I hope my readers liked the first chapter. I know it was kind of short. For those who haven't read my first two stories, there is some info here regarding that. Feedback would be appreciated so I can improve on my writing.

Chapter 2 Lenka

Lenka stood by the window, waiting for his men to call. He was looking forward to good news.

Henrik Lenka was the illegitimate child of an affair between a desk clerk and a high ranking African official. His mother was of German descent and had worked at the German Embassy in Johannesburg. She had been the perfect blond blue eyed German. He never knew his father. He grew up in Johannesburg, in the slums. He worked hard to get out from under the stigma of being of mixed heritage. With his kinky dirty blond hair, hazel eyes, and medium skin color, it had been hard to get past the attitudes and prejudice. By the time he was a teenager; he was able to get out of Johannesburg and found his way to Port Elizabeth. There he worked long hard hours at the docks. The owner of the shipyard, Johan Schultz, took pity on him and became his mentor. He gave Henrik a job in the shipping company, Port Lyon Import-Export. So Lenka had been able to learn the ins and outs of a shipping company. He started out as a "gofer", running errands, doing the odd manual and janitorial work. He was promoted to the office, at first just filing papers. Then he was in charge of the manifest records, then office manager. Next he was allowed to give input as to how the company should be run. Finally he was promoted to second in command. Eventually, he was in a position to take over the Port Lyon Import-Export business when Johan passed away of old age.

It didn't take him long to learn there were faster ways of earning more money than just the normal cargo. He started with small things, like small caliber guns, knives, a few swords. He had also learned that having body guards was a good investment. He hired the best German mercenaries he could find.

Soon Lenka was smuggling all kinds of weapons, drugs, and exotic animals. He smuggled guns to armies in Africa's war zones, drugs to Europe and exotic animals to America. He also made good money in the ivory trade. China was also another country that was worth his while in the black market. Animal parts for medicinal reasons were highly sought after in China. Shark fin soup was a popular dish, so shark fin brought in a lot of money as well.

His unreported cargo didn't sit well with some of his employees and they quit. Those employees had "accidents" and were replaced with employees who either didn't care, looked the other way or believed as Lenka did; how the money was made didn't matter as long as the money was made.

Lenka's import-export company grew, making him a millionaire. He was able to buy himself protection from laws, spreading his money around and influencing the South African government to suit his needs.

With the money he made, he was trying to improve the safety of shipping cargo. He had lost valuable cargo, and a large sum of money, in a severe storm. He had been trying to improve ever since. He researched shipping and other companies and came across a brief mention of Shiro Inu Exports being the safest shipping company. He tried buying the company but got no where with that. He tried recruiting their workers. That didn't work. He tried finding usable information about the company or anyone affiliated with them, for blackmail purposes, but he had no luck. What little information he could find didn't include anything illegal. Finally, he resorted to having the people watched, from a distance. The company apparently had highly sophisticated security and warning systems. The two times his men had gotten too close, they had been confronted by security. After the second time they had learned what distance was safe for watching. Not that it did them much good; there wasn't much to report from the distance they had to keep.

So Lenka tried to learn all he could about the company. He learned it was family owned, run by two brothers. His men had met the one brother, who was head of security. The man's name was odd, InuYasha. He was married; his wife lived with her family, helping out with some sort of shrine. She also ran a sort of rooming house for people in need of help. The other brother, known only as Takashi, lived in a remote area, had two children but no wife.

The only other thing Lenka could find out was that the company had been in the family for over 100 years, being passed down to the next generation. He turned his attention to the children. The son seemed to be learning about the company. He was often gone on trips, going with one of the freighters on its voyage.

