Conspiracy

by Allan Topol

  "But how will you stop them from destroying us?"

  Sato said coldly, "In the United States you were in charge. It hasn't gotten us what we want. Here I make the decisions. We do things my way. This time we won't fail."

  Chapter 29

  At six-thirty Taylor was awakened by a thump outside their bungalow as one of the hotel's employees tossed the L.A. Times on their doorstep. Remembering how wonderful last night had been, she kissed the still-sleeping Cady on the cheek. She headed to the front door and snatched up the newspaper. On the bottom of the first page was a box with the results of four post debate polls.

  "Oh, damn," she moaned as she studied the numbers. In all four polls Crane had made significant inroads, but he was still trailing by five percentage points on the average.

  The phone rang. It was General Clayton. "You two all right?"

  "Yeah, fine."

  "There's no point having you stay at the Bel Air any longer. You accomplished whatever you set out to do. Lieutenant Farnsworth will bring you back to the base."

  "What about Fujimura's call?"

  "I'll have the Bel Air board patch it through. He'll never know where you are."

  * * *

  The call from Fujimura didn't come until noon. By then General Clayton had his electronic gear in place. As Taylor talked on the phone, her conversation would be broadcast into another office down the hall, where General Clayton and Cady could listen. The general even had an interpreter standing by, a Japanese-American air force first lieutenant.

  "Is that you, Taylor?" Fujimura asked in Japanese.

  Relieved to hear his voice, she let out a deep breath. "Yes, Fujimura-san," she answered in English.

  "I think it would be better if we spoke in Japanese. Would • it be convenient for you to fly to Tokyo with C. J. Cady?"

  Taylor rocked back onto her heels. This was precisely what Cady had predicted: that Sato and Harrison would use Fujimura to lure them to Japan to kill them.

  Cady came racing into the room, shaking his head furiously. "Tell him we won't come," he whispered. "I'll deliver the extradition papers to their embassy in Washington." Then he ran back to the other office.

  Taylor hesitated, unsure how to respond.

  "Are you still on the phone, Taylor?" asked Fujimura.

  Confused, Taylor answered, "I'm surprised by your sudden invitation."

  "Reservations have been made for the two of you in first class on JAL flight one-twenty-four leaving Los Angeles at four o'clock this afternoon. They're holding your tickets at the airline counter."

  "What can you tell me about your discussions in Japan?" she asked.

  "It would be best if we spoke about these matters when you arrive in Tokyo. The issues are quite complex."

  "It would be useful if I had some idea of what happened."

  "That's not possible, I'm afraid."

  "Are you certain that it's necessary for me to come?"

  Fujimura sighed. He realized that he had to tell her something. "Unless you and Cady come and provide the prime minister with an opportunity to evaluate the facts, he will agree to extradite Harrison, but not Sato. Now, is it convenient for you to come?"

  Cady came back into the room. "Tell him no," he said in a hiss.

  She looked at Cady and hesitated.

  "It's convenient for me," she finally replied.

  "And Cady?"

  "I'll have to talk to him. Do you want me to bring anything?"

  "All of the documents that you showed me at the hotel. Prepare Japanese translations to the extent possible."

  "And where should I go when I arrive?"

  "I'll be there personally to meet your plane."

  As Taylor put the phone down, she thought Cady would explode in anger. General Clayton was standing in the doorway looking at her with a combination of admiration and concern.

  "I'm sorry, C.J.," Taylor said, "but getting Harrison isn't enough. Sato started all of this. He has to pay for what he did. The only way that can happen is if we go."

  He was livid. "Goddammit, Taylor, we're a team. You shouldn't have said yes like that. At least, you should have told him that you'd talk to me and call him back."

  All trace of last night's romance was gone. "We don't have a choice. We can't talk to the president because we don't know where he stands. Going to the press is out of the question because it would wreck American-Japanese relations."

  "I know all of that. I still think I should have been consulted before you put my life on the line."

  "What do you mean, your life?" she asked tensely. "I only answered for myself."

