Blowback

by James P. Sumner

  I slam my hand against the bed. “It matters because people cannot be allowed to get away with that kind of shit, Ruby! If we don’t stop them, how many more people are gonna end up like us? People who can’t defend themselves. People who don’t know how to survive like we do. Their blood will be on our hands if we walk away now. Besides, the way I see it, if we just take out Kazawa, someone’s just gonna step up, take his place, and come after us. Best way to avoid that is make sure there’s no one left to assume control.”

  She stops pacing and stares at me. It doesn’t look as if she’s trying to find something to say. She’s just staring at me, hands on hips.

  “Look,” I say, “I understand where you’re coming from, okay? I do. But do you really think Miley is gonna let me start over somewhere else? Like you said, she must know I’m alive, because I’m trending worldwide. She’s going to hunt me for the rest of her life until she finishes me. Trust me, I know what it’s like to be driven by vengeance. It consumes every part of you. She won’t ever stop, Ruby. Which means we won’t ever be able to stop running. I don’t want that. Not for myself. Not for you.”

  She walks over to the window and looks out. A good two minutes pass before she moves again. She turns on her heels and throws her coffee cup across the room, sinking it in the trash can stood against the opposite wall. Then she moves to my bedside. Sits on the edge of the bed. Takes my hand.

  “I know you’re right,” she says. “But it’s not every day you face your own mortality. It’s not every day you see someone you care about tortured beyond comprehension. I’ve seen a lot of shit, Adrian, but yesterday was too much, even for me. It just makes me wonder if the fight’s worth it.”

  I do my best to squeeze her hand with mine.

  “Look, while it wasn’t intentional at the time, we’re in this situation because of me, and I’m sorry for that. Truly, I am. But you saw what Miley did to me. She’s grown up fixated with taking revenge on me. She won’t stop. Ever. This is the fight of our lives, kiddo. So, you can bet your ass it’s worth it.”

  She takes a deep breath. When she smiles, it looks forced. The expression barely reaches her tired eyes.

  “Then we fight. Whatever it takes. And you know I’ve got your back.”

  I nod. “Likewise.”

  We hold each other’s gaze for a long moment. For the first time since waking up here, I remember what we said to each other when we thought it was over. Before Ichiro showed up. It was intense. We both thought we were about to die. Did we speak honestly, or were we just victims of circumstance? It’ll need talking about at some point. I mean, we almost—

  “Am I interrupting?”

  Huh?

  We both turn and look over at the door. There’s a man standing there. Short, dark skin, a barrel chest surrounded by muscle, and an obvious power to his frame that defies his years. He’s dressed in black, wearing a cream trench coat that rests just below his knees.

  He smiles. “The nurse said it was okay to come see you.”

  “Are you a reporter?” Ruby gets to her feet and moves around the bed, so she’s standing between me and the new arrival.

  He chuckles. “No, I’m not. Although, there’s a few of them out there, all looking for a quote from the man of the hour.” He leans to the side and looks past Ruby, right at me. “How are you feeling, Adrian?”

  I shrug. “As you’d expect, I guess. Sorry, you are…?”

  “Moses Buchanan.” He pauses to grin widely. “Josh Winters recruited me to a senior consultant position when GlobaTech bought my security firm a few years ago. When he passed away, I was chosen to replace him as CEO. My condolences, by the way. Josh was a good man and a good friend. I know you were like a brother to him.”

  Ruby looks around, wide-eyed, and we exchange a look of surprise.

  “How did you find me?” I ask. “And why are you here?”

  He steps inside the room and leans back against the doorframe. His hands are deep in his coat pockets.

  “The how was easy,” he says. “The people torturing you live on the internet weren’t as good as they thought they were at covering their tracks. I’m sure a lot of people traced the signal. I’m simply better and faster than most people.”

  Listening to him talk, I can’t help but be reminded of Josh. His mannerisms, his confidence… the way he perfectly treads the line between charming and arrogant. I see why they were friends.

  “Yeah, okay.”

  “As for the why … well, I thought it only right I check up on you. It’s what Josh would’ve done.”

