Halloween in Roanapur

The pad thai hadn't been bad either.

One Springfield Armory Ronin Operator 1911 in a shoulder holster. Forged stainless-steel frame, forged carbon steel slide, hammer-forged barrel, wooden grip. None of that 9mm crap, except for that cute little Ruger SR9, which was 9mm, tucked away outa sight. A couple of knives of course, some extra mags in my handbag, because a girl should always carry some protection when she goes out to a bar or two on her ownsome, and yeah, I was ready to head out and have some fun. I did remember that bar Revy and her friends used to hang out in. The Yellow Flag, and I'd start there.

Halloween tonight, and jeez, it was eight already. Time to get out and party. Well, maybe not party, but I'd see if I could find Revy. She shouldn't be hard to find if she was in town. She'd said she always drank at that same bar, 'n I waved down a motorcycle taxi, swung myself onto the pillion seat.

"Yellow Flag," I yelled, and he nodded, 'n took off through the traffic, that little Honda screaming it's head off. Fucking Thai drivers, they were as frigging insane as I remembered from five years ago, and this kid was even more frigging insane than that, but whatever. He knew where we were going.

* * *

"Yellow Flag," the kid yelled, and I swung off, paid him off, stood there, and looked.

Yeah, I remembered the place from five years ago, and I'd been a kid then. A seventeen year old kid who worked for Mr. Ong, but yeah, the Yellow Flag, it'd been a real eye-opener when Revy took me there, right after we arrived in Roanapur. It'd been my first trip outa North America. I'd travelled a lot for Mr. Ong, inside the USA. Done foreign as well. Mexico. Venezuela. Bolivia. Even California. Bangkok, it was just another city in the end, but Roanapur?

Nothing back then had prepared me for Roanapur, and I'd been relieved I was with Revy.

We'd stood outside that bar, the Yellow Flag, and Revy, she'd been smiling. "It's like the last bar on earth, opened by a south vietnamese soldier who deserted during the War," she'd said. "Bao, he runs it, and he'll take anything you say, and sell it to anyone, so keep your mouth shut, okay."

"Okay," I'd said.

"You wanted low key, I talked to Madam Flora. You're gonna stay upstairs in the Sloppy Swing," Revy said as we walked in through the double doors, and I gotta say, I'd seen a few bars, but the inside of the Yellow Flag was something else. I mean, there were bar fights, and there were bar fights. Security grills, yeah, I got that, but built-in bullet proof steel plating?

"Yeah, it can get a bit intense here some nights," Revy drawled, leading me towards a table. "If anyone starts shooting, just tip a table over and get down behind it real fast, and stay down there on the floor 'till it's over. Hey, Dutch, Rocky, Benny. Wancha to meet a friend of mine..."

Yeah, I remembered the Yellow Flag really well.

* * *

Walked in the doors, and Halloween might not be a big thing in Thailand, but inside the Yellow Flag, it was Halloween Party time, even if it wasn't that busy. Yet. I smiled a big happy smile, because every girl I saw in here was in some sorta Halloween costume, and the Yellow Flag wasn't exactly humming, but the drinks were flowing like water, and yeah, the girls from the Sloppy Swing, upstairs, were hanging over the guys that were already here, milking them for every glass of colored water they could before the real negotiations started.

Because this was Roanapur and just about every girl in the Yellow Flag was a hooker. Heck, just about every girl in Roanapur was a hooker, one way or the other, and I sure didn' stand out in the slightest. There were a dozen other Harley Qinn's here. Guess it was a popular look, and yeah, well, I got a few looks myself as I eased up to the bar and took a stool, slouched into it. Place wasn't packed, but give it two or three hours and I guess it would be.

"New here?" the guy behind the bar said. "I'm Bao. What'll it be?" Yeah, it was Bao, and I recognized him.

"Trexy," I said, not answering. "Make mine a Mekong, coke on the side, no ice." You didn't want ice in your drink, not in Thailand. Not unless you were sure of where the ice came from. Believe me, you wanted to be sure. I'd made that mistake once, in Bangkok. That was one helluva flight home, and I'd never make that mistake again.

"One Mekong," Bao said, pouring the shot in front of me, pushing the glass across the bar, can of Coke came next, and I popped the tab and poured. "First one's on the house. Watcha doing here, Trexy?"

I shrugged. "Looking for Revy."

"Two Hands?" Bao eyed me, curious. "You haven't been here before?"

"No." I smiled. "I haven't, but I got some business with Revy."

"Nothing... personal, I hope?" Bao said, and there were beads of sweat on his forehead.

