“Violet seems plenty feisty to me. The first time I laid eyes on her, she put a knife to my throat.”
“You never met Ruby.”
The simple explanation told Roman just how feisty Ruby was. If she made Violet look downright normal, then she must’ve been a real she-devil when on the job.
The older woman looked uncomfortable for a moment.
“Please, ma’am, we’re just tryin’ to help Violet. We know Yao leaked information to someone called—”
“Madame.”
Roman’s eyebrows raised.
Ms. Cho continued. “We have had run-ins with her people over the last few years. She has no problem selling girls to the highest bidder. Violet made shutting down her trafficking ring the clan’s top priority—a decision that she had the right to make as leader of the family.” Her eyes closed and she shook her head. “Such a tragedy losing them all like this.”
“I’m sorry for your loss. I know you were the one who recruited them. You must’ve all been close.”
Ms. Cho nodded, choking back a sob. “These...girls…were family to one another—to me. Each one had a story to tell and something to offer to make the team stronger and more unified. It is why the clan only accepts the broken.”
Roman adjusted himself and relaxed his posture some. “So, the ladies here have always come from homes where they were, well, abused?” He couldn’t think of a better word.
“You could say that, yes. Some were neglected, like Violet. Others were abused sexually, like Ruby. Then, you had Jade and Indigo… They were identical twins whose parents died in an automobile accident just down the road from here. I heard the whole thing from here and rushed to the scene.”
“You didn’t report it?”
She shook her head. Roman knew that wasn’t right but decided to give the woman the benefit of the doubt. “The girls were twenty and on vacation with their parents—tourists from Nagasaki. Violet and I nursed them back to health, and when they came around, we explained what happened, where they were, and who we were.”
“Just like that?” Roman asked, surprised. “You told two complete strangers the truth about who lived here and what you did?”
“No, no, no,” Ms. Cho replied, smiling, “we only explained who Violet and I were—that we worked for an organization who helped young girls, among other things. We implored the privacy we sought and asked them to trust us.”
“And they did?”
Ms. Cho shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you, Mr. Shepard. Jade and Indigo did not need too much convincing to stay. With their parents gone, we knew they could decide for themselves. They were adults, after all. That was nearly ten years ago.”
“What about the accident?”
“I sent word to one of our contacts in town and asked them to take a drive through the country for leisure purposes. Eventually, they stumbled upon the accident and phoned it into the proper authorities instead of us having to do it.”
“The daughters were reported missing, I presume?”
“Indeed, they were. There was clear evidence of their presence.”
Roman’s face must’ve looked as shocked as he felt.
“Do not worry, Mr. Shepard. I can assure you, those two girls stayed here under their own free will, wanting to be a part of something bigger than themselves. We are not some murderous cult that kills for the sake of killing. We are just a group of women who want to do the right thing.”
“Like Robin Hood... Only without the riches, snooty accents, and animal skins.”
Ms. Cho smiled. “You Americans have a way with words.”
He shrugged. “What can I say, I like the early-Disney version the best.” He adjusted himself. “I can’t say I’m happy with the way you operate, ma’am, but I can’t argue with the results. Violet…” he looked up as she and Willy came walking down the hall in the back of the home, “…she’s as righteous a woman as I’ve ever met.”
Ms. Cho smiled. “See, Mr. Shepard, you do like her.”
Blushing, Roman cleared his throat as the two agents rejoined them. “Taking a tour, Willamina?”
Willy rolled her eyes at the use of her given name. “Har, har… I had to pee, and Violet let me use her private bathroom—all the rooms have one.” Willy’s face lit up. “You need to see this place!”
Ms. Cho practically pushed Roman forward. “Please, go. Violet will show you around. Take this time and relax.” She looked at Violet. “Show them the back of the house. I need to make a call.”
“A call?” Violet asked.
Ms. Cho held up a steady hand. “These are desperate times, my dear. Our rules do not apply anymore.” She smiled. “I will start on dinner and call you when it is ready. Please, enjoy yourself.” She leaned into Roman as Violet and Willy headed for the rear of the house again. “Keep an eye on my Violet, will you? She can only hold back for so long.”
Roman nodded. “I will.” He bowed. “Thanks again for your hospitality, ma’am. It’s good to know that we aren’t alone on this thing.” He looked at the two women moving further down the long hallway. “Trustworthy friends are hard to come by in this line of work.”
Ms. Cho spoke as she walked away. “I agree.”
11
Tokyo, Japan
Posing as an investigator for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Mako, leader of the Gilded Blade, inspected the body on the landing between the sixth and seventh floors. The murder weapon lay nearby, looking very out of place in the urban setting. Someone had used a cattle prod on one of his men, killing him in a most unusual way.
“The electrical current must’ve fried his brain,” another officer said.
Mako, not one to speak often, just glanced at the younger man. The killer’s face was like stone, intimidating. He held the glare until the mouthy cop walked away. Wearing sunglasses at all times, Mako regularly hid what he could of the slash mark he had received from a female in the same line of work.