  “Uh-huh…”

  “Yeah, I didn’t think you’d buy that,” he says, smiling. He steps forward and extends his hand. “You must be Ruby.”

  She shakes it tentatively. “Yeah. How do you know?”

  He looks at each of us in turn. “Honestly? Josh kept a file on Adrian under lock and key. Only accessible by whoever holds his job.” He focuses on me. “It… ah… it details everything about you. From the moment you and Josh met until the moment he travelled to Rome with you.”

  I feel my eyes pop wide, which instantly sends a shooting pain around one side of my skull.

  “Damn it!” I grimace and screw my eyes closed again. “Really?”

  “Yeah. He left a note with it, saying it might come in handy.”

  “Right. So, why are you here, Moses? I’m kinda busy being in pain.”

  He takes his hand out of his pocket. He’s holding a piece of paper, which he passes to Ruby.

  “What’s this?” she asks, taking it.

  “It’s a list of Tetsuo Kazawa’s associates. It was too much of a risk to investigate that piece of shit personally, but I figured it’s a good way for you to start looking for him.”

  “This is… this is great. Thank you.”

  “Yeah,” I say. “I appreciate that. Thanks.”

  “My pleasure.”

  I shuffle myself a little more upright in bed, trying to get comfortable. In doing so, the bed cover slips a little, revealing the multi-colored patchwork of bruises on my torso.

  “Ouch…” says Moses, gesturing to them.

  “I’ll live,” I reply. “So, at the risk of appearing ungrateful here… what do you want from me?”

  “Who says I want anything?”

  “Really? The CEO of the biggest company in the world flies five-and-a-half thousand miles to do a favor for a guy he doesn’t know, purely out of the goodness of his heart? I respect the fact Josh trusted you. That goes a long way with me. But don’t bullshit me. You show up here rocking the Nick Fury look and expect me to believe you don’t want anything? Try again.”

  He holds my gaze. His polite and cheerful exterior visibly hardens. His eyes narrow for a second. Then he nods and smiles again.

  “Fair enough. I came here because of who you were to Josh. I came here because no one should have to go through what you just did. Especially in front of the world. The people who did this to you should be brought to justice. But they’re Yakuza, and it’s not something I want my team or my company to proactively get involved in. We’re very visible too, and there are political ramifications to every decision I make. Plus, I figured you would probably want to handle it yourself.” He nods to the piece of paper in Ruby’s hand. “That’s a peace offering, of sorts. A gesture of good faith between you and me.”

  “Why?”

  He lets out a taut breath. Glances around the room and over his shoulder. “Because I’ve been around long enough to know when shit’s about to go sideways. I know the signs. Trouble’s coming, Adrian, and I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have someone like you owe me one.”

  “What kind of trouble?” asks Ruby.

  “Right now, the manageable kind. But the world’s on a knife edge. That could easily change.”

  “Is Jericho still working with you?” I ask.

  Moses nods. “He is.”

  I smile. “Say hi for me.”

  “I will. Although, I think he’s still a little
unsure about you.” He laughs as he moves to the doorway again. “I’ll let you rest up. Both of you. Take a couple of days. Get your strength back before you go looking into that list, you hear me? Tetsuo Kazawa isn’t someone to take lightly.”

  “We know.”

  He steps out into the corridor and looks back. “Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. I took the liberty of leaving you a little gift in your apartment.”

  “Flowers and grapes? You shouldn’t have…”

  “Not quite,” he replies, chuckling. “Just a few things to help you with your Yakuza problem.”

  He nods a silent farewell to each of us and disappears out of sight.

  Ruby turns to me. “Well, that was weird.”

  “Yeah, just a bit.”

  “What do you think’s going on?”

  “Nothing GlobaTech can’t handle, I’m sure.” I gesture to the paper. “What’s he given us?”

  She looks at it again. “Just a list of three names and addresses.”

  “Well, now we know where to start.”

  “Yeah, but I think we should take his advice. Lay low and rest up for a couple of days. Minimum.”

