Bitcoin Bandits

by Chris Kale

  “Actually,” she said, “he kidnapped me from the hotel room. It was the single most terrified I’ve ever been in my life. I thought I was going to die. Thomas came to save me.”

  “OK,” Soo-Jin said. “I believe this. This actually makes sense.”

  There were several minutes of silence then as the high skyscrapers of Seoul came into view.

  Is he really going to book me for the attempted theft of billions of dollars’ worth of currency? There’s no way the U.S. is going to believe this. . . I hope. . .

  They passed over the bridge, entering back into the city. Thomas watched the faces of the thousands of pedestrians, most of them looking at cell phones, but he watched their smiles as they walked. He thought about the highs and lows of those peoples’ days. Some of them had sick family members, others desperately just wanted love. Some may have gotten that raise they’d asked about, while others may be lost without a job. How many of them neglected their daughters to addiction? Maybe even one of those lost a lover recently.

  There was an overwhelming urge to talk to his daughter Sarah, then and his grandson. The regret weighed heavily in his heart.

  He turned toward Freyja, “It's going to be OK. I’ll get you through this. I promise.”

  Eventually Thomas began to notice something seemed oddly familiar. They were extremely close to the BitX headquarters as Soo-Jin had taken them down the street where the protests had been. He didn’t ask him, but a peculiar feeling was going on through him.

  Sure enough, Soo-Jin pulled the car into the underground garage beneath the skyscraper.

  “BitX huh?” Thomas asked, leaning back in his seat.

  “Yes, there’s something we need to discuss with Li up there first.”

  Why is he taking us to Li, does he work for him? They have the drive now, and if they have half a brain they can get the Bitcoin back in minutes. Why do they want us?

  Soo-Jin pulled into an oddly empty garage basement.

  “All right,” he said after getting out of the car, closing his door, and opening Freyja’s door. “Let’s go.”

  Freyja got out slowly, and Soo-Jin was nice enough to cover her head so she didn’t bump it. “First though,” he dug his hand into Freyja’s pocket, retrieving her cell phone. He took it and turned it off, and then placed it in the car. As Thomas did the same after scooting to that side on the leather seats, Soo-Jin took both his, shut them off, and threw them on the passenger seat next to hers.

  “Is it normal police practice to shut off someone’s cell phone?” Freyja asked, as she glowered at him.

  He grabbed her harshly by the arm, pulling her toward the elevator doors.

  “She asked you a question,” Thomas said.

  “Shut up. Just walk. We’re just going to have a little chat,” Soo-Jin said, and what choice did they have? Soo-Jin had them cuffed, and he was the one with the gun now. He had a license to kill if need be. They followed him into the elevator, and as he pressed the button to take them to the lobby, Thomas had a sinking suspicion that he didn’t want to talk to Li.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Entering the glamorous lobby of BitX, with its sharp-cut stainless-steel sculptures highlighted brilliantly from behind with glowing blue and white LED lights. The glass walls of the building let the fading light of the day in with a warm, soft orange glow. And there was no one in the normally bustling building; no receptionist, no security, no protesters—no one.

  Thomas didn’t have to ask some sarcastic remark about why such a huge building would be closed on a weekday, so he didn’t, but there was something oh-so-not-right about this. Soo-Jin led them to the elevator that would take them to the top of the building, and to the scene of the hack of all those Bitcoin.

  Freyja hesitated, halting in her tracks. “I don’t want to go,” she said to Thomas, but it was loud enough for Soo-Jin to hear. Her facial expression was that of a wise child, and that same intense survivalist that had saved both of them back in Niklas’ basement. Her eyes had grown dark, and she stared with a menacing look up at Soo-Jin, whose eyes stared angrily into hers below furrowed brows.

  “Get the fuck in the elevator,” he said, his hand finding his gun strapped to his hip.

  “You already have the drive, why are you taking us up there?” she demanded. “I demand to know.”

  Soo-Jin pulled the gun from its holster and pointed it squarely at her head.

  She shook her head back and forth. “Nope. Doesn’t work on me.”

  “Soo-Jin,” Thomas said, his voice echoing throughout the lobby. “Don’t.”

