The Blood King Conspiracy (Matt Drake 2) (16 page)

The helicopter came crashing down onto the embankment as the speedboat flashed underneath it. The explosion shook the day apart. Metal and body parts and engine oil burst in every direction.

Kennedy stared at the wreckage they left in their wake. The sudden silence left by the departure of the chopper was almost deafening.

On the road above, Drake was waving at them to slide part-way up the embankment.

“Pull up there!” Hayden directed Kinimaka. “The car will be safer. They don’t know how Drake escaped.”

“Hopefully,” Kennedy mumbled as she began to crawl up the embankment.

In another moment Alicia Myles’ grinning face greeted them. “Not bad for a set of Yanks,” she shouted through the window. “Get the fuck in then. Let’s go!”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Headlights cut through the darkness, dead-straight, carving bright columns through the black night.

Key Largo was well behind them. They were approaching the city lights of Miami. Rows and rows of restaurants and gas stations and strip malls opened up on every side. They stopped briefly at a highly efficient Denny’s before heading further into the mix of dark and light that was the centre of Miami.

“Fountainbleu?” Ben asked from the back.

“Not this time,” Hayden said. “We should work on the assumption that everything is compromised just as our safe-house was. Remember Jonathan’s last words:
Trust no one. Just me.
”

“So let’s contact Gates first,” Drake said. “Tell him what we have. And then find a place to stay. Sound good?”

Hayden nodded. Drake stopped the vehicle and let her out to make the call. Silence reigned around the Hummers’ interior for a few minutes. Everyone was either too tired or too mentally blasted to strike up any kind of conversation. Hudson was asleep, snoring like a turbo-charged jack-hammer.

“And this car,” Drake said to no one in particular, “needs ditching about an hour ago.”

Hayden climbed back in, shaking her head. “Don’t know what’s got into him. I’ve never heard him sound so scared,” she said, her eyes meeting Drake’s in the crawling dark. She leaned towards him. “He’s ordered us to sit tight and wait. Stay hidden. That sound right to you?”

Drake shrugged. “Honestly? Something’s been badly off right from the start. If you’re asking me I’d say the Blood King has dirt on a lot of highly placed officials and now he’s playing the time card until he finds us.”

“He
will
find us,” Alicia spoke up from the back seat, unusually subdued. “It’s what he does.”

“What do you know of him?”

“Very little, I am afraid. But I do have an idea,” she said, tugging on Hudson’s beard to make him grunt in his sleep. “With this figure of fine health taking the lead.”

Drake looked around. “The Bearded Tit? Are you having a laugh?”

“Don’t worry. He won’t have to leave his desk.”

The SatNav showed various hotels in the vicinity. Drake drove until they found a middle-of-the-road place, something with a little class but without any of the tiring arrogance.

The hummer ticked in the midnight stillness, a beast at rest. “Somebody’s going to have to drop this thing off somewhere and catch a cab back.” Hayden pointed out.

“I’ll do it,” Kinimaka spoke up immediately. “Always wanted to drive one of these bad boys.”

“Well, don’t drive it too far,” Drake told him. “Ten, fifteen miles. Then get back here.”

They climbed out, sore and fatigued. Drake took a moment to stop Hayden. “You got enough cash on you to pay for this?”

“Maybe. If not Alicia here might have to put her mouth to some good use for a change.”

“Ooo,” Alicia let out a little squeal. “Whatever you like, honey.”

“There’s always another safe-house, but . . .”

“In these
Days Of No Trust?
Skip it. That’s an old Magnum song, by the way. Blakey here wouldn’t even know we were taking the piss out of him. See how kind I can be, munchkin?”

“He means ‘no’.” Ben twirled a finger around his temple. “It’s an age thing.”

The foyer was spacious, dominated by a big, stone marble-topped check-in desk. A pretty clerk greeted them as if she’d known them their whole lives.

Drake spoke before Hayden could say a word. “Could we see a floor plan please?”

“The . . . excuse me?”

“I have a condition.”

“Oh!” Worked every time. “I guess there’s a floor plan over there showing the fire layout.”

Drake took a moment. “How’s rooms twenty-six to twenty-nine? They free? Failing that, corresponding rooms on any floor above.”

Ben whispered: “Stop with the big words, dickhead. You don’t know what they mean.”

The clerk affirmed that the rooms were free. Drake checked his mobile whilst Hayden sorted the payment out. He’d gotten a couple of texts. Ironically, one from Wells and one from Mai, both to say they had arrived at Miami International.

“Wait,” he motioned to Hayden. “Can you get hold of Kinimaka and ask him to swing by the airport. Backup has arrived.”

Kennedy gave him a look. “Anyone in particular?”

“Wells. And Mai.”

Ben’s neck jerked round so fast his head almost fell off. “Mai?
The
Mai?”

“You know of her?” Kennedy huffed at him. “Then you know more than I do.”

Ben didn’t catch the unhappy tone. “I know the legends. A few of them anyway. Drake wouldn’t elaborate on the more-” he paused, “ . . . dangerous ones.”

“Subtle.” Drake shook his head. “Look. She’s one of the best operatives in the world. We’re lucky she’s here. And Wells is here too. I don’t particularly like the guy but he has some great connections. Deal with it.”

“Wells?”
Alicia hissed. “I was hoping that old bastard was dead by now.”

Drake seemed to remember her having issues with their old commander during the ‘Odin thing’. “You threw him down a well, Alicia. Wasn’t that enough?”

“Not even close, Drakey.”

“What’s your problem with Wells anyway?”

But Alicia was already huddling with Hudson. Again it struck Drake as out of character for the careless, violent woman he knew and distrusted. Add to that the fact that both she and Hudson were fugitives. He pigeonholed it for now and started ushering people towards the lifts.

