Point Blank (Sisterhood Book 26) (20 page)

Harry gulped at the tea in his cup, then held the cup out to Charles for a refill.

The large dining hall returned to silence.

Two hours went by without anything happening. The group was actually starting to doze off when, without fanfare, without any warning from Cooper, the great doors opened and five men entered the hall. The door was closed quietly by the last man in the little group.

“Standoff,” Dennis said through clenched teeth.

Cooper stirred, rose to his feet, stretched, and then meandered over to where Harry, Jack, and Dishbang Deshi were standing.

“Who has the eye?” Nikki hissed.

“I do,” Yoko hissed in return, her lips barely moving.

The leader of the five-man group looked around until his gaze settled on Harry Wong. He motioned for him to step forward. Harry didn’t move. The hoodlum leader motioned again as he started to jabber in Chinese. Harry remained still and mute.

The leader shed his quilted jacket, which looked to be soaking wet, and pulled a gun from the back of his loose black trousers. None of the other four made a move, their eyes ricocheting around the room at all the women.

Brother Shen and Brother Hung reared up, their voices raised in anger. “You dare to bring a firearm into this holy monastery! You dare to do this!” they cried in excited Chinese that Dishbang Deshi interpreted for the others.

“This might be a stupid question, Harry, but do you think that creep knows how to use that gun, or is it just for show?” Jack asked, his face squeezed into deep frown lines.

Before Harry could respond, the gunman laughed, a foul cackle of sound. “I speak English, and yes, I know how to use this gun. I will shoot all of you one by one if you don’t remain quiet and do as you’re told.”

Jack looked down at Cooper, who appeared to be yawning.
Yawning? Cooper?
The dog half turned to Jack in time for his thought processes to catch the word
four
filtering through his brain. “
Four
,” he shouted. “Who has the eye?” His tone was high-pitched but still conversational.

“I do,” Yoko said quietly.

“One!”

“Two!”

“Three!”

Cooper flew through the air and had the gunman’s wrist clamped between his teeth before any of the other invaders could respond. The gun clattered to the floor.

And then they were all moving in every direction, arms, legs, human torsos sailing through the air. Out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw that Espinosa had the gun and was holding it as if it were a poisonous snake. Cooper was still holding on to the gunman’s wrist until Harry came up from behind and put a chokehold on the man. Cooper released his captive, looked around at the melee, then retired to his space under the massive table. He closed his eyes but cracked one open when he heard Harry say, “Great job, Cooper. You had the eye that time! Next time, though, don’t say four when you mean three!” Cooper went back to sleep.

“Bad news, people,” Ted said.

“What now?” Jack bellowed.

“We’re out of duct tape, that’s what,” Ted snarled.

“We have rope,” Brother Shen said.

“This might be a good time to think about producing it,” Dennis said through clenched teeth, his eyes on Espinosa and the gun.

Brother Shen scurried off to what was probably a pantry off the dining hall. He returned with a coil of yellow nylon rope that he handed over to Harry. To Espinosa’s relief, Jack reached for the gun and stuck it under his belt at the small of his back. His shirt covered it.

“We can gag them with the dishcloths,” Nikki said as she fished through drawers that lined the huge sink next to the stove.

“You sure you want that gun, Jack? I’m a better shot than you are,” Annie said. To give more weight to her words, she added, “And these sexist idiots will certainly not expect me, a woman, to have a gun.” Jack thought about it for a moment or two and realized Annie was right; and she really was a crack shot. He handed it over. Annie, in turn, stuck it in the small of her back just the way Jack had. She now felt in control again. It was the little things, she thought, that made it all worthwhile. She felt like shouting, bring it on, I’m ready but she kept the thought to herself. No sense getting ahead of herself. When the time came, she would be ready for anything that Wing Ping and his bullyboys could bring.

