Shadow lies, p.10
Shadow Lies, page 10
In the meantime, the cell remained stashed and that was just too bad. He had other things to worry about, such as executing his solo demonstration with his weapon of choice, the staff. And not botching his showstopper move—Monkey Going up a Tree.
He ran a hand over his closely cropped hair and lamented his stupid choice. He could have chosen an easier weapon to specialize in.
One that didn’t require him to literally counterbalance with both feet on a stick standing on end. Although when he’d selected his specialty, he hadn’t known he’d be performing in front of the world’s dignitaries.
Hindsight, and all that.
He sighed just as the liaison entered the room. “You’re on!”
Showtime.
Nerves he hadn’t expected hit him hard. He knew this routine. He’d performed it perfectly during practice last night and again early this morning.
Channeling his meditation and his SEAL training he fell into his place in the line of brothers stacked up along the doorway and then ran out into the spotlight as the familiar music filled the air.
The sound of forty-eight feet stomping in unison, twenty-four men shouting in time during each coordinated move, spurred a round of applause.
That was something Kane wasn’t used to from practice. The sound reinforced his real reason for being here and he dared to do a visual sweep of those in the hall.
Names flew through his brain as he identified each face. Xi Jinping and his wife. Vladimir Putin. The president of the International Olympic Committee Bach. The United Nations Secretary General Guterres. Senior Chinese leaders Huning and Zheng. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammad bin Salman. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Khan. Prince Albert of Monaco.
Who he didn’t see—and whose photo he’d memorized until he could see it in his sleep—was Wei. Had Charley successfully detained the man on his way here?
He realized they were halfway through the performance and he’d barely been paying attention to the moves.
All that practice did pay off. So far so good.
He swept the audience again, watching for any disturbances.
So far everyone was acting normally. Enjoying the show. Which reinforced his main reservation with Alexis’s plan. What if the puppet master wasn’t on the invite list?
He knew what would happen then. Charley would enact plan B. Torturing the truth of who was in really control out of Wei.
A sharp look from one of the brothers aimed in his direction caught Kane’s attention.
Shit. He must have fucked something up.
Time to concentrate on the act before he caused a scene. He could sneak back out and observe the guests after they were done. If he got caught, he’d feign being a simple monk enamored by the ostentatious event.
He managed to finish the group opening of the performance without messing anything else up and gratefully jogged back to the green room to grab his staff and wait for his solo weapon demonstration—the next big hurdle to get over.
As he saw the brother who performed right before him finishing his routine he stood ready in the wings. He’d done the preparation. There was nothing more to do now. This would either go well or badly.
Drawing in a breath, Kane trotted out onto the floor, staff in hand.
Of all the kung fu weapons, the staff, sometimes called the monkey stick, seemed the least deadly. No sharp blades or heavy metal. Just a length of bamboo, flexible wood or lightweight hollow metal. But it was one of the more versatile and useful in a fight.
But because of that perceived impression that it was just a boring stick that couldn’t inflict much if any damage, his demonstration had to be all the more elaborate.
Given that, he was last in the line-up. The grand finale of the weapon demonstrations after which all the brothers would rejoin him and they’d do the final group demonstration.
Out on the floor alone with all eyes on him was a whole other level of nerve wracking.
Kane gripped the lower quarter of the staff with one hand and swung it in an arc. Following the motion with his body, he spun in a complete circle, ending the move with his knees bent and his empty palm thrust forward.
That was the easy part. The challenge lay ahead.
No easy day…
His two hands worked independently of his mind as he set the staff into a slow and then faster and visually impressive spin, bringing it to a stop close to his body beneath his arm, ending with a turn and a shout as he planted his foot.
He launched into the next portion, where five brothers surrounded him, all with staffs, and he fought each one in a demonstration.
After defeating each one in turn with different defensive and offensive moves designed to emulate the use of the staff in actual battle, he was alone again.
Ignoring the fear of failure inside him, he set up the Monkey stick move and the next thing he knew, he was hovering on the staff. He held the move long enough for the applause then jumped down, bowed to the president and trotted to the edge of the room to toss his staff aside.
The entirety of the two dozen performers closed out the show, and he took his place among them, happily one of many again.
They ended the show and then, thankfully this part was done.
How it seemed bigger and more stressful than the actual assignment—that of saving the Uyghurs and Wei—was surreal. Then again, his whole life had taken a turn for the crazy so he shouldn’t be surprised.
The brothers celebrated the success of the show with a level of chatter he wasn’t accustomed to but it served perfectly to distract the others as he snuck back out of the room.
He couldn’t go back out to where they’d performed, but maybe he could sneak around to a back entrance, one the serving staff used, and get a visual from there.
He’d entered a hallway loud with the clatter of dishes and pots and chatter of the voices.
It seemed like he was heading the right direction when a shout quickly muffled had the fine hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.
