Chapter 4: Confrontation

Shunichi-

They drove and kept to the back roads, avoiding all highways. Shunichi sat in the passenger seat while Max drove. All was quiet. The night was cool and the roads empty. They hadn't seen more than three cars in the past hour. It was nearly midnight, but Shunichi was under no illusion that anyone in the truck was asleep. Max glared at the road ahead and Shunichi didn't want to set Max off while driving, so he didn't dare try to speak to him. Better to let Max mull over whatever was in his head.

"Evil bastards," Max grumbled, finally. "There was no reason to kill her. She wasn't a threat to anyone. They just… she…" he suddenly hit the steering wheel with his hand and cursed loudly.

"Max, you need to calm down. The kids will hear you."

"I'm pretty sure they all know worse words than I do."

That wasn't what Shunichi was worried about and he was fairly certain Max knew that. The kids would be on edge as it was, they didn't need to hear Max shouting. Ash was highly strung at the best of times and Shorter still had a headache from his concussion. Eiji was dealing with all the danger admirably, but it was all so new to him. None of them needed to think that Max or Shunichi were panicking. "Let's think a bit. Ash's stepmother is dead, but we have to be calm. He will need us to be strong. I could tell he loved her very much. Now, somehow Golzine's people found us. I thought we'd been very careful, but they still found us. If we accept that it was that news report with Ash's photograph that grabbed someone's attention then Golzine's people probably also know what the truck looks like and the license plate number."

"That's why we're staying off the highways. The police didn't show up so I'd guess that the number on the television was a number that went straight to Golzine's people. That's good news for us. Maybe Golzine doesn't really want the police involved. Even if he has some of them on the payroll, having them rescue a missing kid would bring up all kinds of questions that I don't think Golzine would want to answer. Still, he's taken a huge risk by involving the police in the first place. Most cops are good people and wouldn't take bribes; they'll want to do what's best for Ash. He must be feeling very confidant that Ash won't talk if the cops find him."

"Does that surprise you? Ash doesn't have a lot of experience with trustworthy adults, why should he think police officers would be any different than all the other adults who've failed him? Considering what Ash's father told us about what happened when Ash was seven he has very little reason to trust the police. You're right, though. It is a big risk; I'm surprised Golzine did it. Even if he's certain Ash wouldn't talk to the police, he doesn't know that about the rest of us."

"And that means," Max said with a low grumble in his voice. "That we are all expendable and we're all likely to have unfortunate accidents if we get caught. So he's confident enough to involve the cops and turn up the heat on us, but he's cautious enough to want any tips to go to him rather than the actual police." Max tapped the steering wheel with his thumbs. "After we get out of the state, we'll go see someone I know. He'll help, I think. I haven't seen him for a few years and he's a bit of a character, but he was a good sort, if a little rough around the edges."

"Ash should stay in the back of the truck. He's the one everyone's looking for and he's the one who had his photo all over the news.'

Max laughed. "Right and he'll do that because he's such a discreet kid. He's a bright kid, but I don't think he knows what the word 'cautious' means."

Ash-

"What the Hell are we doing here?" Ash demanded when the truck pulled to a stop. He looked up at the sky, still filled with stars. He jumped off the truck bed just as Max and Ibe-san walked around to the back to meet them. Max had pulled over on the side of the road. There were no cars to be seen on the road in either direction. On the opposite side of the street was a high wall over the top of which could be seen the roof of a house. There was a large, weather beaten sign hanging on the fence:

'R.S. Salvage Yard'

Ash frowned at Max. "We should keep going. We need to get to California as soon as possible."

"We won't get far without supplies and Bo is just the person to help us out." He looked over at the closed gate of the salvage yard. "Just give me a few minutes." Max left them all at the truck and marched to the gate. Somewhere a dog started barking. Max didn't bother to knock before he went into the salvage yard and closed the gate behind him.

The only light they had was from the moon, a security light in the salvage yard, and the lights of the truck.