 

C
harles shuffled his feet as he took a step backward to stand alongside Fergus Duffy. His lips were barely moving when he said, “Tell me what you see, Fergus. What I see is that things are going to start going south any minute now. The girls didn’t come halfway around the world to sit in a dining hall with a bunch of low-life bottom-feeders. Your beloved is just itching to pull out that gun and plug someone center mass. My own beloved is about to stomp on someone, and at this point I do not think she cares if it’s one of the low-life bottom-feeders or one of us. Kathryn . . . she’s a ticking time bomb. The others are getting more agitated by the second. Any ideas?”

Fergus rolled his eyes as he took in the scene around him. Charles was right, and he winced at what he thought the outcome might be. “This is how I see it, Sir Charles. You are the undisputed leader of this little group, so you better start acting like you know what you’re doing. A little guidance will go a long way, I’m thinking. And while there is always the possibility that I could be wrong, I don’t think I am. The ball is firmly in your court now. The question is, are you going to put the ball in motion, or are you going to stand here and play with it?”

“When did you get so smart, Fergus? You’re right on all counts. Buckle up! I expect some fireworks.”

Charles reached into his pocket and withdrew the whistle that he was never without. He gave it two sharp blasts, blasts that were so shrill that Cooper reared up and barked.

“Listen up, people! As you can all see, we are in a bit of a crisis mode here. I can also see that you are all champing at the bit to dive into things headfirst, but you are not looking closely enough at the consequences such an action will provoke. I have some ideas about a course of action and its consequences, so let’s all sit down at the table like the reasonable adults we are and
talk.”

Charles noticed a certain sense of relief grip all members of the group as they scurried to take seats at the table. Isabelle, still carrying the dish towel, sat down and looked across the table at Yoko and Kathryn, both of whom looked like angry bees ready to sting someone or something where it would get the most results.

The moment Charles had everyone’s attention, he raised his hand for silence. “For starters, Isabelle, contact Abner and find out what’s going on in the sports world and what the latest is on this . . . this impending competition. We also need a weather forecast for this region. Ted, you and Espinosa take care of that. Annie, I want you to get in touch with Bert to see what’s going on in Macau in the gaming industry. I want information ASAP.

“Jack, I want you, Harry, and Dennis to go back to the office where you left the Abbot and his men. Fetch them all here. Take the gun you gave Annie so that you can manage all twelve of the men in the office. We need everyone in one location.

“Brother Shen, you are in charge of the fire. Keep it blazing—it’s cold in here. Keep the teakettle filled and brewing. Brother Hung, I want you to interrogate our . . . guests. Kathryn and Nikki will assist you. With threats and physical violence if necessary. Can you do this, or should I assign that role to Harry and Dishbang Deshi or our three new students?”

Brother Hung bowed low. “I can do what you ask. I will do it willingly.”

“Fine. Fine. Now, do we know where the rest of the monks are being sequestered?”

Brother Shen responded, a sparkle of excitement in his eyes. “We do not actually know with any certainty. Scattered about the monastery would be my guess. I don’t see them being of any help to any of us. First and foremost, their thoughts and actions will be with the students, and we consider ourselves lucky so far that these people have not threatened or harmed them.” Charles nodded that he totally understood.

“What do you want me to do?” Dishbang Deshi asked, his frustration that he had been left out of the mix obvious to all.

“I would like you to make some calls, send some texts, to see what you can find out back where you came from. Right now, we are flying blind, as the saying goes. We need all the information we can get.”

“This whole thing sounds like a Mexican standoff,” Kathryn grumbled.

Cooper stretched lazily before he headed for the exit. When he reached the massive double doors, he turned and barked.

“Time to go. We don’t want Cooper getting antsy,” Jack said, sprinting across the room, Harry and Dennis on his heels. A second later they were gone.

“All right, then, who has the weather?”

“Storm front. Ice storm. No one is coming up the mountain, which also means none of us are going to go down the mountain anytime soon. It’s expected to continue for the next few days,” Ted said, clicking at the keys faster than any of them could blink.

“That has to mean we only have to deal with those in the monastery. I say we round them up one by one and haul their scrawny asses right here into this dining room. We can make them talk,” Kathryn, the hothead in the group, said loudly enough that her voice carried to the far end of the dining hall, where their newest captives sat lined up, bound and secure, in a neat row.

