Ratio: A Leopold Blake Thriller (A Private Investigator Series of Crime and Suspense Thrillers) (30 page)

June glanced around the room. The walls were coated in blood, stains covering the bedroom from floor to ceiling. It wasn’t like anything she’d seen before. No delicate spatter patterns or arterial spray; it looked as though someone had thrown an entire bucket of red paint against the walls, then tossed a tub of fish guts around for good measure.

The intruder looked up at her from the bathroom. At least, his head did. Eyes wide and glazed, mouth hanging open slightly, the spinal column had been completely severed, the skin blackened at the base of the neck. June wondered whether she should go pick him up. Maybe put the head back where it belonged. Or at least, near enough to where the rest of his body
should
have been. 

She considered her options for a moment. On the plus side, the sprinklers hadn’t gone off, so at least she wasn’t soaked to the bone. The heat of the blast must have been contained to a small radius, helped in no small part by her uninvited guest’s body getting in the way. June was lucky to be alive, but she sure didn’t feel it. Looking down, she noticed her clothes were covered in bits of bone and flesh. Blood splatter covered her face and arms. She squinted at something protruding from the skin of her forearm. Grabbing it with her fingertips, she pulled it free; a piece of bone. Must have struck her in the blast. She flicked it away, but couldn’t control what happened next. 

Before she could take a step toward the bathroom, June bent forward and emptied her stomach onto the carpet.

Chapter 55

KANEZAKI FROZE AS a deep rumbling noise filled the stairwell. A split second later, alarm bells sounded, a high-pitched wailing noise that seemed to fill every inch of the hotel. He checked his watch. Three-fifty-seven and change. No way Yamada’s pathetic attempts would have done the job, but at least it provided a temporary distraction. Only a few minutes until the gas would be released, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it now. Even if they found the detonator, no way anyone would figure out the code. A shame, all things considered. Kanezaki had been looking forward to playing a few mind games, make the Kato bitch suffer a little before she choked to death. It had all seemed so poetic, but no matter. Results were results. 

He increased his pace a little, heading back toward the ground floor. While the remainder of the hotel guests crushed their way through the main doors, Kanezaki would head for the loading bay. The ventilation system didn’t feed that part of the building, which would buy him some time while he figured out how to get the doors open. With all eyes on the lobby, nobody would notice him slipping out. Isa and Kimura would pick him up as planned and then they’d wait for Yamada. Assuming he made it out alive. Death by poisonous gas was probably preferable to the alternative methods of dispatch Kanezaki had in mind. But definitely not as much fun. 

Voices ahead, and Kanezaki slowed. There was someone coming toward him up the stairs. Sounded like two pairs of footsteps, just about audible over the alarm system. Both falling heavy, the sound echoing through the stairwell. Kanezaki turned and headed back up, feeling his pulse quicken. He slipped one hand into his jeans, wrapped it around the handle of the knife. The footsteps grew louder. He could make out what the voices were saying.

“…Seventh floor,” one voice said. 

“Less than five minutes to get her out,” another, much deeper, voice replied. 

Kanezaki sped up, taking the stairs two at a time. He didn’t seem to be pulling ahead. The footsteps were getting closer. 

“Elevators locked out. We’re going to have to use the stairwell.”

“If the lobby isn’t cleared, we’re all screwed.”

“Doesn’t mean we don’t –” The deeper voice paused mid-sentence.

Kanezaki gripped the knife a little harder. Kept moving. 

“Who’s up there?” the other voice shouted. 

The footsteps seemed to speed up again, breaking into what sounded like a run. Kanezaki resisted the urge to turn around, heading for the fifth floor and, hopefully, an empty room to hide in. He reached the top of the next flight and ducked to the side, pushing through the heavy door into the fifth floor hallway. His pursuers followed close behind, crashing through the door just as Kanezaki reached one of the rooms. 

“Freeze!” one of the men said. He was the shorter of the two, but still pretty tall. A white guy with short, black hair. Probably Secret Service. He held a gun up, pointed right at Kanezaki. The other guy, a massive black man dressed in a nice suit stood nearby. 

“I l-l-look for my w-wife,” Kanezaki said, in his best Japanese-tourist accent. 

“Hands on your head,” the white guy said. 

The black guy didn’t say anything. 

“M-my wife?” Kanezaki repeated. 

The two suits walked toward him. The white guy kept his gun up. 

“You a guest in the hotel, sir?”

“Yes. Here with my wife.”

“Yeah, we got that, sir. You need to come with us. Down to the lobby.” 

The black guy was glaring at Kanezaki’s right hand. He’d noticed the missing finger. A yakuza tradition, of sorts. The man’s eyes narrowed. 

Shit
. Kanezaki felt his chest tighten. The white guy stepped forward.

“Don’t –” the other guy warned, but too late. 

Kanezaki dashed forward, pushing the agent’s gun arm out of the way. With his free hand, Kanezaki whipped out the ceramic knife, flicked open the blade, and went for the stomach. Three jabs to the lower abdomen, and the agent doubled over. Dropped his gun. Kanezaki kicked it away, knocking the agent to the floor. He lay there alive, but bleeding.  Looked up at the other suit, muscles tensed. 

“Probably shouldn’t have done that,” the black guy said. He looked calm. Hadn’t drawn a weapon yet. Probably didn’t have one. 

“Maybe should have gone for the throat, huh? I made a judgment call. Don’t worry, in a few minutes I’ll finish him off. After I’m done with you.” 