I grinned. "Business, but not personal business, if ya know what I mean." Coz I knew Revy. I'd heard a few stories, five years ago, from Dutch.

He shrugged, relieved look on his face. "She'll be in later, two or three hours maybe. She was here last night, with Dutch and Benny and Rock. Said she was coming back tonight for the party."

"Pretty quiet now," I said, looking around again, and I was the only frigging one sitting at the bar right now, which I guess was why Bao was standing in front of me, talking. Nothing else for him to do. Bunch of Cartel dago's sitting at a table in one corner, couple of tables of mainland chinks at the other end, some loud-mouthed haoles in Hawaiian shirts with a half a dozen hookers from upstairs, table of Filipino gangsters, and a couple of tables of Thais wearing sunglasses, sitting there, leaning forward, talking intently, drinking and chain smoking...

"Better gimme another one," I added, because that Mekong and Coke was smooth, and it went down real easy. Found myself starting to relax, for the first time in maybe three months. I knew I shouldn't, but it was such a frigging relief to be in Roanapur.

"Here you go, Trexy." Bao slid that next shot across the bar, and I paid him, because the sign above the bar said cash on the nose. Threw in a tip, a good one, because first impressions and everything, and one thing Bao didn't do was shortchange his customers, and I sipped on it as he moved on to the next customer.

"This taken?" Big guy, smiling, and he was young. My age, maybe a little older, American. Accent said Oklahoma, 'n I smiled, because I kinda guessed he was dressed the way a cowboy would. Hat, tan shirt, bandolier belt, jeans, revolver slung low on his hip, and when I looked down, cowboy boots. With spurs, and I was smiling when my eyes worked their way back up.

"Taken? It is now," I said, watching him as he eased himself onto that stool, and he was a big guy. Six foot something, and he had that look that said weights at the gym. "I'm Trexy."

"Tex." Bao was right there, sliding a chilled Singha across the bar.

"Thanks, Bao, and another for Trexy..." Whoever Tex was, and pretty much everyone from anywhere near Texas in Thailand answers to "Tex," he slid a note back and inclined his head towards me. Bao slid another glass across towards me, half filled, and that was more than a double.

"Trying to get me drunk?" I smiled, picked up my Mekong and slammed it down. I did like cowboy boots, and these ones had spurs. Never seen real spurs on cowboy boots before, and it really did things for me. Intense, shivery, exciting things.

"Yeah," he said, and that smile. Oh my gosh, my insides sort of danced, my heart beat a little faster, and I smiled right back, and hey, I'd been on the run for three months and I hadn't got myself laid since I left New York in a hurry. Not if you didn't count Morty, and I was still a bit sad about Morty. I mean, nice souvenir boots and all, but Morty, I'd liked the way he handled a girl.

Oh well, I could sit here and knock back a few thinking sad thoughts while I waited for Revy to show, or I could shortcut things here, and see some action, take my mind off the past, and then come on back, later. I looked Tex up and down, sipping on that straight Mekong, and with every sip, Tex looked better. Actually, Tex looked just like what I needed. Nothing like some physical therapy, and I eyed him, and smiled.

"Well," I said. "Consider me drunk, but it's still gonna cost you. How about you and me go for a walk, Cowboy?"

"Ma'am," he drawled. "There ain't nuthin' I'd like better." He stood, reached for my hand, and I took it, but not before I'd downed my Mekong, and walked out that door, alive with anticipation, yeah, I was feeling good.

"Your place or mine?" I asked, and yeah, he was peachy keen to head for my bed, so that was where we went.

"Say, how much?" he hesitated, watching as I unlocked the door.

"Whatever," I said, just about dragging him inside, and closing the door behind him. "This is gonna cost you a thousand baht. You okay with that?"

"Sure," he said. "Pay you after." He was already unbuckling his belt, and me I was peeling my jacket off, and our handguns hit the floor simultaneously, except I sorta caught mine with one foot to muffle the thump, and then there was a much bigger thump as we hit my bed..

"Ohhhhhhh," I sobbed, feet kicking at the bed, frantically, because it was good. It was really really really good, and his hands pinned mine to the bed, his cock thrust deep and high, thick and hard, and he really pounded me onto that bed, and I was along for the ride, and wowee zowee it was good.

Good all the way to the end, and Jesus, when he came it went from good to out of this world, and I woulda screamed if I coulda but all I could do was moan helplessly, because Jesus, I could fall in love with a guy like this, 'n I smiled up at him 'n I was just about to tell him to forget the thousand baht when he cut in on me.

"Federal Marshall," he said, smiling, his hands still pinning mine to the bed, and fuck, he'd fooled me. "And you, Miss Trexy Lee, are under arrest."

