Eddie wanted to use their experience in catching the North Koreans for a news piece. Unfortunately, it came down from 'up above', that they could not make that incident public. As far as the general public went, it never happened.

What also 'never happened' was the sinking of a North Korean sub. Even when a research team found the sub on the bottom with the hatches open, North Korea denied it was one of theirs. They suggested it might be Chinese. The Chinese denied any knowledge or claim to it also. The rest of the summer, no college girls ended up disappearing.

The Maple Inn gang did have a fun rest of the summer. They even made the beach a few times. When Nana saw a boat on the water, she'd watch it and let out a sigh.

Nana, sworn to secrecy about their summer adventure, went back to school for her senior year. She was excited that after this school year, Eddie was going to marry her.

Life settled down at the Maple Inn. Although Kaede and Venom kept a close watch, there was hardly any crime in the Yokohama area. Everyone knew there were yokai about, searching for bad guys, and they didn't want to get eaten. Mayu started college, and Kouta found a better job. Kaede took adult learning classes so she could do something beneficial for their family.

It was the second week of September, Eddie was at his desk with Bill, compiling their investigations of his latest report on the plight of Japan's dwindling population when he got a call.

"News room, Eddie Brock."

"Brock, this is Imperial Investigator Sakira. I need to see you down at the marina in Kamakura. Soon as possible."

"News story?"

"Maybe. Come see. We'll be in the Marina Office."

"We're on our way, sir." Eddie told him. "Bill, we got a story from the Imperial Investigative Office. Grab your Camera."

Eddie stopped by the Manager's office to let them know where he was going, then grabbed a van and headed for the marina.

"Something big?" Bill asked as they drove along.

Eddie shrugged. "No idea, but the Imperial investigators don't deal with small problems. It should be a good piece of news, whatever it is."

Getting to the marina, Eddie and Bill went into the large office to find Sakira there. They bowed to each other.

"We came as soon as you called, Inspector," Eddie told him.

"Good to see you again, Brock. Let's take a walk down to the docks." Sakira said with a smile.

Leaving the office, Sakira led them down to one of the docks. He gave Eddie a folded paper. "This is what you can talk about. Although you never asked for any reward, I figured a good news piece about discovering how North Koreans were stealing our people, would be a good interview for you."

Eddie read the paper and said, "Thank you, I do appreciate this."

They came to a boat and Sakira stopped. He motioned to it. "This is the boat the kidnappers used. It had been repaired and it is already here, so there is no worry about getting it home."

Eddie stared. It was the same boat, now looking all but brand new.

Quietly, Sakira told him, "Nana was very upset she couldn't have her boat. We got everything we needed off it. Nana was very brave to go on that mission with you, so the boat is now yours."

Vacantly, Eddie said, "Nana is going to be thrilled."

Bill eyed Eddie. "Mission? What mission?"

"We cannot discuss it," Sakira stated. "I thought doing your news item on the kidnappings on the very boat that was used would be good for your career."

Eddie bowed to Sakira. "It will be. Thank you very much, Inspector."

"You and everyone who went with you are most welcome," Sakira said, returning his bow. "And don't forget to sign the registration up at the marina office."

Eddie nodded. To Bill, he said, "I'm going to go up on the boat, record me from the dock."

.

Directly after his commentary on Nana's new boat, Eddie headed back to the new room to get this on the news. The whole way back, Bill kept eyeing Eddie.

"Eddie, what mission?" he asked.

"Can't talk about it. Let's just say we proved who and how the North Koreans were stealing our people here."

"So, what's the deal with that boat?" Bill prodded.

Eddie chuckled. "Nana loved that boat. She tried so hard to get us to take it home. We couldn't though, it was evidence. Nana was real upset."

Bill frowned a bit, then said, "You and Nana, They tried to kidnap Nana, that was the boat they used! That sunken sub that was found, was that part of it? Did Venom sink that sub?"

With a grin, Eddie said, "I can neither confirm or deny that ever happened."

"I bet Nana will tell me." Bill stated.

