by Sam Waite
He handed the key to the accountant, who studied it with a flashlight. After a while, he nodded. Maybe the man was a white-collar locksmith.
"What bank?" the cop asked.
I gave him the bank's location and Maho's alias.
"The tape is still there?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you take it?"
"We made a copy."
That information didn't seem to bother him.
"Do you have a copy of the tape with you?"
"No."
He looked at Yokoyama and gestured toward me. "Search him."
Yokoyama stood in front of me, made a fist and hit me across the nose.
I saw it coming and turned my head at the contact. Nothing broken, but it still hurt.
He opened my coat and stuck his hand into an inside pocket. There was nothing in it but the laser pointer. "What's this?"
"Don't touch that." I pointed to the ON switch.
The cop must not have been impressed with Yokoyama's intimidation. He took over. "What is that?"
"It's a transmitter. It sends out our location. That button turns it off."
He snatched the pointer away from Yokoyama and pressed the button. The dot of a red laser danced in the misty dark.
A few seconds later, we heard the crack of steel against skull. Nozaka's pachinko ball had hit the cop just above the eye. He pressed his hand against the wound. A trickle of blood ran down his cheek. Four of the men had drawn pistols. Their attention focused on a ninety-degree arc covering the range that the ball could have come from. No one moved until we heard our own voices.
Nozaka and his parabolic mike had gotten a recording. He was playing it back for us.
"Is that what you're looking for? Yes!"
The next ball hit Yamazaki in the face. He and the two cops sprinted across the clearing and caromed through the trees toward the sound of the recording.
I glanced at Yuri. She gave a sharp nod. No countdown. She kicked the man in front of her in the head. At the same time, I twisted my hips and shoulders. My fist followed and caught Yokoyama on the temple. Before he dropped, I shoved him into the man with the gun.
He stumbled.
I grabbed the wrist to his gun hand and drove him backwards until he fell. I pushed my thumb into the corner of his eye and bore down.
He screamed and fired the pistol.
I tried to pull it from his hand.
He held on and kept firing until the trigger clicked on empty chambers.
I heard shouts and gunfire from the forest. "Run!"
Yuri dashed for cover.
I stood, made a clumsy kick at the guy's head and followed her. Shots sounded behind us and I felt the shock wave of a bullet pass close to my head.
The skinny accountant squatted with his hands on his head.
We made the trees and kept running. I couldn't tell how far we'd gone, but I guessed about two hundred yards when Yuri fell. Her foot had caught on a root. She got to her feet, but could scarcely hobble.
I knew three men were down. The accountant wasn't a factor. There was no undergrowth, no place for Yuri to hide. And I could hear more than one man moving toward us.
I stood silent against a tree. The men moving our way might as well have carried sirens announcing their positions. Predators without fear or caution. In a crouch, I moved silently toward their flank, toward the sounds of their thrashing. They would come to me. I only had to be at the outside.
I stopped to listen, adjusted my direction and kept slipping quietly among the trees. Three of them were spread ten or fifteen yards apart. My target was thirty to forty yards away. I crouched at the base of a tree and slipped the cover off Nozaka's pen. I ran my thumb over the blade. It was shaped like a triangular arrowhead, designed to maximize bleeding.
I didn't want to move until he came to me, but he had shifted direction. I pushed off the tree and dashed toward him.
The instant he heard me, he stopped. It was Yokoyama. He saw me charging, turned awkwardly and fired point blank.
He missed.
I chopped my hand into his wrist, aimed for his carotid artery and plunged the two-inch blade into his neck.
The other two were crashing toward me. I spun and dove to the ground, rolled, and came up running.
A bullet splintered a branch in front of me.
I cut right, and then left.
They ceased firing and ran directly at me.
I stopped zigzagging and ran as straight as I could amid the trees.
They stayed with me. The cold air scoured my lungs and raked phlegm into my throat. Branches tore at my face and arms.
