SIX

.

"Well this shot won't miss!" Britt raged. He pulled out a green gun, firing it into her face. Gas exploded around Jennifer's head; she coughed and dropped in an instant.

"Come on! Let's go!" Amy pleaded. She yanked Kato's hand and took off running toward the exit.

"Wait! No witnesses!" Britt cried. They heard shots fired but Kato simply ducked, keeping an arm round Amy and running full-tilt for the exit.

Britt waited.

And waited.

"Hello?" he called tentatively. He looked around, checking all the corners. "Awesome." He put away his handgun and clapped his hands together, rubbing in victory. He bent over to grab the insensate DA.

"Well well well," said a voice. "And we only came tonight because we knew she'd be here - and you were taking too long."

Bent over, still pulling at Jennifer's hands, Britt looked down the room. "Sapphire?" he asked, confused. "What the hell? You're supposed to wait for me to tell you she's dead."

She was standing just inside the doors to the room, a large, hulking figure behind her. "What's keeping you? One to the heart, one to the head," she said, folding her arms as the two of them walked closer. "You do have a gun, right?"

"Well yeah," he said defensively. "You don't trust me now?"

"I never did," she said flatly. They stopped in front of the stage. "Charlie? Kill him. And the DA."

The skyscraper behind her grinned and ran for the steps. He climbed them to the stage. Britt glanced at Sapphire then back at Charlie. He pulled his Hornet gun and fired point blank.

Charlie dropped straight to the floor.

"Ha!" Britt cried in vindication.

"Ah-ah-ah," Sapphire said, turning her own, large handgun on him.

He looked over and huffed. "Aw man," he heaved. "So unfair."

"You took out my best man, so I'll take out yours." She looked around the room casually. "Where is your sidekick, anyway?"

"Beer run," he snapped. "And he's not a sidekick, he's a partner."

"I can see that by the way he's left you high and dry here."

"I told him I didn't need him tonight. And I don't."

"I see. Well when I've shot you and the DA and me and Charlie are out of here, I'm sure he'll be thrilled to know you were wrong."

He opened his mouth but heard sirens. He folded his arms, the Hornet gun under his elbow. "We going to stand here until the cops burst in? Or do we both escape and live to fight another day?"

She rolled it around her head, the sirens getting closer every second. She fumed. "I think I'll just kill you now and be done with it."

"If you do you'll have my partner on your tail. And man, he's like a ninja. You'll never see him coming. I mean, go ahead and cap me right now, and then live in fear until the moment he kills you," he said casually. "Or we both just bug out of here and do this properly another time. What do you say?"

Her jaw shifted from side to side, her gun hand never wavering.

"How long is it going to take you to get your huge animal out of here?" he asked knowingly. "Lady, you just don't have time to waste."

She huffed and let her gun drop. "Ok, get out of here. But we finish this, Hornet - one way or another. And soon."

He turned and ran from the stage, heading for a side door. She looked back at the fallen DA. And then put her gun in the back of her trousers and ran up to Charlie, grabbing him under the arms and heaving him as fast as she could across the carpeted boards.

.


.

The lawn was host to a lot of people, milling about or lying on it in various states of shock. The cool evening breeze swam over them all, not caring what had just happened. Police were going from person to person, taking down names and addresses, establishing who had and hadn't seen anything useful. The lights from the roofs of the police cars reflected off everything and everyone, turning the evening into a red and blue silent disco of sick fear and relief.

Amy shivered, getting some breath back as she gripped the clutch purse in her shaking hands. Kato appeared in front of her. "You ok?" he asked, putting his hands on hers to hold them still.

"I don't think so," she said nervously. "I'm not used to g-guns at parties."

"Well, LA is weird."

She shook her head. "You're not even out of breath," she marvelled. "I'm - I'm - I feel like my heart is going to explode. I feel sick."

"It's ok - you're safe now."

"Oohh - am I?" she havered, her voice decidedly weak. "I don't feel it."

His mouth opened but he didn't know what to say. She flung herself at him, putting her arms round his neck. He took a step back in surprise but as the seconds ticked away he realised she wasn't letting go. Carefully, he lifted his arms to go round her loosely.