He took off at a dead run in the direction of the ruckus. It took only seconds for him to reach the scene at which point he stopped dead—indecision freezing him in place.
Wei struggled while held between two men completely clad in black right down to full-coverage face masks. Were they Charley’s men? Were they someone else’s?
He decided he needed to find out.
“Stop!” he yelled as he barreled forward, taking out the guy on the right with a flying kick to the head and the one on the left with a palm to the nose.
As the two stumbled back, he grabbed Wei by the arm and pulled him behind him.
“Are you all right?” Kane realized he’d spoken in English and repeated the question in Mandarin.
Wei confirmed in a shaky voice he was okay.
He looked better than one of the men on the ground who was currently cradling his wrist. He’d landed badly after Kane’s kick. Good chance he’d sprained or broken the wrist in the fall.
“How badly are you hurt?” he asked, feeling guilty.
The downed man answered with a decidedly American, “What the hell?”
Shit. These two were most likely with Charley. Whether that meant they were really on the same side was up for debate since Charley still remained a mystery.
“Sorry. I didn’t know you were Charley’s guys. I still don’t.”
“Look.” The one who wasn’t injured thrust his cell phone at Kane. It displayed Charley’s signature logo.
“Fine. I’m sorry,” Kane apologized.
“Fuck. Sorry isn’t going to fix my wrist.” As he cradled his arm his sleeve rode up, revealing just the bottom of a tattoo on his forearm and letters that spelled Navy.
Kane stifled a groan. He wasn’t a betting man, but if he were, he’d bet these guys had been SEALs, just like him. Based on her logo and the tattoo as evidence, it seemed Charley had a penchant for collecting former team guys.
He was deciding what to do next when the SEAL with the cell phone shouted, “Fuck! He’s getting away.”
Kane spun and saw Wei had taken flight, running as fast as his legs could carry him. Luckily, Kane was younger and in better shape.
In seconds he was upon Wei. Another moment and he had the man unconscious. Both his SEAL and his kung fu training had a version of the technique that used pressure points on the artery to cause unconsciousness without causing harm.
He slowly lowered Wei to the ground, then looped his hands beneath the man’s arms and dragged him into a stairwell and out of the main hallway where they’d been lucky so far no one had happened upon them.
By the time he’d accomplished relocating Wei, the two men were standing beside him.
“Pretty good for a monk,” the one he’d hit in the face said.
“Not a monk,” Kane replied.
“You sure look like a fucking monk,” the second guy, still holding his wrist, commented.
“Looks can be deceiving,” Kane said.
“Now he sounds like a monk too.” The second guy huffed.
Kane let them believe whatever they wanted. He didn’t owe them any explanation but he wanted one from them. At least he’d remembered to grab the cell phone before he’d left the green room. He pulled it out now.
“Mind if I call Charley?”
“If you must,” the first one said.
For the first time to his knowledge Charley didn’t pick up.
Frowning, he said, “Hang on.” Then he dialed Alexis’s number. Again there was no answer. Truly worried, he glanced up. “No one is answering.”
“That sounds like your problem. Now if you don’t mind, we have a package to deliver.” The guy with two good hands moved to grab Wei beneath the arms.
The one with the broken wrist grabbed both of Wei’s legs beneath his good arm. He glanced at Kane and held up his bad hand. “Thanks for this.”
“Wait.” Kane took one step toward them. “You can’t go yet.”
“Go ahead and try to stop us,” the first one dared as they moved toward the exit.
He noticed the bulge of weapons beneath both of their jackets.
Could he take them both on? Maybe it was the high he was still riding from the performance but he thought the answer was yes. Could he do it without one of them getting off a shot and drawing attention to the situation? Probably not.
Feeling completely alone he watched them go with Wei in tow. He didn’t know how they’d gotten in through security but it seemed like they were confident they could get back out. And all he could do was stand there, helpless.
Damn Charley for not answering her phone.
And where the hell was Alexis?
Chapter Eighteen
The knock on her hotel room door had Alexis smiling.
Figuring the performance would be over, she’d just texted Kane. She’d sent him her room number along with a pretty flirty invite for him to come join her here.
She had good reason other than the fact she wanted him there with her and in her bed again. She also wanted a report. She needed to know if he’d observed anything at the banquet.
He hadn’t responded to her text. But judging by the loud hard knock on her door it sounded as if he’d decided to just come over instead.
Perfect. That was fine with her. She liked a man who took action both in the bedroom and out of it.
She and Kane were a perfect match…she just had to get him to see that. The sexy little lace top beneath her suit jacket was one way to convince him.
When they saved Wei and exposed the bad people really behind the reeducation camps, he’d have to see they were better together than apart. Better for the safety of the world at large, and for them personally in their own little worlds.
Fueled with determination and joy, she flung open the door, only to be greeted by two men. They were wearing hotel uniforms but they didn’t look like the hotel employees she’d seen since checking in. They were large. Built like linebackers. And they looked American.
