Travis Justice (18 page)

“Bull,” Ross protested. “We have every entrance and exit under observation. Even if we have to delay the assault, they'll never be able to shut down an operation this complex without leaving something behind.” He added morosely, “Besides, we don't have a choice but to get it because now he knows where it is.”

John nodded agreement and reached for the radio at his belt. “One of my guys still has the key Hana gave him. I'll tell him to bring it to us.”

Unable to be still, Zach had taken to pacing. He was on the edge of the clearing when his father spoke quietly into the radio, so he saw the small jeep first. Driving it was Abigail Doyle, her tall, slim figure imposing even in jeans and T-shirt. And when she got out of the car, she carried with her a long, red silk-wrapped object: the katana.

* * *

Inside the cavern, Hana could only watch as Kai had lifted her cell phone to his ear. She knew from his expression he was taunting Zach. When Kai climbed into the ring, he'd shoved the cell phone in her face. “Tell me where the sword is.”

It was her only leverage, and she used it. “Uncuff me. How do I type?”

“You can talk, can't you?”

Hana had only looked up at him, mute. When he'd drawn his hand back as if to strike her, she never broke her gaze from his: Fearless and unafraid—ironically, because he'd helped her mature. She'd gone to him an unfocussed, undisciplined, and impetuous teenager. By the time she had Takeo and they split, she was sober, resolved, and systematic in proving to him and everyone else that she was both a worthy Nakatomi heir and a good mother.

Something had flickered in his eyes and she'd realized he was remembering too. His hand fell. He'd taken a key from his pocket and uncuffed her, pulling her to her feet and handing her the phone. She'd typed rapidly, revealing the location of the katana. Kai looked over her shoulder to read. When she was done, he'd snatched the phone back and typed something she couldn't see, then stuck it in his pocket.

He lifted the cuffs, indicating that she turn around, but she said, “Lock me in with Takeo. At least allow me to protect my son.”

“You'll take him the first chance you get.”

He walked around her and roughly looped her wrists together.

“I won't,” Hana lied.

But he snapped the handcuffs back in place, hands behind her back. He shoved her roughly down next to Ernie, but at least they weren't back-to-back this time.

He was climbing out of the ring when Hana's phone rang. Kai looked at the name, smiling in satisfaction as he answered. “You are timely.” He listened. “Very well, you'll be met at the door. And escorted to me. Do as you're told or Hana won't live to see your shining face.” He hung up. “They had the sword all along. Your lover is bringing it to me, just as I predicted.”

Hana stared over his head into space, not allowing him the satisfaction of reacting.

Kai shook his head, but there was an angry look about his mouth when he mocked, “The poor sucker really loves you, doesn't he? Daddy must be upset to know his son loves a woman wanted for murder. He's about to discover just how dangerous you really are.” He ducked out of the ring and hurried back to his logistics.

Hana took advantage of his departure, knowing his men would be watching him for any new orders, and stomped her right heel into the mat, as if frustrated. Her heel came off. Immediately, she went still. Ernie shifted, as if uncomfortable with his hands behind his back. He managed to move sideways enough that he could reach her heel. He fumbled behind his back while Hana did her best to shield him with her body.

His satisfied little grunt told her he'd found the pick. Swinging around, they went back-to-back again, but this time Hana felt Ernie inserting the pick into her handcuffs. Shielded from view by their position, his hands were not visible at any angle.

* * *

Inside his room, Takeo had dried his tears on his sleeve, but his face was sullen. When his mother left, the house grew uncannily silent and Takeo knew his mother must be in the cavern. The man tasked to guard him obviously didn't like his job because he paced up and down, occasionally glaring at his charge. Takeo scooted off his bed. The man caught his arm, but Takeo only glared back at the man's face far above him.

“I need to pee,” he said bluntly.

The man moved aside, allowing Takeo into the bathroom. Takeo locked the door and without missing a beat, he climbed on top of the bathroom vanity, on tiptoes to reach for the tiny window above the bathtub-shower combo. The half window was meant for ventilation and had been designed too small for a man to breach, so it wasn't covered by a heavy metal shutter.

It wasn't designed to stop a child.

Takeo reached and reached, but he had to move his feet to the very corner of the vanity to bridge the short gap. If he stood on the tub he wouldn't be tall enough. His wooden clogs were slippery, so he kicked them off. They hit the floor with a clatter.

Immediately there was a bang on the door and a query from the guard in Japanese.

