Warnings:
A Murder!
~
denotes thoughts
CHAPTER 4:
Bulma
sipped her iced tea and mused thoughtfully. She was dressed in a form-fitting
black ensemble, which complimented her white mink coat. The restaurant she had
chosen to meet her best friend was expensive, but very discreet. She knew how
dangerous her position was and she didn’t need to draw more attention to
herself. Crushing her cigarette into the ashtray, she scanned the barely filled
room; she concluded that none of the people there looked liked they might have
been spies. She pushed her sunglasses up her nose even further and tightened
the scarf around her hair and neck. Discretion was the key word in this
business.
Smiling
quietly, she watched as her best friend strolled into the restaurant and began
walking towards her. She was dressed in similar fashion. Covered completely
from head to toe in a large fur coat, her hair was also tied up with a silk
scarf and the dark glasses she wore hid her eyes.
“Hey
Chi-chi,” Bulma greeted softly.
“Hi,
Bulma. You are looking good.” She replied, taking a quick look around the room
and then sitting herself across the table.
“You
weren’t followed were you?” Bulma asked, noticing the glance.
“I
don’t think so. What about you?”
“Nah…I
came in through the back.” She paused as she noticed the slight bruise beneath
her friend’s eyes. She leaned forward and whispered harshly. “Did that bastard
do that to you again?” watching as Chi-chi turned her head away and grimaced.
Bulma
hissed underneath her breath and thought of a million ways to kill Bejita. She
had never understood why her best friend had insisted on dating that man. She
and Chi-chi had been close since their high-school days and somehow their
dreams of becoming school-teachers had turned into this living nightmare. She
had wound up marrying Piccolo, whom she had fallen in love with at first sight,
and Chi-chi had ended up with Bejita. Bulma had met Piccolo in a nightclub,
while Chi-chi had been courted by one of Bejita’s men, Zarbon, whom Piccolo,
luckily hadn’t known. It turned out that Zarbon was actually courting Chi-chi
for Bejita and since then the poor girl had never found a way to leave the
abusive relationship.
“I
don’t get it, Chi-chi. I have told you to let Piccolo help you. Why do you
still insist on being with that bakayaro?”
“Look,
Bulma, this is an old conversation. I really would like to move along now. So
if you don’t mind, I am really hungry.”
Bulma
sighed deciding to let the matter rest for now. She signaled for the maitre d’
and ordered their food for them. They talked about everything and nothing,
enjoying the relative peace and quiet for now. These moments were rare and the
women cherished every minute of it.
“So….have
you all heard from Goku and Yamcha, yet?” Chi-chi asked, buttering her toast
and chewing on it daintily.
“Aaaaaahhhh…so
you still have a crush on Goku, huh?” Bulma asked slyly, raising her eyebrows
in mock shock.
“No,
I do not!” Chi-chi replied, a bit too sharply. Her face burned with
embarrassment. She had always had an eye for the reclusive thief, but it had
seemed like she was always tongue-tied around him, at least the only time they
had met.
“Yeah,
right! Anyways, Piccolo says that the heist should be going on tonight as
planned, if it isn’t over already.” Bulma replied, glancing at her watch. “It
should be nighttime in Paris now. I never did get to thank you, though.”
Chi-chi
waved her hands in dismissal, “It doesn’t matter really. What are friends for?
Anything to make that bastard pay for what he has done to me.”
Several
comfortable minutes went by, as both women contemplated silently. With a sigh,
Chi-chi said, “I have to run now B-Chan. You will call me? At the usual place?”
“Sure, Chi-chi.” Bulma smiled, reaching out and clasping the
cold hands in front of her. “Take care of yourself and be careful. I love you,
you know.”
Chi-chi
swallowed the tears that threatened to fall and kissed her best friend on the
cheek. Shouldering up her handbag, she smiled quickly and headed out into the
chilly mid-afternoon.
Bulma
watched, smiling softly, as Chi-chi left. It would be the last time she would
ever see her best friend alive.
Chi-chi
rattled the keys on her doorway, her hands shaking so badly she could hardly
think. She had had the unnerving feeling that someone had been following her.
Practically running up the stairs to her apartment, she had tried to convince
herself that it was just a bad case of paranoia.
“Yes..”
she whispered triumphantly, as the door finally gave way. Dashing into the room,
she quickly shut the door behind her and bolted it with quick nervous jerks.
Relaxing a little, she walked into her bedroom and began stripping out of her
clothes. Walking naked to the bathroom, she stopped to take a quick look at her
body. The bruises from her last fight with Bejita were still sore. Wincing, she
touched the ones above her eye and lower lip. Nothing a quick touch-up with her
make-up couldn’t fix.
