PRIMAL Fury (The PRIMAL Series) (44 page)

“Yeah, we were lucky.”

“No, you were stupid.”

The white van screamed around the corner and stopped alongside them. The doors opened and Kurtz, Aleks, and Kenta jumped out.

“Where’s the girl?” Kurtz asked.

“They moved her,” Bishop replied.

“You mean we let them get away,” Kurtz snapped.

“Yes, they fucking got away. But we did everything we possibly could to stop them.”

Kurtz glared at him.

“We might not have the girl, but we have destroyed the Mori-Kai’s army,” Kenta stated.

“True, but we still haven’t cut off the head,” said Bishop.

“And we seem to be no closer than before,” Saneh added.

“No, we’re close. Those guys in the SUVs are going to lead us right to their boss.”

She gave him a skeptical look. “Really, Aden? I don’t know if you noticed but they got away.”

“Yeah I know.” Bishop grinned. “The really shit thing is I left my iPRIMAL in the back of their truck.”

“You sneaky son of a bitch.” Saneh shook her head in disbelief.

“Boss, we should probably leave.” Aleks glanced nervously down the road. “The place is crawling with cops and it won’t take them long to find us.”

“Aleks is right. Let’s mount up, pick up the Mercedes, and get back to the safe house. We need to be ready to finish this.”

CHAPTER 81

“Sir, the building has been secured,” the air assault section leader reported to the SAT commander over the radio. “We are commencing site exploitation and investigation.”

“Excellent work,” responded Inspector Hyuman from his mobile headquarters. “How many casualties did you sustain?”

“We’ve got six wounded. Two serious, three minor gunshot wounds, and one with CS gas exposure.”

“Estimated enemy casualties?”

“In excess of thirty and we’ve detained nearly sixty. They’ve been secured by Bravo section in the building’s restaurant area. We’ve recovered over a hundred military-grade weapons.”

“Any Europeans, in particular a blonde woman?” The commander looked across to where Baiko was sitting.

“No, sir, only Korean and Chinese males. No women identified.”

“Very good, continue with site exploitation.”

Inspector Hyuman placed down the radio handset and sat next to Baiko. “They didn’t find the woman. It seems your source was mistaken.”

The veteran investigator nodded. “Perhaps you are right. But he did provide us with the single largest weapons bust in the history of anti-Yakuza operations.”

“This is true and we managed to do it without getting anyone killed.”

“You mean without any policemen being killed.”

“Of course,” Hyuman nodded. There was a short silence before the SAT commander spoke again. “There’s something I wanted to discuss with you.”

“Go on.”

“Let’s head outside. I need a smoke.”

They left the command bus and Hyuman lit up a cigarette. “When we first deployed, I received a phone call from the regional director, Superintendent Supervisor Tanaka.”

“What did he want?”

“He told me that if I continued with the operation it would be detrimental to my career.”

“That’s very interesting.”

“And remember, after that when I got a call from the Yakuza heavy? He pretty much said the same thing.”

“You think that the superintendent is in the pay of the Yakuza?”

Hyuman took a long drag off his cigarette. “You’re the investigator, Baiko. I only kick doors. I just think you should be careful. These people have friends in high places.”

“What about your career?”

The SAT commander laughed as he dropped his cigarette on the ground and stomped on it with his boot. “Like you said, my men just conducted the largest anti-Yakuza bust in Japan’s history. No one’s going to be able to touch us. I just thought you might want to know what you’re up against.”

“Greatly appreciated.” Baiko dipped his head in gratitude.

“Let me know if I can help in any way. Your hard work is what led us to this victory.” He reached out and shook Baiko’s hand before returning to his command bus.

Baiko contemplated the information as he strolled away from the command bus. In the distance he could see the Mori-Kai’s construction site; the half-completed building looked like something from a war zone. He stared at it for a minute, then dialed a number. “Agent Wilson, I have some information that may be of use.”

“Go ahead.”

“The SAT commander took a call just prior to it all kicking off. It was from the regional director. He tried to order him to cancel the operation.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone, then, “And you think that the Mori-Kai may have influenced that decision?”

“I don’t have any evidence to support it, but that’s my hunch.”

“Can you have one of your people check the director’s phone records?”

“Not without a warrant.”

“Is that a problem?”

“I have a friend who owes me a favor but…”

“If you’re worried about losing your job, I can assure you that you’ll be looked after should anything happen.”

“You didn’t find the girl, did you?”

“No.” Bishop sounded tired. “No, they’ve still got her.”

The police officer was silent for a few seconds. “I’ll see what I can do.” He terminated the call and stood looking at the half-built casino in the distance. Then he scrolled through his contacts until he found the number he wanted.

“Looks like the house of someone pretty damned important.” Vance’s voice came through Bishop’s headphones.

