Chapter 1: He was Perfect

In New York City, Lottie Nesbin stood on the sidewalk just outside the apartment building where she lived with a cigarette in hand. She was twenty-six years old and had very pretty long, red curls that draped right to her shoulders. She kept herself in good shape and as well put together as she could. Her fingernails were painted a cheerful pink and her make-up was painstakingly done. Her clothes were fashionable and the jewelry she wore was tasteful if not exactly genuine. She was very proud of the way she looked, proud of job she held as a banker and the modest lifestyle she was able to afford in New York. However, she wasn't sure she wanted to be in New York any longer. She was bored with the city. She knew it too well. Lately, she yearned for something different, something exotic.

Lottie took a long drag from her cigarette and then let the strong-smelling smoke billow out of her mouth. It was a day like any other, perfectly ordinary. The late afternoon was cool and overcast. She was tired from a long day at work and would go inside soon to get some dinner ready. Dinner for one. She lived alone - no husband or children, no roommates or even close friends or family who might stop by.

"How much further, Max? Shorter needs to get cleaned up."

"I'm alright, Mister Ibe."

"Shorter, you have blood right down to your elbow. Damn it, you should be in the hospital." He paused for a minute. "You can just call me 'Ibe'."

Lottie turned at the unfamiliar voice and stared with a raised eyebrow at the group walking towards her. She saw HIM almost instantly. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him. He was… perfect.

A third voice said, "We're here, Shunichi. Don't panic. Head wounds always look terrible, but I'll take a look at him inside. We can rest up for a while before we go. Let's get the kids inside."

The perfect man wasn't alone, but came in the oddest of groups. It took Lottie a moment before she could look away from the exquisite creature walking towards her, but when she did she found a familiar face.

Max Lobo.

Max led the group, his face serious as a thundercloud. Lottie only knew Max by sight and had never spoken to him. He was a tall man, built solid and square. One could tell simply with a look that Max was strong, not like a body builder, but like a man accustomed to using his strength all his life. He might have been a farmer or mason. She didn't know anything about him other than he kept a tiny studio apartment on the top floor of the apartment building Lottie lived in. While he kept it and had kept it for several years, he'd rarely ever made an appearance at the apartment. To see him there, dripping wet, carrying a tall young man over one shoulder as if he were an old coat, was a shock.

It wasn't just Max who was soaked to the skin, all of his companions were wet. It hadn't rained in days and yet there were five people who all looked like they'd gone swimming in their clothes.

The person Max carried seemed to be a boy, but other than the fact that he was thin, tall, and blonde, Lottie couldn't see anything of him. Drunk so early? Sick?

The young man walking next to Max, tall and muscular with a white and orange shirt and a gray vest, was impossible to ignore. He wore sunglasses and had a pierced eyebrow. His hair had been shaved into a Mohawk and was dyed bright purple, like the crest of some tropical bird.

That colorful young man carried a boy - he couldn't have been more than sixteen years old – who, like the person Max carried, appeared to be asleep. He had shaggy black hair and was very short.

And then there was the last. He was an Asian, and looked close to Max's age, with a short brown beard and moustache. He wasn't particularly tall or strong, but there was something so striking about him that Lottie couldn't take her eyes off him. This one didn't carry anyone, but kept watching the others, as if he were desperately afraid for the people he was with. This man said to the purple-haired young man,

"Shorter, I can carry Ei-Chan the rest of the way. You were shot in the head, for goodness sakes! You're still bleeding. You shouldn't be lugging him around."

Shorter replied, "Honestly, Ibe, it's just a scratch. I've had worse injuries shaving and I can carry Eiji easier than you can. It's no big deal."

Shunichi Ibe. His name was Shunichi Ibe. Lottie felt something warm glow in her chest.

Max led his group up the stairs to the apartment building and didn't so much as look at her. She had the feeling that the young man with the purple hair might have looked at her from behind his sunglasses, but it was impossible to be certain. Shunichi glanced at her as he walked by and she knew, just from that one glance, that he understood. He knew she loved him and he felt the same way. She could see it in his eyes, those warm brown eyes. He said nothing, but that was alright. She forgave him. After all, he had his hands full and Max didn't seem like the sharpest knife in the drawer, so he was probably being no help with whatever crisis had happened. What relation did Shunichi have to all these people? The small, black-haired boy might have been his son or maybe nephew. That was likely it. The others… well, they might have been friends. They didn't matter. Shunichi was soft-hearted and worried for his son or nephew. Son, Lottie decided. The boy was definitely Shunichi's son. Shunichi didn't wear a ring. A divorcee? Widower? No matter.

