The Gates of Hell (Matt Drake 3) Read Online Free PDF

here and the delicious smell of mouth-watering foods. Every time a waiter passed with an enormous oval-shaped tray, loaded to breaking point with huge plates and drinks, she found it hard to keep her attention on the doors. Laughter filled the place.
    An hour passed. Near the end of the bar, an old man sat alone, head down, nursing a pint. Loneliness surrounded him like a coat of bristles, warning everyone off. He was the single blight in the whole place. Directly behind him, as if to distinguish his peculiarity, a British couple asked a passing waiter to take a photo of them sitting together, arms around each other. Mai listened to the man’s excited voice “We just found out we’re pregnant.”
    Her eyes never stopped roving. Her bartender approached several times but didn’t get fresh again. Some football match played out on the TV screens.
    Mai kept tight hold of the rucksack. When the readout on her phone said eight o’clock, she saw three men in dark suits enter the restaurant. They stood out like Marines in a church. Big, broad shoulders. Neck tattoos. Heads shaved. Hard, unsmiling faces.
    Kovalenko’s men were here.
    Mai watched them move, assessing their prowess. All were competent, but several leagues behind her. She took a last sip of her tea, fixed Chika’s face firmly in her mind, and slipped off the barstool. With consummate ease she stole up behind them, holding the rucksack against her legs.
    She waited.
    Seconds later one of them noticed her. The shock on his face was gratifying. They knew her reputation.
    “Where is my sister?”
    It took them a moment to recover their tough demeanor. One said, “Do you have the device?”
    They had to speak loudly to hear one another above the din of people arriving, leaving, and being called to go to their tables.
    “Yes, I have it. Show me my sister.”
    Now one of the hard-cases managed a smile. “Now that”—he smirked—“I can do.”
    Careful to stay amongst the milling crowd one of Kovalenko’s goons fished out a new-looking iPhone and tapped out a number. Mai sensed the other two staring at her as she watched, most likely assessing what form her reaction might take.
    If they had hurt Chika, she wouldn’t care about the crowd.
    Tense moments passed. Mai saw a pretty young girl race happily toward a big display of cheesecakes, followed quickly and just as happily by her parents. How close they were to death and mayhem they just couldn’t know, and Mai had no wish to show them.
    The iPhone crackled into life. She strained to see the small screen. It was out of focus. After a few seconds the blurred image came together to show a close-up of her sister’s face. Chika was alive and breathing, but looking scared out of her mind.
    “If any of you bastards have hurt her. . .”
    “Just keep watching.”
    The picture kept panning away. Chika’s whole body came into view, tied so tightly to a solid oak chair she could barely move. Mai grated her teeth. The camera continued to retreat. Its user was walking away from Chika, across a big, well-lit warehouse. At one point, they paused near a window and showed her the view outside. She immediately recognized one of Miami’s most iconic buildings—the Miami Tower—a three-tier skyscraper renowned for its ever-changing color display. After a few more seconds, the phone returned to her sister and the owner began retreating once again until, eventually he stopped.
    “He is against the door,” the more chatty of Kovalenko’s men told her. “When you give us the device, he will walk outside. Then you will be able to see exactly where she is.”
    Mai studied the iPhone. The call had to be current. She didn’t think it was a recording. Besides, she had watched him dial. And her sister was definitely in Miami.
    Of course, they could kill her and escape even before Mai managed to get away from the CocoWalk.
    “The device, Miss Kitano.” The thug’s voice, though harsh, held a great deal of respect.
    As it