  Cady snapped, "Yeah, right. Do you really think I'd let you make that trip on your own?" He turned to General Clayton. "Can you fly us over to Tokyo in an air force jet?"

  Clayton nodded. "Sure."

  "I don't understand," Taylor said. "Fujimura told me they're holding seats for us on JAL one-twenty-four. We can get there in time."

  "This time I'm the one who's making a unilateral decision for both of us," Cady said emphatically. "We're not flying on JAL one-twenty-four."

  "What's wrong with JAL one-twenty-four?"

  "I don't want to take any chances."

  "You really don't trust Fujimura at all."

  "It's Sato and Terasawa I'm worried about. They're capable of anything."

  "You really think that—"

  "Look, Taylor, we may not make it back from Japan, but I'd sure like to be certain we get there."

  She sighed deeply. "Okay, I'll call Fujimura and tell him about the change in our flight plan."

  * * *

  Terasawa was dejected. He sat in his car across from Cady's house and continued his vigil. Deep down he knew it was hopeless. The FBI agent had left yesterday. Terasawa knew that Taylor and Cady would not return.

  He also knew that he had totally failed Sato because of his inability to kill Taylor and Cady. The humiliation was almost too much to bear. He hung his head in shame, uncertain of what to do or where to go.

  His cell phone rang, jarring him back to reality. It was Sato.

  "You're worthless and incompetent," Sato shouted angrily in the phone. "No more use than a piece of dog shit."

  Terasawa didn't argue. He didn't want to admit that he had no idea where Taylor and Cady were. "Should I come back to Tokyo?" he asked.

  "I don't care what you do. You'll have to live with the disgrace. I never want to have anything to do with you again."

  As he hung up the phone, Terasawa vowed to return to Japan and find a way to redeem himself with Sato.

  Chapter 30

  After the air force jet landed, it taxied past the headquarters building at the large American base outside of Tokyo. One of the facilities, Taylor thought, from which the Americans would be expelled if Sato became prime minister. With Cady behind her, she descended the stairs into the dreary light of an overcast afternoon, clutching a briefcase in her hand.

  Accompanied by their six-member marine escort, in military dress, Taylor and Cady walked along a series of interminable walkways until they reached the base headquarters building. Fujimura was waiting for them in the lobby with a somber expression.

  "This is C. J. Cady," she said to Fujimura, who bowed politely.

  Fujimura looked at the six-member marine contingency and then back at Taylor. "I'm sorry, but you must come with me alone," he said. "Those are the rules decided upon by Prime Minister Nakamura."

  "But—" Cady interjected.

  "We'll come alone," she said, cutting him off.

  "And no weapons please," Fujimura added.

  She stared at Cady. He didn't move.

  "Please, C.J.," she said.

  He took the .38 out of his pocket and tossed it to Lieutenant Farnsworth.

  Satisfied that the ground rules had been accepted, Fujimura turned and led the way out of the headquarters building. A jeep drove them to the front gate, where a black sedan was waiting just outside the base. The driver, sitting behind the right-side stee
ring wheel, scrambled out as they approached. Wearing white gloves, he opened the back door.

  The black sedan pulled slowly away from the base. They were now on their own in Japan.

  "Where are we going?" Cady asked.

  "Tonight we're staying at a tyokan, what you would call an inn. It's south of here in Shuzenji on the Izu peninsula, about three hours' driving time."

  Trying to relieve the tension with small talk, Taylor said, "I remember reading about Shuzenji in history, but I can't recall what happened there."

  "It's famous from the Kamakura shogunate. The second Kamakura shogun was assassinated there in 1204."

  "That doesn't give me a good feeling," Cady muttered.

  His comment made Taylor squirm in her seat. "What happens tomorrow?" she asked Fujimura.

  "A meeting has been arranged. You'll have a chance to tell your story."

  "To whom?"

  "Prime Minister Nakamura will be there, Suzuki-san, the minister of justice, Sato, and Harrison. Just the seven of us, and an interpreter."