With the daughter, Lenka felt he had found something he might be able to use. The daughter went to a university and liked to hang out with friends. She lived alone in a little house that was somewhat secluded, despite being surrounded by other homes and apartments and close to the university. So Lenka sent his men to watch the girl. They were able to get closer to her, and get more information. When his men reported that she had a regular routine she followed, he came up with a plan. He worked through his plan carefully, trying to cover all contingencies. Kidnap the girl, secure her aboard his ship that was currently docked in Tokyo Harbor and bring her back here by ship. It would take 30-40 days, so once he set his plan in motion, he would wait a few days and then contact Takashi. His demand for her safe release would be Takashi's company. Once Takashi handed over the signed documents, he would have them killed in an "accident". He didn't want his plan spoiled by witnesses. So after careful consideration, he set his plan in motion.

So now he waited to hear from his men. He was in his office, a suite of rooms on the top floor of a ten story building. Plush carpeting, done in a soft cream color, pale beige walls made the dark wood furniture stand out. There were pictures of elephants and lions on the walls. In one corner of his office, next to a potted Cape Box tree, a stuffed lion stood on a stand, looking ready to attack. Lenka had bought the lion from a zoo for sport hunting, but it had died on the way to his estate.

The building was far enough from the docks that you didn't get the smell, but close enough to get a view of the port. From where he stood, he could see the work at the docks; one of his ships being unloaded. The place was a beehive of activity.

His private phone rang; a blast of African music. He went to answer it.

"How'd it go?"

"Good. She was bit feisty though."

"Make sure she's bound up good, don't want her getting away or alerting anyone."

We tied back her ankles and wrists and put duct tape on her mouth."

"Where is she?"

"In the trunk for now, passed out."

"Keep her there for now. When it gets dark, take her to the dock and store her aboard the ship, there shouldn't be anyone there. It sails in the morning."

"Will do."

Lenka hung up the phone. 'So far, so good,' he thought. His plan was going smoothly.

Kruger and Wolfe were the two best German mercenaries that Lenka had. They had military training and had been involved in more than one African uprising.

Kruger was blond, blue eyed and built like a tank. His specialty was hand to hand combat. Wolfe was taller and had dark hair and brown eyes. He was more athletic looking. His specialty was as a marksman.

They had seen an opportunity with the girl when she went out early that morning. They had been sitting around for several days, following and studying her movements. Once they learned her basic routine, it was just a matter of opportunity. The girl spent three days going to Kogakuin University, spending the better part of the day there. Then she spent time with friends, apparent classmates. She spent one day shopping with those same friends and stayed home the next day. When she went out, she never took the same route twice in a row, she varied her movements.

So when the two mercenaries had seen the opportunity, they took it. They had everything ready in the car, the ropes, tape, cloth and chloroform.

They hadn't expected the strength of the girl and had used extra chloroform to subdue her. Neither realized that the extra amount they used would have caused respiratory failure in a human and possibly death.

Once subdued, they bound her wrists behind her back and tied her ankles to her wrists. They put a strip of duct tape over her mouth and stuffed her in the trunk. Quickly they left the area before any passer-bys might see something. They drove to the hotel they had been staying at, keeping the car under tight watch. It was parked by some big bushes, partly obscuring it from other occupants of the hotel. They had called Lenka and let him know everything was good and to get further instructions. Once they got the instructions, they checked out of the hotel and looked for a more secluded spot to check on their "cargo".

Sherrin awoke with a start. At first she was confused at where she was. She was in a dark room, on a bed covered by a soft dark blue blanket. In Sesshoumaru's bedroom, she realized. Everything from the day before came flooding back; the flight, the arrival in Japan, meeting Sesshoumaru's family and the announcement that Moriko was missing.

She shook her head in wonder as Maverick jumped on the bed with her. It was hard to believe that just a few months ago she was worried only about some weird dreams she was having. Those dreams turned out to be memories of a past life; Rin's life to exact. Now here she was, in Japan, with the man that had featured predominately in those dreams.

Maverick rubbed his head against Sherrin's arm, trying to get attention. She stroked the large black cat. "Well Maverick, what do you think of your new home?" The big cat meowed and jumped off the bed.

