by K W Frost
On entering the kitchen, the waiter placed the food order before walking down to the main office. He knocked gently on the door and he waited for the reply.
‘Enter,’ Mitsu barked from behind his desk.
Mitsu was bent over a wiring diagram of the top of the Sky Tower.
‘They are here, sir,’ the waiter reported.
‘Who?’ asked Mitsu.
‘The ones in the photographs, sir,’ the waiter explained. ‘Simon Child and the woman.’
‘They’re here, in my restaurant? Quickly, show me!’ exclaimed the startled ryu sensei.
The waiter, who was named Lee, led Mitsu out to the kitchen door. Opening it slightly, he pointed out the couple sitting at a table near the far wall. As Mitsu’s eyes focused in on Child and Samantha, a look of anger crossed his face.
‘What should I do, sir?’ asked Lee.
‘Do? Feed them of course,’ muttered Mitsu. ‘Treat them like any other guests only report back on anything you overhear. Be careful not to raise any suspicion.’
‘As you wish, sir,’ Lee nodded as he moved back towards the kitchen.
‘Wait, I’m not finished.’
Mitsu suddenly felt unsettled. On the eve of his greatest assignment, the one obstacle yet to be overcome arrives on his doorstep. How did Child know about the connection with this restaurant? Did he know about the plans for tonight? It didn’t matter either way now. Child needed to be disposed of. He knew this wasn’t a job to leave to others.
‘It’s obvious that Child only has suspicions about this place,’ Mitsu continued. ‘I have doubts about their understanding of our true purpose.’
‘Only suspicions?’ repeated Lee.
‘Yes! only suspicions… if they knew the truth, then we would be surrounded by armed police as we speak. They don’t know, and cannot know, our true purpose here. However, I’m not taking any chances on Child this close to our greatest conquest.’
Mitsu paused, his eyes piercing into Lee.
‘I wish to know when they leave,’ Mitsu demanded. ‘When they do, you will follow them. Tell me where they go to next. Then they need to be eliminated.’
‘Both Child and the woman?’ asked Lee. He showed no emotion or fear about his task ahead.
‘Both of them, Lee,’ Mitsu confirmed. ‘What Child knows, the woman will know too by now. Kill them both.’
Lee nodded, bowed gently and returned to work.
As soon as the waiter was out of earshot, Samantha looked at Child with great concern.
‘Why are we here, Simon? And don’t give me any rubbish about the good food either.’
‘Why do you keep asking, Sam? I don’t know what you mean,’ Child replied innocently.
‘Stop messing me around,’ Samantha said in a forced whisper. ‘I saw the look on the waiter’s face — he recognised you.’
‘He did seem rather surprised to see me, didn’t he,’ Child grinned.
‘Why was he so surprised, Simon?’ Samantha pushed on.
Child reached forward and picked up Samantha’s hand again. He squeezed it gently and looked into her eyes.
‘You’re a bright girl, Sam,’ he said softly. ‘Why don’t you tell me?’
Samantha looked back at Child, trying her best to fathom what was going on. How much did he know? Was this some kind of test?
Child was first to break their eye contact, unconcerned with the insecurity that such an act usually suggested. He looked over to where his wine should be coming from and just caught a glimpse of a face staring intently at him with malice before the door swiftly closed. One flash was enough. Child would remember that face.
Samantha had been thinking and had come to a simple explanation.
‘Of course, Simon, you’ve been here before — that’s why the waiter recognised you!’
‘I’ve never been here before,’ stated Child, ‘if I had then the maître d’ would’ve recognised me as well. Also, his surprised face was not one of recognition, it was one of shock. Guess again.’
Samantha wasn’t stupid by a long stretch. She knew the real reason that the waiter had recognised Child. She decided to be honest.
‘Alright, the only other explanation is that he’s seen a photograph of you.’
‘From where,’ prompted Child.
‘The security cameras at Whittingham’s office,’ she replied quietly. ‘Your presence here was unexpected, that’s what shook him.’
Just then, the waiter reappeared from the kitchen with a bottle of wine and spotless white cloth draped over his arm.
‘Darling, that’s wonderful news!’ Samantha exclaimed loudly, ‘such a scholarship. It’s like a dream come true, I’m so happy for you.’
Samantha squeezed Child’s hand and then released it, relaxing back into her chair.
‘Your wine, sir,’ said the waiter said softly, showing Child the label.
‘Yes, that’s fine,’ Child nodded, inspecting the bottle. He leant back in his chair, allowing the waiter to pour a taster into his glass. After sipping the wine and announcing his approval, the waiter poured a glass for both Child and Samantha.
‘Look, would you mind telling me your name, please,’ Child asked the waiter with a tentative smile. ‘You know, for the tip.’
‘Certainly, sir,’ the waiter replied. ‘My name is Lee, sir.’
‘Well, Lee,’ Child continued, ‘I have some guests visiting tonight and they love Japanese food. I would’ve liked to bring them back here, but I can see from the sign outside that the restaurant will be closed tonight. Could you also tell me why? I hope there’s not been a problem.’
‘Oh no, there’s no problem, sir,’ Lee explained. ’It’s just that we’ve been given the great honour of cooking for some of our countrymen at the APEC conference, and we need the extra time to prepare.’
‘Oh, congratulations to you and your chef, Lee,’ Child said jovially.
‘Thank you, sir,’ Lee nodded. ‘I’m just a lowly waiter, sir, but I will pass on your congratulations to Mr Mitsu.’
‘Perhaps I can bring my guests down tomorrow night then,’ Child suggested.
Lee smiled broadly at Child.
‘Yes, we will be open again tomorrow, sir.’
Lee had no concerns about making plans with Child. Child and his companion would soon cease to be a factor as far as the operation was concerned.
‘What was all that about?’ Samantha asked.
‘I’m not entirely sure, but this place certainly interests me,’ Child mused. ‘I want to know anything and everything about it.’
‘That’s one thing I still don’t understand, Simon,’ Samantha questioned, ‘how did you know to come to this place?’
‘Last night, after our discussion at the motel, Steve went for a drive and followed our friend Kioki here. He was visiting alone so Ritson couldn’t get too close, but Kioki went back to his hotel from here. I thought it could’ve been nothing, but judging by Lee’s reaction this place is significant.’
‘Yes,’ agreed Samantha, ‘and now they know we’re here.’
‘That’s true, but our being here suggests that I’m not investigating Blue Water Securities, hence they might not expect anything at their offices. So, if the two places are linked, and I think they are, then it might make the situation easier for Steve and Gray.’
Child paused to smile across at Samantha.
‘Now, let’s enjoy this fabulous food,’ Child said as Lee returned with two bowls of steaming dim sim soup.
Chapter Forty
Smaille stepped into the Blue Water Securities office with confidence and with a ready smile on his lips. His eyes, however, took in the room with expert precision. There wasn’t much to see at first glance. Two closed doors faced each other on the opposing blank walls, the carpet was threadbare and a lone empty desk with no chair sat in the centre of the room. Smaille could smell the faint odour of a gas cooker from somewhere. Nothing in the bland office space gave any hint as to its true purpose.
&
nbsp; Not knowing what else to do, Smaille walked over to the desk and knocked loudly on it. Almost immediately, the door on the left swung open and out walked a short man of Chinese descent. Looking up at Smaille, he walked briskly behind the desk.
‘Yes, how may I help you?’ he asked, his face unsmiling.Smaille made an effort to smile at the man, as this tack had often brought him positive results in difficult interviews.
‘How would you guys like to do some work for me?’
‘Work?’
‘Yes, work — work in securities. That is what your company does, isn’t it?’
‘Yes,’ the man replied in a monotone way. ‘However, we’re very busy at the moment and not currently taking on any new clients.’
‘Well, I was just speaking to my accountant down the hall and I saw your sign. I thought that I could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, and give you guys a try. If you’re not interested then perhaps you can pass me on to another securities firm?’ Smaille explained as he paced up and down, portraying his role as a businessman in a hurry. The man stayed put behind the desk and looked back at Smaille with a blank expression on his face.
‘Excuse me, I’ll be back in a minute,’ he said before then going through the left hand door. Smaille was left looking at the empty walls.
In the next room, Tagahasi was busy working on a computer module. Page after page was flashing by under the search of liquid assets. Hitting the pause button, Tagahasi looked up at the short man who had reentered the room.
‘Yes?’ Tagahasi asked bluntly.
‘We have a visitor in the outer office,’ he explained. ‘He’s trying to offer us work in securities. However, it’s not the man in the pictures you showed me.’
Tagahasi fell silent for a moment, carefully considering the situation.
‘No one comes and offers work to an unknown firm, especially as we haven’t advertised,’ Tagahasi said. ‘What excuse did he give for coming in here?’
‘He said that he was visiting his accountant in another office and saw our sign.’ ‘That can’t be true,’ Tagahasi stated. ‘With APEC going on, we specifically arranged for everyone else on this floor to take some paid days off during this time, both for ease of movement and security reasons. This man is a liar. Describe him to me.’
‘He’s tall, brown hair, American,’ the man recounted.
‘American?’
‘Yes, he spoke with an American accent.’
‘Then he must be eliminated,’ Tagahasi said calmly.
‘May I ask why? Why not just ignore him and send him on his way?’ Although he was small in size, the man was an effective killing machine. He was less adept at cognitive processing.
‘Because somehow American intelligence is on to us — they were following Whittingham yesterday when he came here to meet with Kioki,’ Tagahasi explained impatiently. ‘Old man Kanashu said the tracker was American. They also hired a man called Child to expose Whittingham by bugging his house and offices. They were at his house last night too— that’s why we asked you to eliminate Whittingham. He had to be silenced before they could find out the truth.’ Tagahasi’s voice suddenly took on a colder, darker tone. ‘Now, go and do your job. Neutralise the American outside, and any others that may follow. He won’t be alone. Take them away from here and kill them. Dispose of their bodies to ensure they won’t be found. Get to work.’ Tagahasi turned back to his computer screen.
In the next room, Ritson flipped a switch to speak to Gray.
‘Gray, did you get all that?’ he whispered.
‘Yeah,’ Gray replied quietly, watching Stulz as he continued to inspect the empty offices along the corridor.
‘What should we do? We just sit here while they’re killed…’
‘Ritson, wait for my call,’ Gray demanded. ‘Then come out and deal with any of the Asians who are working on this operation — but wait for my call.’
‘Okay, Gray, just don’t leave it too late,’ Ritson warned. Smaille was leaning against the only furniture in the room, the desk, when the Chinese man returned from the back office. The situation had not turned out as he had planned. He knew was going to have to take a more direct approach.
‘Well, are we ready to do business?’ Smaille said warmly.
‘As I said before, sir, we are very busy right now,’ the man explained. ‘My superior suggests that you return at a different time — perhaps later next week.’ He stepped forward towards Smaille, as if to show him the door.
‘Well, that’s just not good enough, I have work that needs doing this week,’ Smaille said forcefully. ‘I’d like to speak to your superior.’
Suddenly, the man smiled at Smaille as if he had come to a decision.
‘If you wish, sir, please step this way,’ he said, gesturing with one hand towards the inner office door. As Smaille stepped towards the door, the man hit him with force. He drove his open hand up to connect with Smaille’s chin, causing his head to snap back but not quite causing unconsciousness. The force of the hit exposed Smaille’s midrib, and that was where the Chinese hit him with a left, right combination. Smaille’s breath exploded out of him and he jerked forward. The man then accurately hit him behind the left ear, rendering him unconscious. Smaille sprawled down onto the floor.
Stulz, who had been listening to Smaille’s conversation from his hidden microphone, became alarmed by the strange noises that he heard. He stepped past the cleaner on the corridor and headed towards the office door. As he passed by, the cleaner slipped his mop out between Stulz’s legs. Stulz tripped and fell to the floor. Stepping forward as if to help him up, the cleaner deftly hit Stulz sharply on the nerve running down the neck to the shoulder, knocking Stulz almost unconscious.
