Gina Takes Bangkok (The Femme Vendettas) (22 page)

As if he had a right to be. It always had been him who’d tried to make something more out of their relationship than there actually was. He wanted her, and she didn’t want him. Not as a couple working toward a future together. She’d recoiled from even having sex in his bed. Why had he blurted that out? Oh yes, right, she’d asked, and he’d told her.

He didn’t know what happened to make her run from Bangkok for a decade, for most of her adult life. It couldn’t have been good. She wanted to have sex with him, and sex with her would be hot, would be the hottest he’d ever had or dreamed of having. And that would it be it.

“I hope you’re not forgetting why we’re here,” he said, as a reminder to himself, too.

Although people considered his mirrored sunglasses a trademark of sort, there were several very practical reasons he wore them. One was that the inside of each lens had a corner treated with the same reflective coating as the outside. That allowed Kannon to literally have eyes in the back of his head, and right now his attention wasn’t on the fight, but rather on Ryota, who was standing by the entrance, disguised in the casual clothing of the locals.

Ryota in turn was watching the men taking the tickets, and apparently one of them had just signaled him. He nodded to Kannon, and a moment later, a familiar-looking man came into view: Jarun.

Their ex-prisoner climbed the adjacent aisle and merged down a row to take a seat. Leaning into Gina, Kannon said, “That’s him. Three rows down, closest to the aisle on the other side of the section.”

Gina took stock, her eyes only leaving the ring for a moment. “Okay. Soon as the fight’s over, I’ll get Kittyjack on his tail.”

The fighters, having finished their display, were summoned by the referee to the center of the ring, then he stepped away, allowing the fight to begin.

As brutal as western boxing could be, it was downright gentle compared to the battle that erupted in the ring. Both fighters used every part of their bodies to lash out at one another, punching, kicking and shoving, employing fists, feet, elbows, and knees to hammer each other both above and below the belt. Within a minute blood was flowing, but Kannon’s eyes remained set on his target.

Jarun seemed too still for someone who’d come to the arena for pleasure. And the fact that he’d arrived just before the fight and chosen to sit right by the entrance was suspicious. This was all too easy.

Beside him, Gina cringed as her favorite received a kick to the face, staggering back against the ropes. The referee separated the two fighters only long enough to make sure the man wasn’t going to fall over, then with a wave of his hand, the battle resumed.

“What do you think?” Gina asked him over the din.

“I think our friend might is bait. We stick with the plan and everything should work.”

“I mean about Somrak.” She leaned close, and he could feel the gentle give of her breast against his arm. “You think he’s got a chance after a hit like that?”

Behind his glasses, Kannon rolled his eyes. What a crazy woman. He should go back to smoking, instead of chewing on gum like a school kid. How was it she got him doing things that he wouldn’t do for anyone else, himself included? He couldn’t refuse her a thing. He was like the boxers in the ring. Except instead of his body, his ego and emotions were taking a bruising.

He turned his attention to the combatants. “He seems okay to me. It was a little tap to the head.” As if to confirm his words, Gina’s fighter brought up his knee, connecting with his opponent’s stomach in a gut-wrenching strike.

“Ouch!” Gina said cheerfully, as her man pressed his advantage, delivering a volley of ferocious punches, the crocodiles on his arms blurring with the speed of his attack. “You think you could take on a guy like that?”

“He wouldn’t be a pushover, but yes.”

“You sound confident.” She nudged his shoulder.

Kannon shrugged. “He’s used to fighting for money. I’m used to fighting for my life. Besides, I’ve got moves that aren’t legal in any ring—not even one as serious as this.”

The battle in the ring raged on, both fighters hammering away at one another for all they were worth. Unlike western boxing, the match lasted a maximum of five rounds of three minutes each, so there was no holding back. By the third round, the boxer in red fell to his knees, and with him too battered and bloodied to rise again, the referee called the fight.

The crowd rose to their feet in thunderous applause and jeers, Gina hopping up and down as she joined the roar. Only two people weren’t clapping and hollering: Kannon and Jarun. Something was definitely up.

“I’m going to step outside and wait for him,” he told Gina as soon as the noise had died down.

Gina nodded. “Okey-dokey. As soon as he leaves I’ll make the call to Kittyjack.”

He rose out of his seat and then sat back down. “You will keep an eye open. I don’t want things to screw up because you’re sidetracked with your betting.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t try to do anything yourself. Ryota will be watching, and can take over.”

“Okay.”

“If, for whatever reason, you can’t get—”

Gina flipped up his glasses and leaned in. “Kannon. Okay.” She set the glasses back down and poked a finger into his stitched temple. She wasn’t gentle about it, either. It actually twinged. “You know, you get all super-protective with me when it’s you that’s walking straight into trouble. You ever think about that?”

She cared about him. She cared but didn’t want to sleep with him in his bed, in his home. She was fighting what was happening between them, while he’d already given in. Part of him hoped she’d win. There was another part, a bigger part, of him that wanted her as weak as he was.

