FOURTEEN

.

Lenore picked up her phone, finding the right name almost without looking. She pressed it and waited for it to connect, setting the phone on the table by her laptop.

There was a click and she tapped the 'speaker' icon. "Britt?" she asked.

"Hey. What can I do for you?"

"We have Hornet mail."

"…And you don't sound happy about that," he realised. "What's going down?"

"It's from Sapphire. She wants to call a truce." She paused as he didn't reply. "You know it's a trap, right?"

"Well - yeah - of course it's a trap," he blustered. "What do we do?"

"Well… I think you should go - but we also tip off the police so they get there as she turns up. You escape and she gets arrested with some of her product."

"Yes," he said firmly. "Exactly that."

"Right, so… do you want me to set something up?"

"Absolutely. This is it, right? This is the where your plan worked and now we do the end bit - we take her down just like you said - easy."

"Ok, yeah. So… let me think about this. I'll get back to you."

"Thanks Lenore."

She cut the line and sat back, thinking very seriously. Eventually she got up and went into the kitchen, pouring herself some fresh coffee.

.


.

Britt went through the door to the garage to find Kato, in slightly used overalls and curiously bright white, thin gloves, bending over some kind of large dark box, barely six inches high. He walked up behind him, slapping at his shoulder. "Whatcha doin'?"

Kato didn't even jump. "Something very important."

"Ok, so… we roll in a few. You ready?"

"I will be. When this is done."

Britt removed his hand then peered over at the box too. It was black - apparently something under the inner glass-effect screen was obscuring everything underneath. Steam was escaping from the corners in patient wisps, making Britt stand straight and back up one. "What is it? What are you making now, weapons genius?"

"I am… not making… anything," he muttered. A ping went off and he straightened up, undoing latches with his gloved hands. The screen sprang up and Kato lifted items out of it - black and very floppy.

He turned and Britt grinned. "You're pressing your outfit? Dude."

"It was in my bike box all night and all this morning. It stank. I washed it and now it's pressed dry." He shook it slightly, making the jacket fall just so. "And I had to fix the bullet hole in it."

"What did you do, sew it up? What are you like a seamstress now?"

"It's hard being me, having all these skills that you do not."

Britt paused - then saw Kato was grinning. "You sneaky bastard - you're even using a sense of humour against me now?" he chuckled, shaking his head.

"Oh - why you buy me a TV?" he asked.

Britt paused, confused. "Oh that," he realised. "Yeah well… I thought if Amy comes to your place to watch cool movies then… you only had that tiny set, right? It was terrible - you can't expect your girlfriend to put up with that, right? So yeah, you have a work perk like a brand spanking new, state of the art screen," he grinned.

Kato shook his head. "Lenore got a very good one."

"Of course she did!" he chuckled.

"I didn't need you to buy me a TV - I can buy my own TV," he said.

Britt put his hands up in surrender. "Before this turns into an argument, let me just say - yes I know you can. I also know that you're way too busy thinking of Black Beauty improvements and cool stuff for the outfits and everything. You never think about your own place. So I just… helped. Just this once." He paused. "I mean… that's what friends do, right?"

Kato looked at the floor for a long moment. Then his head tilted, nodding. "Yes. Yes it is."

"Well then," he said, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "You ready to go now?"

"I get changed," he said, walking off.

"You always leave it in your bike?" Britt called after him.

Kato paused by the door. "Never. But… Amy was there so I had to hide it."

"What?" he spluttered. "Did she see you in it?"

"No - I am not stupid," Kato tutted.

"Well… wow. I guess you'll have to hide a bunch of stuff from her - like all the time," Britt blinked. "I never thought about that."

"I did," Kato allowed quietly. And then he stepped through the door to the house and disappeared.

Britt frowned to himself, looking around the garage slowly, taking in all the tools, the gear, the work that had gone on without him even knowing what any of it was. He looked up at the large plastic exhaust pipes fitted to the ceiling, shaking his head.