  Cady broke in. "But didn't you already report to the prime minister what Taylor told you in Los Angeles?"

  "Of course. As soon as I returned to Tokyo I reported everything to him. Now he wants to hear it directly from you." Fujimura paused while the car entered an expressway and began driving south. "The prime minister also wants Sato and Harrison to have an opportunity to hear you as well."

  "It sounds to me like a trial."

  "You might say that, Cady-san."

  The cell phone in Fujimura's pocket rang, and he quickly pulled it out. After listening for a few seconds, he said, frowning, "Yes... I understand... yes."

  "Is there a problem?" Taylor asked when he hung up.

  "Both a problem and a solution," he said in his typically enigmatic way.

  Cady returned to the topic of their previous discussion. "Who's on trial: the two of us, or Sato and Harrison?"

  "You're not on trial," Fujimura responded.

  "But the question is whether the prime minister will believe us or Sato."

  "You could put it that way. Or you could say, in the language of your American lawyers, that Sato and Harrison are being given an opportunity to confront their accusers."

  "And if the prime minister doesn't believe us?"

  "We'll deal with that at the time, Cady-san."

  That wasn't enough for Cady. "What is the role of Suzuki, the minister of justice?"

  "To conduct the proceedings and to advise the prime minister. I believe Taylor is familiar with him."

  "I met him a number of times in your office," Taylor replied. "That was before he was justice minister. When he was still a law professor and a judge."

  "Precisely."

  Taylor felt better knowing that Suzuki would be there. He had an international reputation as a scholar. Like Chief Justice Hall, he was known for his integrity, and as someone outside of the political process.

  A sign on the road read, Toll, 1 km. As they approached, the driver slowed down and reached into his pocket for some bills. Four tollbooths were open for southbound traffic.

  The driver was trying to decide which booth to select when Fujimura said, "Pull all the way to the right and stop the car."

  As the driver complied, Taylor and Cady became alarmed. "What's wrong?" Cady asked.

  Fujimura ignored the question. He put one hand on the door handle. The car stopped next to a police car with its back doors open under the large canopy that covered the tollbooths.

  The instant the black sedan was stopped, Fujimura opened the back door on the right side. "Come with me," he said abruptly to Taylor and Cady.

  "Where are we going?" Cady asked.

  "Please, Cady-san," Fujimura replied in an authoritative tone. "It's essential. Now! I don't have time to explain."

  Fujimura was already out of the black sedan and standing along the right side. Taylor grabbed Cady by the arm and pulled him out.

  With his two visitors in tow, Fujimura ran toward the police car, which had one uniformed policeman behind the wheel and another up front on the left side. Fujimura pointed to the back of the car. The three of them climbed in.

  The driver started the engine, but the police car didn't move until the black sedan had left the tollbooth and was out of sight.

  "What was all that about?" Cady demanded from Fujimura.

  "I was instructed to change cars at this tollbooth."

  "Why? What's going on?"

  "Security reported that a man with a scar on his face had been loitering near the black sedan in a suspicious manner when it was parked outside of the American base."

  Taylor gripped the car seat tightly. "Terasawa," she said, her voice quavering.

  "I don't know," Fujimura replied.

  "Where are we going now?"

  "Our destination remains the same. The ryokan on the Izu peninsula."

  Outside, it was twilight. Taylor strained her eyes to look through the windshield to see where the sedan had gone. Suddenly she heard a loud blast, a percussive boom. There was a bright light as a fireball shot skyward.

  Fujimura's cell phone rang again. He answered immediately. When he hung up he looked grim. "Someone planted a bomb in the black sedan. The car was in a field, empty, when it exploded."

  Taylor gasped, too stunned to speak. "Terasawa," she finally said.

  Cady agreed. "No question about it."

  She turned to Fujimura. "We thank you for saving our lives."

  "Switching cars was not my idea," he said modestly. "I was only following instructions."

  "Given to you by whom?" Cady demanded.

  If Fujimura was offended, he didn't show it. "The instructions came from Prime Minister Nakamura directly to me."

