When he heard the bathroom door creak open, Cho turned from the window. Philly Lambrosia stepped out of the bathroom wearing a scarlet-red teddy that left precious little to the imagination. She pursed her lips and blew the Korean a kiss as she sashayed to the nightstand, helping herself to the four crisp hundred-dollar bills Cho had set out for her. Cho hadn’t bothered haggling over Philly’s going rate. After all, the money was counterfeit and he had a suitcase half filled with more of the bills back at the safehouse where Li-Roo Kohb had been taken.
“Whoa, you have just a few scars there, don’t you?” Philly observed. “Are you some kind of war hero or something?”
“Something like that,” Cho said.
“But so much for small talk,” Lambrosia cooed. She knelt on the bed and then leaned forward to give Cho a better glimpse of her surgery-enhanced breasts. “Shall we have our little party now?”
Cho didn’t need a second invitation. He quickly downed the last of the bourbon, then tossed the bottle aside and swaggered toward the bed. He was fingering the waistband of his boxers when the woman’s expression suddenly changed. She’d glanced over at the Korean’s clothes, which he’d dumped on the chair next to the bed, and her eyes were fixed on an unmistakable bulge in the pocket of his jacket.
“Wait a second,” she said. “Is that a gun?”
Cho misunderstood and looked down at his groin, then winked at Lambrosia knowingly.
“A big gun,” he joked. “And you have the holster, yes?”
But the woman wasn’t in a joking mood. “That’s not what I’m talking about,” she said.
She crawled across the bed and then leaned out, reaching for Cho’s jacket.
Cho realized what she was doing and suddenly lunged forward, grabbing for the jacket, as well. In the ensuing tug-o-war, the gun fell clear and thumped to the carpet. It was a 9 mm Glock semiautomatic pistol.
“What is this?” Lambrosia demanded as she let go of the jacket. “Soldier, my ass. You’re a cop, aren’t you?”
“No, no,” Cho told her. He picked up the gun and assured her. “I work private security, that’s all.”
“If you’re a cop, this is entrapment,” Lambrosia complained. “And for the record, we never talked about sex!”
“I’m not a cop!” Cho shouted. “Don’t you listen?”
But Lambrosia wasn’t buying it. “Let me see some identification,” she demanded.
Cho Il-Tok’s ardor had dampened, replaced by a growing anger. The last thing he was interested in was being talked down to by some American whore. Glowering, he raised his gun and thumbed off the safety, then drew bead on the mole over Philly’s right cheek.
“You want some identification?” Cho taunted. “How is this?”
“Hey, hey, wait a minute. Let’s calm down here, big fella,” Lambrosia said, a trace of fear in her eyes as she stared down the bore of the Korean’s gun. “Point that thing somewhere else, would you?”
Cho kept the Glock trained on the woman. “Take it off!” he told her, nodding at her teddy.
“I will. Just get that gun out of my face!”
“Take it off!” Cho repeated, holding the gun steady. “Now!”
“Okay, okay!” Lambrosia’s hands trembled as she fumbled with the teddy, unable to take her eyes off the gun.
“Look, I’m s-sorry,” she sputtered, “I didn’t mean to be so nosy. It’s just—”
“No more talking!” Cho told her. “I liked you better with your mouth shut!”
When Lambrosia continued to have trouble with the teddy, Cho moved forward and grabbed at the fabric. The woman let out a faint shriek as he jerked hard, ripping the teddy at the seams and then yanking it away from her body.
“Stupid American bitch!” he seethed, shoving her back on the bed.
Cho was about to climb out of his boxers when he suddenly froze in place and turned his gaze to the door. He thought he’d heard someone on the other side sliding a card key into the lock. When he saw the doorknob turn, the Korean dropped to a quick crouch behind the bed.
A second later the door flew open. Cho didn’t wait to see who it was. He opened fire, aiming chest-high at the doorway. He didn’t hit anyone, but his shots had managed to keep whoever it was from charging into the room.
Cho’s instincts told him that he was probably outnumbered, so rather than stay put, he pivoted and put a round through the window behind him, shattering it into small pieces. Even as the last few fragments were tumbling to the carpet, the Korean was on his feet, racing toward the window. Gunfire sounded behind him and he heard the loud thud of a round plowing into the wall to his immediate right. Somebody called out for him to freeze but he ignored the command and instead hurdled his way out the window.