~
the 7th - the 8th of February, 2026
~
Johnny Wu sniggered at the way the pathetic prey's body relaxed even more now.
He had no idea what the injection contained, but it obviously was some muscle-relaxant, because Jiang Cheng's body now would have been sprawling on the dirty floor – had his arms and legs been free, and not bound. The young man was lying on his face now, and the sharp odor that unmistakably filled up the room just seconds later made him laugh out loud, as it confirmed his suspicion, and he jeered:
- Babyboy pissed his pants! Ha!
Jun scrunched his nose, and the cop just ignored it all. Yet, hunger was stronger than disgust, and after kicking the unconscious body to the farthest part of the room, they sat down for an improvised dinner, which was also breakfast and lunch for all three of them. It had been a busy day.
Surprisingly, there was very little talk over the plain table. The plan seemed quite clear now. Ransom money had to be required, a convenient location – determined, and Lan Xichen himself – lured into a trap.
Both gang tugs knew that the psychotic cop needed them mostly for this part. Mike Flannegan could have taken the bartender all by himself, no problem. But he didn't seem to enjoy public places too much, and also, well - Mister Lan was... strong. He needed help with that one. Well, unless he put a bullet in his head, once and for all – then it would all be super easy.
However, killing your golden goose was never a good idea, at least – killing it too soon; also, an easy money grab was never really "easy", so all three of them were in a pensive mood. Tomorrow was going to be more important than today; it was going to be more difficult as well.
***
That night, the bunk bed was shared by the brothers; the Captain just announced shortly that he was going to sleep outside, in the van.
- The bastard will be sleeping soundly till tomorrow, trust me. Even A-Huan himself is not as powerful as to beat the effect of my special mix of drugs.
He didn't smile at that joke. Johnny thought that this particular pig was just weird, but his younger brother thought that he was the creepiest person he had ever met. His damaged face didn't even flinch most of the time, his dead-blue eyes held no emotion. Something had been deeply broken inside the soul of that person, but Jun had no name for it.
Jiang Wanyin's phone rang a couple more times, in the evening, and a couple more – in the next morning. Johnny was growling, checking it, woken from his thin, dissatisfactory sleep every single time: it was mostly Jiang Yanli calling, and one unknown number that hadn't been listed in the phone's Contacts List. He was grumpy; he hadn't been able to sleep all night, even though his Di seemed to have no such problems. Jun had been snoring all night long, unaware of his brother's quiet wrath.
But then, too early the next morning, the caller ID said "A-Ning (work)", and it kind of got to be the last drop for Johnny.
- M O T H E R F U C K!!!
Johnny spat out the swear word, jumping out of "bed", and squeezing the ringing phone in his hand, rushing out of the room, not even caring whether he was going to be able to find the path to the exit. Cursing under his breath now, he half-ran, just following the colder air, taking turns, and making it out in record time – he recognized the trap door immediately. There was no day light to prompt the way – it was still quite dark outside, as he could bet his life that it was probably 5 or 6 in the fucking morning, but he strained all his body and pushed the trap door open, now glaring at the piece of plastic in his hand, and cursing:
