Rising Tiger

by Trevor Scott

  The general shot twice, hitting the curved wall behind Jake. By the time Jake hit the stairs, the general rushed out of view on his way higher up.

  Three bullets left, Jake hoped. Unless he had a revolver speed loader.

  When Jake reached the position the general had just left, he heard the door below slam shut. Jake turned and aimed, making sure of his target. When he saw it was the general’s security chief, the man with the tattoos on his neck, Jake fired twice, striking the metal railing in front of the man. The security man returned fire, but Jake had already moved out of view chasing the general higher. Now he would have bullets coming from both sides.

  “Inside the dampen ball area,” Jake said again through his Bluetooth, nearly out of breath.

  Still no response.

  But he did hear more gunfire from outside, so he knew the women were still in the game.

  He rounded another corner and could see the general making his way toward the top of the ball enclosure area. Jake passed the doors to the public observation area, where tourists would view the city during normal business hours. He checked the doors, but they were all locked.

  More shots from below.

  The general yelled something, his voice echoing from the top to the bottom. Probably giving his man instructions, Jake thought. Without understanding Chinese, Jake was at a huge disadvantage.

  Stepping forward, Jake stopped when he saw the general above him aiming at him.

  Two more shots. That left one more bullet for the general. Assuming the man had not refilled the cylinder.

  More screaming from above by the general. But instead of looking up, Jake looked below, his gun poised to fire.

  “I could make you very rich, Adams,” the general yelled in English.

  But Jake continued looking down.

  The general’s man rushed up the stairs, his gun firing rapidly toward Jake. When Jake found an opening, he fired a number of times until the man hit the ground and Jake’s slide stuck back all the way. He saw his last bullet hit the Chinese man in the neck right between the head of the dragon and the tiger.

  Jake was out. He dropped a magazine and replaced it with a fresh one from his pocket before releasing the slide, jamming a fresh round into the chamber.

  Swiveling around toward the general, Jake aimed just as the billionaire shot one more time. The bullet struck the top of Jake’s left shoulder, knocking him back and stumbling to the ground, his gun releasing from his hand as Jake tried to catch his fall with his right hand.

  Rolling down the stairs, Jake came to rest on the next landing. He shook his head and got to his knees.

  The general was making his way down the stairs toward Jake, his gun clicking on empty cylinders.

  Jake’s gun rested on the staircase a number of steps above. He tried to recover and limped toward his gun, but the general might make it there first.

  With all his power, Jake thrust his body into motion, diving at the gun just as the general did the same thing.

  Instead of grabbing the gun, Jake grasped onto the general’s foot, twisted it, and flipped the general onto his back. But as he was falling he hit Jake across the head with the heavy revolver, knocking Jake against the railing.

  In the struggle and falling bodies, Jake’s gun had slipped through the stairwell and clanked down into the cavity, bouncing against the huge dampen ball and then to the floor five stories below.

  Jake was dazed and his shoulder bleeding down his left arm, which seemed to be temporarily useless to him.

  By now the general had recovered somewhat, got to his feet and was scurrying up the stairs toward the top.

  Jake took up the chase. At the very top was a platform with a door. The general grabbed the handle and tried desperately to get out. But it was no use. The door was locked solid.

  Getting to the top with the general, Jake squared up and tried to block the man’s escape past him.

  “Come on, Adams,” the general said with a smirk on his face. “Look, you are bleeding from your shoulder and your head. You might just pass out soon.”

  Jake shook his head. “Why did you do this? Why did you kill Bill Remington? Why did you set up my friend, Chad Hunter, to take the fall for shooting down that satellite? Why bring the two Chinese countries to the brink of war? And why did you try to shoot us down over the South China Sea?”

  General Wu Gang laughed uncontrollably, his voice echoing throughout the enclosure. Then the man plodded toward Jake like a predator sensing the vulnerability of its wounded prey.

  For a man in his fifties, the general was quite adept at hand-to-hand warfare. The two of them fought, striking each other with fists and elbows and knees and feet, one gaining the advantage and then the other. But Jake was bigger, younger and stronger. Despite his injuries, Jake landed a front kick to the general’s chest, sending him stumbling backwards until he hit the railing and his body flung over the top.

  But the general was able to catch himself on the bottom rail before his body crashed six floors.

  Jake’s mind swirled as his injuries finally brought him to his knees.

  General Wu Gang screamed for help in Chinese, his fingers slipping on the rail.

