“Oh my god, wake up, Mei-chan. Wake up!”
Something hit my leg as my brain slowly unfolded from unconsciousness. One layer of blackness peeled away from another and light faded into my eyes as I tried to come to grips with my surroundings. I was just at the bathhouse, but I wasn’t there anymore. Coldness from a hard surface seeped up through my hind end, my hands in pain behind my back. An ether-like cotton-stuffed sensation, sweet, with an aftertaste of champagne filled my mouth.
“Why isn’t she waking up? Wake up, Mei-chan!”
Akiko? That sounded like Akiko. Oh no. The last thing I remembered was Akiko passed out in Yasahiro’s van. A wave of sickness flowed up my body. Was Yasahiro the killer? Had I fallen for a monster? I never suspected him!
“It doesn’t matter why she’s not waking up. It would be better if she slept through it all.”
All the blood in my body cooled, and I began to shiver as I opened my eyes and found Tama standing over me with a gas can. He was still dressed in his fancy dress shirt and pants from the party, but his sleeves were rolled up. He examined me and his sister with clinical detachment before shrugging his shoulders.
“There. She’s awake. Happy?” he asked Akiko, also next to me on the floor. He turned from us and walked around. I was in my own barn, tied to the pole next to the tractor, my artist loft space above me.
My head throbbed so hard I had to close my eyes against the pain.
“Don’t go back to sleep. We have to get out of here,” Akiko whispered to me, but I couldn’t speak. The room around me washed back and forth, like a boat out to sea in rough waters.
“He chloroformed us. You were drinking at the party, right?”
I swallowed a few times and found my voice. “Yeah. I can’t move.”
But I could smell, and I smelled the sharp scent of gasoline. It was so strong I gagged and Akiko retched. This was not good. Not good at all.
I breathed through my mouth and tried to take stock of the situation. My brain was slow, so I kicked it into gear by blinking and tapping the back of my head against the pole I was tied to.
Tama must have been waiting in the shadows once he heard me coming around the corner at the bathhouse, knocked me out, threw me in Yasahiro’s catering van, and took off. How did he have keys to the van? Didn’t matter. He got them somehow — picked them from Yasahiro’s jacket in the office or maybe he left them in the van. I had no idea.
Tama with a gas can in his hand could mean only one thing. He’d been inspired by my painting and wanted to sacrifice me by fire. Yasahiro thought he might be a psychopath. He was right.
My barn was the worst possible place to be. It had been built on a concrete slab but the structure was made of wood and gypsum board, not clay like most Japanese storehouses. When we knocked down the old horse barn and put up this one, we had to finance it and got the bare minimum. Admittedly, it’d been the perfect barn the last ten years but it wasn’t looking so great a choice right now.
The floor above us creaked as Tama walked around my studio, knocking things to the floor, and I heard the distinct sound of canvas ripping. He’d gone mad, destroying everything he could get his hands on. The fact that he was destroying my stuff and brought us here told me he hated me more than he’d let on.
Akiko burst into tears next to me. “I’m sorry, Mei-chan. So so sorry.”
“What? Shhh, it’s not your fault. Can you undo my hands?” I tried to turn and show her my hands, but they were definitely tied to the pole, and I couldn’t budge them.
“It is my fault,” she whispered at me. “I knew he was poisoning Dad. I figured it out after a couple of months. Dad was drinking this tea Tama bought for him, and he was always sick afterward. I saw a piece of dried purple flower in it and figured it out.” She dissolved into a sob, and I shrank away from her. “I knew, and I didn’t tell anyone. I couldn’t turn in my own brother. I replaced the tea, and Dad got better. I thought Tama would give up—”
“I didn’t,” he said, hopping down the stairs, the gas can splashing along with him. Something wet fell on me from above. I looked up and gas was dripping down through the slats of the loft. Drip, drip, drip on my head.
Panic stopped all thought, pushing everything into a tiny box in my brain. I couldn’t breathe. I sucked in air and nothing happened.
“If you had just let Dad drink the tea, we wouldn’t be here today.” He pulled a pack of matches from his pocket. “It’s time to end it. I’m ready to move on.”
