by K E Osborn
The gate opens. It’s Brody and Grier who take one look at the three of us and both smile.
“Looks like you all could do with a gallon of coffee,” Brody suggests as we walk back inside the clubhouse.
“You’re telling me. We had a bit of a celebration last night after the news came in,” Torque relays to Brody, but he lets out a heavy sigh.
“Might have been a little premature,” Brody grits through his teeth.
We all stop as my stomach sinks through the floor. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Let’s have a seat,” Brody offers.
“No. What the fuck? Tell us right here,” Torque deflects.
Grier and Brody both crack their neck like they’re in sync with each other as Brody exhales. “Okay… seems like even though we found some officials who weren’t in line with the Ishikawa Yakuza, they still have some pull in the system.”
That typhoon is sweeping through my body making anger build inside of me. My hands ball into fists, and I grit my teeth preparing for what he’s about to say.
“Even though the sanctions are going through, even though they can’t work as Yakuza in America anymore…” he pauses making my heart race, “… they made bail.”
“What? What do you mean? They’re not in custody?”
He shakes his head. “No, I don’t know how. I don’t even think it should be possible, but somehow, someone’s pulled strings high up, and all of them are free until they’re to be deported back to Japan. It’s got to be a legacy issue from when the sanctions were first brought in. Obviously, they still have men in the system.”
My muscles tense, and I look to Torque while shaking my head as he rubs the back of his neck knowing we’re in deep shit. We’re the ones who caused their annihilation in America.
They’re going to come after us.
It’s only a matter of how and when.
“Fuck,” Torque murmurs and Brody nods.
“Exactly! Thing is… they’ve gone to the wind. I tried to have men I could trust follow them, but they’ve just vanished. I’m sorry, Torque. You need to be prepared. I don’t know when deportation papers will come through… it could take a while depending on where the legacy Yakuza men are positioned in the system.”
Breathing hard, I turn and start to pace as I feel the anger burning inside of me. I have no idea what the hell this is going to bring down on us. All I know is that something’s going to happen. Somehow or someway, we’re going to pay for this, and it’s not going to be pretty.
“Thanks for letting us know, Brody,” Torque offers. Brody nods. “Now, you should go. You shouldn’t be here. They could come at any second, and you don’t wanna be in the middle of whatever fuckin’ shit’s about to rain down on us.”
Brody grimaces. “One more thing you should know…” He looks at me. “We handled the case at Smokin’ Joe’s Garage where Vince attacked Ayla. We know she’s in deep with you guys. I’m heading over to tell the workers at the garage now, but I thought you’d like to know first…” He pauses like he doesn’t want to continue. “Vince was let off with community service and a substantial fine. He also has to do court-appointed anger management classes. Guy got it easy if you ask me.”
Torque glances to me as an insatiable anger surges through every fiber of my being. Fucker should be locked up for what he did to my Sass, but I grit my teeth and simply nod. “Thank you for letting us know.”
He dips his head. “Good luck with the Yakuza. If you need back-up, call me.” Torque nods and Brody and Grier walk out of the clubhouse.
Torque looks at me subtly with a raised brow as if he wonders if I’m about to explode. I center myself taking a deep breath and nod to him, my face stern and posed. He understands, turning with a loud whistle. “Right, everyone listen up… as of now, we’re on lockdown. Shit’s gonna come knocking. We don’t know when. We don’t know how. So have a weapon with you at all times. Call your families, get them in here. No one’s safe as of this moment. Once everyone’s in… no one comes in, no one goes out. No fuckin’ exceptions. Disperse.” He lets out a heavy sigh as everyone starts frantically rushing about, and I push my hands through my hair looking to him.
“Torque, this is going to be hell.”
He nods, gritting his teeth. “Call Sass, get her here. I gotta call Foxy and Kline. Get them here, and we’re gonna have to move Ruby.”
Ace steps up to us, his eyes are open wide as he holds his tablet in his hands, and he shakes his head. “Ahh… Pres, I think you’re gonna wanna see this,” he almost shouts over the noise.
We both turn to look at him as he swings the tablet around to face us.
