| Fan Fiction |
by DTLCT
Kenneth and Joey look at them and then at each other. Before they could say anything, Brad walks by.
“Lieutenant Ma! Detective Meng!” Brad called out. “You’re finally back!”
At his shouts, Jacky and Gallen wake up at the same time.
Jacky walks towards the three, smiling. “Finally! I thought we had to wait until dinner arrives.”
Before Joey could attack him, Gallen walks towards them and begins to fill Kenneth and Joey in with what has been going on.
When Jacky and Gallen arrived at the station half an hour or so back, there was already a confession going on since Kenneth had a plan earlier before he left and it worked out well. Justin didn’t break as easily since of course, he had nothing on him except to say that he wants to assault some fellow cops. Lenny was stronger than they thought. He didn’t break through no matter what. They got lock up until something could be work out.
After the brief summary, Joey starts her questions.
“What happened to Vincent and Alyssa?” Joey asked.
“In the hospital,” Jacky replied. “Although there were minor injuries on them, we want to make sure they’re okay. Yea, the same one that Wallace’s in right now.” He pauses a bit. “Wallace’s checking out tomorrow.”
“How did you get all those thugs to break though? Including their leader?”
Gallen shakes his head. “No. We had to get his gang against him.”
“What about Bryan and Derrick?”
“Apparently, those two knows more than they lead on,” Jacky took over. “Even more than I thought useful.”
Joey looks at him so he could get to the point.
“Um…they’re involved in Annie’s case also.”
“Aren’t all of them linked to both cases though?”
“No. Only 3 of them are. We’re still trying to figure out the 3rd one. They faked greed and tried to blend in with the others so they could get something from Annie. The rob scene that those thugs in there…” He gestures inside where the temporary cells are. “…carried on must had been great opportunity for those 3 guys.”
Everyone had sat down at a table in the center of the room by now since they are all tired, especially Joey who just arrived back with Kenneth just now.
“What about….” Joey pondered aloud.
Jacky yawns. “Jo…” He lets out another yawn. “Stop with the questions already. I need to get some shut eye.”
Joey looks at him. Then she remembers what she’s about to say. She turns to Gallen. “How come you guys found Vincent and Alyssa? Ken and I were in there with Wallace. And…”
“That one is easy,” Jacky said. “Even if I don’t know the answer already, I would know that one.”
Joey gives him a glare again.
“Uh…you’d been there. You’d seen how there are secret paths and all those traps. It’s easier for them to move Vincent and Alyssa to another place around there and you guys wouldn’t know.”
Gallen looks at Jacky, surprised. This is the first time Gallen sees him stutter. Gallen takes a quick look at Joey before looking back at Jacky. Kenneth of course already knows why through Joey’s story on the way. While Gallen ponders over the change in Jacky, Joey continues her questioning session.
“What’s the next move?” Joey asked, scanning the guys.
“We have to wait until tomorrow since everyone’s tired,” Gallen said.
“What if it’s an opportunity for those thugs…” She points towards the direction of the temporary cells. “…to rest and think up of some lies to throw our way?”
“Most of them already confessed, only the leader didn’t break yet,” Jacky said. “One more day won’t buy him any more time than he already had. We only need to come up with a plan to get Bryan and Derrick to tell us about the 3rd person and solve Annie’s case now.”
“You make it sound so easy,” Gallen said.
Jacky smiles and shrugs at Gallen.
“Your cover’s already blown. What now?”
Jacky smiles again. “Yours isn’t.”
Jacky walks out of the station, mumbling about something like he had to go home. Gallen follows him, asking what he meant.
The other three look at them go.
*****
Jacky and Gallen are back out in the parking lot, trying to find Gallen’s car in the dark.
“Since you’re full of energy, you can drive,” Jacky said.
“Do I look like I have a choice?” Gallen asked, his voice dripping sarcasm. “It’s my car.”
Jacky smiles.
“Where to?”
“Hospital. Let’s check up on the gang.”
When they arrive at the hospital, Jacky gets out first and heads straight to the side entrance. He finds Vincent and Alyssa’s room without any problems.
Alice is the first to spot him. “Hey! Detective Chu!”
Jacky smiles. “Call me Jacky.”
Alice shrugs. “Same thing.” She looks around.
