Red Dragon 2: Flash Fiction

Red Dragon 2

Dyllis stepped onto the escalator and let it do its job. She was on a mission. Jacob had rung her with the news and now she had to see Mary.
They had all been waiting to hear for so long; ever since Martin left them, two years ago. There was no farewell party, he just said:
‘I’m leaving tomorrow’ and then he was gone. It wasn’t like him; they all thought he was the steady one. After all he had bailed them out of a few tricky situations over the years.
They all owed him.
A year after he left the texts started.

‘Help me’…
‘I’m lost’…
‘I can’t find the way’…

Before he left Martin had told them that his father was in deep trouble. He had flown to Beijing to try and help him. This was understandable. They had sometimes talked together about visiting the motherland. As BBC’s (British Born Chinese) they had strong links with China and they all had relatives there. But Dyllis, Jacob and Mary were staying well away; they thought visiting could lead to trouble.

Jacob received all the texts. A recent one said:

‘Red Dragon… collect the cash. I’ll send the security code.’

‘What does it mean?’ Jacob asked Mary but neither she nor Dyllis new the answer.

Then a parcel arrived, stuffed with $100 US bills and a note… ‘this is a small sample.’

The day after another text arrived.

‘Meet me at Barclay’s, High Street, today at 12.00 and bring the money.’ It said.

They raced to the bank and there was Martin standing beneath the clock.

His face looked the same but his clothes were different. He was wearing a dark blue Armani suit.

‘My friends, I’ve come back’ he said smiling at them.

No-one answered, they were too shocked by what they saw. Martin was also wearing a smart white shirt and tie. This merely highlighted the Red Dragon tattoo on his neck the sign of the feared t’ai- yang triad.