Out Of Place
AN – Thanks again to the fab response (see what I did there ;) ). This story is beginning to wind up to its climax, bit more action here!
Disclaimer – I don't own Thunderbirds
Chapter Twenty – Getting Burned
John stepped out of the taxi at the casino entrance, extending a hand to Angel who stepped out elegantly behind him. He then tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow as he led them into the mouth of the Red Dragon.
As the previous evening, John was wearing another of the suits he'd picked up in London, this time in a flattering charcoal grey. Angel was wearing a shimmering golden dress, far less revealing than the previous one but that somehow emphasised her figure even more. John was finding it far easier to concentrate on the task at hand if he didn't spend too long looking at her in it, so he kept his field of view ahead as they again swept up through the main doors into the elaborate Red Dragon casino.
Once inside, they headed straight to one of the first desks with a concierge. "I have an invite to Mr Tseng's private Tei Fuer game," John told the man standing there. His words had an electric effect on the concierge, he turned from attentive to simpering.
"Oh of course sir. May I ask your names?"
"Mr and Mrs Jonathan Frakes," John replied smoothly. He was keeping half an eye on what was happening around them, watching the customers milling around in the entranceway to the casino.
"Of course sir, I can confirm that you are on the guest list. If you would follow me please." The concierge began to lead them through the casino again, in much the same way his colleague had the night before.
"Mr Tseng appears to be making a name for himself," John commented as they walked.
"Mr Tseng only arrived recently," the concierge informed them candidly. "But he came highly recommended by a previous patron of this casino, Mr Rajavani. And he provided the assets too back up his claim."
"Where was he before?" Angel asked curiously, an expression of innocence plastered all over her face.
"I am not sure señora, ah here we are now." They had stopped outside an elaborate pair of gilt doors. "If you will excuse me," the concierge bowed as he left. John looked at Angel's with an arched brow.
"Do we knock?"
Her tiniest nod confirmed it, so John rapped smartly on the door with his knuckles, stepping back as it opened before him.
"Mr Frakes and his delightful wife." Tseng sat in a chair within view of the doorway. "So pleased you could join us, do come in." He stood up and approached them, bowing slightly to John as he approached. John returned the bow, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on Tseng's face. "Enchantée madame," he said next, drawing one of Angel's hands to her mouth and kissing it. She coloured and looked up at him bashfully from underneath long eye lashes. "Please do take a seat," Tseng gestured to a large square table where several guests were already waiting. "We are nearly ready to begin."
John took the seat he was shown to, Angel declining a seat at the table but instead perching on his lap. There was obviously a ring of players around the table, with some supporters sitting behind them or milling around the room. John began talking to the player to his left, a stern woman who was dressed in a dark suit and who when questioned told John she was from Japan. Angel squeezed his arm and shook her head minutely to tell him not to push the questioning so he let her be.
Eventually another player entered the room and the heavy doors were shut behind them. Tseng stood up at the head of the table. "It is a pleasure to have you all accompany me this evening. Mr Rajavani has spoken highly of the games he hosted here and I am honoured to be able to continue hosting in his temporary absence."
There was a snort from the woman next to John as he said that, John could understand why. If he hadn't known that it was likely that Tseng was the Hood and presumably had swapped places with Rajavani – probably the Black Phantom – then John would probably have agreed with her suspicions around the fate of Mr Rajavani too.
He listened as Tseng laid out the rules for the game, closely noting any that were different from the version he had been practicing. There were a couple of changes but broadly it was the same. He noticed that Angel was looking around at all the players, trying to get their measure. A slight press against his side drew his attention to one of the players sat next to Tseng himself. The man in question had small, beady eyes, a hooked nose and a sweaty face. He nodded surreptitiously, the man looked like a likely target.
Then John's attention was drawn to the game and the tiles. He was vaguely aware of Angel standing up from his lap and circulating the table, keeping half an eye on her at all times to make sure she didn't need any support, but he needed his wits around him to focus on the game. They had agreed in advance that he couldn't look too competent – he had to maintain an aura of being lucky instead of skilled. This was in case they couldn't get the information they were after tonight and needed another invite for a later date.
The game went on. John soon realised he could easily outplay most of the opponents around the table, but he kept just doing enough to stay in the game. Tseng lorded it over them all with a stately air, occasionally calling for breaks where he walked among his subjects and discussed business. John had managed to stay clear so far as the last thing he needed was for the Hood to work out why he was quite so familiar. He was also well aware of how awkward he could be in conversation, particularly without Angel there to guide him and give him confidence.
Angel was busy talking to the sweaty man she had identified earlier, looking up at him from under her eye lashes in a way that made John's stomach curl. He tried stoically to ignore it, but they were currently on a break from the game and he couldn't use it to distract him. He took a large swig of the glass of wine Angel had procured for him, nearly choking on it when he realised that his lapse in concentration meant that Tseng had slipped into the chair next to him.
"Enjoying yourself, Mr Frakes?"
