Labyrinth (30 page)

Chapter 33

Greene and Jonas reached the entry point to the slide. Greene looked in and then ducked back. “So, what, we put Kessel in and let him maneuver his way down? How’s that going to work?”

Jonas frowned. “If it’s a stupid idea, then so be it. We didn’t come up with it. Who cares?”

Greene shook his head. “We put Kessel on that slide, all he’s going to do is slide down and crash into Annja. It’s a waste of an asset.”

“So call him.”

Greene reached into his pocket and pulled out the walkie-talkie. “Fairclough, this is Greene.”

“What is it?” came the terse reply.

“We’re at the entry point. But you want us to put Kessel on the slide? We don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

“Is that what I told you to do?” Fairclough asked. “No. I told you to position Kessel by the entry point and then, when Annja managed to climb up there, he could kill her. I never said anything about putting Kessel on the slide. That wouldn’t make any sense at all, now would it?”

Greene rolled his eyes at Jonas. “No. No, it wouldn’t.”

“I’m so glad we agree,” Fairclough said. “Now leave Kessel there and come back to the control room. I have something else for you to do.”

Greene switched the radio off and turned to Jonas. “I’m feeling less and less like an equal partner in this thing.”

“He’s certainly not treating us like equals.”

“No,” Greene said as he glanced at Kessel. “No, he’s not. It might be time to rectify that situation.”

A
NNJA
WORKED
HER
WAY
down the corridor. Unlike those in the maze, this one was finished and had dim lights every few feet running along the upper part of the walls. Here and there, she could see light fixtures that she supposed concealed hidden access points to the maze.

The longer she walked, the more impressed she was with the depth and scale of Fairclough’s operation. Fairclough had very obviously invested and planned this whole layout very carefully. Arrows pointed to coded room numbers and one large red arrow said
CR
in front of it, which Annja assumed meant Control Room. There were speakers and monitors at various points along the way, but in these corridors there didn’t seem to be much surveillance.

He probably never expected to have an intruder in this part of the labyrinth. Annja smiled. It will be great fun surprising him, she thought.

All she had to do was keep working toward Fairclough. And the handy red arrows gave her the ability to do just that. If she could keep quiet and stay out of the way of video cameras, there was no reason to think she couldn’t get to him and stop him.

Annja kept moving.

“H
E
’
LL
BE
PLENTY
SURPRISED
when we show up with Kessel,” Greene chuckled as they moved back toward the control room.

“But what’s the plan?” Jonas asked. “You’re just going to storm in there and demand he treat us like partners? He’s too consumed right now with the idea of killing Annja. You really think he’s going to be open to discussion?”

“If he’s not,” Greene said, “then I’ll have Kessel deal with him.”

“You can’t kill him yet,” Jonas reminded Greene. “We don’t have his money. We kill him now and we’ll be flat broke. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t like that lifestyle all that much.”

Greene smiled. “I’m not going to kill him…yet. All I want is to show Fairclough that we have Kessel under our control. Not his. And if I need Kessel to lean on the old man to bring him around to our way of thinking, then I’ll do it. A few broken bones shouldn’t keep Fairclough from being able to adjust his will so that we benefit, you know?”

Jonas nodded. “All right.”

Greene eyed him. “You’re on board with this, right?”

Jonas shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Just checking. I’d hate to lose your friendship over this. That would be a shame.” He turned up the corridor.

Behind him, Jonas frowned. He didn’t like the way Greene had said that. And as they walked, Jonas pulled out a small transmitter, made a few adjustments and then put it back in his pocket.

A
NNJA
APPROACHED
an intersection.

She slowed and squatted in the shadows nearby. Her heart was beating faster and she needed a moment to calm herself down. She was dangerously close to dehydrating. Her tongue felt thick and mossy. She’d also stopped sweating. And she had a vague sense of nausea. She needed water, and soon; otherwise, she wasn’t going to be much good to anyone—let alone herself.

She glanced up and down the corridor and then spotted a small door with a graphic on it. A toilet.

A bathroom meant water.

Taking another quick glance up and down the hallway, she checked for any surveillance cameras, but saw nothing unusual. That didn’t mean they weren’t there. Fairclough had hidden them well in the maze.

