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Guan-yin had offered her a way out, promising the assistance of the triads to help Valya make her escape.
A life for a life.
As their group neared the western side of the bridge, Seichan lifted her pistol.
I made no such promise.
Even with her back turned, Valya must have sensed the threat. She turned, skidding slightly, and lifted her Beretta at Seichan.
“Don’t!” Guan-yin ordered and stopped between the two of them. “I’ve sworn Mikhailov protection until she leaves this region.”
Such an oath was sacrosanct among the warring triads. To break it would bring dishonor to Guan-yin and the entireDuàn zhiclan.
Zhuang waved more of his men forward, to shield the bridge during this momentary impasse. Gunfire kept the Chinese pinned, but it would not last long.
“Go!” Guan-yin waved to Valya. Even after putting her body between them, Guan-yin’s anger and hatred for the assassin sharpened her words. “Take your men. Zhuang, see that the others secure passage for her group.”
Valya crossed the last of the distance, backpedaling the entire time with her pistol raised at Seichan. Seichan held her weapon up, too. She kept her arm steady, even as her body trembled with rage. She matched eyes with Valya. Both women were ready to fire, but both knew their revenge would have to wait.
Still, Seichan could not let the assassin escape yet again. She centered her aim between those ice-blue eyes.
Not this time.
12:21A.M.
Gray rushed Seichan, fearing what would happen if Guan-yin’s guarantee of safe passage was broken. Before he could reach her, the world trembled and jolted hard.
The bridge was tossed high with a great splintering of wood. Sirens burst across the city. The jetty thrashed and tore apart around and under them.
Another quake...
Valya fled from the bridge onto solid ground. She was surrounded by members of the triad, including Zhuang.
Gray rushed to Seichan and Guan-yin. With Yeung’s help, he herded them toward shore, traversing the quaking shreds of the bridge. “We don’t want to be near the coast if another tsunami—”
A thunderous boom shattered over them, sounding as if the world had cracked in half. The ground bucked hard, throwing them all off the bridge and into the water. Gray splashed into the shallows. This close to the beach, the waters were only knee-deep.
He gained his legs and waded to Guan-yin, helping her up.
Seichan joined them, still holding her pistol.
Gray pointed to the shore. They had been tossed to the far side of the bridge and were momentarily shielded by pilings. Despite the quake, gunfire continued on the other side.
They waded across the trembling water. The distance was not far, but the quake’s shaking had liquefied the packed sand under their boots, turning it into a sucking muck. With every hard-won step, more booms chased them. Despite the distance, each blast felt like a punch to the gut. They finally reached the beach and clambered out of the water.
Zhuang rushed to meet them and got them moving more swiftly. He must have sent Valya ahead with a cadre of the triad, honoring Guan-yin’s oath.
“Where do we go?” Gray asked.
By now, the Chinese had also vanished from their end of the bridge. Gray and the others would need to remain wary, not that his group had anything to offer the Chinese. When Valya had left, she was still clutching the envelope of papers she had grabbed off the dock. Maybethat was her plan all along. To use this entire gambit as a way of nabbing the prize for herself, to sell it to the Chinese afterward.
Gray could not dismiss such a strategy, especially when it came to that woman.
“This way.” Zhuang led them off the beach, seeming to know where he was going. Before landing in Jakarta, the man had hinted that the triad maintained a safe house in the city.
Gray hoped that was true.
By now, the quake had ended, but the detonations continued, sounding like cannon fire. Sometimes closer. Sometimes farther off.
