"Does she normally eat like this on a stakeout?" Murai asked, his voice quiet but not quiet enough to escape Misaki's hearing.
She had her gaze trained on the three-story, red brick bar that was squeezed between two midrise office buildings across the wide, divided street. The surveillance van was parked next to an empty construction site; it was too far away from the bar for her to see much, even with her binoculars, but any closer and the unmarked vehicle would be obvious. She ignored the detective's comment, and took another bite of her meat bun.
"I don't know," Aisha replied. "I've never done a stakeout with Section Four before."
"I wasn't talking to you."
Kouno's voice came in over the radio, and Misaki immediately sat up straighter, prepared for a report. "If she's on her third bun, then yes," her subordinate said.
"Fourth," Murai replied.
"Damn, Chief, leave some for the rest of us!"
"Everyone pay attention to your jobs!" Misaki snapped. "We're only fifteen minutes out from the appointed meeting time. Kouno, anything on your end?"
Misaki, Murai, Aisha, and a communications technician were crammed into the back of the surveillance van. A couple of officers in plainclothes lurked around the vicinity of the bar, while Kouno and one of Murai's people, a woman named Aoki, sat at a table inside, not far from Tou's location.
"Negative, Chief. I've got eyes on Officer Tou; she's waiting at the table. No one in a baseball cap has been in the bar."
"He usually shows up right on time or minute after," Tou said quietly into her mic. "We've got time yet."
"Tou, keep off the channel unless it's an emergency," Misaki reminded her. "We can't risk tipping off anyone who might be watching."
The officer didn't reply, but Misaki thought she could hear her frustration through the silent radio.
She could sympathize. Misaki wasn't usually one to feel claustrophobic, but she was having trouble with the confined space tonight. She wanted to be out in the fresh night air, actively doing something, even if it was just pacing back and forth watching the front door of the bar. Crammed together with the others in the hot and stuffy van was leaving her feeling anxious and useless.
She'd had to put away the field glasses because her hands were shaking too much for them to be of any use. Coffee didn't usually make her jittery; she supposed it was simply a case of too much after too long an abstinence. She shrugged off her suit jacket and shifted her gun in its holster. That was a little better.
"Any sign of the contractor?" Murai asked. A chorus of negatives sounded from Kouno and the team on the street.
"No alerts from Astronomics," Misaki said with a quick glance at her phone. "He's not using his power, wherever he is. Well, stay alert people, and remember our objectives: capture Abo and the handler, but not at the expense of bystander safety."
The team all acknowledged the directive, and settled in to wait. Misaki and Murai kept watch on the crowded street outside, while Ono, the technician, fiddled with his equipment as it scanned for cell phone calls potentially coming from one of their targets. Aisha had pulled out her magazine once again.
The minutes ticked slowly by. Misaki's hand clenched and unclenched around her field glasses in her lap; she was full of pent-up energy with nowhere to release it. Five minutes…ten minutes…little by little the appointed time of the rendezvous approached.
There were two minutes left when something caught her eye. "Baseball cap," she said, straining her eyes through the lenses as her pulse quickened. "Man. Right build, but I can't see his face. Looks like - yes, he's entering the bar."
Everyone in the van waited with bated breath. There was silence on the radio until Kouno said, "False alarm." Tou must have signaled that he wasn't their contact.
Misaki sagged in her seat and reached for her coffee tumbler. Another cup wouldn't hurt. She'd just taken a sip when Kouno spoke up again.
"Tou's taking out her phone - looks like a text."
At those words, Aisha dropped her magazine and called on her power. In the confined space, it suddenly seemed as if the whole world had gone blue. Murai and Ono visibly jumped, the technician pressing as far away from the contractor as he could.
"It's from the handler's phone," Aisha said. Her hands were resting on her laptop keyboard; Misaki wasn't sure exactly how it worked, but earlier she'd done something with Tou's phone that would allow her to access the call logs through the service provider's networks. Technically that wasn't covered under their wiretapping warrant, but Misaki would find a way to justify it.
