The Lost Kingdom

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Drake paced the carpet as he waited for Dai Hibiki to join them. Alicia, Dahl and Yorgi sat in various states of repose, clearing their minds. Grace nibbled on snacks she’d taken from the mini-bar. They expected this operation to take the form of a swift, clandestine, well-executed strike of the dagger — in and out before the Yakuza knew it, leaving them reeling and none-the-wiser. The team needed to be prepared.

The knock at the hotel door made them all take offensive positions. Drake put his eye to the peep-hole and waved them down. “Only Hibiki.”

The Japanese cop entered the room, a resigned expression vying with the weariness already engraved into his face. Without smile or greetings he walked to the center of the room. “Mai wasn’t taken to the Yakuza compound. She was taken straight to their headquarters in Kobe. That explains why we’ve been seeing all these arrivals and no guests physically arriving on site. This HQ,” he shook his head, “it is virtually impregnable.”

“If we have to we’ll use sheer firepower to break her out,” Drake vowed. “Headquarters or not.”

Hibiki sighed. “I truly wish it were that simple. I’ve been wracking my brains for a suitable plan ever since I heard. Their HQ is huge, ultra-modern, almost a skyscraper. The very first and least of your problems would be locating her. After that, well, how do you infiltrate a heavily guarded, ultra-secure, modern building? There is no parking garage. No windows or roof that you can access without setting off a hundred sensors. No grounds. No pliable security guards or staff. The place is run purely by hardline Yakuza. It is… a fortress.”

“Calm down, Dai-Dai.” Alicia rose quickly, a sickened look on her face. “What the hell’s wrong with you? I never took you for a bitchin’ pussy. Got your thong on back to front?”

Drake stared at him. “Bitch has a point.”

“Damn right she does.” Dahl rose too.

Alicia glared at them both. “Hey.”

Hibiki stared from one set of hard eyes to the other. “I’m open to any suggestions, my friends.”

Alicia started counting on her fingers.

Drake screwed his face up. “What are you doing, love? Counting Yakuza?”

“Nah, just counting how many guys there are still alive in this world who can get away with calling me a bitch. I’m at two, maybe three.”

Drake gauged the space around him. “Am I one of them?”

“You’re still standing aren’t you?”

Hibiki caught their attention. “Look. You can’t just blast in and out of there. It has to be done a certain way.”

“Your way?” Alicia asked. “Pussy style?”

“Let me give you an example.” Hibiki frowned. “The way you guys charged that arms bazaar. Remember? Using the Light Brigade method. Though successful, what has that wrought upon you?”

Drake pursed his lips. “You mean this Ramses bloke? He’s a myth. I can’t see there being any kind of real terrorist royalty.”

“Well, believe me when I say that there is, and that the threat is very real. But that’s not our problem. Your brazen attack has caused you complicated issues down the line. You simply can’t defeat all the Yakuza. So what do you do?”

“Do have a plan?” Alicia looked confused.

“Denial is everything.” Hibiki said. “You can’t have an organization like the Yakuza hunting you for the rest of your life, ergo they can’t know for sure that it was you. For starters, your careers would be over. No security force in the world would touch you. So, you can’t kill them all. The cops are infiltrated. The building is impregnable. What do you do?”

“Hang on whilst I pour a bloody rum.” Drake made a show of heading for the mini bar. “ ‘Cause this round of question time is giving me a headache.”

“Okay, okay. There’s this. I think Yorgi, with his bespoke skills, could probably break in. Alone. But he could never get Mai out. And he couldn’t locate her on his own so he’d be forced to take somebody with him. Which wouldn’t work because the Yakuza are already watching all of you. That leaves us with many problems, the first of which is to actually locate Mai. I know only one way to achieve this.”

“Spill.” Dahl looked threatening.

“Send in a girl.”

Everyone blinked. Drake and Dahl looked at Alicia as the Englishwoman looked straight at Yorgi.

“What?”

“Of course, every structure has a weakness, even a seemingly indestructible brick wall. The Yakuza are primarily young males. They admit girls to their compound, and their HQ, every day.”

“But aren’t they… Japanese girls?” Dahl asked.

Alicia glanced at Yorgi. “Damn, looks like you’re off the hook.”

Hibiki nodded. “Yes, primarily. Of course, this is a HQ and they admit prisoners too, most of whom leave in body bags without being seen.” He blinked. “Somehow. Now, in Yakuza-run Kobe a foreign woman would stand out like a forest fire. Only a Japanese woman would be able to infiltrate unnoticed.”

Drake saw now where this was all headed. “No way, pal. I mean, shit, how would you explain it to Mai? She’d fucking kill you.”

“Like I said before — if you have any other suggestions. ?”

“Impossible.” Dahl turned away. “After all she has been through? I won’t allow it.”

Alicia stared at Hibiki with shocked eyes. “Are you mad?”

The cop took a step back. “Well, I expected an objection but not quite so much.”

Drake waved a hand at Grace. “She’s a seventeen-year-old kid and only here because we couldn’t lock her up back in bloody DC. She stays in the room, Hibiki.”

Grace looked slightly affronted. “Hey, I handled myself okay for… a lot of years. I think.”

“Ah, now I see. No, I wasn’t referring to Grace. The Japanese woman I propose we send into the Yakuza stronghold is Chika, Mai’s sister.”

For a second Drake froze as he tried to compute. Though not as radical as sending in Grace, Hibiki’s suggestion still drifted as close to the edge as anyone would surely like to sail.

“Mai’s sister?” Alicia repeated. “Dude, you have a death wish.” It was a statement of fact.

“If we can’t get her out of there soon she’s dead.” Hibiki’s voice was edged with deep stress. “And there’s no other way to find out where they’re keeping her in such a large building. The girls will at least have some free run.”

Alicia eyed him closely. “You do know what you’re asking of your girlfriend then?”

“Fuck.” Hibiki walked to the nearest chair and threw himself in it. “Of course I know. It’s… it’s the only way. And even then it’s practically suicide.”

“You’re a cop,” Yorgi said. “Do you not know girl you can use?”

“Not a girl I would trust with Mai’s life,” Hibiki moaned. “The only person I’d truly trust to get in and save Mai is Mai herself.”

“All right, well I have to ask,” Dahl said. “What was Chika’s reaction?”

Hibiki squirmed a little. “I haven’t asked her yet.”

Alicia groaned and turned to Yorgi. “And we’re back to you and those delicate cheekbones. Think you could fit in a size ten?”

The Russian glared, but Hibiki spoke up strongly. “No. No, this will work. I’m sure of it. I have a way, I think, of getting us all in. We would assume all the risk, and the rescue. Chika would only mark her position.”

“Wait, you said it was impregnable,” Dahl pointed out.

“It is,” Hibiki said. “Nobody has ever broken in, nobody has ever broken out. No team could enter that building without being seen. But there’s another way. A cleverer way.”

“What way?” Drake was intrigued, despite everything.

“Well, it was the American White House that gave me the idea…”