She tried to twist her head to see out of the heavy cloth bag which covered her head. It stank of fish and other unpleasant odors that made her gag. When she moved, a hard blow on her head left her seeing stars.
“Be still, bitch. I won’t tell you again,” the voice snarled.
The van made several hard turns and stops before it came to a halt and she heard a door open.
“Yasou, go tell Sero that we have the girl. We’ll take her to the house. You can meet us there.”
“Will do, Diago. Save some for me.” He laughed cruelly.
The van pulled off with a screech of tires and continued for what seemed to Koda to be an hour, but in reality, was only twenty minutes. When it next stopped, the doors opened and she was pulled out by her arm.
“Don’t try anything stupid,” the same harsh voice from before warned.
Koda’s arm was wrenched behind her back, and she was pushed up a flight of steps, stumbling and smashing her toes on each one. A door opened, and she heard several screams that sounded like people in agony coming from inside. She panicked and tried to twist away but could not break the crushing grip that held her.
“None of that, sweet cheeks,” the voice chuckled as her arm was forced higher, making her go up on her toes in an attempt to relieve the pressure.
Koda was duck-walked down what seemed to be a short hallway. A door with loud squeaking hinges opened in front of her, and rough hands propelled her over the threshold. She tripped and staggered forward until she ran into a hard object and fell to the floor, bruising her hands and knees as she landed on the wooden surface.
The door slammed closed with a metallic clang, muffling the agonized screams that had followed her down the hall.
Koda’s head snapped back as her abductor yanked her to her feet. She muffled her cry of pain when she accidentally bit her tongue. One large calloused hand painfully held her wrists together as he snatched the bag off her head. She blinked, her eyes watering in the sudden light. When the room came into focus, she blanched in fear.
She was in a chamber of horrors. There was a wooden rack with wheels wrapped in chains that had metal cuffs on the top. Multiple manacles were attached to individual lengths of chain that hung from the ceiling at various heights in front of the far wall. The wall itself was studded with hooks and brackets that held all manner of whips, implements obviously designed to inflict pain, and other objects whose uses she couldn’t imagine. The closer wall held a small cage roughly one meter high and less than a meter square made of metal bars. It appeared to only be large enough for the occupant to squat or kneel uncomfortably in.
The man spoke close to her ear. “How do you like my playroom?” His breath reeked of garlic and made her stomach clench as she fought not to retch.
He shoved Koda across the room and forced her to kneel inside the cramped cage. He slammed the door closed, leering at Koda as he goaded her. “Look around, sweetcakes. Imagine the worst things that can be done with all this stuff. Then understand that your imagination can only scratch the surface of what it will really be like.”
Koda’s stomach was in her throat when she heard this. She had thought she knew fear when she was held captive by Isamu and his minions, but it was nothing like the mind-numbing terror she felt now. The only thing she had feared from Isamu was death. This was much worse.
“Think about what I said while you wait. Someone wants to ask you some questions when he gets here. Answer him, and you can go free. Don’t, and I get to show you what all these things are for.” He gestured dramatically. “Please be difficult. I can’t wait to have a go at you.” He laughed as he walked out of the room and shut the door. The hinges gave off an unnerving shriek as it closed.
Koda surveyed all the implements in the chamber of horrors. She tried to control her reactions, but her imagination ran wild and panic overcame her as occasional screams filtered through the door. Her breath came in short, fast gasps as tears streamed down her face.
After a few minutes, her breathing calmed, and the panic receded to a manageable level. A sudden thought sent her hand darting into her pants pocket. Her fingers searched, fruitlessly, and panic overcame her once again.
She had forgotten to take her communicator out of the clothes she wore the day before. She was on her own.
TQB Base, Tokyo, Japan
Eve brought the Black Eagle down into the inner courtyard of the base at high speed. It came to a halt inches from the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust and small debris.
She bolted out of the craft and sent it to hover five kilometers above the base, where she could call it back in seconds when she had a target.
“Abel, what do you have for me?” she called as she rushed down the hall from the lift through the door of the command center.
“I was able to identify the two men who accosted Koda as members of the local Yakuza,” the EI replied. “Each of them has been arrested multiple times, but they have never been convicted. The witnesses have either refused to testify or disappeared each time.”
“Yakuza?” Eve questioned. “Why would they want Koda?”
“I believe it is because of the drone footage Akio accessed a short time ago,” Abel told her. The monitor in front of her came to life with a black screen, and audio of the conversation between Dieter and Muto started to play.
“Where was this?” Eve inquired tersely when it finished. “Why is there no visual?”
“According to the tracking data, it was at a known Yakuza front, Riko’s Noodle House,” Abel replied. “It is located only a few kilometers from the Palace. This is the drone you managed to put in that Were’s backpack when he boarded the ship in China. It’s still in the bag.”
“Akio,” Eve called over her comm. “I have an address to go with the footage you reviewed earlier.”
