Chapter 4
The picture Chibi-Usa had drawn lay in my hands as I looked around the room. Surely, there was something else. Blinking back the tears I looked down, again. In the drawing, my arms were around Chibi-Usa and Mamoru's were around me. She had even labeled each of us with her wobbled cursive. It hurt to be reminded that she was just a child, a child who hadn't seen her mother in a month. This was something that didn't need to go into any file or any police report, she was mine and I swore I would get her back. Looking at the picture, part of me wanting to get rid of it; never would we be that family. Another part, the great part, wanted to keep it close to my heart.
I sat a few moments concentrating on turning my thoughts away from Chibi-Usa and onto what needed to be done today. As I rushed through the halls of the hotel I cursed myself for waiting that long to get ready. I knew I would be late. If I hadn't watched the video again and hadn't looked at the drawing I could have made the morning meeting on time. By the time I reached the station is was already quarter past eight, fifteen minutes late. Slipping through the door I sat beside Motoki and glanced over his shoulder to catch up. Apparently the meeting, so far, has been about circles.
"Miss Tsukino, glad you could make it," the woman, who had been in mid-sentence, stopped and looked at me. I inwardly cringed at the tone and attention. I looked up and met the brown eyes of Talia Sirneck. Captain Sirneck and I had worked together a few years back when Seiya and I had been on the track of a serial killer nicknamed Beryl. Named for the beryl stone left at each crime scene. Talia's blonde hair was pulled back into a tight bun at the base of her neck, with a few side strands framing her face. The black suit she wore provided the professional side needed, while the red silk undershirt hinted towards the feminine. I could feel the color rising as she continued to stare at me, waiting for an answer.
"I'm sorry," the words came out before I could think stop them and sounded inappropriate for an answer, "the traffic was heavier than I had thought." It hadn't been a lie; traffic had been bad. However, she didn't have to know that I had walked to the station from the hotel. She nodded and continued on with her summary and directions. They had located Naru's house only to find it empty and ransacked. There was round the clock police watch on the house, on the chance that she return. Although we didn't have a body, the feeling I had gotten from the room was that they didn't expect to find her alive. I chewed on the top of my pen as I thought more about that angle. I had doubts that Mamoru would kill someone for no reason and then hide the body. So far he had not been one to hide anything, in fact he seemed one to display his actions. Keeping this to myself, I tuned in to hear the last of what Talia had said. She had arranged for Motoki and I to look at the house; perhaps we would find something they had missed. Or at the most, we would get a feel for the character that Naru Osaka had been. Two detectives in the room had been assigned to go over the files on Osaka and personal acquaintances she had.
Nodding Motoki and I rose and left. Before he had made it half way down the hall Talia stopped us and laid a hand on my arm.
"Usagi, I know this seems inadequate, but I'm sorry for the loss of Seiya. He was a good agent and a good man."
I put on my thank-you smile and told her that what was important was finding the man who killed him. A whisper, in my mind, asked if that what was important. I had begun to wonder if I was losing my edge. This case was a search for my family, not a killer. If I had Chibi-Usa with me, would I hunt Mamoru down with such energy? I wanted to say, "yes, of course I would" but part of me knew I wouldn't. What had been between Seiya and Mamoru had gone beyond the law, it was a personal fight that had ended wrong. My feelings for Seiya had always been up front, I loved him. He was the father to my child and loved her with all his heart. I had never considered my feelings for Mamoru, but even as I walked down the halls of the police station I felt my stomach twist and my cheeks burn. It has to be frustration and anticipation, I told myself. He had a passion and intensity Seiya never showed. Mamoru had again eluded us, but when we found him it would be a glorious day.
"Traffic, huh?" Motoki's laugh broke me out of my thoughts and I answered him with a smile.
"You wouldn't believe the number of cars on the road this morning."
"I'll bet," he nodded as he opened the door for me, "but were you in one of those cars?"
"Weather sure is nice today."
"Thought so." I smiled and led the way to the car.
- - - - - - -
The drive to the Osaka house turned out to be shorter than we thought which gave us more time to go through the house. The houses on her street made me stare in awe. Million-dollar homes lined both sides of the road. They looked like mini chateaux, beautiful mansions where the rich and famous would dance away a night at a party. Motoki whistled as he parked the car in front of one of the white chateaux, "Looks like Naru was loaded."
I nodded as I got out of the car and envied the woman we were sent to search out. I fell in love with the house; it was everything young girls dreamed of. The stone of the house was the old English stone used in modern houses, to look like the cottages of England. The wooden doors leading into the mansion were tall enough for someone twice my size to go through. The gardens had a magic of their own. Along the driveway were bushes of roses and irises, the green grass has recently been mowed and a fountain in the center had two swans forever spitting water into the small pond. Together we walked into the house with the uniformed officers escorting us around, the cold air hitting us before we even crossed the threshold. The second we crossed over I knew we were too late to find anything. The house had been completed turned upside down. Papers and books lay thrown on the ground, the furniture was thrown about cut and ripped. I snapped on my gloves and got to work on the first floor, while Motoki did the same on the second.