Eiji spoke softly to Ibe-san near the tailgate and Shorter, as he often did, patrolled. He walked in seemingly lazy circles around Ibe-san, Eiji, and Ash. He looked up and down the road from time to time and would pause every so often to stare at the salvage yard. To anyone who didn't know Shorter, it might seem as if he were merely strolling around impatiently, but Ash, who knew Shorter very well, knew that Shorter was keeping an eye on their surroundings, watching for anything suspicious. He could never put in to words how thankful he was to have Shorter in his life.

Ash leaned against the side of the truck and looked up at the stars.

Jennifer was dead.

There was blood all over the diner.

He shook his head and looked down at his feet. His stomach twisted. He'd been so stupid. Dino always said Ash was smart. He'd hired the most highly recommended tutors to teach Ash, paid for him to have music and art lessons, as well as any other lessons he'd thought might enhance Ash's mind. He'd taken as much pride in Ash's intelligence as he had in Ash's body. So… why did Ash do something so stupid? He should have known that it would end badly. What good could really have come from going to Cape Cod? He should have sent the others while he stayed in New York and led Dino's men around the city. Or he should have just run to some random place like Ohio and let Dino's men chase him around there for a while. Then his people would have been safe, his dad wouldn't have been shot, and Jennifer would still be alive. If he'd only thought of that before.

Then Shorter was suddenly standing in front of Ash with his arms crossed over his chest. "Dude," Shorter said in a voice that was little more than a whisper. "I know that look on your face. Stop beating yourself up."

"I'm not." It was a lie and they both knew it, but Ash said it anyway.

"Sure you're not." Shorter rubbed his head where he'd been hit days earlier. "Look, I've pretty much got a constant headache because I got my brain rattled and I still know what you're thinking. You're thinking that you're lower than scum because Dino's people followed us to Cape Cod." Shorter reached up and pulled down his sunglasses just enough that Ash could see Shorter's grey eyes. "None of that was your fault. Yeah, you do dumb things sometimes, but this wasn't one of those times. We all sort of guessed we might be followed."

"But I knew he'd send people there!" Ash coughed. "He knows my real name and that's all he needed to track down my past. Of course he'd know where my dad lives."

Shorter nodded and his bright purple, fluffy Mohawk bobbed with the movement. Shorter's hair was magnificent. Ash had never seen such fluffy hair, not even on Eiji who was about the fluffiest person Ash had ever met. "That's right – he knows your name. He knows all about your past, doesn't he? He knows about your dad and where you lived. He knows everything, doesn't he? So, even if we went straight west to California what do you think Dino would have done?"

Ash rubbed his aching eyes. He knew right where Shorter was leading him and knew Shorter was right. "He'd have sent men to Cape Cod and they'd have interrogated my dad and Jennifer to find out if I'd been there."

"Right. So no matter what we did or where we went, Dino would have done the same thing. And his people would have killed both your dad and Jennifer when they were done. This is not your fault." Then he grinned. "Come on, I thought you were supposed to be a real genius; you should know it's really stupid to blame yourself for something you didn't do."

"You're stupid." It wasn't Ash's best come-back, but he really felt lousy and shouldn't be blamed for his slow wits.

"No, you are." Shorter's smile broadened and he pushed his sunglasses back up where they belonged. "You dumb little kid."

"Stupid marble-head."

They both laughed at the absurd turn the conversation had taken, but Ash started coughing almost at once. It didn't stop right away and he coughed until tears blurred his vision. Ash put hand to the back of his neck and rubbed his sore muscles. Everything felt sore, but that was probably because of riding in the truck for so long. It really wasn't anything to worry about.

"Are you alright?" A light hand touched his arm and Ash turned to look at Eiji. It was hard to believe that Eiji was two years older than Ash. He was short, but sturdy, and had such an air of innocence that it was almost frightening. Eiji had been kidnapped, shot at, threatened, almost stabbed… he should be at least a little jaded.

"Yeah. I'm good." Ash rubbed at his sore neck. He didn't feel good at all. He glanced around to see that Shorter had gone to speak with Ibe-san before he whispered to Eiji, "I keep thinking about Jennifer. You know… she was the closest I ever had to a real mom. Dad didn't want me and Griff living with them when I was little, but when Griff joined the marines he didn't have much choice. Jennifer was great. She used to make apple pie with cheddar cheese."

