Crossing the Line

by Naomi Aoki

  He checked his pockets and sure he had everything Brian headed for the front door. Brian paused at the sound of footsteps behind him and turned to find Kennosuke. His heart fluttered – a weird fucking feeling for him – as Kennosuke grabbed a hold of his shoulder and tugged Brian closer.

  “Be fucking careful. Takeshi is a nasty piece of work. Sneaky. Manipulative. He won’t hesitate to use you against Jamie and I, if given a chance.”

  “I’ll be fine. Return in one piece, even.”

  It was now or never, and the clock continued to countdown until he had to leave. Brain reached out and wrapped his hand around Kennosuke’s head, tilting it and bringing their lips together. Not much of a kiss, Brian knew they’d had longer, more passionate ones than this and yet right at this moment, he reckoned it was the best one they’d ever shared. Full of raw emotion that was no longer held back by either of them.

  A horn tooted, blue and red lights flashed sending the colours spilling through the glass of his front door and it forced them to part. Brian reluctant to do so when he noticed the expression on Kennosuke’s face – confusion, anger, happiness all wrapped together, and all Brian wanted to do was hold him close. “Fuck, I’ve got to go. We’ll talk about this later. I promise.” He opened the door and walked out before Kennosuke could reply and hoped he hadn’t just fucked things up again.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Brian climbed out of the patrol car, settled his hat on his head and attached the radio to his vest. An officer being picked up from their house on the way to a callout was unusual even if they had been suspended up until that moment like he’d been. He glanced around, the paddy wagon already sat parked outside the pub as two more patrol cars pulled up. Brian greeted his fellow officers and tried to ignore the strange looks one of them was giving him – a young constable fresh out of Police College – as he clipped a cannister of pepper spray to his belt. Hard to ignore him when the youngster continued to stare at him as though he half expected Brian to turn his weapons on him.

  “Geez, what the hell’s your problem?” Not that Brian couldn’t guess, hating how it made him feel like he was back in high school. All those judging looks from students and teachers alike once they learnt who his father was.

  “I hear your old man’s inside with all his mates.” He jerked his head in the direction of the Northern, with a smugness Brian would dearly love to smack off the constable’s face.

  “Is he? Wouldn’t know. Don’t have anything to do with him.” Brian shrugged his shoulders and moved toward the pub’s entrance.

  “It’s... not going to be a problem, is it?”

  Brian stopped. He turned around and stared at the constable with an incredulous expression. What did this young cop think he would achieve by implying something like that? The other cops chuckled at the constable’s words, having heard such questions asked of Brian before – had asked themselves – and yet none of them doubted his loyalty. Stupid idiots, if only they knew.

  “What?” He forced the constable to take a step backward. “You think because I was suspended that I’m going to abandon my badge and side with my father?”

  “No...no, I don’t think that at all.”

  “Good. Don’t ever mention that man’s name in my presence again.” Brian spun on his heels and marched up the steps to the door. He didn’t miss how rattled the bouncers looked, which was both an amusing and a concerning sight as the burly men held the door open for the cops to enter. What fucked up mess were they walking into?

  A fucking warzone.

  Brian took a deep breath and stared at the chaos in front of him, wondering where all these unknown out-of-towners had come from. He ducked as a glass came flying his way, smashing into the wall behind him, joining all the broken glasses, bottles and chairs on the floor. A flick of his head and the other cops present moved in, pepper spray at the ready as they tried to break up the fights going on in the pub. Brian headed for the group fighting closest to him, dodging tables broken from the weight of bodies that had been slammed into them and shook his head at the high cost this birthday party was going to be for his father. Speaking of his old man, Brian hazarded a glance in his direction, finding him leaning against the furthest wall from Brian and scowling at the chaos. He wasn’t the only person Brian searched for as he walked, Takeshi – who Kennosuke and Jamie warned him about – surprisingly absent. But he couldn’t worry about him, needing to keep his focus on his surroundings as Brian ducked again to avoid a fist aimed at someone else from clocking him instead.

