Red Dragons

by K W Frost

  ‘But that’s not all, is it?’

  ‘Why? What else can it do?’ asked a seemingly mystified Kioki.

  ‘I’m not sure, but I mean to find out.’

  ‘Come, Mr Child, I have satisfied your curiosity now. Do not make more out of this than there is.’

  A shadow moved into the building. Kioki glimpsed it out in his peripheral vision.

  Confident that it must be Mitsu arriving, Kioki regained his usual air of confidence.

  Child also saw movement and recognised the shape of the larger shadow: it was Stulz moving into position. Now was the time to really shake Kioki or he would have to get answers out of him the hard way. Child was prepared to shoot it out of him, if necessary.

  ‘Liar!’ Child shouted at Kioki.

  He launched into a verbal attack startling Kioki.

  ‘You are a liar, Kioki, you didn’t come here to negotiate. You came here to kill me.’

  Kioki was shaken. How did this devil in front of him know? Unless…

  ‘Yes, Kioki, I have your killer,’ Child said. He had correctly guessed Kioki’s trail of thoughts. ‘Here, you can have him back.’

  Child opened the back door of the utility. Reaching in, he grabbed Lee by the arm and pulled him out onto the ground. Dragging him forward, Child then tossed him into the light area between the two vehicles. A low moan forced its way out of the lips of the unconscious man as pain surged through his body.

  ‘Mitsu… is that you?’ Kioki asked, stepping forward. When he caught a glimpse of Lee’s face, he looked up at Child.

  ‘This isn’t Mitsu,’ he said, his brow deeply furrowed.

  Child’s gun came up again to centre of Kioki’s heart.

  ‘No, this man’s name is Lee,’ Child explained. ‘He must be one of Mitsu’s little helpers, just like the ones at the Blue Water offices. Tell me who they are?’

  Mitsu lined up the cross of the telescopic sights on Child’s hairline. It was time to stop the interview. He had just one chance to hit his targets. He would get it right first time. He stroked his finger and sent the bullet away on its path of destruction. Immediately after, he stroked again, sending a second message of death after the first.

  He then fired a third time, mentally recording a miss. Changing his aim slightly, Mitsu fired for the last time. This time the bullet was fatal.

  Abandoning the rifle, Mitsu grasped the skylight and burst out onto the roof as bullets from Stulz’s gun ricocheted under him.

  Mitsu’s first bullet struck his target, entering the brain through the forehead and exiting out the back of the neck. The second bullet caught the top of the target’s head as it pulled up under the impact of the first bullet. It tore the top of the skull away from the already-dead man’s head. Blood and brains flew out to splatter the white Commodore with red and grey flecks.

  Child saw the first two bullets destroy Kioki. Immediately he flung himself backwards.

  A third bullet spat onto the concrete floor just where he had been. Scrambling for the safety of the Toyota, he saw Lee’s body jump with the impact of the fourth bullet.

  Child climbed out from under the Toyota and looked down at the two murdered men. He was disappointed. All avenues of truly understanding what Blue Water Securities as all about had died with these men.

  Meanwhile, Stulz raced outside while trying to prevent the assassin escaping. He returned five minutes later with Smaille in tow. The assassin had escaped.

  Smaille looked down at the two bodies. Even though he had seen death several times, he felt slightly squeamish at the sight of Kioki’s head. He turned to Child and noticed that his face was masked in dried blood and dirt.

  ‘Are you alright?’

  ‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ Child replied, deep in thought,

  ‘Your face, you need to see a doctor,’ said a concerned Smaille.

  Child appeared not to hear him and continued to look vacantly down at Lee. On closer inspection he noticed a small red dragon tattooed between the knuckles of his left hand. He had seen that mark before…

  Then, as if coming out of a trance, Child belatedly replied to Smaille.

  ‘Minor cuts only, looks worse than it is,’ Child said absent-mindedly.

  Suddenly, something clicked in Child’s brain.

  ‘My God, that’s it, that’s it…’

  Turning to Stulz, Child was a man in charge now.

