Part 16 (1/2)

s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+ chuckled. ”I'd expect so, sir.”

He frowned at s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+ and the latter's grin vanished. ”Go and find them. If they're out there, they're most likely hiding. And possibly scared. Try to imagine how you'd feel if you had a bunch of giggling wh.o.r.es trying to kill you.”

”Yes, sir.”

He stood up and walked around the ward. Five of the schoolgirls were conscious and resting comfortably. Six were still unconscious.

One was missing.

He turned to s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+. ”Where is the twelfth girl?”

”Sir?”

He waved the report in s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+'s face. ”Twelve girls. There are eleven here right now. That means one is missing unless I somehow managed to graduate without knowing basic math skills.”

”Yes, sir. One is gone, sir.”

”Where is she, s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+?”

”Radiology, sir. They wanted to take an X-ray of her skull. To make sure she didn't have any lasting damage.”

Lasting damage indeed. He turned and strode from the emergency department.

If he was in their position, it's exactly how he would have chosen to do it. Isolate and extract the information.

It was risky, of course. But then again, these people didn't strike him as being scared of such risks. They would no doubt understand that the risk would outweigh the benefit to getting timely and accurate intelligence.

Now the job was getting really complicated.

He needed to make sure the girl didn't talk.

He knew that soon enough, the other girls would silently make their way out of the hospital and dissolve back into their regular boring teen lives. It was why he had recruited them in the first place. It always amazed him exactly what he could purchase if the money was right.

Even j.a.pan, with its supposedly rigid moral values and strict code of ethics, wasn't impervious to the whims of greed and l.u.s.t. Offer enough money and codes, morals, and ethics went right out of the window, never to be seen again.

Or at least long enough to make sure the check cleared.

But this twelfth girl concerned him. Alone and isolated from the rest of her friends, she would no doubt crack under whatever strain they intended to put her under. She would tell them what little she knew. And while he'd been as careful as he normally was, there were a few choice tidbits she might know that could put them on the right track.

And the right track would mean he would be identified as having his hand in something he most definitely didn't want people knowing he was involved with.

He banked left at the elevators and kept striding down the hall. The look on his face must have convinced everyone he pa.s.sed that talking to him simply wasn't a good idea.

He didn't care about being remembered. The latex makeup on his face would come off easily enough with hot water and soap. He could vanish within seconds, just by using the restroom.

But the girl knew his true ident.i.ty.

And that was dangerous.

Maybe he'd gone too far in recruiting twelve of them. But he didn't want to underestimate Ogawa and Annja Creed. With Ogawa's deadly skills as a ninja and Creed's skills as a resourceful and wily warrior, using less than a dozen could have been disastrous.

He grinned.

Not as if this had been a great day out by any means.

He saw the radiology department doors ahead. He frowned. Automatic. That meant a motion sensor nearby, which would trigger the doors and cause noise. Noise that would alert them to the presence of someone outside.

He shook his head.

He backtracked until he found a side door. It was locked but he removed an electric pick from his pocket and slid it into the lock. He pressed the trigger and listened as the rake caught the tumblers and then he twisted.

The door opened.

He knew how hospitals were laid out. And he knew they always had multiple entrances and exits to every department. It simply didn't make sense to build a hospital and not have other ways out in case of an emergency.

He hoped they hadn't taken notice of other doors leading into their area.

It was the only chance he had to catch them off guard.

The corridor ran fifty feet and then at the end he saw a small unmarked door. Looking up at the ceiling, he guessed that this had to be the back door. He tried the door and found it locked so he used the electric pick again.

This time, he gently pulled the door back, praying that the hinges wouldn't squeak and alert his prey inside.

The door opened without a sound.

He glanced around one final time, but found the area deserted. Smiling, he withdrew his pistol and from his left pocket, he produced a suppressor, which he screwed on to the threaded barrel.

He entered the radiology department.

Hushed voices reached his ears. He paused, trying to distill the nature of the room's set up. He expected to hear the girl's voice and he did. And the harsh whisper belonged to a man.

Interesting.

He nosed around the corner and took a quick glimpse.

The schoolgirl faced him in a chair. Her eyes were closed and she was bound hand and foot to the chair. Tears streamed down her face. He could see the fear and shock and despair in her features.

The man crouched close by, whispering in her ear. His back was to the back door, as was the lithe form of the woman standing nearby. Both of them were dressed in hospital staff clothes.

He was glad he'd opted for the police uniform.