Read Online Temple of Fear by Nick Carter - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Nick Carter
Tags: det_espionage
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Buddha. His name was Sadanaga. He was Eta,
Burakumin.
Like myself — and my father. Like millions of us. But the Chinese, the Chicoms, forced him to join the Society and work for them. But Sadanaga was a brave man — he rebelled and worked for us, too. He informed on the Chicoms."
Tonaka flipped away her glowing cigarette butt. "They found out. You see the result. And that, Mr. Carter, is what you will be up against if you help us. And that is only part of it."
Nick stepped back and ran the flashlight over the body again. The mute little wounds gaped at him. He flicked off the light and turned back to the girl. "It looks like the death of a thousand cuts — but I thought that went out with the Ronins."
"The Chinese have brought it back. Updated, in modern form. You will see. My father has a model of the machine they use to — to punish anyone who defies them. Come. It is cold down here."
They went back to the little room where Nick had awakened. The music was still banging and strumming and vibrating. He had somehow lost his wristwatch.
It was, Tonaka told him, a quarter after two.
"I don't feel like sleep," he said. "I might as well cut out right now and go see your father. Call and tell him I'm on my Way."
"He has no phone. It is not wise. But I will get a message to him in time. Perhaps you are right — it is easier to move around Tokyo in the small hours. But wait — if you are going now I must give you this. I know it is not what you are accustomed to — my father remembers — but it is all we have. Weapons are hard to come by for us Eta."
She went to a small cabinet in one corner of the room and knelt before it. The slacks tightened over a smooth line of thigh and buttock, limning the taut flesh.
She came back with a heavy pistol that glinted black with an oily sheen. She handed it to him along with two spare clips. "It is very heavy. I could not use it myself. It has been hidden away since occupation days. I think it is in good condition. I suppose some CI traded it for cigarettes and beer, or a girl."
It was an old Colt .45, 1911. Nick had not fired one for a long time but he was familiar with it. The weapon was notoriously inaccurate at over fifty yards, but within that range it would stop a bull elephant. It had, in fact, been developed to stop
amoks
in the Philippines.
He released the full clip and pumped the sleeve several times, checked the safeties, then thumbed cartridges onto the bed pad. They lay thick and blunt and deadly, the brass shimmering in the light. Nick checked the feeder springs in all the clips. They would do. Just as the old .45 would have to do — it wasn't Wilhelmina, of course, but then no other gun was. And he could have done with the stiletto, Hugo, nestling along his right arm in the chamois spring sheath, but that was out. He had to use the tools at hand. He jammed the Colt into his waistband and buttoned the trenchcoat over it. It bulged, but not too much.
Tonaka was watching him closely. He sensed her approval in her dark eyes. The girl was, in fact, feeling more optimistic about matters. She knew a professional when she saw one.
She handed him a small leather keyfold. "There is a Datsun in the parking lot behind the San-ai Department store. You know it?"
"I know it." It was a tubular building not far down the Ginza, resembling a massive rocket on its pad.
"Good. Here is the license number." She handed him a slip of paper. "The car may be watched. I don't think so, but it may be. You will just have to take that chance. You know how to get out to the Sanya district?"
"I think so. Take the Freeway to Shawa Dori, then come off and go as far as the baseball stadium. Cut right on Meiji Dori and that should get me somewhere around the Namidabashi Bridge. Right?"
She came closer to him. "Pretty right. You know Tokyo well."
"Not as well as I should, but I can make out. It's like New York — they keep tearing it down and building it again."
Tonaka was closer now,
Burakumin.
Like myself — and my father. Like millions of us. But the Chinese, the Chicoms, forced him to join the Society and work for them. But Sadanaga was a brave man — he rebelled and worked for us, too. He informed on the Chicoms."
Tonaka flipped away her glowing cigarette butt. "They found out. You see the result. And that, Mr. Carter, is what you will be up against if you help us. And that is only part of it."
Nick stepped back and ran the flashlight over the body again. The mute little wounds gaped at him. He flicked off the light and turned back to the girl. "It looks like the death of a thousand cuts — but I thought that went out with the Ronins."
"The Chinese have brought it back. Updated, in modern form. You will see. My father has a model of the machine they use to — to punish anyone who defies them. Come. It is cold down here."
They went back to the little room where Nick had awakened. The music was still banging and strumming and vibrating. He had somehow lost his wristwatch.
It was, Tonaka told him, a quarter after two.
"I don't feel like sleep," he said. "I might as well cut out right now and go see your father. Call and tell him I'm on my Way."
"He has no phone. It is not wise. But I will get a message to him in time. Perhaps you are right — it is easier to move around Tokyo in the small hours. But wait — if you are going now I must give you this. I know it is not what you are accustomed to — my father remembers — but it is all we have. Weapons are hard to come by for us Eta."
She went to a small cabinet in one corner of the room and knelt before it. The slacks tightened over a smooth line of thigh and buttock, limning the taut flesh.
She came back with a heavy pistol that glinted black with an oily sheen. She handed it to him along with two spare clips. "It is very heavy. I could not use it myself. It has been hidden away since occupation days. I think it is in good condition. I suppose some CI traded it for cigarettes and beer, or a girl."
It was an old Colt .45, 1911. Nick had not fired one for a long time but he was familiar with it. The weapon was notoriously inaccurate at over fifty yards, but within that range it would stop a bull elephant. It had, in fact, been developed to stop
amoks
in the Philippines.
He released the full clip and pumped the sleeve several times, checked the safeties, then thumbed cartridges onto the bed pad. They lay thick and blunt and deadly, the brass shimmering in the light. Nick checked the feeder springs in all the clips. They would do. Just as the old .45 would have to do — it wasn't Wilhelmina, of course, but then no other gun was. And he could have done with the stiletto, Hugo, nestling along his right arm in the chamois spring sheath, but that was out. He had to use the tools at hand. He jammed the Colt into his waistband and buttoned the trenchcoat over it. It bulged, but not too much.
Tonaka was watching him closely. He sensed her approval in her dark eyes. The girl was, in fact, feeling more optimistic about matters. She knew a professional when she saw one.
She handed him a small leather keyfold. "There is a Datsun in the parking lot behind the San-ai Department store. You know it?"
"I know it." It was a tubular building not far down the Ginza, resembling a massive rocket on its pad.
"Good. Here is the license number." She handed him a slip of paper. "The car may be watched. I don't think so, but it may be. You will just have to take that chance. You know how to get out to the Sanya district?"
"I think so. Take the Freeway to Shawa Dori, then come off and go as far as the baseball stadium. Cut right on Meiji Dori and that should get me somewhere around the Namidabashi Bridge. Right?"
She came closer to him. "Pretty right. You know Tokyo well."
"Not as well as I should, but I can make out. It's like New York — they keep tearing it down and building it again."
Tonaka was closer now,
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