by John Muir
CHAPTER 16
EXPEDIENCY NOT REMORSE
Sunshine Plantation, East of Iligan, Mindanao - Day 1
Yamada listened, without showing any concern, to the screams for help from the driver and Iti over the r/t. He knew that would mean the kidnap or killing, had begun, possibly towards a terrible conclusion.
He also watched Ueda's reaction during the call. It was not the stoic look he had expected it to be. Ueda seemed to be showing remorse.
"We could not tell them we knew what was going to happen," said Yamada.
Ueda bowed his head.
"If we had, they might have been too prepared and managed to fight their way out. Then all of our planning would have achieved nothing," Yamada went on.
Ueda still sat silent.
"I'm sure Iti died like the samurai he was."
Yamada saw Ueda's eyes flick briefly up to meet his. He was unsure of what the message in that glance meant.
"I am curious as to how the gaishin faced his death. I guess we will never know. My thought is that he might have died with some bravery. It was his greed that made him such an easy pigeon for us to set up."
Again he saw Ueda look up at him and he felt that the glance confirmed his suspicion. Ueda was not in full agreement with what had happened. Perhaps in the longer time frame he might have to relieve Ueda of his position. Though he knew Ueda could be trusted to keep the secret of Yamada's failed foreign investments, Yamada still felt shame for what he knew that Ueda knew. For now though, he needed Ueda to do things for him that he could not personally front up for without revealing he was still free. He could still pull the strings.
----------
Near Linamon, west of Iligan, Mindanao - Day 1
Salim Hassan was angry with himself. He had intended to make this Japanese bastard Yamada feel every blow and pain that he could inflict. His hitting the Japanese face with the side of the machete had been harder than he intended. He had not intended to make the Japanese lose consciousness. His follow up action of then kicking the unconscious Japanese in the face had probably exacerbated the situation and delayed the return to consciousness.
He knew it was only his frustration that had made him do it. That frustration and his anger had cheated him of some immediate pleasure in torturing the Japanese. Now he would have to wait until the Japanese recovered consciousness.
Whatever happened later, the Japanese would have some permanent marks on his face to remember this beating. And the bastard's face was so puffed up that even his own Mother would not recognise him.
He signalled to his helpers to disperse. He had not expected any problem from the local police or local people. It was a patch well and truly controlled by the Muslims and the MNLF. But the military might have been different. It would have depended on who the commanding officer was.
Most of his helpers had departed in their jeepney transports. They pulled out immediately after picking up their three wounded comrades, and gone before Salim and his three cousins had dumped the heavy unconscious Japanese between the back seats of the jeepney. The inert figure was tied up before being covered with some fishing nets.
Salim sat in the back of the jeepney, his feet on the fishing nets. As they pulled away he looked back at the scene they had created.
Apart from the smashed front windscreen and flat tyres, the Nissan, from a distance, the outside looked remarkably undamaged. The body of the driver and the armless corpse of the one bodyguard had been propped up in sitting positions against the side of the Nissan. They would be spotted soon enough.
He had been told by his informant in Cagayan de Oro that Yamada had both of his bodyguards with him when they left. There must have been some change of plan. But he had got the flashy suited Japanese bastard he had wanted. Now this Japanese would pay for the crimes of three generations. When they had paid the ransom he would kill this pig for what his personal factory police had done to his wife.
He had many things to think about on the drive back to his ramshackle two story home by the seashore near to Linamon, west of Iligan.
----------
Cagayan de Oro City - Day 1
Nilo had been expecting T.A. to call the night before as he had promised. He had waited until just before he thought the early diners would be moving into the restaurant, then, he telephoned the VIP Hotel.
The switch board had transferred his call direct to T.A.'s room. Though he held on, eventually the call rang back to Reception. He explained that he had not received any reply. They advised T.A. had not left the Hotel because he had not handed in his room key. Though, of course, he may have forgotten and accidentally taken it with him.
Nilo offered to hold on while they checked the dining room. He was feeling a little hurt that T.A. seemed to have found something else to do without including him in his plans.
Besides that, he had boasted to his family that he had made an 'Americano' friend in Manila and that his friend was coming all the way down to Cagayan de Oro from Manila just to visit him. He had promised his sister that he had arranged for T.A. to meet her because he said he was looking for a Filipino wife.
She had been in an excited dither ever since she had heard that T.A. had arrived at the VIP Hotel and she was waiting in shy but excited eagerness to meet him.
"Reception here," they interrupted Nilo's daydream that he had slipped into while waiting for their information.
