Chapter 11: Stranglehold
The boat slewed widely about. The sea dacoits had driven in astern to support the other boat, but they were too late. The cabin of the lead boat spewed a roiling vortex of smoke, and gunfire crackled briskly. The three men could hear screams.
"Back away, back away!" commanded Ikan. The engine roared to full throttle and stalled as they tried to reverse. The man to his right shouted and began shooting wildly.
The girl erupted out of the smoke, hair streaming behind her.
Two useless thoughts crossed Ikan's mind as she bounded the gap between the two boats. One, she moved like an Olympic athlete doing the long jump, the second; she had an amazing ass.
Then Ikan was no longer able to make such observations as he took the full brunt of the girl's impact, her boots smashed him into the gunwale at the back of the boat. Simultaneously she swept all three of them in a controlled burst from the automatic she wielded.
Then she was gone, leaping effortlessly back over to the Lagoon PT boat that had swung in close against the smaller boat.
Ikan lay in the cockpit of the boat in great pain. Several of his ribs were broken and he was bleeding profusely from a shoulder wound. After several minutes and only with great difficulty he pulled himself up and over the bloody corpses of his brothers and looked over the side.
Cousin Luak's boat was turning hard to port. The PT boat followed almost leisurely behind. Now the girl stood motionless on the prow of the boat, an M-79 grenade launcher dangling from her hands. A bandolier draped over her shoulder. Suddenly she spun the grenade launcher and fired. Luak's boat blew up.
Later, once the Buraku Ragun had moved away up the coastline, Ikan forced himself to move. From one burning wreck to the next he went, collecting the wounded. The dead and dying were left to go down with the ships.
The survivors limped home. One day Ikan would have revenge. That had been months ago.
"They can't be serious," muttered Ikan. He spoke in Malay
He crouched in the scrub covering the low rise above the entry road, along with three other men. The rain had picked up, dripping noisily down the leaves.
Ikan tossed aside the tranquilizer gun with a grunt. Picked up the AK-47. "The hell with the money, this is about blood. I'm not going to sit here and wait for her to fall over. I'd rather she be dead."
He bent over the man with the GPS device, "Maner betina gila tu? Where's the crazy bitch?"
"Saya tidak tahu - I don't know." grunted the man. "She made it down the causeway and then vanished down there, somewhere on the right." He gestured vaguely.
"She's not moving," burst out another as the dacoits jostled against each other in the darkness, staring intently at the red indicator on the device that stayed motionless. "She's just sitting there. We should...."
"Shut up," Ikan couldn't believe the noise they were making. He was growing frustrated. He rubbed the ribs that had been broken when the Lagoon gun-girl had leaped on him. They still hurt. "She can probably hear us, let's report in..."
He switched on the PMR unit, raised it to his mouth.
"I heard you a long time ago, dip-shits," said the low voice behind them.
"Bauta! Damnit!" Ikan choked out and whirled, too slow...
He would never have his revenge.
--
"I like the boots," purred Liling. She held out her arms. "Who needs to wear anything else?
Tammy laughed and jumped on her and they wrestled on the bed giggling.
Liling was nineteen and free of Cheong and Lifeng for the first and last time. Outside the dorm room window the autumn leaves blew in the wind. They had spent the Saturday morning hiking on the Block House trail overlooking the Potomac and both girls were in fine spirits.
After a while the girls collapsed, Tammy on top of Liling. They were both panting heavily.
Tammy grew pensive while Liling twirled the other girl's hair between her fingers. Eventually Tammy spoke in a distracted tone.
"Been meaning to tell you this, but I'm planning on dropping out."
"What?" Liling's hands froze.
"My grades haven't been that good this semester," said Tammy. "And I really just want to get away from here. Go to California or something.. I got friends out there I can hang out with and party. Get away from my family, they're too close."
Liling frowned, her hands fell away. "Oh, I know what that feel's like."
They were silent. Tammy stared out the window.
"You know what I think," said Tammy dreamily. "Leaves are like heartbeats. There's only so many on a tree, and when they're gone, it's all done."
"That's stupid," said Liling frowning. "The leaves always come back in the spring."
"Fine, be that way," pouted Tammy. She scrambled off the bed, grabbing her clothes off the floor. "Whatever, I gotta go."
Liling put her hand on her breast, felt her heartbeat and watched the leaves fall till the darkness filled the room.
Cheong called the next day.
"LILI! LILI!"
Liling's head snapped up. Shocked, she realized she had fallen asleep for a moment, "What?"
