CHAPTER 9: Tracking

So Natsumi told Naomi everything about who she was before 6 months ago, how she lost her memory, how Mrs. Nakamura found her just in time to save her life, that she believed to be a teacher and that she really loved her new life until Toukairin and Miyuki came to her to tell her true identity, which triggered a resurgence of her memories of the past. The whole story stunned Naomi in amazement.

"It's almost too good to be true. To believe that you lost your memories, that we both look mostly physically identical to each other, that no one could see any difference between us, that you were able to take over my position as a teacher and take good care of the children so naturally... there had to be only a chance over a million to happen, perhaps even only a single chance over an infinite number of possible outcomes. It's astonishing." the real Naomi said.

"I know it's almost surreal, but it really happened for a span of 6 months."

"I guess you are still in shock after your friends revealed the truth and woke you up from what was a dream life. I would have been shocked myself if I was told that I am not who I thought I was."

"I am, but they did the right thing. It will become clearer when I will take the time to reflect on everything. However, how did you get involved in this mess?" Natsumi asked Naomi.

"I have a younger brother named Shunsuke; he's an adult. Over 7 months ago, he once told me that he contracted a huge gambling debt with mobsters and that he needed help. Since I was curious, I went on to investigate for myself about that mob group only to find out they were involved with lots of things in the underground world ranging from illegal casinos and prostitution to drug and arms dealing. I got caught by that man Ichiro. They forced me to work as a croupier in their underground casinos and sometimes as a juicy girl in one of their nightclubs in order to pay my brother's debt... at least, that's what they said."

"Did they force you to have... well, you know... with your clients or with other gangsters?" Natsumi asked.

"No, and I'm glad I didn't have to go there. I don't know what I would have done to myself if I did."

"Have you ever tried to escape?"

"I tried once 6 months ago, but I got caught by Ichiro again. He gave me quite a beating before he went on capturing Shunsuke to force me to stay and do what they asked. Ichiro also vented his frustration on me because my looks reminded him of someone involved in his brother's death around that time. If that wasn't enough, I have a cousin working in the police and they blackmailed her asking to give them some information if she didn't want to see both Shunsuke and myself killed. Once, that Ichiro guy showed me pictures of what looked to be a dead female police officer who resembled me... it was you, right?"

"Yes. I was shot by that gangster, but I survived. He thought I was dead back then. Also, he blames me for his brother's accidental death because I couldn't save him when I tried to arrest him during a police raid." Natsumi answered.

"Then, he told me that if I tried to escape again, I could either be in the body bag in your place since they took my wallet to put it on you, or I could be convicted with murder since they dumped you in front of my house and that they would get my fingerprints on the weapon of the crime. And that was not counting the possibility that Shunsuke would have been killed if I tried to escape again."

"I really understand your decision, but don't lose hope now. My friends will find us and save all of us from those guys. I know they will succeed and when that happens, I'll make sure to plead your case to my superiors and to the District Attorney." Natsumi said.

"Thank you, Officer Tsujimoto."

"Please call me Natsumi."

Outside of the warehouse, Takagi Ichiro and his usual accomplice Inamoto Shinji were still discussing about the Boss's reaction when they brought Natsumi in.

"The Boss might have the last word, but I still believe she might create us lots of trouble if we don't get rid of her now. I want to rip her body to pieces for everything that happened to Hideo. I WANT HER BLOOD AND HER GUTS SPILLED, SHINJI!" Takagi said.

"It might not be the way you want it, Ichiro. But the Boss might get rid of her on his own terms anyway."

"What do you mean, Shinji?"

"He hates to see women, children and the weak being killed by his own men more than anything, but he's not stupid. Perhaps he will give her to the Russians as a bonus when we'll get this deal done and dusted. Believe me: Russian mobsters are good at taking people away and never let them be found again."

"Same old Pontius Pilate, washing his hands to exonerate himself from such responsibility rather than giving me some fun time to act as the judge, jury and executioner." Takagi said sarcastically before he suddenly heard his cell phone ringing. "Yes?"

"It's me. I had to call you now." Ichinose said.

"Are you out of your mind? Look... I told you not to call me back now." Takagi Ichiro was annoyed.

"It's really important. Some people at the station are starting to have suspicions right now and I'm just afraid my cover has been blown. However, I'm not sure at 100% yet." the lab technician added.

"Well, you know what you have to do then. You need to leave the city now; have you come up with an excuse to justify your leave?"

"I told them that I have an old aunt living in Sapporo who got badly ill and that I have to go see her for a few days since she means a lot to me. I can still hack police computers from afar to see whether or not there's an arrest warrant against me." Ichinose said as she was looking at Detective Sugihara and his men tracing the call. They were close to find the guy and made a sign towards Miss Ichinose to hold him for 30 more seconds.

"That should be okay. When you come back here in a few days, please call me back so we can re-assess our options." Takagi said.

"Hey... We still have a deal, right? Nothing will happen to my cousins as long as I'm still working for you, can you make sure of that?"

"You have my word that nothing will happen to them as long as you're cooperating. My boss is aware of how precious you are to us and he can't afford to lose such a valuable asset working within the police with your hacking skills. However... I can't touch Naomi, but you know what I am willing to do to Shunsuke if you talk to the police. I would be tempted to inflict him maximum pain... Hehehe."

"PLEASE DON'T! I know very well what I have to do. I have no need to be reminded of such horrible things by you of all people... I'll call you when I'm back in Tokyo in a few days."

