[Thomas Caine #1] Tokyo Black (30 page)

“Holy shit! This fucker’s awake!” a voice shouted from the front seat.

The man to his right grunted, then the jingle of the rifle strap rang out. Caine knew it was only a matter of time before the man clubbed him again or took a shot. Caine honed in on the metallic sound and kicked until he made contact with the rigid firearm. He drove it backwards and heard the man grunt again as the rifle smashed into his face.

How do you like it, asshole?
Caine thought.

He rolled forward as the vehicle swerved back and forth. The driver reached back and struck him with a security baton. The coiled steel snapped across his back. A burning pain eclipsed all other sensations. The baton had struck his spine, square between the shoulder blades.

Caine collapsed to the floor of the vehicle. He twisted his body forward, shielding his vitals. The man to his right began stamping down on his back.

“You son of a bitch!” he roared, as his heavy combat boots battered Caine’s flesh.

As the rain of kicks and blows continued, Caine’s vision begin to blur. An arm wrapped around his neck and dragged his head up in a chokehold. A harsh whisper breathed in his ear.

“You know,” the voice hissed, “we’re supposed to get you out of the country before we do you. But hey, sometimes accidents happen.”

Caine coughed as the man’s forearm dug into his windpipe. His attacker’s other arm pressed down on the back of his head, driving his neck forward. Caine became lightheaded as the hold reduced the blood flow to his brain.

He tried to pummel the man with his bound hands, swinging them up and over his shoulder. But his awkward position beneath the seat made it impossible to land a hit. With each passing second, his strength ebbed away as his brain began to suffocate.

The naked choke, a variation on a jiu-jitsu maneuver, was a dangerous hold. If applied past the point of unconsciousness, it could easily cause brain damage or even death. And Caine had the distinct feeling his assailant had no intention of letting him go.

Caine forced his weakened legs to lift his body up, sliding his head up his attacker’s chest. When he felt the man’s breath on his neck, he tipped his head forward. A split-second later, he slammed it backwards. The back of his skull crushed into the man’s face.

The mercenary howled in pain and loosened his grip. Caine let his body go limp. He dropped like a stone, slipping out of the stranglehold.

As he fell back to the floor, the edge of the hood caught on the man’s forearm and pulled halfway up. A burst of daylight flashed into Caine’s face. He squinted, struggling to focus on his surroundings. The blood rushed back to his head, and he felt even dizzier than he had when suffocating.

The vehicle continued swerving left and right. The driver swung his baton again, just missing Caine’s face. The blow struck his shoulder with a loud crack. Caine winced, and it took all his willpower not to vomit on the floor. The pain, dizziness, and careening vehicle all conspired against his diminished senses.

He shook his head, and his vision began to clear. He caught a glimpse of the man next to him, hands covering his face as blood gushed from a broken nose. Then the front passenger twisted around and pointed a pistol at him.

He heard the click of the hammer and found himself staring down the barrel of Colt .45. He closed his eyes. Once the man fired, he wouldn’t have even a second to feel the pain before his head exploded into a bloody pulp.

The explosion was deafening as the gun fired.

Mariko stepped on the gas and the grey sedan leapt forward. She wove in and out of the stop-and-go traffic, ignoring the angry beeps and shaking fists as she disrupted Tokyo’s morning commute.

Up ahead, she saw the twin black SUVs. They were stopped in a line of cars waiting to turn onto the Shuto Expressway. Based on their route, she guessed they were traveling to Haneda airport. A private aircraft would no doubt be waiting there, ready to whisk them out of the country.

She jogged her steering wheel left. The sedan’s underbody screeched as it jumped the curb. She flew past the stopped cars, made it through the light, and darted into traffic just behind the rear SUV.

She knew the move would draw their attention, but she no longer cared. She had to stop them before they made it to the airport. The longer they spent on the expressway, the more dangerous the chase would get.

The SUVs sped up once they reached the clearer lanes of the expressway. Then the rear vehicle begin to swerve back and forth. The swaying vehicle clipped the rear end of a delivery van as it chugged past them.