Jacky knows her motive. “Kenny’s still at the station with Jo. Jo probably won’t give up until she comes up with something.” He lets out a smile.
Alice turns a bit pink since Jacky found her out.
“How’s your brother doing?” Jacky asked, changing the subject.
“He’s good. But the doctor still wants to keep him in his room until tomorrow. I’m going back to his room in a bit to check on him before I go home. Want to come?”
Jacky already knows that Wallace will be discharged tomorrow since he had called Wallace earlier to check up on him when they were waiting at the station for Kenneth and Joey. But he just wants to know if there’s any new. “No. It’s okay. It’s more interesting here.”
Alice looks at Jacky strange, but she guesses it has something to do with Vincent and Alyssa’s case so she moves out of his way and stands at the side.
Gallen comes in about a minute later. They chat with Vincent and Alyssa for a while before deciding to go back home to rest. They meet up with Alice, Charmaine, and Mandy again along the hallway near Wallace’s room.
On the way out of the hospital, it seems like Jacky suddenly realizes something. He looks around.
“What?” Gallen asked, catching his actions.
“What happened to my girl?” Jacky asked.
“She said she had to go somewhere earlier so she left,” Alice answered.
“When was that?”
“About an hour ago.”
“Did she leave a message for me?”
Alice shakes her head.
“Strange,” Jacky mumbled to himself.
Gallen catches up to him since Jacky’s pace has increased now. “Is anything wrong?”
“No. It’s okay. I’ll just call her.”
The group leaves the hospital, going in their own direction, depending on where their cars are. Jacky and Gallen, of course, goes in one car. Charmaine, Mandy, and Alice in one. The last one is Kevin and Ray.
On the way back to Constant Comfort, Jacky – feeling confidence – tells Gallen to take the short cut, which leads them right into the traffic that Jacky had experienced earlier. It isn’t any better at night.
“Thanks a lot,” Gallen said, his sarcasm apparent.
Jacky shrugs his shoulders, smiling. “You know this place better than me. You shouldn’t have listened.”
“Great! Just great!”
“Calm down, man. It’s not like we got anything else to do.”
“I thought you still have to break Annie’s case.”
“I’ll go in and torture those people tomorrow.”
Gallen doesn’t want to bother with Jacky. When Jacky’s not working, he’s his own loud self again. Gallen’s tired so he doesn’t want to waste any more of his energy than he has to.
About 15 minutes later, they’re still sitting in traffic. Jacky’s singing now, trying to entertain himself – to which Gallen’s turning on the radio to block out Jacky’s voice.
Just when Gallen’s about had it with Jacky, Jacky’s phone rings. “Yea?”
“Hurry and go back to the hospital!” A guy’s voice yelled out.
“What happened?”
“Madame Meng found out that they’re going to get rid of Vincent and Alyssa tonight. There’s someone else involved.”
“What?!?”
“You don’t have much time left. Hurry! Lieutenant Ma has already left. Madame Meng is still trying to pump Derrick for info.”
“All right! I’ll get there fast.” Jacky shuts off his phone with one snap and turns to address Gallen.
“What?” Gallen asked, seeing Jacky’s intense expression.
“I don’t think we can get out of this traffic. At least not in the next few minutes so I’m going first. In the next street you can find, turn around and go back to the hospital.”
After he’s done, he opens the passenger door and steps out. Gallen yells after him as he disappears into the night.
*****
Jacky runs off towards the sidewalk before the cars start to move again. He knows that Gallen’s still confused right now. But he also knows that Gallen’s a smart guy so Gallen will figure it out later. No time to waste, he thought. Somehow, he’s glad that they’re stuck in the traffic or they would have to make their way right back to the hospital and it’s not a short way either if they were at home right now.
*****
Kenneth knows this is his one and only chance to prove to Joey that he’s got what it takes to be in his current position. He races into the hospital doors and approaches Vincent and Alyssa’s room carefully, not drawing any suspicions. He knows that those crooks might or might not know where Vincent and Alyssa are so he mustn’t alarm them.
“Joey, I’m here,” Kenneth said into the phone.
“Good,” Joey said. “See anything suspicious yet?”
Kenneth scans the hallway real quick. “No. I’ll keep an eye on it. I’m just standing in front of Vincent and Alyssa’s room right now.”
