Greetings!
There is absolutely no excuse for the year and a half delay between updates. I simply lost track of the story. I had to re-read all 29 chapters to get back into it, but I think I've got it figured out. There should only be about 4 more chapters after this one.
Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed to tell me to get off my lazy butt and update. It was nice to see that there was still interest in this story and the 'gentle' reminders helped. If you're still reading, please let me know so that I'll at least have an idea of what audience I still have for this story. Thank you in advance.
Enjoy!
&&&&
Chapter 30: Shadow Revealed
New Mexico was strange. It was also very hot.
It was mid afternoon when the train finally came to a stop. Yugi stayed in the boxcar and examined the maps Danielle had printed out for him. The train had made five stops since he'd boarded it, which meant that he should be on the outskirts of Los Alamos. He wasn't going to get directly into the city, but there should be a train depot that just touched the border. From there, it should only be a few miles to the main part of the city. He debated whether to leave the boxcar now or wait until nightfall, but he didn't want to risk the train leaving again and taking him past his destination.
Decision made, Yugi folded the maps and put them in the back pocket of his pants and made his way out of the boxcar. He poked his head out to make sure that there was no one in the vicinity before hopping out. Once he'd hit the ground, Yugi took off running towards the nearest building. He had to cross several streets, but he encountered no traffic on the way. He didn't know what he looked like now, but judging from Danielle's reaction when she'd seen him, Yugi gathered that he didn't look too good. He didn't want to draw unwanted attention, so his main goal was to stay out of sight.
The parking lot of the building he'd chosen was full, which was Yugi's first clue that something wasn't right. He ducked into the alley behind the building and for the first time got a good look at his surroundings. He wasn't in a train yard, as he'd expected. Instead, the train had stopped in the middle of an industrial area. Warehouses made up the majority of the buildings that surrounded him. The full parking lot indicated that it was the middle of the workday, which meant that a lot of people would be out and about.
From his vantage point, Yugi could see what had caused the train to stop: there had been an obstruction in the crossing ahead of it. Two trucks with flashing lights had cleared it, and the men in the first truck were waving to the train operator. Before Yugi could react, the train roared to life and began to pull away. Yugi immediately ran towards it, but he had to stop and wait for the first street to clear of traffic before he could cross it. By the time he'd gotten back to where he'd started, the boxcar he'd occupied was gone.
Dejected, Yugi stood rooted to his spot, staring after the train. Now what was he going to do? He didn't even know where he was. He looked back towards the warehouse he'd taken refuge and decided that if he stood here for too much longer, he was bound to be spotted by the employees that would inevitably end their shift and go home. He couldn't say here, but he didn't know where to go either. He looked around once more, and decided to just pick a direction and go.
Yami appeared beside him after a while and Yugi winced at the concern in the spirit's face.
"Do you know where you're headed?" Yami asked.
"I have no clue. All I can think of right now is to find out where I am. I doubt it'll do me much good since I won't be able to tell how far from Los Alamos I am, but it would be a start."
"Do you still plan on contacting Mike's brother?"
Yugi thought about it for a moment. Did he really want to get an innocent man, and perhaps his family, involved in all of this? Hadn't too many innocent people gotten involved already?
"I don't have much choice, Yami. He's the only person I know in this country. I may be forced to contact him, even if I'm not near where he lives. I'd like to find my own way, but this is a strange country and I'm not sure what I'd do."
The longer Yugi ran, and talked, the weaker he felt. He had not given his body enough time to recover from his ordeal after being thrown into the sea, and it was complaining very loudly at the moment. Every muscle ached and his bones felt brittle. His head throbbed and the bright sunlight felt as if it were piercing his brain.
As he crossed yet another street, he stumbled and fell face first on the ground. His cheek stung from the impact and he could feel a tickle of blood from where he'd hit. Yugi had every intention of getting right back up and continuing on his way, but his body had other ideas. He lay on the hot cement and tried to catch his breath. He told his arms and legs to move, but they refused to obey.
It took him a few minutes, but he was finally able to drag himself to his feet. He could see mountains in the distance, but other than that, there was nothing about the landscape that was particularly appealing. The buildings were small, four stories at most, and apart from each other. They were also mostly a burnt orange color, which had to have come from the strange material they'd been built with. Yugi was used to skyscrapers and modern, glass buildings, not rustic buildings that looked like they'd been around for centuries.
"This reminds me more of my home than where you live, Yugi," Yami commented suddenly, which made Yugi jump. "It's not as dry as Egypt was, but it's very close. Even the buildings are similar."