  Crawling toward the general, Jake considered his options. This was an evil man who had tried to kill him repeatedly. Did he deserve Jake’s help?

  Just as Jake got to the railing and was about to at least make an effort to bring this man to justice, fate would take this out of Jake’s hands. The man lost his grip and flew backwards into the cavity, bouncing first off of the wire cables that held the ball in place, and then smacking against the massive ball before falling the rest of the way to the bottom of the six flights. His body hit with a resounding thud that could only mean death.

  The last thing Jake could remember was looking over the edge and seeing blood pooling out from the general’s body from both sides. Then Jake’s head hit the floor and he passed out.

  33

  Alexandra could hear Jake over the Bluetooth, but for some reason she was not able to get through to him. When building security and the Taipei police finally reached the 88th floor, Alexandra had found her way to the center of the building with the dampen ball, her gun out and ready for anything.

  Jake was not responding. But Alexandra did smell the distinct odor of gunpowder as she crept toward the edge and looked over the railing. At the bottom, with blood seeping out from both sides of his body, was General Wu Gang.

  Now she became more desperate as she moved with haste upward, her gun leading her way and her hand shaking from the possibility of losing Jake.

  She came upon another body, and checked for a pulse. This was the man Jake had told her about with the tattoos. He was dead. Her heart raced.

  Moving higher yet, she came to a place on the stairs with blood spatter but no body. She hoped that was where the general had been shot and fell over the railing.

  No. There was a trail of blood leading up the stairs.

  Her pace quickened when she could finally see Jake laying face down on the ledge above.

  “Jake, Jake,” she yelled as she checked his pulse. She found a heartbeat. He was alive.

  She rolled Jake to his back and slapped his face trying to wake him.

  Suddenly the door shoved open and Alexandra pointed her gun at the man propping it open. She nearly shot him.

  The Chinese man said something in his language and then added in English, “Sorry. You must come with me. The police will be here soon.” It was Chan Le, the head of building security.

  By now Jake was coming out of his daze, his eyes rolling around and trying to focus on Alexandra. “Are you all right?” he asked her.

  “Jesus, Jake. You’ve been shot in the shoulder and your head is busted open and you’re worried about me?”

  She helped Jake to his feet and toward the door.

  “Hey, it’s that security fellow,” Jake said. “How you doing?”

  “Hurry,” Chan Lee said. “We need to get the two
of you out of the building.”

  “What about Lin?” Alexandra asked as she passed the Taiwanese man and he closed the door behind them.

  “She is fine. Come this way.”

  Suddenly Jake pulled away from Alexandra and found a garbage can. He puked his guts out and then wiped his mouth with the bottom of his shirt.

  Alexandra saw the bruises to his chest and she almost gasped. He had taken a beating. “You have a concussion,” she said, and then put his arm over her shoulder to help Jake walk.

  “Yeah,” Jake said. “I got one of these a couple times a year playing football in high school. Where the hell are we?”

  “Taiwan,” the security man said, waving his arms for them to hurry.

  “How about a little help,” Alexandra said.

  “Sorry.”

  The man got to the other side of Jake and their progress was much faster. They went through a security door and then down a couple sets of stairs, entering a back door to the building security office. Finally, they ended up in Chan Le’s private office without going through the banks of personnel in front of security monitors.

  They set Jake on a black leather sofa, and Alexandra checked his eyes. They seemed to be swirling around in his head.

  Chan Le handed Alexandra a first aid kit and she found the supplies she needed, immediately patching Jake’s shoulder wound. Most of the bleeding had already dried up, though, turning from a frothy red to a rust color. He was lucky the bullet had entered from the front, clipped the top of the clavicle and exited immediately. Next, she wiped the wound on Jake’s head and then patched it with a large bandage. Then she checked his body for any more wounds, but found only bruises.

  “How did you find Jake?” Alexandra asked.

  “I was watching from my computer,” Chan Le said. “I had to make sure to cut certain feeds at the right time. But when I saw General Wu Gang try to escape into the dampen ball chamber, I was about to notify Lin when I saw Mister Adams follow him in. So I kept the feed running.”

  “Did you keep a copy?” Jake asked. “I can’t remember a damn thing.”

  “I did. Just in case you were caught. They would see you acted in self defense.”

  “I did?” Jake said. “Good to know. Where’s that other woman? What’s her name?”

  “Lin,” Alexandra provided. She turned to Chan Le. “Where is she?”