Yuko’s voice answered. “Stand by one moment, Eve, he’s speaking with the police now.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
The Palace, Tokyo, Japan
“My apologies, Akio-san, I was unaware of who you were.” The still visibly-shaken officer bowed and then continued. “The commissioner general has ordered that I give you whatever assistance you request, and also asked me to inform you that he is on his way.”
Akio inclined his head. “Thank you, Officer…”
“Sato,” he replied.
“Officer Sato, no apologies necessary. I apologize for startling you. I’m sure it isn’t every day that you encounter someone looking like I do coming from the sky in a strange aircraft.”
Sato laughed weakly. “Or get personally called by the commissioner general. This has turned into a strange day, indeed.”
Akio gave him a half-smile and continued, “One of the people who works here was taken from the street by two men in a van earlier today. Getting her back before she comes to any harm is my primary focus.”
Sato nodded. “I was sent to investigate the reported kidnapping. What can I do to assist you?”
The sound of rapidly-approaching sirens reached the two men, although Akio had heard them when he stepped out of the Pod.
Sato turned to look in the direction they came from. “I believe that is the commissioner general now, sir.”
A patrol car with flashing lights on top followed by three black SUVs turned into the parking lot and came to a screeching halt in front of Akio and Sato. A distinguished-looking man in an ornate uniform exited the passenger door of the middle SUV and approached Akio. A group of harried-looking officers piled out of the other vehicles and rushed to catch up with him.
The man bowed. “Akio-san.”
“Commissioner General Watabe,” Akio acknowledged with a bow of his own.
“What is happening, and what assistance do you need from me?” the commissioner general asked.
“One of the people who works here was taken earlier,” Akio informed him. “I believe you have received surveillance footage of the incident. I need to find where she was taken. I will handle it from there.”<
br />
The commissioner general’s expression was grave. “I was informed that you invoked the Bitch Protocol. This is related to, ah, your side of society?”
Akio nodded once. “Hai.”
Yuko had waited in the Pod until the situation with the frightened officer was settled. Now that the commissioner general had arrived, she stepped out and walked down the ramp.
Officer Sato stiffened and instinctively placed his hand on his weapon when he saw her blood-covered clothes and weapons.
The commissioner general saw his reaction and turned to see what had startled him. “Yuko-san!” he exclaimed as he rushed over to her. “Are you injured?”
“No, Watabe-san, none of this is mine,” she assured him as she swept her hand down in front of her blood-splattered armor.
His eyes widened in shock, and he started to speak.
“Pardon me for a moment. I need to speak to Akio,” she excused herself as she motioned Akio over.
“Certainly, Yuko-san,” the commissioner general answered, shock still evident on his face.
When Akio approached she told him in a voice so low that only he could hear, “Eve has the location for the recording you reviewed. I will deal with the police while you speak with her.”
“Thank you.” Akio stepped into the Pod and immediately called, “Eve?”
“Abel has located the place where the Were from China was,” Eve told him. “It is Riko’s Noodle House, a known Yakuza operation. I am sending the coordinates to your Pod.”
“Good work. Have you managed to track down that van, yet?”
“Not yet,” she admitted. “But we are searching through the data now to find it. Abel was able to identify the kidnappers as Yakuza members. They have been charged with numerous offenses in the past but never convicted. Witness tampering is suspected due to the witnesses’ reluctance to testify or disappearing before the trials.”
“I don’t think that will be an issue in this instance.” His voice was ice-cold.
“Agreed. I will let you know when I find more. I have dispatched a drone carrier to the Yakuza site. You will have real-time information available in a short time.”
“Send it to the Pod,” Akio instructed. “I will be going there next.”
“Do you want me to assist you?” Eve inquired.
“No, keep searching for the van. I will contact you when I am done…talking to the Yakuza scum.”
“Abel is into the government traffic and surveillance network,” Eve assured him. “I am pulling the footage from any private networks. We will find her!”
“Hai, and the people responsible for this will be held accountable.” Akio stepped out of the Pod and heard Yuko speaking with the commissioner general.
“We located a complex in China where they were holding creatures like the ones on Kume. They intended to set them on the people here. We neutralized that threat but had to return for this before we dealt with the person responsible for all of it.”
“You say this is part of the same group that you dealt with on Kume?” the commissioner general asked in shock.
“Hai,” Yuko confirmed. “We were able to find the location of the one behind all of this. Taking my employee is an unexpected escalation of the ongoing hostilities.”
“Your employee? I was told she worked here.” He indicated the building.
“She does,” Yuko told him. “Eve and I started this business as a way to raise money to help the people on Kume. The girl who was taken is Koda Rii,” she explained. “My other employee is Asai Ono. They are both from Kume.”
“Ono?” The commissioner general tilted his head. “Any relation to Yagi the Mayor?”
“His daughter. Koda is his niece.”
His face flushed with anger. “Yagi and I are old school chums. As I told Akio, whatever you need from me, just ask.”
“Commissioner General, I have some new information. Are you familiar with a Yakuza operation in the area called Riko’s Noodle House?” Akio inquired as he joined the two.
The commissioner general motioned for a tall, thin, dark-haired officer wearing plain black BDUs and a pair of pistols on his belt to approach. “Do you know of a Yakuza noodle house around here?”