Sherrin got up and went to the bathroom, wondering where Sesshoumaru was. She washed and then looked for her suitcase. Hikaru had left it outside the bedroom door to give them privacy the night before. Sherrin picked it up and put it on the bed. She pulled out what was on top; a t-shirt with tigers on it and blue jeans. She changed into the clothes, leaving the night shirt hanging on the bathroom door. She decided not to worry about clothes right now; she would put those away later. She went looking for Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru had sat on the bed until Sherrin had fallen asleep. He laid her gently on the bed and covered her with the blanket. He got up and paced around the house, followed by Moose. Sesshoumaru was restless, worried about Moriko. He went back into the bedroom, followed by the big dog. With a sigh, Moose flopped onto the floor by the bed. Sesshoumaru took the hint and sat back down on the bed, watching Sherrin. He was glad he had found her. He had gone to check out the "American Werewolf" story; he wasn't looking for Rin's reincarnation. After taking care of the "werewolf" that turned out to be a youkai causing trouble, he spent the next couple of months getting to know Sherrin. She had fallen in love with him and agreed to go to Japan with him.

Sherrin found Sesshoumaru out on the porch, standing at the railing, looking out into the distance, as if searching for Moriko. He had changed into a white shirt, white slacks and black boots. She put her arms around him and asked "Any news?"

He shook his head.

Hikaru came out of the house, car keys in hand. He was dressed for outdoors; dark blue t-shirt, blue jeans and hiking boots.

Sesshoumaru looked at Sherrin. "We're going. Ready?"

Sherrin nodded. She let go of Sesshoumaru and followed him to Hikaru's car. They made their way to Moriko's house as fast as traffic would let them. Once there, they parked in the drive way and walked to the house. Hikaru took out a key and unlocked the door. He and Sherrin went in as Sesshoumaru walked around the house. He walked toward the driveway picked up the faint scent of two men and followed it to the two big trees. He also picked up Moriko's scent. By her car all the smells mixed, and added to it was the faint scent of chloroform, which Sesshoumaru didn't like.

Hikaru and Sherrin came out of the house and joined Sesshoumaru.

"Nothing. No sign, no odd smells." Hikaru was still upset with himself that he hadn't reacted to the uneasy feeling he'd had the day before.

"She was going to go somewhere," Sesshoumaru pointed to the car. "Her scent is mixed with two men and chloroform. They took her somewhere." He walked down to the street, the scent disappearing in a different car.

"Why would someone take Moriko?" Sherrin came to stand by Sesshoumaru. Hikaru stood on the other side.

"I don't know." Sesshoumaru stared off down the street in the direction the car had taken. A low growl escaped his throat. "But I will find out."

"Have any of you seen Moriko lately?" Kagome and InuYasha were at the University. They had managed to find a few of Moriko's friends by asking around. Three friends, a boy and two girls, were sitting under a Sakura tree having a group discussion about one of their classes.

Kagome had introduced her self and InuYasha as Moriko's Aunt and Uncle. She had explained that Moriko wasn't at home and they were looking for her.

"No, not since our last class. She isn't in trouble is she?" The boy, Hisoka, asked.

The two girls, Akemi and Natsumi, shook their heads. "She seemed very happy about something," Akemi said. "She wouldn't elaborate but said she'd tell us later."

"She's not in any trouble that we know of, but we just don't know where she went."

"Would anyone else know?" InuYasha asked.

"No. Moriko has just the two classes this quarter so we only see her three days a week. Ayume and Fumio are in another class right now. They wouldn't know either." Akemi looked a little worried for her friend. "We'll have her call you if she shows up here."

Kagome smiled. "Thank you."

"Well that wasn't very informative," InuYasha grumbled as they headed back to the shrine. "I hope Sesshoumaru found out something."

"I hope so too." Kagome was worried as well. Nothing like had ever happened before. 'What if some human found out about Moriko and had her taken to be studied?' Kagome shuddered at that thought. She looked over at InuYasha. "Do you think someone may have discovered her true identity?"