The SUV’s rear windows were tinted dark black, and Mariko could not see inside. But she knew what had to be causing the erratic motion: Caine was fighting to escape.

Her sedan surged forward and pulled up to the passenger side of the rear SUV. She saw the front passenger pointing a gun towards the rear seat. She could not see Caine in the back, but another passenger was struggling. She saw his back pressed against the rear side window.

Mariko slammed her car into the side of the SUV. Metal screeched against metal at seventy miles per hour. The larger vehicle drifted to the left.

She could hear the crack of a gunshot over the deafening collision. She hoped the impact of her ram had thrown off the gunman’s aim.

The front passenger leaned out his window and took aim at Mariko. She jerked her wheel to the left again. He had time to squeeze off only two shots before the cars collided.

Mariko kept up the pressure, pushing against the SUV. The screeching metal of the locked vehicles sounded like the frenzied shriek of a rabid animal. She knew that, as soon as she let up, the man with the pistol would be gunning for her again.

Up ahead, the lead SUV slid out of position and moved in front of her. Men with automatic rifles leaned out the rear windows. The explosive blast of automatic weapon fire filled the air.

She ducked as the windshield exploded. Tiny fragments of safety glass caught in her hair. Bullets whined and screeched as they tore into the metal frame of the car.

She slammed on the brakes and dropped back behind the rear SUV. The big black vehicle was still weaving across the road, but at least it provided some cover from the riflemen. Then, a few second later, the vehicle straightened out and stopped swerving. It fell back in line with the lead SUV.

Now what?
she thought. She knew she had to keep them off balance, keep them reacting. Otherwise, it was only a matter of time before they killed both her and Caine.

She stepped on the accelerator and braced herself. Her sedan slammed into the vehicle’s rear bumper. The SUV lurched forward and struck the vehicle in front.

The impact threw the riflemen off balance. The armed men were unable to recover as the vehicle exploded forward.

“
Yatta
!” she exclaimed. She had made an opening.

She charged forward past the rear SUV. As the forward vehicle straightened out, the gunman on her side raised his rifle. But before he could fire, her rear windshield collapsed into a sparking curtain of broken glass. The driver of the SUV behind her was shooting at her as well!

She ducked just as the lead gunman opened fire. More bullets tore through the car. It was only a matter of time before one of them found its target. Keeping her head low, she spun the steering wheel and hit the gas.

The front corner of her sedan slammed into the rear wheel of the SUV. The driver slammed on the brakes, but she forced her foot down even harder on the shaking accelerator pedal. The gunfire stopped, and she popped back up in her seat.

The SUV fishtailed in front of her and skidded sideways. The driver was frantically spinning the wheel, trying to regain control. But the corner of her sedan was still pushing the rear of the SUV forward, forcing it into the skid.

 To her left, Mariko saw they were entering a cloverleaf exchange, a wide, sloping traffic circle that would carry them up and over the lower expressway. She pulled her pistol from her leather jacket and took aim at the driver’s front wheel.

She fired. The tire exploded in a cloud of smoke and shredded rubber.

The SUV continued to skid straight forward, moving against the curve of the road. Mariko revved the accelerator again, pushing the vehicle forward even faster. Then she jerked the wheel to her right and darted away.

There was a split-second of silence as the lead SUV tipped and flew into the air. Then gravity took over, and the huge metal body crashed back down onto the pavement. The frame twisted into a lump of crumpled metal as it tumbled over and over, rolling towards the edge of the overpass.

With a screeching roar, the SUV slammed up against the metal guardrail. The thin rail snapped under the weight of the heavy vehicle. It crashed through and teetered over the overpass.

As it fell down to the expressway below, the twisted metal ribbons of the severed rail caught in the rear axle. The vehicle lurched to a stop. It swung back and forth, hanging over the road below like a grisly pendulum of twisted metal.

Mariko’s relief was short-lived. A quick glance in her mirror showed the rear SUV gaining on her. The front passenger was leaning out his window. He was now armed with an automatic rifle.

She screamed as a hail of bullets slammed into the rear of her car.

