London, England
June 10th 10:06 PM
"Go, go, go!" Giovanni pushed Near ahead of him as they dashed through King's Cross, bowling innocent, unsuspecting commuters over in a desperate run to escape the trio of cloaked figures closing in on them. Giovanni turned, cocked his gun and tried to aim, but his panicked, jostling steps made it impossible.
"Save it!" Lester called, waving them on from the rear. One of their pursuers caught the big man by the shoulder and tried to turn him around, but an elbow to the chin freed him long enough to widen the gap. They broke out into the parking lot at a full sprint, Near a white bullet careering madly through the almost empty lot. No one stopped them; the station guards were either in between shifts or had nothing to gain by aiding one side or the other. A side-view mirror right to Near's side exploded in a burst of fragmenting glass as a throwing knife barely missed him. For one maddening glance behind, Near saw the face of the thrower, countenance twisted in an unearthly snarl, one that promised every Chinese Hell if caught. And two seconds before he could turn his eyes away from that unholy stare, one of Giovanni's bullets found home. It obliterated the front teeth, sending fragments of bone and rent flesh everywhere. The front windows of two cars splattered with blood as the face beneath the darkened hood was wiped from the face of the earth; and for a moment Near believed that no one on earth would remember what that man looked like, save for him.
Near slowed enough for Giovanni to get ahead and pull him bodily into the closest and darkest alley, where Near tried to vomit as quietly as humanly possible. In the year and a half since the conclusion of the Kira case, he'd seen a lot of things, but a good deal had been after-the-fact: Near knew what someone who had been shot in the face looked like under the harsh glare of halogen, had picked through entrails as 'evidence' but never once had it been so real. Two gunshots rang out in the street and Lester dashed into the alley, heaving and clutching his right shoulder. Blood leaked out from between thick strong fingers.
"Why is this happening?" Lester asked, "Near, you know. Tell us."
It was a distraction tactic. Lester knew that if they didn't get Near somewhere guaranteed safe soon, the boy would suffer a total breakdown. Already the snowy haired boy huddled against the alley wall and shook his head as if in denial of everything around him: he was shutting himself down.
"Near." Giovanni put a lean hand on his shoulder, "Help us out here."
Near looked up. "It is happening because there is a Death Note in Japan. The person in possession of it is charismatic, he might be a community leader, a priest, or social advocate. They are intelligent; so much so they believe themselves able to surpass the original Kira. He had enough resources to slip under our radar and under the noses of the gang we hired to watch Matt. They kidnapped him thinking he was L. Matt, whether intentionally or under torture, revealed L's alias as Alexandre Denuve...unconvinced and confused the Death Note holder had his operatives in France move in on Mello, and now me. There is a 40 probability that there is a spy for the Kira supporters at Whammy House, considering that Matt doesn't strike me as the type to give under pressure. I only mentioned Denuve a few times."
Lester nodded and started to usher the other two down the alley. Almost babbling from stress, Near continued his monologue.
"Ideally, we have to make sure everyone at Whammy House is who they say they are, but that will take too long. Mello suspected Roger, and that's where we'll begin. We have to conduct an independent probe of Whammy House."
"How?" Giovanni asked, motioning for them to stop at the opposite mouth of the alley. A quick sweep and they were moving again, their steps ringing painfully loud against the cobbled backstreet.
"The NPA. As the saying goes...'the enemy of my enemy is my friend.'" Near was starting to sound a little more calm, his voice evening out, but his hands refused to stop shaking. There was a acidy taste in his mouth and the back of his throat ached when he swallowed. "There is a 85 probability that Mello and Hal have experienced similar persual in Edinburgh--we have to communicate to them another meeting place. After which we will meet and determine whether or not Roger Samson is who he claims."
Five seconds later, Lester's cell phone beeped.
"It's Linder." He said, eyeing Near in that way he did whenever something went a little too on the mark. "Hello?"
"Lester, is your team alright?"
"For the moment, how about you?"
"Well, I think we're safe. Mello's convinced doom will come raining down any minute. We...we picked up someone along the way...sorta."
In the background, rising over the static of their less than perfect connection were a jumble of voices, one eventually winning out, a boy's voice, saying, "just let me talk to Near already!" followed by a harsh, "oh, stop that already, I'll have him on in a minute!"
"Was that Mello?"
"Yes, and he's going to burst if I don't get Near on the line, could you?"
Confused, as he normally was, Lester handed the phone up to Near who answered it with a dispassionate, "Hey Mello."
"There's a sobbing wreck of a girl named Ruki Kadoh who insists on talking to you. Here."
A frantic, female voice burst over the line, making Near hold the receiver several inches from his ear.
"Near, this is Near right? Oh thank god...I know where they're keeping Matt but no one will believe me. Your friends...they're convinced I'm being controlled by the Death Note...whatever that is."
"The probability that is the case is at least 75. They're wise not to trust you, and if that is the case then you're not long for this world anyway."
There was a whimpering pause as Ruki processed Near's emotionless assessment of her fate, when she gained her voice again, it was strained from holding back.
"If I'm going to die anyway, Matt is at the Dolphin Hotel in Shibuya. I don't care what you think of why I'm telling you that but please help him...He was alive the last time I saw him."
Near half expected to hear the girl drop dead over the phone, her ruse uncovered, but when nothing happened, he stood in contemplative silence for some time.
"I need to speak to Mello."
The phone was handed over again, just as Lester made a 'can we wrap this up?' gesture, more out of nervousness than urgency. Giovanni's eyes were constantly shifting between the shadows all around them, fatigue obvious in his gaze.
"I'm making it your call Near, as far as what to do next. If I sit here trying to guess if it's a trap or not, we'll both end up dead."
"There are plenty of places to hide in London. Meet me here, we'll contact the NPA only when we're together."
"I figured you'd fall back to that. See you in a few hours."
The phone went dead. As Lester continued to steer them through a series of dripping, toxic looking alleys guided by a silent GPS, Near couldn't help but be surprised at Mello's clarity in the situation. Keeping the girl alive was a risk, but who's to say that too wasn't part of the new Kira's plans, if he understood that much about the Death Note already? What happened on the flight proved they had command of it enough to enlist the aid of as many supporters as he needed. The group that had pursued them from King's Cross was undoubtedly alerted by the "L is on this flight" revelation.
But try as he might to suppress it, the nagging suspicion that this new Kira was manipulating Mello along with Ruki Kadoh would not leave him. Why send her to Scotland when the other L she had contact with was in England? It could be that Near was giving this Kira too much credit, but if they'd spied on Mello as long as they did they'd have known he had no contact with Kadoh. So again, why Scotland, why to Mello?
"Near, let's go...are you alright?"
