Critical Incidents: The ROK - Land of HAN (A Jack Gunn Mystery Thriller Book 1) (4 page)

Unexpectedly, there was a loud knock at the door. No, it was more like someone banging on it hard as they could. A voice yelled in a commanding tone, “Mi-young, kapshida!”

Startled, she grabbed my arm. I asked, “Who the hell is that?”

“Kang. He very bad man.”

“Is he your boyfriend?”

“No. Kang want me go with him.”

He kept banging on the door while loudly yelling at the top of his lungs. I could sense that Mi-young was afraid of him. After several minutes, I had enough of the banging. It was two in the morning and I was in no mood to put up with any shit.

I put on my brass knuckles, which are really made of aluminum, and went to the door. Mi-young curled into a ball on the couch. I looked at her. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this jerk.” Taking a deep breath, I carefully thought how to handle this situation.

Unlocking the door, I turned the knob and swiftly pulled it open. Standing there was a skinny little Korean, about six inches shorter than me. He didn’t look too happy. Alongside of him, stood two men, and behind him were two more.

I didn’t expect to be totally outnumbered five to one. I decided to be the aggressor and throw the first punch. The little shit was in my face, screaming something in Korean. I didn’t understand a word he said, but I knew it wasn’t good.

I shifted my feet as he tried to push me aside to enter the room, but he couldn’t budge me. I gave him a hard shove, pushing him back about two feet. Then he yelled and jumped forward at me, I quickly moved my right foot back for support and balance. I let loose with a straight-hard punch to his jaw, with the brass knuckle in my right fist.

Hearing the crack, I knew instantly that his jaw was broken. He dropped to the floor, in the doorway, like a limp noodle with blood oozing out of his mouth. He was out like a light. It was a thing of beauty.

The man on his left lunged at me so I hit him, knocking him out in one punch. He fell on top of the mighty Kang with blood squirting out of his right eye. I think I knocked his eyeball out. The remaining men grabbed their buddies and pulled them back into the middle of the hall, while shouting Korean curse words at me.

I shouted back, “Fuck you, assholes,” as I slammed the door shut, locking it. I went to the bedroom door, joining my room to Lee’s. Opening my side of the door, I banged on Lee’s door shouting, “Lee, we got trouble!”

“Just minute!” he shouted.

Opening the door, while still buckling his pants, he asked, “What’s all the noise?”

“KY, five men just came to my door and tried to get in. One of them named Kang, wanted Mi-young to leave with him.”

“So, what did you do?”

“I knocked him and another guy out,” I said, while holding up my brass knuckles.

Lee walked over to Mi-young. “Who is Kang?”

“Kang, gang boss,” Mi-young said.

“How many men does he have?” I asked.

“Maybe thirty.”

Lee looked at me and I looked at him. Lee said, “Time for us to leave Gumi.”

Since the only weapon we had were my brass knuckles, I said, “Yeah, I agree. Sooner or later they’ll break in here.”

The pounding on the door started up again.

Lee asked, “How do we get to the car if they’re in the hallway?”

Since we were on the first floor, I pointed to the window. Our room was next to the road that leads in and out of the hotel parking lot.

I said, “You stay here. I’ll sneak to the parking lot and get the car.”

Mi-young said, “We come too. Kang angry, he beat us.”

“Mi-young, we are going to Seoul.”

“Seoul ok. Mi-young family there.”

KY said, “Jack, we need to bring them along. There’s no telling what will happen to them.”

I climbed out the hotel window and retrieved the car, picking up Lee and the girls. I thought we were in the clear as we reached the end of the long driveway. Just as we were pulling away, making a right turn, I saw headlights in the rearview mirror. I punched the little Pony, and headed for the expressway with our headlights off. The Pony wasn’t very fast. It could go zero to sixty in about the same time it takes me to eat a large pizza.

I said, “I think we’re being followed!”

Lee turned to look behind us. “Yeah, we are. Floor it!”

“It is floored. This piece of shit won’t go any faster.” 