  Soo-Jin frowned menacingly. He then moved the gun in the direction of Thomas, and he frowned at Freyja. “So?” he asked. “We going?”

  “You wouldn’t,” she asked. “That’s murder.”

  “Yeah, I’m not going to shoot Thomas,” he said. “I kind of like him, and he’s a U.S. Agent. But who the fuck are you?” He pointed the gun back at Freyja. “We don’t even know who you are, yet. . . Thomas, you want to do the honors, please?”

  Thomas let out a deep sigh, lowering his head, and took slow steps into the elevator. Freyja, with her eyes frantically scanning the area to look for a way out of the situation, didn’t seem to know what to do, so she followed Thomas, standing next to him, she wrapped her hand around his.

  “I’m scared, Thomas,” she whispered as Soo-Jin entered behind them, standing in front of them with the gun pointed at her.

  “Don’t be,” Thomas said. “Like I said, I’m going to get you through this. We just need to stay together.”

  Soo-Jin pressed the top floor button, and with a soft ding, the elevator erupted to life, lifting them up with a jostling motion.

  All the while, Thomas was thinking—Ron, where are you now?

  It was an uneasy silence in the elevator all the way. Freyja’s good hand gripped Thomas’ with a tight clench, and Thomas’ palms were sweating. There was nervous anticipation that grew thick in the air in the tiny elevator. And as the elevator dinged as it rose to the top of the building, the doors opened slowly, revealing a dark interior devoid of life, and starved of lights. Thomas wasn’t surprised to find no receptionist up here, but there was no one. Li was somewhere up here waiting to have a conversation.

  With a nudge of the black, steel gun, Soo-Jin ushered them out, and Thomas led the way. He considered trying to overpower the man who was a full six inches shorter than him, but with Thomas’ hands bound, what? Was he going to head butt him to death? Soo-Jin was a trained police officer. So Thomas walked, and Freyja followed. They walked side by side with Soo-Jin toward the CEO’s office.

  Once they reached the point where the side wall of his office turned to transparent glass, Li flew up from his side with a furrowed brow. Thomas and Freyja walked into the office, that had the door wide open. His gaze was on them quick, but it quickly moved then to Soo-Jin.

  “What is this?” Li asked, with his knuckles on the desk in between them. “You arrested them? Why are they cuffed?”

  “They found the seed phrase, or at least the final piece to the puzzle,” Soo-Jin said in a calm tone, lowering the firearm to his side.

  Li’s eyes shot to Thomas. “You have it? What is it? We must move the crypto immediately!”

  “I don’t have it. . . yet,” Thomas said. “But I’ll have to say I’m worried about giving it back to you.”

  “What are you talking about?” Li said, standing up with his arms folded. “It was stolen from me. I want it back. My investors are about to be out for my blood.”

  “We know you stole it,” Freyja said with the corners of her mouth turned down, slightly hidden behind her wild hair.

  Li gasped audibly. “You believe that I stole from my own company? The one I built from day one? Do you have any idea how much bad publicity I’ve received from this? I could go out of business!”

  “Well, you’re about to go to jail when they find out,” Freyja said, now standing up tall.

  Li laughed and looked over at
Soo-Jin, and then back to her. “I’m not the one with handcuffs on, am I? Tell me what you found. There are too many eyes after that seed phrase. You’re going to give it to me, and now!”

  “No,” Thomas said. “Anyway, Soo-Jin took the USB drive. We didn’t have time to analyze it.”

  “Soo-Jin,” Li asked, leaning forward, with his palms flat against the desk. “Is this true? The USB seed word has something to do with a physical drive?”

  He didn’t know?

  “It appears so,” Soo-Jin replied, with his shoulders squared. “The unknown word alluded to a physical location—Joon’s place of residence.”

  Li’s mouth fell open, as his hands flew up to his forehead, and he planted himself in his seat; he laughed—loud and almost maniacally. “You sly bastard Joon. I love you.”

  “Where is the drive?” Li asked with a wide grin.

  “In the car,” Soon-Jin said calmly.

  “Well. . . bring it up,” he said, as a boss would say to his employee, with a good amount of authority in his voice.

  Soo-Jin only stared at him then, with a cold gaze.

