The hands on the clock behind the counter read a quarter to midnight, though it felt much later than that to me. The amount of traffic outside the large plate glass windows of the little Subway™ was unusually light for late-night New York. Even on the weeknights the entire city seemed to hum with a vitality and life that nothing else could compare to. Sometimes I used to think that if I listened hard enough, I'd be able to hear the sound of hundreds of thousands of hearts beating in time, giving the cold cement, plexi-glass and metal of the metropolis a pulse.
I leant my forehead against the cool glass of the window, and sighed to myself. The one thought that seemed to occupy my entire brain was 'why me'. Of course, I knew the answer to that. I'd taken the job on willingly, and I couldn't just leave all these people in the lurch when they needed me most…no matter how tempting that thought could appear to be in moments like these.
Focus Mia. I berated myself. Okay, what do I know so far? Point one: Arago has the tiger, and he wants the jewels…why? To make up for losses in a drug smuggling ring. Point two: He took Sage's wife, supposedly to keep the cat in good health. Point three: He's blackmailing Hashiba for some odd reason, but with what? What could this guy have done that the press wouldn't have found out about? Point four:… I scowled softly to myself. There WAS no point four dammit! And therein lay the problem. Until I could find another good lead, this case was on standstill. My only hope for the moment was that Rowen may just know something from his interaction with the Mob. Or possibly Kento would have heard some information around HQ. I worried at a thumb nail and ignored the steaming cup of coffee before me. We'd all ordered some, if only to keep ourselves going after such a long night. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, I found myself feeling more and more fatigued.
I was jolted from my thoughts as the bell over the door jingled. Automatically, all four of us turned to see who was coming. We'd been doing that for the past twenty minutes, since we'd arrived. I think we'd scared some of the other late-night patrons...
This time, at least, it was the long awaited person. It didn't really matter much that Kento wasn't in uniform, he still seemed to have an air of authority, or someone used to having to use force to make a point. He was dressed casually in worn jeans and a gray T-shirt, with a windbreaker over all to ward off some of the autumn chill. He approached our booth, then paused and snagged a chair from a nearby table. Which was just as well, really, things were a little cramped as they were. He set it so the back was facing us, and plopped down, crossing his arms over the back of the chair and regarding us all intently.
"I'd like some answers, if you don't mind." He said calmly. "Starting with you." Sage shrugged as Kento's gaze fell quite pointedly upon him. "You're not dead. Why?"
It took a great deal of willpower to keep me from slapping my forehead. Kento had always been more blunt and direct than anyone else I'd ever known. Even back when I'd first met him in the Police Academy, what seemed like a lifetime ago. We'd been partnered together on a training exercise, and his easygoing nature and open sense of humor had had me in stitches within minutes. We'd gone our separate ways after the graduation. He'd decided he was going to dedicate his life to the force, and I wanted to go free-lance. Since a lot of my cases drew in police officers, we had frequent run ins over the years. Why did I get the sinking feeling that this time it wouldn't be just a simple run in?
I only half listened as Sage explained, once more, why he wasn't six feet under. Both Rowen and Ryo were listening incredulously, while Kento merely nodded his understanding and asked much the same questions I had...only a few octaves lower and with much less anger behind them. Sage wound down to the end of his narrative, and for a moment, nobody spoke.
"Ahhh, I never really did believe it when they wheeled you into the morgue." Kento sighed, resting his chin on his crossed arms and frowning at the table-top. "I don't think you realize just how much you hurt the rest of us though."
"Believe me, Mia made things quite clear." Sage responded, wincing. I grinned smugly, crossing my arms over my chest. In my mind, he'd gotten exactly what he deserved.
"Alright, I'll buy that." Kento nodded. "But what the hell do they want with your wife? That's the part I don't get."
"This would be where I pick up the story." I jumped in.
"I see…one of those jigsaw cases?" He asked. "Where each little incident is related to another one?"