“Check inside real quick. They might already be in there.”
By they, Joey meant the crooks.
“Okay,” Kenneth said.
“Well, you know what to do. I should get back to Derrick now before he changes his mind.”
“All right. I’ll call you if any changes.”
“Brad called Jack already so he’s on his way there. Just call him if you need anything.”
“All right.”
Kenneth hangs up, pondering why is it always Jack?
*****
After Cyndi left awhile ago, Wallace lays motionless in his room, staring into space. He feels no need to stay in the hospital anymore since he feels a lot better now. However, he must stay to reassure the others, especially Alice and Cyndi, that he’s all right. He has been able to sleep more since he had been given some medications. But suddenly he couldn’t sleep tonight although he knows that Vincent and Alyssa are safe now. Just when he tries to close his eyes to sleep again, he sees a man’s shadow rushing past his room. What is going on here? His underlying detective alarm goes off. He sits up in one start and gets off his bed. He pulls the shades a bit to see outside. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that the shadow belongs to Kenneth. Why is he running around at this time of the night? Didn’t the others just left? Then he remembers that the others had came to his room from time to time, even Jacky somehow slipped in before to chat with him, but not Kenneth. That means Kenneth just got here. He sees that Kenneth’s rushing towards the direction in which Vincent and Alyssa’s room is. He couldn’t take any chances. He looks around to see if the nurses are around. He sees no one is passing by at the moment. He carefully opens the door and slips out. Since the light has been turned down a bit to help patients sleep better, he is able to slip by the rooms unnoticed.
*****
Fifteen minutes later after Joey gets off the phone with Kenneth.
“Hello? Joey?” Gallen asked after picking up.
“Are you with Jack?” Joey asked.
“No, why? I had to double back. We were stuck in traffic before so Jacky took off first and told me to catch up to him later. What’s happening?”
“Typical Jack didn’t tell you. But I have something even more serious. If he’s not with you, then he’s probably with Kenneth in the hospital right now. Can you somehow join with Brad and George at Constant Comfort?”
“ Why?”
“Derrick just spilled something else. It was accidental. But the point is Annie’s in danger right now. I need you to go over there to help Brad and George.”
“Danger? What kind of danger?”
“No time to explain but he said his boss is sending over someone tonight to confront Annie. He said it’s her last chance. No more warnings or subtle hints.”
“Okay, I’m turning back now.”
“I have to go again. See you in a bit. Contact me if anything.”
*****
Stan is making one of his rounds around the building. Some of the police officers from the local station just pulled out since they had an “Okay” from Madame Meng already. But others stayed behind just in case. Stan is about to take his break when he sees Miss Man walks in. She’s a nice girl, he thought. Can’t believe someone would kill her cat though. He walks towards her way.
“Good evening, Miss Man,” Stan greeted her with a polite smile.
“Hi Stan,” He returned the greeting. “How’s it going?”
“Just the usual, Miss Man. The usual.”
“All right then. I’m going to head upstairs.”
“Have a good night, Miss Man.”
Annie walks briskly towards the elevators and starts to push on the “Up” button.
Stan goes back to the counter to tell the receptionist he’s going for a break. He couldn’t help but wonders why Miss Man is unusually talkative and somewhat cheerful tonight. Is it because the arrest earlier that she can feel at ease now?
*****
Annie enters into the elevator and looks around carefully before hitting the “Close” button. As soon as the door closes, the lights go off. She wonders what’s going on here. She lets out a scream as she can feel the rocking motion. Just when she thought that she’s going to get abducted by one of those “crazy people” she was warned of earlier by Jacky, everything stops. Everything goes back to normal. The lights turn on a second later. The elevator starts to move up again. She lets out a sigh of relief and tries to calm herself down. It’s just a normal elevator malfunction, she thought. After all, didn’t the crew just fix it this afternoon after the police leave? It must not cooperate for a moment. She steps out of the elevator as soon as the door opens, not wanting to be stuck in it anymore. She should have taken the stairs to be safe. But luckily nothing happened this time. She checks both ways before going towards the left to her apartment. She opens her door quickly with her keys and slips inside. But as soon as she’s inside, someone flicks on the lights.
“Nice of you to come home this early, Miss Man,” A man said. “Just in time too.”
