The Traitor's Gold, page 19
‘One wrong move…’ he said ominously.
‘The car,’ Roxy said.
They descended the steps in front of the house one at a time. The day stretched before them like a taut line stretched to breaking point. Mason had hold of the back of Kobayashi’s shirt. When they reached the car, Roxy slipped past them, crouching and moving swiftly. Mason monitored the guards, seeing more now coming from the right, all with their guns raised and aimed.
‘Hurry,’ he said.
Roxy swung open the rear door and beckoned to Kobayashi.
‘Get in!’
‘Stay back,’ Mason shouted, seeing the guards on the right creeping forward.
Roxy grabbed Kobayashi’s arm as the man approached the car and shoved him towards the back seat.
Mason was having trouble with the guards on the right. They wouldn’t stay still. They kept coming, just a step at a time, but advancing nonetheless. He made sure that Roxy was covering the big man, then moved his Uzi in their direction and opened fire, spraying above their heads.
‘I said stay back,’ he yelled.
Even if they didn’t speak English, his action with the gun got his message across. The men kept their weapons trained, but stopped moving. Mason, close to Kobayashi, could feel the man struggling. He still wasn’t in the back of the car.
‘What’s happening?’
‘He won’t fit!’ Roxy yelled in shock. ‘The bastard won’t fit in the back of the car.’
Such a scenario hadn’t crossed Mason’s mind. ‘You’re fucking kidding me.’
He glanced around Kobayashi’s bulk. The guy had one leg, one thigh in the car but couldn’t fit the rest of him inside. The space was too small for his ample shoulders and stomach. Roxy was trying to force him inside and the guy wasn’t protesting, but there just wasn’t enough space for the manoeuvre.
‘Shit,’ Roxy cried, then grabbed hold of Kobayashi and looked around. ‘What the hell do we do now?’
Mason, staying low and close to Kobayashi, looked around once more. Their means of a getaway had been thwarted. Three guards stood to the right, two to the left, and at least four in front. Uzis were primed and aimed. They still had Kobayashi, but they were in a terrible stalemate.
The guards had seen that something was amiss. They were communicating with each other through earbud comms. As one now, they took a step forward and then another. Mason saw the noose tightening, the severe faces coming closer, the guns held eagerly.
‘You are dead,’ Kobayashi spat at them.
Mason didn’t fancy their chances. The mini Uzi he was holding didn’t have an extended mag; it was the standard twenty-round weapon. He’d already squeezed off five. With a flick of his finger, he switched the Uzi from semi-automatic to single shot. It had limited long-range accuracy, anyway. Roxy did the same.
Then there came another tightening of the noose. The guards were all stepping in now; they couldn’t cover all of them. Kobayashi was upright again, leaning on the car and panting. Mason and Roxy were inches away.
‘Dead,’ Kobayashi whispered.
‘Call your men off.’ Mason grabbed hold of his collar and hefted him upright. ‘Call them off right now or I’ll break your neck.’
Kobayashi struggled, tried to keep his head low and his shoulders hunched. He was harder to handle that way and knew it. Mason jabbed him with the Uzi.
‘Tell them!’
Kobayashi refused. The men advanced another step. Mason saw he was going to have to perforate some of them, but there was a high risk that once one person opened fire, everyone would open fire.
He looked at Roxy. Sunlight surrounded them, but the situation was anything but balmy.
‘There’s no way out of this one,’ Roxy said quietly. ‘The Devil is definitely calling.’
Mason watched her closely. There had been a time, not so long ago, when Roxy’s own severe self-analysis had put her off her game. She’d shut down, unable to operate. That had only been for a few minutes, but Mason needed her at the top of her game now.
‘Don’t listen,’ he said. ‘You know what to do. You always have. You don’t listen.’
She looked at him. ‘I’m okay,’ she said.
Mason saw the guards move closer. He wondered how many steel sights had him lined up. The number of guards was ridiculous – and there were also the snipers on the roof, out of sight and range for now. But once he and Roxy came out from under the house’s shadow…started heading towards that gate…
Mason jabbed his Uzi under Kobayashi’s ribs. ‘Tell them to fall back.’