It’s a simple message, ‘We have something of yours. Do you want to know who it is?’ Next to the message is two boxes, one marked ‘yes’ the other ‘no.’
My muscles tense as I turn to Torque, and we both look at each other.
“Who it is?” I repeat the words.
Torque grits his teeth. “Fuck! So it begins,” he sneers and clicks on the ‘yes’ button.
A video begins playing. It’s definitely a warehouse, and in the warehouse there’s a woman tied to a chair, a rag in her mouth, her head is bleeding, and it takes me all but a second to register—the blue coveralls, her red hair—and my stomach falls through the floor as I grab the tablet and zoom in with my fingers.
It’s Ayla.
My Sass.
I let out a muffled gasp as I grind my teeth. Torque lets out a groan while I start to breathe harshly out of my nose.
“Fuck! Torque… fuck,” is all I can say.
Ace turns to see what’s going on, and he slumps his body as Trax walks up to see what’s happening. When he witnesses what’s on the screen he tenses.
“Is that… Sass?” he blurts out.
I nod slowly.
“You have twenty minutes. The club comes to the meeting point. Bring with you Shinobu Maki. This is a non-negotiable. Hiro Maki does not come. This too is a non-negotiable. If any of these demands are not met, the girl dies… slowly,” the digital voice echoes over the video then the image of Sass cuts off, and an address comes up on the screen.
Ace takes a screen snapshot of the address while I tense up knowing he wants my mother.
This is obviously Aiko Ishikawa. He knows my mother’s here. Whether he knows about me or not is yet to be seen, but the fact he knows about my parents is deeply disturbing to the point of terrifying.
Does he plan to kill her? I have no idea.
I turn to Torque, my face contorts in anguish. “I can’t let Sass die. I have to go. I have to fight, Torque. I can’t let them take Sass and my mother.”
Torque nods. “We won’t let them. But this needs to be your mother’s decision. We can’t force her, Sensei. We can’t exchange one life for another. But make no mistake, all of us are fuckin’ going. It’ll be us against them. We will do everything in our power for your woman, and your mother. I’ll round up the men and tell them we’re gonna have a fuckin’ fight on our hands.”
“I have to talk to my mother, I have no idea what the fuck I’m going to do.” Anxiety swarms inside of me. Never before have I been placed in this kind of predicament.
Torque places his hand on my shoulder and nods. “Good luck.”
As I turn the corner to the hall, I’m met by the concerned faces of my parents. Mother looks stoic, but Father looks petrified. I bet they fucking heard everything.
Mother steps forward embracing me tightly. “Son… do you care for Ayla?”
I jolt my head back. This isn’t what I was expecting her to ask right now. “Yes, mother I—”
“Then we will not argue over this. The demand is for me, then we shall go and make sure Ayla is returned to you.”
Father scoffs turning up his nose as he pulls Mother to him.
“I don’t think you are understanding the big picture here, Mother.”
Father stands taller with a low grunt. “If she goes, I go, too.”
S
ighing, I tilt my head. “They knew you would do so. The demand stipulated you are not to go…” I pause. “I fear, Mother, if you go, you would be running straight into the arms of the man you ran from.”
They both gasp as Mother’s hand shoots to her mouth and Father’s face hardens. “You believe the man holding Alya to be Aiko?”
I nod, and Mother’s eyes glisten as she turns to my father and looks into his eyes with a sniff. “Then it is even more imperative I go, Hiro. I cannot let Raiden go alone. I also cannot let Ayla be harmed by that man… you know if you come, you will only aggravate his temper. If I go, if Raiden goes, along with the club, we will find a way out of this. Of that I am sure.” She turns to look at me raising her brow in question. “Correct, son?”
My stomach falls as I think about Sass. I need to get her out of this, but if I don’t come baring my mother as the prize, I won’t get Sass back. Trading my mother for Sass doesn’t feel right. But with my brothers by my side, I’m sure we can leave with both of them.
Even if it means I don’t get to come out of it.
At least they will be safe.
I nod. “The entire club is going to be there. We will not let them take you, nor harm you. You have my word.”