I started first with the library. It looked like a small war had taken place in the room. Patches of blue carpet could be seen beneath papers and stuffing and books. I picked up a few random pages and decided they had simply been torn out of the books. It would take too long to go through all the pages here, and I didn't think paper was what we were looking for. Originally Seiya and I had been after a disk, that would be where the answers were. I flipped on the computer in the corner. The entire hard drive had been cleared, meaning anything that had been there was now gone. I didn't like the way that had worked out; I called the officer in and had him bring the computer back to the station. Maybe there was something on there that one of the tech guys could figure out. I finished my search of the bottom floor with frustration. Whoever had ransacked this place had done so in an amateur style, but had been thorough.
Motoki came down the stairs as I walked back to the front door,
"Nothing upstairs."
"Guess its back to the station then," I replied as we walked out. The cool breeze was nice, even though the house had been cool the air in the house had been cramped. This was still a house that was lived in, even if the owner was gone.
- - - - - - -
As I poured over my part of the names and places associated with Naru, I cursed her. Who had this many acquaintances? And worse, who had this many acquaintances who "didn't know" her? We were getting no where with this part of the investigation. My list held roughly fifty names or places, all of which so far had "never heard of an Naru Osaka". I almost wanted to believe that she didn't exist, because apparently nobody had ever heard of her. However, I knew we needed to continue the search for her. She could be the link to finding Mamoru, or at least getting one step closer.
The search through the names became a task that I could do in my sleep. Simple computer searches, and telephone calls. My thoughts drifted to my daughter before I could stop them. By God I missed her. Her drawing had been so childish and simple that it was hard to believe she wasn't happy. Was Mamoru taking good care of her? Did she know that he had killed Seiya? I sighed as I came to the last page of my list. Nothing was going to come out of this.
- - - - - - -
Tired and frustrated I walked into my room and leaned against the door. I smiled as I looked around the room at least tomorrow I wouldn't be late. Motoki and I had arranged to meet for an early breakfast to go over some kind of plan. After doing a quick sweep of the room, I found no one had come in. I should have felt relief and not disappointed. You just wanted someone to have been here to give you another clue, I reassured myself, that is all. There was no other reason for wanting my private room invaded. After a quick shower I changed into went through my closet looking for a specific thing. It seemed like everything had boiled over to that exact moment, had it not been for Chibi-Usa I would have given up and turned the case to someone else. The stress, frustration, patience…everything was getting to be too much. Tonight I wanted to feel human again.
As I moved over to my drawers and began throwing clothes in a wild search. Tugging the towel tighter around myself, I let out a small cheer as my fingers brushed over the silk. Tonight, just for tonight, I would not be Agent Usagi Tsukino, tonight I was Usagi Tsukino a woman. The light peach silk still had the scent of roses on it from a time long ago. I tried to remember where the scent had come from but could only remember being happy. This gown was my feminine sanctuary. The feel of the softness against my skin made everything go away. The sounds from the next room seemed to dull and the wind beating against the window died down. This was just for me.
Not to turn completely away from my life I brought some files over to the bed and began to go over them. Double and triple checking certain pieces of information, writing down small notes to the side. If anything was to be found in this information, hopefully I would stumble upon it tonight. I didn't stop reading as I picked up the phone. As I cradled the phone to my ear I smiled a bit, the sounds from the next room and even outside disappear but a small ring seemed louder than usual. Before I had a chance to say a word a hard voice yelled into my ear,
"You bitch." Whoever the caller was the voice sounded female. I dropped my pen and twirled it between my fingers.
"Excuse me?" The only thing it could be was a wrong number.
"Listen to me, bitch, he belongs to me," she seemed to get louder with every syllable till I held the phone away from my ear. Between the slurred words and harsh breathing I assumed she was drunk and felt anger boil into me. The last thing I needed right now was some drunk ruining my night.
"I'm afraid you have the wrong number," I tried my best to keep my voice sound and calm, "why don't you try again?" Before she had a chance to reply I hung up and went back to the page I had been on. The ringing again had me groaning as I picked the receiver up,
"Don't you ever hang up on me again, you whore," apparently the yelling had not been her "angry" voice. I could almost feel the phone vibrating with her rage.
"Listen, miss, I don't know what you are talking about."