Back in the SUV, Caine had managed to pull himself onto the rear seat and pin the mercenary against the window. He had felt the impact as Mariko rammed the vehicle over and over. Her sudden attack had allowed him to use the other men’s distraction to his benefit.

He twisted his head and saw the front passenger fire his assault rifle at Mariko’s grey sedan. Caine grit his teeth and threw himself back to the floor of the vehicle. He tensed his body as the merc in the backseat recovered and began kicking at his bruised shins.

Ignoring the pain, Caine reached forward between the seat and door frame. His fingers wrapped around the seat release lever. He yanked it backwards.

The front passenger seat tilted back, driving the gunman’s aim up and away from Mariko. The headrest slammed into the face of the merc in the rear seat, and Caine grinned with satisfaction as the man cried out in pain.

He swung his legs up and struck the jaw of the man in the front seat, knocking his head against the door frame. As he lifted himself to a sitting position, Caine saw Mariko’s vehicle.

The sedan was riddled with bullet holes. He could see Mariko inside, as she drifted left and accelerated. She was trying to get out of the line of fire.

Caine paused for a split-second. The man next to him lifted his battered face from the headrest and aimed his weapon at Caine’s head. The front passenger recovered and begin to raise his rifle out the window. The driver turned the wheel, bringing the vehicle behind Mariko. He was lining up the perfect shot.

In that split-second, Caine noticed one thing.

None of them were wearing seatbelts.

Without hesitation, Caine grabbed the belt over his left shoulder. Looping it over his arms and chest, he threw his body forward. His fingers curled around the vehicle’s emergency brake. He yanked it upwards with every ounce of strength he had left.

The rear wheels locked. The tires shuddered and screamed as they bounced across the pavement. Everyone in the car, Caine included, was thrown forward. A white hot dagger of pain lanced through his battered body, as the seatbelt jerked him backwards.

The driver’s face smashed into the windshield. He fell back in a daze, his hands slumping off the wheel. The passenger dropped his rifle and reached over to grab it, but he was too late. They were traveling too fast. The wheel spun in his hands, and the entire vehicle lurched sideways.

Caine let his body swing from the seatbelt. He kicked the rear mercenary in the head again. The man smashed into the side of the car. He reached out for Caine, but he was fighting against gravity. The entire vehicle was tipping over in his direction.

Caine wrenched himself onto the seat and clicked the shoulder belt across his body. The pavement rushed up to meet them. The side windows exploded inwards, as the vehicle flipped and rolled.

Warm blood dripped down Caine’s face. He wasn’t sure if it was his.

The percussive beat of rain echoed through the cabin. Water droplets spattered off the shattered windows and mangled metal body of the SUV.

He was laying on his side. He struggled to sit up, and found himself staring sideways out the shattered front windshield.

The rear mercenary was suspended in the air, pinned in place by the front passenger seat. His lifeless face was a collage of gashes and wounds. Droplets of warm blood dripped sideways from a cut in his forehead, and struck Caine just below his eye.

No
, Caine thought,
I’m disoriented
. The blood wasn’t dripping sideways. The entire vehicle was sideways. It had stopped rolling and come to a rest on the pavement with the driver’s side facing down.

He patted down his body. Waves of pain shot through his limbs as he applied pressure to several bruises and small gashes, but nothing appeared broken.

With a grunt, he unlatched the seatbelt. The aches and pains intensified as he moved, but he ignored them and began patting down the contractor next to him. He removed the man’s pistol, an American made Kimber 1911, chambered in 45 ACP.

Using the butt of the pistol, he smashed through the spider web of cracked glass in the passenger side window. He held his head up, allowing the cool rain to soothe his battered face and wash away some of the blood. Then, bracing himself for another wave of searing pain, he crawled up and out the shattered window.

He dropped to the pavement and surveyed the wreckage. The SUV had flipped into the path of traffic, and a small pileup of cars surrounded him. Luckily, no one else seemed hurt.

Footsteps approached across the wet pavement. He spun around, raising the pistol in his still bound hands, but it was only Mariko. She jogged through the rain towards him, wet wisps of dark hair plastered to her face.

“
Daijobo desu ka?
Are you okay?”