  “Police. Break it up,” he barked, unclipping his pepper spray and holding it ready to use as he grabbed the shoulder of one the fighters. Brian shoved at the man – one of his father’s drug runners – trying to separate them, but neither was prepared to back down pissing Brian off. “I said, BREAK IT UP.”

  The men paused, chests heaving, fists bloodied, and Brian suspected they both had broken noses along with their cut lips and bruises. Two men, out-of-towners who’d been standing nearby scattered, before Brian managed to handcuff the two in front of him. Though what surprised him was that they hadn’t tried to escape the pub but had ducked down a hallway he knew lead to the manager’s office.

  “Get on the floor. Hands where I can see them.”

  They hesitated to obey for a fraction of a second before sinking to the floor. Brain breathed out a sigh of relief not wanting to push the issue when the dark cloud of his suspension still hung heavy over him. He grabbed zip ties from his pocket and bound their hands together. Hauling them back to their feet, he marched the men toward the entrance and handed them off to another officer to shove into the paddy wagon.

  He turned back to the main floor of the pub surveying the fights still going on and looked for his father. Brain hoped, noticing his old man was no longer present, he’d gotten out of the pub without incident, John was already going to have his hands full trying to secure bail for those who’d been arrested so far. He didn’t need the added stress of trying to secure the release of the one man the police would be loathed to let back onto the streets of Invercargill.

  Brain headed for the bar where a group of four men were gathered, aggressive in their posturing, intent on stopping the fight before fists flew. It was all an act. Not one of the group was an out-of-towner and they’d waited until all the other officers except Brian had been tied up before taking up their position. It was excuse for Brian to approach and to relay any messages from his old man. Hands gripped shirts and bodies pressed tight against the bar as the aggressor pulled back his fist ready to pummel his opponent while their mates jeered from the side lines. He clamped his hand on the man’s – Kayde’s shoulder, startling him and his elbow hit Brian.

  “Fuck. Careful,” Brian growled and then barked out the words his colleagues expected to hear. “Stop! Police.”

  “Nice to see you too,” Kayde snarked and Brian wanted to slam the man’s head into the bar top. If Kayde wasn’t careful with the way he spoke he was going to cause Brian a whole lot of trouble. “Are you going to arrest me officer?” Smarmy piece of shit.

  “Damned right I am.” Brian pulled out a zip tie and bound Kayde’s hands behind his back. “And just for being a little shit, I’m going to ask John to leave you in the cells for a couple of days,” he said, keeping his voice low. Kayde scowled in response and the others chuckled. “You have information?”

  “Five men out back. Two guarding the door. One is Asian, not local-” Takeshi. “-dangerous fucker. Targeted us with his out-of-town scum and only us.”

  “Got it. My old man?”

  “Headed for Murray’s.”

  Brian nodded, hauling Kayde away from the bar and pushed him in the direction of the doors. By Murray’s Brian knew his father would be waiting for him at home having jumped the back fence. Though these days it wasn’t so much jumping the fence as walking through the gate after his father tried to break his arm last time he attempted it. He snorted, maybe he should have warned Jamie and Kennosuke that his fat
her might turn up before he’d left.

  Though what worried Brian more than that, was knowing Takeshi had targeted his father’s men. Takeshi at least knew of the connection between his father and Jamie and it wouldn’t take long to connect those dots back to him. He passed Kayde off to a waiting officer and headed back into the pub determined to confront Takeshi before another of his colleagues stumbled upon him. Brian knew he’d promised Kennosuke he’d stay clear of Takeshi, but he no longer had a choice. There was a real risk his cover could get blown and Brian couldn’t have that.

  No one stopped Brian as he strode down the hallway to the manager’s office, not even the men on guard outside the door. They sneered at Brain, trying to act tough in front of the cop while holding the door open for him to enter. His own colleagues still busy dealing with the last of the arrested men, probably hadn’t even noticed he’d left the main floor of the pub. It gave him a few minutes alone with the man in front of him, the one who’d instigated the whole debacle – Takeshi.