Annie screams since she sees a gun in the man’s right hand. She backs towards the door. She does a quick scan of the room in the process and sees there are two other men with him.
“Don’t you dare try to escape!” The gunman warned. “Do you think you’re faster than my bullets?”
“What do you want?”Annie asked, her back to the door now.
“Tsk….tsk…tsk…I can’t believe you have such bad memories. Where are the files?”
“What files?”
“Are you stalling for time so the security guard could go back on duty and happens to come by here to rescue you?”
“I….”
“Even if he comes back, he’s just an old geezer. Do you think we can’t just take care of him?”
Annie freezes in her place. She looks around, trying to see if there are only three guys or more hiding somewhere.
“Are you trying to find an escape route? Tough luck! Even if there are only three of us, we can handle you.”
Annie turns her attention back to the guy who’s holding the gun. “I…don’t know why you’re…coming after me. But I don’t…have what you…want.”
“We already got information from Mr. Lam that you have the files.”
“What?!? Frankie told you guys?” Her expressions changed from scared and confused to serious and mad.
“So…now…you know, right? I guess Mr. Lam was a big help after all.”
“Frankie actually told you?”
“Couldn’t believe your boyfriend would betray you, right?”
“Answer me!”
Annie’s changed attitude surprises the other two men who are standing on either side of the gunman. But they somehow figured out themselves that Frankie and Annie must have a serious relationship for Annie to react so fierce. She even forgets that she’s the one who’s being threatened here.
“He didn’t exactly tell us,” The gunman said, letting out a hysterical laugh. “We bugged his room.”
Annie’s expression softens a bit. “You bastards!”
“Enough! I had at least let you know that your boyfriend didn’t betray you on purpose. You should at least be a little more helpful or I’ll definitely…” He pauses, waving he gun in his hand for effect. “… use this.”
Annie suddenly moves towards the man who’s holding the gun. The man didn’t even expect that. The other two men move to her sides and take her by the arms, pushing her to kneel down on her knees. She falls to the ground and kneels exactly in front of the man with the gun.
“Impatience, aren’t we?” The gunman taunted. “You really want to die that fast?”
“You don’t have the files yet,” Annie reminded him. “You won’t kill me! If you could search for it, you already did. Why would you risk such exposure?”
The gunman clicks his tongue. “Clever. You’re quite smart, young lady. No wonder you’re still able to live this long.” He reaches out and grabs her hair. “Tell me now!”
Annie struggles although the gun’s pointing right at her forehead now. She knows that she can risk it.
“You’re a stubborn one, aren’t you?” The gunman asked. “I already told you that I will kill you even if Larry told me not to until I get the files.”
Annie stops struggling after the man said that.
“That’s good that you’re learning now.”
Annie stares at the man with the gun as he takes a step back, getting ready to continue the interrogation again.
“Don’t blame me. Just blame your boss for having such an uncle.”
“Uncle? You mean Larry is Larry Lam? Frankie’s uncle?”
“Who else?”
The man on the left of Annie, who’s still holding down on her shoulder, looks up to the gunman. “Lao Da! We’re not supposed to expose any of that information.”
“Does it matter?” The gunman asked. “She’s going to die anyway. Might as well give her some peace by letting her know who is actually responsible for her death.”
“We’re supposed to keep all things at a confidential level.”
“Am I the ‘big man’ or are you?”
“But…”
“Back off! And shut up! Let me handle this here.” The gunman begins to shove the other guy out of the way.
Annie takes this chance to brush the man standing to her right aside and also uses the man on the left’s body to shield her moments. She moves behind that man and pushes him towards the gunman. She turns around quick and races to the door. Her right hand’s on the knob before she hears a gunshot.
“Don’t you dare!” The gunman shouted out. “This is your last warning!”
Annie turns back towards the man with the gun. This time, her expression isn’t fear like the first time the gun’s pointed at her, but she smiles.
“Lao Da!” The same man who spoke up called out. “She’s pulling something. Watch that smile.”
“Shut up!” The gunman screamed. “I can handle this without your narratives.”
The second man still disagrees but seeing the gun in his boss’ hand, he stops himself from saying the next phrase and takes a step back. However, he still scans the room again to see if something’s really going to happen.
“Your last smile, right?” The gunman asked, smirking.