  My instinct is to argue, but I stop myself. I can’t even stand, let alone wage war on half of Tokyo. I made my point to Ruby about us needing to fight, but I admit that resting sounds pretty good right now.

  I nod. “Yeah, okay. We should get a good forty-eight hours of peace in this place. But you’ll stick around, yeah? I don’t want you out there on your own. Not at the moment.”

  She smiles. “I’m not going anywhere. Don’t worry.”

  She sits back down beside me. Puts her feet back up on the bed, shoving my leg aside again. Starts tapping the screen on her phone. I watch her for a moment, then lie back in bed, focus on the ceiling, and try to relax.

  I’m coming for you, Miley. You and your asshole boyfriend. But you’ll keep for now.

  17

  October 22, 2019 – 10:09 JST

  The doors of the elevator slide open, quiet and smooth, revealing our apartment. It feels good to be home. I walk gingerly toward the sofa. Ruby is next to me, linking my arm. She’s trying to pass it off as being nice, but she’s actually doing it to hold me up, hoping I don’t notice.

  I sink heavily into the familiar comfort of the cushions and lean back, exhausted. Ruby sits down beside me, resting the backpack she was carrying at her feet. It was a parting gift from the hospital, containing pain meds, bandages, and a face mask for me.

  That was a strange one.

  Because of the bruising to my eye socket, the doctors said I need to protect it until it heals fully. I had a fitting for this light-gray mask they give to athletes to wear over their eyes. It’s made from carbon fiber and covers the top half of your face. When I tried it on, I looked like Batman, but without the pointy ears.

  I even asked for it in black.

  “How are you feeling?” asks Ruby.

  “I’m all right,” I reply, without moving. “Was going stir crazy in that goddamn bed though.”

  She laughs. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

  I sit up and gesture to the coffee table in front of me. The black sports bag from Buchanan is sitting on it.

  “Shall we open our ‘welcome home’ gift?”

  “Not just yet.” She gets to her feet and looks down at herself. “I’ve been wearing this dress for nearly three days. I need a shower.”

  “Sure thing.”

  “Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone, okay?”

  I raise my eyebrow. “Like what?”

  “Like get up to make a coffee or something. I’ll be ten minutes, then I’ll be back to look after you.”

  We hold each other’s gaze for a long moment. I smile and look away, keen to avoid it becoming awkward.

  “You got it, Mom .”

  She sighs. “Kids today…”

  She winks before disappearing upstairs. I look down at myself. I’m wearing the same clothes I had on when I first entered The Golden Tiger. My T-shirt is ripped and stained, the holes and patches of dried blood resting neatly over my healing wounds. I look like I’ve been dug out of a grave.

  Meh. One thing at a time.

  I lean over and open the backpack. I take out a small sponge ball and begin squeezing it methodically in my right hand. Since lowering the dosage of meds, the spasms and aches from my old tendon injury are back with a vengeance. Not to mention the multiple cuts and bruises decorating my body that I’m suddenly more aware of. Even breathing tugs at the stitching in my gut.

  I reach back into the bag and rummage around for the meds. I feel the small, plastic bottle under some bandages. As I squeeze the ball in my right hand, I hold the bottle up in my left. The label is printed in Japanese, so I’ve no idea what it says, but the doctor at the hospital said it was Oxycodone. He said something about taking one every twelve hours to help with the pain, but for no more than three days. Squeezing the ball is getting harder to do. The aching intensifies, which I know is a sign of a spasm waiting to happen.

  Didn’t miss this when I was high on meds…

  It’s also not the greatest thing to have to deal with when you’re gearing up for war. My strategy, such as it is, very much revolves around being able to hold and shoot a gun.

  I open the bottle and pop two tablets, swallowing them dry.

  That should hold me for a while.

  10:24 JST

  I feel a hand press gently on my shoulder. I jolt awake. My eyes snap open, remaining wide with surprise. Ruby is standing in front of me, leaning over, smiling. Her hair’s wet, dampening her thin top.

  “Hey there, sleepyhead,” she says before moving to sit beside me.

