by Jon F. Merz
But Vanessa had already stopped and waved at someone. Then Jimmy heard the clopping noise and turned.
Vanessa smiled at him. “Ever ridden in a rickshaw before?”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The old man who pulled the rickshaw sang a cadence as he ran with Vanessa and Jimmy securely tucked in the back with the curtains partially drawn. The wheels bounced over the potholes and kicked up bits of dust in their wake. Jimmy glanced at the streets ahead of them and heard the sudden explosion of noise – cars blared their horns as the roads seemed to taper.
Vanessa pointed. “As you can see, the traffic here is almost legendary. And the width of the road means maybe one car can get by at a time.”
“Not really worth the effort.”
“Exactly, and yet they still try to drive down here. The sound of horns is pretty continuous.”
“Great for the ol’ headache.”
Vanessa eyed him. “You okay?”
“I think so, just got a bit of a head buzz from when we had our little run-in back there. Unlike you, I'm not exactly used to having head-on collisions.”
Vanessa peered into his eyes but seemed content. “You didn’t hit your head, did you?”
“Nah.”
“All right then.” She leaned back and kept pointing out local attractions. “You can see how much more alive this section of town is.”
“Yeah the rest of the city seemed dead.”
“Many of the locals are asleep by ten at night. They’ve got to wake up early in order to get to work and provide for their families. Which is why, as much as I can appreciate the notion, borrowing a bicycle wasn’t a good idea.”
Jimmy nodded, “I wasn’t planning on keeping them, but I get you.”
“Look at the vendors.”
Jimmy saw a wide array of fresh fruit and vegetables for sale from small pushcarts set up along the road leading into Thamel. Other stores behind had garish neon signs advertising the latest electronic goods, bootleg DVDs, and toys imported from other countries.
“Sort of reminds me of Tokyo.”
“A lot less busy, though.”
Jimmy peered out of the curtain. “So, where are we headed?”
“You hungry?”
“Starved.”
Vanessa nodded. “What I thought you’d say. We’ll get some food in us and then plan out our next move.”
“Goro mentioned a temple in the city.”
Vanessa frowned. “I’ve been thinking about that, too. Not sure what he could mean, unless it’s some sort of Buddhist temple that we need to find.”
“What part of the city would it be in, though?”
“I don’t know. What I do know is we need to find out quickly and then get out of here. That welcoming party doesn’t do my confidence any good. We seem to be attracting a fair number of Kotogawa’s goons. And I don’t particularly like that.”
The rickshaw drew to a stop and Vanessa nudged Jimmy. “Right, here we go. We’re here.”
“Where?”
“The Blue Note, of course. Best home cooking for westerners this side of the Himalayas.”
Jimmy eyed her. “I take it you’ve been here before?”
Her eyes twinkled. “Once or twice.”
Jimmy hopped down from the rickshaw and thanked the driver while Vanessa paid him. Jimmy looked up and saw the blue neon of the restaurant they’d stopped in front of. But it didn’t look so much like a restaurant as it did a dive bar.
Vanessa stood next to him and grinned. “Nice place, huh?”
“If you say so.”
She hauled him along and then strode right through the front door, dropped her bags, and spread her arms. “Smell that food.”
“Vanessa!”
Jimmy watched as a short, bald man waddled up to Vanessa and squeezed her in a bear hug. Somehow he managed to left her several inches off the floor before finally releasing her.
Vanessa smoothed her shirt down and smiled. “Tak, how have you been?”
“Where have you been might be the better question?”
Vanessa turned to Jimmy. “Jimmy, this is Tak, he owns the joint. Tak, this is my nephew Jimmy.”
“Nephew? Wow, it has been a long time.”
“It hasn’t been that long,” said Vanessa. “I’ve just been, you know…busy.”
Tak pumped Jimmy’s hand. “Very nice to meet you, young master. Come inside and relax. You must be hungry.”
Jimmy smirked. “Starved, actually.”
