by Rob Jones
Beside her, Ryan ran a hand over the tattoo on his upper arm.
Машa.
Masha. That was what he called Maria.
When he thought about her now it hurt much less. Time had passed. It had healed the terrible wound caused by her murder. Now he could remember the good times and laugh along with the memories. Only now could he consider moving on, and he knew it was time to do it, too. Nothing forced. Just opening his heart to future possibilities and seeing what happened, letting fate take the tiller and steer him where it wanted.
There was someone else out there for him, he knew it in his heart. He was young and wanted to live again but he was a different man now. Killing Dirk Kruger in Miami Beach had finished his long apprenticeship to becoming a warrior like his friends. Punching the South African arms dealer out of the airship and watching him fall to his death in shark-infested waters had been the last rite of passage. No one could doubt his will or capability now, and whoever he found to be with would have to accept this new man.
Lexi saw him rubbing the tattoo. “All good?”
He gave a sturdy nod. “Yes. All good.”
“She was an amazing woman, Ryan.”
“I know.”
“But you will find someone else.”
“I know that, too.”
“We’ve been through a lot together, this team.”
He huffed out a quiet, weary laugh. “You could say that.”
“And you’ve changed more than any of us. I’m proud of you.”
He turned. “Wow… I’m… Thanks.”
They walked faster to catch with the others, but before either could say a word, Hiroko’s young voice broke the tense silence. “We’re here.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Hawke smashed into the dirt and rolled three times until he was underneath the rear axles of a parked truck. He was smacking a fresh magazine into the grip of his Glock when he saw someone running over to him, bullets nipping at his heels with every pace.
“Get a move on, Reap!”
Reaper dived to the ground and rolled next to him. “Merde, that was close!”
“You move any slower than that and you may as well paint a target on your back.”
“When you said we were going to Hawaii I visualized some surfing and a chilled out luau or two, not having some bastard using my bollocks for target practice.”
“I see your colloquial English is coming on in leaps and bounds… Incoming!” The tire closest to them exploded in a cloud of rubber and the truck sank down fast on its right side. “Move over!”
Reaper rolled over and Hawke followed him just in time to stop getting crushed by the collapsing truck.
“That was fun.”
Like many of the other islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, Oahu was once covered in miles of sugar cane plantations. Established in the US Civil War when the Confederacy cut off supplies to the North, it soon grew to become one of the biggest crops in the islands. When the tourist trade took off after the second world war, landowners found their properties were more valuable if they sold them to developers wanting to build hotels and complexes, and today the industry is all but gone.
According to the research they had done on the plane journey, Jarrett McKenna’s cane plantation was in the same boat, except he had turned down the offer of millions from leisure center developers. He made more money growing and selling cannabis on his land. His medical marijuana business was booming since a number of US states starting legalizing it.
The authorities didn’t have to know about the cannabis plantation hidden away in the jungles on his land and they doubted it kept him up at night.
In attacking the plantation, the Oracle was growing more reckless and dangerous by the minute. What was ostensibly a sugarcane plantation was in fact a cover not only for cannabis but also for an illegal coca crop, and much of it had been torched and set on fire just before the arrival of ECHO, annihilated by the Athanatoi’s brutal scorched earth policy. Hawke scanned the yard for any sign of the enemy. “This is their work, all right.”
“But where the hell are they?”
“They’re on the move.” Hawke craned his head around to look through the wheel now collapsed and covered in shredded rubber.
“Where?”
“Over there behind the barn, and there are still some in what I guess is an office in the main property, next to that portacabin.”
Lea’s voice crackled over the comms. She and Nikolai were backup on a rise to the south. “I can see them from here. Looks like there’s two of the bastards.”
“Two verses two,” Reaper said. “That’s very considerate of them.”
“One of them is on the move again,” said Nikolai’s low Russian grumble.
Lea said, “Looks like he’s trying to get around to the other side of the truck.”
“We can’t stay here,” Hawke said. “Can’t defend a position like this from attack on two fronts.”
“Where are you now, Lea?”
“We’re still up on the rise to the south, about a hundred meters from the car.”
“Can you take out the guy trying to get around to the other side of the truck?”
“He’s using that big shed for cover.”
“I see it.”
“Me too.”
A line of bullets ripped through the dirt and blew out the truck’s right-hand rear tire.
“Fuck!”
The truck slumped down further.
Reaper scanned what he could see of the landscape from under the lop-sided truck. “They take out the other tires and we’re squashed flatter than crêpes!”
The comms crackled again. “Yeah don’t let that happen, Josiah. I got big plans for ya.”
“Not planning on it.”
“What if they hit the petrol tank?” the Frenchman said.
Hawke shook his head. “It’s a diesel. Highly unlikely they’ll be able to ignite it with gunfire.”
“The problem I have with that statement, mon ami, is the highly unlikely bit. I’d have preferred completely impossible.”
“Sorry, can’t promise that, Reap. It’s possible to ignite a diesel tank with high-velocity full metal jackets if you’re committed enough to the task.”
“Great, crushed and burned alive.”