He took himself over to the red hotrod parked in the centre of the garage, running an index finger down the front wing. He smiled and stood back, then looked around. "So… where's the switch for the Black Beauty?" He bent and read some switches on the wall, finding them to be some kind of power kill-switch in case of emergency. Investigating all four walls and the shelves scattered around them did nothing to help.

Kato appeared through the door, now in his black trousers and coat but carrying his gloves, his mask sitting in his hat in his other hand. "What?"

"How do you get it to spin?"

Kato smiled, putting on his mask and then his hat. "Like this," he said, sliding a hand round the brim.

There was a beep and Britt stepped back quickly as the floor opened up by his feet. The hotrod spun and sank into the floor, bringing up the Black Beauty instead. "Still way cool," he breathed, putting a hand up.

Kato slapped it with his. "I know, right?" He sniffed. "Ready?"

"Ready," Britt grinned, grabbing the rear door handle and piling in. He bounced on the comfy seat, pulling the door shut and resting his elbows on the seat in front. "Ok, so here's the thing."

Kato sat slowly, guiding his door shut. He put the keys in the ignition. "What?"

"Well… You know how Sapphire must be like super mad at us, right? And that Charlie guy wants to kill us both?"

"Well?"

"So Lenore set this up for us but she says it's a full-on trap."

"That is why she will tip off the police too, right?" Kato asked, watching him in the rear-view mirror. "We know this. What is your point?"

"Well… be careful, dude. I mean really."

"I will not get shot again," he scoffed. "Lenore said we go in, pretend to talk about agreements for a truce, then… the police will arrive and we all run. You and me get away and Sapphire and Charlie are caught." He paused. "Then we can go to a good bar I know. They are open all night but do not ask where they get their beer."

Britt grinned. "Seriously? Well then, Kato my friend," he announced, patting his shoulder, "let's roll."

.


.

Sapphire grinned, her phone pressed to her ear. "Is that so?" She listened. "Well. You've done me a great service. Perhaps I'll get rid of the worst of the incriminating photos I have on you. —Perhaps. It depends how it turns out tonight, doesn't it?" She smiled. "However… I appreciate the obsequious attempt to get into my good books, in the hope that I'll stop blackmailing you into doing whatever I want." She touched at the red button, ending the call and slipping her phone back into her pocket.

She walked out of the office and found the underground complex hard at work; people were bagging up all manner of illegal substances, boxing up ammunition, or stacking used bills in neat piles, complete with rubber bands. Her arms folding by themselves with happy abandon, she was content to watch the industriousness around her.

Finally she turned and put her fingers in her mouth, letting out a piercing whistle that made most people hunch their shoulders in surprise. "Everyone!" she called.

People halted, hands went down, caps went back, ears opened.

It made her smile. "It's time. I need twenty of you to volunteer for eliminating-our-opposition duty. Anyone who takes out the Green Hornet tonight gets an extra special reward."

The sudden flurry of movement made her grin wider. People reached under benches, into clothing - in all kinds of places - to get their hands on automatic weapons.

"Charlie!" she called. "Charlie!"

His head popped out round a door on the other side of the office. He waved a hand to get her attention, then weaved through everyone to come to a stop in front of her. "It's on?" he asked.

"Oh, it's on," she grinned. "The Green Hornet and his little sidekick are on their way to the meet. These guys can have the Hornet - a few good bullets and he'll be out of our hair permanently."

"And the little sidekick?"

"I promised you could get revenge, and I stand by that," she said, patting his shoulder. "Pick twenty people with good aim and let's get to the cars."

"Yes boss."

.


.

The Black Beauty rolled past the rather dingy-looking shop front. Standing by itself on the street corner, it was giving off a definite seen-better-days vibe, the windows broken or boarded up, and the door itself looking like a gust of wind might take it out for good.

Kato gave a 'hmm'; he did not stop the car. Britt's mouth opened but he shut it again quickly, choosing to watch instead of ask. The car pulled round the side of the building, then down the back - and then Kato spun the wheel, taking them down another street, away from the building. He slowed to a crawl before the Beauty mounted the kerb, coming to a stop under a particularly large shop awning.

