Each member of the group was armed with an identical Beretta Storm Compact nine-millimeter pistol with a threaded barrel and suppressor. All but Wu Chao also carried a knife. The women preferred short, scalpel-like blades for close-in work, which accounted for why they often removed their clothing before they did a job. Kang’s weapon of choice was a thick beast with a slightly curved blade that resembled a stubby cutlass. He’d had it custom-made by a smith in Shanghai. The black Micarta handle was scored to help him retain his grip when it might otherwise grow slippery from the inevitable blood and gore.
Kang took his eye off the house long enough to check his team. The women were both locked in on the mission, but relaxed in the way professionals relax before doing something they know well. Wu crouched at the edge of the brush, turning his head this way and that, as if he were attacking a fortified sentry post instead of a house of soft targets. He used a night-vision monocular to scan the grounds, and then returned the device to his pocket. There was enough ambient light that flashlights or night-vision goggles were unnecessary.
Wu gave Kang a slight nod, permission to advance, though Kang had been about to move forward without it. This was his realm of expertise.
Taking a mobile phone from the pocket of his vest, Kang entered a six-digit code, accessing the security application on the Li boy’s cloned device. On Kang’s signal, the team sprinted through the blue-black darkness across the lawn to the side door — off the kitchen, stacking in teams of two on either side of the frame. Lily put her right hand on the knob, then raised her left to signal she was ready. The alarm would make an audible chirp the moment it was deactivated, alerting Li that something was amiss. They had to move quickly.
Kang, standing directly behind Lily, entered the disarm code, counted to three, and then gave her thigh a squeeze — signaling for her to go. She rolled in through the open door, careful not to let it bang against the inside wall. Kang followed tight on her heels, pistol up, raised tritium night sights glowing over the barrel of his suppressor in the dim light of the pantry. Rose filed in behind him, fluid, inaudible. Wu Chao brought up the rear, easing the door shut.
The group crept through the mudroom and pantry single file, padding softly into the kitchen, following the edge of a wraparound granite counter toward the stairs to the left. The front half of the second floor was open to the area below, and light from an open bedroom door above poured over the balcony, illuminating wood floors and ornamental throw rugs.
A sleepy woman’s voice carried down over the railing above. She must have heard the electronic chirp. “James. Are you up messing with the alarm?”
The boy coughed. “Huh?”
“I asked if you were messing with the alarm,” the woman said.
“It’s not me!” the boy said, hoarse with sleep.
The teenage girl spoke next. “Oh my gosh, James! It’s the middle of the night, could you just shut up?”
Kang was surprised they’d all awoken so easily. No matter.
In the hall below, Lily trained her pistol upward at the balcony, her back to the stairs. She gestured to her left, then directly in front of her, and whispered, “Girl… parents,” indicating who was in which room. Then, pointing over her shoulder at the bedroom that would be across the upstairs hall, she said, “Boy.”
Kang and the others signaled that they understood. The plan was to grab the parents first, specifically the pregnant woman. They would all be killed eventually, but Wu Chao insisted on questioning Peter Li, learning what he knew, what others knew — if anything — about the incursion into the “vault” computer in his office. Once the woman was under control, everyone would fall into line. Li was sure to answer any questions to save his wife and unborn baby. After that… Kang smiled inside. After that, the fool would realize it would have been better if everyone had died in the initial attack.
Kang raised an open hand toward the stairs. His foot had just hit the bottom step when the boy called out again. He froze.
“Something’s weird,” the boy said, half shouting so his parents could hear him. “My app is acting up. Sorry, Mom. I’ll go down and arm it at the pad.”
A light flicked on upstairs.
Kang motioned for Wu Chao and Rose to move quickly across the hall and into the dining room. He took Lily with him to wait around the corner in the kitchen. The boy would walk directly between them to reach the security controls.
Young ears, especially those attached to the heads of youths who do not have the misfortune to live in noisy cities or places of war, have excellent hearing.