"Do you have the text?" she asked the contractor.
"Yeah. It says Abort."
Misaki frowned and drummed her fingers on the field glasses in her lap. "Tou, have you ever had a meeting aborted before?" she asked into the radio.
It was Kouno who answered. "She gave the signal for no."
"He must have spotted our surveillance," Murai said. "He'll be blocks away by now."
That was the most logical explanation, but it didn't feel right. "Everyone stay put," Misaki decided. "Continue the operation."
"Director -" Murai began.
"I don't trust this situation," she said. "Maybe he's just being overly cautious; he saw something that spooked him, and doesn't want to risk a meeting. In which case you're right, and he's already out of our reach. But I'm more concerned about HG-139. He's in Sapporo for a reason. He knew we were waiting for him at the airport; it would be reasonable for him to assume that we're here as well. I don't want to give away any of our positions."
"Unless he's here for the warehouse, and this meeting is just a distraction," Aisha said.
"That's why I have a detail staking out each of the three warehouses," Murai shot back. "There's been no activity out of the ordinary at any of them; they all have the contractor's picture."
"It doesn't hurt to wait and watch," Misaki said firmly. "That's practically the definition of policework."
"Hang on," Tou interrupted, her voice quiet but urgent. "I see him! He's not wearing the hat, so I didn't recognize him at first - he's leaving the bar."
"There's a crowd leaving right now," Kouno said. "Which one is he?"
"One of the men in a business suit. I'm following him."
"No," Misaki ordered. "Tou, stay where you are. Kouno, you and Aoki follow him."
"Shit, there's at least five men in suits - which one is he?"
"Second from the left. I'm on him, just follow me."
"Chief, she's heading towards the door," Kouno warned.
Misaki clenched the radio in her hand, wishing that she'd positioned herself in the bar instead of the van - but she'd been more worried about leaving Aisha alone than Tou. And she hadn't wanted to risk the man recognizing her. "Tou, sit down and stay inside - that's an order!"
Kouno's muttered curse told her that Tou hadn't listened.
Shit, Misaki swore to herself, and raised her field glasses to the window once again. "Kouno, Aoki, stay on her and keep a sharp lookout for Abo - he's our biggest threat at this point."
"There's a lot of people outside, Chief. I can't tell any of these guys in suits apart, but Tou is still following them a couple paces behind. Headed north towards the intersection."
"I see her," Misaki said. The officer was difficult to spot in the crowd moving up the street; Misaki hardly dared blink.
"Can you tell who she's following?" Murai had joined Misaki at the window, his own binoculars in hand.
"Negative," was Kouno's response.
They watched as the group of five men began to cross Soseigawa Dori with the light. Tou disappeared in the crowd of businessmen and bar-goers. Misaki focused and refocused her glasses, but couldn't pick her out.
"Kouno, I lost her," she told the radio. "What's going on?"
"They've just reached the other side of the intersection; starting across the bridge over the park."
Misaki turned to Detective Murai. "Have a unit move in," she said. "Block off the tunnel entrances. If Tou can positively identify him, there's no point in just tailing - we need to grab him now."
Murai nodded and began issuing orders. Misaki strained her eyes, trying to spot Tou amongst the crowd that was streaming in both directions across the bridge, but she couldn't find the woman.
"Shit," Kouno swore suddenly. "Chief, she's gone!"
"What do you mean gone?" Misaki demanded.
"I mean I had eyes on her, then she just vanished!"
In her pocket, her cell phone began to vibrate. Misaki didn't need to take it out to know what that meant. "HG-139," she breathed. Through her binoculars she saw Kouno and Aoki pushing through the crowd, presumably trying to reach the spot where the officer had disappeared. "Shit - Tou, get off the bridge and back to the van!"
There was no answer. Misaki tried again, the anxiety creeping into her voice. "Officer Tou, do you copy? Tou?"