"Sorry to keep you holding on so long. Your party was not in the Dining Room and they had not seen him all day. Apparently a light breakfast was delivered to his room this morning. Then we contacted Housekeeping. They said he was not in his room when they changed the bedding around 11:00 a.m. The morning Reception staff did not see him leave and he hasn't handed his key in. Sorry, we don't know where he is."
Nilo left his contact details with the Reception staff for when T.A. returned and tried to think of how he would explain this change in his plans to his sister.
Meanwhile he would wait at home tonight and hope he would hear from T.A.
----------
Near Linamon, west of Iligan, Mindanao - Day 1
The afternoon had come and was almost gone. With the help of his relations, Salim had dragged the heavy unconscious Japanese up the squeaking staircase, and leg- chained him to the ready prepared U-bolts he had fixed to the floor of the bedroom.
With the laboured breathing and obvious broken nose of the Japanese, Salim decided not to tape the mouth. It might cause the Hapona to suffocate. He wanted to make sure he got his money before this Japanese died.
Another cousin had departed for Cagayan de Oro on the missions Salim had set for him.
----------
Cagayan de Oro City - Day 1
The cousin Salim had sent to Cagayan de Oro was surprised that the door at his first destination was closed and apparently locked. This was the local administration and shipping office of the Paradise Plantations Fruit and Canning Company. Because it was locked it meant he did not have to be so covert in delivery of the message.
He slipped the first note through the crack between the closed door and the door frame before disappearing into the crowd. Then he went to the second destination.
He stood outside the newspaper office which seemed to be a hive of activity with people coming and going. He looked around for an unaccompanied child around ten years old. He eventually approached what he thought was a suitable child and offered him 20 pesos to deliver a second, and identical note, into the newspaper office.
The child willingly accepted the well paid task and ran across the road avoiding the cars with the skill of a veteran.
Immediately the youngster made off to deliver the message, the payer quickly shifted his position on the street and watched from his new vantage point to ensure the child entered the newspaper office. As expected, he had to wait for a few minutes for the child to leave. Also as expected, someone from the newspaper ran outside the office with the child. He had obviously asked the child to point to the man who had given him the not
e.
The child looked around and could not see the generous man. The newspaper executive then grabbed the child by the arm and pulled him back inside with him.
The messenger knew there would be an early reaction from the newspapers about what had happened. Tomorrow's papers, locally at least, would be announcing the kidnapping of a wealthy Japanese industrialist and landowner. He did not know how long it would be before the canning factory reacted.
----------
Iligan-Marawi Road, North Mindanao - Day 1
The Army captain had inspected the scene yet had no definite clues pointing to who had done this act. He would collect the evidence that he could, and would let his senior officer, the major; decide on what to do about it.
The police would be given a copy of his report. But until the captain decided whether this was a political or criminal action he would not know if he would be involved in any follow up.
He organised for the two bodies and the severed arms to be bagged, and some of the spent shells to be taken away for testing.
He thought it odd that the vehicle had not been stripped. Apart from the useless tyres, shattered windscreen and some bullet and blood damage to the upholstery, the condition of the vehicle was good. Even the number plates were still on the vehicle. That would help identify the victims who appeared to be Japanese tourists.
He wondered though at the large amount of 9mm shells inside the vehicle. It seemed that the occupants must have been armed, but if so, why, and where would they have got their weapons. There were none left at the scene
Yes, he would leave the major to create a story to fit this incident. Meanwhile the captain organised the towing of the Nissan back to his base. There, they could take out any parts they felt could be sold.
----------
Near Linamon, west of Iligan - Day 1
Salim was annoyed that the Japanese was still unconscious. It was just after sunset and he had hoped to get the Japanese to sign something on the first day as further evidence of his being held.
Salim's two daughters, Siti aged 16 and Zahra 14, stood silently at the curtained doorway looking at the unmoving chained figure on their floor ever since Salim had dumped it there.
He had told them weeks before what he had intended to do. They were good children and would keep what he was doing a secret.
They knew the reasons he was doing it. Their minds were easily concentrated on the memory of their Mother being raped in front of them by some of the security guards from this Hapona's canning factory. That had occurred barely four months before when the security guards came to search Salim's house for equipment stolen from the factory
The children too had been told by their Grandmother, that the Grandfather of this Hapona had murdered most of the family after they had helped to bury treasure stolen from neighbours.
They had enough reasons from their own suffering to want this Hapona dead.
**********