Lifeng giggled hysterically. "Sister, Revy just saved us a lot of money on our insurance!"
"What happened?" slurred the man known as Cooper. He stood leaning against the wall, a cigarette in one hand, a drink in the other.
"We just got confirmation that the Lagoon girl's been captured," chirped Lifeng in English. She smiled and switched off the personal mobile radio before the screams and gunshots could be overheard. "My brother's very pleased, he'll be here shortly. Just a few more minutes. In fact, I think I'll go greet him."
"It's time then," said Liling in Chinese and standing up and taking a deep breath. "We knew those idiots wouldn't last, but now we have no one covering the causeway. All we have are four men plus this fool."
"It doesn't matter," said Lifeng shrugging, she gestured at the silent Chuluun. "No one else is coming. It's just us and her."
--
Revy ran in a low crouch through the brush and down the slope on the left side of the peninsula. In spite of the rain there was enough diffuse light from the city of Roanapur bouncing off the low lying clouds that she could see clearly. Ahead of her and to the right were three buildings clustered around an open parking lot at the end of the peninsula. Only one weak flood light illuminated the parking lot to reveal several parked vehicles; the jeep and three vans.
Two of the buildings were rusted warehouses. The third was The Nova. Built in the early 1970s by an ex-patriate with little understanding of Thailand, but grandiose dreams, The Nova was a squat two-story motor inn. The structure had been built too close to the beach and storms had undermined and destroyed the southern wing. The northern wing had survived, but the motel had been closed down when the owner had been found hanging in the lobby.
Eventually the Triads took control of Nakhon Ratch and forced out the squatters as the location suited smuggling operations for both the Snakeheads and the 14K. The area was also was used as an outdoor gun range. Such was the fear accorded the Triads that no guards were stationed permanently on the peninsula, it was considered off limits to tourists and curiosity seekers.
Several of the rooms in the northern wing of The Nova had been cleaned up at Mr. Chang's insistence when dealings with the Snakeheads and the Burmese Maung-shan became profitable and a neutral meeting spot became necessary. The abandoned motel was used as a safehouse when need arose. Several years ago in fact, Revy had been forced to hole up at the place after a particularly nasty affair for almost a month. She was familiar with the terrain.
Revy had left the go-bag with the GPS device covered up by the shoreline in a ditch. The extra magazines and the Taurus had been clipped to the back of the large military belt Revy always wore around her waist.
Ikan's group had been expected, detected and easily eliminated. The parking lot should have been filled with Cheong's men trying to respond to the gunshots. She would have sprinted into their ranks before they were aware of her presence and wreaked bloody havoc. But the parking lot was deserted. Except for the slap and slush of the waves on the beach and the wind there was no additional sound.
Revy stopped and kneeled to regain her breath where the scrub met the parking lot. The injured leg was throbbing and she was pouring with sweat, mixing with the rain. The mud had long since washed off her face.
A figure was visible on the rooftop. The man saw Revy at the same time she saw him. Revy felt a slug snap past her cheek as it went by and buried itself in the ground. She burst forward with a stumble into a stiff breeze coming off the water as shots snapped past her. She wasn't moving with her usual speed and dived for the wall at the end of the northern wing. Desperately she found herself wishing for a cigarette.
As fast as she was able to she made for the side door. It was open and she pushed in, the left gun raised to cover the stairwell to the second floor. The right gun roared in the enclosed space at the man who dodged down the ground floor hallway, the cartridge tinkling on the concrete floor.
Revy followed. A door slammed as she turned the corner. The empty, puke colored corridor stretched before her. Her mouth twitched as she tried to swallow away the strange brassy taste in her mouth. She suddenly realized she was afraid. Nothing about the situation worked to her strengths. This was different.
The neo-nazi wannabes from the salvage ship months ago had been amateurs. They had come boiling out of their quarters flailing and squealing to be cut down in their tracks. There had been an alarming surrealism to the ease to which she had slaughtered them, as if they were willing sacrifices. In Japan, Chaka and his gang had crumbled just as rapidly under the dual shock of Revy and "Jumbo." So-called toughs begging for mercy when there was none to be given.
"Awww crap," Revy had been a fool to leave the note for Dutch. She had nothing to live for. Rock was dead. They were all dead. She was dead, no one was going to give her directions to the ferry. That was all. She snarled and lurched down the hall towards the shouts. The voices were coming from the last room on the right. The door was open, the light spilling into the corridor.
Revy turned into the room, crowded the door shut with her shoulder and went past the bathroom and closet into the room.