Takeo's chubby little right hand reached the small ledge beneath the window as the first blow came at the door.

Using the new upper-body strength his training had bestowed on him, he dangled from the ledge on one hand until he could plant his feet against the wall and brace himself. He levered himself up enough on a precarious knee to support his weight so he could open the window.

The window latch was new and it opened smoothly. Takeo pushed the screen out and scooted out, back-end first. He heard the door crunch as it was forced from its hinges. For an instant he was stuck, but he inhaled deeply and wriggled, and then he was falling for what felt like forever, to the ground.

His teeth jarred in his mouth, biting his lip as he landed, but he'd taken enough falls in the ring to know to land with his knees bent. The scrubby ground was hurtful, but then he was up and running, ignoring the jabs of pain on the tender pads of his feet.

If something bad was happening, Takeo instinctively knew his mother was in the thick of it. He was pretty sure his daddy was really mad at his mother and he'd seen how his daddy acted when he was in a temper. Takeo also instinctively understood that his presence acted like a brake on his father's worst inclinations. If he could make his way into the cavern, his father would not hurt his mother in front of him.

Besides, he didn't like it here anymore anyway. He wanted to go home. He wanted to see Jiji.

But it would be difficult to reach his mother if he tried going through the house. There were too many guards for him to slip into the cavern unseen.

However, his father had shown him his greatest secret one day when he was pleased with his son's performance: the secret entrance and exit from the basement.

To reach his mother in the cavern, Takeo knew he had to go up to go down.

I
n the makeshift base of operations John had set up outside the fence perimeter, Abby hefted the wrapped katana. John Travis looked at her in amazement, accepting it. “I knew you were good, but not this good. How the hell did you know to bring it to us?”

“Hana texted me hours ago and asked me to. She told me where to find it. The office gave me your GPS coordinates and I came straight here.”

“What time did she text you?” Zach demanded.

She glanced at her phone and gave him the exact time. Right around the time they'd entered the van for their trip, he realized. Her body was still warm with his lovemaking when she'd decided he was too weak to face Kai. . . .

Zach's drawn look went positively grim. She'd planned this, just like she'd told his mother. She was going to risk her life against Kai, both to protect the blade and her son. And, Zach knew in a deep part of himself that he refused to acknowledge, to protect him too.

Fury at her lack of faith in him made his hands shake as he snatched the sword from his father. “I'm going in.”

John bit off, “Negative. That's exactly what the bastard wants.”

“Give me thirty minutes and blow the power,” Zach said as if his father hadn't spoken. “I'm taking some flash bangs and tear gas with me. I'll deploy them at the appointed time, so wear your masks.” Sticking the sword into the side strap of the knife harness on his back, Zach turned to shimmy up the big oak tree so he could drop down into the pasture past the fence.

His father stepped in front of him. “I forbid you to do this. It's suicide.”

“I won't let Hana fight him alone. You can fire me for insubordination if I live long enough.” Zach moved to step around his father, but John only sidestepped too, still blocking him.

In the glow of the rising dawn, two remarkably similar faces squared off in the exact same posture: mouths set with resolution, cleft chins stubbornly slanted. In that moment, father and son uncannily resembled one another.

* * *

Inside the martial-arts ring, Hana felt her cuffs go slack with a very slight
click
. All she had to do was twist her wrists to be free, and the knowledge that Zach was coming gave her even more urgency. She had to be free before Kai saw him. She knew his tactics: He'd be sure Zach saw her staked out like a prized goat, then Kai's little war of words would escalate to global violence....

Takeo? Locked in his room, guarded, he should be safe enough from all the turmoil. He certainly had nothing to fear from the Rangers and it was obvious all the action would take place down here. If she could get him free, Ernie could protect Takeo.

However, no matter how she fumbled, Hana didn't have Ernie's skills with the pick. She looked around furtively, trying to spot Kai, but he wasn't hunkered over the laptop anymore. She also noted that several of their guards had disappeared. She suspected someone still watched them, but didn't know from which quarter. However, she was out of options.

Ernie sensed her frustration. “Go on. Arm yourself. You and Takeo get the hell away.”

“I'm not leaving you, Ernie. Takeo should be fine upstairs; Zach knows about the subbasement and the fight will happen here. But I can't . . .” Her frustrated whisper trailed off as she dropped the pick. “I'll get the key somehow and come back.”