"Why here? Now we have to walk," Britt asked carefully.

"Because if this goes bad we can run this far." Kato paused. "When the police turn up they will block every road. This one cuts through to the underpass - we can get to anywhere from there and they won't think to block this road."

"You're always planning," Britt nodded. "Let's go."

"You have your Hornet gun?"

"Of course," Britt grinned. "Never leave home without it, partner." He opened the door and slid out. Kato appeared from the front and they kept to the dark side of the pavement, hurrying back toward the building.

As they approached it something flashed off to their left - Britt blinked and put a gloved hand up as if shielding his eyes. Kato pushed at his shoulder. "Don't stop."

Britt opened a metal door in the corner of the building and poked his head in. Then he slipped inside, leaving it open for Kato. He looked around suspiciously before going in and closing the door behind him.

A car and a van pulled up behind the building. They had barely come to a stop before both of them had their doors flung open and people piled out as if late for a championship sports match.

Charlie stood tall, making sure his handgun was still in the back of his jeans. "Ok - keep it quiet," he said urgently. The mix of men and woman all went silent, watching him. "We don't tip him off till the last minute, right? When things get hot you shoot anyone who isn't me or the boss, got that?"

People nodded and waved a hand up in silence.

Sapphire appeared behind him. "Charlie's half right - he and I go in there. You guys hide yourselves - standard ambush procedure. We give the signal and you lot jump out like the evil A-Team and shoot everything - apart from the sidekick in black. You grab him and sit on him and you call for Charlie." She paused. "Ready?"

Again, silent nods and hands made her aware she was the only one not already leaning toward the door to get started.

She grinned. "Then by all means, ladies and gents - let's swat ourselves a really annoying Hornet and hogtie that smart-ass sidekick."

.


.

Britt looked around the empty floor, finding nothing but a dusty cement surface, pockmarked and crumbling walls, and a ceiling with enough gigantic holes to show him that upstairs was no better. "Charming place," he muttered, pulling his gloves on more firmly.

Kato was looking straight up. "I don't like this."

"Yeah - you keep saying," Britt hissed at him. "What choice did we have?" He glanced at him but found Kato pointing to the ceiling. He turned and looked, spotting a shiny black bowl-shaped item set into the corner. "Like the last place," he realised. "Hey - that's a camera, right? I mean a proper HD thing?"

"Yes," Kato said, his hand dropping. "They had time to put that in here - they set us up."

The door behind them opened and Sapphire stepped through. She opened her hands, grinning. "Hey fellas," she grinned. "Long time no see. How have you been? I mean apart from all those nights spent blowing the shit out of my operation."

Britt stood taller, clearing his throat. "Sapphire. I promised I'd make life difficult for you."

"And here we are," she said, coming to a stop. She laced her hands in front of her, looking Kato up and down. "Such a waste," she sighed.

"What is?" Britt asked suspiciously.

"That two fine gentlemen such as yourselves won't be working for me after all. I mean, you're funny, Green Hornet, I'm not going to lie. And your little shortstop is fast with his feet. But I'm afraid we've come to the end, here. You will not be working with me any time soon." She paused to smile. "Or breathing, come to mention it."

Kato's hands snapped out as if for balance as he took a cautious step back.

Britt looked around, then up at the camera. "How long were you watching us?"

"I have people for that," she grinned. "A lot of people." She put her fingers in her mouth and whistled.

The sounds of multiple weapons being cocked made Britt's ears prick up - and then want to run for cover. Heads appeared out of nowhere and suddenly people had flooded into the room, two or three deep in every direction.

"Ok everyone - have fun. Remember we want to save the man in black here for Charlie. Other than that? Go nuts. Oh - be careful where you aim. Those bullets should go through an entire person quite easily. Having said that, I'll be on my way." She turned.

"What?" Britt scoffed. She paused, then looked at him. "Is that it? You're not a very good bad guy, lady. You're supposed to watch to make sure we're really dead."

She smiled. "Still making jokes, despite your imminent death."