InuYasha frowned. He'd been thinking something similar. "I hope not. It would be bad news if someone did."

They arrived back at the shrine just as Hikaru's car pulled up. They all gathered under the sacred tree.

"She was taken by humans." Sesshoumaru explained what he had found.

"But why take her?" That seemed the unanswered question.

"Step back and look at the bigger picture." Everyone turned and looked at Sherrin. She had been thinking that there were really only three reasons for taking Moriko: ransom, slave trafficking or someone found out her true identity.

"Since she was kidnapped by humans, most likely they either want money or to sell her as a slave."

Sesshoumaru growled at the thought of Moriko being someone's slave.

Sherrin looked at Sesshoumaru and touched his arm. "Sorry, but we need to think of the reasons why." She looked at the others. She could by the look on their faces the other reason had already crossed their minds.

"You're right." InuYasha looked at Sesshoumaru. "We need to understand the why. Has anyone seen or heard anything unusual?" InuYasha thought back a few weeks to the two guys who came snooping around the ship yard. They had been looking for work they had said, but InuYasha had known they were lying.

"Two human males you said?"

Sesshoumaru nodded once.

"I wonder if they are the same two who came snooping around the ship yard a few weeks ago."

"Would you recognize their scent?"

"Yeah. Why?" InuYasha frowned at his brother.

"Let's go." Sesshoumaru didn't bother to explain, just headed out to InuYasha's car. Somewhat irritated, InuYasha followed.

"Hikaru, would you go back home and check on Moose and Maverick for me?" Sherrin still felt a little unsure of herself and wanted to stay with Sesshoumaru.

"Sure." Hikaru gave Sherrin a quick hug. "I'll see you and Father later."

Sherrin nodded and followed after the brothers.

The drive back to Moriko's house was silent. InuYasha concentrated on driving. Sesshoumaru sat next to InuYasha, silent. Sherrin sat in the back; she felt she needed to be with Sesshoumaru, that he needed her. She reached over and put her hand on his shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze.

Once at Moriko's, InuYasha walked around the driveway, sniffing. He checked the two trees, the car and went down to the street. He recognized the scent.

"Same two men." He looked down the street, same as his brother had earlier.

Sesshoumaru growled. 'What do they want?' he asked himself. A gentle touch on his arm made him turn and look. Sherrin stood next to him.

InuYasha came over. "I'll take you two back home."

They drove to Sesshoumaru's home in silence, each one thinking of what the implications of Moriko's kidnapping might mean.

As Sesshoumaru and Sherrin got out of the car, InuYasha said "I'll see what I can find out about those two men."

Sherrin paused before going into the house. "Thank you InuYasha," she said as she watched Sesshoumaru go in the house. "I know he's upset." She turned and gave InuYasha a half smile. "He told me some of your family history."

"Yeah, well it is just history. We both know we can count on each other for help if it's ever needed."

"Thanks for helping anyway."

InuYasha watched as Sherrin hurried up to the house. He knew it was Sherrin they should be thanking. Finding her had been just what Sesshoumaru needed. Without Rin, he had grown cold and distant over the years and had a harder time keeping his temper in check. InuYasha knew that with Sherrin here, Sesshoumaru would be able to keep calm and not let his anger get the best of him. They would find out who took Moriko and why.

Notes:

Personal opinions and beliefs may be mentioned here:

I'm not into drugs or guns; I don't understand the attraction to them.

Personally, I think most exotic pets should be banned, shark fining should be banned and the Asian community needs to realize that just because its tradition doesn't mean it isn't incredibly stupid or right. If the tradition is killing off all the tigers and sharks, then the tradition isn't worth keeping.

Shark products are high in mercury and not a good food source.

25 to 42 days is the average travel from Tokyo to Port Elizabeth, at least for freighters carrying cars.

Chloroform can be lethal if given a high enough dose.