(A/N): Hey everyone! How are you?
I feel bad for doing this to Mai, but then again, I don't think there's been a single case when she hasn't gotten in trouble (well Ghost Stories In The Park was relatively safe, but still) so yeah sorry Mai...and sorry John. And sorry Houshou. And sorry Kazuki. About everything that's happened in this story. :/
Last chapter felt really Criminal Minds-ey. Like, giving a profile and things about colleague and Saburou. For those who haven't watched Criminal Minds, it's a crime drama that focuses on serial killers, and in every episode, they give a profile to the police or the press or something, saying "The unsub targets the homeless" or "The unsub is a team of a sociopath and a psychopath working together" or "The unsub had a car accident and thinks everyone is an imposter" (Each of these are real things that happened. The last one was very, very sad T-T ) So while I was writing it, all I could think about is Criminal Minds. Sometimes, I worry about the writers on that show. I just watched the puppet one. It was horrendous. I am slightly scarred.
Also, did you hear about the virus thing on tumblr? I don't understand why someone would sent out a virus! It's just...why? I'm too scared to go on it right now, in case I accidentally click on one. :(
Oh yeah, I put in the yen equivalent (you'll see later on) into dollars and pounds. It is around 142920 euro and for some reason my laptop has no euro sign? I never even realised that...
Ok review answer time!
To 14AmyChan: I feel bad for Naru all the time. Apart from when he's mean. But otherwise, I think his story is incredibly sad :(
To NaginiFay: Well I feel terrible now...Sorry...
To morganallisan: Yup he's not very happy right now
To AssailantAngel: Uhhh...well...she could be safer, you know?...
To CatMaz: Thank you very much! I had a lot of fun writing them :) It's always nice to know people like the OCs
To Good Anonymous: Excellent! Curiosity is good for me :) There're still more answers that need to be solved, and neither Saburou nor the colleague are going to go down quietly, so keep reading!
To Raven's Shadow: Hehehe yeah Sinead and her team are great :) And as for Ireland, I can't say right now. But you will find out, don't worry.
Thank you for reading, favouriting, following, and reviewing this story! Keep on reading - the action is far from over yet! And thank you for your support!
The phone rang. We stared at it, scared to pick it up. Terrified of what might be on the other end.
Sinead glanced at me. "I think you should pick it up." She said softly.
Shakily, I nodded, and picked up the phone with a trembling hand. Houshou held my other under the table.
"…Hello?" Everyone was staring at me. The air was tense enough to suffocate us.
At first, no one answered. The only thing to hear was my unsteady breath. At the table, Houshou sat next to me, trying to be comforting, but undeniably anxious and in shock. Kazuya was opposite me, arms crossed, his gaze intensely on the phone, as if straining to hear an answer himself. Lin stood behind him, gripping the back of Kazuya's chair, not making a noise. I saw his hands were white, though. Ayako was standing at the side, knuckles pressed to her mouth. She had been beside herself with worry. Masako had been very quiet, in sheer disbelief, as if she could not understand how this had happened. Yasuhara stood by her and Ayako, his fists clenched. He stared at a single point of the table, overwhelmed with anger, and had not said a word to anyone.
Finally, Sinead stood behind me, tense and grim but prepared for what might happen.
"…John-kun?" It was Mai. She sounded scared.
"Mai-kun." She was alive. "Are you ok?"
At the other end, there was a shaky sob. "He wants to speak to you."
I swallowed. There was some background noise.
"Hello?" His voice came confidently.
"What do you want?"
Saburou laughed. "Two things. Firstly, I want money. I know that the boss is going to be after me. He's a sick bastard, I've always known that. And now I've got your little band of officers after me as well. I'm going to hide myself, before I end up dead. I know how to. But I need money to do it. So, I want 20 million yen by 6 o'clock this evening."
"20 million yen?" I said out loud, so Sinead could hear. She contemplated this. 20 million yen would be a little over £100,000 or around $165,000.
"Secondly…I want you."
My grip on Houshou's hand tightened. "Oh?"
"You are the reason I'm in this situation. If it weren't for you…this would never have happened. So, I want you to deliver the money. If I don't get the money, the girl dies. If it's not you with the money, the girl dies. Any tricks from your officer friends, the girl dies. Understand?"
