by Matt Lincoln
After the interrogation with Otsuka, we’d flown back to Las Vegas. He was supposed to be transferred over here sometime today, but I wasn’t very confident about our prospects. He’d seemed terrified that someone was going to try to kill him if he talked, and I wasn’t sure what I might be able to say to change his mind. I’d been trying to figure out who the second attacker had been by running a background search on Otsuka, but the results came back empty. I didn’t have Fiona’s skills, but even if I tried to get in contact with her, she was probably asleep right now. Wallace had told me she’d been attacked and nearly shot, and I didn’t want to disturb her rest after that experience.
My phone began to play the ringtone I’d designated for unfamiliar numbers. Normally, I would have assumed it was spam and ignored it, but with everything going on, I couldn’t take any chances. I answered the call and put the phone up to my ear. At first, all I could hear was a low hum, like the motor of a car. Then the silence was broken by what sounded like a sob.
“Hello?” A small, broken voice came through the speaker.
“Hello? Who is this?” I asked. The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it.
“It’s Chie Nakamura,” the voice whimpered. “You came to my house yesterday. You gave me your number.” She was whispering, and her voice kept cracking as if she was trying not to cry.
“Of course, Ms. Nakamura, I remember,” I replied. “Can you tell me what’s going on? Are you alright?”
“They killed Kazuo,” she mumbled, and I froze at her words.
“Who killed him?” I asked, lowering my voice to not alarm any of the other coffee shop patrons.
“The police called me this morning,” she replied. “They told me that Kazuo was found dead in his cell and that they were going to conduct an investigation. Then a man came to my house. He said that Kazuo shouldn’t have talked to the police and that he was going to kill me for talking to them too.” Her breath was becoming more shallow as she spoke.
“Ms. Nakamura, listen to me,” I spoke gently. “You need to take deep breaths, alright? You’re going to hyperventilate. Deep breaths, okay? Like this.” I breathed exaggeratedly into the phone so that she would be able to hear as I inhaled and exhaled.
“What happened next? Are you somewhere safe?” I asked once her breathing had slowed down again.
“I used a gun that Kazuo had hidden in the house,” she croaked. “I didn’t want to hurt him, but he was coming after me! I promise I would never have touched that gun if I didn’t have to.”
“Ms. Nakamura, calm down,” I instructed as she started to breathe quickly again. “It was self-defense. You won’t get in trouble, alright? You were just defending yourself. Can you tell me where you are now?”
“After I shot him, I ran from the house,” she sniffled. “I drove to the bus station and bought a ticket to Las Vegas. That’s where you are, right? I didn’t know what else to do, but I remembered you mentioned that. That’s why I called you. I’m on the bus right now.”
“Okay, well done, Ms. Nakamura,” I commended. “You did very well defending yourself and getting out of that situation. Have you called the police?”
“No,” she replied. “The man who came to my house was wearing a police uniform. That’s why I let him in.”
My eyes widened at that revelation. Was one of the perpetrators a police officer? Either that, or he was pretending to be one to gain people’s trust. Either way, this detail didn’t bode well for us.
“I wasn’t sure if I could trust the police,” she whimpered. “You’re the first person I called.”
“Okay, Ms. Nakamura,” I responded. My mind was racing as I tried to figure out what to do next. “Here’s what I want you to do. I’ll meet you at the bus station, okay? I’ll go right now, so I’ll be sure to be there when you arrive. As soon as your bus arrives, call me. Don’t go anywhere else, alright? Don’t speak to anyone else, even if they’re dressed like a police officer.”
“Okay,” Nakamura agreed. “Thank you for helping me, Agent Patel.”
“Of course,” I answered. “Hang up the phone now, so it doesn’t lose battery, and you’ll be able to call me when you arrive.”
“Okay, I’ll see you soon,” she replied before the call ended. I pulled the phone away from my ear and took a deep breath. The first thing I needed to do now was to call the police and send them to Nakamura’s house. Hopefully, the suspect hadn’t escaped or died in the time that had passed since Nakamura shot him. Next, I’d have to call Wallace. As much as I hated to disturb him after he’d barely gotten any sleep the night before, something this pressing couldn’t wait. I scrolled through the contacts list on my phone until I got to Wallace’s name.
“Hello?” he answered on the third ring. He sounded more alert than I would have expected.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, sir, but something’s happened,” I began, getting the apology out of the way quickly. “Otsuka’s been killed. Nakamura just called me to let me know that he was found dead this morning and that someone tried to assault her in her home. She managed to escape, and she’s on her way here now on a bus. I told her I’d meet her at the bus station.”
“Got it,” Wallace replied. “I’ll meet you there then. You’ll need backup for this. These people didn’t stop at one attempt after trying to kill Gardner, and they’ll probably try to kill Nakamura again too.”
“Alright, Director,” I responded. “I’ll meet you there ASAP.” I ended the call and stood up from my seat. I’d walked here from the police station, so I didn’t have my car. The bus station where incoming, out-of-state buses would be arriving should only be about a twenty-minute walk away, though. I set off in its direction, thankful that I’d worn flat shoes today instead of heels.