"Mamoru Chiba. He belongs to me. Now you can pack your bags, sweet Usako, and leave before I come and do it for you," she said the word 'Usako" with such contempt that I visibly cringed as I leaned back against the headboard. Before I could get a chance to reply she went on giving me a detailed description of how she would get rid of me. I should have hung up or unplugged the phone, but the moment she mentioned Mamoru my interest was glued. Of course she would have no idea where he was, but questions began to form about their relationship.
Who was she? How long ago had this relationship begun? When did it end? How did she know about me? My heart stopped briefly as a final thought came across, was she near my child?
"…I was going to be someone! He promised me fame and fortune and you…you with your stupid brat will not ruin this for me. My name was going to be in lights, Rei Hino: Star of the Stage." I blinked and cleared my head as she finished her tirade. I closed my eyes and hung up the phone. I now had to deal with a disgruntled lover of the man who I was chasing. He had time to have wild affairs while I was standing to the side waiting for a clue to be dropped. I suddenly felt the anger change to be directed to Mamoru. Who did he think he was? Did he think he could take a woman's dreams and exploit them for his own pleasure? Part of me knew that was unfair, her voice had seemed almost desperate and not to be trusted. I didn't care, I wanted to be angry and him and I would be. He had added more strain on me simply by existing. What gave him that power over my life? When the phone rang for the third time I snatched it up before it could finish the first ring.
"What?" My impatience had be pacing the small space along side the bed.
"Had a hard day, Princess?" The voice on the other end of the phone sounded relaxed and patronizing. Speak of the devil, I almost slammed the phone back onto the hook when I threw out curses in a mix of English and Japanese. For a moment I had the satisfaction of silence on the phone. "Better?" I could have screamed for all the good that it would do me.
"No! Listen to me you pigheaded arrogant jerk. I know that you flaunt the fact that you have our daughter and I know the fact that I have no idea how to get to you or here seems to help you sleep at night. But I do not need for you to have your women calling me and making threats. If you think that I will be intimidated by some wanna-be star you are mistaken, I will not be threatened nor will I be ordered around. I am doing my job here trying for find justice, this isn't some sort of game where we can just stop and everything will be just dandy. And if that woman has so much as looked at Chibi-Usa I swore to God I will make both of you pay."
Silence.
I waited. I couldn't even be sure about what I had just yelled, but I knew a weight had been lifted. I sat down on the side of the bed and laid my head in my hand and waited. He hissed out a curse and I could hear a rustling on the other side of the phone.
"And who was our caller?" he sounded a mix between angry and control. I let out a breath and felt him relax. It was odd the tension seemed to evaporate as I leaned back against the backboard.
"I can't remember, Mamoru. You should know," the resignation in my own voice surprised me, but I was too exhausted to cover.
"Usa, I have no idea who called you but if someone threatened you…" he trailed off and I had a feeling I knew where he was going. Murder.
"Just another life to give up? You aren't going to kill her," I sat up and beat a hand onto the bed. It was ridiculous. I would not sit and allow him to do a murder; sit there and listen to him plan it.
"You said "wanna-be star" that would probably be Rei," the name sounded familiar and I nodded to the dark room, glad he couldn't see.
"I don't know."
"I do." There was a finality in his voice that had me praying to the gods above. Perhaps she had threatened me. Her vision of death, which consisted of water and knives, formed in my mind. I could see my body floating on a muddy water bank with red lines along my body. Even in her drunken state, Rei Hino had been detailed.
"Don't do anything Mamoru. Just forget about it," I couldn't believe that I was pleading with him. The only thing that made me continue was that a life was on the line. Nobody deserved to be killed.
"I didn't call to discuss Rei Hino," with that statement the issue had been pushed aside. I pictured him waving the issue away with a flick of his hand.
"Why did you call then?" The knots that had miraculously disappeared during my shower had returned full force; my entire neck seemed to bunch up.
"Don't sigh like that," I caught myself before I rolled my eyes up. It was like talking to and being a child. "I am going to give you a tip. Certain unforeseen issues have arisen. Tomorrow morning there will be a plane leaving at six o'clock for Sydney. Be on it, and go alone. If there is anyone following you or if you take your partner, you won't get down here."
"Why? Why are you doing this?" This conversation had thrown me almost as much as the one from Rei. I couldn't believe he was simply handing Chibi-Usa back over to me.
"There has been a change in plan, Princess, you should be happy. Seiya might have died, but he didn't tie off all his loose ends. It would be best if you made this trip." I waited for him to say more, then let out the breath I held.
"You are asking me to ruin this investigation."
"I am telling you to come and see our child," his tone changed and it shook me to hear him call her "our" child.
"We are close to finding Naru Osako, when we do we will find you," I bit my lower lip and prayed the bluff would throw him.
"Naru is currently on vacation on some island," he laughed into the phone, "I don't think you are anywhere close to finding her."