"Yes. Where should I bring the money?"
"…Your apartment." Saburou told me in a mocking voice. "I assume you're coming?"
"Of course."
"Good. I'll see you then."
"Let me talk to her." I said quickly, before he hung up.
"…Why should I?"
"Please. Let me talk to her."
I could almost imagine his cruel grin. "Fine."
More background noise. "H-Hello?"
"Mai-kun, it's John. Don't worry. We're coming to get you."
"O-Ok." I could hear she was trying not to cry.
"I'm going to pass you onto Kazuya. Ok?"
She tried to speak, but she was too choked up. I swiftly passed the phone onto Kazuya.
"…Mai?" He spoke softly. "It's me. You're going to be fine…just do what he says…stay calm. We're not going to let anything happen to you…I'll see you later."
He lowered the phone. It must have been hung up.
"What did he want?" Kazuya asked me.
"20 million yen. He wants me to deliver it to my apartment, 6 o'clock. No tricks."
Kazuya stood up. "It's 4 o'clock. We need to get ready."
"Oliver, wait." Sinead began. He turned on her angrily.
"What?"
"Calm down. We don't want to rush into this."
Kazuya closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them. It did nothing to lessen his anger.
"I'm listening."
"There's no way Saburou is trustworthy. We need to arrange back up."
"He said no tricks."
"And how will he know? We've de-bugged this office thoroughly, there's no way he's overhearing us. There is a high chance he will go against his word. I want to make sure we have a clear shot of him in case that happens."
He scowled, but nodded. "…Ok."
"Right. We need to think about this. John, is there anywhere I can set up?"
"There's an apartment opposite Abe-san's. I'm not sure if you'll be able to see in from it, though."
"You can." Houshou spoke up suddenly. "I spoke to Yamazaki-san, who lives above you. He said that when your apartment was being searched, he went into the one opposite to see what was going on. He could see into yours just fine."
"Good. I'll set up there, then." Sinead decided.
"What are we going to do about the money?" Kazuya asked.
"Have a mixture of real money and fake money."
"But he said –"
"Trust me. We're not going to get the ransom money in time. He's clearly desperate, so he wants it now." She then turned to me. "I don't think we can risk an ear piece, but I'll go through everything with you. Are you sure about this?"
"Of course." I assured her. "It's –"
"It's not your fault that this happened." Sinead interjected. "No one should blame themselves. We should blame Saburou Osaki. Blaming ourselves is pointless."
Everyone nodded solemnly.
"Right. I've got to make a few phone calls." She turned to Kazuya. "Don't do anything stupid."
After she had left, we all fell into subdued silence. Any anger had gone; we were just scared now. All except for Kazuya. He was still seething. I just wasn't sure who he was angry with.
Suddenly, he snapped. "This needs to end."
Houshou looked at him tiredly. "And how do you suggest we do that?"
"You know how."
Houshou sighed. "We're not doing hypnotic suggestion."
"I've already pointed this out: I wasn't talking to you." He stared at me, and I avoided his gaze.
"Look…right now, we need to focus on Mai-kun." I said cautiously.
"But what after that? Next it will be colleague-san, and who knows what will happen with him? When will it end?"
"Look, there must be another way other than hypnotic suggestion." Ayako tried to be a reasonable voice in the debate.
"Yeah, isn't there anything else?" Yasuhara agreed. "Why don't you just wait for the supressed memories to fade?"
"We don't have time for that. Who knows when that will happen? The chances are, John will be dead before that."
His words were blunt, and the others fell into shocked silence.
"How…how can you say that?!" Ayako demanded angrily, breaking the quietness.
"It's the grim reality."
"But what about Sinead and her team?"
"Colleague-san doesn't care about them. He will kill them all, if that is what it takes. You heard Sinead. She said he was bent on revenge, and he will not stop until John is dead. There is nothing we can do to stop it. All we can do is try and figure out who he is, where he might be, what his secrets are. We need to find him before he reaches John. And hypnotic suggestion is the only way to do this."
"Can't we track him down?" Masako asked.
"No. I've asked that, and he's virtually disappeared. Without his name, there is nothing we can do."
"But…isn't there another way to find out his name?" I asked, desperate.
"Not that I know of."