Stepping
into the shower stall, she turned the water up to scalding hot, wanting to wash
away any trace of her outing today. Bejita wouldn’t like it if she came in
tonight looking like she had been anywhere else but home. Closing her eyes, she
allowed the water to soak through every inch of skin and hair. She hummed to
herself as she scrubbed herself off, vowing silently to make her move on Goku
once he came back from his mission. She smiled as she remembered the
magnificence of the man. ~ Ah the perfect bod. ~ Giggling slightly, she
suddenly froze as she heard something clattering in her bedroom.
Trembling,
she rinsed herself off quickly and reached nervously for her bathrobe, leaving
the shower on, in case someone was actually there.
~
No need to panic, Chi-chi. Maybe your picture frame fell or something.~ She
grabbed hold of the toilet plunger (the only possible weapon she could find at
the moment) and tiptoed noiselessly to the bathroom doorway. Gently sliding the
glass doors open, she gingerly stuck her head out, only to have it yanked
painfully as she was pulled out and tossed on the bed.
“AAAIIIII!”
she screamed, as she landed with a thud. Recovering quickly, she jumped back up
and faced her attacker.
“Zarbon!!”
she gasped.
“Sorry,
Chi-chi.” The man said, not looking sorry at all. “But it seems like you have
outlived your usefulness.” Smirking devilishly, he held up the silencer he had
been hiding and pointed it directly at the woman’s forehead.
Chi-chi’s
eyes widened in shock and acting purely on instinct, she threw the plunger into
the tall man’s face and dashed madly into the kitchen. ~ A knife! I need a
knife!~ She pulled out drawers frantically, tossing everything and anything
away, panting in short breaths as she heard Zarbon approach her. Finally
finding what she was looking for, she clutched the weapon and swirled around to
face her attacker, unaware of the tears of anger and frustration that were
falling in torrents down her cheek.
“One
more step Zarbon, and I swear I will kill you!!” she screamed. ~Why wasn’t
anyone hearing all this?~ she thought furiously. Her hands shook as she backed
away from the advancing man. It was taking all she had to keep her hands still
on the knife.
“Oh?”
an eyebrow quirked up. “So I guess you are going to stab me to death, while I
have this.” He mocked, holding the gun up leisurely.
“Stay
away from me!!! I mean it!!” she yelled in panic, as she backed up to one of
the counters.
“Come
now, Chi-chi, don’t be such a ….AAAAAHHHHH! FUCK!!” he screamed in shock and
surprise as the woman had moved so fast and in the process, taken a chunk of
his arm along with her. Feeling the blood seep out of his jacket, he turned
rage-filled eyes at the rapidly disappearing woman. “Oh, you are so dead.” He
muttered harshly.
Chi-chi
didn’t know where to run to anymore. Feeling like she was rapidly losing her
mind, she rushed out of her apartment, and began banging on her neighbors’
doors.
“Please
help me!! Someone is trying to kill me!! Pleassssseeeee!!” she begged
frantically. She watched in dismay, as either the doors remained shut or the
people stared at her in confusion and fear and then shut their doors. “Somebody
please help me!!”
“Too
late, sweetheart.” Zarbon said quietly behind her. Spinning around quickly,
Chi-chi raised shaking hands to her throat, her eyes widening in horror and her
mouth opening in a noiseless scream. She never got to say another word as the
bullet made its’ way into her heart.
Five
miles away, the Don stared out the city skyline, his lips pursed as if in deep
thought. He did not turn around when the man came in. He did not need to.
“It
has been done, sir.”
“Thank
you, Zarbon.” He replied calmly. “You will get your money from me in about a
week.”
“Yes
sir. Thank you, sir.” He replied, slipping out quietly from the room.
Bejita
allowed a small smile to grace his face. ~ One down, four more to go.~
Bulma
suckled gently on the protrusion from her husband’s head. She listened idly to
his moans of pleasure as she tweaked his nipples teasingly.
“Piccolo
sweetie…” she drawled lazily, licking the side of his face gently.
“Yesss…B-Chan.”
He murmured in lazy content, making himself more comfortable within the silk
sheets and then pulling the willingly body to him. He caught her lips in a
bruising kiss and then released her gently.
“Its’
about…well…you know who…”she purred, sliding her fingers up and down the thick
muscled chest.
“B-Chan…you
know I don’t want to get involved with those two right now. I am sure Chi-chi
can take care of herself.”
“Yeah,
but I am really getting worried about her.” Bulma complained, pouting slightly.
“She keeps getting abused by that big goof and no one is doing anything to stop
it.”
“And
you think I should?” he asked gruffly, fondling with her breasts beneath the
satin negligee she wore.
“I
am serious Piccolo.” She protested, slapping his hands away. “She could get
hurt. I just want someone to go down there and see if she is all right.”