"And not before then, always remember that." the phone conversation was cut by Takagi.

Ichinose Setsuka looked at Detective Sugihara who made a sign telling her that they found the location. She sat back in her chair sighing in relief and put her head between her hands praying for the rescue operation to work. 'Please, God. Make sure my cousins and Tsujimoto are safe at the end of this madness.'

On that day of December so close to the winter solstice, it already got dark in no time as we are now some time beyond 5:00 PM and police vehicles had to enter the Port without using their emergency lights in order to not tip the yakuza of their arrival. Toukairin, Miyuki, Kachou, Tokuno and Kinoshita arrived at the Telecom Center to join Ken and hold a meeting to prepare assault plans. Detective Tokuno received the phone call from Detective Sugihara about the gangsters' location. "Are you sure? The Aomi distribution center number 1... Good work, people! Tokuno out."

"The Special Assault Team troopers and snipers are already here, Detective, Chief. Harbor police and helicopter support should be in place shortly to cut any escape route." Kinoshita said.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. I'll take over from here and brief the SAT troopers." Detective Tokuno said before he turned to the SAT leader.

"Sergeant Tamaru Masahiro reporting on duty, sir!"

"At ease, Sergeant. I'm sure you have been told the main outlines about the operation, so I will tell you what we have according to the last update. We know that the yakuza are hiding in the the Aomi distribution center number 1 area and they are holding a meeting with another faction, possibly Russian mob. We know they are armed with Soviet-made assault rifles and the yakuza are probably holding hostages right now, thus the reason why you are called in." Tokuno said before he gave turn for Kachou to speak.

"One of the hostages is Officer Tsujimoto Natsumi, one of our officers in the Bokuto Traffic Department. Also with her, there's a possibility we also have those 2 civilians held hostage inside: Tsukihara Naomi and Tsukihara Shunsuke. Here are the pictures." When Kachou mentioned Natsumi's name, Tamaru became a little perplexed as he remembered that Natsumi was part of the SAT until she joined a JGSDF Ranger platoon for extra training less than a year ago.

"It's first and foremost a rescue mission, but we also hope we can arrest most people as possible on the scene as the first step in dismantling one big underground network. We have the map of the area here. What is your plan on this, Sergeant?" Tokuno asked.

"We are planning to put 2 snipers on top of the Telecom Center to cover from high ground any escape attempt on the Longitudinal Road. With the cover of the dark, 2 other shooters will be sent on top of the nearby World distribution center sitting between the Aomi terminal and the Odaiba terminal. It should give us a good shooting angle on Aomi distribution center 1. We have 2 snipers flying in the helicopters which will be covering the whole Western part of the deck and having a firing solution on anyone attempting to reach the ship. Two assault teams of 10 men each will converge on the center, one from the North and the other from the East after the snipers give us the OK signal to move."

"Excellent plan, Sergeant. If possible, I want your snipers to shoot only to incapacitate while the assault troopers will shoot to kill only if they have no choice. We need to take a number of those people alive for further investigation, especially the top dogs in the Kousa Syndicate and the Russian faction. Also be very careful; some civilians might still be working in there." Tokuno said.

"And what do we do in this?" Toukairin asked about himself, Miyuki and Ken.

"I think you've done enough for today. You'll stay on the sidelines and watch the operation with us from here in the command center." Kachou said.

"Please, Chief! I want to be part of the assault squad and I know how to deal with this. I swore 4 months ago to bring Natsumi back to Bokuto station no matter what it takes, so I am going to finish what I started." Toukakrin replied.

"So am I, Chief! I can provide extra sniper support to cover the assault teams and Nakajima can help me identify the targets since he watched them for quite some time already." Miyuki added.

"This is completely irrational, you two." Kinoshita said.

"Ma'am, Sir... With all due respect, I'd take Lieutenant Toukairin on my team any day although he didn't spend much time with the SAT before he was reassigned. He was the best trainee in weapons and tactics I had. Also, Officer Kobayakawa has already shown us her Olympic shooting skills at the police expo from 2 years ago; she's one of the best out there and she rightfully earned her reputation in biathlon at the Academy. The two of them are naturally gifted shooters, so please let them. I wouldn't be asking you this if I didn't trust them enough for this job." Sergeant Tamaru said.

The 3 senior officers were surprised by the SAT leader's request, but finally agreed in loaning Toukairin, Miyuki and Ken to the assault party. "Alright, Sergeant. However, you are still the leading man in this operation and whatever happens next is your responsibility." Lieutenant Kinoshita said.

"Yes, Ma'am!"

"Thanks, Masa!" Toukairin told Tamaru.

"Anytime, Sir! I just need the three of you to change clothes and get yourselves into SAT standard gear now. Lieutenant Toukairin and Sergeant Kobayakawa, I'll give you a selection of weapons. Also, I'll provide night vision equipment for all three of you. I'll assign you to your positions in 15 minutes, so please hurry." Sergeant Tamaru finally said.

Fifteen minutes later, Miyuki and Ken were assigned as the extra sniper/spotter unit (codenamed Sierra 5) covering from the top of a warehouse adjacent to the Transit Shed number 9 of the Odaiba terminal 350 yards away from the Eastern wall of the Aomi distribution center 1. On his side, Toukairin joined Tamaru on the first assault team which will strike from the East.

The chessboard was set and the pieces were about to be moving.