She pointed her knife at me; her hands began to get shaky, and her eyes started to get teary.
"Argh." Bobby gasped in pain, with a hand rubbing his chest, trying to soothe the pain.
She then pointed her knife at Bobby, not knowing what to do with two strange men in the house.
I could see her eyes, glancing periodically to the side, where there was a bedroom.
Inside the bedroom, lying on the bed, was an old lady sleeping, most probably the young woman's mother.
By the side of the bed were bottles of medicine.
I then knew what to do.
"Take it easy, we got into some trouble. We need your help to hide for a bit."
I pointed to the old lady.
She shook her head vigorously; tears rolled down her eyes.
Damn it, she must have thought I was threatening her with her mother's life.
I took a deep breath and sighed.
Then I pulled out some cash, moving slowly and carefully, I placed it on the coffee table.
"Here's a small token for your help; use it for your mother's medication."
I put my index finger to my mouth, made a shh sound.
She nodded, lowered her hand with the knife, and picked up the cash.
Like I said earlier, it's not a problem when you can solve it with money.
We then turned around, opened the door slightly, and peeped outside through the small slit.
The coast was clear, and we then left.
I messaged Kurnawan, asking him to meet us at the Bebek Goreng shop.
We then tracked our way back to the Bebek Goreng shop.
Kurnawan didn't waste any time; he was inside the Jeep waiting for us.
"Phew, that was close," Bobby said as we hopped into the Jeep.
"Are you guys still hungry? I know a safe place if you still want to have lunch," Kurnawan said.
Bobby's stomach growled; I was hungry too, so we agreed.
It was a Chinese restaurant named "Hock Kee", in the posh area of Pontianak.
"Seats for three," Kurnawan said to the attendant at the usher.
The usher then led us inside; the restaurant had all the usual décor.
Traditional Chinese painting on the wall.
Red-colored cutouts of auspicious words.
Big round tables with lazy susans instead of squarish tables.
We were led to a window seat, sat down, and looked at the menu.
"What's their specialty? I'm starving," Bobby asked.
"You can try the Roast chicken stuffed with glutinous rice."
"Then let's have that."
When the chicken arrived, we couldn't wait to feast on it.
Oily and crispy chicken skin on the outside, the tender chicken meat inside.
When you cut it open, there was delicious glutinous rice, cooked and filled with flavor from the chicken.
Seeing the chicken get cut and revealing the glutinous rice, there was something waiting to pop out of my head.
I couldn't put my finger on what it was.
So, I just kept quiet and enjoyed our lunch.
"Burp." Bobby patted his stomach when he was done and said, "That was filling."
"Do you have any information on the Flaming Wheels gang?" I asked Kurnawan.
"That's why we are here." He took out a piece of paper, wrote something on it, passed it to the waitress, and said, "Pass it to 'the Chef', say it's from Kurnawan."
"Sure, give me a moment. In the meantime, do have a look at our desserts."
We shook our heads in unison.
And since we were waiting, we lit up and had a smoke.
"Kurnawan, why are you always smiling? If you don't mind," I asked Kurnawan.
"My life starting out was tough; my parents didn't want the burden and left us.
"My grandmother took to rummaging for valuables in the dumping ground to make a living.
"I swore to myself, I will make a big fortune, smiling while doing it, as a way to forget my past."
Kurnawan replied looking out the window, as if he was looking into the past while he spoke.
I nodded in silence, with the teacup in my hand, and made a toast to him.
He toasted back and drank the tea.
"Excuse me, sir. 'The chef' has something for you," the waitress appeared again.
She passed a piece of paper to Kurnawan and left.
He looked at the paper and said: "The leader of the Flaming Wheels gang is someone called Hamood. They primarily deal with petty crime. Theft, protection money, gambling dens.
"This Hamood is a ruthless guy, so he was able to expand his gang very rapidly. I have his location here; I can try and end him, but it's best for us to lie low first."
"I agree; the most important thing now is to figure out where the map is."
"Yeah, quickly find the gold before the new party arrive. I don't want my share of profits diluted," Bobby chimed in.
On our way back to the hotel, I was scheming something for the new party.
I needed someone to take care of the new party; Hamood might just be the help.
...
We went back to the hotel, told Amy Lee and the rest about our encounter with Flaming Wheels.
"Hmph, when it rains, it pours. From now on, everyone stay alert; do not venture outside alone unnecessarily," Amy Lee shook her head.
"So, does anyone have any hunch on where the map is?"
Everyone shook their heads.
Still at a stalemate.
On that disappointing note, I went back to my room to rest as I was getting too tired.
I got the bathtub ready with hot water.
I closed my eyes, submerged myself in the hot water; it was relaxing, and I could instantly feel my tense body loosen up.
Then I felt something cold at my feet.
Damn it!
It was Snookey again.
I couldn't take it anymore, took a bottle of shampoo and threw it at him.
It just flew past his translucent body.
He just stared and grinned.
Kept doing the same thing, pointing at me then at his stomach.
"The hell..."
I wanted to lash out and cuss at him, then everything clicked.
Snookey pointing at his stomach, the roasted chicken with the glutinous rice inside.
Eureka!
That must be it!