Immediately, the cleaner hit him again. Strong enough to kill most men, this time the blow had the desired effect and Stulz was out. With some difficulty, the cleaner picked up Stulz, placed him in his cleaning trolley and covered him with an old blanket. Glancing down the, corridor he could see the legs of the old man reading a book. He swiftly wheeled the trolley into the Blue Water Securities offices.
Up in the building across the road, Harrison and Goody were worried. They wanted to do something but couldn’t decide what would be most helpful. Belatedly, they realised they were too far away to help at any speed, and if Smaille and Stulz were lost then there would be nobody left to salvage anything. They decided to watch and wait, hoping for the miracle. A few minutes after knocking Stulz unconscious, the cleaner was back in the corridor. He checked his trolley and began pushing it towards the elevator. The short, Chinese man emerged from the door behind him, supporting an unconscious Smaille.
Gray, who had watched the attack on Stulz unfold from the reflection in his shoes, reached into his bag to wrap his hand around the stun gun.
‘Ready?’ he whispered to Ritson.
‘Yeah,’ Ritson replied as he crouched by the door, tense and ready for action.
The cleaner rolled his trolley into the reception area and glanced over at the old man. He appeared to be asleep with his hat pulled low and his eyes closed the old man offered no threat. The cleaner punched the elevator button, calling it up to the sixth floor. As he waited the cleaner watched the old man.
The cleaner’s companion was waiting outside the Blue Water Securities door, holding up Smaille. Then, as the lift dropped down and the light for floor five flashed on, he began to heave Smaille down the corridor. The elevator signaled its arrival on the sixth floor with the ring of a bell. Instinctively, the cleaner watched as the doors began to open.
Gray gripped the stun gun tightly in his hand.
‘Now!’ he said to Ritson, as he lifted his hand out of the bag, took aim at the cleaner and pulled the trigger. From a distance of ten feet, the twin charged electrodes hit the cleaner directly on the back of his head, just where his hair started. A stunning electric shock struck his body, and he jerked spasmodically before collapsed on the floor. He lay twitching for a few seconds until he was fully unc
onscious.
Down the corridor, Ritson exploded out of the door. He took one step and launched himself at the short Chinese man who was carrying Smaille’s unconscious body. The man reacted instinctively, leaning away from the flying Ritson. He snapped a sidekick, aiming to take off his opponent’s head. Unfortunately, the drag of Smaille’s body weight and the suddenness of the attack meant that his kick did not land on target. Instead of hitting Ritson on the head or shoulder, the blow glanced off Ritson’s chest.
Ritson returned the kick with a classic dive tackle to the floor. Ritson had played for two seasons as a prop for the Auckland under eighteen rugby team. Bouncing off the corridor walls, the two men land in a crumpled mass on the floor.
Next, the Chinese man hit Ritson squarely the ribs, but he was still hampered by Smaille and couldn’t maintain full power. Ritson used his sheer mass to crush his smaller opponent. For a few seconds they fought like mad, until the Chinese man successfully freed his right hand. He raised it up, ready to apply a fatal blow to Ritson’s head. However, before he could start his downward swing, a hand appeared over Ritson’s head and squirted pepper spray directly into the Chinese man’s eyes. Ritson launched himself upwards before landing with both knees on the stomach of the squirming Chinese man. Swinging a straight right, Ritson connected solidly with his chin. The dull click of his jaw dislocating echoed down the now silent corridor. Getting to his feet, Ritson looked down at the unconscious Chinese man with satisfaction.
‘Now what?’ Ritson said to Gray.
‘We take everyone into your new office, and let’s do it quick,’ Gray commanded. ‘Who knows who else could come along this corridor.’
Across the street, Goody and Harrison looked over at each other, completely bewildered. Smaille’s microphone was still active. The sounds of conflict had been jumbled, and the only clear thing was Gray’s last two sentences. Something had definitely happened, but Goody and Harrison were unsure if it was good or bad. They decided they needed to check, but do it carefully — very carefully. They weren’t keen to join the statistics. Within five minutes, Ritson and Gray had the two attackers bound and gagged in the left-hand room of their supposed new offices.