She breathed out, long and slow, and he felt her shoulders relaxing. "Oh that's better - now I feel safe," she whispered in his ear.

They stood for a long moment as she held onto him. Presently her arms stopped shaking and she took a deep breath, easing him back from her.

His hands dropped politely. "Oh! —I have to find Britt."

"What?" she gasped. "You can't go back in that place!"

"He'll be around here somewhere, outside," he said. "I will take you home first."

"Ok," she said weakly. Then she looked up. "You know what? I think I want a cab. I just—. Don't take this the wrong way, but I… I think I want to be alone."

"You sure you're ok?"

"I will be." She took a deep breath, then turned to face him. "Thank you for tonight. Next date we go on? Let's go somewhere quiet. And peaceful."

"Wherever you want," he said in earnest.

She smiled, putting her arms out and hugging him. Caught off-guard, he fumbled his arms up and hugged her back. She adjusted her grip and squeezed him, leaning her head into his neck.

He closed his eyes for a second, enjoying her just being there. Then he let her go and pulled her silk bomber jacket straight. "Let's find you a cab."

.


.

Britt snatched off the hat and mask, dumping them as fast as he could in the trunk. He yanked out his tux jacket and was just pulling it on when he heard a sliding noise. He turned and spotted a fancy blue suit climbing in through a window at head height. "What are you doing in here?" he hissed.

Kato slithered to the floor and dusted himself off. "You idiot!" he hurled. "Why do you think shooting blanks means people fall down and think they are dead!"

"Shut up! It was a great plan!" he snapped back.

"Sshh!" he said quickly.

"You shush!"

"Shut! Up!" Kato hissed. One hand clapped over Britt's mouth - the other pushed him back into the wall behind the door.

It opened up a crack - and then another. Kato let go of Britt, pointing at him to keep his mouth well and truly closed. He backed up - and then his foot came up and axed into the door.

It flew back and into someone. They cried out as they fell.

Kato was already darting around it. "Oh shit!"

Britt dodged round and found Kato trying to lift someone off the floor. "Is that - is that Lenore?"

"Now we're really in trouble!" He supported her with an arm round her back as she sat up, feeling her head and trying to keep things in focus. "Lenore? Lenore? Look at me."

"Asshole!" she fumed, slapping at him.

He ducked the full force but still caught it on his cheekbone. "Hey! Sorry! I thought you are police!"

She struggled up and he helped her back to her feet. She pulled her dress straight. "Well I'm not, ok? I came to find out what the hell you two think you're doing!"

"Can we leave first?" Kato asked.

"Let's go," Britt said. "The cops are going to be checking every part of this building for the Green Hornet."

"Yeah - and why was he even here tonight?" she demanded.

Kato bundled her to the door as Britt brought up the rear. "What? I thought you fixed his plan," Kato said.

"Plan? What the hell?" Lenore snapped. "The plan was getting you and Amy together! I have no idea what else you two goddamn chuckleheads were up to tonight!"

"Sshh!" Britt hissed. "Listen."

All three of them paused and waited. They heard feet and police radios.

"This way," Britt said, waving them after him.

The three of them piled out of the corridor and through another small door to freedom.

.


.

They regrouped at the back of the building, Lenore straightening her dress and feeling at the side of her forehead in pain. "If I have a bruise here tomorrow I swear I will hurt you, Kato," she accused.

"Sorry! Everything went wrong and I didn't have time to think!" he hissed.

She put her hands out for calm, noticing they were alone. "Ok - ok. Right. Now - start from the beginning. What was the Green Hornet doing and why wasn't Kato mitigating the fall-out?" she demanded.

"It was his idea," Kato said.

"Dude," Britt protested. He put his hands on Lenore's shoulders. "Look - you know me and Kato met with the drugs guy, right? Only it wasn't a guy, it was this totally cool chick with green hair!"

"Yes I know that bit," she snapped, knocking his hands off her. "And you made a deal. How do you get from that to this omnishambles?"

"We did the deal - got her up to fifteen percent, like you said," he grinned. "And then she made us promise to kill the DA to get in on the whole racket."

"And you agreed to go along with it?" Lenore asked, folding her arms.