The women’s clenched fists shot in the air, Annie’s the highest. “Bring it on, girls, and let’s show them who is in control here. We came here to rescue a little girl, and the more time we waste, the longer that’s going to take.”

Dishbang Deshi blanched at this show of bravado. He thought about his sweet, outspoken American wife, and wondered if as she got older, she would turn out to be like these take-charge women. He blinked to push away the unwelcome thought as the word
bloodthirsty
came to mind. This time he shook his head to clear his thoughts.

“I haven’t heard back from Bert yet,” Annie said sourly. “I just sent off another text, and one to Dixson Kelly back in Vegas.”

The monster doors of the dining room opened. Cooper ran into the room, looked around, paraded up and down in front of the bound captives, and growled deep in his throat before he took up residence under the table.

Pulling, shoving, and pushing the twelve captives from the office, Jack shouted, “Do you believe these guys! They didn’t want to come with us. This slimeball,” he said, pointing to the bogus Abbot, “tried for a crotch kick when I untied his feet so he could walk here.”

“And . . .” Nikki said sweetly.

Jack laughed. “They’re up there somewhere in the middle of his stomach. See how green he looks. A man from China looking green is something you don’t normally see. I think he’s in quite a bit of pain right now. After what happened to him, none of the others so much as breathed a complaint when it was their turn.”

“Oh, boohoo, too bad, too sad,” Maggie said as she gave one of the captives a mighty push so that he stumbled and fell to the floor. Dishbang Deshi dragged him across the room and added him to the neat line of bodies. Fergus quickly tied his ankles together. Captive number two was set in line by Ted and Espinosa, who then went back and manhandled nine of the others into place.

Meanwhile, Jack hauled the bogus Abbot over to the table and plopped him down. None too gently. The man’s eyeballs rolled back in his head. When he was finally able to focus, Jack went at him. “Listen to me, you smelly son of a bitch. Because I am only going to say this once. Tell us what’s going on. Where is Wing Ping? What’s the plan? Nod your head to show me you understood what I just said, and don’t pretend you don’t understand English. I’m going to take the tape off your mouth, and then you talk. If you don’t, Wong Guotin here is going to pull your tongue out and stuff it up your scrawny ass. Nod if you understood my last statement.”

The bogus Abbot nodded, his eyes full of panic. The moment the tape was ripped from his mouth, the Abbot squealed, “I know nothing. I just follow orders and do as I am told, as do the others. I hear rumors. We all hear them and talk about them, but we have no concrete facts. I cannot tell you something I don’t know. Please, be merciful,” the man said pitifully.

“Right now, this very minute, you need to ask yourself why I don’t believe you,” Jack said, his tone cold and ominous.

“I don’t know about the rest of you good folks, but I am nowhere near buying the crap this guy is trying to sell me. Forget yanking his tongue out. Give him over to us,” Kathryn said, waving her arm in the direction of the girls. “If there’s anything in that pea brain of his, we’ll get it out of him.”

The girls rushed over to form a circle around the bogus Abbot the minute Jack had him up and on his feet. They pushed and shoved him until he was beyond the long table and in front of the roaring fire, which looked hot enough to roast a buffalo.

“Have at it, girls,” Jack said agreeably.

“Strip all of them down till they’re butt naked,” Nikki said, taking charge. “That means you men. We’ll start to work on this one, a little bit at a time.” She winked roguishly at the Abbot.

Cooper raised his head, looked around, then let loose with three yips of pure joy. He didn’t go back to sleep, though. He rested his massive head on his paws and gleefully, it seemed to anyone who looked at him, watched the proceedings.

“Well, this is certainly going to answer one of life’s little secrets,” Annie said.

“What’s that, dear?” Myra asked.

Annie giggled. “The secret to what they wear under those robes!”

“Jockeys or briefs?” Yoko laughed outright. Harry openly cringed.

And the bets were on. Half for jockeys, half for boxers, and one independent—who said, “Nothing as in nothing.” They all hooted again with laughter.