Tak led them through the throng near the bar and past the end to a small secluded table Jimmy hadn’t even noticed down toward the back of the place. Tak sat himself in one of the chairs and urged them to sit with him.
“You just get into town?”
Vanessa nodded. “Had a bit of a welcome party meet us. Could do with a quick bite to eat before we’re on our way.”
Tak grinned and turned to Jimmy. “What I love about this woman – she always has a great story to tell. But no worries, I’ll get you both fed and out of here. You’re among friends.” He clapped his hands and the waitress came over with two bottles of beer and what looked like a Coke for Jimmy. Tak frowned. “Sorry but you don’t look quite old enough yet.”
Vanessa helped herself to the ice cold beer and Tak held his glass up. “To old friends.”
“To reliable friends,” said Vanessa.
Jimmy sipped his Coke. It was obvious that Tak and Vanessa went back a ways and he didn’t want to intrude too much on the reminiscing.
“You want the usual?”
Vanessa smiled. “That sounds like heaven.”
Tak finished the beer in several large gulps, belched once and then leapt to his feet. “Coming up.” He vanished into the shadows of the restaurant, leaving Jimmy alone with Vanessa again.
“He a good guy?”
Vanessa sipped her beer and then took a deep breath. “Tak’s about as reliable as you can find in skanky rundown third-world joints like this. Money’s a major motivator for him, but he owes me a favor or two. I’ve saved his butt more than a few times over the years.”
“Doing what?”
“A guy like Tak doesn’t just run this place. He’s something of an all-around marketing entrepreneur. You name it and he can get it for you, as long as the price is right.”
“What kinds of things? Guns?”
Vanessa nodded. “Sure. Guns, narcotics, information even.”
“Doesn’t sound like he’s all that reliable, actually,” said Jimmy. “I’d imagine if someone waved enough money in front of his face, he’d probably give us up in a heartbeat.”
Vanessa downed her beer and leaned back. “You are absolutely one hundred percent correct. He would sell us out in the blink of an eye. The only thing holding him back, however, is he knows that I have a lot of friends who would come pay him a visit if anything happened to me.”
“So, what are we having for dinner?”
“Chilied chicken and rice. You like Asian cuisine?”
Jimmy shrugged. “I’m sure anything will be better than the airplane food.”
Vanessa eyes widened. “I’m surprised to hear you say that after how much you complimented the flight attendant on her cooking skills.”
Jimmy frowned and took another sip of his Coke. “I thought we weren’t going to bring that up again.”
“Oh, I never promised that,” laughed Vanessa.
Jimmy sighed. “Somehow I knew you were going to say that.”
Vanessa pointed across the restaurant. “See those guys? They look like they’re planning some sort of trek on the mountains. They’ve got a bunch of maps spread out across the tables.”
“Cool,” said Jimmy. “I’d love to see the mountains.”
“A lot of expeditions get their start right here. Tak’s known for being able to outfit anyone inside of twenty-four hours with everything from parkas to oxygen bottles, the whole kit you’d need to scale Everest even.”
“And I’m sure he charges a
lot for such a service.”
“Well, obviously. But at least he does manage to get the very best supplies. He’s acquired himself something of a reputation with the mountain climbers over the years.”
“Unlike his other reputation.”
“I’m sure there are several,” said Vanessa.
Tak reappeared a few moments later with two heaping plates piled high with chicken and rice. He set the plates down before Vanessa and Jimmy and then brought another beer for Vanessa and another Coke for Jimmy.
“Thank you,” said Jimmy.
“Eat well, young master,” said Tak. Then he vanished again.
Jimmy frowned. “How come he calls me that?”
Vanessa smiled around a bite of food. “He’s not making a commentary on your martial arts skills, if that’s what you’re thinking. Young master is just an old world greeting for people your age.”
“Oh.” Jimmy bit into the chicken and his mouth swam in all the delicate flavors. “Wow.”
“It’s delicious, isn’t it?”