It was over twenty years ago, and because of his underground dealings at the time and his various warrants, he couldn’t have a licensed surgeon look at it. As a result, his right eyelid was almost entirely missing. He had to wear a sleep mask at night to sleep.
Slowly, he made his way up the stairs, putting together the fight in his head. Mako was a smart and cunning man. It was the reason he was in the position he was. Making friends in the local police force wasn’t hard. All he had to do was offer them what they couldn’t refuse: Money, drugs, and, of course, women.
The latter was Madame’s specialty, though she excelled in them all. The buying and selling of people was a business he’d never been in until she arrived on the scene. One day, the overly confident woman found Mako and asked him to work for her, that whatever he wanted was fine with her. She almost broke his jaw when he said that he wanted her, lunging at her during their initial meeting.
Not used to being turned down, Mako was infuriated and embarrassed, but also impressed. The fact that she still wanted to hire him confused him to this day. She saw something in him that she liked. Mako did what he wanted, when he wanted, and at the speed he wanted. She said she was looking for just that.
The Gilded Blade was founded later that year, taking a lowly Yakuza gangbanger off the streets and into the business world. He posed as the head of her security detail and was fed pertinent information when it was needed.
Like Yao’s secret apartment number, he thought, grinding his teeth. He regretted not coming himself during the initial conflict, but he’d been with her instead. Yao was gone, a result that didn’t bother him in the least. What did was that seven more of his men were dead, along with the ten that died in the Third Floor disaster.
Seventeen dead in less than twenty-four hours.
He continued past two more bodies until he reached the ninth floor, finding his contact within the TMPD waiting for him. Akeno Ona was as close a friend as Mako ever had, routinely looking the other way when it was needed. Since getting into the business of buying and selling peop
le, Mako had made some dangerous enemies, all of which Akeno helped make vanish.
Reports were burned.
Evidence was “lost.”
Whatever linked the Gilded Blade to the uptick in human trafficking, Akeno made it vanish into thin air. He was also one of the most despicable men Mako had ever met. The only thing the detective ever asked for was the youngest girls Mako had.
It was an activity Mako himself had never taken part in. Even as a hired killer, Mako had his limits. Children were one of them. It’s why he sent his men out to do the dirty work. The majority of them had no such moral compass. The only thing keeping Mako around was the massive amounts of wealth he was accumulating and his fear in Madame’s reckoning. He had more money than he knew what to do with.
He was also the only person in the crime world that knew Madame’s real identity.
Kyoko Hirata.
With those two words, Mako could take down her entire empire. And that’s where his fear laid. If she went down because of him, he’d go down with her, or worse, he’d die. At forty-two years of age, Mako had never once been this afraid of anyone, but Kyoko—Madame—had a checkered past. It was something that even he didn’t know. She was truly a mystery.
A dangerous one at that.
Kyoko’s whole being was that of fiction, created overnight by some very skilled people for a costly price. It was another thing money could buy. Freedom from past sins by way of a new identity and a new lease on life. What Mako did know about Kyoko was that she was a person you didn’t screw with, and as demonstrated by Yao’s recent torture, screw over. She personally ordered the brutal methods of interrogation.
It was Yao's other connections that allowed him to live as long as he did. He proved to be too valuable an asset to bury. But fear could get someone back on track—it was Mako’s favorite four-letter word.
Fear. It could make or break a man.
It made him.
It broke Yao.
“The people across the rear courtyard said they saw three people toss Mr. Himachi from his balcony only to have him explode a couple of floors later,” Akeno said, filling Mako in with his preliminary interviews. Like always, he’d wait for Mako to okay them before turning anything in. “It seems that our man got a little over-excited and wired himself to blow.”
“The explosives weren’t meant for my men!” Mako growled, keeping his voice low and rough. “They caught him in time but didn’t expect any company. They were punishing him for his insolence before they too were silenced.”
“What of the surviving men?” Akeno asked, shrinking back. “We had to let them go to the hospital. There was nothing I could do to stop the paramedics. One had a concussion and a broken jaw. The other suffered a gunshot wound to the shoulder. Both injuries are serious business.”
Mako removed his sunglasses and turned to the already scared police officer. Akeno stepped back at the sight and visibly shook in abject horror. “They know what awaits them if they betray me.”
The threat was equally for Akeno as it was for Mako’s own men.
His phone rang, and he spun on his liaison. “Leave me.”
Nodding, Akeno stepped out of the apartment and stopped a few feet from the doorway. Mako ducked inside and answered. Only one person would be calling at the moment.
“Yes?”
He listened, only reacting when she said her goodbyes.
“Yes, right away. I’ll take care of it.”
Putting his sunglasses back on, Mako stormed out of the empty apartment, blowing by Akeno in the process.
* * *
“Something the matter?” Akeno asked.
“Nothing that concerns you.”
“And my reports?”
Mako stopped and turned back toward him. The brooding silence between the two was all the answer Akeno needed.
Akeno watched the professional continue down the hall, then turned and entered the apartment. He closed the door and headed for the kitchen, throwing his notepad in the sink.