"We did," Kato said guiltily.

"So I get this amazing idea, right?" Britt said excitedly. "I pretend to kill the DA in front of witnesses, but actually we just knock her out and stash her someplace while the news reports her dead for us. That gets us into the gang, we bust it up, get everyone arrested, and then release the DA back into the world."

Lenore glared at him. Finally she sighed. "Actually, it's not the worst idea."

"Thank you! See?" he said, swinging a hand up to smack into Kato's arm.

"Britt! When you shoot someone with blanks they know they are not hurt, you dumbass!" Kato snapped.

"You did what?" Lenore asked.

"He used blanks!" Kato cried, rubbing his face. "And then the DA - she knew she was ok. So then he shot her with Hornet gas."

"But then it got weird!" Britt interrupted. "Sapphire and Charlie turned up - she was gonna kill me but I talked her round—"

"Who's Sapphire?" she cried in frustration.

"The drugs boss," Kato said quickly.

Britt pointed at him. "Yeah - I kept her talking - I escaped - and then Kato found me."

"And where's the DA now?" Lenore asked.

"What?" Britt blurted.

Kato looked from Britt to Lenore and back again. "Where's the DA, Britt? Did you put her in the trunk like you said?"

Britt's mouth hung open. His eyes went wide. "Holy… shit."

"What?" Lenore demanded. "What did you do with her?"

"I… uh… After Sapphire let me go I… er…"

"You ran?" Kato accused. "You idiot! What if Sapphire killed her?"

Lenore pushed through them and ran back toward the building window.

"Wait - Lenore!" Kato called. He chased after her and the three of them found themselves climbing back in through the tiny entrance.

Lenore slid straight through, Kato appearing next to her. They moved for the door but heard grunting and struggling. Kato looked back at Britt trying to turn and make it easier to drop through the window.

"You go first," Kato said to her. "I'll stop Britt from breaking everything."

She slapped a hand to his arm and ran off. He went back to the window and tried to help Britt get through.

.


.

The drive back to the mansion was a long one, painful in the silence that cloaked the inside of the car.

It wasn't until the Black Beauty was sailing back through the fake hedge and making its way up the private path to the garage entrance that Lenore looked over at Britt, on the other side of the back seat.

"Idiot," she snapped.

"I know, I know!" he said, raising his hands. "But we got her, didn't we?"

"Only because Sapphire chose to save her lieutenant instead of taking two seconds to shoot her!"

"But we did get her," Kato said from the driver's seat. "Now what do we do with her?"

Lenore folded her arms as the Beauty pulled through the low entrance, Kato bringing her to a stop on the special marks in the floor. He cut the engine and waited. Lenore ran a hand through her hair. "Ok so… we keep her hidden like Britt said. We put out the story that she's dead. We'll… feed it to a low-level journo at the paper, get them to run with it. When it hits our news wire it'll spread to the others - then this Sapphire person will know about it."

"But she's not going to let me in the gang now," Britt moaned.

"Well that was obvious the moment she was going to shoot you," she snapped. "But… she will stop trying to kill the DA if she thinks she's dead." She sighed. "What do we know about Sapphire?"

"We know where her warehouse is," Kato said, twisting in the seat to look at them both. "We know she has lots of people down there working for her - sixty, I think."

"And they've got cash, bullets, drugs, pill bags - tonnes of stuff," Britt added eagerly. "What do we do, call the cops on them?"

"They could be clearing out already." She paused. "Are you sure she's the big boss?"

"She didn't look like a big boss," Kato mused.

Britt tutted. "That's sexist, dude."

"No I mean - if she was really the big boss, she would not be doing all the work herself," he argued. He looked at Lenore. "Do bosses do that?"

"Not usually," she said, pre-occupied. "Kato could be right." She threw her hands up. "Look - we get the DA somewhere safe - and leak the bit about her being dead - tonight. The rest… I'll think about when I'm home." She opened the car door and got out, slamming it behind her.

Britt and Kato looked at each other. Then they pulled identical winces of self-kickery before turning to their own doors and getting out.

"You," she said, turning to point at Britt. "Make sure you've got all your Green Hornet gear stashed back in the house. —Where were you going to put her? Please tell me you'd thought that bit through?"

