Chapter 9: What must not be?

Chapter 9: What must not be?

“Are you going to sleep early tonight, Gear?”

“Yes, Mom. I have to go out and catch the Black Bull gang tonight.”

“They’ve made a move already?” Pharada, his mother, knew about this mission well.

“Yes, it’s time.”

“Take care of Mangkon.”

His mother raised her hand and gently patted her son’s shoulder. Thian nodded in acknowledgement. He vowed to himself that he would never let the younger one be harmed.

A promise for the rest of his life.

The mission would begin at 2:30 AM, meaning that every police officer on this mission had to rest up and conserve their energy as much as possible.

In the large bedroom, the lights had been turned off and it was pitch black since 9:30 PM. But it was not yet bedtime, therefore someone found it hard to sleep. The sound of shifting around in bed was good evidence of this.

How can I force myself to sleep when my body is still so awake? Mangkon tried to close his eyes, but his brain was doing the opposite. Finally someone asked,

“What’s wrong? Can’t sleep?” “Are you excited or something?”

“Not at all. It’s just not bedtime yet.” “It’s only thirty minutes earlier.”

Normally, Thian and Mangkon went to bed at 10 PM sharp, but sometimes the person who was exhausted from work would doze off, and that person was Mangkon.

“Inspector, do you think we’ll be able to catch them?”

“What’s there to worry about? These guys are just small fish. We still have a long way to go to investigate.”

As old as his words were, the older male moved closer to Mangkon, plotting in his mind how much he hated that crazy pillow. It divided the boundary for him, with his wife, it’s too damn bothersome. Faster than a thought, was the act. The small man who laying facing the other way did not know that the soft pillow had moved position.

“Sleep, Mangkon. You’ll get tired.” “Y-Yes.”

“If you can’t sleep, I’ll lull you to sleep.”

A soft voice whispered next to his ear, with breath blowing on his shiny black hair. The police officer knows of this closeness, and before he could turn and look, a thick hand tugged at his waist, pulling him into a loose hug.

“I-Inspector”

“Let’s sleep. It’s already Ten PM. Are you sleepy yet?”

Damn it. How could doing this make him even more sleepy? A pair of rounded eyes opened wide, along with a heart that was racing, but when a large hand moved to lightly touch the back of his hand, it was too hard to protest.

“Sleep.” “Uh… Okay.”

“It’s cold tonight, don’t you think?” What did this sentence mean? Mangkon didn’t understand.

“Good night, Mangkon.”

But the racing heart from moments ago slowly calmed from the gentle, comforting touch. Drowsiness also attacked, and finally, delicate lashes slowly closed as his breathing became even.

If the person behind him was secretly smiling in the dark, it wasn’t known whether it was out of desire or something else as rugged lips stooped down to kiss the small, fine strands of hairs before speaking the same words as before.

“Good night.”

.

.

.

“War One calling War Two, do you hear me?” Thian’s deep voice came through the communicator.

“Yes, Inspector. We are on standby outside,” Nadol replied. “Mangkon and I are going in now.”

The large truck started to drive into the warehouse on the outskirts of town. If they thought they were superior, the police would always stay one step ahead. Even though this truck was

carrying illegal goods for delivery tonight, it had actually been seized in advance, without them knowing.

“Get ready, Mangkon.” “Yes, sir.”

“What time is it?” “It’s 2:50 AM.”

In ten more minutes it would be the appointed time. The truck slowly drove to the innermost part of the warehouse, then the engine was switched off and it parked completely. The atmosphere inside was stuffy, dim with faint light, but the two police officers were looking around, trying to memorize the entrances and exits.

Not long after that, a large man in a black cloak walked in. A long scar stretched across his face, and his sharp eyes were filled with suspicion as he looked into the rearview mirror before giving an abrupt order.

“Is everything in the truck?” “Yes.”

“Get down and open the trunk for me to see,” the man said, nodding for two more of his men to follow.

Thian made brief eye contact with Mangkon before they both got out of the truck unhurriedly. The police officer raised his hand to adjust his hat to better conceal his face as they followed to the back of the truck. At that moment, he tried to scan the surroundings, and his eyes caught on the wooden crates stacked high and low in uneven rows.

They must be making a fortune. “Open it.”

“Take it easy, brother.”

“Do you think I’m your playmate? Hurry up.”

“Yes, yes,” the young inspector teased as he opened the tailgate. A flashlight was used to shine light on the boxes inside. There were both firearms and plastic bags containing white powder.

“Good stuff.”

“We don’t haul shit goods.”

“Shouldn’t we count the stuff first, is it all there?” another henchman said. “Don’t order me around.”

They were calmly counting the items, but as Mangkon stood still, waiting for orders, his eyes caught something in the deep corner of the warehouse. Inside were Buddha images and antique jewelry that appeared to have been smuggled illegally. He moved closer and whispered to his superior to inform him.