  The door closed behind him and the men flanking Takeshi snickered, no doubt believing they had the upper hand on the cop daring to step into the room. But with the door closed Brian dropped the pretence of being a good cop; he folded his arms over his chest and stared them down, not intimidated by them at all. He wanted to laugh as the men stepped back, hands drifting to concealed weapons as they recognised Brian as being like them, but with greater power. The only one who didn’t react in fear was Takeshi who threw his head back and laughed.

  “Of course, Ken’s bit on the side wouldn’t be an ordinary cop. Gou would never allow it... then again, his ability to make wise choices is debatable since he took a foreigner into his bed... shared fucking sake with him,” Takeshi spat, the danger contained in him bleeding out with every syllable. The men flanking him took another step back, realising just how dangerous Takeshi was.

  “And you, must be Takeshi.”

  “That I am.”

  Takeshi stood, walked around the desk to stand in front of Brian and leaned against it. Brian didn’t budge. Didn’t take a step backward or show any sign that the man’s closeness scared him. No, he wasn’t scared, Brian was angry. Images of the scar Kennosuke now carried, the memory of him bleeding out in the apartment flickered through his mind and this man was responsible for it. Brian wanted to wrap his hands around Takeshi’s neck... wanted to introduce Takeshi to his fists until the man’s face was bloodied and Brian’s knuckles bruised. He wanted to take the blade he could see tucked in Takeshi’s belt and slide it into Takeshi’s guts so that he would experience the same pain Kennosuke had. But unlike Kennosuke, Brian wouldn’t allow Takeshi to live.

  Except Brian couldn’t kill him, not while he wore this uniform.

  “Why are you here, Takeshi? What is it you’re after?”

  “Jamie. Kennosuke. Dead.”

  Brian growled, couldn’t stop the sound escaping his throat if he’d tried. His anger only grew in strength as Takeshi laughed. “Not going to happen. They aren’t even in the country.”

  “You might have all your police colleagues fooled... but you really aren’t a good liar. I know when they arrived... that this is their second visit here and why.”

  Fuck, he would kill for a weapon that wasn’t pepper spray, right now. “Your information is wrong.”

  Takeshi leaned forward getting right into Brian’s personal space and whispered. “I know that they are at your house right now.” He danced away as Brian’s anger, his possessive need to protect Kennosuke took over and he lunged at Takeshi. “Don’t worry I won’t attack them... there. Wouldn’t want to blow your precious cover. But I will kill them before I return to Japan and take great pleasure in doing it. If you get in my way... I won’t hesitate to kill you too.”

  If only he wasn’t in uniform; wasn’t standing in the backroom of a pub with his uniformed colleagues metres away, then Brian would’ve done something brutal to this man.

  Takeshi grinned, realising how conflicted he was. “Go, Cooper... Go tell Jamie and Ken that I’m coming for them. Tell them there is nothing you can do to protect them.”

  “I can’t leave empty handed.”

  Takeshi nodded as though his request was not unreasonable and grabbed a hold of the man closest to him. Takeshi easily overpowered his attempts to shake him off and shoved the man in Brian’s direction. Brian wasn’t going to complain moving quick to handcuff the protesting man. He pushed the man ahead of him out the door and back to the main floor of the pub where his colleagues waited.

  “Backrooms are all clear now. Caught this one trying to take advantage of the mess and break into the safe.” He shoved the man into the arms of waiting officers and breathed out slow.

  “They’ll handle everything back at the station, paperwork and such while I drop you back home,” an officer said, not the same one who’d picked him up.

  It wasn’t like Brian wanted to be stuck for the next hour or so processing the shitheads, but it was a pointed reminder that he wasn’t back on the roster. “Yeah I get it. I’m technically still suspended.”

  The officer shrugged. “Yeah, something like that.”

  Brian didn’t care. He wanted – needed to get home to Kennosuke.

