Katsuro led the way along the second-floor corridor until he reached a green-lit sign for the fire exit. He kicked the bar to open it, shouldering his way through and starting down the stairs. The fire exit opened onto an alleyway at the side of the hotel and Katsuro led the way calmly along it. At the end, he could see the usual throng of people who had gathered to watch the statue of Godzilla as its eyes shone and its mouth opened and closed. He took her hand and dragged her into the crowd.

106

Milton opened the minibar in search of something he could use as a weapon and found a corkscrew, much like the one that Sakura had used against Katsuro. He hurried across the room and, very carefully, pushed down on the handle of the door. The corkscrew had a wooden handle and he held that tight in his palm, the screw itself poking from between his fingers. He opened the door, slowly at first, listening for anything that might suggest that someone was outside. He heard nothing, opened the door all the way and then looked out, left and right. The corridor was empty. There was a cleaning trolley parked in the corridor. He grabbed a towel and used it to wipe the blood from his face. The white cotton came away streaked with red; Milton knew he had been battered, and could only guess at how bad he looked. He would have to clean himself up.

He tried to orient himself and saw a sign for an emergency staircase fifteen feet to his left. He ran to it, opened the door and ascended the stairs two at a time. He started from the twelfth floor, reached the thirteenth and kept climbing until he reached the fourteenth floor. He opened the door cautiously and looked out into the corridor. The couple from the room next to theirs were outside. They saw Milton heading in their direction and backed away, turning and running before he could reach them.

Milton knew that he didn’t have long before the alarm was raised. He ran to his and Sakura’s room, took out his key card, held it to the reader and opened the door. The room was empty. He looked for the bag with the tantō and saw that it had been taken. He looked through the hole in the wall and saw that that room was empty, too.

No Katsuro.

No Sakura.

He had her.