Sure enough the car was following us. Every turn I took, the car followed. Gumi only had one paved street and that was the main drag. All the side streets were mostly dirt or stone. Since it was still raining hard the streets were flooded and had turned to mud. Because there were no street lights, and with the rain it was pitch black, so I was having trouble seeing. Having my headlights off didn’t help any.

We were spinning around the muddy corners trying to lose the bad guys. But they kept up with us, street after street. The Pony just didn’t have the speed to outrun them. We would pull away on the corners, turning down a dark alley, but they would catch us on the straightaway.   

Mi-young provided directions around the maze of side streets, advising us the short cuts to the expressway. We sped down one narrow alleyway with the pursuit car hot on our tail. Looking ahead, where the alley ended to pick up the main drag, there was another car blocking the exit to the main street. We were trapped.

As we were zooming towards them, Lee shouted, “Jack, what the hell are you going to do? Ram them?”

“No. I think we can squeeze by them. Everyone hang on!” I put the pedal to the metal and we bounced along through the muddy potholes, down the dark alley in the pouring rain.

Speeding towards the gangsters car at 120 kph, we were closing distance fast. “Holy crap! I hope you know what you’re doing,” Lee shouted.

“Keep the faith!” I quickly glanced at Lee and he was holding on for dear life. “Tighten your seatbelt!” 

The car behind us was right on our tail. I doubted they could see what was up ahead, like I did. Turning on my headlights at the last minute, I verified that we probably had just enough room to squeeze by the front of the vehicle that was blocking our escape.

Yes, it would be close, but since the Pony was small, we might just fit between the gangster’s car and the brick wall, to the right of it. I had no choice but to take the risk. The worst that could happen was we’d be killed by the collision, instead being beat to death by the gang.

I didn’t slow as we bore directly at the car, like a torpedo seeking its target. I could see the men scamper away from their vehicle thinking we were going to broadside it. At the last second, I turned the wheel, and punched the gas. We skidded sideways in the thick mud, at a forty-five degree angle. I counter-steered to shoot straight through the gap. The Pony fishtailed, so I counter-steered again to compensate.

The front of the Pony just squeezed in between their car and the wall without a scratch, but the left-rear fender slid around and bounced off their front bumper, with a bang. The Pony rear-end swung back, and our right-rear fender smashed into the brick wall, stopping us. I down shifted to first gear and floored it.

Our car scraped along the brick wall, causing a terrible screeching sound of brick against metal. The tires were spinning in the mud as the Pony slowly inched forward. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the gang members rushing towards us.

I turned the wheel to the right trying to free the right fender from the brick wall. A guy with a club approached my car window and I looked into his eyes as he wound up to take a swing. Suddenly, the Pony popped loose from the wall, and we slipped through the roadblock before he could bash out my window. Hitting the paved street, I took off as fast as the little Pony could move.  

The gangsters were standing there watching us, and judging by the looks on their faces they were dumbfounded that we escaped the trap. They were in for a bigger surprise when the car following behind us slid out of control into the parked gangster’s vehicle, smashing it to shit. In my mirror, I saw the cars ignite into a ball of flames.

KY commented, “They got a big bang out of that, Jack.” We both laughed at the scary situation, but it wasn’t funny. 

We didn’t stick around to see exactly what had happened and jumped on the expressway with the pedal to the metal. The Pony motor was straining hard at 140 kph. I thought it was gonna blow, because it was screaming like grandma’s sewing machine. When I was sure we weren’t being followed, I eased up to 120, which was the speed limit. The rain suddenly stopped.

Lee commented, “That was incredible driving, Jack!”

“Thanks. I didn’t think we were gonna make it. It’s a good thing the Pony is so small. Sorry, it got banged up.” I patted the dashboard, good little pony.

“Don’t worry about it. The car can be fixed. At least we’re all safe.”

During the whole escape, the girls didn’t say a word, or scream. I forgot they were even in the car. However, I think they did wet their panties a little from the wild ride.