“Oh, man, I would talk so fast, my teeth would fall out,” Dennis said in a jittery-sounding voice. “No guy wants a bunch of women to . . . you know . . . see his package.”

The girls laughed again, Myra the loudest and longest.

“You guys use kitchen shears?” Kathryn bellowed. Like a good surgical nurse, Brother Shen slapped them into her hands before she could draw a breath. “Guess that means I have the honor. Ah, they’re in the modern world here, a Velcro closing. Looks like a Fruit of the Loom T-shirt. American all the way. Okay, girls, ready for the unveiling?”

“Ooooh, we are soooo ready,” Nikki replied, giggling. “Aren’t we, girls!”

“Well, I certainly am,” Yoko cooed. She turned to Harry and cooed again, “Honey, pay attention. If you ever strip, willingly or unwillingly, I will kill you!”

“Jesus, Harry, I think she means it. You might need to get some reinforced zippers or something,” Jack said out of the corner of his mouth.

Harry had to vent because he felt light-headed, so he used his favorite expression when he was at odds with Jack, “Eat shit, Jack!”

“That goes for you, too, Jack,” Nikki trilled.

“And you, too, Espinosa,” Alexis singsonged.

“I don’t care, Ted. You want to show off your jewels, go for it,” Maggie said, laughing so hard that she doubled over.

The bogus Abbot grew round-eyed at the jocularity displayed by these crazy women at his expense. He could see his colleagues smirking behind their gags. He closed his eyes in misery.

“Well, so much for your mystery, Annie,” Kathryn said, peering closer at the Abbot’s underwear. “I don’t know what to call what he’s wearing. Looks like an old lady’s panties.”

“They’re Depends,” Dennis said. “I saw a commercial on TV where a bunch of men, and women, were marching down the street strutting their stuff. ‘They’re Depends! And they don’t leave lines under your clothing.’ That was a big selling point.” Authority rang in his voice, so no one disputed the young reporter’s knowledge.

All the women eyed the embarrassed Abbot by walking around him and pointing to his underwear. Finally, the big question came. “Which one of us gets to take it off?” Annie giggled. “I think the holder of the shears should just . . . you know . . . snip away.”

“Aha! I can do that! Absolutely I can do that! In fact, I actually want to do that!” Kathryn said, making snapping sounds with the shears.

“Then when you’re done, what should we do, dear?” Myra asked with a smile in her voice that was contagious. All the women started to giggle.

“How’s this for off the top of my head,” Yoko volunteered. “We brand his ass, both cheeks, and then . . . and then we lay the fire on his . . . whatever you call his package in Chinese. There won’t be anything left of his eeney meeney, itsy-bitsy you know what.” The girls clapped with enthusiasm.

“Holy shit!” Jack muttered under his breath. “I sure as hell hope you never get on her bad side, Harry.”

“Eat shit, Jack.”

“You already said that. You need to be more original in your retorts.”

“Oh, gee whiz,” Dennis said. “They aren’t going to really do that, are they?”

Cooper reared up and barked, a shrill sound that grated on everyone’s ears.

“The boss has spoken, kid. That was your answer unless you want me to clarify it for you,” Jack said.

“Um . . . no, that’s okay. I read somewhere that the smell of burned flesh is hard to get out of your nose.”

“It’s not like they have a lot of fat on their asses. They’re all on the scrawny side, so it will be one, two, three, that kind of thing,” Espinosa said, weighing in.

“It’s still going to stink,” Dennis said stubbornly.

“Get over it, kid,” Ted said.

“How are we doing over there, guys?” Isabelle called out, just as Fergus finished tying up the last of the dozen captives Jack, Dennis, and Harry had brought from the office. All the captives were buck naked now, trying their best to cover their private parts. “Nothing interesting here,” he quipped to Annie’s delight.

“The poker is almost ready,” Nikki called out.

The bogus Abbot’s knees gave out as tears rolled down his cheeks. Alexis grabbed for him and jerked him upright. “Talk, you pissant. What’s your part in this caper with Wing Ping?”