"Very much so!" John looked ruefully at his pile of chips. "Although I'm not sure my wallet can say the same."
"You seem to have found your luck tonight, after all you are still playing are you not?"
"I guess that is true. I'm not sure what my wife would say though."
Tseng chuckled, a dark noise that immediately set John on edge and he flicked a glance up to Angel to see what she was up to. She was still talking with the man and had her back turned to him.
"Come now Mr Frakes, we both know that she isn't your wife."
John nearly spat out the sip of the drink he was taking. "I'm sorry – what?"
"It's a nice charade you have, I assume you have paid her to masquerade as your wife whilst in Macau? But my sources tell me that not only is she not your wife, she is actually married to the eldest son of the elusive billionaire Jeff Tracy. Which means she does not need your money. She is using you, Mr Frakes, though to what end I am not sure."
John stared into his glass, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation. Of course his mind went blank, just when he needed it to come up with something convincing. Luckily for him, the Hood took it as shock regarding his announcement instead of shock that they had been found out.
"Oh I am sorry," he said in a tone that suggested he wasn't sorry at all. "Weren't you aware?" His eyes glittered with malicious glee.
"Excuse me," John murmured, setting his glass down and walking straight over to Angel. He took hold of her elbow and steered her away from the man she was talking to, much to her surprise.
"What's the matter?" She asked, brown eyes wide.
"Tseng – I mean the Hood – he knows."
"About you?"
"No," John turned so that his back was to Tseng, making sure no one could read his lips. "He knows that you married Scott. He asked me if I was aware you were married to the son of a billionaire – he thinks you are using me for information."
"We need to get out of here," Angel murmured. John was impressed that she managed not to glance over at Tseng as she did so. "Make a scene, as though you genuinely weren't aware. Then we'll use it as an excuse to leave."
"I think we've already made the scene," John replied wryly, although he did gesticulate angrily for good measure. "Now what?"
"Now I go, meet me outside." With a quick flick of her wrist, Angel threw the contents of her drink all over John and stormed out of the room. John, caught by surprise, spluttered and coughed.
"I take it that didn't go well," Tseng was suddenly by his elbow, handing him a napkin and looking far too interested.
"No," John replied curtly, channelling his anger towards the Hood into his voice. "It appears my evening is over, please do excuse me."
He quickly left the room, intending to make his way back through the casino.
"Mr Frakes!" The call from behind had him turning to see Tseng holding something out to him. "Your winnings." The man informed him. "I am terribly sorry to have been the bearer of bad news, but I do hope that you managed to make the very most out of your arrangement while it lasted. It would be criminal to pay the money but not sample the goods, so to speak."
John could barely suppress his anger at the the Hood's insinuations, clenching his hand tight around the credit stick he was given. "Thank you," he ground out, his jaw almost aching with how difficult he found it to get the words out. With a nod and other malicious grin Tseng disappeared back into the Tei Fuer room. John spun on his heel and left the casino.
Outside, the door of a waiting taxi swung open to reveal Angel already waiting. They rode back to their hotel in a terse silence. On their walk through the long lobby Angel started murmuring quietly to him. "I called John to let him know we'd been rumbled. He said that help was here, that we need to meet them outside the hotel in fifteen minutes. We need to pack – if he knows who I am he may well know who you are too."
John swore. "We never found out anything about his base."
"Actually," Angel smirked. "The evening wasn't a total waste. I have a probable location in Selangor, to the west of Kuala Lumpur."
"So we grab our bags and go?"
"Yes," she replied as she opened the door to their apartment. "I'm more worried about Tseng coming after us here. But as far as I know he has no way to track us."
John frowned and looked down at the credit stick he was still carrying. "What kind of thing would he need to be able to track us?"
Angel followed his line of vision and her eyes widened. "He gave you that?" At John's confirming nod she dove into her room. "Grab what you need, we have to leave!"
John had already packed most of his things, so he grabbed his case and emerged just as Angel flew out of her room carrying a rucksack. Gone was the elaborate gold dress, now she was wearing some kind of leather catsuit.
As though anticipating, he held open the apartment door and they both breezed through it. The walk back through the hotel was quick, John felt eyes on him the entire way. He breathed a sigh of relief when he tossed the room key at the hotel desk and they emerged into the dark night.
They turned down the street and began walking quickly, passing a large group of men and women chatting and joking on motorcycles. John tensed at the sight but Angel pulled him straight past and down the road.
She led him down another street, one that was much darker and emptier. John was about to voice his concern when Angel froze, listening.
"Down," she hissed, pulling him to the sidewalk as blaster shots rang out above them. They scurried behind some large bins by a back door to one of the hotels.
There they stayed for a moment. John could hear nothing but his own, panicked breaths in the night.
"Do you think they've gone?" He whispered eventually. Angel shook her head minutely.
