o-oOo-o
Muto and the director came back with three nondescript backpacks. One for each robber.
"Good," Sugihara said. He was still holding Shinichi's phone after he had called Megure. He turned to the hostages sitting against the wall. "Our ride will be back shortly. As soon as it's here we will let all of you go free."
Relieved mumbling erupted.
"Just so you know – if the police make any ruckus or the car is not here within the time limit. Well, then blame them," he grinned, and playfully trained his gun on a man then a woman, before returning to Shinichi's side.
"Hey there, detective, having a good time?"
Shinichi just gave him a short sidelong glance, huffing. His head was still throbbing, but at least the nausea had died down a bit. "You really think you will get out of here with the money?"
"Oh, hell yeah, detective. After all, you'll be accompanying us, so I'm sure none of your friends will get in our way."
Shinichi had deduced that much already. It wasn't that hard to figure out that he was their best bet for a clean getaway. But even if they used him as a shield, at this distance the police snipers were good enough to take them out anyway. So how did they plan to reach the car? When the penny dropped, he rolled his eyes. Of course, …
Sugihara nudged him in the side and laughed. "Hah, seems as if you came up with something. Go ahead – explain it for the others."
"Do it yourself," Shinichi harrumphed. Like hell he would give them ideas.
These sharp eyes were on him again. Sugihara wasn't stupid, far from it. He was the reason the group had escaped capture so far. Shinichi wondered why a man like him was leading the life of a criminal. For sure he must have had other options.
"Fine – have it your way, detective," he stood up. "When the car arrives – and let's hope for all of you the driver really is our man and not some officer – I want all of you to get up and go to the door. No talking, no funny movements, no nothing. You'll be dead before you know it. Who has a backpack– put it on. You two," he gestured at two young, strong looking men. "You'll support our detective here and lead him to the car. If you just so much as exchange a word with him or try to free him... I don't think I have to spell it out for you, right?"
Both men nodded with pale faces and a brief apologizing glance in Shinichi's direction.
He couldn't blame them for following orders when their lives were at stake. They didn't even know him personally, so it was only human to think of their own wellbeing first. The moment he had realized the robbers would use the crowd of hostages to get out of the bank, he had known that he would end up in that car if he wanted or not. The police couldn't risk shootingwith so many people close to each other. Especially not, when they couldn't tell who was a criminal and who not. The time it took to make out the features from the wanted posters would be enough for the robbers to reach the safety of their car. And to take Shinichi with them.
He really hated his life sometimes.
Maybe he should give writing a try once this was over. It had worked out just fine for his father.
But he knew he couldn't ignore his sense of justice. He would always thrive in picking apart a trick, deducing motives and arresting criminals. It was just who he was.
All he wished for was maybe a little less trouble coming with his passion.
But that seemed to be asked too much.
o-oOo-o
The transporter parked in front of the bank, effectively blocking the direct view of the door. Megure had positioned his men already accordingly and the snipers on the neighboring rooftops had clearance to shoot at sight.
The palm of his hand holding his phone was a bit sweaty, as he waited for another call from Sugihara.
Just when he wondered what kind of demand would be next, the door opened.
"Attention, everyone!" he shouted and quickly pocketed his phone, exchanging it for his weapon and took cover behind the bullet-proof door of the car, positioned sideways to the transporter, so he could at least see something.
The second the door was fully open, a flood of people exited the bank, keeping close to each other. Megure cursed. This way the snipers would have a hard time to get their targets. The slide-door on the car's side was already open, he knew, and people passed by closely on every side.
His headset cracked slightly in his ear. "No target sighted by now. Several people carrying backpacks." Megure was sure that at least some of them were filled with money, but they didn't know how many accomplices were present. On the past robberies the number of culprits had varied between two to four. It couldn't be ruled out that there were even more of them.
Another crack. "Kudou Shinichi in sight."
Megure's heart sank a bit – there seemed to be no way to get him out right now. 'I'm sorry, Kudou-kun.' What frightened him most was that the criminals wouldn't need him any more once they felt safe. The timeframe to rescue him was short – very short.
"Kudou-san is in the car now, two men followed closely."
