“Yes. Vanished in 1941 and one of China’s greatest treasures, the Peking Man, an example of Homo erectus, was dated to 680–780 thousand years old. He is considered a human ancestor and more specifically the first ancestor to the Chinese people.”
“I’d be fascinated to see him.”
“You will get the chance. But now, let’s get all the balls rolling, hmm? We have much to do.”
Bay-Dale looked pleased for the first time. “Indeed. And as soon as the Peking Man is recovered I’d dearly love to get my hands on the Niven Tablets.”
“Worry not, Clifford. You’re just a few days away.”
Webb signed off, happy but still somewhat disgruntled. He wondered if he was making a mistake — recruiting the Pythians from rich and wealthy stock. Such men didn’t understand that they were mere puppets, fit only to dance at his whim. But their power and influence was crucial to his plans.
A thorny situation. A double-edged serration.
Happily, the view from the window soon brought his thoughts around to a much more pleasant fantasy. Until now, Webb had stalked faceless, anonymous individuals, content to terrorize and destroy them for a sense of pleasure that bordered on sexual deviance. Choosing a victim at random — the local barista, the youth on the bicycle, the postman, the delivery driver — possessed a certain kind of charm…
But constructing a plan that enabled him to stalk his worst enemies, now that was engaging. That was unadulterated. That was sex to the power of twelve. And, oh the slow sweetness of it all. It would begin, very soon. Steady. Gentle. Rising to a crescendo. A climax. It would satisfy every vilest desire that slithered through his abnormal world.
CHAPTER FIVE
Drake and Dahl, with Grace at their heels, made their way to the SPEAR team’s headquarters inside the Pentagon. Hayden and Kinimaka were already present, looking worse the wear from their partying last night. Hayden drank from a two-liter water bottle and Kinimaka held an outsize mug of coffee close, wrapping his huge hands around it.
“Damn, that Claire Collins sure can party.” Hayden breathed between gulps.
“Have they left already?” Drake asked.
“Yeah. Caught a case this morning and are on their way back to the West Coast.”
“The woman’s an animal.” Dahl smiled in memory and then slipped back into stoic face. “Where are we with Mai?”
Hayden pointed at the high resolution screen to her right. “Karin is running character recognition software right now.”
Karin looked up from where she sat tapping away at a keyboard, Komodo at her side. “Sorry, Matt. Sorry to hear what happened.”
“Don’t be. We’ll have her back by nightfall.”
Komodo grinned, the soldier always game to get fully involved.
“Where’s the rest of the guys?” Dahl nodded toward empty chairs. “Hangover?”
“Smyth and Lauren are on their way.” Karin grimaced when everyone looked straight at her. “Don’t ask. Yorgi’s awaiting information because they still won’t give him access to the Pentagon. And, well, Crouch’s crew have received some kind of urgent message from a guy called Greg Coker.”
Drake shook his head. “Don’t know him.”
Karin shrugged. “Me neither. Apparently he helped them out on the Aztec gold adventure. His family was threatened by some South African crime lord. Now, Coker’s contacted Michael, gibbering about his family being in some kind of trouble. Crouch and crew are already on a plane.”
Drake felt a little saddened. “Alicia?”
“I really thought she’d stay to help Mai.” Dahl exhaled gloomily.
“Cheer up, Eeyores,” a female voice came from behind them, just closing the restroom door. “As if I’d let you get all the kudos for rescuing the Sprite. Bitch would never let me live it down. And of course, now she owes me one.”
Drake saw through all the excuses. “Good on ya, love.”
Dahl veered toward the more practical side of things. “What of Crouch and his new troubles?”
“Oh, Greg Coker’s an arse. Overreacting. Probably got snowed in or something.” Alicia moved forward into the room. “What do we have?”
Drake smiled and tried to hide it. I’ve missed her style. Not that he would confess to calling it actual style. But the Englishwoman did have a way about her.
Karin spoke up. “Here. The three character symbols Mai drew on the floor are being processed through my program. I don’t know how many millions of characters it has to scroll through but it could take a while.” At that moment her computer pinged. She looked appropriately startled.
“Works every time.” Dahl grinned, leaning over her shoulder, then breathed. “Oh, shit. How can that be?”
Drake could already see the interpretation. Each character was a syllable…
… and written in the Japanese writing system known as Katakana. The three syllables, read left to right, spelled out the word: YAKUZA.
Grace took a deep breath, slamming her hands over her mouth to stay quiet. Drake was severely taken aback. So this was not Ramses, then? Not any of their old enemies, but one of Mai’s old enemies. Had they finally taken revenge for the Cosplay humiliations? And what did the blood mean? Was it even Mai’s?
Most important of all — where the hell is she now?
Hayden also looked stunned. “All right,” she said. “In reality, I’m surprised, but maybe they caught her sleeping.”
Dahl snorted. “Not bloody likely. I must say though, Mai has not been herself lately.”
Drake caught the hint for information. “Don’t ask,” he said. “It has something to do with her trip to Tokyo a while back. She killed a guy for the Tsugarai and then the Yakuza killed most of the rest of his family for safekeeping, leaving only a daughter alive. She’s been struggling over killing that guy. That’s all folks. Talking to Mai sometimes is like talking to a Banyan.”
Alicia slapped his shoulder. “Says the Drakester! We all have our secrets, lover boy.”
Drake gave her the eye. If there was anyone harboring secrets in this room it was Alicia Myles. “She has been off her game,” he admitted.
Grace ran fingers through her hair. “And she had been helping me. A lot.”
“Well, contrary to some popular opinions the Yakuza are not big here in the United States,” Kinimaka informed the room. “In our previous roles, Hayden and I barely came across them.”
Hayden nodded. “The nearest most of them come is Hawaii.”
“You’re saying they will have taken her out of the country?” Drake didn’t like where this was going.
“That depends entirely on what they’re going to do with her. If it was a quick kill then why not dispatch her immediately? It may be personal for the Yakuza or even a contract kidnapping. We simply have too many questions and not enough answers at this point to make a fair assessment.”
“I want to help,” Grace quickly butted into the lull. “Please, I so want to help. Mai has been like a… mother to me.”
“First, we need to cover all angles.” Drake turned away as Smyth and Lauren walked through the door, and swiped his cell out of standby.
Alicia looked over at him but then caught Smyth’s eye. “Hello you two.”
“Drop it, Myles. Nothing happened.”
Alicia studied them both, took in the disheveled appearance. “Can either of you even remember last night?”
“Nah, but I woke up soaked but fully clothed in the shower with a new photo of a goat on my phone. Lauren woke fully clothed in bed.”