The Nine-Tailed Fox by Martin Limon

Author:Martin Limon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Crime Fiction
Publisher: Soho Press
Published: 2017-07-21T14:56:43+00:00

-12-

I ran down a long row of multicolored curtains, half-clothed business girls screaming and curling up to hide themselves and Korean businessmen puffing on flaming cigarettes and staring at me wide-eyed. Some were enraged, and drunk enough that they would’ve tried to beat the crap out of me if four other men weren’t already barreling down the hall to do so.

I saw a white cement-block wall at the end of the row. My choice was right or left, and the thugs were so close that they’d be on me in a second, overpowering me with their numbers and their practiced attacks. As it turned out, I didn’t have to decide, because an aluminum cart rolled out in front of me from the right. I dodged left, and the cart pulled back just enough for me to scrape past it.

Behind me, someone’s yell was followed by a huge crash, and glassware and ice buckets went careening to the ground as the women nearby screamed. At the wall, I slowed and looked back. To my relief, behind the overturned cart was a jumble of thugs, sneakers, and wheels, all splayed out among the broken glass. A woman in a tight skirt and dark nylons was trying to help the thugs up, but kept slipping and making the situation worse—for them, not for me.

Something about her was familiar, but I had no time to think about it.

To my right, there was another wall, so I darted left, then turned right at a hallway with a double door at the end, a caged lightbulb glowing. I was hoping this led to a storage area, which might have a back exit or loading dock. Thankfully, I was right on both counts. I passed stacks of cardboard boxes sitting in the darkness, shoved open the door, and stepped out into the fresh salt air of the Port of Inchon. I hopped off the loading dock and hit gravel with a loud crunch before realizing the thugs weren’t behind me.

Worried that they’d lost me completely, I stopped and looked back. The moment I did, four of them exploded out of the same double door and sprinted straight toward me—bruised, bloodied, and furious. I turned and ran downhill toward the waterfront, with a good twenty-yard lead on them.

I still had a half mile to go when I stumbled over a crouching stone heitei, a lionlike creature out of Korean mythology. I sprawled headlong down a cement walkway, my arm bleeding, and was so panicked that I used the downhill momentum of my slide to pull myself up and keep running. I glanced back; my lead had been halved. Ahead was a main street with potential witnesses to my murder, but where in the hell were Ernie and Mr. Kill?

By the time I reached the street, I was moving so fast that I was forced to veer left in a large swerving turn and was easily overtaken by one of my more nimble pursuers, who sliced across the arc to intercept me.

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