"I don't want Nana to know anything about that boat until we present it to her. Please, don't say anything."

'Fine," Bill agreed.

.

Getting home that night, Bill was quiet about the boat. Nana had homework to do, so Eddie happily noted she missed the news. Koua and Kaede were there with him and Bill. Luckily, Mayu also was doing school work when Eddie's piece came on.

Standing on the boat, Eddie said, "We now know who has been making Japanese people seem to disappear from our coastline. This boat right here that I'm standing on was used by agents from North Korea to attempt to kidnap a high scoring and very intelligent college student. A young woman who is the cream of our intellectual crop. How they did it was first hack into her college records to pick their victim, then pose as a photographer for magazines. They offered a high wage to get pictures of her out on the beautiful ocean."

Eddie paused. "It was a set up and the North Korean agents were taken in. Instead of using a dart gun to knock her out during her shoot, out on the ocean where no one would see, and she had no way of calling for help, the tables were turned on the boat crew. The submarine that was to pick up the unconscious woman and deliver her to North Korea discovered something was very wrong with their plan at the last minute. In their hurry to dive and escape, they dove with the hatches open, and sank themselves.

We know now, without a doubt, it was North Korean agents who did this from the evidence left behind on this boat, and from dives on that sunken sub. They can deny it all they want, but our government has the proof."

Eddie looked a the camera and said, "To help prevent any further kidnappings I urge everyone, especially college students who are doing well in school to keep friends close by and avoid strangers who offer you boat rides and benefits. If you are even suspicious of someone, don't deal with them, but find a police officer to check out the person's story. Do not let yourself become a victim."

Kaede asked Eddie, "So, Nana's got her boat?"

"She does, but don't tell her yet. I want it to be a special surprise." Eddie said with a wink.

Kouta looked at Eddie. "That boat you were on? That's a pretty big boat!"

"It's registered as a sixty two foot Yacht. Two decks, three bedrooms, kitchen, lounge and two bathrooms, four storage areas. Twin Diesel engines, and it's own fresh water plant. The bridge on it has been fixed also."

"No more bullet holes?"

"Nope."

"Wow," Kouta said blankly.

"Yeah, good thing we all got decent jobs," Eddie replied.

"After you tell Nana, we go sailing?" Bill asked.

Kaede chuckled. "I think she will insist."

.

During dinner the next night, Nana was curious why Kouta asked her, if she had a boat where she would like to go.

Nana sported a tiny grin. "Out on the ocean as nice, for a short while. I bet we could go all kinds of places. Hey, Eddie, can we get a boat after we get married?"

Eddie winced. "Boats are expensive, Nana, but I'll do what I can."

"Nana will help! The counselor at school thinks Nana would be good opening a restaurant. If Nana does that, that will get us more money to get a boat, won't it? Nana was thinking about being a teacher too."

Kaede said, "Mayu is going to college for business. Maybe Nana and Mayu can open a restaurant together?"

"Yeah, Nana, won't that be good?" Mayu asked.

"It would," Nana agreed. "Nana can start looking for places to start one."

Mayu said in a firm tone, "Nana, we need to look at places that don't have one nearby, and what to serve. We want to start something that will be unique. Also there is much advertising to do so people will know about it. And people to hire. There is a bunch of work to be done to start a restaurant."

Nana thought for a moment, then said, "Nana knows sea food places are everywhere, so are Chinese food places. If we can find out what our area doesn't have, we can add something different for people to come eat, right?"

"That's a great idea Nana," Mayu agreed. "It's called market research. We'll start by getting a list of what restaurants here serve, then we can figure out what our area doesn't have."

Listening to them, Eddie was happy to hear Nana was excited about starting her own business.

Eddie found Nana was serious about her idea. She even called a few restaurants to find out what they served. A couple days, Nana had him go around town with her after work to visit places to check out menus.

.

Kaede was in the house alone when she got a visitor, Kouta, Eddie and Bill were off at work, Nana was in school and Mayu was at College when a knock came at the door. She answered the door to see Inspector Sakira there.