  “And why did you tell me to close the building today? You know how much of a pain in the ass that was? And how much it cost me to lose a day of productivity?”

  Thomas and Freyja looked at each other with apparently the same idea. . . Soo-Jin closed BitX today, not Li Wei?

  “Actually, Li,” Soo-Jin said, “I forgot I have the drive here in my pocket.” He dug his hand into his pocket and holstered his gun. He walked toward Li with his head down, rummaging in his pocket.

  In an explosion of enlightenment, Thomas yelled out, “Li, watch out!”

  Li’s eyes darted to him with a curiosity that startled him, but that was when Soo-Jin’s hand lifted from his pocket, empty, until it found the hair at the back of Li’s head. With overwhelming power, he sent Li’s head driving into the desk with a thud that sounded like a mallet hitting a two by four. Li let out a screeching yell as he fell to the backside of the desk in pain, his hands growing bloody as they clutched his broken nose. He screamed aloud in Korean, as he lay on his back, blood trickling onto the fine carpet. Behind him, the sun had set, and Thomas now worried what was to come next.

  Soo-Jin produced another pair of cuffs from the backside of his belt, under his jacket. He kicked Li to his side, and then knelt to fasten the cuffs. The gun found its way back into Soo-Jin’s mitt after he stood up.

  “You fucking stole it,” Freyja said, while walking heavily toward him, but Thomas leaped in front of her, trying to hold her back in his handcuffed state. “Or you’re trying to steal it! Either way, you're a piece of shit. That Bitcoin doesn’t belong to you! It belongs to the people who bought and held it. You’re a fucking asshole!” She spat in his direction, and the saliva landed on his pant leg.

  He raised the gun at her over Thomas’ shoulder. “Not very lady-like. . . Maybe a bullet in the head will fix that. . .”

  Li leaned up, “Soo-Jin, you. . . you robbed me? Why? You work for the Korean government. . .”

  Again, Thomas and Freyja looked at each other with the same disgusting thought in their heads—the government?

  “I didn’t take it or try to take it. . .” Soo-Jin said. “Someone way over my head did, or tried to. . . until Joon didn’t play along. . .”

  “You conspired with Joon to take the Bitcoin?” Thomas asked, leaning toward the stalky cop. “Why? How would you even convince him to do that? He refused to give Niklas the seed phrase to his death. He wouldn’t want the Bitcoin for himself. . .” And then it dawned on him. . . Joon didn’t agree to take the Bitcoin from Soo-Jin. . . he most likely knew it was going to get stolen anyway, so he interfered. . . hid it. . . and if Soo-Jin was about to say this. . . that would be a very. . . very bad sign for their own safety. Just like in the movies. . . no real person would admit their own crimes, unless there were going to be no witnesses at the end.

  “Joon agreed to help us get it,” Soo-Jin said, “but he took it instead. . .”

  Thomas backed up away from the man with the gun, Freyja moving back with him. . .

  “Thomas?” Freyja asked, with heavy worry in her voice.

  “You traitor! You traitor!” Li continued to yell from behind the desk.

  “Why don’t you two take a couple of seats right here?” Soo-Jin said to them, motioning with the gun for them to sit in the corner of the room with two chairs fixed around a small table, next to a solid-steel support beam with a long, empty slit running up the side of it.

  “No,” Thomas said firmly.

  “You want a fucking broken nose too?” Soo-Jin yelled in a voice that seemed to shake the room? “How about your fucking girlfriend?”

  “What do we do?” Thomas whispered, looking back to Freyja over his shoulder.

  “We do what he says,” she replied. “What else can we do?”

  “You lunatic!” Li yelled. “You should be shot for this!”

  Soo-Jin pointed the gun at him then. Li put his blood-covered hands up quickly, shaking his head.

  “Now, sit,” Soo-Jin said, motioning for them to walk behind him to sit in the corner of the room. They slowly followed. “You too,” he pointed at Li, who got up quickly and went over to take a seat in one of the three seats.

  Thomas looked to Freyja who moved over there quicker than him and sat. Thomas then went over and did the same.

  OK. . . here’s my one chance. . .

