Chapter 8

"Meeting One of the Families"

Having just received the list of students from the Pokemon League Admissions Academy that were on Pan Am 103, May and I joined Ivan in seeking out their families and one of the first families we came across was the parents of Ken Ichijouji, one of the eight male students from the Academy that were on the flight. They lived in a penthouse on Park Avenue in one of the wealthier neighborhoods of Manhattan.

"How could this happen?" Mrs. Ichijouji sobbed as she looked down at a picture of her son along with her husband. "Ken wanted nothing more than to be in the Pokemon League, make a name for himself. Why?"

"Mrs. Ichijouji, I know how difficult this must be for you," I said, trying to remain sympathetic giving her overall situation. "But, we do have to ask…was your son aware of Team Rocket in anyway?"

"Yes, we've seen the stories."

"Trying to steal Pokemon for their own," added Mr. Ichijouji. "It's sickening. Ever since that Air India bombing three years ago, I will admit I was hesitant about our son flying overseas to the academy."

"Ken's girlfriend was traveling with him on the flight. Her name was Yolei Inoue."

"And where does she live?"

"In the Bronx," Mrs. Ichijouji answered, taking in several deep breaths. "She was a sweetheart, helping our son get over his demons."

"Demons?"

"Ken had mental health problems, so becoming a Pokemon trainer helped him out. Yolei encouraged him."

As Mrs. Ichjouji leaned on her husband, Mr. Ichijouji also began to lose some of his composure.

"Mr. and Mrs. Ichijouji," said Ivan, rising to his feet. "All I can say is I am sorry."

But the Ichijouji's were too upset to answer and who could blame them? They lost their son in the most horrific way possible.

I then walked and looked over to several pictures that were on a shelf behind them and there were pictures of Ken and his girlfriend, Yolei along with several other kids around their age.

"Those are all my students," Ivan sighed. "They had a bond stronger than any Pokemon that I have ever seen."

Walking back to the Ichijouji's, I leaned down in front of them and swore my promises to them.

"I want you to know that we will find whoever is responsible," I said to them in a gentle voice. "I'm a bounty hunter, so you can be sure of that."

"When you do find out who is responsible," Mr. Ichijouji cried through his tears. "Bring them back alive. I want my day in court with the son of a bitch who did this."

Leaving the penthouse, we continued to real from the effects of the brief visit with the first of many distraught families affected by the tragedy in Scotland.

"Swearing that you will find who is responsible?" May asked as we got back in the car. "Do you think that you can keep that promise?"

"I'm going to try, May," I said as we drove away. "But no guarantees. Remember Haines' Russian stooge?"

"Oh yeah, her."

As we drove, the thoughts of Team Rocket spies working for Pan Am continued to cross my mind, especially at European Airports that Pan Am operates from.

"You know something, May?" I asked. "When the Alert Program was founded at Pan Am three years ago, it was founded by Fred Ford, right?"

"Who?"

"Fred Ford, who had been asked by Edward Acker to help make Pan Am more safer. He was fired later for going against the wishes of Acker and his own subordinates."

I then proceeded to make my way back to the Pan Am building with the intention of finding out what happened to Fred Ford.

When we returned to the Pan Am building, we had the distinction of once again coming face to face with Thomas Plinskett as he was walking in the lobby.

"Ladies, what are you doing here?" he demanded, immediately recognizing us. "I told you that I had nothing else to say to you."

"Mr. Plinskett, whatever happened to Fred Ford?" I asked. "Your former head of security?"

Without hesitation, Plinskett rolled his eyes in disbelief at our question.

"He was fired because he refused to go along with our plans."

"What plans?"

"The plan of running our security program our way," he answered sharply. "He wanted us to be modeled after El Al and we said no, but he was adamant."

It was becoming obvious that there was more to this Fred Ford than met the eye. It seemed like the more I thought about it, the more that Fred Ford was probably trying to not only make Pan Am safer his way, but also had these people listened to him, 259 people may still be alive, including 12 aspiring Pokemon trainers.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

"Wait!" I called, much to Mr. Plinskett's chagrin. "Where does Fred Ford live now?"

"What is that to me?"

This caused me to reach for my badge again in frustration.

"Refusal to comply and maybe we can bring some friends of ours here for a visit. Would you want that, Mr. Plinskett?"

Naturally, he complied and we set about the task of paying a visit to Fred Ford himself…

...

Meanwhile, Becky had flown to Detroit from Chicago, where Flight 103 was supposed to end and found herself at the Pan Am Ticket Counter talking to a Pan Am supervisor.

"Are you sure about that?" Becky asked.

"I am very positive, Ms. Farrah," the supervisor answered. "I've had some new hires that seemed to be very suspicious as of late. Personally, they seem to have some kind of malicious intentions."

"If I were you," Becky suggested to the supervisor. "I would maybe get the FBI involved because these new employees you have...they may have ties to Team Rocket."

Naturally, the supervisor was taken aback, by Becky's suggestion. In his mind, people that were working under him had ties to Team Rocket and thus, the deaths of 259 people.

"Can I get the Detroit police involved?"

"Do whatever you have to do and fast," Becky whispered. "I'm sure the last thing you want is to be responsible for more deaths on Pan Am Flights out of Detroit."

Nervous, the supervisor took Becky's suggestion to heart and proceeded to a pay phone to call and inform us of what had happened. Then, she had another thought.

"I'm wondering something here...were there any important automotive executives on Flight 103 if the plane was to end in Detroit? I'd better look into this."

So, Becky left Detroit Metro Airport and caught a cab to Downtown Detroit to have her question answered.