"Are you sure?" Houshou asked forcefully.
Kazuya snapped. "Don't you think that, if there was, I would have done it by now?!" He shouted. "Do you really think that I want to do this?! I know it could end badly. I know the risks. But there's no other option. I haven't had any visions about it, and neither has Mai. If we don't find out colleague-san's name and track him down, more people will get hurt. Mai has been kidnapped. Who else will be caught in the cross-fire? And if we don't find colleague-san, John will die."
He paused, and calmed himself. "…If we know his name, we'll have a much better chance of finding colleague-san. But right now, almost all records of his name have been erased by the fire at the Ward. Our most accessible record," he stared at me, "is John. But even that has been locked away. We need to unlock the memory, before it's too late."
Silence fell once more. Kazuya was staring at me intently, waiting for my answer, and I looked at the floor, aware of everyone watching.
I was saved from replying by Sinead, who entered the room. "I'm back. We need to get ready." She beckoned me over, barely giving Kazuya a glance. "We need to discuss what is going to happen."
When we had left the room, she turned to me, concerned. "He wants you to do hypnotic suggestion, doesn't he?"
I nodded solemnly. "Yeah."
"Don't." She put her hands on my shoulders. "He's scared right now. He's really, really scared. Oliver doesn't have many friends, as you might believe. He's already lost his brother. Now, one of his best friends is in serious danger, and his other best friend is currently being used as a ransom. So, obviously, he is terrified. And you know how proud he is. He doesn't like being scared. It makes him uneasy and self-loathing. He wants it all to stop, so that you and Mai and everyone else at SPR aren't in danger anymore. I know, that because he hasn't had any visions about the situation and his clairvoyance hasn't worked, he's feeling stressed and helpless. So he'll keep on asking you to do the hypnotic suggestion. Say no. It's not worth it."
"But…"
"He's panicking, and he's overlooking other techniques we can use. A cognitive interview would be a lot safer than the hypnotic technique. I can do that for you, if you want."
I nodded slowly.
"Good. Now, we have a lot to do in not much time, so let's go."
They had decided to set up in the opposite apartment to Chiaki Abe's, and had turfed the startled resident out of his room. The Spanish member of Sinead's crew, whose name was Eliot, talked to him in hushed, layered words before he agreed to leave.
"Have you sorted out him, then?" Sinead asked.
"Yeah. He won't go to the press."
"Keep your eye on the media, just in case."
"Will do. If anything arises, I'll deal with them as quickly as I can."
"Good. Make sure that no reporters come here."
Eliot nodded, and began setting up laptops, opening up live news streams and various websites.
The room was dark, and I paid no attention to my surroundings – not the mess of electronics and computers, or the various weapons that were laid out. Instead, my eyes were fixed on the window; I could see my apartment quite clearly through it. The curtains had been hastily drawn, blocking any view. How would Sinead be able to see what was going on? What if something went wrong, and both Mai and I were killed? My nerves were trembling uncontrollably. Saburou was waiting for me in that apartment. He was waiting to kill me.
I became aware that someone was trying to talk to me.
"Mr Brown. Mr Brown. John Brown." I turned, to find the man called Lukas talking to me.
"S-sorry?"
He handed me a duffle bag. Back at the office, he had looked timid and uncertain. Now, though, his movements were confident, and his tone was assured.
"The money is in this. There is a mixture of real and fake yen in here. Each bundle will contain a mix of both. We've deliberately chosen a lower currency, so there are more bundles of money. This way, he won't have time to look through them all. Conor gave me some trackers, and I've placed one inside the lining and fabric of the bag, and I've put the other in one of the bundles."
"Won't he notice?"
"I made sure it was thin. Paper thin. Unless he's looking specifically for it, it will be hard to notice. When you hand over the money, try not to be nervous."
That was easier said than done. "I'll try…"
"Look. I've done things like this before. The trackers are only a precaution. And I know he said no tricks, but…" He held up what looked like a bug. "I'm going to place this on the inside of your shirt, at the back of your neck."
"Will he notice?"
"No, don't worry." Next, I found myself talking to Chosovi, the Native American woman, and Andy.
"Here." Andy pushed something onto my finger. It was a ring.
"Huh?"