Flicking the cuffs off her wrists, Hana stood and ducked out of the ring. She held her breath as she did so, but no one stopped her. She heard voices coming down a corridor she'd never ventured into and realized Kai was probably deploying his forces. No doubt he'd called everyone to a meeting to plan the next hour.

Her urgency and fear for Zach increased. She searched the perimeter of the main cavern.

Hana found a nylon jacket over a chair, but it didn't have a key in the pocket as she hoped. Her frantic gaze settled on the clean room where Kai's worker bees made his wonder drug. She ducked inside the gaping door. She was glad to see it had been cleared of all personnel, so at least no workers would be hurt. However, all the proof of his operation was gone too.

Except for a few bottles of various chemicals that . . . her blood went cold. She didn't know a thing about bomb making, but she knew the universal signs for poison and danger. Several large bottles with hazardous labels of obviously volatile chemicals had been wired together. An attached counter showed descending red numbers:
57:30
.
29, 28
. . .

Dear God, Kai had rigged up a bomb. Hana looked at the complicated wiring but she saw it was all connected to a central black box with a tiny meter. She was afraid to try to disconnect it. It appeared to have some type of tampering trigger, but she needed Ernie to look at it. She'd turned toward the door when a shadow darkened it. It was Ernie.

“I realized they weren't watching us and just left . . .” he said. His words trailed off as he too saw the bomb. He bit off a nasty curse she'd seldom heard him use even in extreme moments.

Her heart sank. As if the circumstances weren't dangerous enough, now they had a very strict clock for the entire operation. Kai had let her keep her watch, at least. Automatically, she synchronized her stopwatch dial to the time on the counter.

“Can you disarm it?” she asked Ernie as she set her watch.

He shook his head. “I don't have the proper tools and I'm not a bomb expert. But I'm pretty sure that meter is an electrical-charge monitor. See how everything is wired into it? If you don't cut the wires in the proper sequence, it will read the change in ohms and detonate. Besides . . .” He tried to shrug, indicating his hands were still cuffed behind his back.

Hana searched every drawer in the empty cabinets, hoping to find a key. In a lower, heavy metal drawer, she found another hazardous bottle and this name she recognized: “hydrochloric acid.”

Ernie saw it too. He looked down at the big glass dropper left with some other paraphernalia, including a pair of heavy rubber gloves. He turned around. “Do it.”

“But . . . your hands.”

“Wrap some of that gauze around them and try to use the acid sparingly.”

When she still hesitated, he snapped, “Now, Hana. We don't have time to argue.”

Reluctantly, Hana pulled on the right-hand glove and opened the bottle.

* * *

Takeo saw that it was growing light outside. He wondered if the guard inside could see him if he looked out the window, and that made him run even faster because he knew the guard would alert his father that he'd gotten away. Takeo finally reached the windmill, which was still spinning. He easily ducked beneath the legs and saw the hatch his father had showed him before. It was embedded in the dirt and couldn't be seen from the outside, or that the spinning windmill wasn't attached to a pump.

But when Takeo tried to turn the big flywheel, it wouldn't budge.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ross and Zach had jumped down from the tree and started across the pasture when, in the bright rim growing on the horizon, they saw the lazily spinning windmill beautifully silhouetted in the light. They both would have missed the small figure almost hidden in the depression beneath the structure, if not for several frustrated cries that reached them on the soft breeze.

Warily, wondering if he was entering a trap, Zach approached the windmill so he could see more clearly. Nothing except . . . his eyes narrowed on the very top of a small person's head and what appeared to be tousled black hair.

Holding up his hand to indicate
halt
to Ross, Zach eased closer still. Either the depression was very deep or the person standing there was very small. Zach crept nearer until he could look down inside the dug-out hole where he'd expect the piping to be. He froze, blinking in shock, but knew instantly who it was.

“Takeo?” he called softly.

His face streaked with tears, Takeo turned toward him. He backed away from Zach's blackened face and heavily armed figure. He turned to run, but Zach added, “I'm here to help your mother. She knows me.”

With those magical words, Takeo's fear subsided. He looked way up at the tall man as Zach dropped down into the depression with him, almost crowding him out. “What are you doing, little guy? Why are you out here by yourself?”

Takeo gave the flywheel an angry look. “My daddy showed me this way into the cavern. Inside, they guard me. I want to get to my mama because I think—I think—” He swallowed back his words.

Zach was both amazed and touched, for he realized instantly Takeo was afraid his mother would be hurt by his father. “That's why I'm here. To protect her.”