“I’ll be okay,” he told her.

“You better be,” she warned. “I got a lot riding on that.”

Kittyjack stared at the monitor intently, her finger poised over her mouse. She readied herself, her overclocked mind counting down fractions of seconds, gauging the perfect moment to strike. With the reaction time of a praying mantis, she tapped the button at precisely the right instant.

You won this auction. Congratulations, it’s all yours!

“Too slow for the master,” she said in a singsong voice, doing a little victory dance in her chair as she clicked the Pay Now button on eBay.

Dr. Chaiboonma looked over her shoulder as she fired in her credit card information. “And why exactly are you buying a vibrating rubber duck?”

“I’mnot,” she answered in her rapid-fire voice. “Mystepfatheris. It’shiscreditcardinfo.”

“I’ll rephrase the question then. Why would you want a vibrating rubber duck?”

Over her shoulder, the hacker flashed him a sly, meaningful smile.

Dr. Chaiboonma paused, blew out his breath, then walked away.

The smartphone on her desk buzzed, and Kittyjack activated her earpiece. “Speak.”

“Kitty, this is Gina. We were right about it being Jarun. He’s leaving the arena now.”

Kittyjack finished her transaction in a blur of fingers, then closing her web browser, brought up another screen. “Gotourtoyready?”

“We followed the instruction manual. It’s assembled and ready to go on the roof of the building next door. Kannon’s outside, waiting for our man.”

Kittyjack sent out the signal to activate the machines, and a few seconds later a map popped up on her screen, identifying their location and confirming that they were powering up. Another click and she could see the arena on her screen, the crowd pouring out of it now that the fights were concluded.

“Lookslikewe’regoodtogo. Bye.”

Kittyjack disconnected the line and speed-dialed Kannon.

“This is Kittyjack,” she said, making a point of slowing her voice. “Where are you?”

“Outside the doors, by the billboard.”

Her fingers caressed her mouse, the image on her screen elevating and magnifying its perspective till she could make him out. “I see you.”

“He’s coming out now,” Kannon relayed. “I’ll get directly behind him so you can pick him out.”

Kittyjack leaned in closer, her cat eyes following Kannon as he joined the crowd then positioned himself behind a man. “I got him. You break away. I’ll follow.”

Kannon hung back, allowing the target to slip away from him. “Don’t lose him. We’re not going to get another chance at this.”

“What’s your IQ, Kannon?” she asked, adjusting the position of her mouse as she worked to keep the man in the center of her screen.

“Never had it tested.”

“Mine’s one-seventy-nine,” she replied. “You know what genius level is?”

“I bet I’m about to learn that.”

“One-forty. Shut up and let me work.”

Kannon frowned down at his phone, then up at the sky. High above, he could make out the dot that was the military reconnaissance drone, any noise its whisper-quiet rotors were making lost amidst the ambient noise of Bangkok. With eyes in the sky, he could trail his quarry from blocks away, the position of the drone flashing on his phone.

At a casual pace he made his way after the signal as Ryota jogged up to him.

“She got him?”

“Yes,” Kannon replied, “because she’s the smartest person in Bangkok.”

“Fourteen million people in this city,” came the hacker’s voice from the speaker phone. “Odds are there’s at least three people smarter than me.”

Ryota shrugged. “And what’s her emotional intelligence?”

Kannon stared at his junior. “Emotional intelligence. What’s that?”

Kittyjack snorted. “What people trying to compensate came up with. You might like to know our friend’s headed for one of the canals. I’m guessing he’s getting on a water taxi.”

“Catch up with him if you can,” Kannon instructed Ryota. “I’ll follow. We’ll take turns tailing him to make it look to Jarun that we don’t know he’s already on to us.”

Ryota hurried off. Kannon headed down the street parallel to the canal, weaving through the throngs of pedestrians as he followed Kittyjack’s drones.

“Jarun’s just gotten off the boat. Where are you, Kannon?”

“About three blocks behind.”

“Pick up the pace. He’s heading into some built-up areas and I can’t get a clear view from the air.”

Kannon broke into a sprint down the narrow streets. Two minutes later, and he was directly under the drone, and a scan of the road pinpointed both Ryota and the man they were following.

Master and apprentice traded places, Ryota now hanging back as Kannon took over the tail, the drone above them circling silently. Jarun turned down an unlit alley, and Kannon paused at the corner. “What do you see, Kittyjack?”

“There’s a door at the very end...and he’s gone inside. We have his destination.”

“A map of the area would be useful,” Kannon said. “And so would any floor plans you could get of the place.”

“What part of one-seventy-nine don’t you understand?” He could hear the click of keys. “Already way ahead of you. Should have some specs in ten minutes, tops.”

Ek scowled as Jarun closed the door to the darkened warehouse. “Kannon follow you?”

“I’m pretty sure I spotted him and his partner at the arena.”

“You better not have made yourself too hard to follow.”