Page 33 of The Atlas Maneuver

Good to know. But that did not mean she liked being a prisoner. The entrance of the Japanese changed everything. She’d never figured them into the equation.

“We are a culture thousands of years old,” the woman said. “One of long-standing traditions. Finding that lost gold was once a matter of imperial honor. That wealth belonged to our emperor. It was acquired in his name, for his benefit, as part of a war we fought for him.”

She laughed. “You can’t be serious? Japan looted that gold from across Southeast Asia. It’s contraband.”

“Which the United States stole from us.”

“And which has been hidden under a blanket of secrecy for eighty years. Officially, that gold doesn’t exist. And since you know of the Atlas Maneuver, you know the bank can’t do what it wants to do without that gold.”

“We are hoping you might cooperate with us,” her captor said.

“In what way?” she asked.

Ejima stood impassionate, not a hint of anything on her face. In that way she was a lot like Katie Gledhill. Listening. Missing nothing. Plotting. Planning. You either were important to her endeavors or you were not. Nothing in between. This entire mission had been about stopping the bank from doing something catastrophic. But becoming a pawn? A token? A unit of exchange? Something negotiable?

That was never part of the plan.

“Katie will never bargain with you,” she said again.

“On that I am afraid you are correct.”

Ejima motioned to the men standing behind Kelly.

Suddenly, something swept across her face from behind.

A cord.

That tightened around her neck.

She tried to swing her body around and lessen the pressure, butto no avail. Her throat constricted, cutting off air. She kept trying to free herself. Which only made things worse. Her eyes went wide, mouth frothing, hands still clawing at the cord, slashing, trying to break free.

The air in her lungs exhausted.

But no new breaths were possible.

Her hands fluttered at her sides.

Shrill, whining sounds seeped from her contracted throat as she tried to stay conscious—have to stay awake—but to no avail.

The world went black.

And silent.

CHAPTER 20

AIKOEJIMA WATCHED ASKELLYAUSTIN’S LIMP BODY WAS CARRIEDaway. Regrettable that violence was needed, but sometimes there was simply no alternative. It was important that Austin be incapacitated. The American had already shown, back at the café, a willingness to fight.

Usually, the room around her was occupied by an official of the Japanese foreign ministry. But that man was in Bern for the day at the main embassy, and the rest of the consulate’s staff all worked for the PSIA. Japan had long maintained a robust intelligence presence within Switzerland, especially in Basel, thinking that what remained of Yamashita’s gold was stored somewhere nearby. Which made sense. Switzerland was a haven for bullion.

The PSIA had quietly sought the Golden Lily wealth for decades but had found nothing. Only a year ago, after they’d finally cultivated a source inside the Bank of St. George, had they begun to make significant progress. Especially so in the last few hours when things had unexpectedly begun to move at light speed. Before heading out to secure Austin, Aiko had made an initial report to Tokyo, and she had been ordered to make an additional report once Austin was questioned. So she sat before the desktop LED screen and connected to Tokyo by a secure channel.

The political situation within Japan was unusual, to say the least. The current holder of the Chrysanthemum throne, the 127th to carry the title emperor, was a healthy fifty-six-year-old, married, with two children. But he’d not ascended to the throne by the death of his predecessor. Instead, his father, eighty-nine years old, had abdicated, saying that it had become more and more difficult, because of his health, for him to carry out his duties.

Or at least that’s what the nation had been told.

Instead, the emperor emeritus, who was old but relatively healthy, had spent the past six years quietly focused on something that his father, Emperor Hirohito, had started during World War II.

Kin no yuri.