Tears fill her eyes as she looks into the eyes of my father, her bottom lip trembling as she rushes into his arms embracing him. “I know what I must do, Hiro. It pains me. But I must go. If something happens, tell the girls I love them. I love you, my dearest, do know that,” she gushes, and I look away from them as she leans in kissing my father hard on his lips. A sense of guilt washes over me, and I hate that this is happening. It’s abhorrent to me that I have to be the one to do this to my family.
My father breaks apart from my mother and places his hand on my arm. “Bring her back to me.”
I nod as he looks into my eyes. “You come back to me, too, son.”
Taking Mother’s hand, I nod again and pull her with me out into the clubhouse, not looking back at my father for fear of changing my mind. Leaving him behind after all the training and everything he’s put me through, after him raising me, feels like he should be here in this fight with us. Him, sitting this out feels so wrong.
Once we step into the clubroom from the hall, I notice everyone’s ready. Trax walks over and hands me a Glock as Mother’s eyes open wide, hers still full of tears as we all head for the vehicles. I’ll be in the van with Mother and Vibe while everyone else rides. We need to be a club in this, we must ride as one.
Together.
A brotherhood.
A family united.
We slide into the van, and I look at Mother. She looks pale like she’s about to fall apart at any second. I reach out grabbing her hand and look into her glistening eyes. The weight of this situation weighing heavy on us both as Vibe drives.
“Mother, I just want you to know, I love you. Everything you did for me, to make my life better. I will never forget that.”
She weakly smiles and shakes her head. “It is like you are saying your goodbyes, Raiden.”
“No, we will make it through this. I just want you to know that you are the best mother I could have asked for. And Father, he was the best man you could have possibly picked to raise me.”
She sniffs while tightening her hand in mine, a tear running down her face as she smiles at me. “Hiro lives up to his name. He truly is a hero. He saved me in so many ways. From Aiko and from myself when the memories took over. He raised you and your sisters in the best possible way. I love that man more than life itself.”
I smile. “And you can tell him that when we get back.”
She nods looking like she doesn’t believe me. I’m not sure if I believe me. I have no idea what we will be walking into when we get there. All I know is I’m going to be protecting my mother and Sass with my life if it comes down to it.
CHAPTER TWENTY
SENSEI
We pull into the warehouse parking lot, and there are no signs of anything as Vibe pulls the van to a halt outside of the warehouse. We slide out of the van, my Glock in my hand, and my mother by my side.
Torque moves in beside me as we look at the old worn-down building out in the middle of bumfuck nowhere.
“We go in together. Everyone surround Sensei and Shinobu. We guard them with our fuckin’ lives throughout this whole thing. We are family. Got it?” Torque announces.
Everyone nods as they file in surrounding us.
Mom grips onto my cut, holding tight as we walk as one inside the warehouse. It’s dark, it smells old as we walk through, but once inside, it opens out and instantly, I see Sass tied to the chair, gag in her mouth. She’s bleeding, and my instinct is to bolt through everyone to get to her.
Fuck the cause!
I want to make sure she’s okay.
But the fact there’s at least fifteen Yakuza men standing either side of her is halting my decision.
We all walk, guns drawn, but they don’t even attempt to aim weapons at us.
This is strange. It’s like they don’t want a fight. It’s fucking weird.
We edge cautiously, while I observe all around us.
Waiting.
Watching.
No sign of them making a move as they watch us cautiously approaching. They step aside, and Aiko makes his appearance through the middle to step up beside Sass placing his hand on her shoulder. I flinch as Mother cowers beside me. I wrap my arm protectively around her, supporting her discomfort as his eyes lock on her in an evil stare. His hand tightens on Sass’s shoulder making her scream out in pain, and I grunt out my disapproval as we all halt in a standoff.
“Get your hands off her,” I call out.
Torque looks back at me sternly in disapproval, but I don’t care.
He can’t touch her.
Aiko smiles running his hand a little lower toward her breast but not quite there. “From what I understand, she isn’t claimed, so she’s up for grabs,” he announces.
My chest tightens as her eyes widen, and I grit my teeth.
No fucking way am I having that. No one but me is touching Sass let alone having her. I don’t care what it takes. It might be too soon, but in my eyes she’s mine. Always will be.