They all filed into the building and Lottie was left alone on the sidewalk. She drifted lazily back into her apartment and, after closing the door behind her, sighed. A smile spread across her face. She knew this was it. He was the one. He would be hers. Forever.

Lottie found her best stationary, pristine white with a lavender envelope, and sat down at the kitchen table to write. Her stomach fluttered happily with nerves. How could she make him understand? What were the right words to describe her feelings?

I have seen you only once, but I know that you are perfection. Your eyes, your voice…. All magnificent. You must know that our hearts are destined to be together. When our eyes met, I knew that you could feel it, too. I knew you could feel our love. I will always be here. No one will ever stand between us.

She looked down at what she'd written and her smile broadened. She sealed the letter in an envelope and wrote on it, Shunichi Ibe, and hoped that she'd spelled it correctly.

She waited for a little while and then, as quietly as she could manage, she crept upstairs to where she knew Max's apartment was. At the door, she thought of knocking and handing the letter to Shunichi, but she was shy and ended up sliding the letter under the door. Shunichi would find it and he would understand. He would surely come to her, later.

Ibe-

Ash's assassinate attempt on 'Papa' Dino Golzine had failed and they'd all jumped into a river to escape Golzine's soldiers. Less than an hour later, they'd made their way to Max's hide-out, a small apartment in a completely ordinary neighborhood. Shunichi had never been so stressed in his life. Eiji looked awful and Ash was no better off. The poor kids needed sleep more than anything. Even Shorter, for all that he protested he was just fine and not to worry about him, was still bleeding. He insisted on helping by carrying Eiji. The bullet that had glanced off the side of his head was far too close for comfort.

'Max better have some blankets in that apartment,' Shunichi thought, keeping an eye on Shorter to make sure he didn't get dizzy from blood loss. 'These kids need to be tucked in and put to bed. I'm sure Shorter's going to need stitches. What about food? They need to be fed. Teenagers are always hungry, right?'

They passed some woman who reeked of cigarette smoke at the steps of the apartment, but Shunichi was far too concerned for the children to give her any thought.

In the apartment, Max had cans of beans, vegetables, peaches, and tuna fish. He also had a can opener. Shunichi offered up a prayer of thanks for tiny miracles. The syndicate might still kill them all, but at least they'd have full stomachs. Shorter put Eiji carefully down on a small cot and Max put Ash on an ancient looking sofa. There were a couple of blankets, thankfully. Max started to examine Shorter's head wound, washing it carefully and giving the boy the bad news that he would, indeed, need stitches and Shunichi made himself busy by opening cans of food as Max started sewing Shorter's head back together. The meal wouldn't be terribly appetizing, but it would be filling.

Later, after everyone had eaten and the younger people had taken advantage of a few quiet moments to sleep, Max told Shunichi that he was heading out for a little while, but they would leave as soon as he got back. "I need to find a way to get us out of the city," Max said. He looked at Eiji, still sleeping on the cot, and Ash asleep by the radiator as if he were trying to soak up as much of the warmth as he could. "Let them sleep, for now. It's been a long day. I'll be back soon."

Alone, Shunichi walked around the little apartment several times. He heard sirens now and again. He heard a gunshot once that nearly had him in a panic before he noticed that both Ash and Shorter had briefly woken. Ash looked out the window and shook his head at Shorter. Both fell back to sleep without a word to Shunichi. He'd walked around the room three times before he noticed a purple envelope on the floor. It had his name on it.

He opened the envelope, but could only stare at it in confusion. It wasn't Max's handwriting, certainly.

