Carl laughed. “Well, at least now I know what to get you for Christmas.”
Livia glanced at the third bag. “Rifle?”
Carl smiled. “HK762A1, OSS suppressor, Leupold scope, twenty-round mags. Be still, my beating heart. And Manus has a suppressed HK UMP in nine-millimeter with thirty-round mags. Just in case. I didn’t like the way we were outgunned at that Lake Tapps house.” He glanced at Kanezaki. “We get to keep the toys when we’re done, right?”
Kanezaki shook his head. “Delilah has to return the Porsche, and you and Manus have to return the HKs.”
Carl patted the bag. “Hopefully unused. But we’ll see.”
Livia glanced at her watch. “Less than an hour until three,” she said. “Starting to get a little tight.”
“Just about good to go,” Carl said. “Should be plenty of time.”
Livia knew there should be—if things went smoothly. But nothing had gone smoothly yet.
They each affixed wireless earpieces, about the size of a pair of AirPods and connected to belt-mounted radios. Kanezaki had explained that the range would be enough for their purposes, but with less risk of being tracked than a cellphone.
“I hate these earpieces,” Carl said. “They’re so snug you can’t get ’em out without a damn screwdriver.”
“Everyone online?” Rain said, and one by one they checked in. “Delilah and Larison,” he said. “You’re in position?”
“We are,” Livia heard Delilah say. “When you’re ready, just say go.”
“Five minutes,” Rain said. “Tom, did you confirm—”
“Of course,” Kanezaki said. “Other than the guards and Grimble himself, no cellphones on the property. Which tracks with the intel—no gardeners allowed except when Grimble is off the compound.”
Rain glanced at Livia and gave her a small smile, as if to say, Okay, I micromanage. She gave him one back to indicate that she didn’t mind at all.
When they were done suiting up, one by one they came out from behind the wall, crossed the street, and eased into the trees. First Rain, then Kanezaki, then Livia, then Diaz, then Carl. Livia looked around and saw no houses or other signs of habitation. Whoever owned the land here, it was sprawling enough to feel they were in the middle of a forest. “Stay close,” she said to Diaz.
After a few minutes, they came to the edge of the tree line and stopped. Beyond it, Livia could see a long, curving stone road, beside which was perched an elaborate complex of wooden structures, some with tiled roofs and others of thatch, the corners upturned in the traditional Japanese style. And beyond that, an expansive garden with arrangements of granite boulders of various sizes, carefully raked sand, and moss-covered hillocks, all of it winding along the edge of an enormous pond crossed by several delicately arched bridges and buttressed at the far end by a waterfall. The only sounds were of the water and the birds in the surrounding trees. Given what had just happened, and what they were here for, the utter serenity of the place was suddenly surreal.
“Did we take a wrong turn?” Carl whispered. “’Cause I think this must be the set of a damn samurai movie. Hey, the security people won’t be carrying swords, will they?”
“If they are,” Rain said, “you can just shoot them. Like Indiana Jones, remember?”
Carl smiled. “Hey, a movie reference! How’d you know?”
Rain looked at him. “That one I saw. Delilah, Larison, we’re in position. Ready?”
“Been ready,” Larison said in the earpiece. “Just waiting for your friend to finish obsessing about swords and samurai.”
“You have no idea of my trauma,” Carl whispered. “If I’d picked up one rock fewer—”