"Yes?" she asked.

Sakira said, "We have a job for you and Eddie. You performed flawlessly in your last job, we would like to hire you again for another vital task."

Kaede moved aside. "Come in. What is this task you want done?"

Sakira moved inside. He explained, "I know on your first task, the only reward you received was that boat. Not that it wasn't substantial payment, but this time it will be a monetary reward."

"For doing what?" Kaede prodded.

"We have discovered drug traders are using one of our islands as a center for distribution. It is also a popular tourist resort and these traders have excellent security. We catch some dealers going in and out, but we can't get rid of the core problem without causing major havoc to the tourist industry there. You sank a submarine from a hostile country. We are hoping you can get inside this drug dealer's center of operations and destroy it. We'll provide any intel we can. Talk to Brock about it. I assume you will be taking two others with you as before. 40,000 yen a day per person, and we will cover your expenses."

Kaede nodded slowly. "I will discuss it with Eddie. If he and Nana agrees, how do we contact you?"

Sakira pulled out a card and handed it to her. "Call this number and just say 'yes'. Nothing else. I will send you all the intel we have and an expense account card for anything you need to get there and back."

"I will let you know our answer as soon as possible," Kaede told him.

.

Kaede knew to pay so much, this mission had to be very dangerous. Then again, it would help their finances greatly. Kouta was still struggling to make payments to Yuka's mother for the Inn, and she also didn't think Mayu and Nana's restaurant would be cheap to start either. Thinking hard about it, she decided it was worth the risk.

Nana got home from school before Eddie and Bill got back. All she told Nana was that she needed to talk to her and Eddie in their room as soon as Eddie got home. She also had to tell Kouta about it.

When Kouta got home, Kaede met him with a hug and kiss as usual, then guided him to their room. Sitting on their futon with him she asked, 'How's the payments to Yuka's mother coming?"

Kouta winced. "Slow, but at least she's still letting me make payments. Why?"

"That government man came by today. He has another job for us. If Eddie and Nana go with me, we'll be making 120,000 yen a day on this job. I don't know how long it's going to take, and I think we're going to need Nana's boat to do it."

Casting her a serious look, Kouta asked, "What's the job?"

Kaede winced. "I'm not sure. He won't give any details until we say yes. The thing is hon, we could really use that money."

Kouta looked at her blankly. "Will this job put you in danger?"

"Probably some, but not much. We all have better defenses and can attack better than any human can. From what I was told so far, I think most of it will be investigating."

Kouta clasped her hands. "Kaede, my dearest, I don't want you to attempt anything you can't handle. The same goes for Eddie and Nana. You are much more important than a fist full of yen."

"I want to do my part to support our family," Kaede said firmly.

"And I want you to stay healthy," Kouta replied.

"I will," she assured him. They kissed again.

Nana called out, "Kaede! Eddie's home!"

.

Kaede explained to Eddie what Sakira told her. Nana was willing to go, with that much yen they could buy a boat. Eddie pondered, then called his boss. He explained he got a tip on a big drug bust, but he had to get there and it may be as long as a week or two before he could return and report. His boss only told him to get video and details, and told him he and Bill were on the job.

Making dinner, Kaede call the number. An automated voice came in instructing her to leave a message. Kaede said, "Yes' and hung up.

At dinner, Eddie was contemplating whether or not to let Nana know she had her boat. He also thought about what they would need for their trip. Besides supplies for their boat, he wondered abut other things, like some explosive charges or a couple assault rifles. Then again, he didn't want anything on the boat to give them away.

In the morning, Eddie and Bill went to work to go retrieve the camera and plenty of batteries and memory chips for recording. A messenger came with a box by the time they returned. Kaede signed for the box. Opening it at the dinning room table, Kaede found the expense card and maps, as well as information sheets.

