whatever I have. That's what it means to me."
Revy kept staring at him. She was searching his face for the lie, just as she had the first time he'd said that to her outside of Chang's office. Just like then she couldn't find one, so she took another sip of her protein shake.
"By the way," Rock continued, cautiously. Revy looked at him again. "I realize that doing this wasn't your first choice, and I do appreciate it. Thank you."
Revy remembered the conversation she had with Dutch at the hospital.
"No problem, baby," she replied.
The rest of the day was spent easily. They talked awhile about various things, laughed, joked, and generally just shot the shit. When Revy got bored, she worked out at her gym and killed about an hour there, then took a long shower afterwards. Rock spent the time with his notepad and maps, trying to piece the clues together. Dinner time came and even she managed to cook a frozen pizza right on her first try. They ate their dinner together peacefully. Rock couldn't have alcohol due to his medication, but Revy got properly sauced. He didn't mind. She'd already done everything he needed her to, and she enjoyed his jokes more when she was drunk. Eventually, they kissed good night and fell asleep together.
She had a very strange dream. She was manning the counter of the hospital's cafe. After awhile, a customer came back to complain she'd made his order wrong. Looking at it, she saw that she had in fact made the order correctly. He became irate, calling her a bitch and demanding a refund. She was about to tell him to go fuck himself when suddenly everything changed. Now she was back in that Thai prison cell, and she could smell the pungent combination of sweat, piss, and shit that had nauseated her. Suddenly, she heard her cell door open, and a cop stepped inside. But he wasn't wearing the tan shirt of the Thai police. He was wearing the uniform of New York City.
Suddenly, Revy realized what was about to happen. She reached for her Cutlasses, but found her hands were cuffed behind her back and she was sitting on the ground. The cop kicked her in the stomach until she fell on her back.
"Mouthy bitch!" he growled, as she heard the sound of a zipper opening.
Revy woke up in a cold sweat. Jumping out of bed, she ran to the bathroom before hurling the contents of her dinner straight into the toilet.
Rock sat up in bed, concerned. He figured she must have just drank too much, but he was listening for any cry for help all the same. Reaching to his left, he suddenly felt her side of the bed. It was soaked. He grew more concerned.
He got out of bed and slowly made his way over to the bathroom. She was still hunched over the toilet, throwing up the last bits of whatever she had left. He knelt down next to her carefully since his left side was still hurting him, and he put his hand on her shoulder. She jerked away violently.
"I'm fine," she yelled.
He stood back and gave her some space.
She panted over the toilet bowl for a few more minutes, spitting into it occasionally. When she was done, she reached up and pulled the handle to flush it. After a few minutes, she stood up.
"Just a bad dream," she wheezed. "Booze... must'a gotten to me."
Rock nodded. "Your side of the bed is soaked," he said. "You wanna put a towel or something over it, so you'll be dry until tomorrow?"
"Yeah," Revy gasped. "That'd be good."
Rock got a towel out of the bathroom cabinet and took it back to their room. She washed her mouth out a few times before following him.
She laid back down on the bed with the towel draped over her side.
"You wanna tell me what you dreamt?" he asked.
She pulled herself into a fetal position.
"Tomorrow," she hissed, "Wanna sleep now."
"Okay." he said.
But for hours afterward Revy lay awake, afraid of another nightmare. When the light started to peek in from the window, she conceded defeat and went to take a shower to try to wash off the smell of all the sweat.
Rock woke up a few hours later. His left side was aching. He supposed his medication had worn off, and it was time for another dose.
"Revy?" he called.
Revy had been staring out the window again, smoking a cigarette. Upon hearing Rock, she got up from the windowsill and walked back to their bedroom.
"Sup?"
"My side's not doing well. Can you get the pills from the bathroom?"
"Comin' right up!"
She got the pill bottle from the cabinet and brought it to him with a glass of water.
"Thank you, beautiful," he said, as he took them.
She watched him impassively, as he gulped down some water and handed her back the empty glass. Then, he flopped back onto the bed.
"Hungry?" she asked.
"Yeah, but I can't eat now," he rasped. "Gimme an hour."
Revy nodded and stalked back out to the living room. She hated the boredom. There wasn't anything to do other than wait on his skinny ass. It was just like it had been after his power grab. She'd been his bodyguard for eight months and hated it even though she loved spending nights with him. She killed a little time working out some more and browsed his computer until he called again.
She strode back to their room.
"Yo," she said.
"Is breakfast still possible?" he asked.
"Yeah," she answered, grateful for something to do, "Whatchu want?"
"Some scrambled eggs would be good. With fruit."
"Comin' right up, baby," she said.
Once again, she did not burn the eggs. She brought them back to him with a banana. He thanked her, and they chatted a bit while they ate.
"Have we heard anything from the office?" Rock asked.
"Nope," said Revy.
"I'll call them today. See if they have anything new," Rock responded. He paused, then said, "Before that, though, I was wondering if you'd be willing to share some of your story."
Revy's face fell. She'd been apprehensive about this.
"Sure this is what you want?" she asked him.
"Absolutely," he answered, nodding.
"Okay, then," she sighed, throwing up her hands. "Ask, and ye shall receive."