[Thomas Caine #1] Tokyo Black Read Online Free Page B

a meeting. Kryptos, 9:00 am on the dot.”
    She checked her phone’s clock. Just enough time to finish her run and get ready. A short buzz indicated Ethan had already sent the invite.
    “Thanks, Ethan. I’ll be there. See you in a couple hours.”
    “Hey, Rebecca?”
    “Yeah?”
    “How’s your time?”
    She laughed. “Shitty, as always. Trust me, Ethan, it’s not about the time.”
    She hung up and spared herself a minute to look around, soaking in the tranquility of the cool morning. The truth was Rebecca had run this route dozens of times … and she had never once timed herself. For her, it really wasn’t about the time.
    It was about the escape.
    She picked up her feet and resumed her pace. The morning mist grew thicker, surrounding her, and then she was gone, lost in a cold, grey cloud.
    Two hours later, Rebecca had traded in her damp sweats and sneakers for a charcoal Helmut Lang suit. Her long, fiery red hair was slicked back into a thick ponytail, and she wore a navy blue raincoat, belted at her waist.
    The sharp lines of her designer clothes made her feel like a shark—a smooth, deadly predator, relentlessly moving forward. Her black heels clicked on the walkway between her office and the New Headquarters Building. Up ahead, a courtyard separated the two buildings with a centerpiece known as Kryptos, a sculpture as enigmatic as its name suggested.
    Rebecca strode up to the eight-foot-tall copper statue. The sheet of metal rose up from the ground in a curved s-shape. It stretched twelve feet from left to right. A series of letters and symbols was stamped into the metal, divided into four square sections. Each section contained a coded message, all but one of which had been cracked and translated. The fourth code remained a mystery, known only to the artist and, according to legend, the director of the CIA.
    Allan Bernatto stood in front of the copper statue, gazing up at the strange symbols that adorned its surface. Clad in a black trench coat, he held an umbrella in one hand and a steaming cup of coffee from the nearby cafeteria in the other. He stood with his back to her, but he spoke before she entered his field of vision.
    “You’re late, Freeling.”
    Rebecca didn’t bother glancing at the slim platinum watch on her wrist.
    “Sorry, Allan. Rain slowed me down.” She stood next to him and glanced at the fourth section of the Kryptos panel. This was the code that no amateur or CIA cryptographer had been able to translate. “Taking a crack at the fourth code?”
    Allan gave a short laugh, more of a grunt than an expression of humor. “You know how much this thing cost? Fucking ridiculous.” He looked down at Rebecca, raindrops beading on his small, round glasses. “Walk with me.”
    Rebecca looked up and tried to read his eyes. As always, they were as dark and unyielding as the metal wall before them. She shrugged and nodded.
    They turned and walked down the pathway leading out of the courtyard. The older man didn’t say a word as their footsteps crunched across the pebbled path. Gradually, the sound of the rocks beneath their feet became louder than the chattering of their coworkers in the courtyard. He cleared his throat once.
    “Where are we on the Kusaka situation?” His voice was low and even, as emotionless as the navigation system in her car.
    “Sir, with all due respect—”
    “No,” he interrupted, “don’t do that.”
    “Don’t do what?” Even as the words left her mouth, she knew it was a futile gesture. She already knew how this conversation was going to go.
    “I don’t care about your ‘due respect’ or your opinions on the matter, or why you don’t think we should get involved. I don’t care if you like me, or hate me, or you think I’m the fucking Anti-Christ. I assigned you a task. I’m on a tight timeframe here. What do you have for me?”
    Rebecca stopped in her tracks, forcing Allan to shuffle a bit before turning to glare at her. “May I be blunt,