Shunichi didn't read English well. He could get by, but spoke it much better than he could read it. So he stared down at the letter for a long time, trying to figure out what it was supposed to say. At first, he hadn't thought it was English. The words were all written in twists and loops, the letters all joined together. It was just another way to write English, but it was harder for him who only knew how to read printing, like what was found in newspapers. He slowly puzzled out what it said or what he thought it said. He went over it three times before he could understand what he was reading. He blinked in confusion. Was it supposed to be a love letter? There was something distinctly creepy about it. He didn't like it. The letter wasn't signed. Who on Earth would leave such a thing? He didn't know anyone in New York but Max and a few of the cops. He didn't recognize the handwriting. Clearly, someone knew where he was and if they knew where he was then it was possible that Golzine's people knew. A sudden flare of panic made Shunichi look around at the children.

Ash had woken up and frowned up at him. "What's wrong?"

The letter felt heavy in Shunichi's hand. He really ought to tell someone about the letter, warn them that danger was near, but none of them needed the added worry. Max was already trying to be strong for everyone and the children didn't need any more stress on their plates. Poor Ash had the weight of the world on his skinny shoulders, already. Still, if the enemy knew where they were hiding…

Shunichi opened his mouth to tell Ash about the strange letter when Max suddenly walked back in.

Max went straight to the tiny kitchen area where he began to stuff cans of food into an old grocery bag. "Great news – I have a truck. Wake up, everyone! We're getting out of here."

Shorter woke quickly, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "Now?"

"Now. You three can keep sleeping in the back of the truck. I managed to get a bunch of blankets, too, so you can all use those. Let's go, then!"

Thankful that he wouldn't have to worry anyone about a letter that clearly didn't matter any longer, Shunichi stuffed it into his pocket. If they were leaving, then it didn't matter who knew where they were.

"Where did you get a truck so quickly?" Shunichi asked as he went to wake up Eiji.

Max looked shifty. "I know some people. Don't worry about it. Anyway, we need to get out of here and get to Cape Cod. Don't worry about taking much. There isn't anything important in here, anyway."

Other than the food and two hundred dollars that Max had stashed in an old coffee can, there was nothing else to take. Everyone's cell phones had been ruined by the escape into the river and Shorter had lost his wallet. Shunichi and Eiji each had about a hundred dollars they'd had for emergencies. Ash had a credit card they couldn't use as it could be used to track them. He looked at the card in disgust. "A shame I can't use it; this thing is pretty much unlimited. Dino always paid the bill on it, no questions asked."

Max scowled at the card in Ash's hand. "Well, he's not paying for you anymore. Throw it away."

Ash did as he was told without hesitation and he looked down at the card sitting in the garbage can with a look of satisfaction.

Once outside they all started to get into the truck. The truck really was an old beater. It was rusted in places with peeling paint and more than a few dents. The bed of the pick-up was covered by a large canvas tarp suspended over it by four large, metal arcs that gave the truck's bed a fair amount of shelter.

Shunichi closed the tailgate once Shorter, Eiji, and Ash were all safely in the back and started to walk to the passenger side of the truck when Max called out, "Hey, Shunichi? This fell out of your pocket. What is it?" He bent over and picked up the purple envelope with the letter inside that Shunichi had earlier found.

"It's nothing," Shunichi said. He was convinced that if they were leaving, it couldn't possibly do anything but worry his friends more. Better to ignore it. "Just something I found. Rubbish."

Max absently noticed a garbage can a few feet away on the sidewalk and tossed the letter in. Shunichi was glad to see it gone. They left quickly and were gone with a roar of the engine and a puff of black smoke from the tailpipe.

Lottie-

"Max… you bastard." Lottie seethed. She just happened to be looking out her window when Shunichi and the others had come out and headed for a run-down truck. She'd watched while Shunichi had dropped the letter she'd written to him and had watched Max pick it up and say something to Shunichi before he tossed it into a garbage can on the sidewalk. Max had thrown away her words that were for Shunichi. Shunichi had clearly been hurt by it, she could tell. She could see the pain in his eyes when Max had thrown the letter away. Slowly, Lottie realized what had happened. Max was forcing Shunichi to leave, to get away from her. He had probably even forced Shunichi to his apartment for some nefarious purpose and then he had taken him away. Taken him away from Lottie because he realized Shunichi was in love with her.

Furious, Lottie grabbed her car key and ran out of her apartment so quickly that she didn't even bother to lock the door behind her. She had to get to Shunichi to save him. She had to make Max pay.

To be continued…