Yugi smiled at the wistful tone in Yami's voice, and he tried to remember the pictures of Egypt his grandfather had shown him. He could see a little resemblance, but not much. He didn't disagree with Yami, however. Looking around the strange place he found himself in Yugi suddenly realized that he was far away from home in a country whose language he could barely speak. What the hell had possessed him to come all this way by himself?
"Joey," Yami suddenly said.
The thought of his best friend brought both anger and worry to Yugi. Where was Joey now? Could he be with someone like Asami? Yugi shuddered at the thought. His discomfort and fear were nothing compared to what Joey could be going through at the moment. He had to keep going because he had to find his friend.
"Yes, Joey," Yugi said and resumed his walk.
An hour later, he found himself in a shopping area that was fairly populated. It wasn't very large, just a few buildings, but he could see plenty of people coming in and out of the stores. The few people that glanced his way seemed to linger on him for a little too long, before finally glancing away. Yugi became even more self-conscious about his appearance and from then on made it a point to keep his head down and walk quickly through the crowds. He bumped a few people as he went, but he didn't stop. He simply mumbled his apologies and kept going.
A building at the end of the street caught his attention. He didn't particularly want to go inside any of the buildings, but the more he walked, the more people seemed to whisper about him. He needed to wash up a bit and hoped that the building would have a public restroom. He took a deep breath and without giving himself time for second thoughts, he pushed the door open and went inside.
What greeted him was a sight that he was both elated, and afraid of:
Santa Fe Public Library
Being in a library was a good thing, because it meant that he had a wealth of information at his fingertips. On the other hand, Santa Fe was not where he was supposed to be. He stepped to one side of the lobby he'd walked into and got out his maps. He found Santa Fe after a few minutes. It was southwest of where he was supposed to be, but the map didn't indicate how far away. It didn't look too close from the map, though.
"Can I help you with something?"
Yugi jumped at the unexpected voice. He turned to find a police officer staring at him. He couldn't immediately figure out how to say what he wanted, and he could tell that the man was annoyed at the delay.
"Is there a restroom?" Yugi finally asked.
The man gave him a very curious, and very long, look, before he pointed behind him.
"Go to the back wall and turn right. You'll see the bathrooms immediately to your left."
"Thank you very much," Yugi said formally and made his way past the officer.
He followed the man's directions and had no trouble finding what he was looking for. He came to a halt as soon as he saw his reflection in the nearest mirror. He was a complete mess. His hair was plastered to his head in clumps and the bruises on his face looked big and puffy. He'd scraped his cheek when he'd fallen earlier and fresh blood was running down his face. No wonder everyone had stopped and stared at him. His clothes were dirty and spotted brown in places. He would very much like a shower and a change of clothes, but he was going to have to make due with a faucet and paper towels.
He ran cold water from the nearest faucet and washed his face. The cuts burned when the water hit them, but he was better off having the cuts clean rather than infected. He then ran his wet hands through his hair and untangled what he could. He turned off the water and dried his face and hair as best he could. He looked like a beggar, which he supposed that, at the moment, he was. His face looked a little better now that there was no fresh blood on it and Yugi figured that it was better than nothing.
He had his hand on the handle of the door, ready to walk out, when someone pushed the door open from the other side. Startled, Yugi took a few steps back and then found himself face to face with the police officer he'd talked to earlier. Yugi could immediately tell that it was no accident: the man had come into the bathroom to look for him.
"Excuse me, son, but can I have a word with you?"
It took Yugi a minute to process what the officer had said and when he did, he wanted nothing more than to find the nearest exit and run. It was useless to try, however, because in his present condition, he wasn't going to get very far.
"Yes?" was all Yugi managed to say.
"Come with me, young man," the man said.
He put a hand on Yugi's shoulder and led him out of the bathroom. They walked back towards the lobby, but took a left before they got to it. They were in a bigger room, which held a lot of audio and video equipment, along with two rows of computers. Most of the computers were in use, but thankfully, no one looked at them as they passed. Yugi was ushered into a small office at the back of the room and he took a seat on one of the chairs in front of the desk, while the officer sat on the desk in front of Yugi.
"I'm Officer Holmes of the Santa Fe Police Department," the man said. "I couldn't help but notice that you look like you've recently been in a confrontation. Is there anything I can help you with? Are you okay?"
Yugi tried not to panic, but his heart was racing and he could feel sweat on his palms.
"I…" he said and trailed off.
His nervousness was making him forget what he knew of the language and he couldn't express what he wanted. "I'm okay," he finally said. "I just got into a fight with some friends."
The man examined him for a long moment and Yugi had to force himself to keep from fidgeting.
