Author's Note: I started to write this chapter first and was really having trouble with it. I had written two other chapters before I finished this. Still not that happy with it =/
Kaikoura, New Zealand
Present day
Moriarty lay awake, staring at the white ceiling. All was silent but for the sound of the sea gently lapping the beach outside. The light of a brilliant full moon shone through the crack in the curtains.
He could never forget. The image of her was etched in his mind, wet and shivering after being pulled from the lake, faded red hair plastered to her face and scalp, her green eyes fixed on him...and the hurt in her expression...
"And what about me? Was there any part of you that cared what happened to me?"
He was initially taken aback. She wasn't one for emotional outbursts unless the stakes were particularly high. But he quickly surmised how his actions had affected her. In spite of everything, her conviction, her sense of morality, in her own strange way she had fallen for him. He had to be cruel, it was the kindest thing he could do for her. It would have made it easier for her to let go. And yet at the same time he regretted it because in his own selfishness he wanted her to be still thinking about him. He wanted her to pine for him like he pined for her now.
It was many a night such as this that he lay awake thinking about her. More so he tried to reminisce about their intimate moments but his fantasies were often interrupted by the image of their last encounter together. He was disgusted with himself. How had he fallen so far?
He sighed and shut his eyes, trying to imagine her in bed with him. He tried to remember what her lips felt like against his, how her hair brushed against his skin. He relaxed again, his mind awash with the comfort of familiarity.
A crash from the next room disrupted his thoughts. His eyes flicked open, his mood instantly souring. He heard scuffling. A woman's cry. Another crash. What on earth...? Had he been found? The scuffle continued for another moment until he heard what sounded like a body fall to the ground. He hesitated, listening for further movement but there was just silence. Someone was dead, which meant someone was still alive. Cautiously, silently he reached for the pistol under his mattress and clipped the safety off. He never cared for guns, he always paid someone else to, but being in such a vulnerable position pushed him to keep one close at all times. He slid out of bed and crept toward the door and into the hallway. He paused, straining for any sign of movement. Silence. He made his way to the next room. The door was shut, no sign of forced entry. He entered slowly, gun pointed before him. A figure in the room caused him to aim but he cocked the gun when he realised it was just Nika. She was searching the body of a man who lay still on the bedroom floor. Glass from the dresser mirror was scattered in pieces around him. He couldn't tell whether he was dead or not in the dim light.
"Sorry, did I wake you?" Nika spoke deadpan, examining papers she retrieved from the man's pockets.
"Oh it's alright sweetie. Maybe next time just keep it down to a dull roar."
"Yes, boss."
He grew impatient with her nonchalance.
"Well?"
She glanced at him calmly.
"Who is he!?" he exploded.
"No one you know," she said dismissively returning to searching the man's pockets.
Like the flick of a switch his fuse blew. Moriarty reached out to grab her by the throat, pushing her against the end of the bed and causing her head to hit against the foot board with a thud.
"How did he find us?" he barked, his face centimetres from hers.
She glared back as if appalled by his audacity. The wind was knocked out of him then as she kicked just below his rib cage causing him to release his clutch and stumble back. He landed heavily on his backside, wincing at the pain in his tailbone.
"Remember our talk about trust and mutual respect?" Nika said.
"This is serious," he retorted, bringing himself to his feet.
"You have nothing to worry about."
"How can you say that?" he shouted. He paced back and forth. His nerves were frayed. He had been careful - so, so careful. The thought of having to run again made his stomach churn with anxiety.
She glanced up at him through her blonde hair which was uncharacteristically unkempt. She was wearing her white nightdress which told him she had been attacked while still in bed.
"Because he was after me, not you. This doesn't concern you," she spoke calmly.
"Nika, if you're in danger, I'm in danger. Do you understand? I'm the most wanted criminal on the planet right now. Most of my men are locked up or being tortured for information. If I lose you, I have nothing."
She seemed to contemplate this as she rose to her feet. He studied her features. Her eyes narrowed as if chasing a thought, her lips curled upward slightly at the corners. He knew that look.
"Then help me," she said.
"What?"
"You get these guys off my back and I can keep working by your side. Fair?"
He sighed. Lay low, keep hands clean, don't draw attention. This was the plan and it was all going to hell.
"Who is he?" he asked wearily.
"See for yourself."
He glanced down and shoved the unmoving body with one foot to get a better look. Asian...Japanese more likely, tattoos...
"Oh for god sake. Yakuza? Really?"
"You knew I was on their hit list," Nika argued.
