The Rising Sea (NUMA Files 15)

“What do you think happened?” Han snapped. “Austin and the woman jumped you and set the place on fire.”

By now, the guard had untied Gao’s hands and propped him up. Gao rubbed at his wrists, then his neck. “Maybe they realized I was taking video of them.”

Han put his hand on the medallion around Gao’s neck. It was undamaged. The high-tech computer glasses he’d been wearing lay on the floor a few feet away.

“If they were upset about you recording them, they wouldn’t have left all your cameras behind. This is an act of desperation. A fire to bring the authorities into the building. An incident to put a spotlight of attention on us. It won’t matter; in fact, it will be more evidence to use against them later. Did you get enough video?”

Gao nodded. “We have video, voice recordings, movement analysis. Everything we need to construct a replica.”

“Good,” Han said. “There’s a helicopter on the way in. Get back to the island and get working on them immediately.”

“‘Them’? You want more than one?”

“Oni has brought us a gift: the policeman who helped Austin back in Tokyo. I want a replica of him also; it will make it that much more difficult for the authorities to cause us trouble when we make our move.”

* * *

• • •

KURT AND AKIKO made it to the warehouse. The loading bay waited just beyond.

Using Gao’s key card, Kurt opened the last door. A stairwell led down to the floor, where towers of wooden crates and machinery loomed like a miniature city.

Several vehicles sat at the far end.

“We’re going to need a way out of this, once we get Nagano,” Kurt said. “See if you can find the keys to one of those cars or trucks.”

“If not, I can hot-wire one,” Akiko said.

“Good,” Kurt said. “If we have a choice, something sturdy enough to break down metal gates and brick walls would be nice.”

“I’ll do my best,” Akiko said.

“I probably don’t have to tell you this after what we’ve seen, but watch out for the automated equipment. If Han can use machines to storm an armed compound, he can turn anything with batteries and cameras into a whistle-blower or worse.”

Akiko nodded and moved off, traveling swift and silent. Kurt went the other direction, heading for the back door. He pressed up against it and opened it a crack. He saw Ushi-Oni, bossing around a group of Han’s men. He was barking orders as the men went to work emptying the sedan.

First, they removed some long wooden boxes. Then other items wrapped in leather. They placed the boxes on a cart with great care before moving back to the car and dragging out Superintendent Nagano with far less caution.

Nagano sagged to the ground as he was pulled out of the sedan, which Kurt noticed was sporting government plates.

One of the men shouted at Nagano. A second man kicked him as they tried to force him to stand on his own.

At least he was alive.

Kurt hoped some of them would leave with the treasure they had, but they stuck together. And Kurt soon saw why. A helicopter was descending toward a concrete swath just beyond where they stood.

“Five against one. Wonderful odds.” Kurt looked around for a way to even the playing field and settled on using a forklift.

Starting the electrical vehicle was easy. Driving it a little more difficult. But he didn’t need to be as precise as he’d been out on the racetrack.

He backed up, pivoted and sped forward, raising the arms of the forklift like a pair of spears.

He drove around and out through an open bay door and, from there, came flying around the edge, gunning for Ushi-Oni.

The Demon saw him at the last second and dove out of the way. Two of his men weren’t so lucky. The forklift slammed them like a battering ram; luckily, they weren’t skewered.

Kurt immediately pulled backward and spun to the right. The three-wheeled vehicle pivoted with surprising swiftness and the raised forks took out another of Han’s men, knocking him out of the way, cracking several ribs in the process.