“Are
you crazy Bulma? Why would I want to send one of my guys over there to see if
she is fine or not? Don’t you think Bejita would have people guarding her as
well? That has got to be the dumbest idea I have ever…”
“Well
its’ nice to know that my LOVING husband approves of my DUMB ideas!” she yelled
indignantly. Slipping angrily away from him, she yanked off the sheets and
stomped out of the room.
“Where
do you think you are going to, ONNA?!” Piccolo shouted angrily as well. Just
when he was about to get some, she starts talking about that freak show Bejita.
Mumbling curses under his breath, he got off the bed and stomped after her.
“ONNA!!
GET BACK HERE!!”
“Umm..Mr.
Piccolo sir.” The head butler began meekly, chasing after the half naked man.
“What
is it?!!” He snapped in irritation.
“There
is a phone call for you sir. International.”
Frowning
in consternation, he decided to pick up the phone, first. Walking into his
office, he switched on his videophone, and came face to face with a very pissed
off looking Goku.
“What
is it, Goku?” Piccolo asked, already dreading the answer.
“Well,
Piccolo.” Goku replied through gritted teeth. “It seems like someone else got
to the safe before us.”
“Bejita?”
“I
doubt it. Those bakas couldn’t even tie their shoelaces properly if they tried.
This job was done too slickly. Perfection, if I may say so myself.”
“You
think there is someone else in this as well?” Piccolo asked, raising eyebrows
in disapproval.
“Listen
Piccolo, you and Bejita are not the only big shots you know. Of course there
might be others!” Goku yelled back in apparent frustration.
“Cool
down, hotshot! Or you will find yourself tomorrow’s news!”
“Sorry…”
Goku mumbled, running fingers through his hair.
Piccolo
frowned in thought. This was a problem. If there were someone else complicating
matters for them, it wasn’t going to be pretty. Turning back to the screen, he
gave his orders,
“Goku.
I want you to listen up and listen up good. You and Yamcha have got to find out
who stole our property! I don’t care how you do it, but you will find him or
them and if necessary eliminate! The fewer we are the better! Do you
understand?”
“We
are on it.” Goku smirked sternly and signed out with a curt nod.
Piccolo
remained frowning for several moments and then turned around swiftly to see
Bulma leaning against the office doorway. Smiling quickly, he walked up to his
wife and grabbing her in a swift hug, he whispered huskily in her ears,
“Pack
up sweetheart. We are going to Paris.”
“HOW
THE HELL IS THAT POSSIBLE?!”
17
cringed as he held the phone away from his ears. He had figured that the Don
would be upset, but this was unbelievable. In fact, the whole night had been
fucking unbelievable. He and Trunks had gotten to the Treasury at their
specified time. The place had looked untouched. They had gone in and had
received the shock of their lives when the safe stood empty again. He
remembered how pissed off he had been.
Trunks had screamed in frustration. After all
their hard work and plans, those…those…he hadn’t even been able to find a
suitable word to call them. Pacing in agitation up and down the empty safe,
they had thought about what they were going to tell their boss.
“I
AM WAITING, 17….” Bejita shouted on the other end.
“We
will search for them, and I promise you sir, we will get your gold bars back.”
“Blast
you all to hell!! Where is Raditz?! Why can’t I hear him?”
“He
is outside, sir.”
For
several strained moments, 17 waited for Bejita to calm down.
“Alright
17.” He began in as calm a voice as he could manage. “I am on my way to Paris.
And by the time I get there, I hope that not only will you have my property
back, you will have eliminated those assholes, or by Kami, I will make you guys
into dog food!! Do I make myself clear?!!”
“Yes,
sir.” 17 replied grimly, “We are on it!”
Hanging
up the phone, 17 turned towards his weary partner.
“Alright koi. It is time to get ugly with
those pretty boys.”
The
man ripped off the woolen mask and sucked in much needed air. Dumping the large
knapsack on the floor, he removed his laptop and activated his private line.
Smiling ruefully, he patted himself on the back for a job well done. So far
things were going according to plan. He had barely made it out of the building,
when he had spotted Goku, Yamcha and their team.
“Hello,
Vegeta!” came the smiling face of a beautiful brunette on his laptop screen.
“Hellooo, Sheryl.” He grinned back.
“I
guess everything went according to plan, ne?”
“What
do you think?” unable to control his pleasure.
“Just
don’t forget what you came there to do, alright handsome?”
“Sure,
sure. Hey Sheryl….thanks for everything, so far. I owe you big time. Say hello
to the husband for me, okay?”
“You
got it.”
Closing
his laptop, he relaxed against the sheets in his hotel bed. Clasping his hands
behind his head, Vegeta smiled lazily.
~
Ah… now the fun really begins! Don’t worry father, I am coming for you soon.
But for right now, there are two people I am really interested in. I hope you
are both ready for me Goku and Yamcha, because I am most definitely ready for
you. ~