"You're not from around here, are you?" the man asked.
Yugi shook his head. Lies were better when kept as close to the truth as possible.
"I'm from Japan. I just got here."
"You just got here and are already getting into fights?" the officer asked, clearly unconvinced with Yugi's explanation.
"Foreign exchange," Yugi said as the term suddenly popped into his head. "I'm a foreign exchange student."
"Okay, so you're a foreign exchange student. Where does your host family live?" he asked.
"In Los Alamos," Yugi said.
The man's eyes widened slightly. "What were you doing in Santa Fe?"
Yugi smiled and hoped that it looked more genuine than it felt.
"Shopping. The stores here are better."
"Were you shopping for anything in particular?"
Yugi knew the word he wanted to say, but he couldn't think of how to say it in the appropriate language. The officer looked at him expectantly, which made Yugi even more nervous. Suddenly it came to him.
"Souvenirs," he said. "I wanted something for my family in Japan."
The officer frowned at Yugi, but didn't comment on his answer. Instead, the man stood up and took the seat on the other side of the desk.
"What is the name of your foster family?"
The man's tone indicated that he didn't believe Yugi's story, but was humoring him anyway. He didn't want to give the man a reason to take him into custody or to a hospital. Yugi had to convince the man to let him go, one way or another. With that in mind, he took the paper that Mike had given him with his brother's address, grateful that Mike had written the information in English and not in Japanese, and handed it to the officer. The man examined the paper, glanced at Yugi, and then returned his attention back to the paper.
Finally, the man spoke. "I'll be right back," he said and left the office.
Yugi watched him go. He didn't move, didn't breathe again, until the man was out of sight.
"Stay calm," Yugi muttered softly to himself, "it'll work out."
He was alone in the office for what seemed like an eternity. He could see the lobby, and the front door, from where he was sitting. If he moved fast, he could make it out the door. But even if he did, the officer already knew where to go to find him, which would eliminate Mike's brother as a possibly ally. Running was not an option.
The officer returned shortly thereafter and retook his seat. He handed Yugi the paper, and Yugi tucked it back into his pocket.
"Mr. Rhodes has been worried about you," the officer said. "He's on his way to pick you up."
&&&&
The heat hit them as soon as they left the airport terminal. It was a humid heat, thick and oppressive. Beside him, Wheeler cursed and took off his jacket. He threw it over his suitcase, which he dragged roughly behind him as he continued to mutter about feeling like he was inside a sauna. Kaiba grit his teeth and resisted the urge to strangle the teenager into silence. It wouldn't look too good and might draw attention that neither of them wanted.
"Where are we, Kaiba?"
Kaiba rolled his eyes, even though Wheeler couldn't see it.
"How many times have I told you where we were going, Wheeler?"
"So enlighten me one more time, oh wise and powerful Kaiba," Wheeler replied.
Kaiba counted to ten very slowly to keep himself from pushing the mutt out in front of incoming traffic. The private jet they'd flown to the United States on had not been ready fast enough for Kaiba, so they'd ended up taking a commercial flight to New Mexico. Kaiba had been stuck with Wheeler's idiocy the entire way and had just about reached his tolerance.
"We're in Albuquerque," Kaiba said slowly, as if speaking to a child. "The Albuquerque International Sunport is the largest airport in the state and it was the most convenient for us to fly into. As soon as we get the rental car, we'll be able to drive to Los Alamos."
Wheeler glared at Kaiba.
"You don't have to treat me like an idiot, you bastard."
"Stop acting like one then," Kaiba said.
He spotted his name on a placard being held by a man dressed in black further down the terminal and he headed in that direction. The sooner he got on the road, the happier he'd be.
"You are Mr. Seto Kaiba, correct?" the man said as soon as Kaiba had reached him.
"Yes, I am. Do you have the car?"
The man nodded and pointed to a midnight blue, BMW convertible that was parked in front of him.
"Sweet ride," Wheeler said and whistled softly.
The man handed Kaiba several forms and while Kaiba read through them and signed where appropriate, the man stored their luggage in the car's trunk.
"The car is equipped with a GPS Navigation System, as requested," the man said as Kaiba handed back the paperwork. "Is there anything else?"
Kaiba inspected the car and nodded in satisfaction. "This car will do."
Kaiba took several bills out of his wallet and handed them to the man.
"Thank you, Mr. Kaiba," he said.
Kaiba motioned for Joey to get into the car and then got into the car himself. He fiddled with the GPS, and when he was satisfied that the system had plotted the route he needed, he put the car in gear and left the terminal. He had a lot of questions for Wheeler, questions that he hadn't felt comfortable asking while they were on the plane, but he wanted to wait until he could give Wheeler his undivided attention before he asked.