“Hai, Riko’s,” he answered. “That’s Muto’s place.”
“Akio, this is Inspector Yonai. He leads the Organized Crime Investigation Unit as well as an elite Special Investigations Unit.”
“Yonai-san.” Akio offered a slight bow.
“Akio-san,” Yonai responded in kind.
“Yonai, please answer any questions he has. I am authorizing the use of your team to assist him in this,” the commissioner general ordered.
Akio wasted no time. “What can you tell me about Riko’s? Is there a risk of innocents being present?”
Yonai thought for a minute. “Riko’s is where Muto Koto handles his day-to-day business. He is a lieutenant in the organization and this is his territory. He’s a particularly nasty individual, too. Murder, drugs, prostitution, you name it, he’s into it. He also has a reputation for violence whenever things don’t go his way. My people have been after him for quite some time, but have never been able to pin him down for anything.”
He paused and pulled an electronic tablet from his pocket.
After consulting it, he continued. “The restaurant is a public place. Muto has an office in the back that looks out into the dining area. I had an undercover officer attempt to get in there a few months ago, he was found dead in a dumpster on the other side of town. He had been beaten to death. We didn’t have enough to charge him but rumor is that Muto did it himself. Needless to say, he is at the top of my persons of interest list.”
“Muto is no longer of any consequence,” Akio informed them. “He’s dead. Sero is running the operation—for now.”
Yonai’s eyes widened and excitement filled his voice. “What happened? When did this happen? More importantly, who did it?”
Akio’s lips turned up in a half-smile. "It happened earlier today. He failed to deliver as promised to some very dangerous…people. They took exception to his failure and sent someone to deal with him. He was disrespectful to their representative and died because of it.”
“How do you know this?” Yonai asked. “None of my people have reported hearing anything like it.”
“We were tracking the person who did it,” Akio told him. “My associate was able to record audio of their meeting.”
Yonai was obviously impressed by this information. “I would love to talk to your associate sometime. We have never been able to get surveillance equipment to work through all of the interference and jamming in that place.”
He nodded at Yuko, who was talking quietly with the commissioner general. “You would need to speak with Yuko about that. Technology-sharing falls under her duties as the Queen’s Vicereine.”
Yonai nodded and continued looking at the information on his tablet. “There are normally ten to twenty heavily-armed Yakuza soldiers present at all times when Riko’s is open. They hang out in the dining room for the most part, with one or two watching the back door in the alley. The place is small, it only has around fifteen tables, so if there are any innocents there, it won’t be many. I can send an undercover in to check if you like.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Akio told him. “The associate I spoke of earlier is working on establishing surveillance there now. Is there any way that you can help ensure that there are no innocents in the area? What type of area is it?”
“It’s businesses, for the most part. There are some hotels and apartments, but none too close to Riko’s. There is a lot of activity during the day, but most of the businesses close at five. After that, the area is deserted other than skeleton staff, security officers, and cleaners.”
Akio thought for a moment. “I don’t like waiting, but if the area is that crowded, we may have to unless my associate finds information that leads us to act sooner.”
“I can have my Special Investigations
Unit secure the area around it. We can also go into the surrounding buildings and get the people in them a safe distance away. Do you need my men to raid the place?”
Akio shook his head as he looked at the sky. It was a few hours before five. He was concerned for Koda but didn’t see how he could hit the Yakuza any earlier. “No, when it is time to hit them, I think it best that your men stay back. There may be some people there who Yuko and I are best equipped to deal with.”
Yonai nodded knowingly. He was one of the few who had been fully briefed on Akio and Yuko’s true purpose. He also had experience with UnknownWorld beings and would rather let them handle it as well. “What about the Yakuza soldiers?”
“If they don’t attack us, they get to live,” Akio softly replied. “Otherwise, they are all complicit in Koda’s abduction and their lives are forfeit.”
Chills ran down Yonai’s back. He didn’t doubt that many Yakuza would die tonight.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Riko’s Noodle House, Tokyo, Japan
Yasou rushed through the door calling, “Sero, we have one of the girls!”
Sero’s head snapped up from the whiskey he was nursing at the bar. “Sogo, go to the inn down the street and tell Dieter that we have results,” he ordered. “Ask him if he would like to be present when we question the girl.”
Sogo sipped from the glass he held and stood. He then casually sauntered toward the door.
“Sogo, if you don’t move your fat ass any faster than that, I will shoot you myself!” Sero yelled. “Now, run!”
Sogo hit the door at a full run and turned toward the inn. He was out of sight of the men watching him through the windows in seconds.
Hino snickered. “Damn, Sero, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Sogo move like that. He acted like he thinks that you really would shoot him.”
Sero stared at Hino, his eyes tight with anger. “If you think I won’t shoot any of you, do something to make me look bad to that bastard Dieter. That’s if he doesn’t smash in your skull like he did to Muto. Now, make yourself useful and have Jeo bring the car. I don’t want to have to wait for him when Sogo gets back.”
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