Yong cleared his throat, his eyes flicking briefly toward something behind the trio’s backs. Samantha turned her head slightly and saw that five men were stepping into view. They were dressed in local garb and all of them wore swords or knives around their waists. “I did do this thing,” Yong admitted. “But only in retaliation. Sai Wing gave alcohol to my sister and then raped her. She is now impure and her chances of marriage are slim.”
Samantha could scarcely believe her ears. “She was raped? Why in the world would any man hold that against her?”
“Virginity is highly prized,” Yong answered. “If she has already been filled with another man’s seed, her desirability has been diminished.”
Samantha was about to say more when Lazarus stopped her with a glance. “Mr. Yong,” Lazarus said, “I am not here to debate with you the decency of Sai Wing. I am already well aware of his many faults. He does, however, have information that my associates and I need to finish our mission successfully. So I am asking you to please destroy the artifact that has his virility trapped within it. If you do so, my friends and I will leave without breaking the arms and legs of the men standing behind me.”
Yong stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing. “You are a funny man, Mr. Gray. I tell you what: go tell Sai Wing that you spoke to me and I said I’d consider doing as he’s asked. But I’ll only do it if he leaves Shanghai.” Yong leaned close, his eyes narrowing. “But if you stay here a moment longer, I’ll let my men kill you and Mr. Jiwon. The girl will live… until we’ve grown tired of her.”
Lazarus struck so quickly that his fist was a blur. He struck Yong in the nose, shattering it with one blow. Blood cascaded down the man’s face and he yelped like a wounded dog. Lazarus finished him off with an elbow to the side of Yong’s head, sending the man to the ground.
Samantha and Eun moved almost as fast. They whirled about and engaged the five muscle-bound goons that Yong had summoned.
Though she was petite and beautiful, Samantha was capable of dealing with men three times her size. She proved this by throwing herself towards the two brutes closest to her. She drove a knee into the crotch of one and then caught the other by the arm and used his own momentum against him, tossing him expertly onto his back. Before he could get up again, Samantha had driven the heel of her shoe against his forehead three times in rapid succession. Satisfied that he wasn’t going to get back up, Samantha returned her attention to the other man. He was kneeling, holding his injured genitals. Samantha spotted a rock on the ground and plucked it up. It was quite large and she struggled to hold it over her head with both hands. It crashed down hard on the man’s skull and he fell forward after the blow, a stream of blood oozing from the wound.
When it came to martial arts, only one member of Assistance Unlimited could top Samantha — and that was Eun. The Korean lunged for one of the men nearby, gripping him by the ears. He pulled the man forward, hurling him against another of the goons. While those two were untangling themselves, Eun unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks upon the remaining man. In seconds, the man was unconscious, suffering from a dislocated shoulder and a broken jaw. Eun then spun about and came face-to-face with the man whose ears he’d twisted. Eun stamped out on the man’s foot and then boxed his ears before finishing him off with an American-style uppercut.
Eun grinned as he faced the last of the men. This fellow was brushing himself off after having been knocked against the mausoleum when his ally had bumped into him. He nodded once at Eun and dropped into a fighting stance that mirrored Eun’s own.
Eun narrowed his eyes, sensing that this man was far more capable than his peers. To prove the point, the villain sprang forward, catching Eun with a glancing blow on the left side of his face. Eun barely threw up a forearm to ward off a second blow, one that would have surely have put out his eye.
The two men exchanged a flurry of moves, finding themselves equally matched. When the Chinese tried to sweep Eun’s legs out from under him, Eun sprang up like a grasshopper, evading the blow. Likewise, when Eun spun about with the intentions of driving a kick against the man’s midsection, the Chinese dodged back and brought up with hands. He grabbed hold of Eun’s leg and twisted, eliciting a cry of pain from the young hero.
“You’re too cocky,” the villain hissed, speaking in a dialect known to Eun. “That’s going to get you killed someday.” He yanked again on Eun’s leg and was about to deliver a well-placed elbow to the underside of the Korean’s knee. The blow would have broken Eun’s leg but it thankfully never came.
“Maybe, Eun hissed, “But not today.” Eun bent his back at an incredible angle, twisting around so that he drove the palm of his hand hard against his captor’s chin. The blow was enough to cause the villain to lose his grip on Eun’s leg and the Korean winced as his injured limb touched ground once more. Gritting his teeth to ignore the pain, Eun struck with a flurry of motion, repeatedly hitting his opponent with quick rabbit-like punches.
When the older man slumped against the wall of the mausoleum, his eyes rolling up into his skull, Eun relaxed. He was panting heavily and as he turned towards Samantha, he cracked a smile. “I was wondering when you were going to step in and help.”
“You had it under control,” Samantha replied. “Besides, you would have never forgiven me if I’d rescued you.”
Eun laughed, watching as Lazarus emerged from the mausoleum. He held a small green-and-white urn in his right hand. “Is that it?” he asked.
Lazarus held it up for the others to see. “It is. Yong was keeping it on his desk.”
“So it’s back to Sai Wing’s?” Samantha asked, looking up at the starry skies. It was beautiful here and now that the battle was over, the cemetery was quiet and still.
A rare smile touched her employer’s lips. “Yes. But Sai Wing’s going to receive a surprise or two.”
Morgan sat in the hotel bar, wondering what was wrong with him. Here he was, in the company of two ravishing females, and all he could think about were the ones who weren’t present. He couldn’t stop worrying about Samantha and he kept wishing that Molly was here instead of Agnes.
He took another drink, reaching up to loosen the tie he wore. He’d dressed to the nines when he’d asked the ladies to join him in the bar, thoughts of flirting weighing heavily on his mind. Unfortunately, he’d found himself immersed in a dark mood almost immediately.
The girls didn’t seem to notice that he was being unusually quiet. Kelly was holding one of Agnes’ hands when Morgan glanced up at them. “Trust me, honey, if there’s any man alive who can bring your sister home, it’s Lazarus. But it’s bound to have a few bumps along the way — that’s just the way it is with him. Nothing ever goes easy.”
“That’s true,” Morgan said, leaning in to join the conversation. “But when all is said and done, you’ll have been part of an adventure you’ll never forget.”
Agnes laughed shyly. “It’s not adventure that I’m after. My sister means everything to me. We’ve always been so close. When we were growing up, we’d finish each other’s sentences most of the time. Thinking of her being in danger… or having died in some awful fashion… it makes me feel so scared. Helpless.”
“We all feel that way when our loved ones are threatened,” Kelly said. “You have to just keep going.”
Morgan looked away from them, the topic of their discussion only further increasing his loneliness. He was contemplating ordering another drink when a woman’s scream from outside pierced the night, making the few denizens of the bar jump in alarm. Morgan, used to dealing with danger on a regular basis, was on his feet in a flash, digging out his handgun. “Stay here,” he muttered, moving away from the table before either Kelly or Agnes could stop him.