"How long is it going to take us to get to Los Alamos?" Wheeler asked.
"It's about 100 miles to Los Alamos, so we should be there in a couple of hours."
They fell into silence after that, Kaiba busy with guiding the car through unknown roads and onto the Interstate, and Wheeler lost in whatever thoughts were bothering him. The seriousness on the teenager's face almost made Kaiba want to ask what was bothering him, but he decided that it wasn't worth getting Wheeler started just yet. They'd have to address what Bakura had told Wheeler sooner or later, and Kaiba had a feeling that Wheeler preferred later as well.
It took Kaiba a half hour to find the correct freeway that would lead them out of Albuquerque, past Santa Fe, and into Los Alamos. Even with the GPS, he'd gotten turned around a few times, and had silently cursed himself for the delay. Fortunately for him, Wheeler had been too lost in his thoughts to pay attention to the route or to notice that Kaiba was not always following it.
Once they were well outside the city and Kaiba was sure they were headed in the right direction, he turned to Wheeler.
"What did Bakura tell you? What is Yugi looking for?"
Wheeler's expression was as blank as Kaiba had ever seen it, which sent shivers down his spine. There was something fundamentally wrong with Joey Wheeler being that focused. It took him a moment before he could put whatever he was thinking into words.
"Yugi is here looking for the man that had him kidnapped and drugged."
"Why?" Kaiba asked, surprised by Wheeler's answer.
Wheeler sighed and shook his head. His mouth opened and closed several times, but he didn't say anything. He finally settled for slumping against the seat with his forehead resting against the window.
"He thinks that they did to me what they did to him, and he wants to find the man responsible to get me back."
No wonder Wheeler had been so moody and quiet on the airplane. The guilt was clear in his voice and Kaiba knew that it could, and probably would, lead to self-destruction if it wasn't addressed now.
"You can't hold yourself responsible for a decision that he made, Wheeler," Kaiba said.
Kaiba was looking at the road ahead, but his peripheral vision caught the outraged look on Wheeler's face as the teenager turned towards him.
"You don't know what went on in that place, Kaiba," he screamed.
"Then tell me!" Kaiba yelled right back. "This whole thing started because I…" Kaiba broke off, his own guilt at what led to Yugi's capture outside of his home surfacing and cutting off his words.
"You what, Kaiba?" Wheeler asked.
Kaiba's hands tightened on the steering wheel and he had to force his foot off the accelerator.
"Something happened to him in Tokyo," Kaiba finally said. "I think it has to do with one of the other boys that lived with that bastard Asami. Yugi hinted at it, and I made the mistake of telling him that he needed to talk about it before it got worse. He ran out of the house after that, and that's where he got caught again."
Kaiba turned to Wheeler and saw that all of the anger had drained out of him, to be replaced with concern and worry.
"I think I saw the boy," Wheeler said. "When Yugi and I were being held, a boy kept taunting him and threatening him. He got really close to Yugi, enough to make me uncomfortable."
Wheeler shifted in his seat, so that his body was turned towards Kaiba.
"When they took him to the other room, I heard Yugi scream. Kaiba, he was so scared, so desperate. I wanted to go in there, but there was nothing I could do."
Wheeler's voice broke and Kaiba had to swallow the sudden lump in his throat.
"I'm fine," Wheeler said. "Yugi is running all over the place, trying to find someone who he thinks hurt me, but I'm okay."
"That's why we have to find him, so that he can stop running."
Wheeler nodded his agreement. "How are we going to find him, though? I don't know who he's looking for, other than the fact that he came here."
Kaiba shrugged and gave Wheeler one of his trademark smirks. "We'll just have to look everywhere. Los Alamos isn't that big. We can handle it, right?"
Wheeler smiled for the first time in the last couple of days.
"Of course we can handle it."
&&&&
"There you are! When Wesley told me about what happened, I was furious."
Yugi turned at the sound of the unfamiliar voice and found himself staring at a tall, slim man with dark hair, blue eyes, and glasses. The man entered the small office and gave Yugi a hug. The man then turned to the officer sitting in front of Yugi.
"Thank you so much for helping my young charge here," the man reached out and shook the officer's hand. "His parents would have murdered me if anything had happened to him."
"You're Edward Rhodes?"
"Yes, I am," the man replied. "I apologize for my rudeness, I was just very worried."
"Don't worry about it," the officer said. "I'm glad I was able to help. Yugi looked very lost when he walked in here."
Mr. Rhodes laughed and patted Yugi's shoulders. "It's a good thing that his English is excellent, or he really would have been in trouble.