"Careful. There's a spike on the end." She showed me the spike, on the side of my palm. "Whatever you do, don't prick yourself with it."
"Why not?"
"I put a sedative on it." Chosovi added. "Well, a poison. It's not deadly, but it will knock him out in about five minutes."
Of course. Saburou didn't feel pain, so he wouldn't notice the spike if it got stuck in him.
"Won't he notice this, though? I mean, see it?"
"No. You wear a silver cross around your neck. As far as he's concerned, it could just be another part of your religion. He'll be looking for obvious wires and guns, not this." Andy explained.
Then Sinead was speaking to me. "Listen. Conor is ready with the bug and trackers. If there's any sign of danger, Winter will be in there. Try and describe your surroundings and the situation without making it obvious we're listening. Try and get Mai out of there. Play for time. Keep him talking. He enjoys winding people up, so that won't be too hard. And try and get that curtain open, so I have a clear shot. Can you do that?"
"Yes." I dearly hoped so.
I walked up the stairs to my apartment with dread. Several times, I almost pricked myself with the spike on the ring. The bug on my shirt rubbed against my skin uncomfortably. The duffle bag felt heavy, and the straps rubbed against my palm. My breathing felt irregular and shallow.
Too soon, the door appeared in front of me. Fear pulsed through me.
I took a deep breath, and knocked.
The thought occurred to me that, what if he just shot me through the door?
But then I heard a voice. "Come in."
Swallowing, I pushed down the handle and stepped inside.
Saburou was sitting on the sofa, like colleague had done before. But rather than sitting in a relaxed position, he was hunched over, scowling. He was turning a gun over in his hands. Across his face, he had been scratched savagely, but he barely seemed to notice.
Mai was sitting by the window, her legs withdrawn and her face against her knees. At my entrance, she looked up, and a mix of relief and worry crossed her face. Her eyes were red, and she was trembling.
Finally, Saburou looked up. "Oh. Hello." He stood, and gestured to the duffle bag. I passed it over to him, and he snatched it, opening it up so wide the money almost spilled out. He searched it briefly then, satisfied, threw it onto the ground.
"You've got the money. Let Mai go." I demanded.
He considered it. "…No."
"She's not part of this. She didn't do anything wrong."
"Your little psychic research group helped ruin my plan." He spat. "They should have just believed what they were told."
"That's not Mai's fault. Let her go."
He looked at his watch. "…Fine. I don't have that much time left." He stepped away, looking through the duffle bag again. I hurried over to Mai.
"Are you ok? Did he hurt you?"
She shook her head, but looked close to tears. "I'm so sorry…I've put you in danger…"
"Don't apologise. It's not your fault. If you leave the apartment, you'll see Andy and Chosovi. They'll bring you somewhere safe."
Mai nodded shakily, and I helped her to her feet. "Go quickly. Don't linger around. Ok?"
"Ok." She whispered. As she ran from the apartment, with Saburou not giving her a second glance, a felt a worry lift from my shoulders. At least Mai was safe, now.
"…Why the silencer?" I asked, remembering Lukas's words to describe the situation.
"Just in case I needed to shoot someone. So no one would overhear." This meant he was planning for a quick getaway.
He was too interested in the money to notice me, so I quickly opened the curtains, then stepped away from the window.
"I see you listened to my instructions." He left the bag, satisfied.
"20 million yen, like you asked."
Placing the gun on the table, he prowled over to me. My breath got caught in my throat.
"I hope you haven't got any bugs on you." He snarled.
Trying to hide my fear as well as I could, I raised my head and replied, "Search. You won't find anything."
Immediately, he grabbed my head and turned my roughly to one side, checking my ears. Then he opened my mouth and looked inside.
"It's happened before." He muttered, as if explaining to me. As he did this, I pushed the spike into his arm. He didn't notice.
Next, he checked my pockets. "…Maybe you were right." He turned and walked into the kitchen.
"What do you want with me?" I had to keep him talking for five minutes, before the poison kicked in. It would feel like five hours.
"…I think you've guessed." He replied darkly. The violence in his voice was alarming.
I inhaled sharply. "Oh?" I reached for the gun, and opened the chamber. It was empty…?