Damn. I had no choice; this never was about finding Mamoru. It had always been about Chibi-usa. I could hear more rustling on his side of the phone and tried to focus on that. What was it? I couldn't make out any definite sounds.
"Think about it." It hadn't even occurred to me that he was waiting for an answer. And I did what he said and I thought every angle. I could do what he proposed and go to Sydney. There I could walk into a trap, or I could be given a chance to reunite with my child. I could tell Motoki and the police and perhaps have them alert the Sydney police. We would have the time. The trip to Australia would be over eighteen hours. Or I could go on the plane, then call in. That way no one would be following me, but they would know where Mamoru was. However if they got to him before I got there, I might lose the chance to have my daughter back. The professional in me saw this as a no win situation. I would have to go. But there was a small excitement almost bubbling up; I would see both of them. I scowled as I turned to lie on my side and watch the lights outside.
"What plane is it?" I felt as though I were selling my soul. This act was the final step in my betrayal to Seiya, and yet I didn't feel sorry for that but for going against my profession. We were supposed to stop criminals not go to them when they called out.
"A car will pick you up at the hotel—"
"How did y—"
"You're an easy woman to find, Usa," he laughed. I could almost see him lousing back with a smile on his face. "There are still things you need to know, but sometimes Fate takes control and changes the plan."
Fate? Somehow I had begun to believe that not even Fate could change Mamoru's path. My curiosity about the truths had had spoken before was again peaked. What was it that I could not be told, but had to find out for myself? I glanced at the clock. In seven hours I would be on my way to Australia.
"I wish I could talk to her," I hadn't even been aware I spoke it until he hummed in agreement, I continued with that trail, "Even kidnappers allow the victim to talk with their loved ones." He hummed again.
"But we both know I wouldn't hurt her, and it would be more painful for her to talk to you and not be guaranteed seeing you. As much as I want to believe it, I can't be sure you aren't going to call someone after we hang up and tell them about this conversation."
I had to give him both points. I hadn't even been positive I wouldn't call Motoki until Mamoru had questioned it.
"Where is she?" I needed to know.
"Right now? She is downstairs swimming," I nodded, that was most likely the only answer I would get. He wouldn't give away anything he didn't want to. There was a silence for a while and I felt myself drifting to sleep. It was like a great weight was gone, I was going to her tomorrow. Every time I felt myself drifting I gripped the phone harder and sat up. The hours and strain were catching up with me, last night's lack of sleep was making me fall asleep here. "Usako, go to sleep and be down stairs at six." I mumbled something, which made him laugh, and then I was awake enough to finish the conversation.
"Usagi?" A smile crept to my lips as I sank lower into the bed. At his whisper, I needed to somehow hide this conversation.
"Yes, Mamoru?" He waited a beat and his voice changed from light to a humor filled whisper.
"I know how to let you have a good night sleep,"
"How?" God knew I needed one.
"Ask me what I'm wearing." I gaped and forced myself not to smile. He was not going to amuse me. This was Mamoru. Murderer. Kidnapper. Suspected embezzler.
"Good night." I had planned on hanging up on him when he spoke again.
"Good night, Usa. And, Usako?"
"It's Usagi. And what?"
"Absolutely nothing." He chuckled as he hung up, leaving me to listen to the dial tone. I shook my head and took a deep breath, then set the alarm for five. I would need that time to get ready and pack. I wrapped the sheet around me and began to fall asleep. Images began to form in my mind and mold together, until they had formed the picture of Mamoru. In absolutely nothing. My eyes shot open and I felt like screaming. Damn him. I shifted and tried to sleep again, only to have the same image come.
"Damn him, he did that on purpose," I muttered. I felt like screaming out. The man was the must unnerving creature, and I was letting him get to me.
- - - - - - -
The trip had been, under different circumstances, enjoyable. At six o'clock a black car was waiting in front of the lobby. It was easier to leave than I had thought it would be. I wondered what the reactions would be when I left. As the plane touched down I felt my heart skip. This was what I had spent the last few weeks dreaming of. I closed my eyes as we slowed down. A man dressed in a black suit came behind me and guided me through the airport to another car.
This is it, I couldn't stop myself from shaking nor from hoping that each turn would be the hotel where I would find Mamoru and Chibi-Usa.
It was that last thought before the sounds of horns and metal torn through the air and everything went black.
HI HI!!! I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING…SHE ACTUALLY DID ANOTHER CHAPTER?!?! Yes I did. *cheers* Actually I had A chapter four down last week (or thereabouts) but it was awful. I really didn't like it, but I do like this one. So…here ya go! And thank you guys SO SO SO much for all the reviews and e-mails. *smiles* Hope you like it!!
