Free Shinobi (A Katana Novel) by Cole Gibsen Page B

didn’t make it any better. By going along with me, I was asking Q to risk his life. But instead of hesitating or showing any signs of doubt, Q locked eyes with me and gave a curt nod.
    “All right.” I pulled my jacket from my desk chair. “Let’s go find Sumi.”
    Together, Q and I followed Whitley out of my condo, down several flights of stairs, and into the parking garage where his BMW waited.
    Just as I was about to climb into the front passenger seat, my phone began to vibrate from my inside my pocket. I smiled and settled back into the seat. When I didn’t answer, Kim would surely come looking for me. Sure, Whitley would be pissed. But after all the times he’d double-crossed me, I definitely owed him one.

11
    W hitley pulled into a remote shopping plaza and parked his car outside a twenty-four-hour gym.
    I frowned at him. “Not really a good time for a workout, don’t you think?”
    He rolled his eyes. “We’re not here to work out, you dummy. Sumi is here.” He pointed to the blue Honda parked a row over. “I followed her here earlier. And since her car is still here—it’s safe to assume she hasn’t left yet.”
    In the backseat, Q unbuckled his seat belt and leaned forward. “Are you sure? I don’t see anyone inside.”
    He was right. With the early morning light yet to break through the purpling horizon, the rows of treadmills, elliptical machines, and weightlifting equipment sat unused. But dawn was quickly approaching, and the gym would soon be full of people wanting to get a quick workout before work. If Sumi was in there, we needed to find her before the innocent bystanders arrived.
    Whitley pulled the keys from the ignition and placed them inside his pocket. “She’s in the locker room. What better place to clean up undisturbed after a murder? If you can somehow get inside the gym without swiping your membership card, the police would never think to look for you here. Meanwhile, you can rest and clean up, and all that DNA evidence goes right down the drain. It’s genius, really.”
    I made a face. “I guess you have to be a psychopath to really appreciate the achievements of another psychopath.” I opened the car door and stepped out into the chilly spring air. “Let’s get this over with. The sooner we do, the sooner I don’t have to see you ever again.”
    Whitley followed me out of the car. “Fair enough.”
    I quickly glanced at the road behind us. How long would it take Kim to arrive? Since climbing into the car with Whitley, my phone had buzzed five different times over the course of our fifteen-minute drive. He had to be on his way, and I’d sure feel a lot better taking Sumi on with Kim by my side.
    Q exited the car and approached the gym door. After trying unsuccessfully to pull the door open, he tapped a gray box beside the door. “You need one of those magnetic key cards to get inside.”
    “On it.” I marched to the door and placed my hand on the card reader. Closing my eyes, I opened myself enough to allow a small ribbon of ki to uncurl from my fingertips into the box beneath my fingers. A second later, the box beeped and the door clicked as the lock receded.
    Q smiled before pulling the door open. “That never gets old.”
    Whitley snorted. “It’s a cheap trick—one that any ninja could do. What would be really handy is if you could do that thing where you make us all invisible.” He gave me a hopeful look.
    “Sorry.” I shook my head. “That only works if I’m standing in shadows and this place”—I gestured to the brightly florescent lit room—“is seriously lacking in shadows.”
    Whitley sighed. “So much for that idea. Guess we’ll just have to face her head-on.” He removed a long chain from his pocket. A blunt weight dangled from one end and a gleaming hatchet from the other. A kusarigama—the perfect weapon for both bludgeoning your enemy to death and cutting them into ribbons.
    I slid my sword free from its sheath at my hip and spun it in