‘Fuck you.’
And still they came, one step at a time. Mason could see them communicating with each other. The situation was severe, and Mason and Roxy were going to have to become equally harsh if they were going to survive it.
Now, he jammed the Uzi into Kobayashi’s elbow joint. ‘Last chance,’ he said. ‘I will shoot.’
Kobayashi panted hard. He raised his free hand, took a deep breath and was about to say something when it all went a little crazy. He opened his mouth, looking towards the gates – which suddenly smashed apart as a four-wheel-drive vehicle broke through, followed by another. The vehicles were black, big and meant business. As they crashed through the gates, men leaned out of the windows and fired at the sentry guards.
Mason stared, shaking his head. ‘What the fu—’
The guards whirled towards the new threat.
Mason didn’t need to take cover. The car and Kobayashi were enough. Together, the three of them hunkered down behind the car, Mason peering through the windows.
‘The house,’ Kobayashi moaned. ‘We need to get back inside the house.’
But that would be cornering themselves. The safe assumption here was that the newcomers were here for Kobayashi. Unfortunately, Mason and Roxy were right where they wanted to be.
The four-wheel-drives had screeched to a halt. Doors flung open. Men leapt out, all carrying automatic weapons, which they unleashed with impunity. Bullets laced the air, pinging everywhere.
Mason stared at them. ‘SED,’ he said. ‘Who else?’
‘And the gloves are fucking off,’ Roxy said. ‘They’ve been holding back until now.’
The Shadow Kings’ mercenaries piled out of their vehicles, thirteen of them including their leader, Mason thought. They latched on to their targets, using the vehicles as cover or running to the nearest statue or fountain. At first, Kobayashi’s guards were caught out in the open, but then started scuttling for cover or flinging themselves to the ground. All of a sudden, Kobayashi’s plight was secondary.
The SED advanced. A guard twisted and fell, spouting blood. The sentry guards had been blown to bits and lay twisted on the ground. The SED clearly hadn’t reconnoitred properly – they didn’t know about the snipers on the roof, who now opened fire. An SED trooper was struck in the chest and then another, their lives saved by their bulletproof jackets. The high-powered gunfire sent the SED into hiding.
Mason gripped Kobayashi tightly. ‘We may have an opportunity here.’
Roxy glared at him, at the scenario before them. ‘I’m all ears.’
‘He has his own cars. Clearly, he can fit into them. All we have to do is get to the garage.’
Roxy looked like she was trying to stay optimistic. Mason imagined the struggle going on inside her brain. ‘Trust me,’ he said.
‘You’re the boss.’
Another title he didn’t like. Mason didn’t care to be thought of as a leader, not since Mosul, but he found that now, after that resolution in the hotel room the other night, he wasn’t as affected as he used to be.
‘Kobayashi,’ he said. ‘You’re the meat barrier.’
‘He means protection,’ Roxy said. ‘You’re our protection.’
‘Same thing.’
Mason was about to drag them in the garage’s direction when gunfire burst all around them. Bullets struck their car, glancing off the bodywork and the roof and shattering the windows. Mason flung himself to the ground, dragging Kobayashi down with him. Roxy hit the deck at their sides.
‘You all right?’ Mason yelled.
Bullets still peppered their car, breaking through the bodywork. Mason felt a round whistle by just above his head and heard it smash into the brickwork of the house at his back.
‘Fine,’ Roxy whispered back.
Kobayashi rolled in between them and gave them the thumbs-up. Somehow, they were going to have to get the big man back to his feet.
When the fusillade died down, Mason jumped to his feet, bent over and, with Roxy’s help, hauled Kobayashi upright.
Soon, they were ready again.
‘We don’t stop running until we hit the garage,’ Mason said.
‘Just wait,’ Kobayashi held up a hand, clearly seeing his own mortality. ‘It’s safer if we run through the house. There’s a side exit to the garage.’