Remembered the layout. Stone desk. Jungle of potted plants to its right. Sofas and a huge fish-tank and a display of fine wines to the left. Three entry doors, one double and revolving, the others single and automatic. A sign that said the stairs were beyond the fish tank. A sturdy drinks dispenser next to the check-in desk. Would they have armed security here? Unknown.

Five minutes later and they were checking their rooms. Drake reconnoitred in his own way and chuckled when he noticed the others doing the same. Only Ben stayed in the middle of the room, taking it all in.

“Cool place.”

Drake noticed the adjoining door. Perfect.

“Lines of defence,” he said. “This room. Then through the door to the next room. Then-” he pointed out the door to where the corridor dog-legged and finished up against a brick wall. Their other two rooms were at its far end. “Then those two, same principle. Agreed?”

“I’m guessing the fourth and final room has good egress?” Alicia asked carefully.

“Of course, Myles. What do you take me for?”

“Well, my initial reaction is to say a ‘fresh, pussy-whipped army dropout with no damn clue what he wants, still living with his long-dead memories. But I could be wrong.”

“Fuck you.” Drake checked the room for vantage points and places where there might be shelter from bullets. He went and checked the distance from the door to the dog-leg’s hallway.

“Only problem I can see with these rooms is they don’t offer a decent view of the hotel’s entrance.”

“Room twenty-nine should,” Alicia said sweetly. “Huddo and I will take that one.”

“Huddo?” Drake sighed. That woman was an enigma, in some ways still the crazed bitch, in others somewhat mellowed, but she remained one of the most dangerous people he had ever met.

He would never forget that.

Before she walked out the door Alicia turned as if she had forgotten something. “Oh, and CIA girl. Helooo sweetie!”

Hayden looked at her with unreadable eyes.

“Our contribution.
” She indicated Hudson and herself. “And the vital input that will earn us a pardon.”

Hayden sighed. “What could people like you possibly offer the CIA?”

Alicia patted Hudson on the head. “This.”

“Tim Hudson’s head?”

“Nah, that’s my trophy. But what’s
inside
is vital. Hudson was Abel Frey’s top computer geek. He’s world class. Give him a computer - a
good
one - with clearance, and he’ll find this Blood King arsehole for you in a few days.”

“We’re the CIA,” Hayden said. “We have our own world-class geeks.”

“Not like Hudson you don’t. Seriously.”

“Ok, ok, I’ll bite. Why don’t we?”

“Hudson doesn’t care about you or your boss. He’s not motivated by pressure or by being better than the guy in the next cubicle. He already
is
the next guy. He doesn’t care about protocol or government rules. He’ll ferret about in there and get down and dirty with the
real
digital information players. Hackers. Spies. Counterfeiters. And he’ll spider-web it right back to the Blood King.”

Hayden looked like she might agree. “He can do that?”

“Look at him. Does he look like he spends all day
playing
football or watching it?”

“Well, it’s worth a shot. You can’t work from here though. It’ll have to be somewhere close by, anonymous. We can’t risk the controller device in any way.”

Alicia shrugged and turned away. “Plenty of hotels close by, dear. Kiss kiss.”

Hayden walked over to the window, giving Ben a weak smile as she passed. Drake slapped the young man’s shoulders, preventing him from saying anything soppy or silly.

“Looks like you’ve been out-geeked, my friend.”

“Bah! My band could smash his band to the ground, any day.”

Drake laughed. “I bet they could. Any news? You know, on the record deal?”

Ben bit his lip. “Karin reckons the company want the rest of the songs by next month. At this rate the other guys will be sacking me.”

“Can’t do that, mate. You’re the star.” Drake was about to elaborate when Kennedy spoke up from her position by the door.

“Kinimaka’s back. With friends.”

Drake braced himself for the flood of memories.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

When Mai Kitano walked through the door all eyes turned. Drake held his ground and tried to mask his emotions. That was what Mai would do and, he hoped, was doing now. She came right up to Drake and stopped, a light smile playing around the corners of her lips.

“Been a while, my friend.”

“You got that right.” Drake enfolded her in his arms for the right amount of time before pushing her away. He could sense eyes burning through the back of his skull. Kennedy’s. Ben’s. Alicia’s.

Mai turned away to greet the others. Drake swallowed hard. The sleek and deadly Japanese woman hadn’t changed a bit. Her round baby-face and big black eyes belied any underlying penchant towards violence. The smiles and the lilting laughter were genuine, but fashioned to hide what might lurk beneath the mask.

No doubt now, the most dangerous person in the room was Mai Kitano.

Kinimaka bundled his way inside and saw Ben about to ask Mai a question. “Don’t ask,” he said. “She’s never heard of Ken and Ryu.”

“Street Fighter’s the
other
game,” Ben hit geek-mode hard. “Mai Shiranui appeared in King of Fighters. Was she really based on you?”

“Careful, Blakey,” Drake warned. “Do you really think Mai’s old enough to have a twenty- year-old video game based on her?”

Ben’s mouth suddenly refused to close. “I . . . I . . . ah . . .”

Wells rescued him. The SAS commander had remained unseen until now, standing as he did behind Mano Kinimaka.

“Game first. Nickname later. But I’m just glad to be here.” He grinned and then saw Alicia. His face turned white. “What the frig is
she
doing here? Is she under arrest?”

“She’s
helping,” Alicia told him with a look that could have fried an egg. “I suppose we’ll have to see what use an old man of fifty-five can be? Oh, apart from following ‘ittle wittle’ Mai around.”

Alicia grabbed Hudson and left the room, heading for the dog-leg corridor and the room at its far end. Drake trusted her enough to make the reconnoitre herself and report back later.