“Tank’s on the other side of the truck, mate. First thing I checked. Problems start when our runner leaves the cover of the barn and gets on our left hand-side.”
“Which looks like now!” Lea said.
“Can you take him?”
“I don’t know.”
Hawke tried to point the gun down toward the direction his feet were pointing in but he couldn’t raise his head enough under the truck to take aim. “I can’t do it.”
“He’s still out of sight.”
“Time’s running out.”
A massive wave of automatic gunfire now raked up against the shredded tires on their right, blasting chunks of brown dirt and rock chips all over them. Hawke tucked his head down into his chest and leaned to his right to keep the debris from going into his eyes.
“Things are hotting up!”
“They’re getting braver!”
Hawke twisted onto his back again and pulled his gun arm over his chest. Pointing the muzzle through the holes in between the spokes of the wrecked wheel, he let rip another few shots at the men hiding in the office. The angle was tough but he managed to shoot out another of the windows and then blow up a gas cylinder at the side of the portacabin.
The explosion was small but enough to stop the men firing on them as they ducked for cover.
“Nice shootin’ Reap!” Lea said.
“Thanks.”
“That was me,” Hawke said.
“I knew that, ya eejit,”
“Hey!”
“Your little running man has got himself to the end of the barn, Josiah.”
More gunfire from the men in the office, which was now even more obscured by the smoke from the coca fields.
“Die you fucking freaks!”
“Hey, you don’t even know me!” Lea shouted.
Reaper snorted as reloaded his gun. “I don’t think they like us very much.”
Hawke furrowed his brow. “Weird thing to shout in a gunfight. Like you said, Lea – they don’t even know us.”
“You’re going to die for what you’re doing to us, you sons of bitches!”
Bullets pelted an upturned disc harrow and ricocheted at every angle, terrifyingly close to their heads, but Reaper scrambled to his feet and sprinted at full speed toward the main house. He only got halfway before a savage fusillade of defensive fire forced him to take cover behind one of the sugarcane planters, still on fire at the side of the yard.
“They’re not giving in!” Hawke yelled.
“They think we’re Athanatoi,” Nikolai said. “They saw what the cult did to their friends here at this property and they’d rather die than go through torture like that.”
Hawke returned fire from behind the burning truck while Reaper and Lea made their way over to the house from their positions on the flanks. It was a long and bitter fire fight. Nikolai gave Hawke some cover fire and the Englishman managed to reach the house. Standing on one side of the blown-out entrance, with Reaper on the other and Lea and Nikolai now closing in behind them, he burst inside and started the grim task of room-to-room clearance.
Reaper piled in behind him and the two of them took out the last surviving gunmen before Lea and Nikolai even made it into the house.
“What now?” Lea said.
“There’s got to be a computer around here somewhere,” Hawke said, ripping a fresh piece of his shirt from the hem and tying it around his face as a makeshift smoke filter. The others copied his example to protect themselves from the fumes, but they all knew it was a temporary solution at best.
“We don’t have much time,” Lea said.
“Here!” Reaper said from the end of the corridor. “A desktop.”
Hawke turned desperate eyes on the Russian. “You said you knew computers, is that right?”
“Yes.”
“Then get to work in that computer, Kolya. I hope your computer skills are as good as your combat skills.”
“They are, but I must have time!”
Nikolai tapped way on the desktop as the room slowly filled with smoke. “Shit, I’m going to get as high as a kite on this stuff.”
“That’s why we need to hurry,” Hawke said. “Jokes aside, this is a serious situation and if we let this smoke smash our judgement we’re going to get killed.”
“Got anything yet?”
“Just bypassing the password screen. Easy as pie.”
Hawke scanned the area out the front of the office for any sign of McKenna’s men, but there was nothing but smoke from the fire that had now jumped from the coca field to the barn. “Hurry it up, mate.”
“Got it,” Nikolai said. “Looks like our man McKenna had a deal with a guy called Bryce Cobb who owns a shipping cargo company based in Honolulu Harbor.”
“I like the sound of this.”
“Looks like he uses this man to smuggle his cocaine into various countries around the world, including the US West Coast. I’m on an email chain between them right now.”
“And?”
“And McKenna’s still alive. He just sent Cobb an email a few seconds ago telling him to get a ship ready to leave Hawaii at once. Says his life’s in danger and that he owes him bigtime, as he puts it.”
“Name of the ship?”
The Russian shook his head. “Doesn’t say.”
Lea sighed. “So the Athanatoi came here looking for the ring, which presumably is in McKenna’s possession. If they found it, they’re long gone, but if they didn’t their next stop is going to be that ship.”
“We need to get down to the harbor quick-smart,” Hawke said, blinking his red eyes in the smoke. “We’re out of here.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Ezekiel Jones had never traveled to Japan before and he guessed this wasn’t a typical experience. A lot of the guys in the Navy often swung through the place, most often with the Seventh Fleet in Yokosuka, but no one in the Pentagon had ever thought of sending a tank commander to downtown Tokyo. He knew that much.
