Temple of the Gods - Andy McDermott [43]
‘You’re the one who should be worried about harm!’ Nina cried as she finally broke loose, giving Kojima a solid kick in the shins. He yelped. ‘Call off your – your ninjas,’ she said, not quite able to believe what she was saying. ‘I can get Eddie to—’
The door opened. She turned, hoping to see Eddie . . . but saw instead his most deadly enemy.
Alexander Stikes.
She backed away like a cat facing an aggressive dog. ‘What the hell is he doing here?’
The industrialist didn’t appear pleased to see him either. ‘I told you to wait until we were finished.’
‘Sorry,’ said Stikes with a sarcastic smile, ‘but the alarm going off was rather a clue that something was wrong.’ He turned to Nina. ‘A pleasure to see you again.’
‘No it goddamn isn’t,’ she growled. She addressed Takashi. ‘This son of a bitch tried to kill me!’
‘He is only here because he delivered the statues to me,’ said Takashi. But there was a flustered quality to his reply that made Nina suspect he was concealing the whole truth, if not outright lying. ‘Please, Dr Wilde, you and the statues must be protected.’ He pointed at the stone figure still in her hand. ‘Put it in the case. If necessary, we will use the escape capsule to get them – and you – safely out of the building.’
Nina glanced at the booth containing the spherical pod. ‘You’re not shooting me fifty storeys into the air in that thing.’
‘It is for your own safety,’ Takashi insisted as Kojima hobbled to her and took the last statue, then put it in the case and closed the lid.
‘I can look after myself.’
‘Don’t worry,’ said Stikes. ‘I’ll take care of her.’
The malice behind his supercilious smirk was impossible for Nina to miss. She had seen it before, as his prisoner. As his victim, tortured for information with scorpion venom. Fear rose at the memory, her fight-or-flight instincts kicking in with a rush of adrenalin.
Fighting was out of the question. She knew she couldn’t win.
Which left—
She burst into motion, shoulder-barging Kojima aside and snatching up the case before sprinting through the doors.
‘Damn it!’ Stikes hissed as they slammed behind her. He reached into his jacket and drew a gun, a nickel-plated Jericho 941 automatic, and ran after her.
‘No!’ Takashi’s command made him freeze mid-stride. ‘Put your gun away. She is too valuable to the Group. She must not be hurt.’
The Englishman gave him a baleful look. ‘She must not be killed. That isn’t quite the same thing.’ He flicked off the Jericho’s safety. ‘Don’t worry, Mr Takashi. I’m a very good shot.’
Before Takashi could say anything further, he threw open the doors and rushed out after Nina.
Eddie’s gaze flicked back and forth between the two ninjas as they closed in. Donatello was still twirling his nunchaku with dangerous ease, trying to intimidate him into retreating – into range of Michelangelo’s poised staff.
His eyes moved to the exit – and the gun. If he could knock down or even distract one of the ninjas for as little as a second, he had a chance to round the other and reach the Makarov. But he would have to pick the perfect moment . . . and it wasn’t here yet. Both men needed to be closer, but not so close that they could make an unstoppable strike.
The ninjas knew what he was thinking. They exchanged another look, silently agreeing a plan of attack. Eddie stepped back. Even if they had figured out what he was about to do, he had no option left but to chance it.
The staff, though less showy, was more likely to fell him than the nunchaku. Donatello was his target, then. The ninja was still approaching, more cautiously. Another couple of feet.
One more step—
Eddie bumped into something. Caught off guard, he instinctively glanced at the obstruction – a display case containing a sword.
Donatello darted forward, the nunchaku whipping up at Eddie’s face. He raised his arms, taking a fierce crack to the elbow from the wooden handle—
The staff swung like a baseball bat, slamming across his stomach and pitching him backwards against the case. The whole thing toppled and fell, glass