Takeo nodded eagerly. “I will help too.”

“You already have. They won't see us coming if we go in this way.” Zach picked the little boy up and, ignoring his protests that he could walk and he wanted to come too, lifted the slight weight up toward Ross's welcoming arms.

Takeo shrank away from Ross, and thinking he was afraid, Ross said, “It's okay, little guy, I'm just going to take you to a safe place while we go find your mother.”

When Ross took him, instead of subsiding, Takeo squirmed and kicked. Ross wouldn't let him go and started toward the fence line, trying to restrain him without hurting him.

When Ross didn't release him, Takeo bent his head and bit him in the wrist.

* * *

Inside the clean room, Hana had to use the dropper three times in ever greater quantities, holding her breath each time she opened the bottle to avoid the nasty fumes. She heard Ernie's sharply indrawn breath the third time, but he only backed up against the metal shelving and banged the cuffs. On the fourth try, the weakened metal bent enough for him to slip free.

Immediately, Hana poured soda over his reddened and blistered wrists. He sighed with relief. Then he rinsed his wrists in the industrial sink. Hana bound the worst of the blisters on his left wrist, then she looked down at him. One wrist was blue and swollen from his self-inflicted wound and now the other one had acid scarring.

But Ernie only winked. “Good thing I'm better with my feet. Come on.”

Hana followed her sensei. They'd heard movement a ways down the corridor, so they had very little time to plan. Hana knew Zach must be on the way . . . she looked down at her watch. “Fifty-five minutes, Ernie,” she said.

“I'm going for Takeo.” He paused at the door. “Hana, come with me. If we run now, we can all get away.”

She looked at him sadly. “And go where? You know Kai will never stop until he has Takeo and I'm dead.”

Ernie shook his head at her. “You really don't know, do you?” He leaned forward and emphasized, his electric silver eyes boring into her, “Kai went to such lengths to get you arrested for one simple reason: He can't kill you. He wants you out of his way, but he still loves you. If you have to face him in combat, that's your only advantage. Use it for all it's worth.”

Outside in the corridor, Ernie hurried up the circular stairs while Hana snatched a hood and nylon wind jacket and put them on. Not a great disguise, but maybe sufficient to at least get her near enough to figure out what Kai was planning. As she walked, she kept an eye out for a discarded weapon: preferably a katana.

If Ernie was right, maybe Kai would for once fight fair and face her in equal combat. But she'd be at an extreme disadvantage, not only because he was a better swordsman, but if Zach came with the blade, she'd be facing a death match against the best sword ever made . . . if she could somehow stop Zach from engaging him first.

* * *

Outside, Zach had the flywheel open and was heaving up the heavy hatch when he heard a masculine cry of outrage. He looked up.

He saw Takeo kick Ross repeatedly, struggling wildly. Ross set Takeo down abruptly, shaking his wrist. A drop of blood drizzled down his arm and Zach realized Takeo had actually bitten him. Ross reached toward Takeo's arm to stop him, but the child twisted free and ran back toward the windmill.

Not sure whether to laugh or scold, Zach caught the determined little guy with one arm when Takeo tensed to jump down toward the open hatch. “This will be very dangerous, Takeo. If you're there, your mother will be thinking of you, not her own safety.” Besides, Zach thought but didn't say, the boy didn't need to see his parents locked in mortal combat. He was as sure as he could be that either Hana or Kai would be dead before nightfall—unless he could, in some improbable fashion, avert their fight and neutralize Kai.

Takeo had pulled back his leg to kick him, when a blessedly familiar voice said, “Takeo! Mind your manners.” Scowling, his little face a tiny version of Hana's when she was angry, Takeo turned toward the new arrival.

To Zach's huge relief, he looked up and saw Ernie.

* * *

Hana had never been down this corridor. She was walking against the flow of traffic, trying to see the end when she saw Kai's lieutenant approaching. All Kai's men had an air of finality, as if they knew they would die this night. But like the samurai of old, they were protecting their fiefdom and their shogun and they would fight to the death.

Hana doubted if Kai had warned them they had less than an hour to die gloriously in battle or ignominiously in an explosion set by their own leader. But because so many of them had begun looking at her suspiciously, she had no choice but to turn around and go with the flow. However, even hooded and wearing a shapeless jacket, she was apparently quite distinctive, because the lieutenant pushed through his men and grabbed her arm.

“Kai said you'd find a way to confront him. He's waiting.”

He dragged her up the corridor.