Mason eyed Roxy. ‘Of course there is.’
‘We should have known that.’
Mason grabbed Kobayashi’s shirt. ‘Move.’
Chapter 30
Mason ran up the steps, hauling Kobayashi along with Roxy at his side. They hit the front door, crashed through it and turned right. Kobayashi was lumbering, breathing heavily, but seemed up for the run. He knew this was pure life or death.
‘Who are those people?’ he asked. ‘The ones disrespecting my house?’
‘Covert special forces,’ Roxy told him. ‘Working for an entity called the Shadow Kings. They’re here for the same thing we are. I suggest you give it to us first.’
‘I don’t know what you mean.’
Mason somehow refrained from tapping him on the head with the Uzi. ‘You know exactly what we mean, arsehole.’
‘The reckoning is coming,’ Roxy said threateningly.
They raced up a shiny corridor, through a library furnished with floor-to-ceiling shelves and a thousand hardback books that Kobayashi probably didn’t even know the titles of, through a study with a leather desk and a painting of Macau at night, and finally through a games room that contained a pool table, darts and a video game corner. Kobayashi couldn’t speak by the time they got there, but he raised his hand and pointed to a door.
Mason turned the handle, found it unlocked. The door opened inwards. He let it swing and then took in the lie of the land. They were on the garage side of the house. A gravel path six feet wide separated them from the brick structure.
The sounds of gunfire continued outside as the SED fought Kobayashi’s guards for control of the grounds.
Mason let Kobayashi have about thirty seconds, then grabbed him again. ‘The Range Rover,’ he said, ‘should be the biggest. I assume you fit into it?’
Kobayashi nodded.
‘Right, let’s go.’
They slipped out of the doorway. To the right Mason saw a sliver of the grounds, the far broken gates and the SED fighters running forwards. Together, the three of them ran to the front of the garage and slipped inside. Three vehicles stood before them, one a large black Range Rover.
A burst of bullets smashed into the brick wall at their sides, sending flaked-off mortar debris all over their shoulders. Mason ducked, then looked out the garage door.
Two SED fighters had spotted them and had lined them up. As he watched, they let off another few rounds that clattered around inside the garage.
Roxy ran to the corkboard set in the far wall, cast her eye along the rows of hooks. Soon, she gave a shout of triumph and plucked one of the key fobs. Then she turned, aimed it at the big vehicle and clicked it.
There was the sound of chunky locks opening.
Mason flung scenarios through his brain. The most dangerous option could be the best, he thought. Kobayashi had already proven uncooperative.
Roughly, he dragged Kobayashi to the most open part of the garage, in full view of the SED and his own guards.
‘Now,’ he said. ‘Tell us what we want to know or you stay right here. And you will die.’
As if to emphasise his point, a couple of bullets zinged through the opening and hit the rear of the garage, passing a few feet away from Kobayashi’s bulk.
‘I can’t remember what you said.’ Kobayashi, standing in the open, had started to tremble.
‘The coins from the ancient casino. Where did you get them?’
‘How do you even know about them?’
Mason didn’t reveal Saito’s role in it. He said, ‘The coins have been spread across half of Japan.’
Kobayashi hissed between closed teeth and then started cursing in Japanese. He kicked the air in front of him.
Mason, sheltered behind the man, let him have a few seconds.
Roxy ran to the vehicle and opened the side and rear doors to prepare for their getaway.
Kobayashi spat in disgust. His face had turned red. Mason let him have his anger, but prodded him with the gun.
‘Answer the damn question.’
‘My treasures…are sacred,’ Kobayashi whispered. ‘They cannot be plundered. They exist just for me, for my eyes. Your…your revelation is…shocking.’
‘I don’t care,’ Mason said. As he spoke, another burst of bullets zinged in their direction, this time splattering the front of the Mazda. The front grille was blown off, the engine hammered by lead. Kobayashi shook.
‘Please,’ he said.
‘You give us answers or you get perforated,’ Roxy growled at him. ‘That’s the deal.’ She too was now sheltering behind the man, though further back than Mason.