  ‘Stulz, you stay here,’ he commanded. ‘Call Harrison and ask him to send that disposal unit again for these guys. Smaille, we’ve got to talk but we don’t have much time. I’ll explain on the way.’

  Child turned back to the Toyota and opened the front door.

  ‘What’s wrong, Child,’ Smaille asked.

  ‘I was wrong, we were all wrong. We shouldn’t have wasted our time at Blue Water Securities — we should’ve focused on the restaurant.’

  ‘What restaurant?’ Smaille asked, now thoroughly confused.

  ‘The Lah Wah Restaurant,’ Child explained. ‘I’ll explain on the way, now get in.’

  Five minutes later they were almost back at the grey office block. Smaille sat in the back seat, shocked by the events of the day, and even more stunned by what Child had said. He only hoped to God that they weren’t too late. If they were then real disaster loomed and the world would be in turmoil tonight.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Mitsu was shaken. For the first time an assignment had gone wrong. His meticulous planning had gone astray and he only had himself to blame. He should have killed Child the first chance that he had got, rather than become distracted by Lee’s and Child’s clash, but who would have thought Child was capable of defeating one of his protégés.

  Child remained alive.

  Walking swiftly towards the Sky Tower, Mitsu regained his composure. Tonight’s mission was still on. If it had been compromised, they would have cancelled the meeting and he would have been notified.

  Tonight, was his night.

  The stage was set for his greatest triumph.

  In the carpark outside the Sky Tower, he unlocked the boot of the car he had arranged to be waiting there. Carefully, he removed the pot containing the still warm sauce. Carrying it carefully, he went upstairs and then down to the service elevator.

  The guard, Doone, had been expecting him. Mitsu had all the correct documentation and was soon on the final elevator to rise to the top of the tower.

  At the top, he carefully carried the sauce into the kitchen. A minute later, Young opened the kitchen door and reported what had happened so far. Once Mitsu heard that everything was going to plan, he relaxed and his old confidence returned.

  ‘Young, you can now make sure that the elevators stay up here. Place the lift operatives in the fire shelters below — be careful now as we don’t want anything to arouse suspicion.’

  ‘Certainly, sir,’ replied Young. They had already planned to remove the lift operatives by simply asking each one in turn to take the head of security down one floor. After that they had no chance against Young’s expertise.

  The Sky Tower was now completely shut off from the outside world.

  The elevator up to the Blue Water Securities offices seemed to travel slowly. Smaille watched the numbers slowly tick by. As soon as the doors opened on the sixth floor, Smaille confronted Harrison.

  ‘Quick Harry, contact your head of security for the APEC operations,’ Smaille’s voice demanded urgently.

  Harrison acted immediately. In the four days he had been with Smaille, this was the first time he had heard him raise his voice. Harrison reached for a phone. He soon had a reply.

  ‘I need to talk to the security chief on duty, now!’ he demanded. ‘I don’t care if he’s in a meeting, I need to talk to him now!’

  Smaille grabbed the phone from Harrison.

  ‘Look you imbecile we need to speak to the top guy right now. I don’t care if he’s on the bloody dunny, get him on the phone!’

  Smaille handed the phone back to Harrison, and resumed
his nervous pacing.

  Child looked on, his hands thrust deep into his pockets.

  The wait seemed like an eternity, but it was only moments later that Harrison had contact.

  ‘Chief Inspector Thomson, is that you sir?’

  Harrison offered Smaille the cell phone. Smaille snatched it off him.

  ‘Chief Inspector, this is special agent Smaille from American intelligence. I need you to answer a couple of questions urgently… Yes, yes, I understand. Where are the senior delegates of APEC dining tonight? Particularly the national heads of state? Oh, easy… all at the same place… and who is catering for this dinner? Can you confirm whether Lah Wah Restaurant is one of the caterers.’

  The colour drained from Smaille’s face as he listened to Thomson’s reply.

  ‘You must stop them from going up the tower…’ Smaille yelped.

  His face turner a lighter shade of pale when he heard the reply.

