by Gary Jonas
I disconnected from Amanda and answered Jennifer’s call.
“Where are you?” Jennifer asked.
“Safe,” I said.
“Where’s Mommy?” Cho asked in the background.
My heart broke for her. How many times had I asked that question when I was her age? In her case, her mother was kidnapped. In mine, my mother didn’t want me. Such is life.
“Tell Cho I’m going to find Wakumi,” I said.
“I will, but it will have to wait. Cops are ready for me now.”
“Just tell them the truth.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am. I don’t want you trying to cover for me. You tell them anything they want to know.”
“All right. Cho and I will head to my place if they ever let us go.”
“Keep Cho safe.”
“You think they’ll come for her?”
“It’s possible. Whoever they are, they want leverage on Ichiro, and if the wife isn’t enough, the daughter definitely will be.”
“How are you going to find them?”
“I’m working on that,” I said.
***
I met Colin and Amanda at the Blue Bonnet, a local Mexican restaurant. The place was always busy and Tuesday night was no exception. While we munched on chips and salsa, I tossed out a few thoughts.
“I may not be a detective, but the fact that these guys are making their move during the full moon tells me they need the werewolf for something.”
“So they have tonight and tomorrow or they have to wait a month,” Amanda said.
“Could it have anything to do with Halloween?” Colin asked.
Halloween was coming up on Saturday. “Not likely,” I said. “The full moon will be over.”
“I was thinking Samhain,” he said, and he even pronounced it correctly. “Sacrifice night for the Illuminati.”
“I understand,” I said. “But these guys weren’t Illuminati. They were ninja.”
“So,” Amanda said pointing a chip at me, “we have ninja and samurai and they all want a werewolf for something.”
“I think Nori and the other samurai want to keep Ichiro away from the ninja, but that’s just an impression.”
“Why?” Colin asked.
“Because Nori seemed genuine.”
“While he distracted you so his buddies could get Ichiro,” Amanda said. “We need some guac.”
“We’re missing something,” I said.
“Guacamole,” Amanda said.
“About the situation, not the food.”
“I think better with guacamole. Just saying.”
She signaled the waiter and asked him for the green goodness. He smiled, and didn’t need a translation. When he returned with some guacamole, Amanda thanked him and checked out his butt as he walked away.
“Think he works out?” she asked.
“Can we focus?”
“He has a nice ass. That’s all.”
I glared at her. “You spend too much time checking out men’s asses.”
She grinned. “I’m incorrigible. As to the Ichiro sitch, I think we’re at a dead end, but we have an easy solution. As long as Cho is safe tonight and tomorrow night, we can let the samurai worry about the ninja. Odds are, they’ll release Wakumi once the moon isn’t full and they’ll regroup to try again next month. Right?”
“Odds are, they’ll kill Wakumi.”
“But they could have killed her at any time.”
“They also could have taken her at any time,” I said.
“So why wait until you were there?” Colin asked.
“Maybe it’s all about you, Kelly,” Amanda said and chomped another chip.
An elegant Japanese man slipped into the booth beside me. The man came out of nowhere, and I’d be lying if I said he didn’t surprise me.
He gave me a smile. “So nice to see you again,” he said. “Please don’t kill me before we’ve had a chance to talk.”
“Since you used the magic word, I’ll hold off on cutting out your heart. Who are you?” I asked.
“You may call me Mr. Shinobi.”
“Somehow, I don’t think that’s his real name,” Colin said.
“Shinobi means ninja in Japanese,” Amanda said. “Giving you the benefit of the doubt since you don’t look like the kind of guy who plays video games.”
I knew she was talking so she could draw up some magic. I gave her a slight head shake to let her know not to attack unless I gave her another signal. I knew she’d keep gathering her energy because she’s not stupid.
“You used the cover of the noisy restaurant to sneak up on us,” I said. “I’m impressed.” And I was because I should have sensed him coming. Dangerous people tend to stand out to one another even in a crowd.
“And I have four men close by, Ms. Chan,” he said. “If you kill me, they’ll kill Ms. West and Dr. Clave before you can kill all of them. Yes, we know who you are.”
“Whatever. As I wasn’t expecting you to crash the party, what say you tell me why you’re here.”
“Several reasons. First, we need your assistance.”
“So you’re going to try and use Wakumi as leverage against me.”
“468 South Clarkson.”
No, he was using Cho as leverage. That was Jennifer’s address.
“You’ve done your homework, but they aren’t home yet.”
He grinned. “We are legion. I have two men inside the house waiting to keep them company, and I have more men in the Washington Park area. Women too, for that matter.”
“Equal opportunity asshole,” I said. “If you hurt that little girl…”
“You’ll kill me, I know. Save your voice and I’ll imagine various violent threats you’d like to perpetrate on my being. But your companions, as well as Ms. Hansen and most important, the young Miss Cho Himura would join me before you could lift another finger.”
“As I said, Cho and Ms. Hansen aren’t within your reach at the moment.”
