AllFreeNovel
Share Us
12:08A.M.
Seichan clenched her jaw so hard that she expected a molar to break. She clutched her Glock 45 in her right hand with her finger tight on the trigger guard, ready to fire, tempted to do so now. But she held off.
Her mother was held by a thick-browed Russian with dusky blond hair. He had a fist wrapped in the back of her robe, a gun at her head. Her wrists were bound behind her. Guan-yin’s silk niqab had been stripped from her head and face, exposing her purplish scar and dragon tattoo.
Valya had also set aside any pretense. Her snowy hair was tied in a tail, pulling her hairline to a sharp V across her forehead. Her skin was pale to the point of translucency. The woman suffered from albinism. Yet, defying the assumption that all those afflicted had red eyes, her irises were an icy blue. Hatred burned through that ice as she faced Seichan.
It was only in this moment that Seichan recognized how much her mother and this Russian woman were alike, down to the tattooing on the left sides of their faces. Valya’s black ink formed a half sun with kinked rays extending over cheek and brow. Only now it also had a scar cutting across it, a knotted line that ran through the sun’s center. Both women had led equally hard lives, forced to survive when fate stripped them from their homes. Valya had found her way into the brutality of the Guild; Guan-yin into the cruelty and criminality of the triads. Each had forged a role where they couldn’t be hurt again, leading their own organizations.
Gray shifted forward to face Valya, ready to bargain for Guan-yin’s freedom. Seichan never took her gaze from the assassin, watching for every twitch of muscle, shift of balance, and flick of eye. Still, she smelled the musk of Gray, heard the huff of his breath, even felt the heat of his body as he brushed past her shoulder. With her gaze locked on Valya, she couldn’t help but wonder where she would be if she hadn’t found Gray.
Would I be standing on the other side right now?
Gray held up his palms as he stepped toward Valya. His light windbreaker flapped in the sea breeze, exposing the SIG Sauer holstered at his waist—along with the folded sheaf of papers tucked into his belt. He slowly reached down and tugged the plastic envelope out, but he kept them away from the enemy’s reach.
“Free Guan-yin,” he said firmly. He bent and lowered the packet of pages to the wooden slats of the bridge and stepped back, leaving the envelope behind. He drew his pistol but held the weapon at his thigh.
“I will need to inspect the papers first,” Valya warned. “To make sure this isn’t a trick. The museum manifest described fourteen pages. They had all better be there.”
“I’ve kept my word. I expect you to do the same.”
Valya nodded once, and her mother was thrust forward. Valya kept hold of Guan-yin’s elbow, a Beretta pressed into her side. Her two men had their weapons trained on Gray. He took another step back to make sure there were no misunderstandings.
Seichan shifted her finger to her weapon’s trigger.
Valya lowered a hand toward the envelope, her eyes on Gray, her pistol still aiming for Guan-yin’s heart. She picked up the envelope and shifted her weight onto her right leg. Her eyes narrowed a fraction.
No...
Seichan knew what was going to happen—or thought she did. Guan-yin must have suspected something, too. Seichan’s mother dropped to a knee and twisted around to face the enemy behind her. Guan-yin swung up a small pistol in her right hand, revealing her wrists had never been truly bound, only appeared to be. Pieces of severed plastic zip ties fell to the planks.
Valya also spun in the same direction.
The two women fired simultaneously.
The two Chinese gunmen both dropped, shot through the foreheads.
Valya thrust off her right leg and lunged at Seichan and Gray. “Run!” she hollered at them, clutching the packet of pages.
Guan-yin followed at her side, trailed by Valya’s two men.
“Pao!” Guan-yin yelled, reinforcing the order to flee.
Gray got swept along with their rush. Seichan followed at her mother’s side and pointed her Glock at Valya, who was flanked by her two men.
Guan-yin pushed Seichan’s arm down. “M`h' hóu.”
Any further explanation had to wait. Gunfire chased them down the bridge, rising from the Chinese contingent on the far side. Rounds blasted into the planks and spattered into the water, but for the moment, the shots were wild due to a fierce firefight at the other end of the bridge. It appeared Valya’s men had ambushed the commandos back there, too.
But that battle would not last long.
Already the Chinese were getting the upper hand. Brief glances showed Valya’s men fleeing into the dark streets of the waterfront. The gunfire grew more focused on the bridge as Seichan and the others fled past the restaurant and headed toward their end of the jetty. Ahead, the triad forces covered them with bursts from their assault rifles, aimed at the Chinese contingent, keeping the enemy pinned down on that side.
A pair of commandos tried to cross the stretch of beach between their two sides. Zhuang spotted them, too. He ran alongside Guan-yin with his rifle at his shoulder. He fired at the beach, casting up sand. One man fell. The other was forced back.
Seichan pounded down the planks, clutching her Glock hard. She shared a look with Gray. By now, they both understood what must have happened. Valya hadn’t come here to trade Guan-yin for thepages. She had used Seichan’s mother to barter for her ownlife.
Valya must have sensed she was trapped and in danger when the Chinese commandos arrived in Jakarta. The Chinese clearly no longerfelt the need to hide behind mercenaries. Knowing that and knowing her team had failed—twice, back in Hong Kong and at the museum—Valya must have suspected her usefulness to the Chinese was coming to an end.
