Temple of the Gods - Andy McDermott [45]
He threw another place aside – and saw the glint of steel beneath.
The ninja was almost on him—
He dived for the gun, grabbing it and twisting to bring it to bear. The blade flashed down – and the ninja took two bullets to the chest as Eddie fired at point-blank range. The Englishman rolled to avoid the bloodied corpse as it fell, the katana’s point stabbing into the wood floor to leave the weapon standing beside the body like a tombstone.
‘Jesus,’ Eddie gasped, regaining his breath as he shakily stood. ‘Fucking ninjas, they’re like cockroaches!’ He checked the room, trying to get his bearings. There were two exits: the one to the gallery and the vault, and another opening on to a windowed hallway. He hadn’t seen the direction Takashi had gone, so a split-second instinctual decision sent him towards the latter.
At the hall’s far end to his left was Takashi’s private lift, an illuminated indicator showing that it was stationary at the penthouse level. Takashi hadn’t taken Nina and the statues out that way, then. In the other direction was a set of imposing oak doors. The industrialist’s inner sanctum?
He ran towards it, gun at the ready.
The case in her hand, Nina raced into the gallery. ‘Eddie?’ she cried, uncertain – fearful – about what she might find.
She discovered corpses, which in some grim way was hardly a surprise, but to her relief none was her husband. Three in the strongroom, and a fourth in a dining room through another doorway. Eddie must have gone that way. She ran after him.
More doors led into the hallway to Takashi’s office. She went through them. Beyond the windows, Tokyo was now a glittering sea of lights beneath the twilight winter sky. She looked round. The elevator was to the left; to the right—
‘Eddie!’ she called again, running after him. Her husband slowed, turned, saw her . . .
And raised his gun.
9
Nina froze, shocked – and afraid. Eddie’s expression was one of pure hatred. ‘What are you . . .’ she started to say, but her mouth had gone dry.
Then she realised that he wasn’t looking at her, but something behind her. ‘Nina, move,’ he growled.
She whirled. Stikes had just come from the dining room – and also had a gun raised. She was directly between the two men, blocking their lines of fire. A standoff.
‘Yes, step aside,’ said Stikes. ‘I should have known you’d turn up sooner or later, Chase. It’s a bad habit of yours.’ A smile of cruel anticipation twisted his mouth. ‘One I look forward to breaking.’
‘Move, Nina,’ Eddie repeated. ‘I’ve been hunting this shitbag for three months. He’s not getting away this time.’
‘Why don’t you just shoot, Chase?’ taunted Stikes. ‘I gather you’ve been having marital problems – it would save you the cost of a divorce.’
Eddie clenched his jaw angrily, about to risk darting sideways for a clear shot in the hope of catching the other man by surprise . . . before a thought struck him. Why didn’t Stikes shoot?
Nina started to step aside. ‘Wait!’ Eddie snapped. ‘Stay still.’
‘Uh, Eddie,’ she said with a nervous glance between the two guns, ‘what’re you doing?’
Eddie’s gaze remained fixed on Stikes, whose eyes began to betray his frustration. For whatever reason, he couldn’t risk killing Nina, even if that cost him the chance to eliminate one of his enemies.
Now it was Eddie’s turn to smile slightly, confusing Nina and infuriating Stikes. ‘Nina, come over here. Trust me,’ he added, seeing her hesitancy.
‘I dunno if you noticed, but the guy who hates us both is aiming a gun at me,’ she pointed out.
‘He won’t shoot. He can’t shoot. He needs you alive. Come on.’
‘Alive isn’t the same as unharmed,’ said Stikes as she started to move.
Nina cringed. ‘Oh, I was so hoping he wouldn’t say that.’
‘He wounds you, you fall, I kill him,’ Eddie told her. ‘He loses.’
‘I don’t exactly come out a winner either!’ She was now two-thirds of the way between the former SAS men.
A faint sound from the other end of the hall. The