“It’s isolated, well defended, and it’s got a helipad.” Bishop was in the upstairs office at the safe house, using a laptop to communicate with Vance. The rest of the team was downstairs preparing for an assault. “My iPRIMAL led us right to it. This has to be the Mori-Kai’s headquarters.”

The image on the laptop screen was a Google Earth snapshot taken from the iPRIMAL tracking system. It showed a large estate located at the top of a valley in the hills to the northwest of Himeji. A mansion sat in the middle of well-maintained gardens and was surrounded by a substantial fence that ran around the entire property. A driveway wound its way from a guardbox at the front gate up to the mansion. The imagery was just clear enough to identify a helicopter landing pad on the roof.

“You’re probably right, bud, but until I get confirmation from Chua on who owns this thing you’re not going anywhere near it.”

“Vance, think about it. They tried to trap us and failed spectacularly. If nothing else, they have to fear us now, at least a little. So how long do you really expect them to stay at this location? Not to mention, what if they find my phone? Then we’re fucked.”

“I’ll call you back in ten minutes once I’ve got the facts,” said Vance. “Take the time to prep your gear.”

Bishop terminated the call without responding. He pondered his options for a moment, then leaped to his feet. He grabbed the laptop, pulled out the compact projector from under the desk, and took them downstairs.

“Gather around, guys,” he said as placed the laptop on the bar. He plugged the projector into an outlet and connected it to the laptop. Once it was powered up he focused it on the dirty white wall.

“Team, this is our new objective.” He brought up the image of the residence.

“So what are we waiting for?” asked Kurtz. “Let’s go.”

“That’s the plan, mate. I’m just waiting for Vance to look into who owns the place, then give us the green light. Once that happens we’re going to gear up in full assault rig and we’re going to finish this once and for all.”

His local phone buzzed in his pocket. “Excuse me.” He took it out and glanced at the screen. The message was from Baiko.

Toru Nishimuru. Town mayor.

“Kenta, do you know who the mayor of Himeji is?”

The Yamaguchi enforcer scrunched up his face in thought. “I don’t know him personally. I think his name is Nishimuru.”

“Toru Nishimuru?”

“Yes, that’s it, Toru Nishimuru. Why do you ask?”

“Because he called the regional police director earlier. Just before the director tried to call off the SAT assault. So if this mansion overlooking Himeji belongs to Mr. Nishimuru, then we’re good. Saneh, can I borrow your phone?”

She took her iPRIMAL out of her pocket and tossed it to him. He caught it and walked to the corner of the room. His thumbprint scan unlocked the device and he activated a link to the Bunker.

“Hello?” One of the PRIMAL staff answered immediately.

“It’s Bishop, where’s Vance?”

“He’s in with Chua. Do you want me to put you through?”

“Yes, please.”

Bishop waited as the watchkeeper called the intelligence cell, confirmed that they wanted to speak to him, and then put him through.

“Bishop, you’re on speaker,” said Vance. “I’m here with Chua. Look, we’ve run into a bit of a problem.”

“Has your problem got anything to do with the owner of that property? I’m guessing it belongs to a Mr. Nishimuru, the mayor of Himeji.”

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“He tried to get the regional police director to call off the SAT assault. And right now, I’m pretty sure it isn’t a bloody coincidence that’s where my phone ended up.”

There was silence. Then Vance spoke, “If this is true, then…”

“Yeah?”

“The mayor of the goddamn city could be the Mori-Kai
oyabun
.”

“This could be another trap, Aden,” said Chua. “These guys have pretty tight OPSEC. Why would they suddenly break it?”

“Maybe he freaked out when the cops suddenly jumped his party. How the hell would I know? All I know is we’ve been given an opportunity here and we need to seize it. I’m requesting permission to conduct a crash-action assault on the objective.”

There was silence as the men at the other end of the phone discussed his request. Bishop could tell the speaker phone had been muted.

Vance unmuted the connection. “OK, Bish, permission granted. Chua’s going to work up all the intel he can get his hands on.”

“Great!”

“Play it safe, bud. Don’t go charging into this like the goddamn cavalry. Remember, time spent on recon is seldom wasted.”

“Yes, Dad.”

“OK, go wrap those bastards up.”

Bishop turned to face the team and tossed the phone back to Saneh. “Time now is nineteen forty-five hours,” he said. “I want to be out the door no later than twenty-one hundred.”

CHAPTER 82

RESIDENCE OF THE MAYOR OF HIMEJI

A cricket chirped as Bishop worked in the moonlight. Despite the cool air he had managed to work up a sweat. His hair was damp and the night vision goggles he was wearing had started to fog.

“That’s the last one.” Bishop sprinkled a handful of leaf litter over the remote-activated gunfire simulator and picked up his assault rifle.

Saneh was farther down the slope, covering him and keeping watch. In her dark clothing she was almost completely invisible.

“Aleks and Kenta, how are you tracking?” Bishop transmitted.

“Just finishing up now. We’ll be a few minutes. Meet you back at the RV,” replied Aleks.