"Cheese?" Eiji wrinkled his nose.

"It's a New England thing. She never once complained about having me in her house or made me feel unwelcome." Ash suddenly had a flashback of Jennifer's body jerking as the bullets hit her. Blood down the front of her torn dress. Her brown eyes empty. Then he was back with Eiji. Ash shook his head, as if that could erase the memory. "She was really great. One of the best people I ever knew. That time… my dad talked about? That time with the little league coach?" When Eiji's eyes turned sad and he nodded his understanding, Ash said, "Dad was furious, but Jennifer just held me and told me I hadn't done anything wrong. Damn it. I can't even go home without getting people killed."

"Ash," Eiji hesitantly put a hand on Ash's elbow and looked earnestly up into Ash's eyes. "Jennifer was right: it wasn't your fault. And her getting killed wasn't your fault, either. I heard what Shorter told you and he's right. You need to believe him. You didn't shoot Jennifer. Dino's men did. They are responsible. He is responsible. You are NOT responsible. She wouldn't blame you, I'm sure."

Eiji was right. Jennifer never would have blamed him for anything that had happened back at the diner. Still, no matter what she might have said, no matter or Shorter or Eiji said, Ash couldn't seem to stop blaming himself.

"How's your leg?" Ash asked. "I never saw anyone get pin-cushioned like that."

"I'm alright. It hardly hurts."

"Really?"

"No, it's horrible. But Ibe-san doesn't think there's any infection and nothing's bleeding, so I guess I'll live."

Ash coughed, turning his head away from Eiji. His neck really was very sore.

Max came out of the salvage yard with a car battery under one arm and a plastic grocery bag in his other hand. He gave the battery to Shorter to put in the back of the truck and the bag to Ibe-san. "The spare battery will be just in case and the bag has groceries. Not much, but Bo gave us everything he could. I'm gonna owe him a really huge favor, though." The bag had canned things in it such as beans and vegetables and fruit. There was also a can opener, thankfully. Max had even been given replacement plates for the truck in case they were needed during the trip. There was also twelve hundred dollars in twenty dollar bills. Everyone silently ogled the wad of cash, all carefully bundled up in an envelope. Max looked at it, guiltily. "Yeah. Bo knew Griff back in the war, too."

"It won't take us far," Ibe-san said, looking into the bag with a doubtful expression. "The food will only last a very short time and even the money will be used up with buying gas for the truck."

"We'll ration and be careful with it." Max gave Ibe-san a cheery smile. "We'll be alright. Right then, I'll drive for the next few hours, then Shorter, and then Ash. Eiji, Ash, and Shorter - go get some sleep."

Ash blinked, taken aback by the command. "Are you sending us to bed?"

"Yes." Max grinned. "Time for all good little kiddies to get to sleep so the grown-ups can talk."

Eiji scowled. "I AM a grown-up."

"You're nineteen," Max argued. "That's still a kid."

"I'm almost twenty," Shorter added.

Max snorted. "Yeah and half the time you act like you're thirteen. You're a kid, too." He waved at them all. "Get some sleep, it's two A.M., for God's sakes. Go to sleep or you'll be cranky in the morning."

Max and Ibe-san started for the front of the truck and Ash heard Ibe-san say, "Be nice, won't you? They've had a rough time. Poor Ash…"

Ash didn't argue about being sent to bed. He hadn't been treated like a normal kid since he was seven and he found that he really didn't mind it. He'd bet good money that Max would be a fantastic dad.

They traveled for hours and Ash actually managed to sleep. He was perfectly at ease with Shorter and Eiji, so sleep wasn't difficult, but even after he woke he didn't feel any better. He'd dreamed of Jennifer. He'd liked Jennifer. He'd never called her 'mom', but she'd always been kind and gentle. That she'd died just because Ash had gone home… it wasn't fair. It just wasn't damned fair.

Shunichi-

All night they drove and into the next day until Max found a place to park, not at a gas station but a tiny strip mall that housed a hair salon, an accountant's office, and a pharmacy. Only the pharmacy was opened and the place was nearly deserted. They needed water and pain-killers. Shorter still had headaches and Ash's shoulder still worried Shunichi, though he insisted it was 'only a scratch' and that he didn't need anything for it. Eiji's leg was healing very well and he could walk with only a slight limp. Shunichi wanted to pick up a general first aid kit – the boys were injury prone.