Spreading the maps out and looking at the sheets, they looked at the island. The island was more or less oval shaped and 'tipped' looking. The north side was low to the water and had beaches and plenty of buildings and docks by the water. The island was also a big tourist trap with amusements, hotels and plenty of dock space near the beaches. On the tall southern side it was vertical cliffs. They found a satellite photo of where boats came in at night to an inlet with tall cliffs around it. It was also marked on the map. The area was off limits to the general population and tourists.

In a musing tone, Eddie said, "Getting on the island will be easy. By what this says, the restricted areas are covered with motion sensors and guards. See here, the hillsides to the tall part of the island have been carved out in vertical cuts to prevent climbing."

"There has to be a hidden entrance," Bill noted.

"Yup, I bet it's inside a hotel or one of these nice houses farther up from the beach. The government guy is right. Getting inside their operations is going to be tough."

Bill eyed Eddie. "We're going after the police to record, aren't we?"

Kaede snorted. "No police. Just us going into take the place down."

Bill stared at her. "Wait, hold on! We're going to raid that place? Just us? How the hell are we going to do THAT?"

"Bill remember that sunken Korean sub?" Eddie asked. "We went out, Kaede and Nana pretending to do photo shoots. We killed all of them and we sank the sub."

Bill shifted his stare to Eddie. "You're serious! And now you're going to charge into a criminals den, not knowing who's there or how many guns they have, and destroy the place?"

"Pretty much, yes."

"You're insane!" Bill cried.

Venom popped up out of Eddie's back. "I want to eat more bad guys so we're going!"

Eddie recoiled as Venom retracted. "What Venom said. What we know is these guys need to be taken out, and any official police action doesn't have a hope of doing so without ruining the tourist trade there. It's a quiet operation to snuff out the bad guys and ruin their drug trade."

"You mean assassinate them." Bill stated.

"And destroy the place so no one can use it any more," Kaede added.

"Hey, you'll get 40,000 yen a day pay while we're doing it," Eddie said with a grin.

"You can stay on the boat watching it until we call for you," Kaede told him. "The only thing I'm wondering about is Nana's school schedule."

"Nana's going too?" Bill asked in a squeak.

"She is. I'm not sure how to cover her absence from class," Eddie said in a musing tone.

"There's a trip we have to take," Kaede stated. "No one will be home, so Nana has to come with us. She can bring school work for on the way there and back."

Eddie shrugged. "It works. We also have to find out about nautical rules and how to drive Nana's boat."

"We learn on the way, it can't be that hard." Kaede stated.

.

Eddie took on the task of finding and printing out nautical rules, terms and how to perform dead reckoning. He really hope Nana's boat had GPS. He was working in his room when Nana came in.

"Hi Eddie!" Nana chimed and came over to sit beside him. Seeing what he was printing out, she asked, "So, Eddie's going to buy a boat?"

'It was suppose to be a surprise," he grumbled. "We don't need to buy a boat Nana. You have that boat you wanted."

Nana stared at him. "That boat we went out on?"

"The very one, and it's been fixed."

Nana crashed into Eddie, hugging him tight. "Thank you thank you thank you!" she cried in his ear. 'Can we go see it?"

"Yes, we're leaving tomorrow after Kaede gets your school work for the next couple weeks. Kaede's also having your boat filled with fuel, water and stores. Nana, this is going to be a job, it's not going to be all fun."

"Nana don't care! Nana's got her boat!" she then began kissing him.

Eddie wasn't sure how Nana was stripping them as they kissed and hugged. He did know that when Nana had a 'happy' on there was no stopping her.

That was fine with him.

.

In the morning, Kaede went to school with Nana to explain why Nana had to go with them. Not sure how long they were going to be, Nana got a month's worth of school work to do. With Nana and all her books, Kaede got a cab to the Marina where Eddie and Bill were already on board the boat that was now named 'Nana's Joy'. She used the card to pay for services rendered as well as the cab fare.

Eddie had plotted their path, and adjusting for the ocean currents made their course headings. Bill was a nervous wreck, but watched everything Eddie did. The boat did have GPS, so tracking where they were was easy. The boat also had auto pilot, so once the course were laid in, all they had to do was get out of the harbor and on course for where they were going, then watch out for other traffic.