  ‘They’re already up there? Oh my God…’

  Smaille ended the call abruptly.

  ‘Child, we’re too late… heaven help them now,’ Smaille whispered.

  Child grabbed Smaille by both arms and held him firmly.

  ‘Tell me exactly what the Chief Inspector said,’ he demanded.

  Smaille recovered quickly, the calm intensity of Child’s voice making him react the same way.

  ‘All the leaders of the OPEC countries are dining together tonight…’

  ‘Well, they’ll have maximum security there then?’

  ‘No, no you don’t understand,’ interrupted Smaille. ‘They’re all together up in the Sky Tower at a dinner and conference. No interruptions. Nothing. No communication is permitted at all.

  ‘None,’ Child said flatly.

  ‘None at all, and the caterers are all up there with them… and a team from the Lah Wah Restaurant is one of them.’

  ‘Okay, we have got to think and act carefully, and fast,’ Child said.

  He paused and then turned to Inspector Harrison.

  ‘Harrison, can you get hold of the Chief Inspector again. Tell him we need to meet, and we need access to all the personal files he has on the people up in that tower. Ask him if he can check on access to the Sky Tower, and if they’re still open.’

  Harrison looked at Child and then at Smaille.

  ‘Would one of you please tell me what’s going on?’

  ‘Just make the call, then I’ll explain what’s going on to everyone at the same time,’ stated Child as he walked down the corridor.

  A few minutes later, everyone was crammed into the small outer office. Gray had brought out a chair, but most seemed content with standing. Ritson sat on the floor near beside the open door that lead to the prisoners.

  When Child marched back into the room, the prisoners stared at him with fearful eyes.

  ‘What have you done to these guys?’ Child asked Ritson.

  ‘Nothing much,’ Ritson replied casually. ‘I reckoned that if you didn’t find out what you need from Kioki, then these guys were the next best option. So, I sort of softened them up a bit to help them be more co-operative when you asked them questions.’

  ‘Yeah, you’re right,’ Child nodded. ‘They would’ve been next, but I think I’ve got this all worked out, so we won’t really need them.’

  ‘Fine by me,’ replied Ritson. ‘Do we dispose of them ourselves, or do we give them away?’

  Child looked at Ritson. There was no doubt about what his intentions were. This was a side of Steve Ritson that he hadn’t seen before. Child recognised that he too had changed.

  ‘No, there’s no need to kill them — we’ll soon turn them over to the proper authorities, but keep a close eye on them until they arrive.’

  Now Child stood before the small group.

  Gray was sitting in his chair. Samantha perched on an armrest. Ritson sat on the floor. Goodly leant against the opposite wall, keeping a casual eye on the computers. The hacking programme was still running. He had broken through the first wall of security and was now trying to find the correct password to go with the name. Harrison stood near the outer door, watching the corridor.

  Smaille stood facing Child. Only he knew what Child had deduced. He only hoped that somehow they could find an answer, and that they weren’t too late.

  Child felt confident that he was right. He was also determined to see this thing through.

  ‘We were wrong — or rather, I was wrong. Blue Water Securities is not the ultimate end of this operation. Look at what we have: Whittingham is murdered and it’s made to look like an accident. Also, the man who guards Whittingham’s house is Asian.’

  ‘The man who pushed Whittingham was definitely Asian too,’ Smaille added.

  ‘How do you know?’ Child asked.

  ‘We saw it happen, and it’s on the police file,’ said Smaille. ‘Naturally our presence has been kept a secret.’

  ‘Naturally, but that only supports my evidence,’ continued Child. ‘Now, moving on to Blue Water Securities. We find it protected by professional killers, for want of a better term, and not just one but three killers. And what does the last one do? He kills the computer expert and then launches a suicidal attack. Why? To prevent him from telling us about his operation here, or was there something else? Now let’s jump to the Lah Wah Restaurant… did you notice anything unusual about it, Sam?’

  Samantha stood to face Child before she answered carefully.

  ‘Well, not really, I was concentrating on you,’ she said. ‘Of course, there was that waiter who recognised you. Um… Lee? Yes, that was his name. Apart from that there seemed nothing out of the ordinary. Simon, you were interested in it though.’