Yugi stood up, eager to get out of the officer's office. "Thank you very much for your help, officer," Yugi said and bowed to the man.
The officer smiled. "It was my pleasure, kid. Don't get lost again, okay?"
Mr. Rhodes thanked the man once again before ushering Yugi out of the library and into a car that had been parked on the sidewalk. They both got in quickly and Yugi waited until there was some distance between them and the library before he spoke.
"Thank you," Yugi said. "I'm sorry that I got you involved, but I didn't know what else to do."
"Don't worry about it," he said. "I'm actually glad you called me. I've been worried since Mike called me to tell me what you were planning. A kid roaming around alone, especially one that looks as beat up as you, was bound to draw attention."
Yugi lowered his head, suddenly conscious of his appearance.
"Some of those injuries look fresh. Did something happen on the way?"
Yugi shook his head. "I fell, that's all."
They lapsed into silence, and Yugi took the chance to look out of the window. They were on a highway and they'd left the city behind a while back.
"Where are we going?" Yugi asked.
"We're going to my house, so you can get cleaned up. I also have a spare room you can use while you're here. I don't want you roaming around on your own."
Yugi shook his head.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Mr. Rhodes," Yugi said. "The man I'm after is dangerous. I don't want to get you and your family involved in this any more than you already are."
The tension he'd been under since the officer had caught him escalated, and brought with it a pounding headache. Shadow would kill, that had been made clear to Yugi on several occasions. Yugi was already responsible for getting Joey caught up in this situation; he would not be responsible for getting more innocents involved.
"I'm already involved, Yugi. I became involved the moment I found the identity of the man you're looking for," Mr. Rhodes said. "My wife and son are in Texas visiting her family, so they won't be in danger. As far as I'm concerned, I've already read too much to go back now."
Mr. Rhodes reached out and put a hand on Yugi's shoulder.
"My brother spoke very highly of you and it's clear that you mean a lot to him," he continued. "What was done to you was unthinkable and wrong. The man responsible deserves to be punished for it, but the fact remains that you're just a kid in a foreign country. The both of us stand a better chance of accomplishing something, rather than you going at it alone. Wouldn't you agree?"
Yugi had to nod his agreement, because the man had a point.
"Justin Shore, whom you know as Shadow, is a very dangerous man. He's been wanted by the FBI for the past three years. If you go after him alone, you'll end up killed. I don't want to see that happen."
Yugi was speechless. Here was this man that he'd just met, who was pledging to help him find a wanted criminal simply because his brother had asked for help.
"I do need help," Yugi finally admitted. "It'd be nice to have someone else on my side."
Mr. Rhodes gave him a grin.
"What's the plan, then?" Yugi asked.
"Right now, how about we get something to eat? I heard your stomach rumbling when we left Santa Fe and I can safely guess that you haven't eaten recently."
Yugi chuckled. "I had dinner yesterday," he said.
"That settles it, then. I know this great hamburger place near our exit."
They drove the rest of the way in silence. Yugi felt as if some of the weight he'd been carrying around since he'd woken up on a beach in Tokyo had been lifted off his shoulders. He still felt guilty about Mr. Rhode's involvement, but Yugi didn't think he'd be able to dissuade the man from helping, no matter how hard he tried.
They exited the freeway and immediately pulled into a small restaurant. They were seated immediately at a table close to the door. Yugi chose to sit with his back to the door, because he didn't think he'd be able to stop looking at the people that walked in, wondering if any of those were Justin Shore. He knew Shadow's name, but he still didn't know what the man looked like. He wouldn't be able to rest easy until he did, but he had a feeling that Edward Rhodes could provide him with that piece of information.
Mr. Rhodes ordered for the both of them, and the two chatted about inconsequential things as they waited for their food. Mr. Rhodes asked Yugi about Japan, while Yugi was fascinated with the desert he found himself surrounded by. It was just so different than what he was used to.
The waitress had just arrived with their food when the door opened to admit a new guest. Yugi felt the hot air hit his back at the same time he heard the gasp.
"Yugi!"
Yugi's jaw dropped open in shock. Had he really just heard that voice or was he so out of it that he'd imagined it? He looked at Mr. Rhodes, who was staring at someone standing by the door. Yugi slowly turned around, afraid that when he looked, he'd come face to face with an American kid that had just said a word that was very similar to Yugi's name. His eyes filled with tears at the sight that greeted him.
Joey Wheeler stood by the door, safe and unharmed.
&&&&
I love reunions, don't you?
Next up: Decisions are made; secrets are hinted at.