But she had to take the chance. She needed water desperately.

And so she rose and quickly crossed the hall to the bathroom. She turned the doorknob and went inside.

W
HAT
WAS
TAKING
those two so long? Fairclough checked numerous camera angles before he finally found them down one of the hallways. With Kessel. Those idiots! He leaned closer and saw that Greene and Jonas were both engaged in an animated discussion.

Fairclough was under no illusion—these two were rabid opportunists. If they saw a chance to tilt things in their favor, they’d do it. And if that meant Fairclough was in the way, he didn’t doubt that they’d take steps to eliminate him. He assumed that was why they were dragging Kessel back to the control room.

Fairclough quickly pulled up the video tape of that particular hallway and wound it back to try to understand what had triggered them to leave the ambush. Something caught his eye and he stopped the tape and hit Play. Interesting. The doctor—Jonas—pulled out a transmitter behind Greene’s back and pushed several buttons on it. A code? He rewound the footage and zoomed in, watching Jonas punch the number in several times until Fairclough had committed the code to memory.

So his partners were about to make a power grab. Fairclough sighed. This wasn’t going according to plan at all. And worst of all, Annja Creed wasn’t even to blame for it.

But Fairclough had contingency plans in place. And after watching Greene and Jonas talk among themselves, Fairclough decided it was time to put one of those plans into motion.

He keyed a microphone again. “Kozumi-san, are you there?”

There was a brief pause, then, “I am here.”

“Would you return to the control room as soon as possible? I need you here, I think.”

“Is there a problem?”

“Not yet.” Fairclough smiled. “But there may be one shortly. And I think it would be best if you were here to deal with it.”

A
NNJA
RAN
THE
FAUCET
slowly so the rush of water couldn’t be heard outside the bathroom. Then she ducked her head under the stream and gulped water down until she couldn’t stand it any longer. She lifted her head and swallowed a few more times.

Already, she could feel her body responding to the water. Her limbs felt more pliable. She felt less sluggish. And the nausea was gone, too.

While dehydration could take you down quickly, rehydrating also took surprisingly little time. Annja continued to swallow more water and then burped slightly as she raced to put herself back in fighting shape.

Maybe twenty minutes, she thought, to get her fluid levels back up.

And be ready for whatever Fairclough wanted to throw at her.

G
REENE
, J
ONAS
AND
K
ESSEL
all trudged down the corridor. As they passed the bathroom, Jonas stopped Greene. “I need to take a leak.”

Greene frowned. “You’re joking, right?”

“I haven’t gone in a long time. My bladder’s about to burst.”

Greene rolled his eyes. “Man, tie a knot in it, okay? What the hell, we’ve got to take this to Fairclough right now before he gets wind of what we’re up to. There’s no time to take a bathroom break.”

“I’m not going to be comfortable,” Jonas said.

“Fuck comfort,” said Greene. “We’re going to the control room now. Pee your pants for all I care, but we have to settle this thing.”

Jonas sighed. “Fine. Whatever.”

They kept moving.

O
N
THE
OTHER
SIDE
of the door, her ear pressed against it, Annja waited until she couldn’t hear anything else before allowing herself to exhale. She’d caught the sound of footsteps and pulled the sword out. She would have been ready if Jonas had come through the door. But knowing they had Kessel with them concerned her. She had hoped that he would be elsewhere in the maze. That way, she could take care of business and hopefully figure out how to break their control over him.

But Kessel was with them.

And that meant Annja would have to deal with him.

She took several more gulps of water. She felt as keen as a knife edge. Thank God for the water, she thought. If she’d had to go into combat without it, she wouldn’t have stood a chance.

With the three men in front of her, they’d lead her straight to the control room. Annja crept out of the bathroom just in time to see Greene, Jonas and Kessel disappear around a corner.

Annja followed. Once she got to the control room, there’d be a lot of bodies to deal with. But she’d cope.

And then she could settle with Fairclough once and for all.

B
EHIND
HER
, A
NNJA
NEVER
noticed the shadow detach itself from the wall and follow her. It, too, was headed for the control room.