  "How many people know that we're staying tonight at this inn in Shuzenji?" Cady asked.

  "Only the prime minister, myself, and the policemen in this car."

  "I know what you're thinking, C.J.," Taylor said.

  "There's no point in changing the ryokan tonight. If Prime Minister Nakamura wanted us dead, he would not have instructed Fujimura to have us change cars at the tollbooth."

  She had a point, and Cady acquiesced. Still, the idea that they had been riding in a car that had blown up left them both nervous and tense.

  They exited the expressway and turned onto a narrow rural road. Fujimura said it was nearly two more hours until they reached the ryokan. The car climbed into the Amagi Mountains, amid hot springs. Exhausted from the long plane ride and aided by the motion of the car, Taylor couldn't keep herself from dozing. When her eyes opened from time to time, she glanced at Cady. He was watching the driver and Fujimura intently.

  They reached the ryokan without any further incident.

  The proprietors spared no effort to make their guests from the United States comfortable. Dinner was a never-ending series of traditional Japanese cuisine, but after the bomb scare, Taylor and Cady didn't have much of an appetite.

  During dinner, Taylor found Fujimura surprisingly pensive. When he spoke, he limited himself to small talk. He asked Cady about his prosecutor's job in Washington. He explained to them about the hot springs in the area that made this a center for resorts, and also a center for country homes maintained by some of the wealthy and powerful in Japan. After dinner Taylor and Cady walked back to their adjoining rooms, each furnished in traditional Japanese style with tatami mats and futons.

  Taylor whispered, "Now that you've spent some time with Fujimura, are you willing to trust him?"

  "I still haven't seen anything that sways my mind that way."

  "His life was on the line with ours today. If we didn't change cars, he would have been killed with us."

  "But we did change cars."

  "Meaning what?"

  "Meaning that the whole thing could have been an elaborate scheme to lead us to the very conclusion that you're coming to now, namely that we can trust Fujimura."

  "You're a stubborn man, C.J."

  "
Just a cautious one. But listen, I'm not an idiot. You know your way around here. Don't worry. I'll follow your lead."

  After a hot bath, the jet lag hit Cady. He lay down on the futon and immediately fell sound asleep.

  Inexplicably, Taylor was no longer tired. Dressing in a navy blue-and-white kimono that had been left out for her, she wandered around the ryokan. She found Fujimura sitting alone in a small lobby area, smoking a cigarette and sipping Armagnac.

  He pointed at the glass. "Would you like to join me?"

  "Yes, thank you."

  He motioned, and a young woman immediately appeared with another snifter.

  "Cady-san doesn't trust me. Does he?" Fujimura said.

  "He doesn't know you the way I do. Also, trust doesn't come easily to C.J." She thought of his ex-wife, and wondered if his distrust extended to all women.

  "He's your friend. So I must speak carefully."

  "With me you never have to speak carefully."

  "Cady-san doesn't trust me because I'm Japanese. I know that—"

  "That's not right. He's just—"

  "No, I often see it in the eyes of some of your countrymen. Unfortunately, the same emotion in reverse exists on this side of the Pacific—contempt among some Japanese for Americans. Sixty years isn't that long a time in the history of a nation as old as ours." He paused to puff deeply on his cigarette. "I don't blame your friend for being disturbed and worried. Yahiro Sato is a powerful man. He has strong allies."

  "How powerful is he?"

  "I don't have a precise answer to that question. I do know, however, that people have been underestimating him. Many of the army—sorry, the Civil Defense Force—might very well support him in an open conflict with Prime Minister Nakamura."

  Taylor sipped some Armagnac, troubled by this possibility. "Does that mean that we're on the verge of a military takeover of the democratic government in Japan?"

  He shrugged. "Perhaps not now. If Sato continues to gain power, then it could be difficult to say."

  Taylor paused to ponder what Fujimura had just told her. "What will happen tomorrow?" she asked.

  "You must persuade Prime Minister Nakamura what you told me in California is true."