  Soo-Jin walked over to the backside of the three, and holstering his weapon, he took the handcuff key and slipped it into the keyhole on the right-hand cuff of Thomas first.

  Here we go. . .

  Once he heard the snap of the handcuff lever being released, he pulled his arm out with all his might, which Soo-Jin grabbed, but Thomas had been too quick. His arm flew through the strong, cop’s grip and he stood, spinning toward the man. His hand went immediately for the gun.

  “Get him, Thomas! Get him!” she yelled with a wicked ferocity at them.

  Thomas’ hand found the gun, which Soo-Jin covered quickly, holding it firmly in place, and with his other hand, he grabbed the open handcuff chain, holding Thomas’ other hand still.

  Thomas seemed to only have one option. He thrust his head into Soo-Jin’s nose, which caught the seasoned cop by surprise. He ducked enough to not have his nose broken, but forehead hit forehead, and Thomas staggered back in a wobbly state. Soo-Jin just looked down at him in amazement.

  He hit the floor, barely keeping his wits about him, and moved his hands behind him to break his fall.

  “No!” Freyja yelled, trying to rise from the chair, but Soo-Jin quickly grabbed her bindings and while holding both her wrists tight, unlocked one of the cuffs, slipped it through the slit in the steel beam and cuffed her other hand again while she writhed and yelled out.

  He then went over to Thomas, who lay in a daze on the ground. “You’re a brave S.O.B.” Soo-Jin said as he picked Thomas up and threw him on the chair. He then cuffed him through the slit. Li didn’t appear to be brave enough to try to fight Soo-Jin before he was cuffed as well. The whole time this was happening Freyja kicked, spit, and threw a long list of slanderous words at him—‘cold-cum coward pig fucker’ was probably the best. . .

  Then, after they were all cuffed to the support beam that also served as decoration, Soo-Jin left the office. He disappeared for less than a minute while Thomas and Freyja exchanged worried glances.

  How did we get into this mess? Two killers? What are the chances? But when this much money is involved, people have been killed for less. . .

  The feeling of pure dread filled Thomas then, and Li gasped as Soo-Jin entered back into the room. Over his shoulder was a black duffel bag, and none of them wanted to know what was in it. He laid it on Li’s desk with a heavy, metal thud, although he laid it on the table gently—very gently.

  “What is that?” Li asked, his face pace, with blood still streaming down his nose onto his blue shirt.

  Soo-Jin had a ve
ry serious expression on his face as he unzipped the thick, canvas sack. His eyes were focused, he had his tongue at the corner of his mouth, and as he removed what Thomas instantly knew was bad from the duffel bag, Freyja gasped.

  Soo-Jin had just pulled out a bomb from the bag. It had eight black cylinders that looked somewhat like dynamite, wrapped tightly together, strapped together with black straps. On its side, facing up was a circuit board with flashing red digits. It was a timer. . .

  “You don’t have to do this,” Thomas said to him, nearly yelling as Freyja continued with her loud expletives. Li was weeping softly in his chair.

  The stalky man in the thick-framed glasses turned a knob on the side of it, setting the timer to twenty minutes, and after hitting a red button on the right, simply turned to them and said, “No loose ends,” before walking out the door, shutting it behind him, and walking back toward the elevator, all while Freyja grew red in the face from cursing at the corrupt cop.

  Oh no, is this how I die? Just to cover up a theft like this? Poor Freyja, she’s so young. And Sarah. . . and Adon, my only grandson. . .

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  “Please no, please no,” Li sobbed in English, blood still dripping from his face onto his legs.

  Thomas had resigned himself to scanning the area around him for something. . . anything to help him break free. But what would he need? A pair of steel sheers to break the cuff links? Where would he find one of those?

  Meanwhile, he was so busy trying to figure out a way to break free from his captivity, that he hardly noticed that Freyja had stopped screaming. She stared at the bomb that was counting down with every second, her face was cool and collected—almost distant, like her mind was in another place. Thomas went back to looking around for something to help him break free.

  Li continued to sob with his head slunk, muttering about everything he’s gained, and everything he’s going to lose. Ugh, people like this. . . they never realize they can’t take it with them, until the end comes. . .