Max handed Shunichi a ten dollar bill and asked him to pick up what they needed in the pharmacy while he went to the back to check on the kids.

The pharmacy had a whole section for different pain-killers and Shunichi was suddenly very confused about what would be best to get. He stood in front of the huge selection of medications, trying to decide between them, when he realized someone had walked up next to him and was staring. They weren't staring at the medicine, but at him. He turned and found a red-haired woman smiling at him.

In a dreamy sort of way, the woman said, "Hi."

Though a little surprised by how close she stood to him and how intently she stared, he managed a smile. "Good morning." Shunichi turned back to the medications. He wished he could read English a little better and wondered if he ought to swallow his pride and ask for Max's opinion. He wished desperately that they could take Shorter to a doctor to get him probably checked out. Were concussions meant to hurt for days on end? Surely the headaches should have disappeared after so long. He wanted to get a better look at Ash's shoulder, too. That poor kid had the worst luck.

"My name's Lottie. Er… Charlotte Nesbin."

Shunichi blinked and looked, again, at the woman. He smiled awkwardly. "Pleased to meet you."

"Yes. I've wanted to talk to you for a while now."

Shunichi frowned. A while? He'd only been in the pharmacy for two minutes. "Oh. Ah… that's nice. I'm sorry, but I can't stay."

"You have to!" She grabbed his arm and held it so firmly that he thought he might find finger-shaped bruises, later. "I've been waiting for you! Don't you understand?"

Shunichi gingerly pried her fingers off his arm. "I'm sorry. I really ought to go." Shunichi had no idea what was going on, but something about the woman set him on edge. "My friends are waiting for me."

"I know." She wrinkled her nose and looked out the window at the truck where everyone waited. "I tried to fix all that, but it didn't work out, Shunichi."

Shunichi felt his heart stop for a moment. Oh. He knew very well that he wasn't he swiftest of people, but… oh. She had tried to fix… She knew his name…

Shunichi's mouth felt very dry. "Please, excuse me, but- "

"No, don't apologize." She smiled, giddily. "I'm not mad. You can come with me, now."

"I really can't. I think you don't know the situation. I'm in a very hard position; there are some very bad, dangerous people after us. It would be best for you to stay away."

He could almost see stars in her eyes. "You're worried for me! How sweet! Well, you don't have to be. As soon as you get away from Max, everything will be fine." She reached out and took his hand, again. Her fingernails dug painfully into his hand.

Shunichi tried to pull away, but she held on. "Look, please understand – I don't want to be away from Max. He is my closest friend. I think you may have misunderstood something…"

"No. I understand it all." She kept smiling. "Shunichi, we're meant to be. Nothing and no one will ever come in the way of our love."

Shunichi's alarm turned to full on panic. "But… I'm not in love with you."

"Yes, you are. Come with me now and we can sneak out the back. Max won't even know what happened to you until we're well away from here."

"Please, listen. Max is my friend. I am going to stay with him." Shunichi pulled on his hand and finally managed to dislodge her. He had tiny crescent indents on his hand where her fingernails had pressed. "I am not in love with you. I haven't even met you before today." Shunichi stepped away in case the woman should try to grab him, again.

Her eyes darkened. Her smile faded away. "What do you… oh. I get it." She looked out the window at the truck. Eiji and Max were only just visible, sitting together on the tailgate. Eiji turned his head to speak to Ash or Shorter who were still concealed under the truck's canopy. "He's making you say those things. That Max." She spat his name as if it tasted foul. "Is it the boy? Eiji? He's yours, isn't he? That's why you're acting like this. Max threatened your kid."

"What? No…"

"Don't worry. I'll think of a way to fix this." She nodded decisively. "I understand if you can't get away from Max now, but tell me where you're headed and I'll meet you there."

There was clearly no reasoning with her. She was insane. Desperate to get away from her and to keep her away from Max, Shunichi said, "Orlando. Orlando, Florida. At a hotel called… called… Elliot's Place." He wasn't a good liar and wished Max was with him. Max was an excellent liar. "We're going straight there."