And the impending storm.

Chapter 34

Annja watched as Greene led Kessel and Jonas into the control room. From her position by the corner, she could see everything clearly. Voices were somewhat subdued but she could tell that Greene was very excited in his speech and hand motions. For his part, Fairclough looked remarkably unperturbed. Annja noticed the condescension in his expression and wondered how Greene would respond to being talked to as if he was a child.

Having interacted with Greene and noticed that he had a fairly large ego, Annja guessed this wasn’t going to end well. But if they were going to turn on one another, then that would make her job easier.

She settled in to wait and watch the fireworks. If there were going to be any.

“Y
OU
REALIZE
,
OF
COURSE
, that you’re going to ruin my plans if you insist on this silliness.”

Greene eyed Fairclough. “The fact of the matter, Reggie, is that you’ve been treating us like servants. Do this, do that. We came into this with an understanding. As equals.”

Fairclough’s eyes narrowed. “Did you now? Is that what you thought it was? That the power share was fifty-fifty? How intriguing. You see, from my perspective, I recruited you to help me put something into motion. The power structure was fairly clear from my vantage point. I am in command of this project. Not you, not him. Not anyone.”

Bastard, Greene thought. I should just kill him now. But he could feel Jonas’s eyes on him, sending him a silent message. Jonas was right, of course. They needed Fairclough’s money. But once they had that, then Greene was going to drill holes in the old man’s head.

“Your organization was little more than a band of ruffians who threw their lot in with you because you have a certain degree of charisma,” Fairclough continued. “And a violent streak that is apparently so appealing to today’s youth. That’s about it.”

Greene frowned. “You’re underestimating us. The FBI thought enough of what we’d done to put one of their guys undercover with us to take us down.” He thumbed over his shoulder at Kessel. “Here’s the proof.”

Fairclough shrugged. “So what? So the government decided to put someone under in your little club. Big deal. Hardly worth their time, if you ask me, but then again, why should that be surprising? The government can’t find its own ass without a road map, a GPS and a Congressional oversight committee. You got lucky.”

Greene shook his head. “This is exactly what we’re talking about. You minimize our contributions to this project and everything we’ve done. And frankly, I’m tired of your bullshit.”

“Are you? And just what would you propose to do about it? Divorce me? Maybe force me to give you money so you can continue your charade elsewhere? Is that it?”

Greene leveled a look at the old man. “The thought had occurred to me.”

“Well, it’s a wonder something did, given all the other junk you’ve got rattling through that tiny brain of yours.” Fairclough leaned back in his chair. “However, you should both know that it’s not easy to get at my money. As I’ve aged, you see, I’ve known I might prove a tempting target for someone intent on stealing what I’ve worked hard to attain.”

“Yeah, right.” Greene sniffed. “Inheriting your money is such a tough struggle to go through. Please.”

“Regardless of how you think I acquired my wealth, there’s little chance of you ever getting it. Unless I decide you’ve proven yourselves worthy.”

“And what the hell does that mean?”

“It means if you keep playing along with my project here, you just might be on the receiving end of some of that money. But you won’t see a cent otherwise.”

A
NNJA
WANTED
TO
whistle. As their voices had grown louder, she was amazed to hear everything that Greene and Fairclough had said to each other. Jonas, for his part, had remained silent. Probably trying to figure out whose team to play for. He struck her as the smarter of the two environmental extremists.

Was Greene’s organization smaller than she had thought? According to Fairclough, it was just a gang with nothing else to do. And yet, some of their exploits seemed well organized.

Most likely Fairclough was ripping Greene down for his own benefit. I’d do the same thing if I was in his position, Annja thought. The only thing was, you had to be careful with that strategy. Push Greene too far and he was liable to snap.

And judging from the man’s body language, he was pretty damned close to doing just that.

F
AIRCLOUGH
REGARDED
Greene, who stood in front of him jabbering about respect and being treated as equals. Ridiculous. Fairclough had put this together. Why would he recognize Greene for something he hadn’t had much of a hand in?

Fairclough glanced at the wall clock. Kozumi should have been back by now. What was keeping him? Fairclough wasn’t in a position to take on three men by himself.