  The security officer checked the large computer screen on his desk, obviously clicking through various monitors. “There she is. She’s on her way here.”

  “How did the police get up to the eighty-eighth floor?” Alexandra asked.

  Chan Le smiled. “As planned, with the elevators locked, they were forced to walk up the fire stairs. I made sure to call Lin when they got close.”

  “That’s why she told me to go find Jake.”

  “Exactly. When I saw Mister Adams collapse, I hurried up to check on him and to make sure he got out.”

  The main door opened and Lin rushed in, her eyes scanning the room. “Is Jake all right?” she asked.

  “There’s that hot Asian girl,” Jake said. “What’s your name again?”

  “Lin.”

  “Right.” Jake tried to access his brain, but he was having a hard time.

  “What happened to General Wu Gang?” Lin asked.

  Chan Le said, “He’s dead.”

  “Good.” Lin nodded her head with approval. “He was an evil man.”

  Alexandra crossed her arms over her chest and said, “Now what?”

  Lin sighed. “You need to give me your guns and we need to get you out of this building and out of Taiwan.”

  Jake felt his body for weapons. “I’m all out young lady.” He found an extra magazine in his pocket and handed it to Lin. “That’s all I got.”

  Alexandra pulled her gun and removed the magazine. She was down to her last magazine with only two rounds remaining, one in the magazine and the other in the chamber, which she removed and handed to Lin. “Jake must have lost his gun in the struggle,” Alexandra explained.

  “I’ve got my gun right here,” Jake said, his hand over his groin. “Never go anywhere without it.” He smiled broadly.

  Lin pulled Alexandra aside and whispered, “He should see a doctor before he leaves.”

  Alexandra knew she was right. “I know. But we can’t risk the questions. I’ll put him on a first class flight. I’d like to sedate him, but I know I should keep him awake.”

  “I’ll drive you to the airport,” Lin said. “We can stop to pick up some drugs once the stores open.” Lin turned to Chan Le and said, “We should get going. I hope you have a plan to get us past the police.”

  Chan Le smiled. “Of course. I have some security uniforms for each of you. His shirt is full of blood anyway.”

  Alexandra shook Chan Le’s hand and thanked him for his help. Then she hugged Lin and kissed the younger woman on the cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered into her ear.

  “No, thank you,” Lin responded. “I could not have taken down the general without you and Jake.”

  Jake got up from the sofa and almost fell back down. Lin caught Jake and gave him a big hug. “Thank you, Jake. I will not forget this.”

  Once they covered their clothes with the security uniforms, Chan Le simply escorted the three of them to the elevators, past the police check-point, and out the building into the night air. Then he pretended to give them orders and the three of them wandered off to Lin’s car across the street.

  Lin drove them to the airport and Alexandra and Jake found a flight to Vancouver, Canada. First class.

  34

  Tropea, Calabria, Italy

  Jake had finally cleared the cobwebs from his brain about the time they got to Vancouver, Canada. From there they had caught a flight to Frankfurt, Germany. Then on to Rome and a short flight to Calabria. It had been a number of years since Jake had traveled to the southernmost region of Italy, but the weather there was nearly perfect this time of year.

  A week had passed and they were staying at a villa on a cliff with an infinity pool. Jake wore just a pair of shorts and sun glasses as he gazed out at the Tyrrhenian Sea toward the island of Stromboli. He felt a bruise on his ribs that had changed from dark black and blue to yellow and light green. The bruises hurt more than the bullet wound to his shoulder.

  Alexandra wandered out to the terrace in her bikini carrying two large yellow drinks. She handed one to Jake and took a seat in the lounge chair next to him.

  “What do you have for me this time?” Jake asked. He lowered his sun glasses and looked at the drink. “This better not be some kind of grappa drink. I’m not a fan.”

  “It’s a Limoncello. Very tasty.”

  He sipped the drink and shook his head. “And strong.”

  “You’re still healing,” she said.

  Jake pushed his glasses up and patrolled her body from top to bottom. My God, she was beautiful.

  “Where do we go from here?” she asked, and then set her drink on the table between them.

  He looked out at the crystal blue water and said, “I don’t know. Maybe we should find a place down here.”

  “I am sick of the cold and wet weather,” she said.

  Smiling, Jake said, “And I like your attire much more down here.” He set his drink down and reached his hand across the table, taking her hand in his.

  “Sounds like a plan,” she agreed.