The Lost Kingdom

CHAPTER THIRTY NINE

Drake spent the fourteen hours before Hayden and the others arrived casing the luxurious hotel in question, which stood at the edge of Victoria Harbor, overlooking the bay and nearby Kowloon, resplendent by day and sparkling at night. The party would be held on the top floor, naturally off limits to all but the insolently rich. With that in mind Alicia led a shopping trip to the Pacific Place Mall, spending hours and countless HK dollars to guarantee the team were properly outfitted. At first, Drake wondered about the odd change in her — Alicia Myles didn’t really care if she was dressed in denim or lace, leather or silk, or anything for that matter — but then he caught up. This was different, it was engaging, poles apart from her self-imposed normality, thus — it appealed. For now.

For today.

He returned from his surveillance with Dahl to find the spacious warehouse abuzz with activity. Yorgi in particular sat with his chin resting on the floor, amazed, and Drake personally didn’t blame him. Alicia, Mai and even Chika — though she and Grace weren’t going to be involved in the operation — stood around in various stages of undress, trying on different variations of clothes and colors.

Dahl stopped in his tracks. “So this is a little inappropriate. Should we wait outside?”

“Are you kidding? This is my dream.”

Drake headed inside, whistling tunefully. Mai turned toward him, dressed in a floor-length, split-to-the-thigh, midnight-colored gown. With her hair pinned up and styled she took his breath away, this softer version of her one he rarely saw. Her slight smile tugged at his chest and he remembered again why he’d loved her all these years.

Not only for the vision she presented but for the strong-hearted, headstrong, perfectly capable woman within. For the insecurities she could not hide. For the way she held a blade. For the way she kissed him, heart and soul. For the woman that she was.

Then Chika spun her away and the moment broke, a fragile thread trying to tether their stormy emotions. Now Alicia moved into his eye line.

Again, he gawped.

Draped in a knee-length dress, golden and glittering, Alicia’s blonde hair hung free. A wolf in sheep’s clothing if ever I’ve seen one.

Dahl grunted at his shoulder. “This just makes me worry about what they bought for us.”

“Really? That’s your only thought?”

“Well, I’m also wondering how Smyth will react when he sees the girls. He’s not the subtlest of characters.”

Drake shook his head and approached Yorgi. “So what they got you wearing? Burberry? I hope it’s off the bloody shelf.”

“It is and so is yours, my friend. Over there.”

At that moment, Alicia came up and linked his arm, gliding him across the dusty floor toward a pile of bags. The touch of her skin sent a spark through his body. Life was becoming more confusing by the minute.

“Yours was the most obvious choice of all,” she said and held up the plain two-button, double-vented, black jacket. “The two-button styling ensures that whilst the suit remains sharp enough to charm the knickers of an unsuspecting air stewardess, it still offers enough movement to scale the walls of a military compound. Can you say: ‘Drake. Matt Drake’?”

He started to laugh, unable to help himself. Alicia was like a breath of air on a sunny day. “I can,” he said. “But I like the way you say it better.”

By the time Hayden arrived, the team had rested and were counting down the last ten hours. Sans reunion they briefed each other on the latest developments and then the newcomers were dispatched to the Pacific Place Mall. As the hour neared the full SPEAR team took a moment to stand back and look at themselves, all expensively attired for the first time together, looking sharp and feeling awkward.

“If the purpose of this is to make me unnerved,” Kinimaka said, tugging at the point where the knot of his tie met the top button of his shirt. “It’s working. If it was to render us weaponless. That’s working too. Can’t we get anything past security?”

“Not this fast,” Hayden said. “And we can’t risk revealing ourselves to the authorities, otherwise we won’t come away with the box. Look at it this way, Mano — the ‘no weapons’ directive goes for everyone.” The American smoothed out the front of her pure white dress, making it hug her curves even tighter and turned to Kinimaka. “How do I look?”

“Amazing.”

“Hmm, good choice of words, I guess. I’d have enjoyed a few more though.”

Kinimaka wiggled his tie. “At the first sign of trouble this tie’s taking flight. And so is the jacket. One thing’s for certain, my arms are splitting this crappy stitching tonight.”

“What are you — the Hulk?” Alicia asked.

“No. Just a little ham-fisted.”

“Coming from Hawaii, shouldn’t that be spam-fisted?”

Kinimaka groaned, as did the entire team. Drake took a look at his crew, his extended family, and offered up a silent prayer for their safety. Couldn’t hurt. Smyth appeared as awkward as Kinimaka in his black suit. Komodo wore his with surprising sharpness, citing a boyhood of attending his father’s military lectures as the reason. Only Karin remained in civvies, ready to work now as ever on comms and op logistics, cuddling into Komodo’s strong right arm as if it was for the last time.

Drake touched the bud buried deep in his ear. “They won’t detect these?”

“Military grade. Should be completely invisible. I’ll be with you the whole way, with eyes on blueprints of the hotel and all surrounding areas. Real-time. And by the way, Hayden, I’ve been thinking. If Tyler Webb is indeed stalking our homes, wouldn’t it be a good idea to task a satellite over them, let him do his thing, and then follow him home?”

Hayden stared as Drake, Dahl and Alicia questioned, this being the first they had heard. Ignoring the others she said, “We’ll see. It all comes down to money and operational priorities. Personally, we don’t really have either.”

“He is king of the Pythians.”

“Sure. I’ll check with Price when we get back. He’s a little busy trying to stop a war right now.”

Drake read Hayden’s reactions, seeing that she really didn’t want to talk about her stalking problems. Were they really that bad? Poor old Mai and Chika were dealing with much worse from the Yakuza. And then there’s this bloody Ramses bloke. He shrugged it all off and checked his watch. “Time to go.”

The team took stock for one more moment, content among friends; no terrible adversaries in this relaxed room. The camaraderie strengthened their unit, made them more than a whole. And it helped remind them of exactly what they were fighting for.

Alicia typically moved first. The rest followed.