Gina Takes Bangkok (The Femme Vendettas) (23 page)

“I did exactly as Mr. Wakai instructed,” Jarun replied evenly. “If Kannon’s half the man-hunter he’s said to be, he should be here any minute.”

And then there’d be payback for his arm, Ek swore. He turned to the dozen-odd rakshasas he’d brought with him. “Front door’s the only way in here,” he said, pulling a powerful handgun from his belt. “Let him get a good way inside before you start shooting. I don’t want him escaping again.”

Jarun stepped up. “What about me?”

“Shut your mouth and stay out of the way,” snarled Ek.

Falling back to the surrounding piles of crates and boxes, Ek and his people positioned themselves in a wide semi-circle, readying their ambush. Now all he had to do was wait.

And wait.

Twenty minutes later, everything was still silent as the dead.

“Where the hell is he?” Ek cursed under his breath, fingering the trigger of his gun, his eagerness for revenge melting into dark frustration.

“Maybe seeing if there’s another way in?” a rakshasa offered up. “If he thinks Montri’s here, he might be looking for another way in.”

“You’re sure all the other doors are blocked?”

His servant nodded. “Either barricaded with heavy crates or have their bolts welded shut. All the windows are high above the ground. Sooner or later, he’s going to have to come through this way.”

“It may be later than sooner,” Jarun said. “If Kannon suspects his boss is in here, he won’t make a move until he’s ready. He might even call in back-up.”

Minutes stretched into hours, the hours into a whole night, and as the first rays of dawn penetrated the warehouse’s high windows, Ek let out an angry curse. Turning on Jarun, he ground his sharpened teeth. “How long does it take this fucker?”

“This is the sixth time, you’ve asked me that. My answer’s the same. I don’t know. I did as I was told. If you’re unhappy, talk to Wakai.”

Ek strode over and glared down at Jarun. “You and Wakai snuck Montri away. And now you fail to lead Kannon here. I should be cutting your heart out right now.”

Wakai’s little buddy looked up at him, craning his neck back to do so, but his expression remained passive.

“Well?” Ek demanded, the man’s silence only enraging him more.

“The Buddha says the ignorant man is like an ox. He grows in size but not in wisdom.”

The fucker was insulting him. “And what will your Buddha say when I peel the face off your skull and show it to you?”

Jarun’s eye twitched, though Ek couldn’t tell if it was from anger or fear. “The message doesn’t change no matter how much you whip the messenger.”

Ek’s phone went off. Wakai. “We’ve been here all night and nothing. He didn’t show. Your trap failed!”

“Did it?” came the reply. “Or is he waiting for you to come out? Why don’t you send one of your inbred followers to look around?”

“I’ve got a better idea.” Ek pointed at the door. “Jarun, go outside and have a smoke. Let’s see if our friend’s been waiting as long as we have.”

Ek heard Wakai’s hiss of protest and smiled, and the smile broadened at Jarun’s sudden unhappy expression. There, that fixed him. Ek and his men watched Jarun head for the door. There was a burst of sunlight as he stepped outside, then the door swung shut and all was quiet.

“Hide again,” Ek ordered. “Let’s see what fish our bait brings us.”

The sunlight was blinding, so the second Jarun emerged, Kannon knew he had the edge. Pressed to the wall beside the entrance, he waited for the door to close of its own accord, then stepped forward and snapped the fighter into a vicious chokehold. Pressing his windpipe and jugular, he stifled the voice, and in a matter of seconds had his victim unconscious.

Hauling the limp man over his shoulder, he hustled down the alley to where Gina was waiting with the van, engine running. She opened the back doors, and as soon as Jarun was safely tied and gagged, he pulled out his cell and dialed Ryota.

“Everything ready?”

“Yes.”

“Then, let’s give our friends some excitement.”

Once he was off the phone, Gina asked, “You sure you don’t want me to wait?”

“No. Meet us back at the Golden Geisha,” he answered, swinging out a large jerry can of gasoline. “We’ll be right behind.” He slammed shut the back doors.

Gina didn’t move, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. He did not need this.

“Go!”

She jerked, and did what she was told. First time for everything.

As she pulled away, Kannon carried the container to the front door of the warehouse. Thanks to Kittyjack’s drone they’d been able to determine exactly who and what was inside it, the machine being able to peer through the windows with its lowlight cameras. They’d had all night to prepare, and now the rakshasas were going to learn just how good a trap their warehouse really was.

Emptying the fuel around the entrance, he set the liquid ablaze. The front of the building was suddenly set upon by a sheet of flame, and Kannon backed away, drawing his gun. Ryota had simultaneously torched the other exits, and within minutes, the old timber warehouse would be an inferno.

Kannon allowed himself a small grim smile. “Let’s see you get yourself out of this one, Ek.”

THROUGH HIS LIVING room window, Wakai observed a plume of black smoke rise from a distant neighborhood, his fingers drumming on the arm of his wheelchair. “Guess Kannon’s smarter than I thought.”

Behind him, Victoria was pacing back and forth. “I don’t see how you can be so calm about this. Ek could be hurt. Even dead!”