"It may not be as imminent as you think," he said haughtily. "See, you're not the only wanted person in town. I'm pretty sure the cops are looking for me. Oh and this guy here?" he asked, chucking a thumb at Kato, who was still watching the room in case anyone moved. "He's not a sidekick, lady. He's my partner. Deal with it." He let his hand drop. "Once the police figure out where we are they'll be all over this little meet-and-greet that contains those non-high street bullets you sell."

A loud creak with a definite masonry feel to it made Britt and Kato look up.

Sapphire chuckled, drawing their attention. "Wait - don't tell me you called them to tip them off?"

"Maybe I didn't have to," Britt shrugged. "I mean not for nothing but we are pretty wanted."

"So it was you," she said, folding her arms. "Let me tell you a funny story."

"I never turn down a woman who wants to lie to me," Britt said with a lop-sided grin.

She tutted, wagging a finger at him. "No no, Hornet. I'm not going to lie to you. In fact, this may be the last true thing you ever hear - in this life."

"Then what is it?" Kato asked, his hands still out. His eyes were flicking around at the people and their weapons in the rough circle.

"Well, some years ago I happened to find myself in San Fransisco, courtesy of one Chudnofsky and his belief that I should be running a sleepy branch of his operation out that way. It was chickenshit, so I worked hard to be in a position to come back to LA. I should thank you for getting rid of him by the way - without your help I wouldn't be here today."

"And you're welcome," Britt said suavely.

Kato smacked the back of his glove into his elbow. Britt didn't look away from her.

She grinned. "So when you did eliminate him and I came back to town, I brought two things with me."

"Don't tell me - your industrial strength hairdryer and Charlie?" Britt asked.

"Ah - you see Charlie and I have a working partnership that predates 'Frisco," she said. "I don't have to bring him anywhere. He's just… there."

"So what two things?" Kato asked.

"One, I had a nice bright young thing working for the local rag. Great at digging for stories, excellent at fact-checking and I have to say, a usefully voracious reader. And when I arranged for them to get out of town and come to the bright lights of LA, they were only too glad to get in on the act." She paused. "However, the most important thing I brought with me was a cop who was in need of a side-job, due to their unfortunate ability to lose money on horse races."

"Oh," Britt swallowed.

"Yeah, so you see… When you tipped off the cops tonight, my informant tipped off me. And now here we are… and the cops will be heading to the wrong side of the city. Sorry boys," she announced. "Looks like you're outnumbered here. Unless you happen to have brought back-up?"

A louder creaking sound made them all look up.

Right before several hundred pounds of concrete came crashing down.

Britt and Kato leapt back, narrowly escaping death by squashing.

Sapphire and most of the gun-owners plastered themselves against the walls. They waved concrete dust from their faces, coughing and struggling to breathe.

Kato gripped Britt's shoulder and shoved. They turned for the exit.

Two men closed in front of it. Britt swung a clumsy haymaker at one. It swept him clean off his feet. Kato's gloves flew into the other man's face so fast Britt was sure even the concrete dust didn't have time to avoid them. He plummeted to his right, unconscious.

They bundled toward the door. Britt slammed it open but Kato turned away. A roundhouse kick floored another man with a weapon. Britt grabbed the back of his collar and swung him toward the door just feet away. They reached for it.

"Hey!" came an angry cry from behind them. "Get off me you asshole!"

Kato slipped Britt's grip and turned. Britt floundered, his head going to the exit, then Kato, then the exit. Then he turned to follow him.

Charlie had grabbed someone under the arms, lifting them clear of the floor. They were kicking their feet angrily, struggling to get free or at least do him some harm.

"I'm not alone you know! When the others see this on the feed they'll storm this place and kick your ass!"

Britt stared; his mouth fell open. Kato's eyes could not go any wider.

"Shut up!" Charlie ordered, giving the woman in his grip a shake.

"Who is this now?" Sapphire demanded. She stalked up to the woman, waving at Charlie. He went to set her down but she lashed out with a foot. A black Converse trainer caught him square in the knee.

"Ow!" he warned, letting her go.