Her smile returned. "Then I'll meet you there." She darted forward and grabbed him by the arms. Then, she lurched forward and kissed him, square on the mouth.

Cigarettes. She tasted like cigarettes.

Shunichi was so shocked that for a moment he did nothing but stand there. Then he got a hold of himself and pulled away. "Stop!"

She laughed and rushed out of the store. From window on the front of the store, Shunichi watched as she got into her car and drove away so quickly that her tires squealed as she left the parking lot.

His mouth felt disgusting. He'd never wanted to brush his teeth so badly in his whole life.

Shunichi immediately went back to the truck. He pointed to where the car had gone and said, "I think that was the informant. I think she set Golzine's people on us and got Ash's stepmother killed." He didn't realize his heart was racing until he tried to speak and his realized he was having a hard time breathing. Still, he went on. "She said her name was Charlotte Nesbin and she just walked up to me and started saying odd things. She's been watching me, I think. She knew my name and I didn't tell it to her, I'm sure I didn't. When I said I had to get back to my friends she looked out here at the truck and she said she'd tried to fix that problem, but it didn't work. I don't know what else she could have meant."

Max looked stunned and slipped off the tailgate. He looked quickly around the parking lot, but the woman was long gone. "Damn it. Well… we'll have to keep a close eye out for tails from now on. Did she say anything else?"

"She assaulted me." Shunichi wrinkled his nose; he could still taste the cigarette. When Ash sat up straight and glared, Shunichi hurried with his story. There really was no reason to have mentioned that and it surprised him that he had. "She asked where we were going, said she'd meet me there. I told her we were going to Orlando. Was that right?"

Max looked relieved and patted Shunichi on the shoulder. "That's great. If we have just a little good luck, she'll head there. But we've got to go. She'll be likely to call Golzine, again, and tell him she saw us here. Let's go."

"No." Everyone turned to look at Ash. Ash crawled out of the truck and completely ignored Max when Max told him to stay out of sight. "You all stay here. You," he jabbed a finger at Shunichi. "Come with me." He stalked off, across the parking lot.

Suddenly ill at ease, Shunichi followed. They didn't stop until Ash came to a spot a good distance away from the truck, under the only light in the parking lot. He didn't quite know why he was uneasy about Ash looking so upset, he was fairly sure he hadn't done anything wrong. And what could he have done differently?

Ash stuffed his hands in his pockets and scowled down at his shoes. His too-long hair fell down, hiding his eyes. "So… um… yeah. Look, what did that trash do?" Ash's voice was very soft, almost a whisper. His face was red.

"Do?"

Ash let out an aggravated huff and turned halfway away from Shunichi. "I'm no good at this stuff, but did she… I mean…" He swallowed hard and still wouldn't look at Shunichi. "What I mean is, did she touch your junk or grab your butt or anything?"

Shunichi's eyes flew open as he understood why Ash was uncomfortable.

Before Shunichi could answer, Ash hurried on, as if he was afraid the words would get stuck in his throat if he didn't force them out. "You know, if she did… if she grabbed you or something, you know she's the pervert, right? You didn't do anything bad. Only creeps go around grabbing and stuff without permission and it's not your damned fault. And even if you weren't hurt and even if it might have…" Ash hesitated and looked as if he might be ill before continuing on, "Even if it might have felt good for a minute, you didn't want it and you didn't ask for it, so it wasn't your fault and you got nothing to feel guilty about because you were assaulted!"

Completely stunned by Ash's tirade, Shunichi was silent for a moment. The outburst had clearly cost Ash. He'd gone from being red in the face to pale. He was as tense as a bowstring. Few people would guess that Ash had such a kind heart under his tough shell.

"Oh, Ash… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. That was a bad choice of words on my part. My English is not always good and 'assaulted' was the first word that seemed correct, but I see now it was too strong. I didn't mean to say I'd been hurt badly. I promise you, she kissed me and that was all. I didn't like it and I didn't ask for it, but it's done now. I'm sure we won't meet her again."