  “Hey. Guess I must’ve dropped off for a sec there.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Restless, more than anything.” I slowly flex my hand. No aches or tremors. “You?”

  “Better after that shower. Drink?”

  “I’m good for now, thanks. I want to see what GlobaTech has left us.”

  She smiles. “You’re like a kid on Christmas morning!”

  I clap rapidly. “I hope it’s that train set I always wanted!”

  “You idiot!”

  She kneels beside the table and unzips the black bag. She stares inside, then looks over at me.

  “Holy shit…”

  I sit forward and take a look myself.

  “Holy shit!”

  Talk about a jackpot. Ruby begins emptying the contents onto the surface of the table. Handguns, ammo, grenades of all kinds, an assault rifle, a pair of SMGs, a shotgun, night vision goggles, trip mines…

  “What’s that?” I say, pointing to a black wooden box at the bottom of the bag.

  She takes it out, studying it closely with a curious frown. It looks expensive. High-quality finish. The GlobaTech logo is embossed in gold in the center of it.

  She opens it, lifting the lid slowly toward me. After a moment, she closes it again. There’s a warm smile on her face.

  “So, what is it?” I ask her.

  Her smile widens, touching her eyes, bringing them to life. It’s a beautiful smile.

  “I think it’s for you,” she replies as she hands it to me.

  I spin it around on my lap and lift the lid.

  I smile. My heart beats a tiny bit faster.

  “Sonofabitch…”

  Inside is lined with a cushioned red velvet. Resting in the middle are two handguns. GlobaTech-issue nine millimeters. Raptors, I think they call them. They’re gorgeous weapons. A long, silver barrel with oak-effect panels on the butt. Engraved on each one in gold is the GlobaTech symbol again, sitting inside a pentagram.

  I take each one out in turn, holding it briefly to familiarize myself with its weight. It feels sturdy but not cumbersome at all. Sleek but deadly. Similar in design to my old Berettas, but with GlobaTech’s trademark futuristic-looking twist—curves are replaced with an almost hexagonal frame that surprisingly doesn’t take away fro
m the aesthetic.

  Underneath them is a small note. A piece of thin, cream card folded once. I place the guns beside me and read it. I instantly feel a tear form in my eye. This time it’s a good thing, and I embrace the moment. It escapes down my cheek as I smile.

  Ruby frowns. “Adrian, what does it say?”

  I laugh, slightly embarrassed. “It, ah… it says, ‘If anything should happen to me, see these find their way into Adrian’s hands. He’ll know what to do.’ Signed J.W.”

  She puts her hands to her mouth as tears instantly well in her eyes too.

  I shake my head, unable to stop smiling. “Sonofabitch…”

  I pick up one of the guns again and hold it in both hands, admiring it. Even after he’s gone, Josh is still looking out for me. And not just as a voice inside my head, either. That guy was something else.

  “You okay?” asks Ruby, sniffing back tears.

  “Yeah…”

  “What are you thinking?”

  I look up at her. My jaw tenses. “Honestly? I’m… I’m a little scared.”

  She frowns and moves beside me, sitting with a leg brought up beneath her. “Of what?”

  I gesture to the gun. “Of this. Of what I can do with it.”

  “Adrian, I’m not following you.”

  I let out a heavy breath, then turn my body to face her. “Look, I haven’t been Adrian Hell for a long time. As far as I’m concerned, I retired him in Texas and buried him when The Order faked my death. He was a persona that became synonymous with everything bad in my life. For a long, long time. When I killed Wilson Trent, that was pretty much it. My crusade was done. My journey was complete. My family were laid to rest. But that was a dark time, Ruby. If Josh were here, he’d tell you just how dark it got for me.”

  She places her hand on my leg. “I know, but you have me now. I’m not trying to replace him or anything, but you know I’ve got your back, just as you have mine.”

  I smile. “I know, but that’s not what I mean. Okay… imagine an alcoholic who’s been sober for two years. He’s been getting by because he was able to replace beer with non-alcoholic beer, so he felt he was getting the hit he needed without actually getting the hit.”