She plummeted to the floor with a crash and a curse. She swept her brown hair out of her face and spat out concrete dust. "I'm warning you!" she seethed. "You've got like a minute before this place gets stormed!"

Kato took a step forward. Britt grabbed his arm to stop him. And then he shoved and before he knew it he had Kato safely behind him. "Who's this?" he blustered. "Another one of your informants?"

"How dare you!" the woman hurled. She got to her feet, brushing down her skinny jeans and leather jacket. She fished out a lanyard and lifted the plastic pass on the end. "Amy De Souza - Daily Sentinel." She paused, and there was a horrible silence. "Yeah - that Daily Sentinel. You lot are screwed - that camera's been filming you since you came in. We've got footage of all of you arriving, your cars, your faces - everything. And that camera is hooked into the wifi - it's been streaming live to the Sentinel all night. We've got you." She folded her arms proudly.

Kato's head came round Britt's shoulder. His mouth opened. Britt stepped forward, pushing him back. "Oh no," he announced hastily. "Looks like we should make a run for it."

Sapphire pulled a gun from the back of her trousers. "Well if they know we're here and what we look like… then there's no point running." She lifted the gun and aimed it at Amy's face.

Kato's left hand swept around Britt to launch something. It whizzed across the divide and stabbed right into her hand. She cried out and dropped the gun.

All hell broke loose. Shots were fired - Amy screamed - something smashed into the floor. Britt grabbed the first person and simply punched them in the face. He booted another one in the knee, elbowed another in the stomach. A fist caught him and he went into the wall. He snatched at whatever he could and blindly kicked at their midsection.

Kato's hands went out in warning. He stepped back - and his other foot had windmilled backward into a man with a gun. Without even looking he stepped back and did it again into the next man. Then he turned and one foot flicked up into a groin, the other into a face. Someone grabbed his shoulder. He butted his head back; he twisted and his foot shot out. The man was lifted off his feet and smashed back into someone else.

He turned and fought his way through three people. His glove closed round Amy's wrist and he hauled her up - she was pulled with him toward the exit.

She twisted her wrist and yanked, breaking his hold. As he turned she picked up the nearest chunk of rubble. She swung it round for all she was worth. It hammered into his head to send him into the ground.

"You crazy broad!" Britt accused. "He was trying to get you out of here!"

He snatched her off her feet by the waist. As she struggled and swore Britt heaved her to the door. He kicked it open and simply threw her out. The door started to swing calmly shut as he ran back toward Kato. Two men aimed weapons at him. He punched the first and shoved the other back. He was launched into two other people. They all went down in a heap.

He grabbed Kato under the arms. He was groggily looking for balance as Britt guided him toward the door. They barrelled out of it but Kato stumbled and landed on his side in the cool night air with a pained 'oof!'.

Amy was getting to her hands and knees. Britt turned and grabbed her arm. "Get up!" he cried.

"Let me go!" she heaved, pulling herself free.

"Run! Now!" he shouted. "Get to safety!"

"The car," Kato groaned.

Britt bent and helped him up. "You ok, dude?"

"Yes," he said irritably. He put a glove up, checking his mask and hat were still on and mostly straight. "We have to—"

"Yeah dude - yeah we do, you're right," Britt said, drowning him out as he helped him away from the door. "Car, right?"

He turned as he heard voices from behind the door. He pushed Kato to lean against the wall and then grabbed up a strip of wood by their feet. He braced it into the door, kicking at the base to try to shove it deeper into the dirt. Something very large pounded on the inside of the door.

"Come on!" he cried in fear, grabbing Kato's arm and putting it over his neck. He looked up just as a flash went off in his face. "Goddamn it!"

"Ha! Epic close up shot!" Amy cried.

Britt drew himself up in anger. She stepped back, uncertain.

"Run. Right now!" he warned.

She squeaked in fear and took off. He could only watch as she ran for her life down the dark street.

Hammering started on the door behind him. He cursed and hefted Kato up in his grip, and between them they hobbled as fast as they could manage across the streets, back toward the Black Beauty.