He mentally groaned. He didn't have time for this.
"Who do I have to kill?" he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Technically the entire chapter that's after me," she admitted, smiling guiltily, "It might make more sense to reason with them."
"Reason with them? What did you do to piss them off?"
"I destroyed one of their casinos," she said, waving a hand as if it were no big deal, "It was a job I was doing for a rival Yakuza chapter. Before your time obviously."
"And reason with them is all you got?"
"Sure. You've got money. Give them enough to rebuild their casino and it'll be fine."
"I've had some experience with Japanese mobs. Some are highly hung up on honour and whatnot. What makes you so sure it's as easy as paying them off?"
"Well I guess I'm not. But-" Both their attention turned to the body as the man groaned and moved slightly. Nika glanced back with a smirk. "We could always ask."
"Wakey, wakey! Up and at 'em!" Moriarty sang shining the torch from his phone in the man's droopy eyes. The man screwed his eyes shut in response and tried to move before realising he was tied to a chair.
"Oh see? He's fine," he said, glancing back at Nika.
"I must be losing my touch," she tutted, leaning against the kitchen counter.
"Hello!" Moriarty enunciated, "Do you speak any English? My Japanese is atrocious."
The man didn't respond but the slightest twitch in his facial features gave himself away. He understood perfectly.
"My associate," Moriarty thumbed back towards Nika, "whom you tried to kill, is of some value to me so I'm willing to come to some agreement with your employer to do away with the hit on her life."
The man's face contorted, his bottom lip trembled and in an explosive sob he exclaimed in Japanese "I have failed!"
"Oh god he's actually crying." Moriarty said with consternation.
It was then he realised how young he was - probably 19. The tattoos around his neck seemed fresh.
"Aw. He's just a kid," he doted, and glancing back at Nika he said, "Your hit could have been an initiation test or something."
"I am insulted," Nika snorted. She was holding a kitchen knife in one hand, tapping it impatiently against her thigh.
"Relax, kid, we're not going to do anything to you...maybe. We just need you to open a line of communication between us and your boss."
The man shook his head. "They will kill me."
Moriarty and Nika exchanged glances. He sighed wearily. He was too tired for this. He couldn't remember the last time he got a decent night's sleep. He rubbed his bloodshot eyes.
"What's your name?"
The man hesitated, his eyes shifting back and forth as if contemplating what he had to lose.
"Jirou," he said eventually.
"Ok Jirou," he piped irritably, "In addition to Nika's I will also bargain for your life. I'll make sure you stay alive. But I need your cooperation. Deal?"
"How can you make that promise?"
"I assure you, I'm a very powerful man and I usually get my way."
"And that's why you're hiding in a beach house on an island."
His expression hardened.
"Jirou, do you know who I am? Do you know what I can do?"
Jirou sniggered, half nervous, half mocking.
"Don't get me wrong, it took us a while to find you, but you don't have the same hold over the criminal network. Elusive yes, powerful, no, not for a long time."
Moriarty glared at the man. Something ignited in him then, something familiar - a yearning for power, for control. He had spent so long running he had forgotten what it felt like. He was going to rebuild his empire and he was going to start with this man.
"OK," he said with feigned resignation. He turned his back to him and nodded toward Nika. She stepped forward, straddled the man and waved the point of the knife at different parts of his face as if deciding where to start cutting. After a moment she placed the blade to the back of his ear.
"Alright, alright, alright!" he cried, almost in tears again. Nika backed away, rolling her eyes. "I'll help. But you have to promise not to kill me and not to let them kill me either."
Moriarty bent forward so that his face was inches from Jirou's.
"Make the call," he hissed, "Now."
"My...phone. P-please."
He retrieved the phone from the counter where his other belongings were left.
"The number?" He unlocked the phone, his tired brain deciphering the Japanese characters.
"It's the last entry in my call logs," Jirou replied.
He hit the call button on the first number that appeared. He waited for a ring tone before putting the phone to Jirou's ear.
"Moshi-moshi... Hai... Īe..." Jirou spoke quickly and fearfully.
Moriarty listened intently making sure nothing was said that indicated betrayal. The tone on the other end seemed greatly displeased and Jirou was doing his best to sound assuaging. The conversation ended abruptly and the man glanced up at him.
"We leave for Osaka tomorrow." he said, sounding defeated.
"Good. I can finally get some sleep."
Moriarty tossed the phone to Nika and headed toward the hallway.
"Wait. You're just going to leave me tied to a chair overnight?"
"Yup."