"We need to make a run for it," she breathed back, scanning around her. "Go back to the bikers. On three…"
On her countdown they sprinted back to the street entrance, a hail of blaster shots following them every step. Once on the wider street they slowed to walk, hurrying along and trying to blend into the crowds. They were fairly successful, Angel's leather outfit wasn't too out of place and John had long since discarded the suit jacket in the warm air and was just wearing a pale shirt with his charcoal grey trousers.
But it wasn't successful enough. As they pushed though the crowds John could see two men running behind them brandishing guns, sending the crowd nearest them scattering. They started to run, dodging past people as quickly as they could but the panic from behind them made their passage tricky.
Just as the men closed in, a pale pink car drew up alongside. The door flew open and Angel dashed past John and straight into it. With a quick turn John followed, finding himself nearly in the lap of Lady Penelope.
"Hello John dear," she welcomed him calmly as he scrabbled into his seat muttering apologies whilst blushing scarlet. "Our John said you might be in a spot of bother."
"Good timing," Angel turned to stare out of the rear of the car. "They're following us."
"Oh how tiresome. Parker, can we do anything about them?"
"H'I don't know, m'lady. There are quite h'a lot of them, you see."
"Let me out," Angel commanded. "I'll take a bike and try to distract some of them."
"Very well," Penelope replied. John noticed that they had circled around and now the group of bikers were parked up in front of them. "Meet us at the Peninsula heliport at oh-four hundred. We have a lift who will be taking us to Malaysia."
"Selangor, near Sepang circuit." Angel instructed. "There is a big industrial area there somewhere, I think that is where they are based." She readied herself as the car slowed, turning to meet John's eyes just once. Then, with a quick nod in his direction, she was off and running towards the bikes.
A black car from behind roared forwards and made a beeline for her, but Angel jumped onto the nearest bike that had its engine running and sped off. Parker followed with the pink Rolls, diving down a side street to run parallel. There were still three bikes and a car following them, but Angel had almost as many pursuers.
"H'I'm going to take some evasive manoeuvres," Parker announced. John fumbled with the seat belt and eventually strapped himself in, knowing what Parker's manoeuvres were likely to be like. Sure enough, a quick twist through an alley that really shouldn't have been wide enough for the large car dispatched one of the bikes, who went straight on and into the front of a store. The rest still followed though, so Parker engaged some of FAB1's other attributes. Nails scattered all over the floor took out the remaining two bikes. The car continued to follow them but with sparks flying from one of the wheels where the tyre had gone and it was running on rims.
"They are rather tenacious," Penelope commented, with as much concern as if she was commenting on the morning paper.
"That they h'are, milady. H'I'm going to 'ave to pull out the big guns." With that, Parker pressed another button on the back of the car and something oily and slick spread across the road. The following car lost all traction and ploughed off the street into the water of the marina they were racing alongside.
"Oh good work, Parker."
"Thank you, milady." Parker slowed marginally and they moved into the next street. Suddenly a motorbike raced by, the rider's long hair blowing in the wind. Several motorbikes then shot by in close pursuit, luckily the distinctive pink Rolls Royce was hidden in darkness down a side street and wasn't seen.
"It's Angel!" John shouted, leaning forwards so much that he was almost level with Parker's head.
"Oi, mind where you're bellowing," Parker told him irritably. "H'I can't rightly just waltz up there, can h'I?"
"Maybe we could follow discreetly and see if she needs any support?" Penelope suggested. Parker grumbled but reversed the Rolls out of the street, onto the quayside road they had been on previously. He then tracked the motorbikes, carefully staying one block away so that they didn't turn their focus onto him.
"There are still too many following her!" John exclaimed, as they began to run out of land. Ahead were some warehouses, the large hotels had now given way to lower buildings as they had reached an area of reclaimed land. John could see any clearly now, the buildings between the two parallel roads had been demolished for rejuvenation and the flying motorbike could clearly be seen with the pursuers close by. On their other side lay inky black water, which meant Angel was becoming trapped with nowhere to go.
"We must help her," Penelope declared. "Parker!"
"Just h'a minute, milady. H'I'm thinking."
But Angel didn't have a minute. To the shock and horror of those watching, one of the blaster shots finally reached the motorbike and sent it spinning to the ground with the back wheel ripped to shreds. The next moment the bike slid sideways into the warehouse and exploded in a huge fireball. John felt as though all the air left his body as his world momentarily shuddered to a halt. He heard someone utter a strangled cry, not realising it was his own voice.
"We need to get out of here," Penelope commanded in a voice barely more than a whisper.
Dutifully Parker began to turn the car around.
"What? No!" John scrambled for the door only to realise that it was locked. "Let me out! I have to go and help her!"
"If we go out there now, they will catch us too." Penelope stated firmly. If John had been thinking clearly he would have seen that she was as white as a sheet. But he was fixated on one thought – the need to get to Angel as soon as possible. Except Penelope's words filtered through to his brain eventually and he stopped struggling, collapsing in his seat as the truth in her statement hit him. Parker duly turned the car around and they left the scene.
They drove away slowly in silence. John could only sit numbly and stare out of the window at the plume of smoke that slowly disappeared into the night.