I was out of breath by the time I reached the bus station, although it was probably more due to nervousness than from physical strain. Usually, I preferred to walk wherever I needed to go, but knowing that I was meeting someone who was actively being hunted down and would need my protection was making my heart beat faster. I checked the timetables displayed in the main lobby of the bus station, and the next bus arriving from Los Angeles wasn’t due to arrive for about another hour. I sat on a long bench to wait for Wallace to arrive. I took my phone out of my pocket and pretended to look at something on it. I needed to be careful not to draw attention to myself.
I tensed as I sensed a presence approaching me out of my peripheral vision. The person took a seat on the bench next to me, and I relaxed when I realized it was just Wallace.
“Spot anyone suspicious?” He asked as he started typing something into his own phone.
“Nothing yet,” I murmured. I looked off to the side as if I was checking the time on the large clock mounted over the far wall. “Nakamura is scheduled to arrive in about forty minutes now. What should we do once she gets here?”
“We’ll take her back to the police station,” Wallace replied without taking his eyes off of his phone. “That will probably be the safest place for her.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” I asserted. “Nakamura said that the man who attacked her had dressed as a police officer. Of course, until we get some more information, we can’t know if he really was a cop or just pretending to be one. If we count what happened in Japan, that’s now three times during this case that someone dressed as a cop has tried to pull the wool over our eyes.”
“That is concerning,” Wallace agreed. “Ueda was only pretending to be a police officer, but Daichi Fujioka actually was one. That means we can’t rule out either possibility. Nevertheless, I can’t think of anywhere else we could place her that would be safe.” I didn’t like it, but I had to agree that there really wasn’t a better solution. Especially with so little notice, it would be impossible for us to guarantee that she would be safe until we caught whoever was after her.
Once Nakamura’s bus was about five minutes away, Wallace got up and inconspicuously moved to the other side of the bus station. He
was pretending to look at the maps posted over the wall, but what he was really doing was keeping an eye out for either Nakamura or anyone who might look out of place. Any minute now, a flood of people would come pouring through the doors as their bus arrived, and I watched the doors leading to the bus loading areas anxiously.
Right on schedule, the first few people began to trickle in, and I scanned the crowd, trying to spot Nakamura among the flow. Finally, my eyes caught sight of a flash of long black hair, and I immediately stood up. I walked briskly in her direction, unconcerned about calling attention to myself at this point. Now that she was here, it was imperative that we get her out of sight as quickly as possible.
“Ms. Nakamura,” I caught her attention as soon as I was close enough. She flinched as she heard me call her name but smiled as soon as she realized it was me.
“Agent Patel, thank goodness,” she gasped upon seeing me.
“Stay close to me,” I instructed, positioning myself so that I blocked her from view. I was tall even by normal standards, so I easily towered over Nakamura’s slight frame. I placed my hand gently on her back and guided her over to where Wallace was still standing by the maps.
“Hello, Ms. Nakamura,” he muttered quietly as we approached. “Just stay between us, alright? I parked my car right outside, we just need to get to it, and we’ll drive you to a secure location.”
“Okay,” she nodded nervously. She was looking around at all the people passing through the bus station, and I couldn’t blame her. Wallace and I were on high alert as well. We were just better at being subtle about it. Wallace walked in front of us while I stayed just a pace behind Nakamura. The lobby of the bus station was big, and the walk to the door felt impossibly long.
Finally, we made it through the doors, and I was about to breathe a sigh of relief when I heard the sound of tires screeching. Wallace and I both froze before exchanging a look.
“Go,” I called as I drew my gun. Wallace placed his arm around Nakamura and quickly led her around the side of the building just as a car came skidding to a stop in front of the bus station. The moment it came to a stop, the door was flung open, and a man stepped out.
“Freeze! Hands in the air,” I yelled as I pointed my gun at the man. He reached behind him, and I fired three times in quick succession just as he was drawing his own gun. He fell to the ground as the bullet struck him in the chest, and he dropped his gun in the process. I ran forward and kicked the gun away before checking to see if the suspect was breathing. He was, and I noticed something bulky beneath his shirt. A glance underneath revealed that he was wearing a bulletproof vest, which would mean that the gunshots must have just hurt him enough to incapacitate him momentarily. I handcuffed him quickly before he could get a chance to regain his bearings.
“Who are you?” I asked as I hoisted him off the ground and pushed him against the side of his own car.
“Screw you!” The man shouted angrily, trying to twist away.
“Well, if that’s how you’re going to be, we can just talk down at headquarters,” I huffed. I held him still against the car until the police arrived. Once he was securely seated in the back of a patrol car, I called Wallace.
“Hello? Are you and Nakamura alright?” I asked as soon as I heard the call go through.
“Yes, we’re in the rear parking lot,” Wallace replied. “Is everything okay? I heard gunshots.”
“Not to worry,” I answered. “That was me. The suspect is in police custody right now. Do you want to switch places so you can come and talk to the police about having him transferred to our custody?”