I broke out of the woods into a clearing. I guessed I had a lead of about twenty yards. A ravine was about that far ahead of me, and I sprinted toward it. When I looked back, I saw a man in a shooter's stance. As I dove and rolled again, I felt the bullet tear across my left thigh. I fell at the sharp edge of the ravine, tucked my head, and somersaulted to a gravel riverbank. Another gunshot as I scrambled into the water. My breath caught at its iciness. Cold crept into my clothes as I went under and stroked downstream.
I could hold my breath only seconds against the cold, and I surfaced at too-short intervals. Another shot sounded, and I felt the shock waves from a bullet through the water.
A quick glance let me see Yamazaki running along the bank.
He fired as I went under. A bullet, slowed by the water, hit my back, but didn't penetrate.
I surfaced again and looked toward the bank.
Yamazaki was walking along the ravine's edge, matching my pace in the water and aiming. But there was no gunshot. He ran down the wall of the ravine and waded into the stream, not too far ahead of me.
I was lost in the current, exhausted by the cold and the weight of my clothes. There was no way past him. I could only go through him.
He lunged toward me and trod water until we collided. Wrapping his arm around my head, he forced me under water.
I shoved against his face and pulled impotently at his arm. Giving up, I struggled for another grip. When I caught two of his fingers, I jerked. Hard.
Water amplified the crack of bone. His hold loosened.
I pulled my head free, broke the surface and gulped air.
He grabbed me around the shoulders. We both went under. I worked my hand into my pants pocket and grabbed the key.
My lungs demanded air. In one last, desperate move, I found his ear, pushed the key inside, and twisted.
Screaming, he pulled away.
I seized his coat at the shoulder and used his body for leverage until I could get my legs around his neck in a scissors hold. I squeezed while churning the water with my arms to bring my face to the surface. One breath and we sank again.
His hands tore at my clothes and at the wound in my thigh.
I rode his thrashing body.
His movements slowed.
He went still.
I let go.
My legs quivered and I sucked air in desperate gasps as I pulled Yamazaki through the water and onto the bank. I turned him onto his back, put my hands below his diaphragm and pushed to expel water from his lungs. I pinched his nose closed, opened his mouth and breathed into it again and again. I touched his neck. There was a pulse, weak, but he was still alive. I continued breathing for him until his chest rose and fell on its own.
Blood oozed from my leg in a steady stream. I stripped and tied my undershirt tight over the wound. I put my clothes back on and cinched my belt around my leg. They were soaked and afforded little protection from the cold. I curled into a fetal position, shivering so hard that I bit my tongue.
Muscles in Yamazaki's face and hand twitched. His feet were still in the river. I didn't have the strength or the will to move. I lay there, watching him breathe, and found solace in his life. It was one less sin that I would never carry to confession.
Chapter 25
My shivering eased, but I still had no desire to move. When I heard footsteps on the gra
vel riverbank, all I did was look up. It was too late for anything else. The man came close, squatted and looked me in the face. It was Nozaka.
"How did you find me?"
"I heard shots and walked toward them. You're cold."
"Yeah, I know."
Nozaka took off his coat and sweater. I told him about Yuri and the men we'd put down as I slipped on the dry clothes. His coat was snug, but I could wear it. While I was dressing, he pulled Yamazaki higher onto the bank so his feet were out of the water. "What happened to him?"
"I tried to swim away. He grabbed me."
Nozaka nodded. "Be careful what you chase. You might catch it."
Yamazaki had made a gurgling sound when he was moved. He tried to roll onto his side. When Nozaka pulled him to a sitting position, he vomited between his legs and fell back, mumbling and trying to push himself upright.
"Sayoko," I said.
Nozako took over. He knew what I wanted. He rubbed Yamakazi's face with light, rapid strokes to warm his skin. "Where is Sayoko Shiyoda?" he said.
Yamazaki wagged his head slowly.
Nozaka dragged him toward the river and pressed his hand on the back of Yamazaki's neck.
A gray film of horror clouded Yamazaki's eyes.
"Where is Shiyoda?"
"Ito. Ito no ie." At Ito's home. Nozaka let go of him, and he curled up like I had done. He was conscious enough to feel the cold.
"What do you think?" Nozaka said.