  ‘At that stage I had nothing to go on, however, what is now definite, is that Lee tried to kill me at the warehouse. A sniper had a go at killing me too. But here’s the real kicker: I wasn’t the most important target. The sniper killed Kioki first, and then he turned his attention towards me. That was the only thing that saved my life. He also killed Lee to shut him up.’

  Child paused, looking around at the faces in the room.

  ‘Now that everyone is dead, my first question is what was so important about this place. Then I had another idea that fits the facts. Perhaps it wasn’t this place at all? The killer was protecting it, but for some other purpose. Then it came to me: Lee is the crucial link. He was a waiter at Lah Wah, and he knew about me before I even stepped foot in the restaurant. Then, when Kioki needs help in the warehouse, Lee turns up. Now, Samantha, how would you describe the other waiters at the Lah Wah?’

  Understanding was beginning to dawn on Samantha’s face.

  ‘Young, graceful, male…’

  ‘Trained?’ interrupted Child.

  ‘Yes, trained…’

  ‘Trained in the martial arts — they were trained assassins,’ stressed Child. ‘Now, I want to come back to what Lee said to me. He thought he was going to kill me, so he told the truth about Lah Wah being closed tonight. He said they were entertaining officials from APEC.’

  ‘Christ, you’re right,’ muttered Moody. ‘We have to stop them before they can take out the president…’

  ‘Unfortunately, that isn’t as easy as it might seem,’ said Child.

  ‘Why not? It’s still early in the evening. Surely we can find out where they’ll be and stop them?’ added Goody.

  Smaille interjected in a cold, monotone voice.

  ‘We know where they are, and we know who the possible targets are.’

  ‘Well, let’s get them then,’ said Goody.

  ‘The twelve leaders, including your president, each attending with only two assistants, are all having pre-dinner cocktails up at the Sky Tower as we speak,’ Child explained. ‘Everyone else has been removed. They’ll be having dinner up there alongside some leader-to-leader talks. Frankly, most officials are glad to have their leaders occupied for a time, while some real negotiations take place.’

  ‘Well, that’s good, isn’t it?’ Samantha ask
ed. ‘They’re all in a safe, isolated place, and easily protected.’

  ‘Normally they would be —’

  ‘Normally they wouldn’t have invited guest chefs to serve dinner,’ Ritson interjected loudly. ‘Guest chefs that include our friends from the Lah Wah.’

  All eyes were on Ritson now. The truth of the situation was finally dawning on the group.

  ‘That’s it,’ stated Smaille, ‘we’ve made contact with New Zealand’s security, and they’ve told us that the final officials went to the top about half an hour ago. We have to find out if access is still available to the top of the Sky Tower. We need numbers, names and every possible detail about the people up that tower tonight.

  Smaille turned to Child, his face drawn and tense.

  ‘I think that we still have a little time, but we need to act as soon as possible.’

  ‘Why don’t we just call them?’ Gray piped up.

  ‘Unfortunately, this conference requires no interruptions or outside communication, so all cell phones will have been turned off,’ Child explained.

  ‘Of course, and once up there it would be easy to hold the elevators. This is clearly a concisely planned operation. I imagine its preparations have been going on for over a year or longer. They’ll have someone capable of disconnecting all outside phone linkages too.’

  ‘Yes, that’s all true,’ Smaille nodded. ‘We’ve been unable to contact anyone up at the top of the tower.’

  ‘Even if we could contact them, it may not be desirable,’ Child offered. ‘I think the killers are working on a tight time schedule. If we caused a panic up there and people started to demand to leave, who knows what the killers’ reactions might be? We know that they’re prepared to sacrifice themselves. Instead of having a specific death, we could have wholesale slaughter… I agree with Smaille that we do still have a little time. They probably need darkness to help with their escape. We still have time.’

  An uneasy silence settled over the room. People were lost in their thoughts, and most of them had vivid images of dead bodies strewn over the top floor of the Sky Tower.