“Yes, let’s do that,” Wallace agreed. “Just go all the way around the main building. The rear parking lot is located adjacent to the bus loading area. I’ll wait for you here.”
“I’ll be right there,” I responded. Before heading off, I needed to do one thing. I leaned down to look through the window of the patrol car the suspect was sitting in. He snarled at me, and I quickly used my phone to snap a picture of his face. His expression morphed into a look of surprise, and once he’d realized what I’d just done, he began to scream incoherently. I just smirked and turned around to walk away.
The parking lot was just where Wallace said it would be, and he flashed his lights as I approached. Once I was in the car, he got out and made his way back toward the front of the bus station where the police were waiting. I pulled up the picture on my phone.
“Is this the man who attacked you?” I asked Nakamura as I handed her the phone. She gasped. A second later, her eyes turned red, and she began to whimper.
“That’s him,” she replied hoarsely. “You really caught him. Thank you so much.” I smiled softly at her as tears started to roll down her eyes.
“You can relax, now, Ms. Nakamura,” I assured her. “Regardless, we’ll still be placing you in a secure location. Just for a little while, to make sure no one else will come after you.” Now that I thought about it, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to keep Nakamura at the police station, after all. Now that we’d caught the suspect, it was probably too dangerous to have them both in the same location. I’d have to talk with Wallace about it as soon as he returned.
“I understand,” Nakamura replied, wiping the tears away from her eyes. “I’m just glad that he’s finally been captured. I was so scared the whole way here that he would find me again.”
Wallace returned just a few minutes later and let us know that the police were going to book the suspect into the system and that we would be able to interrogate him later today.
“Agent Nelson, one of the other agents working for MBLIS, is going to arrange a hotel room for you,” Wallace told Nakamura as we were pulling away from the bus station. “You’ll stay there until we conclude the case, or until we can safely say that you’re no longer in danger. We’ll have a police guard posted at your door around the clock.”
“You’re doing so much just for me?” Nakamura asked. Her eyes were wide as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“That’s part of our job,” I smiled gently. “You’re a victim of this crime as well. We need to make sure we do everything we can not only to stop the people that commit these crimes but to help the victims of their actions as well.
The hotel Nelson had chosen was only a few minutes from the police station. It was a risky decision to place her so close to where the suspect would be, but in the end, we decided it was better for us to be close by in case she needed help. She seemed a little nervous about staying there by herself, but once we introduced her to the police officer who would be guarding her, she seemed to relax.
Once we were back at the police station, I decided to take a few moments before getting out of the car to put myself into a different headspace. With Nakamura, I had been as kind and patient as I could be, but with the suspect, I would have to be cold and ruthless. I needed to prepare if I wanted to get under his skin and manipulate him into telling me what I needed to know. Once I felt ready, I exited the car, and Wallace and I entered the police station.
“Oh, hello,” the police officer sitting at the front desk greeted us as we came inside. “Agent Wallace and Agent Patel, right? Lieutenant Michaels is waiting for you in his office. Third door on the left, just down this hallway.” She leaned over her desk and pointed down a long corridor to our right.
“Thank you, Officer,” Wallace nodded. We walked down the direction she’d indicated and stopped at a door marked ‘Michaels.’ Wallace knocked twice.
“Come in,” a gruff voice came from inside. We stepped inside and were greeted by a large man with graying hair.
“Hello, Lieutenant Michaels,” Wallace greeted as we entered the room. “I’m Director Wallace, and this is Agent Patel. We’re here about the suspect that was arrested earlier today.”
“Of course,” the man replied, flipping through some papers on his desk. “We were expecting you. Here, this is the suspect’s file. His full name is Yuta Kimura. He’s a police officer with the Los Ang
eles Police Department.”
“So he really is a police officer?” I asked. “Our victim said she let him into her home because he was dressed like one, but we assumed he might have just been pretending.”
“No,” Michaels sighed sadly. “Unfortunately, he really is a cop. We’ve actually already contacted Interpol as well. If you want to have a chance to interrogate him, I’d do it now. They can get pretty territorial when it comes to having custody over offenders.”
“Of course,” Wallace replied with a nod. “Well, get on it right away. Thank you for everything, Lieutenant.” We left right after that, in a hurry now to conduct our interrogation before Interpol arrived to take Kimura away.
“This is really bad,” I reiterated once we’d left the lieutenant’s office. “That now makes two police officers that we’ve caught actively working with the trafficking group. There’s no way it’s a coincidence.”
“You’re right,” Wallace agreed with a grimace. “The group is either recruiting police officers into their ranks or else having their own members become police officers. Either way, it isn’t good that they have members of law enforcement on their side.”
“I’ll handle the interrogation, if that’s alright with you,” I offered once we were standing outside of the interrogation room.
“Be my guest,” he nodded. “There’s a reason I don’t go out into the field as often as I used to. I know full well that you and the rest of the team can run circles around me. I had my time during my prime. Now it’s your turn.”