But with Kozumi by his side, he could rein Greene in and refocus him on the matter at hand: killing Annja Creed.

Where was he?

B
EHIND
A
NNJA
, a shadow shifted and Kozumi peered out from his hiding spot. His keen eyes zeroed in on Annja’s back and then beyond her into the control room. Clearly, the old man had angered the people who supposedly worked for him. Kozumi frowned in disgust. Loyalty was an unknown concept these days. Honor, too. All anyone cared about was the power of the dollar.

True, Kozumi was a mercenary, and a highly paid one at that. But by taking a client’s money, he gave his loyalty for as long as the contract was in place.

Few could turn it on and off like Kozumi could, but that’s one more thing that made him indispensable to a variety of powerful clients all over the world.

Fairclough needed him.

But the woman was in the way.

Fairclough had said she was now a viable target, so why not start with her and then work his way into the control room? Once the woman was gone, Kozumi could do as the old man wished.

Noiselessly, he rose from the shadow that had concealed him.

A
NNJA
SHIFTED
.

She felt the air around her move—and rolled without thinking, coming to her feet, her sword out in front of her as the Asian man materialized out of the dim corridor. His katana streaked in and would have decapitated Annja with a single strike.

Except she was feeling much better after the water she’d drunk and she leaned back out of range of the strike. The Asian squinted at her as he redirected his next attack, coming in with a horizontal slash to her neck.

Annja flicked her sword up and into the blade, deflecting it, then she dropped and cut at his legs. He leaped into the air and came down some distance away.

Both of them took the second to catch their breath. The suddenness of combat had been startling. Who the hell was this guy? He moved like some of the ninja she’d once trained with in Japan. And yet, his movement was also different, and conventional enough to make her think he probably wasn’t a ninja at all. Just a highly skilled fighter.

Still, something about him seemed familiar. His facial features? She couldn’t quite place it.

But then there was no time to ponder it, because he came flying at her again and the fight was back on.

F
AIRCLOUGH
FELT
A
WAVE
of relief as the noise erupted in the corridor. He pointed. “There, you see? There she is!” Once Kozumi was finished with Annja, Fairclough would have him take care of Greene. Enough was enough. Fairclough didn’t like the young man’s impudence.

Then Fairclough would ask Jonas to stay on as his new second. It was an easy choice for the doctor to make with his partner-in-crime lying dead in a pool of blood in front of him.

Fairclough smiled.

All he had to do was wait for Kozumi to kill Annja Creed.

A
NNJA
DUCKED
as the katana flashed overhead. From the squat, she shot out one leg to kick the Asian in his left knee. Her kick connected and she heard him grunt as he reeled back and away.

Annja rose, intent on finishing this. She had no idea if Greene and Jonas were maneuvering into position behind her, but every second she kept her back to the control room, the less secure she felt.

The Asian limped backward and Annja used that to drive in, cutting down from above again and again. The force of her charge drove the man back more and more until he hit the wall. He twisted out of range as Annja’s sword came down to strike him in two.

The sound of their breathing filled the air. Both of them were winded, but Annja, driven by the fury of having been caged in the maze for so long, fought harder for her survival than the Asian did for his paycheck.

And when she cut at him again, the discrepancy showed.

As he brought his katana up to ward off her attack, Annja feinted another way, cutting past his head before suddenly dropping straight down and slashing horizontally across his midsection.

For the briefest moment, she heard nothing. But then an abrupt wet gasp filled the corridor as Annja’s blade cut deep into the Asian’s bowels. Annja rose as he fell, his katana sliding from his grasp toward the blood-slick floor.

It was done.

“L
OOKS
LIKE
YOUR
ninja-for-hire didn’t fare so well, old man,” Greene said with a grin on his face. “That lady looks plenty pissed off.”

Fairclough struggled to keep his composure. “Well, don’t just stand there. Get Kessel into the fray. Annja will be as anxious to kill you as any one of us. But she won’t want to kill Kessel, so send him out, Jonas!”

Greene nodded at Jonas. And then Fairclough watched as Jonas flicked a switch on his remote and Kessel wandered out into the corridor to meet Annja Creed.