Inside the stairway it was pitch black, as it now was outside as well.
"How are we going to see—" Walter began, but Chiun nudged him into silence.
The stairwell let out onto a catwalk, one of many crisscrossing the upper portion of the warehouse.
"Do you see them?" Remo asked.
"See who?" Walter asked.
"Of course I see them," Chiun said.
"See who?" Walter whispered.
"Five," Remo said, "all up here."
"Who?"
"Quiet!" Chiun hissed. "I will take the two nearest," he said to Remo, "you the other three."
They both looked down at the floor below and saw nothing.
"Whoever arranged the meeting hasn't shown up yet. We can get this done before he does," Remo said.
"What do I do?" Walter asked.
"Put your hand out in front of your face," Chiun said. Walter did so. "What do you see?'
"Nothing."
"Does that answer your question?" Remo asked.
Walter dropped his hand, and Chiun said, "Do not move until we get back."
"All right."
They were there, and then suddenly they weren't. Remo and Chiun simply blended into the darkness and were gone.
* * *
Soundlessly, Remo moved up behind the first man and pressed his finger into his back. "Don't make a sound," he said over the man's shoulder.
"Wha—" Jim Burger said.
"Take it easy."
"Okay, okay, just don't shoot, huh, buddy?"
"Shoot? What are you talking about?" Remo asked, jabbing his finger harder against the man's back. "It's just my finger."
"Hey, buddy, don't try to con me, all right?" the man said. "I know steel when I feel it."
"What are you doing here?"
"Waiting."
"Who are you supposed to kill?"
"Huh? Kill? What are you—"
"Don't try to con me, buddy," Remo said, jabbing the man hard. "You're not here to talk."
"Look, pal, I'm not alone."
"I know that. After I take care of you, I'll take care of your friends."
"You won't shoot," the man said with a sudden surge of confidence. "The others would be all over you if you did."
"You're right, I won't shoot," Remo said, "but you're going to be just as dead."
Remo forced his finger forward through the fabric of the man's clothing, where it pierced his skin like the blade of a knife. The man grunted and then slumped back against Remo, who lowered him to the floor of the catwalk.
He eliminated the other two men in similar fashion, leaving all three so that their blood seeped through the grilled floor of the catwalk and dropped down to the warehouse floor below.
When Remo returned to where they had left Walter Sterling, Chiun was already waiting, shaking his head.
"Sloppy technique," he said.
"What happened?" Walter asked.
"I thought it would be a nice touch," Remo said.
"Like the dripping of three faucets," Chiun said. "The sound is offensive to me."
"You have no imagination, Chiun."
Chiun was about to answer when there was a faint sound below. Only he and Remo heard it.
"What did you—" Walter started, but both Remo and Chiun silenced him, and the boy lapsed into an exasperated silence he swore not to break.
They all listened intently, and finally Walter realized what had happened. Someone had entered the warehouse by more conventional means than they had— the front entrance.
Remo and Chiun decided to let the man stew awhile.
Wagner entered the warehouse confidently, certain that all five of his men had him in their sights to protect him. He wondered if the black dealer had arrived yet.
He knew the warehouse pretty well, and he knew where the main switches were. He found them and threw the switch for the lights for the lower half of the warehouse. The upper portion was still swathed in darkness, which was fine by him. That would make it easy for his men to remain unseen.