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“I told him I go and get his daughters and brother back. Will be second brother I rescue today. Mr. Yumiko say he come too.”
“Since when do ghosts like you listen to the living?”
“Wait, what?” Mr. Yumiko asks.
“Never mind,” I say and help him up on the platform. Ghost follows.
“You stay here, Mr. Yumiko,” I say.
“No.”
That’s where his daughter gets it from.
“He can come. Sometimes I’m needing shield,” Ghost says.
“Wait, what?” Mr. Yumiko says.
“Ha, ha, ha,” Ghost says. “I joke.”
“You better be joking,” I tell Ghost. “We will stay in front of him and be his shields if need be.”
“Wait, what?” Ghost asks.
“Understood?” I ask firmly
“Da, boss,” Ghost acknowledges.
The hatch is closed but unlocked. There probably won't be anyone below decks as the Siren would have sent all her people topside. We’re carefully walking through the narrow corridor. I positioned us so I’m in front, Mr. Yumiko behind me, and Ghost as our rear guard.
I peek around a corner and see a man with a submachine gun guarding a cabin, then stop and raise my hand to signal Ghost and Mr. Yumiko to halt. Ghost reaches out his hand, offering me a pilum knife. I consider it but shake my head and raise my hand again with my index finger swirling to signal that we’ll go around.
We backtrack a bit, go around and find a ramp. At the top, there’s an opening. Thunder sounds and flashes of lightning light up the deck every few seconds. I carefully look out and see the Siren’s gunmen lined up behind the models, still pointing their guns at the people on the Splash.
Mr. Yumiko taps my shoulder and points at four life preserver rings with rope attached, hanging by u-hooks on the wall. Ghost raises a thumbs-up sign and grabs one of the rings. I nod my head, and Mr. Yumiko takes another one. I judge the length and tie the safety ropes together.
“You stay here,” I whisper to Mr. Yumiko, not wanting him to be in harm’s way again if I can help it, and Ghost has a reputation for stealth attacks. Mr. Yumiko’s lips tighten, but he nods. I peek out and look around. No one is on either side of the opening. Ghost is right behind me. We head out. The rain is light, and it’s dark except for when the lightning in the distance flashes. I go right, and Ghost goes left to extend the rope between us. We go slow and quiet until we get to the men at the ends of the line. I look over at Ghost. He nods. I quickly put the ring over the man in front of me and push. The men Ghost and I encircled fall over the railing, causing the rope to follow and pull all the other gunmen over and down too.
The leg of the man I pushed hits one of the fancy model ships and breaks it so it’s hanging down. The figurehead, shaped like a swordfish on this one, cut my shirt open but only nicked my stomach a bit.
“Pick up your weapons!” I yell over to the men on the Splash. Lightning flashes again, getting closer now. The men pick up their guns and start cheering. “Shh!” I call out to them. “Get those men out of the water but guard them.”
“Da, boss,” one of the Bratki answers from my boat.
Blood splatters out of the front of my left shoulder. It takes a few seconds before I realize it’s not from the model figurehead cut. Feeling the pain after a few seconds, I know I’ve been shot. The bullet entered the back of my shoulder and came out the front, a through-and-through. I turn to see one of the Siren’s two guards with a gun pointed at me. The other guard is holding Yuuto Yumiko with a gun to his head, and the Siren is standing just behind them.
“What is this, a ghost?” the Siren asks as the day breaks, and there’s just enough light to see who’s who, though the rain is coming down hard now.
“That’s me!” Ghost says, and the blade of his spring-loaded Pilum Ballistic Knife shoots and hits the throat of the guard who just shot me. He falls to the ground.
“Stop!” the Siren orders, “Or Yuuto will die for real. As a matter of fact, kill him,” she orders the guard left standing.
Bang!
“Nooo!” comes a scream from the deck of my boat. I can’t see Mari, but I know it’s her voice. Both Yuuto Yumiko and the guard fall to the ground. I hope it was Ghost using a gun this time, but his hands are empty now.
“You left me no choice,” Mr. Yumiko says. He gets up with a gun in his hand. He shot the thug.
“Sonomi, stop!” he says, pointing the gun at her just as the guard we bypassed below comes out of the opening with his submachine gun. The Siren grabs the guard to use him as a shield. She’s reaching her hand out from behind the guard to hold the grip and pull the trigger. Mr. Yumiko dives behind a wall to safety. The Siren, still firing, is turning the guard back towards me.