"Whether she's there or not, he probably believes it. We need to find Yuri, but be careful. There are two more."
"I don't think so. The cars are gone."
"What about the recording?"
"I left it and ran. I guess one of them got it."
It made sense. The plainclothes didn't know how many Nozakas there were among the trees. Why take a bigger risk than necessary? They had the key to the safe deposit box.
Yamazaki was still shivering. I wrenched his arm behind his back. Nozaka helped me pull off his coat. This was for Yuri and Sayoko and maybe Maho, if he'd had anything to do with that. I threw his coat into the river. The night was cold, but not freezing. Yamazaki was a tough guy with a lot of body mass. Maybe he'd be all right. Maybe he wouldn't. Either way, I granted myself absolution.
"Let's get Yuri."
A little way along the riverbank, we found Yamazaki's gun. I picked it up for evidence. We retraced my path through the woods as well as I could remember it. I had a good idea of the direction, but I couldn't get a good feel for how far I'd run. After we walked three or four minutes, I started calling Yuri's name. It wasn't long before we heard her answer.
I hadn't expected her to giggle when she saw us. At first, I thought she was giddy and just glad that we were safe. Then I looked at Nozaka. He was in his shirtsleeves and rubbing his arms to keep warm. I had on a coat two sizes too small.
"Your clothes are wet."
"I nearly drowned. I also got shot. Otherwise, I'm fine, in case you were curious. Nozaka-san's okay too, except he's cold." I started to take off his coat, but he told me to keep it. I didn't argue.
Yuri apologized. In fact, she was giddy from pain and nerves. Her ankle had gotten worse. It was swollen and stiff. She couldn't put any weight on it at all. Nozaka lifted her across his shoulders in a fireman's carry. We avoided the clearing, where we had been taken earlier, in case there was anyone left who wanted revenge. I doubted it, but better cautious. Walking slowly and carefully and making rest stops, it took us half an hour to get to Nozaka's car. It was parked behind trees, hidden from the gravel road.
We lay Yuri on the back seat, so she could elevate her foot. Nozaka's coat was too tight for a comfortable ride. I gave it back to him but kept the sweater. Nozaka fired up the engine. The blast of heat from the car's air-control system was a blessing that I would have paid a month's salary for.
I thought about Yamazaki curled up on the riverbank, wet with no coat. Better him than me.
When we got to Tokyo, Nozaka took us to a hospital emergency room. Yuri had her ankle wrapped and got some pain medicine and a pair of crutches. I was worried about showing my leg to a doctor. A bullet wound would be hard to explain, but he might not recognize it for what it was. The round had torn across the surface of skin and muscle. There could be other ways to account for that kind of injury. I just said I fell down an embankment and didn't know how I had cut myself.
The intern, or whatever he was, looked young enough to be working on his First Aid merit badge. In the Japanese system, you could become a doctor at the age of twenty-three or twenty-four. He didn't look even that old, but he did look suspicious. Nevertheless, he sewed me up, bandaged me and gave me pain medicine. He also told me to come back the next day.
No thanks.
It wasn't a good idea to take Yuri to her apartment. She shouldn't be alone, and I still had things to do before sun up. We took her to Protect Agency and found a cot for her to sleep on. A sprained ankle could have been luck or fate. Whichever, it was the ticket to tame a Missouri mule like her. I kissed her goodnight, and she asked me to promise to go to my hotel to sleep. I smiled and squeezed her hand.
Sorry Yuri.
I had other plans.
* * * *
I gave Nozaka all the information I had on Ito's residence. When he got us there, I recognized the place. He parked some distance away. We walked back to the house and checked the security equipment. The only cameras we could see were focused on the front gate and front door. The gate was probably wired. We couldn't get to the rear of the house without going through it or breaking into her backdoor neighbor's yard. The wall was topped by rounded tiles, which would be hard, but not impossible, to grab onto. I boosted Nozaka up, so he could get a look at each side of the house. He found a gable on the second story that looked accessible. We'd have to climb from the wall to a tree, but he said that it looked like the best route. Windows on the first level were secured with metal storm shutters.