"YES!" Nana cried and she ran down the dock to see her boat. Instead of using the brow, she jumped over onto the boat and into the pilot house to beam Eddie a smile. "It's called, Nana's Joy!" she announced.

Eddie grinned. "Well it is, isn't it?"

Nana nodded vigorously. "Which room is ours?"

"Lower deck, first on the right, that's the starboard side."

"Nana will be back, don't go any where until Nana gets back." She then hurried down into the cabin.

Eddie checked the fuel tanks, water and holding tanks. Everything looked good. The desalination plant was off, but could produce 200 gallons of fresh water a day. Beside the engines that had generators on them, they also had an emergency battery bank. Bill was checking out the engine room, learning things down there. Beside the two decks they would be living on, there was a lower 'hold' deck that contained the tanks and pumps for this small ship.

Kaede got settled in her own room as did Bill. All the bedrooms were on the lower deck, the lounge and the kitchen was on the upper deck. Unlike the portholes of the lower deck, the upper deck had large, tinted windows in the lounge area.

"Eddie, you've seriously got a screw loose," Bill said as they left the pilot house to go down to see their rooms. "There's only four of us. I know Venom is a real monster, but he's just one monster! This drug gang is probably big and have lots of guns and I have no doubt they are ready for any trouble. We don't even have a pistol! Not to mention any police on that island have to be on the take, and I bet any official there is as well. "There is no way in hell we're going to do anything but get killed!"

Eddie shook his head. "Bill, we're not going to race in and throw people about. Nana and I are going to explore like newlyweds, take pictures and be the innocent tourists. So are you and Kaede. You'll be her photographer, she's going to be the upcoming starlet. There's information on that island, but we need more before we do anything. If we get challenged for being someplace, it's sorry, we didn't know or see the sign. We see a guard, we invite him to get in the picture. We find out as much as we can before we do anything. Also, you haven't seen Kaede go nuts on someone."

"I know her and Nana can move things with their minds. What's she going to do, throw rocks at them?"

Eddie snorted. "You know what Kamikaze means?"

"Devine wind, right?"

Eddie nodded. "That government guy called Kaede 'nokaze'. The death wind. Trust me, you don't want Kaede angry with you."

Bill let out a huff. "I still think we're all gonna die or end up tortured in a drug dealer's prison."

.

Leaving the dock, Nana wanted to drive. Up on the bridge, Eddie stayed by Nana. She didn't do bad at all. Once the lines were clear, Kaede had pushed the boat out a short way from the dock. Nana backed the boat up clear of the dock, then turned it around and pointed the boat out to sea with a big grin on her face.

"Nana's driving her boat!" she cheered as they headed out of the breakwater.

Eddie had to chuckle at her. "You are Nana."

"Nana's so haaappiiee!" she cried.

Although Eddie knew Nana could be silly and seemingly careless at times, she was serious about watching the displays and getting to the point where they started their course. She did it with a big smile on her face, but she paid close attention to what she was doing. Only after she was on course and switched over to the auto pilot did she spin around and hug Eddie tight.

Down in the lounge, Kaede studied the island map and the information they had with Bill. Seeing her frown, Bill asked, "Can't find a way in?"

Kaede touched the map where the vertical sides had been carved in the hillsides by the shore. "All the sensors are in this hillside facing the town, and I imagine higher up on the slopes here. Right at the shore line, here they have a fence topped with barbed wire right into the water. That's where the shore drops off deep right from the rocks. No sensors are listed there, but I bet they do have something guarding that place in case someone tries to get over or cut through that fence. Most likely it's watching that fence."

"So, you can't get through it." Bill concluded.

"I'm sure they are watching the water in that area also, just in case. Any cameras or sensors will be pointed at the water. We'll have to see, but I'm thinking staying ten , fifteen feet off the ground right at this cliff, we can get around that fence and into the cliff face and make our way around the cliffs to this inlet where the boats come in."

