Bullet Catchers

Chapter 14

Bullet Catchers

Fourteen

Monkey just wanted to sleep. More than anything, he wanted to slip off into a slumber and wake up to find out this was all some messed up dream. He knew that this crazy life would catch up to him eventually. Being a mechanic sounded safe enough, but working for a mercenary group was bound to cause him problems. Danger was always the furthest thing from his mind though. If Pluto showed his face anytime soon he'd deck the bastard.

"Mind if I join you?"

One eye opened and peered at the newcomer. It was Arai. The bright stars behind made a nice backdrop. Ah, that's right – they were on a boat. Somewhere. The Gulf near Florida? Probably. At some point he'd lost any sense of direction and the last day had passed so frantically he'd forgotten their location. Soft waves pushed the boat to and fro. It was comforting.

Apparently Arai understood that Monkey's silence wasn't out of anger, because he took a seat on the comfortable cushions of the outdoor seating. Together they sat in silence. Arai was a nut when it came to military goods and guns, but he was probably the sanest of the Bullet Catchers in Monkey's eyes. Everyone else was full of baggage and bad addictions. Well, maybe Arai did have his baggage, but he never bothered to make it anyone else's business.

A sound caught Monkey's ears. Footsteps were approaching, and they didn't belong to any of the Bullet Catchers. Annoyed, he not only opened his eyes but sat up also. Approaching at a steady pace, one hand in his pocket, was Rascal – the owner of this damned boat and their would-be savior for the night. Rascal stopped in front of the two strays and eyed them with a trace of amusement on his face.

"Abraham," he greeted Monkey.

"Vernon," Monkey responded, his voice full of venom.

A slight twitch of Rascal's lips revealed a grin threatening to show. "So you got stuck with these bastards after all that trouble, huh?" If his tone was meant to invoke a response, Monkey didn't give it. The amount of exhaustion he felt wasn't worth the trouble. Rascal turned to Arai and with a more pleasing voice said, "And… Otokichi?"

Arai laughed lightly and awkwardly said, "I haven't been called that since your father."

This time, Rascal let his grin show fully. It was like looking straight into the big bad wolf's waiting mouth. He said, "Thought so! The famed Otokichi, Asia's castaway pencil pusher turned arms dealer. Don't tell me you make more money as a mercenary than as a trader!"

Arai waved him off and said, "Not even close. This is more fun!"

"What exactly do you want, Vernon?" Monkey asked. His voice was thick with hatred, and Arai felt as though there was some bad blood there that was best left untouched.

Rascal wasn't fazed. He kept his smile on and said, "Just looking out for my own, that's all."

"Bullshit. You never have before," Monkey accused.

Rascal ignored it and instead asked Arai, "The Czech said something about a boat sinking. Why haven't I heard anything about the Bullet Catchers owning a boat? Or was there a contract on a boat?"

Arai shook his head and said, "Neither. Koala and the Southern Bells kidnapped him and brought him onboard a rented yacht. Someone sank it."

This seemed to peak Rascal's interest, and it showed when a brow raised high. Lips twisted out of a grin and soon Rascal was chewing on them in thought. His mind went back to the Circuit meeting in Miami, where Koala had arrived with a busted head and broken arm. The former operative was oddly silent the entire meeting and only showed emotion when the Malta fiasco was mentioned.

Rascal and Koala had no real issue with each other. Both of them were from the United States and both of them were considered patriotic. The only difference was that Rascal's patriotism was purely motived by money. Koala, despite all the sins he had committed in his life, swore over and over that he was motivated by morals. Money wasn't as important as securing freedom for all and safety for his country. Thus, the contracts taken by the two men were often vastly different.

He knew that Koala was not in the kidnapping business. Certainly, kidnapping someone like Pluto wouldn't give him any benefit, right? That's how Rascal saw it. The entire incident seemed off to him.

Then, something dawned on him. He asked, "Wait, someone sank the yacht? What for?"

Arai shrugged. "No idea. They blew a hole in it."

"Where they after Koala, or Jan?" Rascal questioned. Again, Arai could only shrug.

Monkey scoffed and said, "Please. It had to have been Koala. Who in their right mind would have been looking for Jan?"

"What do you mean? They're looking for him right now," Arai said.

"Only because of that contract out for him. Nobody thought anything of him before then. He was just some punk commie that got lucky too often," Monkey argued.

"Hmm… and perhaps Koala knows about something he shouldn't. His work with the U.S. probably got him some enemies – foreign and domestic," Rascal thought aloud. His demeanor changed and his voice grew when he said, "Well, who cares? Right now, you are my priority. I'll get you back to Moses in one piece."

Arai gave a nervous smile and asked, "Do you owe Moses a favor?"

Rascal laughed, "Not even! But he'll owe me a dozen favors by the end of this ordeal!"

That was the moment when Arai knew without a doubt that they couldn't trust this guy. Dealing with his father had been one thing, but his father wasn't nuts. There was always a line that couldn't be crossed when dealing with others, and the way Rascal carried himself convinced Arai that Rascal had no inkling of where that line might be.