Lucy was huddled in a corner screaming. The man in the black business suit who was bent over her turned. The cigarette in his mouth dropped and his face went white as it jerked back and forth between the two women. A strangled gurgle died in his throat.
"Ah, bugger me shitless, you set me up bitch!" His hand slipped into his jacket and came out with a gun. He took a small step towards Revy. There was a hopeless glaze in his eyes but he tried anyway.
Revy shot him in the head, decorating the wall behind with a spray of blood. The body jackknifed to the floor with one leg doubled up under the other. The gun tumbled out of the hand onto the floor.
"You know, with an accent like that I don't think he worked for the DEA," said Revy coldly. "In fact, I don't know what to think, Lucy who the fuck are you? Where the hell's Jin Cheong or was that just piss in the wind?"
Revy stepped over the man who had been known as Agent Cooper and came to within a meter of the cowering Lucy. Her brown eyes were heavy and lidded as she looked down.
"It took me awhile, but I remembered. The Yellow Flag: that night when every piece of crap in the city came for us. You were behind the bar. You gave me the worst drink ever that night," said Revy without a trace of expression. "But that's not all. I only saw you for a moment on the dock, but that's all I needed. I thought I blew your head off."
Liling stared at the guns. Her mouth opened, apparently at a loss.
"C'mon 'Lucy'," hissed Revy. "All these words, all these lies. I prefer pain. It can be trusted. Shall I show you?"
Liling talked rapidly then: "It was my brother. I'm Jin Cheong's sister. He said he would hurt my twin if I didn't kill you. He'd hurt me."
Revy shrugged, "I don't care. Why don't you stand up? Where's your brother?"
Liling stood up, "He's waiting for me on that yacht just offshore..."
Revy heard the door open. She started to turn. Liling suddenly slid forward and dropped into a leg sweep launched at Revy's ankle and missed making contact as Revy spun away.
Chuluun came at her from behind. At an angle, Revy pumped three bullets into the large man's body and then too late went for a head shot. The huge man came on relentlessly in spite of the impacts interrupting his advance. His eyes and face were set with determination. He knocked the Berettas out of Revy's grasp and as she fell back he dropped and drove up towards her, an immense mass of muscle and gristle. His two big hands shot out, locked themselves around her neck.
Revy made a gurgling noise before her head was bent back. Powerful thumbs dug into the arteries on the side of her throat. She was lifted up off the ground, her slender body writhing. A boot spun off one of feet as they kicked. She struck at the face that grew a fierce smile with puny blows that had no effect. He thrust her up against the wall.
Her vision went as the blood thundered in her head, then her right hand moved independently of the spastic jerks shaking her body. It groped it's way to the Taurus holstered in the small of her back.
She couldn't see, she couldn't breathe. But her arm swept forward with the gun, made contact against something hard, moved the barrel up in small jerky movements to Chuluun's armpit above the vest and pulled the trigger twice.
The hands around her throat went limp, the man sagged forward, coughing a bloody froth on her, a shocked expression enveloping and then swiftly fading across his face - the mass of his body kept her pinned up against the wall. She gulped air frantically, the sulfurous smell of cordite filling her nostrils
She kept firing. The brass cartridges spitting out of the gun. She suddenly slid out of his grasp and fell to the ground. He wavered above her and she shot him under the chin, a spray of blood and bone erupting out the back of his head. He toppled over away from Revy.
She rolled over, coming up on one knee wheezing - one hand to her throat. Liling's frantic kick crashed into her ribcage hard.
"You bitch! You unbelievable motherfucking bitch! You killed Chulunn!"
Revy sprawled on the ground, she tried to raise the Taurus, but Liling's next kick spun the gun out of her grasp. Revy grabbed Liling's ankle.
Liling shrieked as Revy twisted the foot as hard as she could and the woman fell on top of Revy. Liling's elbow came down hard into her ribs. They grappled in a frenzy, cursing and spitting.
Revy swung and heard a crunch and a sob. Liling recoiled - hands to her face as blood gushed from her nose. Revy pulled away and came to her feet --and froze for one moment too long.
A nightmare of a woman in black leather and combat gear with white hair had entered the room. The red tinged eyes were unnatural, the pupils small, a flat glitter of rage burning in them.
Revy whined like a child about to be beaten. "You're dead...I killed you..."
Lijuan from her childhood swung the chair in her grasp. There was nothing but a blinding white flash that engulfed Revy's senses. Then a blackness that ate her whole.
Note: Thank you to Sai978 for straightening out my very limited knowledge of Malay.