“I meant kicking the gun away.”

“Never liked guns much.” Kanezaki lunged, aiming the knife at the big guy’s chest. A slash to the throat would be more lethal, but difficult at this range. Center mass was always the safer bet. 

The big guy moved faster than expected, dodging to the side as Kanezaki tried to land a blow. He felt something connect with his ribs, knocking the breath out of him. A sharp pain in his side, and he tumbled sideways into the wall. Dropped the knife. 

Gasping for air, Kanezaki looked up. The big guy stood over him. Reached into his suit jacket, drew a handgun. Pointed it at Kanezaki’s head. 

“That’s where you and I differ,” the man said. “I happen to really like guns.”

“Then why the hell didn’t you pull one,” Kanezaki said, the pain in his side reaching a crescendo. 

“And waste perfectly good bullets? I need you alive, dumbass.” He stepped closer, gun still up, put his foot on Kanezaki’s ribs. 

The pain was unbearable. 

The man smiled. “Looks like you and I have a lot to talk about.”

Chapter 56

“GET THOSE GODDAMN alarms off!” Harper’s voice strained over the sound of the bells and the clattering generators. “We don’t need everyone panicking. They’ll be crushed to death.”

One of the agents nodded and ran out of the room. 

Harper turned her attention back to the ventilation system. “Can’t we shut this damn thing down? Kill the power?” 

Leopold rubbed his temples. “It won’t matter. The generators are picking up the slack, but they’re not the only source of power. With the hotel and convention center at full capacity, they’ve been working in tandem with the city grid to keep the juice flowing. If we shut them off, there’s still a battery backup system. There’s no dead switch.”

“Sounds like a major design flaw.”

“I guess the architects never anticipated a sarin gas attack.”

“So much for optimism,” said Harper.

Movement behind them, and Leopold whipped around. The door crashed open and Jerome lurched inside, holding someone up by the collar. Looked Asian, maybe Japanese. Dressed in jeans and a leather jacket. 

“What the hell?” Harper reached for her weapon. The two remaining agents did the same. 

“Relax,” said Jerome. “I found this guy heading upstairs. From the looks of his missing finger, this might be the Yakuza connection we’ve been looking for.”

“You sure he’s a threat?” Harper said. “Just from a missing finger?”

Jerome smiled. “That, and his intense desire to cut me into pieces with a knife, kinda tipped me off.” He looked at Harper. “One of your agents took a few hits to the stomach. I sent some of the hotel staff up to get him. Looked like the knife missed the renal artery, so hopefully he should be fine once they stop the bleeding and get him patched up. Assuming any of us get out of here in time. Speaking of which...” He tossed a cell phone at Leopold. “This might help.” 

Leopold caught it. “Let’s take a look, shall we?” He scrolled through a list of recent numbers. “Correct me if I’m wrong, Agent Harper, but isn’t this the number for Harborview Medical Center?”

Harper studied the screen. “Yeah. Called that place enough times today, I should know.”

“Now, why would our friend here be so interested in Harborview? Maybe there’s a certain patient in there he’s particularly concerned about?”

The Japanese man glared back at him, but didn’t say a word. 

“Maybe you should get out of here, Agent Harper.”

Harper turned to look at Leopold. “And why the hell would I do that?” 

“Our new friend looks like he might not be in the mood to talk.”

“If he knows something, he’s not going to risk getting stuck here when the gas hits. He’ll talk.”

Jerome shook his head. “I wouldn’t be so sure. The Yakuza aren’t exactly known for their sensitivity when it comes to informants.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning getting a lungful of sarin is probably better than the alternative if they ever catch up with him.”

The Japanese man mumbled something. Spat on the ground. 

“What was that?” Harper said. “Jesus Christ, I can’t hear a damn thing.”

The agent reappeared in the doorway as the alarm systems shut down. Leopold smiled with relief. Even though the generators still rumbling in the background, at least he could now hear himself think.   

“That’s better,” Harper said. She turned her attention back to the suspect. “Now, why don’t we try this again?” 

“
Jigoku e ike
,” he repeated, a little louder. He tried to wrench himself away from Jerome. 

Jerome punched him in the ribs. The man howled in pain and dropped to his knees. 

“Such language,” Leopold said. “And with a lady present.” 

Harper folded her arms. “You understood that? What did he say?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“You really speak Japanese?” 

Jerome smiled. “Linguistics is a hobby of his.” He looked at Harper. “Mostly to read menus.” 

“Three minutes, gentlemen,” Harper said. “If you think you can get any useful information out of this guy, you can go ahead and see what you can do to persuade him. This is the Secret Service, not the Goddamn boy scouts.” She paused. Turned to look at the two agents. “Forget everything I just said.”

They both nodded. 

“And get upstairs.”

“Ma’am?” one of them said. 

“Officially, this man is going to talk to us of his own accord.” She pointed to the door. “Unofficially, get the hell out.” 

“Yes, ma’am.” They left the room. 

“All yours,” Harper said. 

“I think I’m beginning to like you, Agent Harper,” said Leopold. 

“I’ll try to contain my excitement. What’s the plan?”

Leopold looked down at the suspect. He was still on his knees, clutching at his ribs. 

“I think we might be able to squeeze a little information out of him,” Jerome said. “But I think there’s someone else who might be able to help.”

Leopold nodded. “I’ll make the call.”

Chapter 57