All the tension abandoned Ash at once. His shoulders slumped and he let out a breath. "Okay. Right, then." He raised a hand up to scratch at the back of his head. "Yeah, I just… in case you didn't know, I wanted to tell you. It's not your fault if people go around grabbing you."

How sad that Ash would have learned such a lesson so young. "That's a very wise thing to learn," he told Ash.

"Yeah." Surprisingly, Ash smiled. It was just a little smile, just a tiny curl at the corners of his lips, but it was a rare smile. "I had a teacher when I was little and he was great. He wasn't like all the other creeps Dino hired as my tutors, this guy was amazing." There was real fondness in his voice. "His name was Blanca. Blanca was my favorite person. He never tried anything pervy and he taught me to fight and shoot and he let me borrow his books. He took me to the library every Thursday afternoon and helped me pick out good stuff to read. Anyway, he found out what Dino and his people were doing to me and Blanca told me it's not my fault. I can't control what other people do, so it's stupid to blame myself for it. Even if they say I asked for it, he said it's still not my fault. I think he's right."

"And I know he's right. Blanca sounds like a great person." Why that 'great person' would work for someone like Golzine, Shunichi couldn't guess. How could someone who was good enough to earn Ash's high opinion be bad enough to work for Golzine? It didn't make sense, but Shunichi found that he was simply happy that someone in Ash's childhood had given him at least a taste of kindness, even if that person had apparently been employed to turn a young Ash into a killer and had done an excellent job of it. "Thank you for worrying for me, Ash. I'd give you a hug if I thought you'd allow it."

Ash's eyes flew wide, then he gave another of those little smiles. "Aw, you're a real softy. I don't mind a hug."

Emboldened, Shunichi did hug Ash. It was quick, just a very brief embrace, but when he backed away, Ash had turned all bashful. "Yeah, so we should get going or Eiji is going to come running over to find out what's wrong." As they walked back towards the truck, Ash said, "If she does catch up with us, again, don't hang around her, alright? She might be smaller than you, but women are just as dangerous as men, especially the weird ones. If you have to, lie and tell her you only like guys. Tell her Max is your boyfriend or something. That might get her to back off. Better yet, just run away from her. She sounds like a stalker."

"Don't worry. America is a very big country so the chances of her finding us again are extremely small."

"That's doesn't mean it's impossible. Just don't take chances." They started walking back to the truck at a slower pace than they'd left it.

"Ash, would you be as upset if Max had been the one who'd gotten kissed?"

"Yeah, but don't tell him that. I don't think he'd want someone like me defending him."

"Someone like you?"

"Max is strong, you know? He was a marine, like Griff. He's pretty smart, too. I've read some of his work and I can tell he's smarter than he lets on. He's just a good person, he always knows what's right and he does it. I'm not good." Ash almost smiled when Shunichi tried to argue. "It's okay. I know I'm not good. I'm selfish and I'll manipulate people to get what I need. I've killed before and I'll probably do it, again. I'm a thief and a liar. I know who I am, there's no reason to be coy about it. So you see, I'm not good like Max and I'm not strong. He's seen me really weak. He saw me crying and drunk after I heard Griff died. He saw me beaten almost unconscious after being raped. So it would just embarrass him if someone like me tried to defend him." Ash shrugged. "Besides, Max is big; he can take care of himself. You're little, like Eiji."

Such a comment could probably be taken as an insult, but the way Ash said it made it clear that he didn't mean any insult; he was just stating a fact. He must have learned early in life that big people hurt small people. Shunichi said, "I'm bigger than that woman was."

Ash was quiet for a minute. "Yeah… well…"

"And Eiji is so gentle that even someone smaller than himself might…"

Ash stopped walking and turned to face Shunichi. He was tense, again, so serious that Shunichi was sorry he'd said anything. "Ibe-san, I won't let anything happen to Eiji. I will protect him."

"I'm glad he has someone like you to look after him." He frowned when Ash started to cough, again. "Try to get some sleep in the truck, will you? That cough sounds terrible. Tell Max I'll be right back." Shunichi turned and started back for the pharmacy.

"What are you doing? We have to go."

"We still need water and pain killers for Shorter." He would also get cough medicine for Ash.

To be continued…