“Roger.” He turned to Saneh. “All good, let’s go.”

They moved through the darkness away from the mayor of Himeji’s residence, using their multispectral goggles to pick a path through the heavy vegetation. The road they paralleled led from the estate’s security checkpoint down to a water treatment plant.

“Kurtz, we’re two minutes out.”

“Understood,” Kurtz replied from their base of operations.

Bishop led Saneh down the narrow track into a small clearing. The white van and the borrowed Yamaguchi Mercedes were parked on the far side. His night vision detected a faint glow from the back of the van.

“You hear that?” Saneh stopped halfway across the clearing.

A faint whirring noise drifted in on the still night air. They looked up and spotted Kurtz’s drone approaching from the direction of the estate. It hovered above them before descending slowly, touching down with a bounce on the grass next to them. Bishop removed his night vision goggles, picked up the pizza box–size quadcopter, and carried it over to the van, where Kurtz waited.

“You spot anything?” he asked, passing the aircraft to Kurtz.

“They’ve started patrolling.”

“The men on the gate?”

“No, ones from inside. Four of them every thirty minutes, walking the perimeter.”

“Any dogs?”

“No dogs. The guards have submachine guns and night vision.” Kurtz put the UAV in its foam-padded box and snapped it shut.

“More of our Special Forces buddies.” Bishop helped him lift the case into the back of the van.

Kurtz pointed to a larger container. “I need this one.”

They slid it out of the van and onto the ground. The German opened the case and pulled out what looked like a mortar tube.

“How long till Aleks and Kenta get back?” Saneh asked. They had also been placing remote-initiated gunfire simulators.

“They were a couple of hundred meters out when the drone returned. Should be here soon.” Kurtz positioned the large tube next to the van, extending a pair of legs to prop it up in the direction of the manor. He flicked a switch on the cell phone–size box attached to the body and a green light flashed twice.

“That thing going to work?” Bishop asked.

“There is no reason it wouldn’t,” Kurtz replied, checking that his iPRIMAL was synced to the precision-fire support unit.

“Kurtz, this is Aleks and Kenta. Fifty meters out,” the Russian’s thick accent came in over the team’s earpieces.

“Affirmative. The others are already here,” Kurtz replied.

The two men appeared from the tree line to the north. Also dressed in black, they were barely visible until they arrived at the parked vehicles.

“How did it go?” Bishop asked.

“No problems, everything is in place,” said Aleks.

“Good. Recon and prep phase complete, team. Let’s gear up.”

From the van they pulled out individual gear bags and started preparing their kit. They each had a set of the CAT assault equipment, carbon-nanotube armor and full-faced helmets with built-in sensors. The black armor was covered in pouches that contained ammunition, medical supplies, explosive charges, and anything else they might need during the assault.

Bishop was the first ready. He double-checked his ammunition, helmet, and weapon before helping Kenta put on his armor. “You know you don’t have to do this, mate.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“I mean, this is going to get pretty heavy.” He nodded toward the others. “We train for this shit, we’ve done it before. There’s no shame in sitting this one out and RVing with us later.”

Kenta snapped his last piece of assault armor in place. “Are you trying to offend me?” He made sure his revolver was firmly secured on his belt. “These Mori-Kai peasants need to be taught a lesson in respect. That is not something I can leave to foreigners.”

“Fair enough.” Bishop checked that Kenta’s radio was on the right frequency to talk to the rest of the team. “You just make sure you listen in and follow Aleks’s directions. This isn’t going to be a walk in the park.”

The Yamaguchi nodded as Bishop lifted the fully enclosed helmet onto his head. In the full CAT armor and helmet Kenta resembled a modern samurai. All that was missing were the razor-sharp swords that were the trademark of the Japanese warriors; in their place he carried his trusty revolver and the high-tech KRISS.

The rest of the team had almost finished preparing their own gear. “You expecting more dogs?” Aleks asked Kurtz.

“It pays to be prepared.” Kurtz was fitting his armored forearm sleeve with the built-in Taser.

“Everyone ready?” Bishop asked as the last of the equipment bags were stowed in the van. The team lined up and he gave their weapons and armor a once-over. Aleks was wielding a collapsible-stock Mk48 machine gun. In addition to his weapons, Kenta had on a backpack filled with spare ammunition belts for the Mk48. The others carried their Tavors, Kurtz’s sporting a 40mm grenade launcher. All of the guns were suppressed.

“Comms check,” Saneh reminded Bishop as he checked her equipment.

“All call signs, this is Bishop, radio check,” he broadcast.

“Kurtz, loud and clear.”

“Saneh, Lima Charlie.”

“Aleks, affirmative.”

“Kenta, affirmative.”

“OK, then,” said Bishop. “Let’s roll.”

The team moved off in single file, disappearing into the thick vegetation. High above them a half moon cast its light across the hills. Everything was peaceful, for now.