"That's impossible!" Bill said. "That's vertical cliff all along there, even tipped out! You'd never make it!"

Kaede eyed him. "You would never make it. Don't tell me what I can't do."

"You're as crazy as Eddie!"

Kaede cast him an evil grin. "Then you better behave, huh?"

Bill was getting the idea Kaede was a little scarier than he thought she was.

.

The auto pilot on Nana's Joy even corrected for current and kept them solidly on course. After three hours up on the bridge, Eddie convinced Nana it was OK to come down and eat with them.

There was a concealed safe in the back of the lounge Nana found. Although no one had the combination, Kaede got it open. Inside were a couple dart guns and some darts, bundles of cash and a package of drugs. Eddie threw the drugs over board and distributed some of the money before he put all their plans and maps in the safe.

"We got this nice boat, so we're going to pretend to be rich as well. This is your walking around money," Eddie explained.

Bill counted his. "Wow, this is a whole week's pay!"

Nana grinned as she eyed the money Eddie gave her. "Nana really likes her boat!"

"We know, Nana," Kaede said with a crooked grin.

"When we get there, go buy tourist things, we want to let them know we're there only to see the sights." Eddie told them.

"I am sure they keep track of who comes and goes," Kaede told them. "So the first few days, we're tourists. Go and see everything you can. They have amusements, go ride the rides and visit restaurants. Bill, you stay with me, Eddie and Nana will stay together. We get back to the boat and compare notes."

Nana cast Eddie a hopeful look. "Hey Eddie, can we get married there?"

"You have to finish school first, Nana," Eddie gently told her.

Nana let out a huff and leaned into him. "Nana knows," she said with a sigh. "Nana will start school work so Nana can graduate."

After the second day at sea, Nana calmed down enough to dig into her school work. She liked studying in the pilot house where she could look at the displays now and then to be sure they were on course. This was Nana's boat after all, so she had to be sure they were headed the right way.

Eddie kept busy planning with Kaede, checking on the boat and Nana. He helped Nana a few times when she was having trouble with math. He was a bit surprised to find the desalination plant started up on it's own when the fresh water tank got down to ¾ full. The whole third day at sea, they finally got a contact on radar. Nana got excited to se another ship, but the other ship didn't even get close enough to see visually.

Day six, they were approaching the island. Eddie got on the radio, and with the proper terminology he read from the instructions, infirmed the port they were inbound and got their dock assignment. A pilot boat was coming out to meet them when they were in sight of the island. Before the pilot got there, they made sure all their maps and plans were locked in the safe. Nana and Kaede had their straw hats on.

The pilot boat was a skiff that came out to meet them. Coming along side, Eddie got a rope and bar ladder down the side and helped the man on. The skiff headed back for shore. Nana came with them up into the pilot house. There, she had a question.

"Nana can drive her boat. Why do we need a pilot?"

The bearded man cast Nana a smile. "I am sure you do well. The thing is by having me drive your boat to the dock, you are not responsible if anything happens. Say if something is damaged, the Harbor Master is the one responsible and will repair whatever damage is done. Some people are not careful or cannot speak Japanese, so to prevent accidents, we bring your boat in for you."

"That's nice of you!" Nana beamed.

"All to ensure you have a pleasant experience on our island," He assured her with a smile.

The man was good. Talking on the radio, he put the steering in manual and slipped them past some tight spots in the crowded harbor. Eddie didn't think there was room for their boat at the place where dock workers were waiting to tie them up. The man did it though and worked Nana's Joy in between two other large boats. Eddie and Bill threw the lines over to the dock, the dock hands pulled them closer and tied them up. They even brought an aluminum brow and steps to put on the boat deck so it was easy to walk across the brow. The dock had fueling valves along the sides and electric service. The dock hands brought a hose to fuel the boat and hooked up shore power. Kaede went to the marina office and paid for a two week stay. There she got presented with a packet of sights, beaches and restaurants available on the island.

This was service, and Kaede was happy to pay the bill with her government card.