“As it happens, I still have a man at the hospital, and he can easily slip through security and the police presence if he’s given that command.”
“You can’t give it if you’re dead.”
“Someone else will give it, my dear, but there’s no need for any violence. You haven’t a clue what’s really going on, so leave the threats unspoken.”
I wanted to rip him in half, but I kept control. “Damn, and I had some creative violent threats in mind. Back to my original question. What do you want?”
“I want a house in the south of France, and a vacation in Italy, but this is not about what I want. It’s about what my employer wants.”
“Who’s your employer?”
“I haven’t been cleared to tell you that. But I will tell you what my employer wants.”
“I’m all ears.”
“Ichiro Himura in his lycanthropic mode.”
“Why didn’t you take him last night?”
“We didn’t have the opportune moment. Too many samurai and a magically engineered Sekutar warrior were in the way.”
“Why does your master want Ichiro?”
“Two words. Weaponized lycanthropes.”
“You want an army of werewolves?” Colin asked.
“I want a good night’s sleep. My employer wants the werewolf army.”
“Why didn’t you take him before he changed?” I asked.
“We just found him yesterday. Mr. Oshira is very good at hiding his recruits.”
“You slashed the tires.”
“My scout did. We didn’t want Ichiro to leave.”
“You waited until we arrived at the hospital to capture Wakumi. Why?”
He smiled. “So you’d know I mean business. And before you ask, we took the mother rather than the child for two reasons, but the one I’ll share is because we know you would never stop hunting us if we injured the girl.”
“So threatening her is okay?”
“Her safety is in your hands, Ms. Chan. The
only way Cho Himura is in any danger is if you choose to defy us. Should you assist us, she will never have been in any danger at all. She will simply have had two nice gentlemen over at her friend’s house to watch cartoons with her for a few days.”
“Semantics,” I said.
“Not at all. It’s simply your choice.”
“What if I refuse to help you?”
“Nothing will happen to the little girl if you elect to sit this one out. We are not monsters. However, I can’t say the same about the little girl’s mother. Bring Ichiro to me by tomorrow night or what happens to Wakumi Himura is on you.” He took a cellphone from his pocket and placed it on the table in front of me. “We’ll be in touch,” he said and slipped out of the booth.
He weaved around a waiter and a party being seated then disappeared.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
My new phone rang at ten o’clock, but it wasn’t Victor. I’d left that son of a bitch a message that we needed his help, but he was sure taking his time getting in touch.
We were at Colin’s place in Lodo. Amanda and Colin were going through books and journals searching for anything they could find about real werewolves. Colin lived in a nice loft, furnished with antiques and enough books to fill a branch library. I stepped onto the balcony to take the phone call.
“That was fast, Mr. Shinobi,” I said without any greeting.
“Time is of the essence. We have through tomorrow night, and if we haven’t achieved our goal, Mr. Oshira will see to it that we don’t.”
“So you know Nori,” I said.
“You’re fishing for information I won’t provide. Cho Himura and your friend Jennifer are home and currently under the watchful eyes of my men.”
“And if you do anything to either of them—”
“You’ll kill us all. Yes, we received that message loud and clear, and her fate remains in your hands. Now to the business at hand. Nori Oshira will kill Ichiro Himura tomorrow unless he succeeds in his first mission or we succeed in ours.”
“What makes you think he hasn’t already killed him?”
“Nori talks big about killing Ichiro, but he doesn’t actually want to do it. He’ll do what he can to keep Ichiro alive for as long as possible.”
“But if he sees you coming, all bets are off?”
“You’re very astute. Were our positions reversed, I might do the same as Nori. It’s rare for any good to come from killing a man.”
“Or a woman,” I said.
“Or a woman,” he agreed.
“Keep that in mind when you think of Wakumi.” I gazed at the lights of Denver. “What do you have for me?”
“Nori’s cellphone number.”
“Have you talked to him?”
“I would prefer to avoid any contact with Nori and his samurai team.”
“So you ninja are afraid of a few samurai?”
“I would happily face a samurai, but I would prefer not to engage with Nori and his team at this time. I’ll leave that to you. Go get Ichiro. Keep the phone with you and call me when you have him. We’ll happily come pick him up. I’m texting Nori’s number to you now.”
The phone buzzed as the text arrived.
“Got it,” I said. “Listen—”
But he disconnected.
“Bastard,” I said. I leaned against the railing and watched a group of twenty-somethings exit a bar. They were laughing, the men hanging on their women. All of them looked happy. I watched until they reached the corner and moved out of sight behind another building.
I went back into the apartment. Amanda sat in a nice leather chair, lost in a journal, and Colin stood in front of a wall-to-wall bookshelf running his finger along the spines of the old hardcovers that lined the shelves.
“Either of you know any hackers?” I asked.
***
By one in the morning, a hacker friend of Amanda’s had hooked us up with an app to track Nori’s cell, which turned on the GPS so it could be tracked to a precise location. I didn’t understand half the things he said, but that didn’t matter because the end result was that by 1:30, he gave me an address near downtown Denver.
