Group(3)

Group

            “Morning.”

            Anthony turned to the door as he yawned. William walked to the coffee machine and pressed a few buttons.

            “Where were you last night?” Anthony asked. “I tried to contact you, but you didn't...”

            “I slept earlier last night, sorry,” William answered as he took a white mug. Anthony sighed and looked away.

            “Are you alright?” he asked. “You were shot on the chest, weren't you.”

            “I'm fine,” William said. “Thanks for your concern.”

            Some coffee filled the mug as William heard some people talking in the corner of the room. He turned to the voices and saw a few men and a girl, sitting around the table, chattering and laughing. The girl who had black hair, turned to him and smiled.

            “So you must be William.”

            William didn't say anything as she stood up and walked to him. A man with brown hair and square glasses pushed in his glasses and shook his head.

            “My, my, Rebecca,” he said. “Don't be too unfriendly, okay?”

            The girl—the so called Rebecca, turned to him and sighed.

            “Seriously, you should learn how to socialize, Robert,” she said. “Now that he'll be in our team, let me find out if what I heard about him is true...”

            She turned to William and smiled. William took his mug and sipped a bit of his coffee. She looked at him, surprised, then she sighed and looked at the bowl of sugar and cream next to the coffee machine.

            “Can't you add something into that bitter coffee...?”

            “I don't care,” he said. “Coffee is always good in any ways I drink it.”

            She looked at him for a while, then something inside her felt thrilled. What an interesting man, she thought.

            “Now then,” she said as she leaned back to the wall. “You were involved in last night's shooting, right?”

            William didn't answer as he walked to the men sitting at the corner. Rebecca looked at him as she felt something went up to her head, then she looked away.

            “Are you the squad that hunts down the criminal gang?” he asked. “Nice to meet you.”

            The man with glasses looked at him for a while, shy, but then another man with muscular body stood up and walked to him. He was taller than William, so William had to look up to him.

            “Adrian Ming, nice to meet you,” he said. “You must be William Fu, right?”

            “Yes, right,” William answered. Another man with thick moustache walked to him and gave out his hand.

            “We’ve heard a lot about you,” he said. “Welcome to the team. I’m Daniel Zhou, nice to meet you.”

            Suddenly they could hear a door flew open. William turned back and saw Jason walked out of his office. He turned to them and smiled.

            “Come in, come in,” he said. “Let me explain, Will.”

•••

            RIIIING

            “William here,” William said as he put the phone near his ear. “Who’s speaking?”

            “It’s me, bro,” a voice said. “How is it going?”

            “Well, as you see…” William said. “I don’t get anything from him.”

            Matthew laughed out loud, then he put down his plastic bottle. He turned off the radio sitting next to him and smiled.

            “Tough people, is it not?”

            William sighed, then he turned back and saw his friends were all eating lunch. He turned back to the phone and smiled.

            “Anything new?”

            “Well, a lot…” Matthew said with a smile. “But now that you’re bound to that squad, I can’t tell.”

            William felt like his heart stopped, then he coughed a few times.

            “How do you know…?”

            “Oh, so that’s true?” Matthew asked. He then laughed and drank some water again.            

            “It’s obvious, maybe that’s how I know.”

            William sighed and looked back. Rebecca was washing her hands, while the guys were still chatting or eating.

            “Tell me everything you know.”

            Matthew put down the glass and grinned. He sighed again and looked away. A girl with brown hair and pink tennis dress was walking to him.            

            “Oh, about that,” Matthew said. “How about I say the bar in Shanghai Road?”

            “You seriously think there’s only a bar there?” William asked. “There’s quite a lot, you know…”

            “The ones down the alley,” Matthew said. “The one with a lot of sexy girls…”

            “Stop that,” William said. “They should be responsible for prostitution…”

            “Happy looking, then,” Matthew said. “I’m quite sure there’s someone you can ask down there…”

            “Why don’t you go in my place,” William said. “Because I really don’t know where these people are going…”

            “William!”

            “A minute!” he shouted back. He turned back to the phone and sighed.

            “Give me a name.”
            “I don’t think I know anybody there,” Matthew said. “You should go there, with your team. Reconsidering that you guys have more brains and muscle…”

            “William!”

            “Whatever,” William said. “But if I get nothing from it, you won’t escape.”

            He pressed the red button and put back the phone into his pocket. He turned back and walked to the rest of the team, and Rebecca was standing there with a sour face.

            “Who is it?” she asked. “Your girl?”

            “She’s not kind enough to call me at this hour,” William said. “Briefing, now?”

            “Not really,” she said. “To be honest, we don’t really know how to start, because you see, there are a heck lot of them…”

            “I have to admit that,” William said. “But the best right now is…”

            “By the way, I heard that you’re looking for a man called Darren or whatever,” she cut. “Is he a member?”

            William didn’t answer as he kept walking. Rebecca looked at him for a while, then she looked away and made a sour face.

            “Ok, you don’t have to tell if you don’t want to,” she said. “I’m just curious, that’s all.”

            William looked at her for a while, then he looked away.

            “Not really,” he said. “Actually, I don’t mind to tell you.”

            “Then why don’t you tell me?” Rebecca asked. “Because you don’t know me very well yet, and you’re afraid I might tell someone?”

            “Oh, that’s not true,” William said. “Although I do suspect people I met for the first time.”

            “Is that why?” she asked. “Geez, how cautious can you be? We’re both polices.”

            “My experience told me to be cautious,” he said. “Sometimes, it’s best not to trust anyone but yourself.”

•••

            “Looks like it’s a good decision to sell some information about the old man…”

            The man with blonde hair pressed the cigarette to the metal astray that shaped like a star that sat on the black round table. There were a few girls around him, wearing short dresses and drinking cocktails. The room has dim lightning and there was a strong smell of alcohol.

            “What do you think?”

            A girl with long black hair looked up to him, then she giggled. The other girls giggled, too, then one of them sat up.

            “That’s right, Bernard,” she said as she touched her long hair. “This is getting very interesting…”

            He took out another cigarette from the box with the word Marlboro printed on it as he saw a silhouette getting bigger.

            “Whoa, it’s you.”

            He put down the cigarette, then he stood up from his green cushion and walked to the silhouette.

            “Are you feeling well, Camelia?” he asked. He stopped just before the girl with a small bun on the back on her head. She was wearing a black cheongsam and she looked pale. She nodded, then she looked up to the man.

            “Is William coming, then…?”

            He looked at her for a while, then he touched her cheek gently and smiled.

            “Of course he is, Camelia,” he said. “After all, he’s after us.”