"Yeah I did," he said defensively. "The wine cellar."

"Oh. Is it dry? Soundproof?"

"Yes and yes," he said with satisfaction.

"Right, so… you go put her in the cellar. Let her lie down on something - don't let her get cold or damp. Make sure her eyes stay covered the whole time, even when there's no-one else around, ok?"

"On it," he nodded, already going round to the trunk.

Kato looked at her. "What next?"

"Next? Next you take me home, and I have like a whole bottle of wine while I try to work out how to put right all the shit you two lame brains have caused tonight." She stomped off.

Kato looked at Britt. "You ok to move the DA by yourself?"

"I've got this. You make sure Lenore gets home ok. Try and calm her down, will you? We need her."

"I'll try but… you know I'm not good with words."

"You'll do ok - it's me she's mad at," he said, leaning on the open trunk of the car. "Go."

"Be careful."

"And you."

Kato hurried off after Lenore, tracking her down and managing to get her into one of the less flashy cars in the garage.

.


.

He pulled up outside her house, cutting the engine and turning to look at her. She was in the passenger seat, her elbow against the window. One thumb was pressed against her front teeth as she muttered to herself in frustration.

"We're here," he said quietly.

She jumped and looked around. "Oh. Thanks." She went to open her door.

"I—." He stopped.

She looked at him. "What?"

"Thanks. For tonight."

"You mean for not hitting you over the head with the nearest blunt object?"

"No, for…" His head went left then right in a little bobble that almost made her smile. "For Amy."

"Oohh," she said, a slow smile conquering the upset on her face. "Did you talk?"

"We did."

"And did you have a good time?"

"I think so," he admitted with a tiny, shiny smile.

She pointed at him. "A-ha! Did she kiss you?"

"She tried."

"What?"

"Things happened," he shrugged. "But she said 'our next date' and 'next time' a lot - is that good?"

Lenore grinned and sat back, relaxing suddenly. "Yeah, Kato, it's good."

"Then… thank you. I don't know what you said to her but she was interested in everything we talked about - the books and the cars and - and - everything."

"I haven't spoken to her," she said.

"What? Then how did you know to tell me what to say to her? What to do?"

"Women know everything," she teased, putting her hand out and booping his nose gently. He ducked back, rubbing it as she laughed. "It was all you, Kato. I told you she liked you." She smiled and pushed the door open, climbing out. Her smile shrank. "Do me a favour - stop Britt from doing anything until I've thought of a plan."

"I promise."

"Thank you."

"Goodnight Lenore."

"'Night Kato," she said, waving at the window and closing the door. She turned and walked up the path, producing her keys from the small purse and letting herself in the house.

He waited while the lights came on in the front room, and then she was leaning through the open door and waving. He started up the engine and pulled away.

"So now all I have to do is… get this car back to the garage," he muttered in Chinese. He crumpled in abrupt realisation, blowing out an angry huff. "—And then go back to the venue and get my bike." He shook his head with a long, weary sigh. "No more Britt plans."

.


.

Britt watched the elevator doors open, waited for everyone to leave, and then stepped in. He pressed the button for the top floor, but just as the doors were closing a hand shot round the edge and grabbed it.

He was a little surprised to see Kato throw himself through the gap and then stop dead, looking up at Britt with a face that could easily have been used to put the fear of Bruce Lee into Chuck Norris.

"Well good morning," Britt grinned. "You ok, man? You look tired."

Kato backed up to the left wall, his hands behind him on the metal railing. "I had to go back and get my bike."

"Back where?"

"The party, dick-Reid."

"Whoa, ok," Britt protested, as the elevator whooshed upwards. "Someone's in a bad mood."

"I'm tired, I have no breakfast thanks to you, and we have a DA in the cellar and bad guys who want to kill us."

Britt studied him for a moment. He pushed at his shoulder, but Kato only scowled at him. "So ah… You didn't get lucky last night then?"

"Last night was so much bad luck. I took Lenore home - good bit. Then I take your car back to the garage - bad bit. You locked the door and I had to break in!" he snapped.

"S-sorry. I kinda thought you were going home."

