American Terrorist (The Rayna Tan Action Thrillers Book 1) by Wesley Robert Lowe Read Free Book Online Page B

Sanderson-san?”
    “I’m not quite the man you are.” John Sanderson got up, bowed to the aged Japanese man, and left the room.
    Ahi-san whispered to his younger associate, Kota. “Everything is done?”
    Before the thirty-year-old man could answer, Barry stepped in with Rayna. Barry was still in his suit but Rayna was masked and clothed in the tight-fitting outfit of a ninja.
    Immediately, Kota rushed at Barry but Rayna stepped in front of him and grabbed his left arm, twisting it.
    Kota, an experienced martial artist, street fighter and athlete, somersaulted, following the motion of Rayna’s twist to diminish its impact.   He jerked his arm away from Rayna’s grasp and grabbed her hair.
    He yanked hard, jerking Rayna’s head back, then followed through with a blistering punch toward her stomach. The drive landed with powerful impact but had little effect on Rayna. Years of Special Forces physical training had given her rock hard abs.
    And an even harder punch.
    Her right arm launched a twisting blow to Kota’s nose, breaking it.   As he was dropping to the ground, Rayna’s knee rose up, hitting him directly on the chin.
    Kota dropped unconscious to the floor.
    Ahi-san remained stoic throughout. He knew what was happening and what was going to happen. He would not dishonor himself by begging for his life. “You should not have done that, Barry-san. When my friends find out, they will not be happy.”  
    “They will never find out.” Barry looked up at the ceiling to a camera which had recorded the event and said, “That was for what you did to my friend’s son.”
    Ahi-san’s faced wrinkled. “I do not know what you are talking about.”
    “It doesn’t matter.” Barry reached into his pocket and pulled a small Colt pistol, the same one he had used decades ago as a member of Delta Force. He fired two shots—one into the heart of Ahi-san, the other into the heart of Kota.  
    “Everything is done now, Ahi-san.”  
    In fifteen minutes, there wasn’t a trace of the activities that just happened—a cold, clinical execution by two experienced purveyors of death.

    ***

      “We have been acting for Ahi-san all this time, but this was the first time he came out himself as well. He always sent a representative. He kept saying that he wanted to increase his stake but I insisted I wanted to meet him personally before discussing it.”
    “So why did he try to kill us?” Rayna asked.
    “My death was not his goal—it was yours. He knew that I knew he was Yakuza and he demanded ultimate obedience. He wanted to show me he was in complete control... he was wrong.”
    “You mean that was about money? That’s nuts.”
    Barry shook his head. “No, Rayna. Once you have a few million bucks, it’s no longer about money. How many houses do you need? Can you really taste a fantastic wonderful difference between a two hundred dollar bottle of wine and a ten thousand dollar bottle of wine? Does it matter if you drive a Mercedes or a Bentley?”
    “I wouldn’t know. I’m still in a rental and my only vice is eighteen-year-old scotch.”
    “To men like Ahi-san, it becomes about power, influence and legacy. Not money for money’s sake.”
    “But it’s meaningless. Once you’re dead, you’re dead.”
    “Not everyone espouses that Christian value, Rayna,” Barry told her. “Pharaohs had the Sphinx, the Chinese had the Terra Cotta warriors, the Mayans had their pyramids... Ahi-san and others wanted monuments of filthy lucre.”

Chapter 6  

    An hour later, huge redwood trees filled Rayna with hope for the future—something she hadn’t felt for a while.
    Barry pointed to a turn-off that was enigmatically marked “Resort.” A quiet double lane road meandered for ten minutes before they arrived at the “Resort.” There were only five other vehicles in sight: a Tesla, a Range Rover, a Lexus and a couple of motorized carts. A complex of half a dozen two-story log buildings, the Resort oversaw a crystal