The Gates of Hell

CHAPTER NINE

The Blood King’s hands flew to his knife. The weapon had been stuck point-first into the table before him. He brought it close to his eyes, studied the blood engrained blade. How many lives had he ended with this knife?

One, every other day, for twenty-five years. At least.

If only to keep the legend, the respect, and the fear fresh.

“Such a worthy adversary,” he said to himself. “A shame I have no time to test her again.” He rose to his feet, twirling the knife slowly, its edge catching the light as he walked.

“But my time for action is almost here.”

He stopped at the opposite end of the table where a woman with dark hair had been tied to a chair. She had already lost her composure. It sickened him to have to observe her red eyes, heaving body and quivering lips.

The Blood King shrugged. “Worry not. I now have the first device, though I missed Kitano. Your husband should be delivering the second device about now. If he comes through, you will go free.”

“How — how can we trust you?”

“I’m a man of honor. It’s how I survived through my youth. And if honor was questioned…” He showed her the stained blade. “There was always more blood.”

There was a subdued ping from his computer screen. He walked over and clicked a few buttons. The face of his commander over in Washington DC appeared.

“We’re in position, sir. Target due in ten minutes.”

“The device is the priority. Above anything else. Remember that.”

“Sir.” The face moved away, revealing a view from an elevated position. They were looking down into a parking lot, rubbish strewn and practically abandoned. The grainy picture showed a tramp moving around at the top of the screen and a blue Nissan departing through a pair of automatic gates.

“Get rid of that down-and-out. He could be Politsiya.”

“We’ve checked him out, sir. He’s just a bum.”

The Blood King felt a slow rage start to burn. “Get rid of him. Question me again and I will bury your family alive.”

The man simply worked for him. But the man knew what Dmitry Kovalenko was capable of. Without another word he took aim and dropped the bum with a head shot. The Blood King smiled when he saw a dark stain begin to spread across the roughly concreted lot.

“Five minutes to mark.”

The Blood King spared a glance for the woman. She had been his guest for some months now. The wife of the Secretary of Defense was no little prize. Jonathan Gates was about to pay a dear price for her safety.

“Sir, Gates has passed the deadline.”

In any other situation, the Blood King would use the knife now. Without pause. But the second device was important to his plans, though not imperative. He picked up the sat-phone that lay next to the computer and dialed a number.

Listened to it ring and ring. “It would seem your husband does not care for your safety, Mrs. Gates.” The Blood King twitched his lips in the approximation of a smile. “Or perhaps he has already replaced you, hmm? These American politicians…”

A click, and a scared voice finally answered. “Yes?”

“I hope you are close and that you have the device, my friend. Otherwise…”

The voice of the Secretary of Defense was strained to the point of breaking. “The United States does not bow down to tyrants,” he said, the words clearly costing him the greater part of his heart and soul. “Your demands will not be met.”

The Blood King thought about the Gates of Hell and what lay beyond. “Then listen to your wife die in agony, Gates. I do not need the second device for where I’m going.”

Making sure the channel stayed open, the Blood King raised the knife and set about fulfilling his every murderous fantasy.