There were less people now. Most of the former hostages were already under protection. Suddenly a man stumbled over a dropped handbag and the man behind him had to come to a sudden stop, not to fall over him. The second man had been headed to the car instead of the police barrier, hadn't he? They were the last two on the small sideway.
The next moment a silenced shot rang out and the man dropped. The slide-door of the car closed, and the engine roared up as the driver accelerated and sped off. Megure's phone rang and vibrated in his pocket and a few seconds later a window of the car was opened and something small was thrown out, shattering on the asphalt.
Fuming, Megure look at the picture he just got from the robbers – now kidnappers. His insides clenched, his hands were cold. The picture showed Kudou-kun on the floor of the car, handcuffed and bleeding from a nasty-looking gash on his temple. A gun was pressed to his head and he looked up at the camera from his lying position with a defiant expression. The text beneath it was short and simple.
'Don't follow!'
"Damn it!" Megure swore.
An officer ran up to him with the thing that had been thrown out of the window and handed it to him. It was Kudou's phone that, surprisingly, was still turned on and functioning, even though the screen was covered with spiderweb-like fractures and the case was cracked and had splintered in several places. For sure Agasa Hakase had a hand in this.
The display showed the message, Megure had just received with the lable 'Sent'.
Some paramedics ran passed him to attend to the man the sniper had gotten. Sato and Takagi were already over there as well. Megure was about to join them, when Kudou's phone – or what was left of it – started to vibrate.
Incoming call: 'Kudou Ran'.
Megure sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand before he accepted the call. Delaying it would just make it worse.
"Shinichi, I got your message," Ran started to speak without waiting for a response. "What do you think, will you make it for lunch? If not, I can ask Shiho-san…"
"Ran-kun," Megure interrupted her.
Silence on the other end, then a wary "Megure-keibu?"
Megure took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. The strength of Ran was really admirable, seeing how much she already had been through with Shinichi/Conan and her dad. He hoped this strength would help her through another crisis.
He cleared his throat. "Ran-kun, I'm afraid Kudou-kun got caught up in a robbery at the bank while he was there."
"What?" Ran exclaimed. She sounded torn between annoyed and worried, though her tone was leaning more towards worried, obviously anxious why Megure was answering Shinichi's phone instead of he himself.
"Is he alright? Where is he?"
"Ran-kun, I think you should head to the station right now. We will meet up there. Kudou-kun – he has been taken hostage by the criminals."
A sharp intake of air sounded over the line.
"He's fine, he's fine," Megure hurried to reassure her. The headwound hadn't looked too bad and he had been conscious. He didn't want her to panic. "Just – we don't know where they are taking him." 'And what they plan to do with him,' though he didn't voice that thought. "I want you to be close by if any news come in."
"Okay," Ran replied a bit breathless. Was she running?
"I will be there shortly. I will bring Shiho-, um-Miyano-san with me."
With that she ended the call and left Megure with a baffled blink.
Miyano-san? The former little Haibara-san, who had created this strange poison and the antidote? Why would she bring her along?
Well, he would care about it later. Now he had to organize this chaos and find a clue where to look for Kudou-kun. Maybe he could get something from the hurt robber. He intended to ask him very – nicely.
As he came closer to the ambulance, he was able to make out the features of the arrested man.
'Sugihara!'
o-oOo-o
Not even half an hour later, Megure, Satou and Takagi stood around Sugihara's hospital bed. His left hand was cuffed to the bed railing and fresh bandages piqued out of the collar of his hospital gown.
He had been more than lucky. The bullet had just left a deep graze at his right side and nothing major was damaged. He didn't even need surgery, what was very fortunate, because now the officers could interrogate him.
"Sugihara-san," Satou began. "Let's get over with this quickly, so you can rest a bit. Where is your hideout?"
Sugihara snorted at the acted concern over his wellbeing and turned his head to the window without giving an answer.
Now it was Takagi's turn. "You know, if you're working with us now, maybe your punishment will be lessened. I mean - your buddies left you behind, right? So why cover for them?"
The robber looked at Takagi with a grin. "They will not leave me here to rot in a cell. Did you forget that they took your precious detective with them? Better prepare for their call instead of asking me stupid questions."
