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Saito finished bandaging the wound on Nakamura's chest where Anna's bullet had hit him. The .40 caliber hollow point had made a real mess. Nakamura was unconscious. He'd lost a lot of blood.
The twins were screaming. Saito was tempted to shoot them to stop the noise. Anna lay crumpled in a heap on the floor. Ito had charged past as Anna shot Nakamura and punched her as hard as he could. She'd gone down and hadn't moved since.
"Ito. Wake the woman. Get her to shut up these damn kids."
"Yes, boss."
He went over to where Anna lay and knelt down beside her. He reached out and pinched her cheek, then slapped her. She groaned.
"Wake up, bitch. Come on, wake up. If you don't, you'll wish you were dead."
Anna opened her eyes. Her head hurt. She looked into Ito's eyes. She'd never seen eyes like that. There didn't seem to be anything behind them, no life. They were like empty black spots in his head.
He slapped her again.
"Get up."
She struggled to her knees, then leaned against the wall, dizzy. She heard the twins howling.
Ito prodded her with his gun.
"Make them shut up, or I'll do it for you. You understand? Make them quiet, or else."
"All right," Anna said. "Don't hurt them."
Ito slapped her.
"You don't talk except to get them to shut up. Understand?"
Anna wanted to kick him in the balls, but she knew she'd never get away with it. The other one, the one she hadn't shot, was watching her. She nodded.
Ito shoved her toward the playpen.
"Get going."
She knelt down and began comforting the children. In a few moments their cries had turned to whimpers and occasional sobs. She heard the men talking in Japanese.
Saito looked at his watch.
"Another half hour. Then we kill one of the children. Or maybe the nanny."
"What are you going to do when the man shows up, boss?"
"I'm going to have him show me the sword. Then I'm going to kill him."
"What about the others?"
"Once we have the sword, we kill them too."
"Can I take the woman, first?"
"Idiot. There's no time for that."
Ito suddenly looked toward the back of the loft.
"I thought I heard something."
"There's no one else here."
"No, boss, I heard something."
"All right. Go check it out."
Ito moved toward the back, silent as a cat, moving along on the balls of his feet. His pistol was ready in his hand. Saito went into the room where Anna was sitting in the playpen with the children. Jason looked up at Saito and began to cry.
"Keep them quiet."
"You scare them. I can't help that," Anna said.
"They should be scared. If you..."
Whatever Saito was going to say was cut short by gunshots and a scream. He couldn't be sure, but he thought it was Ito that had cried out. He reached down and grabbed Katrina and held her against his chest. She began kicking and screaming and waving tiny fists in the air.
Saito waited, his pistol aimed at the door. A man's voice called out.
"You in the room. Come out, with your hands up."
"I have your child, American. I will kill it. Throw your gun where I can see it."
"You hurt my kid, you're a dead man."
"Very brave, when my gun is at your child's head. What will you do when I pull the trigger? Shoot me? I'm already dead. Throw your gun down or I kill it now."
"All right. I'll throw the gun. I have the sword. That's what you want, isn't it? Let me see that my kids are all right and I'll give it to you."
"First, the gun," Saito said.
A black automatic clattered on the wood floor in front of the room.
"Get up," Saito said to Anna. He backed away from the playpen. "Take the other child and get in front of me. Try something, I'll kill you both."
Anna picked up Jason and got out of the playpen.
"Move." Saito gestured with the gun. "Tell him you're coming out. Tell him you're both dead if he tries anything."
"Nick," Anna called. "I'm coming out with Jason. He says he'll kill us if you do anything."
"He can see my gun. I'm unarmed," Nick said.
I hope he's lying.
"Let me see you, American. Hands in the air, where I can see them."
"All right. I'm coming. My hands are in the air."
Nick came into view in the doorway. His hands were in the air.
"Where is the sword?" Saito asked.
"I set it down. You said hands in the air."
"Go," Saito said to Anna.
She came out of the room, holding Jason, and moved over next to Nick. Down the hall, Selena waited with her gun held in front of her in both hands. The red eye of a laser shone under the barrel
"You all right, Anna?" Nick said.
"I'm fine. One of them is wounded. In there."
Saito started out of the room, holding Katrina high against his chest. Selena shot him through the neck. The bullet cut through his brainstem, severing the signals from his brain, preventing him from pulling the trigger. Nick snatched Katrina away as Saito fell to the floor.
He held his daughter close and rocked her.
"Okay, sweetie, it's okay. I've got you now."
Katrina lifted a tear stained face to Nick and reached up to touch him.
"Dada."
Selena came up to where Saito way dead on the floor, still holding her pistol in both hands. She looked down at him and nudged him with her foot.
"Bastard."
"I'm going back into the kitchen," Nick said. "The other one might still be alive."