“Move on where?” Akiko screamed at him. “You think people aren’t going to know you did this?” Her voice squeaked and raised an octave. “Help!” she shouted, tilting her head back.
I struggled with whatever he used to bind me, but I did nothing but injure myself more.
“No one will rescue you, and no one will figure it out. I’ve covered my tracks. Mei-chan wanted to show you her new paintings, so she borrowed Yasahiro’s van and drove out here. She was careless with her space heater and set the place on fire. I’ll untie you once you pass out.” He gestured to a bottle of chloroform on the table. “After your funerals, I’ll sell the house and land, and I’ll persuade Haruka to move to Chiba. Everything will be easier with you both gone.”
“You’re crazy.”
“Maybe so.” He lit a match, calmly walked over to the stairs, and threw the match onto the first step. It whooshed up into flames, and the panic ran down my body, grabbed hold of my chest, and squeezed until I hyperventilated. All of those books I read when I was a teen about amateur sleuths catching the killer and getting themselves out of sticky situations were beginning to look a whole lot like fiction.
Tama turned to us, and everything inside me died. His expression was exactly as Yasahiro described, cold and calculating, like he didn’t actually see us, didn’t feel anything as his sister and former girlfriend sat in a barn erupting into flames. The young man I once loved was gone, obliterated. Why? Why had this happened to him?
Flames traveled up the stairs one by one, lighting and dancing. Fire evoked a deep fear in me, the kind of fear that seized my mind and threatened to take me under once more.
Tama put on his coat and zipped up. “I always knew fire would be your undoing, Mei-chan. You should have died all those years ago. You had a second chance, and look what you did with it. Nothing.” He laughed without humor, his voice bitter deep. “Your mother loved you so much, always bragging about you to everyone. On and on and on about your talent and how successful you’d be. It made me sick. Then Akiko-chan told me how you kept losing your jobs and had a string of terrible boyfriends.” The small smile on his lips gutted me. “You deserved that. I’ve wanted to destroy you for years, and now’s my chance.”
I wanted to shout at him that I was already a failure, destroyed in heart, mind, and body, and that he didn’t have to do this, but the heated air swirling around me told me it was too late. I thought I’d have a chance to change things with a new life at home, with Yasahiro, but now I had nothing.
“Tama!” Akiko’s hoarse voice squeaked. Smoke filled the space. “Don’t do this!”
The door to the barn flew open, and I thought for a moment, “It’s the police! Come to rescue us!” But no. It was Senahara, the only neighbor left in the area.
He may have been old, but he was spry and fast. He yelled a high-pitched battle cry, a samurai sword lifted above his head, and charged at Tama. Tama, unprepared for an attack, shrieked and crouched low, raising his arms up to shield himself. Senahara hesitated, realization spreading across his features. Here was his best friend’s son and he was charging in to kill him? Tama took advantage of the pause and swept his leg to knock Senahara over.
“We’re tied up,” Akiko shouted. “Kill him!”
“Stop!” I yelled at her, watching Senahara roll to the side.
“I’m sorry, Mei-chan,” she said, sobbing. “So sorry. Please forgive me. Please.”
Senahara jumped up into a crouch position in time to stop Tama from running fo
r the door. Tama dodged right and Senahara lunged forward, stabbing him in the leg. I closed my eyes briefly and opened them to Tama screaming and rolling around on the ground, clutching his leg.
I swore loudly, trying to process the confrontation, the barn burning, and Akiko and me prisoners. “I forgive you,” I said to Akiko. I didn’t know if I did, but it seemed like the right thing to say.
Senahara stood over Tama, his chest heaving. “I knew it was you.” He raised the sword high and brought it down into Tama’s shoulder. I cringed and screamed, closing my eyes against his pain. But thank god for Senahara! I always thought that sword was just decorative, but he could use it.
While Akiko screamed, I tried to lengthen my body and reach the wall of tools next to the tractor. Even with my legs fully extended though, I was at least a half a meter away and I couldn’t make myself longer. Smoke detectors blared and shrieked, and the loft popped, shooting sparks down on us.
We were dead if we didn’t get out quick. I couldn’t reach anything, and I had nothing on me I could use to cut my hands free before Senahara had dealt with Tama.