“Inspector… those boxes…”

Thian nodded slightly without saying anything. At this moment, he tried to maintain as much composure as possible while signaling Mangkon to take pictures from the hidden camera.

Everything seemed to be going according to plan, but suddenly an alarm went off, making them both realize immediately that this warehouse had a signal detection device that worked automatically when electronic devices were used.

Damn it, smart as hell. “Hey, boss!”

The attention was immediately diverted, from two to four. They ran to surround the two police officers, raising guns in their hands, and the inspector, who was assessing the situation, began to move his body to shield his partner.

“Mangkon, step back.”

The Inspector was raising his hands, pretending to negotiate, because right now they didn’t know they were police officers.

“Calm down, brothers. We’re just delivering goods. No problem,” Thian’s tone was calm, almost friendly, but his eyes were wary.

“You son of a bitch! Who would believe that?” the group leader roared before ordering his men,

“Grab them!”

One of them rushed forward as ordered, a long arm reaching out to grab the strong arm, but with quick wits and instinct, he missed and was flipped to the ground by Thian.

The situation was turning bad… a fight was unavoidable. “You want to play like this, huh? Fine.”

“Mangkon, run!”

Thian shouted loudly before dodging to the left. The opposing side’s gun fired immediately. Bang! The sound echoed throughout. The bullet flew into the wooden crates stacked high, causing them to fall with a loud crash.

Mangkon quickly took cover behind those boxes and raised his gun to return fire, thinking, Did they really think they’d be the only ones shooting?

Those bastards. “Inspector!”

“Signal Kanin and Nadol. I’ll hold them back.” “Yes.”

The police officer acknowledged the order and ducked behind another tall stack of crates. His white hand grabbed the phone and immediately dialed. The sound of gunfire continued to boom. He couldn’t let the inspector face them four against one.

However, as he was bracing his back to rise, his hawk-like eyes caught sight of one of them to the right, aiming a gun at the inspector’s body on the left.

“Inspector! Watch out!” Mangkon shouted as he lunged to shield Thian’s body. The bullet slammed into his shoulder with full force.

“Mangkon!”

“Damn it, you two are going to die together!”

Thian didn’t care about anything else. He rushed to the injured partner, shocked. He clenched his teeth so hard that the jawline stood out clearly on his face, so angry he reached his limit.

“You…”

One of the thugs raised his gun, aiming at the two police officers. The other three stood still, sneering and laughing with satisfaction.

“Say goodbye. Why do act like husband and wife? Here, I’ll give you time to say goodbye.” “Consider it a pre-death service.”

But at the moment the thug was about to pull the trigger… Bang! Bang! Bang!

Kanin and Nadol burst into the warehouse, fully armed. The bullet from the skilled Captain Chiang Rai grazed the thug’s wrist, and the gun of the one from before fell to the ground immediately, followed by a moan.

“Ouch, son of a bitch!”

“You guys, run!” The three were trying to escape, but it was too late.

Reinforcements had surrounded them all. There was no way out and no way to escape. And then the Black Bull gang was rounded up with a huge amount of contraband in tow.

Meanwhile, Thian, who was supporting the injured one, displayed panic. He gently lifted the lightweight partner onto him, before ordering the two captains to get the car now.

“Get the car in here. I’ll take Mangkon to the hospital.” “Shit, who shot Nong Mangkon, Thian?!”

Kanin was angry, but the person in his close friend’s arms was still smiling wanly, and gently spoke.

“I’m okay, Captain Kanin.” “Pale, and still okay?”

“You don’t need to say anything. Let’s get you to the doctor first.”

The car pulled up in a few minutes, and the injured one remained in the young inspector’s arms. Captain Nadol was driving, while Thian was still holding Mangkon in the back seat. He kept trying to get the injured partner to stay conscious and respond.

It hurts like hell. My whole body and heart ache.

The instant he saw Mangkon lunge to take the bullet for him, a flash of fear shot through him. It wasn’t just physical pain, but a deep, core fear within his heart– a fear so hard to describe.

The fear of losing him…

Why? Why would this person risk his life for me? What were you thinking at that moment? Were you that worried about me? But I’m much more worried about you.

Dark eyes looked at the partner leaning against his shoulder. His fair face was paling more and more, and the blood from the gunshot wound on his shoulder kept flowing.

“Mangkon, don’t fall asleep,” a low voice called out repeatedly, gently tapping his cheek. “Uh… uh… In… Inspector…”

“Don’t say anything now. We’ll be at the hospital soon.” “I… uh… I want to eat shaved ice.”

“Okay. Whatever you want to eat, I’ll take you to it all.” Just please don’t be hurt. Just don’t be hurt, Mangkon.