And wouldn’t that be a shame, though he knew better than to say so to his distraught sister. Truth be told, it was worrying. Surely the clues he’d planted in the video of Montri had been subtle enough. And a hunter like Kannon wouldn’t have too much trouble tracking Jarun across the city. So what had gone wrong?

And where was Jarun?

Most likely it was some slip-up on the part of Ek, which is exactly why he’d advised the behemoth not to go. There was no point dwelling on that now. Without him, what would the other rakshasas in the city do? Go home? Follow Victoria? Appoint some new psychopath as their chief?

A metallic tone chimed from the tablet on his knee, and an image from the elevator camera appeared. “You can stop your pacing. The wizard has returned.”

The elevator disgorged Ek, his hair and eyebrows almost singed away, his clothing scorched and reeking of smoke. None of that seemed to matter to Victoria. She hugged Ek, smiling up at him in relief. “Oh, I’m so happy you’re all right.”

Ek set her aside, and shot a murderous look at Wakai. “My men aren’t.”

“How many did you lose?” asked Wakai hopefully.

“All but one,” he spat. “The warehouse was full of smoke in minutes. We had to run through the fire to get away.”

Wakai raised his eyebrows. “Lucky Kannon wasn’t waiting for you.”

“He was!” Ek exploded. “Shot the first man out the door between the eyes. Kept us pinned inside till the firefighters arrived.”

Wakai carefully released his breath. “What happened to Jarun?”

“I sent him out to find Kannon. He didn’t come back. What do you think happened to him?” Wakai fought for calmness. “Guess we both underestimated him.”

He was yanked clear out of his chair, dangling in the air from Ek’s one good hand. “You set us up!”

“Ek, no!” cried Victoria, pulling at his arm. “John would never do that!”

“And I can prove it,” Wakai managed to choke out, the collar of his shirt tight as a noose.

Ek’s grip tightened even more. “How?”

“Because I need you to get Tasanee for me. I know who has her.”

Even though Ek clearly wanted nothing more than to smash Wakai like an insect, the news gave him pause.

“You’ve got a lot to pay Kannon back for,” Wakai gasped, taking Ek’s wrist in a bid to keep from being strangled. “With Tasanee in our hands, he’s done.”

Ek let go, and Wakai dropped into his chair with a bone-shuddering thud. Leaning over, the rakshasa pointed an ash-darkened finger straight at his face. “You had better be right. Because this is your very last chance.”

Hate for Ek surged through Wakai for his callous treatment of Jarun—and himself. “And you’d better not fuck this up. Because this is your last chance, too.”

Gina was looking out the window of the Golden Geisha when Kannon arrived in a three-wheeled tuk-tuk. He paid the taxi driver, who looked pointedly at the sign and Gina, and gave him a thumbs-up. What? Was that a general sign of approval between two men or did he know Gina?

He never learned Thai formally because he planned to leave as soon as he could. Ever since teaming up with Gina, he’d changed his mind. He’d changed his mind on a lot of things.

He stepped inside. “Ryota here?”

“Got here about ten minutes ago and dragged Jarun upstairs.” Gina moved from the window to him. “This evening’s appointments have been shifted to the Magic Mango, so all the girls have cleared out. The place is all ours.”

“Jarun wake up?”

She nodded. “Just after I arrived here. Question is, what are we going to do with him?”

He flexed his hands and made for the stairs. “I have a pretty good idea.”

“Kannon, I….”

His foot rested on the bottom step. He knew what was coming. “Yes, boss?”

She set her hands on her hips. “That’s uncalled for, Kannon. I’ve never lorded over you, and you know that. I—let’s not turn this into another bloodbath, okay?”

“How rough I get is up to Jarun. I’m not a psycho, Gina. I hurt people because it’s my job. Back there at 70 Rai was personal, and you backed me up on that, so as far as I’m concerned, it’s done and gone. Now, if you want to take a stab at Jarun, be my guest, except that didn’t turn out so well last time.”

“I did fine! It was that berserker who messed things up.”

“Well, then,” Kannon said, sweeping his hand up the stairs, “be my guest.”

She stalked past him. “Thank you, don’t mind if I do.”

She was halfway up the stairs when she stopped and turned. “Well, come on then.”

He didn’t like this. He didn’t like being at her beck-and-call and then her daring to tell him that wasn’t the way it was between them. He didn’t like her ass swing up and away from him, while he had to, once again, trudge behind. “Why do I have to be there? Ryota can back you up.”

That made her blink, which was good, because he was feeling a bit testy right now. She retraced her steps down until they were eye to eye. She straightened his tie. “You’ve pulled an all-nighter, haven’t you? And you’ve had to deal with a gang of baddies and after all that, you get grief from me. It’s not fair.”

What was the little chit up to now?

“You’re right. How about you wait here? Have a snooze, while Ryota and I deal with Jarun.” As she turned away, he caught her arm.

“I get you, Gina. You know that I’d not let you in there without me, no matter how good Ryota is. But that wasn’t my question, and you know it.”

“What was it, then?”

“The question is: why do you want me with you when you don’t need me?”

Her teeth set to gnawing her lips and the inside of her cheek. Good. She could chew herself up as bad as he was getting chewed up inside, too. “I guess I was confused,” she finally said.