A loud pop exploded above us, and I dipped my head down in time for a rain of sparks and wood to come down on me. My jacket sleeve lit on fire, my mouth opened, and I screamed, the most terrifying feeling of hatred and dread washing over me.
Senahara, satisfied that Tama was incapacitated, jumped around the fiery debris, threw off his coat, and put out the fire on my arm. I burbled thanks at him, pain searing through my arm and shoulder, as he grabbed a pair of gardening shears. A fit of coughs overtook us as more debris fell down from above, but this time it hit the tractor. We had moments left before it all came down.
Reaching for my hands, Senahara’s eyes were watering, and he hesitated over my bindings.
“Cut me loose! I don’t care if you hurt me.”
Akiko had passed out, probably from smoke inhalation. Suddenly, my hands were free, and I still had all my fingers.
“Grab her legs,” I called out as I took the shears and freed Akiko’s hands. I bent over and grabbed her shoulders, another piece of the loft falling and hitting me on my back, knocking me to the side. I groaned as I struggled to my feet again and dragged her to the door with Senahara’s help. We jolted past Tama as he tried to grab at my legs, but I kicked him in the face and he let go. I didn’t care if he died in the barn. He could go to hell as far as I was concerned.
“You’re on fire!” Senahara screamed, and I felt my back heating and smelled singed hair. Adrenaline spiked through my legs and arms, and I threw Akiko through the doorway and fell to the ground, rolling side to side to put the fire out, pain shooting from my back and my arm.
Lights approached the house, police lights atop a speeding car, but I couldn’t stand up, so I rolled over a few more times to put distance between me and the barn. In through the door, Tama struggled to get out, making it past the threshold and limping away. I watched helplessly as Mom’s store of sweet potatoes and winter squash caught fire and began to smoke. Flames crawled up the wall, shooting through to the outside and climbing to the roof, already half engulfed in fire from the loft.
A short period of silence preceded a deafening crack. The loft inside the barn gave way and crashed down inside, sending an explosion out both doors and breaking the windows. I covered my head and cried. I cried and screamed, terror leaking out through my eyes and mouth. Fire. I hated fire! Fear paralyzed me and I couldn’t move.
A pair of hands came down roughly on my shoulders and legs, and thinking it must be Tama back to finish the job, I kicked and screamed.
“Mei-chan!” Goro and Yasahiro leaned into my face so I could see them.
My body went limp with exhaustion and relief. Goro leaned over and picked me up, running me farther away from the barn. “Is anyone else inside?”
“No.” I coughed and hacked, trying to breathe in, but my lungs hurt and felt like they were the size of a bean. “Tama. Getting away.”
“We got him. Don’t worry.”
Goro hoisted me into the backseat of his car and took out his flashlight to shine on me. He examined my face and down my torso once, then stepped out of the way to let Yasahiro in.
“We need two fire trucks and ambulances at the Yamagawa estate on route 53, San-dōri, now!” Goro screamed into his radio.
My eyes focused on the barn, completely engulfed in flames. Yasahiro snapped his fingers in my face.
“Mei, look at me,” he demanded. I turned my face to him, and his cheeks were covered in sooty tears. “What happened?”
“I… I was looking for Akiko. Tama knocked us out and drove us here. He tried to kill us.”
Senahara appeared over Yasahiro’s shoulder, his katana sheathed and tucked into his waistband. “I was out drinking on the porch. I like when it’s cold and I can see the stars.” He directed his eyes up at the night sky, obscured by smoke. “I heard screams and thought it was people getting drunk and arguing. Then I saw the barn catch fire, so I grabbed my sword and ran. I didn’t see anyone else around and sped up when I heard Akiko-chan scream for help. I’m afraid I hurt Tama-chan pretty badly.”
Next to the police car, Tama laid on the ground, handcuffed, and Goro’s partner was putting pressure on his wounds.
“Serves him right,” Yasahiro mumbled. Senahara nodded at him.
I rested my head against the seat of the car, wincing at my shoulder, the skin hot and painful.