"Then I go back to get my bike - no money for the bus! I walk! All the way, Britt!" he cried angrily. "And then I get my bike and take it home. I go inside and my new refrigerator is still not on because of some power switch on new iceboxes so nowhere for my food—"

"My icebox doesn't have a switch—"

"All the food is gone bad - I throw it out." He folded his arms. "And here we are: 'good morning' - no food, no sleep, no - no - no… 安心!"

"I don't know what that means," Britt said helplessly, just as the lift came to a stop at the top floor.

"I don't know what is the English word," Kato snapped. "Always I have to look up your American - why don't you get a dictionary app on your phone and you look it up." He barrelled out of the opening doors, his hands shoved deep in his pockets, as he crossed the open-plan office.

Britt stepped out of the elevator, watching everyone's heads follow Kato's cloud of anger to the tiny office at the far end. He opened the door, went in, and slammed it soundly behind him.

Britt cleared his throat. "Good morning!" he cried, putting his best smile into it. "How is everyone on this fine Saturday? You all get home alright after last night?"

"Oh Mr Reid - we were worried when we didn't see you," a woman said from her desk.

"Well - thanks. But I was ok - lucky I wasn't there when some madman turned up, right?" he asked. A lot of voices suddenly started up - questions, comments, rebukes. He huffed, putting his hands up for quiet. Everyone stopped. "I know it went bad. I know it was my party, so that's on me. We'll get you another one, ok? And next time we'll have security."

The door to Mike Axford's office opened and he cleared his throat. "Britt," he said politely. "A word, please?"

"Right, so - glad you're all ok! Let me know if you need anything, and take it easy today, right?" he called, already making his way across the office.

Mike stepped back and Britt went past him, finding himself in a room refurbished to look remarkably like his father's old office. He looked around the walls, at the commemorative newspapers in glass frames, the photos of journalists watching him.

"You ok, Mike?" Britt asked. "I didn't see you at the party last night."

"I'm an old man, son," he said, walking back to his chair and sitting slowly. "I didn't need to be out late last night. Besides, I got a call about five this morning - seems one of our youngest got a story."

"Cool! Anything good?" Britt asked eagerly. "Supermodel stuff? President stuff? Please tell me someone took a fatal golf ball to the head?"

"DA Park. She's… well, she's dead."

"What?" Britt demanded, shocked. "She can't be, she—." He paused. "Oh."

"Yeah. There we are. Sorry to have to break it to you. We put it out on our web services last night, and ran with it first edition this morning. Thought you should hear it from me." He waved a hand at the chairs opposite him. "You want a seat?"

"Uh… no, thanks," he managed, forcing himself to calm down from the totally unnecessary fright he had just endured. "What… uh… happened?"

"Eye witnesses are saying the Green Hornet shot her right there in front of everyone during the party."

"Whoa. That dude is serious bad news," he mused. "Someone should do something about him. Or something."

"What's interesting is that some eye witnesses are saying that she was ok before more shooting started. But then a source who was at the party sent pictures." He paused. "They're graphic. We're not printing them, we're just saying we have good evidence. There's no body - we're assuming the Green Hornet… disposed of her somehow." He leant back in his chair.

"Holy crap," Britt breathed, shaking his head. "Pictures?"

"Yes."

"Like - actual proper pictures?"

"Yes."

"Whoa. That's like…" He blinked, shaking his head.

"People here said you seemed to be friends with her… I thought you'd want to know. Why don't you go home. We can handle everything."

"Are you kidding?" Britt spluttered. "You do anyway." He threw his hands out sideways in complete helplessness. "It makes no difference if I'm here or not - and we both know that. But… thanks for asking."

Mike shrugged. "Seemed the decent thing to do."

"You know what, Mike? You're a dude." He turned and went back to the door. "I might go home - watch all the footage on the TV that's bigger than my new office."

Mike smiled. "Well you chose it."

Britt looked at his feet for a second, then back at him. "Kinda fits my experience in this place." He nodded. "Thanks, Mike." The door opened and he disappeared.

Mike appraised the door for a long moment. "Wonders will never cease," he breathed, before turning back to the laptop on his desk.