When Saburou returned, my eye was drawn to the knife. He saw me with the gun. "Do you really think I'd leave a loaded gun lying about?" He laughed, opening his jacket and revealing a second gun.
"A second gun underneath your jacket. Clever. I see you've chosen a knife, though." I hoped the others were listening carefully.
"You underestimate me, John." He walked forwards, and I backed away.
"There's no where you can go, kid." He spun the knife around in his hands. "Nowhere to hide."
My mind raced. "Why did you torture Kazuki?"
"Playing for time? That's not going to get you anywhere." He smiled, malice in his eyes.
"Why?" I demanded. I stepped away from him again, and he followed.
"He was getting too close to you. People with relationships have let things slip to their partners before. And you knew that old man. You were getting far too interested in the Ward. We needed to find out what you knew."
I swallowed, sickened. "So you tortured him?"
He rolled his eyes. "Enough talking. I don't have time for this."
With no warning, he lunged forwards with the knife, and pushed me to the floor. His weight was on top of me.
"This seems familiar…" He pondered, smirking. "Oh, yes. At that abandoned house. I believe this was how it was last time. Except things are going to turn out a little differently."
I lashed out at his face, and dragged the spike across his skin. Of course, he didn't react to the pain.
Suddenly, he grabbed my hand. "What's this?" He stared at the ring.
"A little weapon I brought." I tried to wrestle my hand away, but his grip was tight.
"Hm. Pathetic thing." He took it off and threw it away. The blood from his wounds was dripping onto me.
He pinned my arm down onto the floor. "Have you heard of something called 127 hours?"
I paled, and he laughed. "Yes. The man who had to cut his own arm off after getting it trapped by a boulder while in a desert?"
He trailed the knife lightly up and down my skin. "He had to break his arm first, you know. Then he had to cut through his skin, his tissue, his tendons, his nerves…"
Bile was rising at my throat. My heart was racing. "N-no…"
"Can you imagine the pain? The sheer, intolerable pain?"
Smiling, he wiped his blood from my face. It made me want to throw up.
"Well you're about to find out." The knife started cutting into my skin. Slowly, ever so slowly. Crying out in pain, my mind raced. How long would it be before the poison kicked in? Long enough for him to reach my tendons? What could I do? What…
Gasping, my hand fumbled underneath his jacket. I felt the gun. I pulled with all my might.
It came loose.
I pressed the muzzle to his throat, my hand trembling, my fingers failing to grip around the trigger. The pain in my arm lessened, and he was wrestling with the gun, pulling it with all his strength. I let go suddenly, and the gun crashed into his head. I pushed him off of me, and scrambled away. My arm was searing. I could feel hot, sticky blood running down it, and I feebly tried to block the flow with my other hand.
"You little…" He got up, but swayed. The poison was taking affect.
I backed away, past the window onto the other side. He gripped the gun in his hand, and aimed it.
"What, too afraid to finish the job properly?" I looked at the gun. One twitch of a finger, and it was over. "You're pathetic. Taking the easy option out."
He said nothing, but stared at me vehemently. Pick at his weakness, his insecurities. His pride. His need to prove himself. Anything. Just don't let him shoot that gun.
"I didn't underestimate you. I overestimated you. No wonder colleague-san is trying to kill you."
That was the last straw. He tossed the gun aside, and raised the knife again. He began to stride towards me.
Past the window.
He jerked suddenly, as the window broke and cracks spread across the pane like a spider web, despite the lack of noise from the silenced gun Sinead was using. Unbeknowst to Saburou, his shoulder was beginning to bleed. The knife clattered uselessly to the floor. He glanced at the wound, and realisation overcame him. In that moment, the poison took action. Without another word, he fell to the floor with a heavy thump.
I stared at his unconscious body, shaking all over. My arm hurt, badly. I couldn't stop staring at the knife. He had been so close to…
Sinking to my knees, I began to retch. Every movement made my arm hurt more, but I couldn't stop. When I managed to get a hold of myself, I realised that I was losing blood, and fast. The liquid was seeping through my fingers.
The door burst open, and I jumped. Winter ran in, gun at the ready. He took in the scene swiftly, then lowered his gun and hurried over to me.
"What happened? Are you hurt?" Before I could answer, he examined my arm, and ran into the kitchen, returning with a handful of tea towels. Hurriedly, he began to tie them tightly around the wound.