So I stand taller. “She’s mine. She’s claimed. No one touches her but me.”
My brothers all subtly look toward me as I keep my eyes firmly on Sass, her eyes glisten as she sinks into the seat slightly. I’m not sure if that’s from relief at my words, but either way, she’s mine now.
Aiko chuckles while shaking his head as he lifts his hand from her and shrugs. “Shame. She’s a delightful little thing. But then again, I have no need for a feisty mechanic when I have my wife back.” The way he grits his teeth and sneers out the word ‘wife’ makes me cringe, and Mother begins to shudder beside me.
“What makes you think she’s going anywhere with you? We have the numbers,” I sneer, and he smiles.
“Hmm… what makes you think she’s the only one going with me… son?” he blurts out, and my body riddles in disgust as Mother looks at me letting out an almighty wail.
“No. No, Aiko. You cannot take my son.”
“Our son, Shinobu!” his booming voice yells through the warehouse so loud her name echoes twice. “He’s my son, too, and you stole him from me. He should be my Wakagashira, and he will be once we arrive in Japan. Speaking of, the jet is waiting… let’s go.” He signals his men to move forward, and we all raise our guns as he lets out a booming laugh.
“We have the men, remember. You think we’re just gonna let you take Sensei and Shinobu without a fuckin’ fight?” Torque asks laughing at Aiko.
He grins wide, and a sense of dread washes over me as he shakes his head. “No. That’s why we called in reinforcements,” he sneers letting out a loud whistle, and more men run in with rifles.
I open my eyes wide when I see the Andrettis in their black pinstriped suits standing on the side of the Yakuza aiming their weapons at us as the Yakuza now raise their gu
ns at us for added effect.
We’re severely outnumbered, outgunned, and not to mention outplayed by the fucking Italian Mafia.
Motherfuckers.
“Enzo you fucking piece of motherfuckin’ shit,” Torque calls.
Enzo smiles and shrugs. “Got to play the winning side, Torque. And you… you’re not on the winning side anymore,” he sneers aiming his gun right at my president and best friend.
“I’m going to gut you like a motherfucking fish when I get my hands on you, Enzo,” Trax calls out, and Enzo laughs.
“I look forward to it.” Enzo winks at Trax cockily, making Trax move to bolt forward, but Torque grabs his brother before he gets himself fucking killed.
“Hey, Sensei, just so you know… I ran your girl off the road. Hit her real good, too. Delivered her straight to Aiko like he asked me to. Man her tits feel good. I knew they would the moment I tried to hit on her in the club. Fucking shame she refused me. Felt good to give her some payback,” Franky, Enzo’s second-in-charge, calls out to me.
Gritting my teeth this time I’m the one to move forward, and Vibe pulls me back as I breathe harshly out of my nose, while Sass shakes her head infinitesimally like she’s begging me not to start something. Looking into her eyes, I see she’s desperate to tell me something. I just can’t figure out what it is with her mouth tied up.
I need to get to her.
“Right, enough! We have a jet to catch. Bring me my wife and son. We have years of catching up to do,” Aiko calls out.
Four of his men rush forward to collect us, and I look to Torque begging him with my eyes.
He nods. “We’ll fix this shit up, Sensei,” he whispers before the men grab Mother and me, and they yank us away from my brothers—my family.
Enzo’s men have guns aimed at their heads, and I look back to Sass, a lump in my throat while they push me, grabbing my gun and taking my hands so I can’t do anything but walk with them as they lead me to one of the cars in a procession of vehicles.
I’m utterly helpless.
A blur catches my sight from behind Enzo, but the underlings push Mother and me into a long black limo which forces me to lose vision of inside the warehouse. I turn to see some Ishikawa underlings sinking into the other cars. Aiko slides in with us, then we’re alone. Just Aiko, a guard either side of him with guns aimed at Mother’s head, and me in the back as the convoy drives off. My initial instinct is to take out a guard, then shoot Aiko with the gun. But that still leaves one guard. Mother could be harmed, and I can’t risk it. So I sit still while Aiko stares at me.
