The Blood King Conspiracy

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

When Mai Kitano walked through the door all eyes turned. Drake held his ground and tried to mask his emotions. That was what Mai would do and, he hoped, was doing now. She came right up to Drake and stopped, a light smile playing around the corners of her lips.

“Been a while, my friend.”

“You got that right.” Drake enfolded her in his arms for the right amount of time before pushing her away. He could sense eyes burning through the back of his skull. Kennedy’s. Ben’s. Alicia’s.

Mai turned away to greet the others. Drake swallowed hard. The sleek and deadly Japanese woman hadn’t changed a bit. Her round baby-face and big black eyes belied any underlying penchant towards violence. The smiles and the lilting laughter were genuine, but fashioned to hide what might lurk beneath the mask.

No doubt now, the most dangerous person in the room was Mai Kitano.

Kinimaka bundled his way inside and saw Ben about to ask Mai a question. “Don’t ask,” he said. “She’s never heard of Ken and Ryu.”

“Street Fighter’s the other game,” Ben hit geek-mode hard. “Mai Shiranui appeared in King of Fighters. Was she really based on you?”

“Careful, Blakey,” Drake warned. “Do you really think Mai’s old enough to have a twenty- year-old video game based on her?”

Ben’s mouth suddenly refused to close. “I… I… ah…”

Wells rescued him. The SAS commander had remained unseen until now, standing as he did behind Mano Kinimaka.

“Game first. Nickname later. But I’m just glad to be here.” He grinned and then saw Alicia. His face turned white. “What the frig is she doing here? Is she under arrest?”

“She’s helping,” Alicia told him with a look that could have fried an egg. “I suppose we’ll have to see what use an old man of fifty-five can be? Oh, apart from following ‘ittle wittle’ Mai around.”

Alicia grabbed Hudson and left the room, heading for the dog-leg corridor and the room at its far end. Drake trusted her enough to make the reconnoitre herself and report back later.

“Well, it’s getting late — or early,” he shrugged. “Shall we regroup in a few hours?”

They all took the hint. In a matter of moments he was left alone with Kennedy. The New York cop was eyeing him closely.

“You had a thing with her, yes?”

No reason to lie. “Long time ago. Before Alyson.”

“I guessed that. You should have told me.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s what couples do. Especially when an old flame joins the group.”

“Ah. Sorry. It all seemed a little awkward.” He wondered why women always wanted to know the ins and outs of every little thing.

Kennedy came up close. Her body leaned in to his. Behind her, the open windows looked out onto endless rows of offices, hotel and apartment buildings, all twinkling with their homely lights. The bright beams of car headlights cut sharply through the night.

Kennedy shrugged her trousers down and reached for his. “Now, to coin a time-honoured phrase — ‘let’s get something straight between us’.”

Sometime later, with Kennedy sleeping, Drake swung himself out of bed and went to survey their outskirts. The hotel was twenty-four hour so it wasn’t difficult leaving without drawing attention. He swung through a small side door before it had chance to open automatically and stepped into the warm Miami night.

Christ, if only the nights were like this back home instead of the freeze-your-balls-off winters the U.K. usually endured.

The hotel entryway and car park curved around a raised central feature — an extensive rockery, riddled with water fountains and random trees. It was a perfect place to plant a shooter. Or a watcher.

Drake eyed it carefully whilst taking in the rest of the view. Twenty metres down and the occasional car flew along one of Miami’s quieter roads. Beyond that were the stark, dirty backs of buildings, rows upon rows of them. An easy place to get lost in.

The road to the right led all the way into the heart of Miami. Drake watched as the cars blasted by, each one inhabited by a soul intent on his destination, aiming towards something, with a life, and a future, and a purpose.

Why didn’t he feel the same way?

That one was easy. Because he hadn’t resolved Alyson’s death. Because he hadn’t yet come to terms with losing the child he had never even seen.

A shadow flickered nearby as he had known it would. Mai stepped into the semi-light.

“My friend, I have missed you.”

He stared straight ahead, seeing nothing. If the Blood King himself had sauntered up, bristling with weapons, Drake would have see nought but a black haze.

“So much has happened, Mai. Do you remember the last time we were together, in Venice? We didn’t have a clue it would be ten years before we saw each other again.”

“Yes, I remember. A serial killer called Daniel Belmont. We never caught him. I believe he’s still at large.”

“Christ. I didn’t know that. It’s good to see you, Mai.”

The Japanese woman gave a demure shrug. “I know.”

“I hope Wells didn’t give you too much of a hard time.”

“He is a pest, for sure. But not someone I can’t handle,” she said, her tiny mouth twitching as if the idea was laughable. “He is a sex maniac, I think.”

“Well, you did get yourself in some… shall we say… unusual positions, Mai.” Drake’s own smile was lost in the dark.

“Whenever the operation required it, of course. I serve my country, Drake, by any means. And I get the job done. Did I ever fail?”

“Not that I recall.”

“And the record remains the same.” She paused. “Is that wrong?”

“It’s the song remains the same. Led Zepp.” They had come up with the Dinorock banter between them a long time ago. Now he wondered if he should warn her that he had continued in the same vein with Ben and Kennedy.

But, somehow, fate just didn’t seem to want him to.

Hayden came out the front door of the hotel then, closely followed by Alicia and Hudson. Drake and Mai slunk back into the shadows.

“Looks like they got Hudson that super-computer to work with,” Drake mused. “I hope to God the chunky twat can rip through some protocols.” He cringed when the swear-word came out. For some reason he had always tried to curb his soldiery tendencies when around Mai.

“Hmm. Let us hope so.”

Drake watched the trio leave. He wasn’t surprised when Alicia Myles turned around and flicked off a quick, two-finger wave. Drake stared after her.

Can’t trust a cold-blooded woman.