《The Fake Cop》
Author: Kim Fiesta
“Wuwuwuwu……”
“Wuwuwu……”
……
In an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of a city, two men wearing only underwear and bare-chested were tied up like two zongzi, back-to-back, and placed on the ground.
Their eyes were blindfolded with black cloth strips, and their mouths were sealed tightly with black tape.
From the slight bulge under the black tape covering their lips, it was clear that something had been stuffed into their mouths to restrict their speech.
“You two, settle down. Once we brothers get the money, we’ll let you go naturally. It’s been three days and you’re still so energetic—I’m impressed……”
“They’re traffic cops after all, graduates of the police academy. How could they compare?”
“Sigh, yeah. I’m almost done for, but they can still struggle. Brother Kun, do you think we can actually pull this off?”
“What’s the panic? It’s only been three days. Let’s wait a bit longer. This money won’t just come on its own; we still have to try our luck……”
……
The two men talking were Zhao Kun and Li Xin, unemployed youths from a nearby village.
They were addicted to gambling and lust, lazy and gluttonous, loved bullying others but were cowardly bullies.
The villagers disliked the two of them greatly.
Three days ago, they saw two traffic cops on duty by the roadside stopping cars for inspection. Seeing the drivers cooperate patiently without suspicion, the two got crooked ideas. They fetched rope, black tape, and unwashed socks from home. Taking advantage of the two cops resting, they ambushed them, stripped off their fake traffic police uniforms to wear themselves, then tied them up and locked them in this roadside abandoned warehouse.
The two planned to wear the uniforms to disguise themselves as traffic cops and rob cars by the roadside. Once they made a big score, they would run away.
But because the location was so remote and sparsely populated, three days passed with nothing gained. They had spent three days guarding the two cops in the abandoned warehouse.
However, this wasn’t entirely bad. Three days had passed, and the two unlucky single traffic cops, stripped and imprisoned by them, had still not been discovered by their superiors for rescue—this was something they could consider fortunate about.
……
“Wuwuwuwu……”
After Li Xin finished feeding the two cops, he didn’t wait for them to speak before sealing their mouths again.
“Be good. Once we earn the money, we’ll release you right away. You’re suffering, and so are we. Everyone, just endure a little longer.” Li Xin comforted the struggling cops.
“Let’s go, let’s go. Stop dawdling there. Maybe we’ll catch a car if we go early.” Zhao Kun urged Li Xin.
“Coming, coming……”
……
On the deserted highway, the two stood by the roadside wearing the stolen traffic police duty uniforms, white traffic police gloves, traffic police helmets, and traffic police boots, walking back and forth.
On the first day they put on these clothes, they had even complimented each other on looking handsome. Although the two hadn’t properly trained any muscles, their builds were still well-proportioned with some muscle, enough to fill out the fake police uniforms a bit, making them look quite good.
But after all, they were fakes—their posture and willpower couldn’t compare to properly trained traffic cops. Before long, the two were slouching, leaning this way and that.
“Sigh, Brother Kun, let’s just quit this. Look at this godforsaken place. Who knows how long we’d wait for a car. Can’t we do something decent for once?” Li Xin said, removing his helmet.
“You talk too damn much. If you want to go where there are more cars, go ahead. These highways are full of cameras everywhere. We finally found this blind spot—be grateful. Stop whining. If you don’t want to do it, right now……”
“Holy shit, Brother Kun, look!!!”
Suddenly, Li Xin interrupted Zhao Kun, who was still speaking, and excitedly pointed to the end of the highway.
Zhao Kun looked up and followed his gaze. A black SUV was gradually driving toward them……
From its appearance, the two thought the car looked pretty good. They wondered if it could bring some hope to the two who had been waiting for three days……
As the car got closer, the two grew increasingly nervous. After all, this was their first time doing something like this, so some fear was inevitable.
When the car was not far away, they waved their hands anxiously, signaling the SUV to stop.
“Hello, routine inspection. Please show your documents.”
Zhao Kun calmed down and imitated the traffic cops from TV shows, speaking to the driver through the window.
After the window slowly rolled down, a sturdy middle-aged man with a buzz cut appeared in the driver’s seat.
Damn, a tough customer. Li Xin thought to himself after seeing him.
Zhao Kun and Li Xin glanced nervously at each other, then lowered their heads to check the passenger seat and back seat.
The passenger seat held a slightly younger blond man, and the back seat had a scholarly-looking man with glasses. Both were as muscular as the middle-aged driver.
Three tough guys—this was hopeless to rob. Li Xin sighed in disappointment, ready to back out.
But Zhao Kun seemed unwilling to give up. He turned to look at the dejected Li Xin and gave him a meaningful glance, signaling him not to drop the ball.
Seeing Zhao Kun so persistent, Li Xin didn’t say anything more. He reached for the stun baton at his waist, ready to assist at any moment.
“Sir, we’ve recently received a notice that there are wanted fugitives on the run. I was wondering if you and your friends could step out of the car to cooperate with an inspection. Thank you.” Zhao Kun spoke the lines he had prepared in advance, remaining calm under pressure.
After hearing Zhao Kun’s words, the buzz-cut man was momentarily stunned.
Then, he lowered his head thoughtfully for a moment before looking up and exchanging glances with the two men beside and behind him.
The two seemed to understand his meaning. After the buzz-cut man got out, they also opened the doors and followed him out.
Just like that, all three got out of the car.
Once the three stood facing the two of them, Zhao Kun’s just-calmed heart tightened again.
When they were still in the car, they looked at most a bit more muscular than themselves. They hadn’t expected that once they got out, they would also be more than a head taller.
This was going to be difficult……
Their original plan was to lure everyone out of the car, intimidate them into handing over their valuables, knock them unconscious, dump them in the abandoned warehouse, and then drive off.
They had thought that if they encountered easy targets, they could follow the plan. Who could have guessed that after three days, these three big guys would show up? Even Zhao Kun was starting to regret it.
But the long three-day wait and his desperate desire to make money still overpowered Zhao Kun’s reason.
Anyway, this would be the last job. He was going to gamble everything this time, he thought.
“Officer, do you think the three of us have any issues?”
The buzz-cut driver asked Zhao Kun.
“No issues, but I’d still like to check your trunk. If it’s convenient, could you open it?”
The cunning Zhao Kun thought that dealing with the three together might be difficult, but if he could lure them to the trunk one by one, it would be manageable. As he spoke, he waved to Li Xin, who had already retreated two meters away, signaling him to come help.
“Can’t open it!……”
“Of course you can look. It’s my honor to cooperate with your work.”
After Zhao Kun made his request, the blond man next to the buzz-cut driver immediately refused, but the buzz-cut man quickly stopped him.
Their reaction made Zhao Kun suspicious—he felt the trunk definitely had something fishy. But that didn’t matter. Once the money was in hand, they’d deal with it.
Zhao Kun thought this way.
……
The man led Zhao Kun to the trunk and opened it.
Zhao Kun took out his stun baton while the SUV’s trunk was opening. Before he could reveal his true intentions, the scene before him caught him off guard.
Inside the trunk, curled up, was a young man in a suit and leather shoes, bound with red ropes. His mouth was stuffed with a red ball gag, secured by leather straps on both sides.