He thought most of it looked kind of crazy – so much neon, so many wires. Not much like his part of East Texas, he knew that much too, but however crazy it seemed, it was nowhere near as crazy as the new friends he’d made back on that Greek island. Now, watching the Englishwoman as she stared up at the top of the Izumi Garden Tower skyscraper with a Spartan night vision monocular, he started to realize just how boring his life had become until he’d met these nutcases.
Ryan Bale dragged on his cigarette. “What have you got, Cairo?”
“It’s not good, boy,” came the absent-minded reply. “At least half a dozen men armed with handguns on the upper floor and even more downstairs. I’m guessing Jojima is nicely tucked away in her bed somewhere on the top floor of the penthouse.”
“But where’s the third ring?” Lexi said.
“That’s what we’re here to find out, I guess.” said Zeke.
“He’s game,” Scarlet said. “I’ll give him that much.”
“Bless you sweetheart,” Zeke said with a broad toothy smile, “but I’m always more than game.”
“Good to know, darling.”
“She might wear it,” Hiroko said.
“Saves breaking into a safe,” said Ryan.
“Always looking on the bright side,” Lexi said, rolling her eyes. “But I guess with a face like that there’s no other option.”
Ryan slowly raised his middle finger at her. “Hey, you keep rolling those eyes and one day you might find a brain somewhere back there.”
“I doubt she wears it,” Scarlet said. “At least, she wouldn’t wear it if she knew its true value and we can’t presume she’s ignorant of that. We’ll check the safe first. Hiroko, I want you to stay here. We’ll bring back whatever we can of your father’s, but I want you somewhere safe. This could easily get violent.”
“As you wish,” she said quietly.
Traveling up the Izumi Garden Tower in one of the external elevators, Ezekiel Jones stared out across the stormy neon city. He gave Scarlet a smile, and she replied by giving him her backup weapon. The gun felt good in his hand. He’d grown up with handguns and hunting rifles and a gun in his hand felt as natural as holding a cup of coffee. By the time he hit basic training in the US Army he could shoot straighter than the highway to hell and fast with it too. Now, he gripped the Glock and waited for hell to be unleashed.
Beside him, he saw Scarlet’s mind was now focused on the mission like a golden eagle closing in on a running rabbit. She sure was an impressive sight and he idly wondered if there was someone special in her life. Exactly what sort of man could handle a woman like this he had no idea, and started to doubt he would be up to the job.
The elevator pinged and the doors opened. They stepped into a plush marble lobby area with a few discreet signs on the walls covered in Japanese characters.
Lexi scanned the signs. “That way,” she said. That’s the corridor that leads to the private apartments, and the penthouse too.”
They crossed the lobby and followed Lexi down the peach marble corridor. The walls were smooth and polished and there was no noise except for the sound of their boots and shoes on the floor tiles.
“This is it,” Lexi said. “The sign says Jojima. This is her apartment.”
The door was a dark green wood, polished to perfection with a matte black iron handle and a tastefully unobtrusive video doorbell fitted almost out of sight.
“Push that button and it’s game over,” Lexi said.
“So how do we get in?” asked Ryan.
“The old-fashioned way, I guess,” Zeke said. “Right, Cairo?”
Her gun was already out of the holster. She aimed it at the door and fired three times, blasting the handle and lock to smithereens.
> Zeke yelled out. “Hell yeah! I like your style, Cairo Sloane!”
“I’m an old-fashioned kinda gal,” she said, and kicked the door open.
They smashed through the door and found themselves in a coral pink-painted hallway lined with ornate screen prints and antique tables covered in orchids. A man who had been asleep on a chair at the foot of some stairs, was now awake and staring wide-eyed at the intruders with horror on his face.
Reaching for the gun under his jacket, Lexi fired on him, three times with her muffled pistol and blasted him back over the back of his chair. He slumped down dead on the bottom step while Scarlet leapt over his body and made her way up the stairs toward the upper level.
Moving quickly and taking the steps three at a time, she was at the top in no time. Lexi, Ryan and Zeke were right behind her, weapons drawn and raised and ready for more action.
Scarlet scanned what she could see of the upper floor. “This way.”
They followed her along a corridor of polished hardwood floorboards and bespoke furniture until they reached what resembled a T-junction, each leading to different wings of the enormous penthouse suite.
“Zeke and Lexi down there,” Scarlet whispered. “Ryan, you’re with me.”
It didn’t take the Texan soldier long to learn the pecking order, and he followed the Chinese assassin down the corridor which led into the west wing. Ahead of her, Lexi saw a large daimon or family crest on the wall outside a door at the end of the corridor.
“I think this is HQ,” she said, explaining briefly about the significance of the coats of arms which represented the various Yakuza groups. “So, in we go. Ready?”
“Hell yeah.”
They booted the door open and charged into the room with their guns raised, but there was no one there. A speedy room-to-room clearance revealed that the entire wing was empty, and they holstered their guns. “All clear here, Cairo,” Lexi said into her palm mic. “You?”
*
“We’re clear here too, and in the world’s biggest closet,” Scarlet said. “We’re into the safe but still searching for the ring. Maybe she’s wearing it after all.”