"What for?" I said, insides rippling as a little residual climax rippled through me, and god it was so good. Then, "This is Roanapur. You guys got no jurisdiction."

"Don't have jurisdiction," he said, grinning. "But I got you, and we're gonna take this nice and easy, aren't we, Ms. Lee. You and me, we can take a little trip back to Bangkok, and have a long talk about your friend Revy Two Hands, and who you actually are, and once we find out, I'm sure we'll want to slide you onto a plane heading back to the good 'ol US of A, because by then there'll be this Grand Jury back in New York wanting some quality time with you."

"Come on, Tex," I gasped, and okay, I was still limp in the aftermath of that climax, and my sex was sorta milking his cock, squeezing him, and that was good, let me tell you. Loved that afterwards, just lying there with him on me and in me, full of his cum, his weight on me, slippery with sweat, knowing I'd been fucked so good, and I didn't want this sorta shit. I really didn't.

He grinned. "Guess you know when you're fucked, huh, Trexy?" he said. "You gonna come quietly, aren't you. There's probably a lotta people back home wanna talk to you." He musta liked that thought, coz his cock throbbed, and there was that last spurt of cum, and I felt that, and my sex kinda milked him good.

"Jesus, you really fooled me," I gasped, drawing my knees right back, brushing his ribs again, and I felt kinda sad, because he had, he'd totally fooled me, and I just wasn't having a good run today. "I'd never have spotted you for a Fed." Not in a million years, not in that crazy cowboy outfit. "Why'd you want me, anyhow? I mean, I know Revy, but not that well."

He grinned down at me. That kinda cocksure grin a lotta guys have when they're sure that a girl's totally fucked. "Waal," he said. "Wasn't sure until we got back here, and I saw that dragon tattoo. Saw that, and there's only one of the triads that uses that dragon tattoo, and we both know that's the Flying Dragons, don't we."

"Crap," I said."I didn't have time to get rid of that."

"You should've," he said. "Without that, you'd just be one more asian hooker. Thought you were when we left the Yellow Flag."

"Can you pass me a tissue, they're on the nightstand," I asked, the way a girl does when she's fulla cum, and he glanced at the nightstand, and reached for the tissues the way a nice guy does, and yeah, well, that was all I needed, and I smiled up at him as my left hand, the one he'd let go, formed itself into a fist, middle knuckle extended, and then I struck, knuckle driving into his ear.

Hitting the nerves, exploding his ear drum, and I struck again, hard, simultaneously bucking him off as his eyes lost their focus, and yeah, the pain had disoriented him, and I had my backup gun, the one down the side of the bed, and when he started to roll towards me, he looked down the barrel of that good 'ol Norinco 1911 with the suppressor attached.

"Jesus," he said.

"Jesus ain't home, Cowboy," I said. "He's on vacation back in Vegas."

"You ca..." he said, his eyes widening as he looked into mine, and I knew what he saw there just before I put a bullet through his head, and fuck, I was gonna have to clean things up again, coz between the blood and the shit, he'd made a mess of my frigging bed, and that really sucked, because I did need somewhere to sleep, and I could sleep on the floor if I had to, but I didn't want to.

I looked at the body, and just shook my head as I worked his boots off. Who the fuck sent a kid like this to a place like Roanapur? He'd thought he was up to it. Thought he was a hard man. Thought he could handle Roanapur, and he musta thought I was an easy mark. Well, the poor little fucker had found out he wasn't that tough. Last thing he'd found out, and honestly, I was a bit sad about that. He'd seemed like a nice kid, until he crossed the line. Ah well.

He wasn't small, and dead, he was big and dead, and he was a pain in the ass to drag across the room to that window overlooking the canal. The window opened, and fuck, it took me forever, but I finally got him up and half way through.

"So long, Tex," I said, kinda sadly, working him out bit by bit until he dropped, and I didn't hear the splash as he dropped into the canal, not from up here, but the sheets followed, and he was gone.

Except for his boots, and I'd polish them up in the morning.

I lined those boots up with Morty's and the last guy whose name I never knew. Wasn't going to bother finding out, either, but they were nice boots. These ones, with the spurs, they were rather nice too, and it really was a shame. He'd seemed like such a nice guy, and I sort of hoped Roanapur wasn't gonna keep going like this. Three pairs of boots in a day was getting a bit much, even if they were nice boots, and I did enjoy looking at them.

Now that he was gone, didn't seem to be much point staying here. Might as well wander back to the Yellow Flag and see if Revy had dropped in. Bao had said she'd said she'd be in, and I'd rather catch up with her sooner than later. Gave my Norinco a quick clean, reloaded, tucked it away, took a shower, thought about it, and this time I slipped that second Spring field on, and I tucked that cute little Brugger and Thomet APC9 into my handbag.