Her sixth sense was screaming at her to run. She realized her mistake immediately and attempted to slam the door closed with both hands.
She was too late. One man extended one beefy hand and held the door wide, foiling her attempt to shut them out as he said to the other, “Grab her.”
The other man did just that. Grabbing her around the neck while covering her mouth with his other hand, he pushed her backward into the room.
They closed and locked the door with them inside with her and her fear doubled. Her heart pounded hard enough to make the lights in the room flash as she fought passing out.
Then she felt the needle prick her neck.
As her racing heart sent the sedative coursing through her bloodstream no amount of effort on her part could fight back the darkness from taking over.
* * *
Her mouth and throat were so dry, her first attempt at swallowing failed.
Her eyelids felt as if they weighed a thousand pounds and were glued to her eyeballs.
Once that inventory of her limited senses was complete the memories began to return—trickling back slowly and then flooding her all at once.
Fear—outright panic—gripped her.
She’d been kidnapped. Taken.
To where? And by whom?
Her heart began to pound, which didn’t help the dull headache or the accompanying nausea.
“Good afternoon, Alexis.”
That voice had her eyes flying open in spite of how shitty she felt and how the bright overhead lights in the room felt like a knife cutting through her brain.
“Charley,” she managed to croak out, hating her voice wasn’t stronger. More assertive.
She wanted this bitch to know that this was not okay.
Alexis swallowed again and hoped for a better result as she said, “If you wanted a meeting, you could have just called.”
The woman smiled but there was an icy chill to it.
Charley looked pretty much as Alexis had expected her to, having had only her voice and her demeanor to go on prior.
She could be cast in any James Bond movie as the villainous femme fatale. The woman that 007 would inevitably sleep with only to have her attempt to kill him immediately afterward.
Tall with almost painfully thin limbs, she was attractive—in a harsh, mean girl kind of way.
Her shoulder-length, devil-red hair suited her. It contrasted perfectly with flawless skin so porcelain pale it had an ethereal quality. As if Charley never left her underground lair so her skin had never been exposed to the harshness of the sun.
The palest of blue eyes focused on Alexis now as Charley said, “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“Yeah. You too. Although I wished it was under better circumstances.” Alexis struggled to sit up on the hard, waiting room style sofa she must have been unceremoniously dumped upon by the goons who’d grabbed her.
“Apologies for the execution. We’re breaking in a new team and they are a bit—enthusiastic.”
“Where’d you get them? Parole board?” She scowled.
Charley’s lips curled into a smile that sent chills down Alexis’s spine. “Let’s not forget your Kane was court martialed himself.”
A pattern was beginning to form so strongly that even Alexis in her still debilitated mental state could see clearly what kind of men Charley and her organization filled their ranks with.
The problem was, where Kane had been falsely accused, she wasn’t sure all of the men Charley hired were equally innocent. Or honorable.
Charley let out a sultry chuckle. “I can see your mind working, Alexis. Don’t strain yourself. If you have a question, just ask.”
Alexis snorted. “Will you answer?”
Charley dipped her head in a slight nod. “Perhaps.”
“All right.” She had so many questions and she was still so woozy, that now she had the all clear she couldn’t come up with a single one.
She needed to think harder. She needed a drink—water, whisky, whatever. She also needed to know what had happened at the event today.
With that thought, her question was clear. “Is Kane all right? And what happened with Wei?”
“Ah, of course. Priorities. Let me assure you Kane is just fine. Although I can’t say the same for one of our men. Your kung fu master boyfriend did some damage to him. According to the other team member, it was quite the show.”
Alexis tried to absorb all the confusing pieces of information Charley so casually tossed out. “Why would Kane hurt your men?”
“Why, indeed?”
She shook her head. She would have to ask him when she saw him.
God, she hoped she saw him again and Charley wasn’t as evil as she potentially could be. What if this organization disposed of loose ends? Was her body going to end up dumped in the sea off the coast? Kane’s too?
What had she gotten involved in?
“Don’t look so nervous, Alexis. You’re not in any trouble. We were all very impressed with your skills. Both on the computer and intuitively. In fact, we’d like to offer you a permanent position.”
“Permanent position?” she repeated, still wrapping her head around the situation.
At least that sounded less like she was destined to be shark bait. But taking a job for the scary woman in front of her didn’t seem much less dangerous.
“Um, can I think about it?”
“Of course.” Charley paused. “No more questions?”
Her brain still spinning, Alexis said, “Who are you? I mean really?”
For the first time Charley’s smile looked genuine. “Good question. I am you, if you accept the job.”
What the hell did that mean?
Chapter Nineteen
Where was she?
Kane paced the small room he’d been assigned and pulled out the cell phone. He reread the text from Alexis. The notifications on the damn cell had been turned off and he didn’t find the text from her until after the encounter with Wei and Charley’s two guys.