Yasahiro grabbed my hands and squeezed. “I came out to get my phone from the van and the van was gone.” He hung his head. “I’m always losing my phone, leaving it places I can’t find it. Always. So I turned on that Find My Phone feature ages ago. I had Goro-san access the GPS data for it, and we saw the van had been driven here. We wouldn’t have made it in time if Senahara hadn’t found you.”
The two men embraced quickly, in an uncharacteristic fashion. “Thank you,” Yasahiro said to him. Senahara nodded and walked away.
“I just met you and I almost lost you. My heart…” He touched my face and kissed my forehead as I wheezed and tried to breathe. “My heart would never have recovered.”
An ambulance drove up the long driveway and came to a screeching, gravel-throwing stop next to Goro’s car.
“Come on. You need help.” Yasahiro helped me up and walked me to the waiting paramedics. I closed my eyes and turned my face away from the fire-consumed barn.
“You had a second chance, and look what you did with it. Nothing.” Tama’s words echoed in my aching head.
Looks like I get a third chance, Tama.
And I was going to make it count.
Chapter Thirty-Two
The air was crisp and cold, my breath fogging in front of my face, as I tightened my scarf around my neck. The streets around the starting line were packed with people, so I walked through the crowd slowly, edging around spectators and runners as Mom and I got closer to our destination.
“Kumi-chan said they’d be over on the northeast corner,” Mom said, pointing in the direction of a colorful banner held up by balloon arches.
I kept my eyes alert for danger, though there may have been no need. Tama was in jail, and I hoped I’d never see him again, but I couldn’t let my guard down. He confessed to dozens of crimes in a plea for leniency. He admitted to poisoning and killing his father because he wanted to sell the land to pay his debts. He had made friends in the mob, blew his savings gambling with them, and owed them money. Akiko and I didn’t die in the fire like Tama intended, and now we would be in danger for the rest of our lives. I imagined hitmen around every corner, lying in wait for me in the house every time I came home, tracking me down to collect on Tama’s debt.
In my head, I replayed Tama’s words over and over, “Your mother loved you so much, always bragging about you to everyone. On and on and on about your talent and how successful you’d be. It made me sick.” I thought long and hard while recovering about how he slashed and destroyed my paintings before he set fire to the barn, maki
ng my destruction deep and personal. Jealousy had driven him mad. His desire to hurt me made me fold in on myself, like a broken origami crane, and I became worried about how I was perceived by others and wanted to be as small and insignificant as possible. I had to fight the urge to become a hermit every day.
But now, my eyes fell on Kumi and Chiyo gathered around Goro, who was running today’s race, thankfully fully clothed. He was decked out from head to toe in winter running gear, looking fit and smiling.
“There you are!” Chiyo called to us as we approached. “I was worried you wouldn’t make it.”
We all leaned in to hug, and everyone took care not to squeeze me too hard. The burn on my shoulder was a second degree whopper and still smarted. The ones on my back were only first degree burns, but the skin was already damaged. This new back burn would take longer to heal.
“I’m sorry we’re late!” I said, as Goro leaned in to give me a kiss on the cheek. We were closer than we ever were. He and Kumi came to visit me and Akiko often in the hospital as we recovered from the smoke inhalation. Akiko had had it worse than I did. She was on oxygen for a long time, but she didn’t sustain any burns. She had already returned to work. “And I’m sorry again that I’m not running the race with you, Goro-chan. I really wanted to.”
“It’s fine,” he said, jumping in place and pumping his knees to his chest. “I’ve been running every day since the fire. I’m ready.”
Kumi’s eyes widened and sparkled. “I’m so proud of him. He’s been working hard to get ready for this.”
“I’m going to train for the marathon here next year,” he said, smiling. “So, thank you, Mei-chan, for giving me a reason to do this. I needed the kick in the pants.”
“Any time.”
I laughed and punched him on the shoulder.
“Hey,” he said, stopping to stretch his quads, “I have a proposition for you, if you’re willing to hear me out.”
“Oh, oh, yes, Mei-chan!” Chiyo danced back and forth and Kumi squealed and grabbed her arm. “You must hear this idea. I think it’s fabulous.”
The Daydreamer Detective Page 24