  Chapter Twenty

  The backdoor rattled, hinges creaking as someone shoved it open, startling Jamie and Kennosuke. Kennosuke grabbed the thing closest to hand, the kitchen knife he’d been using to make a sandwich and stared at the door, mumbling a string of curses in Japanese that had Jamie chuckling, but it was tinged by the same panic creeping through Kennosuke’s veins. He gripped the knife tighter, readied himself to fight as he waited for the unknown intruder to step through the final door and hoped like hell it wasn’t Takeshi. Wouldn’t be surprising if it was.

  But if it was Takeshi they were screwed. He couldn’t kill the man in Brian’s house without creating a mess that would be hard to clean up. One that could destroy Brian’s career and Jamie’s ability to visit his family. And it didn’t matter that they didn’t have any decent weapons to use; if fate didn’t favour them then their own deaths would destroy Brian’s life just as nicely.

  “Put your fucking – bread knife? – down,” a man growled, pushing the door leading from the laundry into the kitchen open.

  “Mr Cooper? Fuck. Have you not heard of knocking, like on the front door?” Kennosuke dropped the knife onto the bench. Jamie breathed a sigh of relief and began to chuckle. “What the fuck is so funny?”

  “I think it’s obvious why they can’t use the front door.” Kennosuke blinked, staring at Jamie in confusion. “Brian is supposed to hate his father, remember... because of his job.”

  “But wouldn’t they have still parked out on the street?” He stepped back out of the kitchen to let Mr Cooper and the two men accompanying him inside.

  He didn’t get it. The hiding. The secretive way Brian and his father moved around each other. It didn’t happen like that back at home. Then, it wasn’t as though he’d heard of a Yakuza’s son joining the police force, but it was well-known that the Araki-gumi had members of the Kyoto police in their pay. Hell, his uncle and father regular shared sake with the Kyoto Police Commissioner – went to school with him, Kennosuke thought he remembered his father saying – and the police notified them before raids. Sure, it meant they could hide any incriminating evidence, but it was a custom they’d all carried out for so long no one thought of doing it any different. It wasn’t unheard of for a boss to retire from his Yakuza group and enter politics, but looking at Brian’s father, Kennosuke somehow couldn’t imagine that happening here.

  Mr Cooper opened the fridge door and grabbed out beers, offering one to Kennosuke. “The house behind, is one of ours. We park there and come through the fence.”

  Kennosuke took the beer and wandered back into the living room, passing one to Jamie. Relief sung in his veins, and in his shared looks with Jamie, but it was short lived as Brian’s father sat on the couch next to him. This might be a far worse situation.
The man knew of Kennosuke’s feelings for Brian; had hinted that Brian might share those sentiments, not that Kennosuke allowed himself to believe it. Infatuated. Enthralled. Kennosuke could believe that and with his refusal to be another ‘holiday fling’ it no doubt stoked Brian’s interest further. Except it didn’t explain the kiss. Fleeting, but filled with fiery passionate promises Kennosuke didn’t want to believe real.

  Conversation continued around him on the rugby, cricket and the building of the milk powder plant. Kennosuke barely listened, easily tuning out as their accents became broader; rolling sounds that blurred together with the help of booze and spoken quicker than Kennosuke could keep up with. He dropped his empty bottle to the floor and leaned back, resting his head on the couch and let his thoughts drift to Brian.

  What did that kiss mean?

  What had Brian wanted to say before Jamie interrupted?

  His eyes opened, tensing at the sound of a car pulling up outside. Doors banged loudly and Kennosuke wondered why no one else had reacted to it until he realised how much time had passed, noting the number of bottles now lying empty on the floor. He breathed deep, coughing on the lungful of sweet smoke he took in and began to think maybe he’d imagined the noise. Wishful thinking helped on by the other’s activities, but as feet thudded on the wooden porch and the creak of the front door opening convinced Kennosuke otherwise. Pushing himself off the couch he picked his way through the mess off glass bottles and stepped into the hallway as Brian closed the front door behind him.

  “Was he there?”

  “Yeah, he was.” Brian looked tired, stressed but Kennosuke needed more than that.