Feeling we were safely on our way to Seoul, I pulled out a smoke. Mi-young reached over the front seat and lit it for me. She touched my arm and said, “Komapsumnida (Thank you), G.I. Jack.”

We finally reached Seoul and Mi-young asked me to let them off at the Hamilton Hotel in Itaewon. Lee and I looked at each other because we knew all about Itaewon. I was sure her family did not live here, but KY and I didn’t say a word.

As the ladies stepped out of the car in front of the Hamilton, KY gave them 500,000 won to help them out. We exchanged good-byes and I told Mi-young, “Kot poepkessumnida (I’ll see you soon).”

She gave me a curious look, and nodded her head. “Ne, annyonghi kaseyo (Yes, goodbye).” 

Little did she know that as an MP, I patrolled Itaewon almost nightly. There was a good chance that I’d see her again in one of the many go-go bars.

*****

BACK TO PRESENT TIME

Still heading for the Chosun Hotel, while sitting in a traffic jam, Lee brought me back to current times when, he asked, “What’s your assignment in Korea this time?”

Coming back to my senses, I said, “Oh … I forgot to tell you. I’ve been promoted to RSO (Regional Security Officer). I have a meeting at the embassy at 9 am on Monday with the new Ambassador.”

“So, that means you are the agent in charge now. Congratulations, my friend. What are you doing tomorrow?”

“I’m just gonna relax. What about you?”

It was Friday night so I planned to rest and recover from my jetlag tomorrow and Sunday.

“How about we have dinner tomorrow … at the Chosun Japanese Restaurant?” Lee asked. “We can shoot the shit and I’ll fill you in on some things.”

“Dinner sounds good. I’ll buy. What are you going to fill me in on?”

“A lot has happened in a year, my friend. I have to bring you up to date. There has been a lot of changes in the NIS. I got a new boss, whom I don’t care for. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. Guess who I saw at the Tiger House in Itaewon?”

“I give. Who did you see?”

“Mi-young. She works there now.”

Sometimes Lee and I would hang out at the Tiger House, which has a bar and restaurant with decent food. It also has private rooms for parties. We’ve know the owner for years, ever since we were MPs patrolling the bars of Itaewon. The owner is a woman and she runs a tight ship. We call her Mama-San. Her real name is Lady Lim. She’s a tough old bird who worked hard to own her own club.

“What does she do there?” I asked.

“She is a hostess or manger of some kind. She don’t dance anymore.”

“How is she doing?”

“I guess ok. At least she works at a decent place. She has to be making good money.” Lee replied.

“How does she look?”

“She looks the same, just a little older, like us.”

“Yeah, we aren’t getting any younger. Maybe I’ll pay her a visit.”

Winding up the Chosun Hotel driveway, Lee stopped the car in front of the main doors. The doorman opened my door, waiting for me to get out. I told him just a minute, and closed the car door.

I asked KY, “Do you have my clothes with you?”

I usually leave a suitcase with my clothes and some of my weapons with Lee. That way I never have to pack a bag.

“Yes, I almost forgot, they’re in the trunk,” he said, as he pushed the trunk button to open it.

I opened my briefcase. “Here’s a little present for you, my friend.” I handed him a gift wrapped box. It was something he had wanted for a long time. “Don’t open it in front of your kids.”

“Thank you, Jack. I think I know what it is.”

“I’m sure you do. What time you wanna meet tomorrow?”

“I’ll come to the hotel at seven.”

“Thanks for picking me up at the airport.”

“It’s my pleasure, as always. Goodnight.”

We shook hands as I got out of the car. I pulled my suitcase out of the trunk and the bellman immediately took it, as I walked inside to check in.

The front desk manager said, “Welcome home, Mr. Gunn. Your usual room, 1230, is ready for you.”

The hotel employees don’t know what I do. They only know I work for the U.S. State Department. My fake name card says my title is ‘Logistics Associate.’ My real name card has my position stated as ‘Diplomatic Security, Special Agent.’