“No,” Annie said. “It’s your last smirk!” Then she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a black string attached with some small microphone-like device. She begins to speak into it rapidly. “There are three in the living room. Two hiding in the kitchen. One pacing the bedroom hallway. Watch out for the window and the back entrances. All team move in!”
“What are you doing?” The gunman asked, shocked.
He couldn’t react fast enough since Annie had been saying those words no more than 20 seconds.
There’s nothing left for him to do now, except shoot. He misses Annie by inches since she moves away from the target line. She dodges the next 3 bullets just as easily.
“I’ll give you two more as freebies before you have to reload!” Annie said. “By then it’s my turn! I think that’s fair enough, don’t you?”
She’s moving back and forth in the living while saying that. The two men who are with the gunman are standing nearby, just keeping guard in case Annie decides to go into the other rooms. Besides from that, the gunman has been shooting madly that they don’t want to be victims of those bullets flying around.
Just as Annie predicted, two bullets later, the gunman has to reload. Annie moves really fast towards his direction, not wanting him to reload. She’s blocked by the other two men, but manages to brush them off without problems. She kicks one in the shin and slams her elbow down really hard on the other man’s back. They cry out in pain as she advances towards the gunman again. The gunman tosses his gun aside at that time and swings his hand out at Annie. Annie blocks it with her strong kick and does a quick back flip before kicking him in the face in the process. He hurtles backwards into the wall and yells out in pain.
“Who the hell are you?” He exclaimed.
“Annie Man Chung Han, of course,” She answered with a smile. “Who else?”
“No! You can’t be. She doesn’t know martial arts.”
“Who told you? Larry?” She lets out a teasing smile.
The other two men have recovered by now and are advancing towards Annie again. Annie kicks them one by one and steps back into her original spot.
Annie smiles. “Give up?”
“Dee!” The gunman called out. “Are you deaf? You guys should come out and help us!”
“So you mean you can’t handle this alone after all?”
“Dee!” The gunman yelled out again, ignoring Annie’s taunting.
“They probably are fast asleep by now.”
“You’re lying!”
“This is my place, isn’t it? What makes you think they didn’t fall into my traps?”
“You….”
His anger takes over. He couldn’t finish but lungs forward again at Annie. She hits him back towards the wall. He hits the wall with a “thump” and couldn’t get up for a moment.
“I’ll give you a chance to give up before the cops show up,” Annie said.
“Never!” The gunman bellowed. “Not to a girl!”
“You got a problem with a girl kicking your ass? Oh yea…I forgot. That’s sort of embarrassing…” She pauses for effect. “…especially for a grown man like you.”
“Stop it!”
He gets up this time, even more fierce than the other times, giving Annie the most powerful blow ever. Annie knows better than to take it easily like the last two times by the man’s expression. She dodges out of the way, which causes him to lose his balance before kicking him in the back. He falls towards the door. Just about that time, someone pushes in through the door. The person at the door is a guy wearing a police uniform. Following him are two more police officers.
“Detective, we got everything under control outside,” The first officer reported.
“I’m sure you do since the hallway needs a lot of polishing!” Annie snapped.
“Take it easy on us, Detective,” The second officer begged. “We’re just…”
“I’m kidding!” Annie said, smiling. Then she turns around towards the other two men to see if they’re still harmless. “Take them.”
“Yes, Madame!” The first officer said.
Each of the three officers takes one of the men and cuffs them before transporting them out.
“Is Cory here?” Annie asked.
“Yes,” The first officer responded. “I’ll tell him to come in as we take these guys out.”
Annie nods. “That’s fine. Tell him to bring about 5 more people with him so they can search this place more thoroughly and make sure it’s safe again.”
“Yes, Madame!”
Annie stays there while the others move the three men out. She paces back and forth a bit before standing in front of the door again. Before she knows it she hears a glass-shattering blow coming towards her and the next thing she knows, she feels a wet substance dripping down her shirt. She looks down and sees that it’s blood. Her blood. She spins around in a start and sees that the one who shot her is one of the three men she thought had already fainted awhile back.
“This will teach you not to be so arrogant,” The man said.
Annie feels the room spinning and she begins to fall. Before she goes under, she hears voices everywhere.
© Saturday, June 16th, 2007
Re-posted: Sunday, October 11th, 2009