"Exactly." I nodded. "Only this one has more lives than I care to think about hanging on it." The expression on Kento's face went from listening, to plain old disbelief as I recounted all that had occurred to us thus far. I explained how Ryo had come to me, how I'd accepted the (admittably odd) case, and how Sage had show up out of the blue. From there, I told him what I could of our meeting with Sasaki without breaking my promise to Kayura. I noticed something flicker behind Kento's eyes…maybe recognition? It wouldn't have surprised me to find out that he'd read up on Kujuurou's file, and knew the man's history. I went on ahead to tell him of this night's past events, from my encounter with Hashiba at the club, to the shoot out on the docks.
"And that's pretty much it." I concluded, sipping at the now lukewarm mug of coffee before me. "There are so many holes in this case you could probably drain pasta…but that's all we know."
"That's pretty damn unbelievable, you do realize that don't you?" He asked me flatly.
"Trust me officer, I get that response a lot." Ryo spoke up for the first time, a somewhat sheepish expression on his face. But there was a hint of steel in his voice, as if he was bound and determined to make the policeman take his story for the truth. "But it's all for real, every word of it."
"Aww hell, I believe ya kid." Kento sighed, reaching up with an almost unconscious gesture to push back a uniform hat that wasn't there. "I'm dead on for spotting a lie."
I relaxed almost unconsciously. I knew for a fact how farfetched this whole thing was, but backed by the kind of evidence we'd accumulated, one would almost have to believe it.
"That leaves just one loose end to tie up." Kento said, his gaze swinging to lock onto Hashiba. Sage, Ryo and I both followed suit, and the young businessman flushed under the combined intensity of our stares.
"I'd say you do owe us an explanation." Sage prompted him.
"Ah know Ah do…" He fidgeted in his seat. "But…it's kindah a long stahry."
"In case you hadn't noticed, it's already late." Ryo pointed out, obvious eaten alive with curiosity. "I doubt a little less sleep is going to hurt us any."
Rowen sighed resignedly. I could tell he was at something of a loss to say.
"You told me back at Anubis' that you were being blackmailed by them." I reminded him. "But you never did say what with."
Again, I saw a flicker of fear, anger and hatred in his eyes. He stared at me from across the stained formica of the booth's table-top, and a shiver clawed its way up my spine. Nobody so young should have such haunted eyes. I was only 27, at least three years his senior.
"Ah sahpose, in this regahd, Sage and Ah have sumthang in common." Rowen sighed, blowing irritably at the lock of azure hair ticking the tip of his nose. "Only they intended ta steahl mah loved ones."
"Loved ones?" Kento leaned forward a little.
Hashiba gritted his teeth, clearly forcing each word out past his rage. "Mah wahf and dahter."
It took me a moment to puzzle through his thick accent, but once I did, my mind still refused to grasp what he had just told me, told us.
They had his wife and daughter.
Ryo slammed a fist down on the table and swore harshly. Kento took a few deep breaths, and clenched and unclenched his hands into fists. If I hadn't known Sage as well as I did, I would have assumed he was taking it with his usual calm, but beneath the composed mask I could see a killing rage; this latest development hit just a little too close to the bone for him. I, on the other hand, was stunned into silence. Childnapping was the one crime I despised above all else. In my line of work, I'd seen my share of wife-beaters and rapists, drunkards and menaces to society, but the ones who infuriated me the most were the ones who beat up on and raped their own children. A cold fist of ice curled squeezed around my insides. Oh God no, there would be innocents in the line of fire…
"Mr. Hashiba…you do realize that if you testified with this, we could put those asses away and swallow the key, don't you?" Kento asked carefully.
Rowen shook his head violently. "NO! If that was an option, don'tcha think Ah would have done it bah now?" He was shaking helplessly with supressed emotion, his eyes squeezed shut against threatening tears. "They'd…they'd kill them fahst, officer. That's wheah they've been getting thah money ta keep thea businesses afloat…from me. Because if Ah don't pay 'em…they'll s…slaughtah…" Rowen had to stop speaking as his throat closed up around the words. He bowed his head and his shoulders shook with sobs he refused to voice. Ryo, who was sitting next to him, squeezed the blue-haired man's shoulder comfortingly, but he didn't say anything. What could we say to something like that? The Mob had Hashiba backed into the proverbial corner. If he refused to finance their black market ventures, then his family would undoubtedly be put to death. If he went to the police with the news, the same fate would await them, and if the police ever uncovered this operation on their own…I shuddered. The woman and girl would more than likely still be killed, even though Rowen had gone along with the wishes of those bastards the whole time.