The voice that answered her was deep and male, with an audible rasp. "No."
Heart in her throat, Misaki threw down her field glasses and radio and flung open the door to the van. Murai was calling something behind her but she barely heard him.
She raced up Soseigawa Dori, dashing across the northbound lanes as soon as she an opening in the oncoming rush of headlights. Pain lanced through a stitch in her side, but she kept running.
Abo was invisible; he could be anywhere. But he couldn't walk through walls, and he couldn't walk through people. What escape route would he use?
Misaki reached the intersection; she was between the surface street and the mouth of the tunnel's exit ramp. A squad car, blue and red lights blinding in the dark, blocked the exit; there would be another car in front of the south entrance stopping all traffic from entering.
Trusting to her instincts, she flashed her badge at the nearest officer as she dodged around the front bumper of his car and dashed into the tunnel.
With the entrance blocked, there was no traffic. Misaki slowed to a walk, drawing her weapon as she paced down the center of the long ramp. The sounds of the street outside faded into the background, and she realized suddenly that she'd left her radio in the van. After a moment's hesitation, she kept going. She could handle Abo on her own, if she had to.
Ignoring the pain in her side, she listened hard; but all she could hear was her own ragged breathing.
Then she picked up the faint sound of footsteps, striding away into the orange-lit emptiness ahead of her.
Misaki raised her gun, aiming in the general direction of the sound. She didn't have much chance of hitting an invisible person, but a warning shot might slow him down.
"Freeze!" she shouted, her voice echoing off the concrete walls. "This is the police!"
The footsteps paused; then took off running.
Misaki fired. The gunshot reverberated deafeningly in the confined space as her bullet buried itself in the asphalt twenty yards ahead. Her ears were ringing, the stitch in her side had sharpened, but Misaki forced herself to run forward, her eyes peeled for telltale droplets of blood on the ground.
But before she'd made it even five yards, another shot rang out. With a surprised gasp, she threw herself to the ground. It went wide, striking the tunnel wall behind her to the right. Misaki tightened her grip on her weapon, her mind racing. She was completely exposed; armed, but with no visible target. Gritting her teeth, she remained where she was, stretched out in the middle of the road, and lifted her gun with both hands.
An access door slammed open to her left. Misaki pushed herself up to one knee, swinging her gun around to face the new threat.
"Chief!" Kouno's worried face appeared in the doorway, his weapon drawn. "I'll cover you!"
Without waiting for an answer, Misaki's subordinate fired a blind shot down the empty tunnel. Misaki used the cover to jump to her feet and make a dash to the access door. A returning shot whizzed by her, closer than the first but still wide. Kouno swore, fired again, and Misaki dived through the doorway and into the narrow service tunnel beyond.
Kouno pulled the door closed behind them; a bullet ricocheted off the heavy steel frame as it slammed shut.
"You okay, Chief?"
Misaki removed her hand from her side self-consciously. Her heart was pounding so hard it was almost impossible to catch her breath. "Fine," she said curtly. "Give the unit at the tunnel entrance a warning; HG-139 is headed their way, invisible and armed."
Kouno relayed the warning, then added to Misaki, "Didn't expect him to be arm with something so conventional."
"Yeah, me either. Were you able to reach Tou?"
Her subordinate's expression turned grim. "No. But we found her."
The body was in the sunken park beneath the pedestrian bridge. The garrote was still wrapped around her neck, a wire biting into the flesh. Not all of the blood had dried yet. Her limbs were splayed at odd angles and pool of blood was still spreading beneath her head. Her wide, staring eyes made it clear however that there was no life left in the officer.
"He threw her from the bridge after strangling her," Misaki observed, allowing her cop's instincts to kick in and take over. She'd deal with her emotional response later.
"The meet was a setup after all," Kouno said. "The handler lured her out for the contractor to grab her."
Misaki didn't answer. She couldn't.