Jimmy nodded. “Incredible.”
“Eat well, because I’m not sure when we’ll get another chance like this.” Vanessa took several mouthfuls of food before nudging Jimmy. “And keep your eyes open.”
Jimmy stopped eating. “For what?”
“Anything.”
Jimmy swallowed and then wiped his mouth on a napkin. “I thought you said this place was safe.”
“It’s relatively safe. I don’t think Tak will sell us out unless he has to. But it’s always a good idea to never let your guard down. I haven’t been here in years and things could have changed.”
Jimmy nodded, but kept his eyes roaming around the restaurant. So much so, that a few times he missed his mouth when he was driving a forkful of food into it.
Vanessa smiled. “Stay relaxed. Otherwise you’ll just draw attention to us. And sitting where we are, that’s not a good idea.”
“Why?”
“Didn’t you notice that Tak seated us in the furthest, deepest part of the restaurant? We’re about as far away from the font door as it’s possible to get in here.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Just his way of exerting control over the situation. He’s letting me know that he’s in charge without having to be rude and say it bluntly.”
“Gee, what a guy.”
Vanessa smiled and went back to eating. “This is the nature of dealing with people like him in our line of work.”
Jimmy shrugged. “Well, he might think he’s smart, but he’s not above making mistakes.”
“Is that so?”
Jimmy grinned. “Sure. He might have positioned us far away from the front door but he gave us another option.”
Vanessa set her fork down and looked at Jimmy. “And what option would that be, pray tell.”
Jimmy thumbed toward the doors Tak had disappeared through. “I’m assuming that’s the kitchen back there?”
“It is.”
“And won’t a kitchen have a door so they can receive supplies through it?” He grinned. “We can just go through that if we need to.”
Vanessa smiled. “I knew there was something I liked about you, mate.”
“Just one thing?”
Vanessa laughed. “Finish your food. We need to figure out or next step.”
“The temple.”
“Right.”
“We could ask Tak.”
Vanessa nodded. “Yes we could. But do we really want him knowing what we’re looking for?”
“Uh…probably not.”
“Exactly.” Vanessa winked at him and they continued eating long enough for Jimmy to suddenly notice the entrance of a group of men into Take’s restaurant.
“Vanessa.”
She caught the tone in his voice and looked up immediately. “Good thing you thought about the kitchen.”
“Yeah, they don’t look all that hungry.”
She smirked. “Well, not for Tak's cooking anyway.”
Chapter Thirty
“How many do you make?”
Jimmy took another glance and saw the three that had seated themselves at the bar and the two that remained closer to the front door. Beyond that, he couldn’t make out anything else in the gloom.
“Maybe five.”
Vanessa nodded. “Agreed. I don’t much like those odds.”
Jimmy took a sip of his drink and felt his heart beating faster. “You think it would be better if maybe we ducked out the back while no one’s looking?”
Vanessa frowned. “I’d love a word with that traitorous scumbag Tak before we leave. He probably called them while we were waiting for the food.”
“No time right now,” said Jimmy. “We can always come back later and settle up with Tak.”
Vanessa sighed. “You’re right. But those guys aren’t going to just let us sashay out of here. We’ll need a diversion.”
Jimmy stared at the crowded bar. It was filled with a motley crew of regulars and grizzled mountaineers, all drinking heavily. It was a fair bet that a lot of them would be unsteady on their feet and also easily annoyed. But how to get them to the point where they’d pick a fight with someone else?
“What are you thinking, Jimmy?”
But Jimmy had already fished the pencil out of his parka. The tip was still in good shape, but blunt enough not to do any real damage. Vanessa watched him carefully.
“Jimmy?”
“Hang on a sec.”
The distance to the closest target was about twelve feet. If he threw it just right, the tip would stick into the side of the guy’s neck beneath his ear before it bounced away. If he did it right, the guy would turn and look at the guy next to him as the guilty party.
He hoped.
“I don’t know about this,” said Vanessa.