I finally broke the silence, after giving him a period of time to compose himself, by clearing my throat.
"Rowen…you know that if you get caught up in this…it could mean your family's death. It might be wiser if you just left here today and pretended none of this ever happened."
He drew himself up with an amazing amount of dignity for a man I would have assumed crushed. "Ah cahn't do that, Ms. Koji." He said, his voice remarkably steady. "Ah cahn't sit back anymore, and wait fah someone else ta fix things fah me. If yah'll have me, Ah'll help."
I rubbed the bridge of my nose, aware that all eyes were on me now. What was I supposed to tell him? That he couldn't come because he'd just get in the way, and get us all caught? That personal matters had no business being involved in something as delicate as this operation? I couldn't do that! Especially not when Sage was sitting right next to me, here for the very same reasons Hashiba wanted to be included; to save a loved one. Besides, he'd already shown himself to be competent in tight situations. The fact that he had a firearm that I knew of under that jacket somewhere was proof enough of that. Then again…maybe I didn't have to make the decision.
I turned and locked my eyes onto Ryo, raising a questioning eyebrow.
"Well?" I asked him. "What do you say? It's your gig, after all. I'm just the hired help." I leaned back against the vinyl seat, crossing my arms over my chest and washing my hands of the whole affair. Mentally I hoped my young client would think it over before allowing Rowen in on this (as I knew he would eventually).
Ah well, wishful thinking never got anyone anywhere.
"We're going to need all the help we can get…" Ryo said thoughtfully. "And he does have a lot of contact with the insiders…who know what we could find out that way?" I had to admit that was a good point I hadn't thought of just yet, though I still didn't like the idea of a man with a personal vendetta against our target joining up with us. Desperate men made stupid moves, often without thinking them through.
"I take it that means your answer's yes?" Sage concluded.
"Pretty much." The tiger-eyed youth nodded.
Oh this just got better and better.
"Aw hell, what am I supposed to tell my superiors at HQ if you get caught?!" Kento grumbled. "Do you realize what a suicide mission this is? The four of you, against everything the goddamn Mob can throw against you? You won't last five minutes!"
"We did alright just barely an hour ago." Ryo retorted.
"And Ah cahn ahffah whatevah financial aid yah may requiah…discreetly, of course…" Rowen offered. Again, another point I'd overlooked. The man had truckloads of money to throw around.
"I'm afraid he's right though." Sage admitted reluctantly. "There were only two of them this first time, and we had the element of surprise on our side."
"Which we can't exactly count on." I pointed out. "Since this bust, they'll be triply careful about who knows about their shipments. And we have to keep in mind that we don't even know who sold you out to Arago in the first place, Sage." My friend made a face at that remark, but nodded. Then a thought occurred to me. "Hold everything just a minute…what did you know about them that could have shut him down?"
"It's kind of a redundant issue now Mia." He sighed. "After I disappeared, they had my home torn to shreds before the police could arrive. Any evidence I had has surely been destroyed. Besides, the felony I had proof of has no doubt been completely covered up and forgotten by now."
I cursed under my breath. The one chance we had of bypassing a confrontation entirely had just flown out the window, and a whooole bunch of complications had come right on in to replace it.
"I still say this is probably the most idiotic thing either of you have ever gotten yourselves into." Kento said to Sage and me.
I just shrugged. "I gave my word. I'm not going to bail out now. There's too much riding on this, no matter how in over my head I may be."
He heaved a sigh, and studied the table-top intently for a moment before turning back to meet my gaze.
"There's no help for it," He said with a rueful twist of his lips. "I'm gonna have to help you out."
"WHAT?! NO!" I stood up, upsetting my coffee cup and spilling the now chill liquid all over. I ignored that. "There's no way in hell I'm going to let you endanger yourself and your career that way! You just happened to stumble onto this, there's nothing tying you into it at all!"
