The Rising Sea

17

After an hour of studying the layout, Joe was heading back toward the alcove near the front entrance. The pianist had taken a break and the sounds of a violin solo were filling the room.

Finding no sign of Kurt, he accepted another glass of champagne and took a seat in one of the lounge chairs. His back was to the crowd, but he was able to see the reflection of everyone behind him in the polished side of the piano. It was the perfect way to watch the crowd without being seen.

He studied each face that passed by, looking for Kurt in the reflection. But it wasn’t Kurt that he saw. Instead, he spied a man heading directly for him and carrying something in his hands.

Joe knew he’d been made. Normal instincts of fight or flight reared up within him, but he kept calm, waiting as the deranged-looking figure grew closer.

At the very last second, Joe dodged to the side and flung the contents of his champagne flute into Ushi-Oni’s face. Temporarily blinded, Ushi-Oni’s stabbing attempt missed Joe and plunged into the soft back of the chair. But he threw his free arm around Joe’s neck, grasping him in a headlock and thrusting the sharpened stem of the wineglass toward Joe’s throat.

The crowd gasped and pulled back.

Joe was at a disadvantage. He had no leverage, but his reactions were flawless. He blocked the stem with his forearm, taking a minor wound in the process and latching onto Oni’s wrist. His other hand smashed the champagne glass over the assassin’s head, drawing blood and a severe uptick in rage.

Oni tore his arm free of Joe’s grasp and reared back for another strike. But Joe was quicker. He placed his feet on the side of the grand piano and instead of pulling away from Oni pushed toward him with a powerful shove.

The peak of the chair hit Oni in the midsection and he tumbled backward. The chair went over, but Joe sprang to his feet and swung his left foot toward Oni’s face, connecting and sending a splatter of blood and saliva flying from the Demon’s mouth.

Oni rolled with the kick and stood up, licking blood off his lips.

Joe looked him dead in the eye, extended a hand and motioned for Ushi-Oni to bring it on.

Oni charged, tackling Joe and landing on top of him. Joe heaved him over, reversed their positions and landed a rabbit punch to Oni’s side.

The Demon once again tried for a sleeper hold, but Joe smashed an elbow into his gut and pulled free.

Mission accomplished, Joe thought. He stood but was taken to the ground by several members of the casino’s security detail. They had rushed in from all directions, swarming over both Joe and the Demon.

Joe couldn’t see much through all the arms and legs, but he felt the shock of a Taser and the sudden lightness that came with being lifted from the ground by several powerful hands.

He and Oni were dragged from the lobby as the onlookers stared and the violinist stood off to one side. The last thing he saw was a man asking her to play and trying to calm the patrons down. And then he was dragged into a back corridor and thrown in a room with concrete walls, a solid floor and a door made of steel.

Ushi-Oni was handled in similar fashion by men who had no idea who he was. Despite the fact that his hands were bound, he managed to knee one of them in the gut and send him sprawling to the floor. That earned him a jolt from the Taser, which left him stunned and reeling and seething with more anger than before. As he lay there, Oni imagined different ways he would torture them when he got the chance.

They searched him for weapons but found something else instead: the golden chip. Only the casino’s most valued guests carried such markers.

The rough treatment ended instantly. The guards glanced at one another and then helped Ushi-Oni up off the floor and into a seat.

Before they could ask any questions, the door opened. Two men stood there. The first man was named Kashimora; he was the Yakuza underboss who ran the casino. The second was Walter Han.