Next, he pulled a Zippo cigarette lighter from his pocket and quickly lit the corner of the paper pad, watching it catch. Once it was half-consumed, Akeno left and headed the same way Mako had gone. But instead of descending the stairs, he sat on the top step, and popped the stone off of his graduation ring. Then, he greedily leaned in and snorted the white powder sitting within it.
Shaking, Akeno tried to calm his nerves before getting on the phone to his superiors downtown. They needed to know that there wasn’t anything to go on and that the witness reports turned up nothing. He would then rewrite the accounts before leaving the scene.
12
The House of Dragons
Dinner was incredible. Roman couldn’t remember a time in his life that he had enjoyed a meal as delicious as the one he just wolfed down. It was only after he cleared his plate that Ms. Cho informed him of where the majority of the ingredients came from.
“You grow everythin’ here?” he asked, impressed.
“Yes, we do,” Ms. Cho replied. “Our garden is on the eastern side of the lake, and it is a joy to tend to.”
“Peaceful,” Violet added with a far-off look. “Tranquil…”
Roman’s eyes flicked to Ms. Cho who met his. She nodded and turned away, bringing in the dishes. Roman went to stand and help but was waved off.
“You’ve had a long day,” she said. “Plus, they do enough. The last thing I expect them to do is to come home after a trying time away and take out the garbage.”
That made Roman smile. Ms. Cho was just like his grams. They both went out of their way to make visitors feel welcome. And it worked. He hadn’t felt this relaxed and satisfied in months—years even.
The back deck was something he didn’t expect. He was awestruck when Ms. Cho flipped open a plastic cover attached to the wall next to the back door, looked his way, and winked, pushing the single red button housed inside. Turning back to the large expanse of wood decking, he grinned as it began to peel back, section by section. A pool was built beneath the flooring and it was perfectly square, twenty-by-twenty in size.
Each piece of the faux-wood area was itself five-by-twenty, and they silently slipped underneath the surrounding landscape. It was as technologically advanced a pool as Roman had ever seen and he pondered who installed it.
I could probably find out and dig into this place more.
He looked into the crystal-clear water and noticed movement, or rather the reflection of a person moving. Violet was walking along the left-hand side of the water. She was headed somewhere to think, most likely, needing some time to herself. She’d been through hell and Roman couldn’t blame her for wanting some alone time.
He was about to sit next to Willy and pick her brain but found her on her side, dead asleep on a padded lounge chair, snoring like a wild boar. She would be no company at all and Roman wasn’t tired enough to fall asleep yet. It was also too early to call it a night and go to bed. He wasn’t built that way, routinely staying up deep into the night. Plus, he was wired, still feeling the high of the action back at Yao’s apartment complex. So, instead, he looked back to where he last saw Violet.
He was startled by what he saw…
She was looking directly at him from across the flat, glowing water. Her dark eyes danced in the illumination caused by the underwater spotlights, making something inside him churn. Then, she turned and descended a set of stairs, disappearing from view.
Deciding to keep his promise to Ms. Cho, Roman made his way around the pool. He would keep an eye on Violet for the older woman and see if he could help her through her obvious sorrow. If he was honest with himself, he really wanted to get to know her better.
For whatever reason, neither of the ladies wanted to confide in one another. It led Roman to believe that they didn’t do so typically. Maybe they did at one time, but not now.
Not as much of a family as I thought. He quickly changed his mind when he remembered that Violet was one of seven other women living there. He
decided that they probably confided in one another versus with their keeper.
Roman approached the stairs to the back lawn and watched Violet continue down a dimly lit path. Knee-high, motion-sensor lights flicked on and off as she moved.
At least she’ll be easy to follow.
Heading down the stairs, he saw that the back of the house was two stories off the ground. The front was at ground level. The estate was built into a sloping hill, and he tried his best to get a glimpse at what lay beneath.
Unfortunately, the only thing Roman could see was the thick foundation of the pool and a variety of pumps and filtration systems. But at least he knew there had to be a basement of some kind below the home itself. In the short time he’d been inside, he didn’t recall seeing a door that would lead to it. The short tour had only turned up bedrooms, offices, and a state-of-the-art gymnasium/training center. The latter had all kinds of bladed weapons stored there.
A hidden entrance maybe? He asked himself.
Now, far enough away from the house and the churning pool filters, the only thing Roman could hear was his own footsteps as his shoes crunched atop the natural path. As he marched forward, the lights illuminating Violet’s feet suddenly winked out. A few moments a later, Roman saw why.
She had entered a darkened, wooded area.
Picking up his pace, Roman saw that the trail continued into the precisely manicured tree line. Someone had cut a domed walkway right into the entanglement of vegetation, and like everything else, it was obviously regularly maintained.
“Oookay,” he whispered to himself. “This ain’t creepy or nothin’.” Trusting that he was going to get shivved, he stepped in. Once he did, he understood why Violet’s lights winked out. There were no lights where he was now, and not having a flashlight on him, Roman was all but blind. He was about to pull out his cell phone and use its small camera light but paused when he heard a voice.
“Walk forward ten paces and stop,” a voice said.
“Vi?”
No answer.
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