"What happened?"
"He…tried to cut…" I couldn't carry on.
Winter seemed to guess. "Ok. Keep putting pressure on." He moved onto Saburou, first putting on handcuffs, before moving onto the wound.
I reached for the bug on my shirt and ripped it off, trying to control my nausea. "I-Is Mai ok?"
"She's fine. A little shaken up, but fine." Winter grabbed a phone out of his pocket, and dialled a number. "…Eliot? I think we need an ambulance here. Can you get one, but make sure no one finds out why, especially not the press?...Great…yeah, Osaki was shot, and he tried to cut John's arm off…"
At the words, I shuddered, trying to stop myself from throwing up. All I could think about were his words.
…Then he had to cut through his skin, his tissue, his tendons, his nerves…
…Can you imagine the pain? The sheer, intolerable pain?…
Again, the door opened, and this time Sinead came into the room, followed by Andy.
"Woah." Andy looked at the scene. "What happened here?"
"I shot him." Sinead explained briefly. "John, are you ok?"
I nodded. "Y-yeah…"
"Eliot's calling an ambulance. Help me put pressure on his wound." Winter called over.
Sinead hurried over. "How much blood has he lost?"
As they talked, Andy peered at me. "What happened to you?"
I tried to stand up, and almost fell down again. "U-uh…"
Distractedly, she bent down and picked something up from the floor. "Huh." She showed me the ring. "You wouldn't wanna stand on that. Did it serve you well?" Then she saw my arm.
"Hey, what happened to your arm?"
"H-He tried to cut…"
"Oh, like 127 hours?" She looked at me. "Um, are you ok?"
"I just…" I barely managed to reach the bathroom before I threw up. My arm hurt. I could still feel the dirty remains of Saburou's blood on my face. And my hands were sticky from the cut on my arm.
"Oh, God…" I muttered, before throwing up again. I hated the vile taste in my mouth, but I couldn't help it. If it had been a minute longer…how far would he have cut? I couldn't stop thinking about it. How far would he have reached?
Finally, I managed to stop, gasping, and I flushed the toilet. I hated throwing up. It was disgusting.
"You alright?" I realised Andy was standing in the door way, watching me.
Sighing, I rubbed my forehead. "Y-yeah. No."
She walked over to me and helped me to my feet. "Come on. The ambulance will be here soon."
Like Andy had said, it only took a few minutes for the ambulances to arrive. With them came a small throng of passer-bys, all looking on curiously. Initially, a journalist came, but after a few words from Eliot, they left without looking back.
In the back of one of the ambulances, a first-responder busily sorted my arm. Thankfully, from where I was sitting, none of the spectators could see me, but I still felt exposed.
"What happened to you, then?" The first-responder asked.
I shook my head. "It's complicated."
She began to apply stitches, as Sinead approached me. "Hey." She sat next to me. "How are you feeling?"
"Not the best." I winced at the stitches.
"You did well. That could have ended up a lot worse. But Mai's safe, and we've got Osaki, too. That's one less person to worry about." She spoke optimistically, but I could tell she was pretty shaken up.
I asked if she was alright.
"Me? Why wouldn't I be?"
"You look worried."
Sinead sighed. "…I couldn't get a clear shot until you enticed him to move in front of the window. But I could hear everything he was saying. I heard about…the arm thing…"
I pursed my lips. "You heard?"
"Yeah. And I was terrified. That no one would reach you in time."
A clamour caught my attention. Saburou was in a stretcher, being wheeled away. He had seen me.
"You'll pay for this!" He was screaming at me, his handcuffs rattling against the rail of his stretcher. "I will find you and I will kill you! There's nowhere to hide, John!" His threats were cut off as he was loaded into the ambulance.
"Don't listen to him. Everything is fine now." Sinead wrapped her arm around me. "There's nothing he can do."
As the ambulance drove away, I felt my fear lessen slightly. "What will happen to him?"
"We'll ask him some questions. Then he'll face the courts. With everything that's happened, he might be facing the death penalty."
I closed my eyes, and tried not to think about it anymore. What happened didn't matter. He couldn't hurt me anymore. He couldn't hurt anyone.
Now there was only one person left to deal with:
The colleague.