He had to admit that the sight of the ruined bank lobby didn’t make him feel sad. He hated bankers. After all, it had been a greedy banker who had foreclosed on their family farm at the rat-tail end of the Great Depression, just before the war. This place was far grander than the local bank that had stolen the Cole family’s land — which meant the bankers here were likely that much greedier.
“This place has seen better days, that’s for sure,” Philly said.
“Maybe there was a run on the bank,” Deke said.
“I’ll say. Hey, I wonder if there’s still any money in the bank vault? If we had a grenade—”
“Come on,” Deke said. “There’s no time for that. Let’s find the stairs and get up to the roof.”
They started toward the rear of the lobby. Outside, they could hear the firing as Patrol Easy took on the Japanese. However, Deke heard another sound — boots crunching on glass. He froze, then signaled Philly to do the same.
“What?” Philly whispered.
As if to answer his question, the sound of footsteps came more clearly now. Then they heard the guttural sound of Japanese speaking among themselves. Someone kicked something across the floor, making it hop and bounce. One of the soldiers laughed. Judging from the sounds, it was a small band of Japanese, maybe three or four men. Deke realized that the enemy soldiers were also headed for the stairs. The sons of bitches probably had the same plan that he and Philly did, which was to get to the roof for the commanding view that it offered. If the Japs got up there, Patrol Easy wouldn’t stand a chance. They would be sitting ducks, picked off from both directions.
Deke and Philly spread out, moving as quietly as they could across the broken glass on the floor, both finding cover behind the tall stone columns. Deke pressed his rifle against the cold, hard stone and waited.
The Japanese soldiers rounded a corner and came into sight. There were three of them, moving quickly, weapons at the ready. Maybe Deke and Philly hadn’t been as quiet as they had hoped and the sound of crunching glass had given them away.
Deke fired at the soldier on the left. Inside the confines of the lobby, there was a distinct sound of the bullet hitting flesh and bone. The soldier went down. Philly’s rifle cracked and dropped the soldier on the right. That left the man in the middle, who managed to get off a wild shot that ricocheted off the column that Deke was taking cover behind.
Deke worked the bolt and shot him, Philly’s bullet coming in a split second later. Hit twice, the Japanese soldier went down. They waited a moment, just to make sure no Japanese had been lagging behind.
“Coast is clear,” Deke said. “Let’s go.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Philly said.
They scrambled toward the stairs, which were broad and marble, leading to offices on the second floor. There was less destruction here, and they moved easily up the stairs. To their relief, there didn’t seem to be any more Japanese soldiers. The stairs grew narrower as they climbed from floor to floor, away from the public eye, finally ending in a utilitarian set of wooden steps that led to a hatch in the roof. They climbed out onto the roof, keeping low, not wanting to attract any attention in case enemy eyes were watching. Again, they were glad not to run into more enemy soldiers up here.
“Looks like we’ve got the place to ourselves,” Deke said.
“Fine by me,” Philly replied.
It turned out that the roof had a slight pitch to it, with acres of copper sheeting coated heavily in tar to keep the rain out. It wasn’t the easiest surface to cross, and already the sun was making the black tar and metal surfaces unpleasantly hot. But that might be the least of their worries if the Japanese caught sight of them before they were in position. One burst from that Nambu might sweep them right off the roof.
Crouching, they ran around to the front of the roof that overlooked the square and the legislative building on the other side. Although the buildings were similar in height, the steeper roof of the bank building gave it an advantage, adding a few precious feet of elevation. This made all the difference because they could look down on the roof of the legislative building — giving Deke a clear shot at the machine gunner.
Deke got next to a chimney, which not only offered at least some cover but, more importantly, provided a solid surface to steady his rifle against. Philly set up on the other side of the chimney.
“I’ll take care of business,” Deke said. “You watch our backs. Maybe those Japs we saw earlier have some friends around.”
“You got it.”