Detective Murai trotted up, radio in hand.
"Any word from the blockade?" Misaki asked, drawing in a deep breath at last. Now that she was no longer moving, she could feel the chilly air biting through her blouse; she'd left her jacket in the van with her radio. She shivered.
He shook his head. "Not a sign of him; he must have slipped by. But there's worse news."
She braced herself. "What is it?"
"The detail on Tamade's Chitose warehouse just called in - there was an explosion inside. It's burning; emergency crews are on the way."
What little energy she had left drained away at his words. Between the fire and the water from the firefighters, there would be nothing left worth saving.
"Well, at least we know where the subnet servers were stored," she said, refusing to let her defeat show. "We need to get this scene processed. Murai, it's your show now."
Folding her arms, she excused herself from the team and paced away into the darkness of the park to throw up in solitude.
~~~~o~~~~
Aisha was already asleep when Misaki finally returned to their hotel room. The contractor was snoring softly on top of one of the two queen beds. Misaki couldn't remember ever envying a contractor; but she did tonight. All she wanted to do now was curl up under the covers of her own bed and forget everything from the past few hours. It would be impossible though; the best that she could hope for was an hour or two of sleep before they had to leave for the airport in the morning, and she knew that she wouldn't get even that.
With a tired sigh, she stripped off her shoes, jacket, and gun. Leaving them on top of her bed, she headed into the bathroom and shut the door.
The stitch in her side hadn't let up at all; even ginger movements were almost too much, and for a brief moment she actually considered just showering in her blouse and bra. But she managed to undress at last. Turning the temperature up as high as she could stand it, she stepped carefully underneath the hot spray.
She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against the incongruously cold tile of the shower wall as the water steamed around her. Tou's body was laid out before her mind's eye, limp and broken. And it was Misaki's fault.
The death of a fellow officer always hit her hard, but this was the first time that she'd been directly responsible. That Tou had ignored a direct order didn't matter. She should never have allowed the officer to participate in the operation - it was too risky. She'd known it was too risky, known exactly how dangerous and how capable HG-139 was, known how eager Tou was to redeem herself from her betrayal of the police - yet she'd gone ahead anyway and allowed it anyway.
She had no excuse for herself; the thought of potentially capturing Abo and the handler had been too tempting to let go of. Maybe Kaede was right. Maybe she was thinking too much like a contractor.
Her hair hung heavy down her back. Misaki ran her fingers through it idly, the hot spray almost stinging wherever it hit bare skin.
Even worse had been returning to the hotel conference room to tell Tou's son what had happened to his mother. As a member of the same local department, Murai had done most of the talking; but ultimately it had been Misaki's responsibility and she hadn't excused herself from it.
She remembered the boy's blank, emotionless expression as she'd sat next to him on the couch and explained in a straightforward and perfunctory way. He hadn't said a word; just sat silently as tears streamed down his cheeks. It would have been better if he'd shouted, swung a fist, even. Misaki wouldn't have ducked. But he hadn't. He'd simply listened to the news, then tuned her out completely, alone in a private world of grief.
Misaki turned her face into the spray, then cupped her hands over her eyes and cheeks. It was impossible tell whether the wet tracks running down her cheeks were from the spray of the shower, or tears. That was the way she preferred it.
Unbidden, her mind recalled that night in the basement of the Syndicate's bar, where she'd first seen Hei as himself. She'd asked why he had risked himself needlessly to protect a patrolman from another contractor. His answer, so simple and so confusing, had been, I knew you would be hurt if another officer was killed.
Sometimes she missed him so much it hurt. All she wanted right now was for him to warp her in his arms and tell her that it was okay to feel this way; that he understood. She knew, somehow, that he would understand.
Another sharp pain in her side forced her eyes shut. She pressed her forehead against the cold tile wall until it had passed. When she opened them again, it was just in time to catch the fall of a bright red droplet. It tinged the water slightly pink before swirling away down the drain. She closed her eyes.