The Angel and the Devil

‘Is he dead?’

‘No, he’s very much alive, which is more than we will be if we don’t get out of here right now.’ I said. ‘You okay?’

She nodded. ‘Are you hurt?’

‘I’m fine,’ I lied. I may not have been physically injured but my mind was preparing to sail off the edge of the world. In the past six hours I’d experienced the entire spectrum of emotions, from total pleasure to sheer terror. At that moment I’d have sold my soul for a drink.

We stepped into the elevator and I slid the gates shut, enclosing us in a cage of solid metal, and pressed the button for the lobby. Virginie hugged me hard, slipping her hands inside my jacket and stroking my shirt as the carriage started it’s slow decent towards the ground floor. I wondered what would be waiting for us in the lobby, everything or nothing? I ran my fingers through her soft hair and thought of the Oriental stretched out in the hallway above us. I thought of the heavy gold ring he’d been wearing on the index finger of his right hand, and the missing little finger of his left. A finger that I knew had been amputated deliberately, as a mark of respect to his master when an order had been disobeyed or a job had failed. It was not an uncommon sight, and an easy way to recognize a member of the Yakuza

I know at that point I started to physically shake. The hitman had been right; I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into. I had a dozen questions and no way of answering them. But I did know that the Japanese Mafia were ruthless and deadly, and where one had failed there were plenty more to take his place. As I held Virginie against me and watched the brass indicator of the elevator creep towards the ground floor I knew that the night was just beginning. I also knew we’d be lucky to come through it alive.

To Be Continued

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