So the gable it was. "We smash through a window?"
"No."
We went back to his car. He had an impressive break-and-enter kit, including a bolt cutter and a hacksaw. We wouldn't need those. He put a set of picks, an industrial grade glasscutter and a rubber suction cup into a knapsack. Said he was ready.
Me too.
Nozaka braced his back to the wall and cupped his hands. I stepped into them with one foot, planted the other on his shoulder and clambered up to straddle the wall. He reached for my hand. I grabbed him like John Wayne rescuing a stranded compadre from a galloping horse, but without the momentum. He scraped his knees getting traction.
We inched along the top of the wall, reached out to a big limb and let ourselves down onto the gable's small ledge. Not much room to work.
I felt like an arthritic contortionist holding the suction cup stuck to one pane, while Nozaka carved along the edges. The screech of cutter on glass sounded loud enough to wake Van Winkle, but we were in the magic hour between the last reveler to return home and the first paperboy to hit the streets. Groggiest time for sleepers.
Nozaka popped out the pane, reached in to unlock the window and eased it open.
The gable was above a bathtub. Nozaka dropped in first, as quiet as mist in his rubber-soled shoes, and clicked on his flashlight. I removed my leather loafers and left them on the ledge. When I squeezed, feet first, through the window, my foot touched a faucet that swiveled. I pushed it away and stepped into Madam Ito's lair. From the bath, a beveled glass door opened into a room that had an over-and-under washer-dryer, a sink, a medicine cabinet and a towel closet. There was a film of soap and strands of hair in the sink.
Flashlight off, Nozaka opened the door into a hallway.
Flashlight on. We counted doors: three on one side, two on the other and one at the end.
Flashlight off. We tried the door next to the bath. It was the toilet.
The second door opened into a workroom or library. The third room was a mess of junk. The fourth door was locked.
I held the flashlight, while Nozaka shimmied a rake into the keyhole and eased the door open. He was fast and quiet. The door opened into a bedroom where a woman with long hair was asleep.
Sayoko.
Nozaka kneeled close to her ear and whispered her name. She mumbled to herself and flung the sheet back. She had on a satin gown with thin straps and lace across the neckline. Sexy but matronly. It must have been Ito's.
I don't know what Nozaka was saying after she started blinking her eyes open, but he brought her around gently. She recognized us and didn't cry out. Nozaka pantomimed orders for Sayoko to come with us quickly. She pantomimed back that she wanted to pack. I pulled the cover off a pillow, found her purse and some clothes and stuffed them into it. The last of the mimes, I grabbed her shoulders and marched her out the door and to the bath.
I put my shoes on while Nozaka helped Sayoko out the window. After they were both clear of the ledge, I started to climb up. My shoe slipped on the edge of the bath. When I stepped back I hit the top of the swiveling faucet. Big noise, but it got me up to the window. By the time I had climbed from the tree limb to the fence, lights were going on in the house. Nozaka and Sayoko jumped to the street. I followed like a two-hundred-pound spider monkey and had nearly caught up with them by the time they reached the car. Nozaka backed down the street with his lights off and turned onto the first cross street we came to. I heard a gate crash open.
See you in court, Ito-san.
We took Sayoko to Protect Agency, woke up Yuri and had a brief and happy reunion. The sun was just up by the time I got back to the hotel. I looked like a homeless water rat, but there were only a couple of people on duty. They ignored me, or at least appeared to. Some things were best left for the day crew.
Chapter 26
The adrenalin charge of fright, flight and fight that had masked my pain had drained away, replaced by the gentle nurse of fatigue. I undressed and saw that my leg was bleeding again. I wrapped a towel around the bloodstained bandage, took pills to kill pain and to beckon sleep and went to bed.
It was dark when I awoke. My throat was dry and sore. I cupped my hands under the faucet and drank the water running through them until my stomach grew taut. An ache in my bones described a fever. Maybe infection from the river, but I was too tired to tend to it. I had gone to sleep not long after dawn and slept through the day. It was dark out, and I went back to bed.