While he was working on getting the GPS information on Nori’s phone, Victor finally got in touch via text. I texted him Colin’s address and he told me to meet him on the roof of Colin’s building.
Five minutes later, I stood on the roof staring at Union Station. Victor stepped out of a shadow behind me.
“Don’t kill me,” he said. “I’m here.”
“I heard you step through,” I said as I turned to face him.
He gave me a smile. “I tried to make enough noise to alert you to my presence.”
“I need your help,” I said.
“And I volunteered, so I am at your service, my dear.”
“There’s a little girl in a house, and ninja are watching from various locations. I need you to get her out of there. I wouldn’t object if you got my friend Jennifer out, too, but I need to know that Cho is safe.”
“I’ll save them both for you, and the ninja will never know it happened. Just give me the address.”
I hesitated.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
“Gift horse, mouth,” I said. “I just need to accept this.”
“But you want to know why I’m volunteering.”
“I don’t trust altruism,” I said.
He moved to the edge of the building and gazed at Union Station. Buses and light rail trains moved in and out as people rode to various destinations.
“The first time I came to Denver was in 1894. That was the year Union Station burned down. It had been operating for maybe three years. They rebuilt it, of course, but that took time.”
“What’s your point?”
“Always direct with you,” he said. “You don’t really trust me, and while you don’t know why, you have good reason to doubt me as I will always do things that are in my own best interest.”
“Not helping your case, Victor.”
He laughed. “I’m trying to rebuild something you don’t even know is on fire yet. You smell the smoke, though.”
I didn’t like where he was going, but he was my best shot at getting Cho out from under the watchful eyes of a group of ninja. “Maybe we should continue this conversation when Cho is safe. 468 South Clarkson is the address.”
“You need me to get her out, so this is the best time for me to come clean. Cho is what you might call my ‘Get out of Hell free’ card. Keep your sword in its scabbard. I have some things I must tell you now. If I tell you after I save her, you’ll likely try to take my head.”
The wind kicked up and I brushed my hair behind my ear so I could keep my eyes on him. “What did you do, Victor?”
“I spent some time with Jonathan Shade, and I dare say he is not one of my fans. Your time-twin isn’t particularly fond of me either.”
My heart nearly stopped. “You saw them? Where?”
“Last I saw them, they were in Tajikistan.”
“Where is that?”
“It shares a border with Afghanistan, but that doesn’t matter. They have a big battle coming, and I have a feeling they’re going to try to recruit you. I won’t be helping them, of course, nor would they want my help.”
“What did you do?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes it does. Did you hurt them?”
“Rest assured that they are quite all right. I made a play that was in my own self-interest, as is my wont, and … well, it backfired.”
“You tried to get them killed.”
“I tried to set things right. For me.” He held up a hand to stop me from interrupting. “Let me finish. It was selfish, and I know you’re going to hear all about it. I’d prefer you heard at least part of it from me. What matters is that I don’t want to leave Denver anytime soon, and I don’t want you to kill me. I’m hoping I won’t have to kill you either. So I’m offering my assistance now so we can start to rebuild what I hope cou
ld be some semblance of trust, if not even friendship. And I know I’d better act fast because they’re bound to be calling you any day now.”
“Yeah, yeah. Get to the point.”
“For what it’s worth, I betrayed them. I did not betray you. I see you and the other Kelly Chan as completely different people. And I trust you’re the more reasonable.”
“That’s quite a dance you’re doing, Victor.”
“I’m trying to get ahead of this.”
“They said they were going to call me?”
He shook his head. “They’re going up against something they can’t handle alone. They’re going to have to call you.”
I stared at him for a time then looked at the buses leaving Union Station. “If you’d gotten them killed, would you have ever told me?”
“Hell no,” he said and laughed. “Do I look like a complete idiot?”
“If you have to ask…”
“I’ll go get Cho for you now.”
“When I find out where Wakumi is being held, can you save her too?”
He smiled. “I could, but I know how you feel about Jonathan Shade.”
“My Jonathan is dead.”
“And there’s a live one on the other side of the world.”
“Whom I’ve never met.”
“Your loyalty will still be to him, and the only reason you haven’t attacked me is because you currently need my help. If I understand the situation, Wakumi is the one in real danger here. Would you like me to go get her for you?”
“I don’t know where she is.”
“But you can find out with a little effort.”
“I suspect I can.”
“You know where this Cho girl is right now, but she’s not really in much danger. You could go get her yourself. A few ninja won’t bother you.”
“I need them both to be safe,” I said. “If I move Cho right now, they’ll try to kill her and Jennifer, and they’ll likely kill Wakumi because they’ll know I’m not playing ball.”
“If they’ve met you, they know you’re not playing ball, Kelly. One thing you lack is a poker face. You have two modes: save or kill, and they know which way your sword is pointed.”
“Help me save them both,” I said.
“I can tell from the tone of your voice that the little girl is important to you.”