Ten minutes later, I was out the door. By the time I got to the street and waved down a motorcycle taxi, I was in a much better frame of mind, and fifteen minutes later, I was pulling up a stool at the bar, and yeah, it was busier. You might say it was starting to hum, and the Halloween Party vibes were really on, the drinks flowing, noise level up there in party territory, 'n I smiled. "Mekong, Bao, make it a double. No ice. Coke on the side. Revy turned up yet?"

"You're back?" Bao said, pouring that double shot of Mekong, sliding it across the bar, no ice, and the Coke was cold. Ice cold. Beads of condensation on the can. "No, bitch isn't. Couldn't that guy keep it up or something?"

Dude sounded like he was laughing, and I guess I had that 'what a fucking disappointment' look that a girl gets when the guy's just wasted.

"Oh, he got it up alright, but the fucker was a Federal Marshall," I said, draining that double, and Bao had another one lined up. "Tried to stiff me so I kicked his ass out." The window anyway, and I smiled, but it was a twitch of the lips rather more than it was a smile. "You knew he was a Fed, huh, Bao? He asked me 'bout Revy. How come?" Yeah, I was pissed. So bite me. All I wanted was a night of frigging Halloween fun. I mean, souvenirs were fine, but this was getting a bit frigging much.

Bao shrugged, one eyebrow lifting and yeah, Revy'd laid it down for me last time I was here. Bao would sell information to anyone. I slipped him a hundred US, under the hundred baht for the Mekong.

"Dunno," Bao said, slipping the hundred into his inside jacket pocket. "Knew he was a Fed, guy hangs out here pretty much every night. Everybody here knows he's a Fed. They just like to keep an eye on Americans in general." He grinned. "He heard you say you were looking for Revy, and those bastards, they've got a real hard-on for Revy over something. He probably wanted to see what you were after." He grinned. "That, and score a freebie. Probably figured if he took you in, he wouldn't have to pay you. They don't get hookers reimbursed on expenses."

"Well, asshole won't be stiffing me again," I said, kinda sadly, because he'd had those big puppy dog eyes, and that big hard cock, and those cowboy boots, they'd really done it for me. Yeah, well, he'd wanted to score real bad, and I guess he'd gone out with a bang, so to speak, so at least he'd got the fuck of his life before I'd offed him.

"Guess he won't be," Bao said. "Hey, you gonna be hanging around or you want another one? I make introductions for a thirty percent cut. Girls work from here, they either work upstairs or they cut me in. No pimps allowed."

"Works for me," I said, slipping him three hundred baht. "Here 'ya go, and apologies. Shoulda asked first."

Bao palmed the cash, and I guess I had my cover established if he thought I was a hooker. "But right now, I've had it with guys for a while. I'm gonna sit here and drink until Revy shows up."

"Your lucky night, then," he said. "She just walked in with Rocky and Dutch."

Yeah, it was, and I picked up my drink, slid off my bar stool and walked on over and sat down, opposite her, coz I knew Revy. She didn't like surprises, and some bitch she didn't know, sitting down next to her uninvited, yeah, that'd be a surprise.

"Hi, Revy," I said, 'n I lifted my sunglasses, and my blue eyes looked into hers. "I'm Trexy. Trexy Lee, maybe you heard my name." 'N I smiled. "Ortiz says hi," 'n I flipped his badge onto the table.

"Ortiz?" she said. "That was a long time ago,.... Trexy." 'N I knew she knew who I was.

"Yeah," I said, 'n I smiled. "He retired, down in Florida. You'd never guess what happened to him."

"What?" she said, kinda flatly, and I knew we both remembered. She'd hidden me behind the garbage bins down that alley before that asshole Ortiz had raped her, 'n she been a kid. Just a kid, older than me, and I'd been terrified. Revy, she'd been terrified, Ortiz had kicked the shit out of her first, 'n then he'd fucking raped her.

I giggled. "Some gangbangers strung him up in a shower and carved him up, piece by piece, with a chainsaw. Took a few hours over it, the local cops said."

"Really?" Revy said, and she smiled. "Musta been real painful."

"Yeah, he did scream a lot," I said."He bit right through the gag I was using a coupla times."

"Glad you shared, Trexy," she said, 'n she looked at Ortiz' badge and tossed it into a corner. "Poor 'ol Ortiz. Bet that sucked."

"Yeah, did for him," he said, 'n I grinned. "Best therapy ever."

"Yeah, will, I get it on the therapy, So, wassup, Trexy?"