‘Damn it.’ Kobayashi, in dire fear of his life, knew he was cornered. He spoke very quickly. ‘I got them from the casino, of course. From the ground. From somewhere. Seven years ago.’
Mason poked him. This was just the kind of knowledge they were looking for. ‘Go on.’
‘Seven years ago these…I guess you would call them treasure hunters…came to my door and offered to sell me the bags of coins. They knew I was a collector. Everyone knows I am a collector.’
‘Probably not wise to let everyone know,’ Roxy said.
‘Why? They all fear me.’
Mason waved it away. ‘Get back to the question,’ he said.
‘I told you. Seven years ago these men came to my door, sold me the old coins. Said they came from some lost casino in the Gobi. Part of the deal was to tell me where it was.’
‘You went there?’ Mason pressed.
‘No. Later, when I found out that it was in China, I couldn’t be…umm, I decided not to pursue the find.’
‘You’re a lazy bastard,’ Roxy said.
‘No, no. It was just too risky,’ Kobayashi blustered. ‘These men unearthed the coins at substantial cost to themselves. I spoke to them at length, learned something about them. Anyone offering me treasure is my friend.’
‘So that’s all we had to do?’ Roxy said archly. ‘Bring along a Rembrandt with us?’
‘It’s called “greasing the wheels”.’
‘How many coins did they give you?’
‘Just three bags. But they had many more. For other collectors, I imagine.’
‘Where did they get the coins from?’ Mason asked.
‘I told you. The Gobi,’ the man said. ‘You know about the Silk Road?’
Mason nodded briefly. Just as he did so, a stray bullet flew through the garage, narrowly missing Kobayashi and slamming into the Nissan. The big Japanese collector started visibly shaking.
‘You have to protect me.’
‘We don’t have to do anything,’ Mason said. ‘Now, go on.’
‘The Silk Road is an ancient trade route between the East and the West. There’s an ancient city along that route, even now, called Dunhuang. Near Dunhuang, are some famous caves called the Mogao Caves, located at a religious and cultural junction on the Silk Road. It would make sense to position the old casino along the Silk Road, yes?’
Mason nodded. ‘Yes.’
‘I can give you directions from a point in Dunhuang, the caves. That is what the treasure hunters gave me seven years ago.’
Mason flinched then as their luck ran out. A bullet flew through the garage door, struck Kobayashi in the right shoulder and spun him around. He fell to his knees, blood spurting over Mason’s shoes. Roxy dived into the Range Rover and stabbed a button to start it up.
Mason reached around Kobayashi, trying to help him up, but the man was bleating to himself and crying heavily. Half his weight was on his injured arm, but still he couldn’t seem to move.
Another bullet streaked through the air at the top of the garage. Mason saw a gun appear in the doorway, saw one of Kobayashi’s guards follow it. He had little time to react. He fell to the floor behind Kobayashi’s bulk, barely escaping the strafing stitch-marks of bullets that flew across the garage floor in his wake. He raised his Uzi and fired twice at the man.
The shots knocked the guy’s gun from his hand, but he didn’t stop. He came through the opening at speed, rushing towards Kobayashi and Mason. A knife flashed in his right hand.
Mason didn’t wait for a fight. He fired twice more and took the guy out, saw him stumble to the floor right in front of Kobayashi. The big guy barely gave him a second glance.
Roxy inched the Range Rover forward.
Mason got the hint. He bent down and hauled Kobayashi to his feet, using every ounce of his strength. He shoved the stumbling man to the car’s back door, prodding and poking, directing him. Kobayashi lumbered first one way and then the other, hand clapped to his shoulder, head down, sobbing. Blood leaked down his arm and dripped to the floor.
Mason spun once more. Another one of Kobayashi’s guards had made it to the garage door. This one already had his Uzi up and aimed at Mason’s heart. Mason felt a surge of bitter regret, annoyed at not being careful or fast enough. He could raise his own Uzi, but he’d be about one second too late.