"Isn't there though?" Kento asked mildly. "You and Sage are two of my oldest friends, and I'll be damned if I sit back and watch you put your necks on the line. Besides, didn't you just 'stumble onto it'? Isn't Hashiba here risking his career as well?"
"Yes but…well his family's at stake!"
"Your point?" He just shrugged. "Look, this whole city is under Arago's thumb, whether they know it or not. As long as that bastard and his cronies are free to roam the streets and do whatever they please, then nobody here is safe. At all. You know part of the oath I swore when I took the badge was to protect the citizens of this city. I can't just turn my back Mia. It's a matter of justice."
I groaned and plopped back down, burying my face in my hands. This was all nuts, pure and simple. I did NOT want to have my old friend involved in this. Things would have been just fine if he'd been content to remain a contact on the inside of the police force. But noooo, that damn sense of justice had to intervene. It was going to get him killed one of these days. Then again, if every cop in New York had his kind of ethics and morals, there might just be less of a crime rate.
"Fine." I caved, my voice somewhat muffled by my hands. "You're both in. But if we all get killed, then don't look at me. I warned you." I went about the task of mopping up the spilt coffee with a single-minded intensity.
"We know Mia. But you must have known to begin with that I couldn't just turn my back on this whole thing." Kento said.
"I guess I did, come to think of it.
"Well if that's all decided then," Sage stifled a yawn with one hand, and glanced idly at the wall clock, which now read half past midnight. I hadn't realized I was so tired. Granted, I'd been working much later than this lately, but all of that was starting to catch up with me.
"Right, I vote we call it a night." The yawn made its way around to me, and continued to circle the table until we'd all stretched our jaws. For a moment, all five of us just stared at each other, before we began to laugh. It was a tired kind of laugh, but everyone had needed one, most of all myself. The tension in my shoulders began to ease away, and I felt marginally better.
"Rowen, do you think you can come to my office around, say…noon tomorrow?" I asked the blue-haired man. "I know you have an empire to run and all, but I'm not sure if you're under surveylance by our little friends in the Mob or not."
"Nah, I can come." He waved it off. "S'no big deal. I have a vacation comin' mah way anyway."
"I'll be there too." Kento put in. "I should be able to get off."
I frowned at him. "But if you're working this shift…then what would you be doing on morning duty?"
He just shrugged. "McKenzie came down with that flu-bug that's been goin' around. I'm just covering his shift." I winced in sympathy, knowing full well just how much a 12 hour work day could take out of one.
"Then it's settled, the office at noon tomorrow." I said decisively. Then a sudden rush of fatigue seemed to wash over me, and whatever energy had been sustaining me was suddenly. My shoulders slumped and I yawned behind my hand.
"Yes, it's definitely time to cash it in." Sage chuckled, smiling at me. I managed a sheepish grin in return. Almost as one, all five of us got to our feet. Ryo stretched almost cat-like, knuckling at gritty eyes. Rowen still seemed to have an unholy amount of energy. He must have been one of those night owls.
"Don't worry about the bill Mia." Kento assured me. "I have a tab here."
"Well that's something of a relief," I smiled. "Considering the fact that I'm flat broke at the moment!"
In one of those rare New York occurrences, it was fairly easy for all of us to catch a cab back to our respective residences. I had to wonder, in the back of my mind, what Sage's wife was going to say when she found out he was sleeping on my couch. I could only hope she wasn't a jealous type…or a red head, for that matter. We split the fare and stumbled up to my apartment. I lagged behind Sage, my head drooping from exhaustion, watching my feet more than anything else. By the time we reached the door to my place, I was yawning too hard to think. I reached into my purse for my keys, then stopped. Something was amiss.
My gaze swung to Sage, who wasn't even looking at me. Instead, his eyes were narrowed, and he regarded the door before us as if something potentially dangerous lay on the other side. Very carefully, he twisted the door knob, and it opened on silent hinges. I stared at the hallway before me in shock. I knew I'd locked the door behind me!
"Mia?" My friend asked quietly, but I wasn't paying attention. My temper had already been frayed to the breaking point by all the other monumental events of this past evening. I did NOT need to come home only to find this.
I'd been robbed.