But Jimmy was already rearing back in his seat. He threw the pencil end over end, whipping it across the restaurant. In the dim light, the pencil was invisible.
And when it struck, the result was almost instantaneous. With a roar, the guy he’d hit wheeled around on the fellow sitting next to him. With a grunt he shoved the guy while rubbing the underside of his ear.
This proceeded to cause a line of disturbances that ran down the bar. People started shoving each other. And then a beer glass was toppled and several bottles broken as people squared off to fight.
Tak came running out of the kitchen, surveyed the scene and started shouting for everyone to calm down. But an angry assortment of bar patrons formed two walls of simmering anger. They started to shove each other and then the punches started to fly.
“Time to leave now,” said Vanessa quietly. She eased off her seat and Jimmy followed.
They pushed through the doors to the kitchen revealing a different cacophony of noise and mayhem. Cooks shouted orders to sous chefs and line cooks. Pots and pan clattered, knives clanged as they chopped and sliced.
Vanessa led them past the cook line, attracting a verbal artillery barrage from the head chef. Vanessa bowed her head and kept them moving until at last they were just about to exit the rear kitchen door.
“Vanessa!”
Jimmy whirled in time to see Tak standing back at the doorway, hands on his hips, anger all over his face. Behind him, Jimmy could just make out the shadows of the men who had come into the restaurant.
“Time to go, Jimmy!”
But as Vanessa led them out of the kitchen, Tak started running forward and three men came running behind him. They’d catch them in no time unless Jimmy did something.
One of the kitchen helpers was wheeling a cart full of prepared vegetables and meats. Jimmy grabbed it away and sent it rattling down the aisle at full speed toward Tak and the men.
Tak saw it and managed to leap aside, but two of the men following weren’t so lucky. They collided with the heavy metal cart and went down.
The third jumped over the counter and managed to grab a knife from one of the chefs. As he leaped for Jimmy, he turned the
knife over so it was aiming directly at Jimmy’s heart.
Jimmy flipped his hanbo up and at the wrist holding the knife. It made impact and if it hadn’t been for all the other noise in the restaurant, he felt sure he would have heard the bones snap in the wrist.
The man landed and instantly clutched his useless hand. Jimmy backhanded the hanbo up into his face, cracking the heavy stick right across the man’s throat. He went down and Jimmy turned to flee into the shadowy alley outside of the restaurant.
Vanessa grabbed him as he ran past her. She’d been waiting in a nook he hadn’t spotted. “Get your head down and stay quiet.”
Jimmy ducked, trying to get his breathing back under control. He glanced at Vanessa who seemed unfazed by the battle at the restaurant. She smiled at him. “You all done playing around with those guys?”
“Just trying to give us some breathing room.”
She nodded. “Well, we’ve got bigger problems right now.”
“We do?”
She pointed. “Look.”
Jimmy saw the front of the restaurant. Five more men were positioned all around it. They’d effectively bottled up the entire place.
“How come they haven’t sent anyone down here yet?”
Vanessa shrugged. “Maybe waiting for the guys inside to flush us out.”
“Well, that’s what they’re going to do if we stay here.”
Vanessa glanced up. The brick wall next to them was roughly twelve feet high. “We could go over this, but there’s a chance we’ll draw their attention.”
Jimmy frowned. “I don’t think we have much of a choice. Time’s running out.”
She eyed him. “You go first. I’ll give you ten fingers.”
“Right.”
He stepped into Vanessa’s hand and she shoved him skyward. Jimmy kept his body pressed flat against the wall until he could just reach his fingers over the lip of the wall and then he pulled himself up and over, bearing in mind the need to keep his silhouette close to the wall as much as possible.
He reached one hand back down and Vanessa grabbed it with both of her hands. “Fall back over the other side and you’ll bring me over with you.”
Jimmy leaned his body weight back and felt gravity reaching for him. He toppled back and then felt Vanessa coming with him. She reached the top of the wall and then swung herself over.