Megure cleared his throat with a somber expression. "Kudou Shinichi - is dead."
"What?" Sugihara exclaimed and stared at the inspector. "You're bluffing."
Without a word, Megure dropped a file on Sugihara's bed, just within his reach.
"About ten minutes after they fled from the bank, we received a call from a civilian. He found Kudou-kun lifeless in an alley." His voice sounded a bit scratchy. "In this file you will find the autopsy report and some pictures. I think that should be proof enough."
Megure watched as Sugihara flipped through the pages. The whole file was forged of course, but the knowledge that he could hold a real one in his hands soon left a bitter taste in his mouth. After they had been told that they were able to interrogate the man, they had known that he wouldn't talk - unless he was convinced that he was on his own. So, they had to fool him, to create the illusion that his accomplices didn't have a hostage any more. And who would be better with illusions than a magician?
o-oOo-o Flashback o-oOo-o
Kaito sat backstage. It was still a while before his show began, but he was always early on set to check his equipment and the stage. Now he had some time to kill and practiced a small trick, he intended to use during the show.
After finishing high-school, he had begun to study engineering and chemistry. As part-time job he had given small shows in a local theater and finally - with a graduation certificate in one hand and a beaming if slightly embarrassed Aoko in his other arm, he had declared the beginning of his official first tour.
He had decided that his first tour would be a secret homage to his late father, so he would visit all the cities, the first Kaitou KID had held a heist in. Not many people today remembered the first KID (most didn't even know there had been two different men behind the monocle) and even if someone should realize it, Kaito had never made a secret of his admiration for the thief.
The show tonight was held in Vegas, the next one would be in Paris, the city his parents had fallen in love with each other, and the final one would be in Tokyo, their family's hometown and the place Kaito felt closest to his father.
While his hands ran through the trick almost automatically, his phone began to ring. The caller-ID made him frown. Whenever Megure called him directly, something serious was going on.
Despite this knowledge, he answered the call with a cheerful voice. "Hello there, keibu. What can I do for you this lovely evening?"
"Kuroba-kun, I'm glad I got a hold on you so fast. I need a favor," the Inspector rattled away without bothering to exchange pleasantries.
His tone had Kaito on edge immediately. "What's the matter, keibu?"
"It's about Kudou-kun, he has been kidnapped."
This sentence probably should have shocked him more, but to be honest - where Kudou was concerned, trouble wasn't far behind. It was just unbelievable how often something like this occurred.
Kaito took a deep breath. Time to find out how bad it really was. "Alright, Inspector. Whatever you need - you can count on me."
Since KID's 'death', he had helped out the police every now and then. Never anything major, just some consulting when it came to thieves they had a hard time catching and such. His connections to the underground sadly couldn't be used anymore without giving away that KID was still alive.
Megure came straight to the point. "I need you to dress up as Kudou-kun and take some pictures. It has to look like, well... like he is dead and in the morgue." His voice trailed off a bit at the end, but Kaito caught it nonetheless.
"Dead? Morgue? What did this idiot do this time?"
"Listen Kuroba, I will explain everything later, but we don't have the time right know. I'll send you a picture we got from the kidnappers, so you can see what he looked like today."
'And what kind of injuries I have to fake,' Kaito knew without Megure saying it straight out. His mind already worked on the setting for the photo. Makeup wouldn't be a problem. He just needed...
"Alright, Megure-keibu, give me twenty minutes and I'll send you something convincing."
"Thank you, Kuroba-kun. I'll be waiting." And then Megure hung up.
Kaito closed his eyes for a moment, sent a short prayer to whatever god was in charge of detectives and shouted for his assistant.
"Natsuki-chan! I need my makeup-kit, camera and the metal table they use for the catering. Oh, and about a ton of hair gel."
o-oOo-o Flashback end o-oOo-o
When Sugihara came to the part with the pictures, he paused for a moment before he exploded. "Theses idiots! Why did they - how the hell did that happen?"
"We don't know either, but we suspect that without their leader, they became headless and maybe..."
"Leader?" Sugihara huffed. "You think I'm the leader of this pack? No, no," he laughed. "I'm just an operative. Yeah, sure - I've got more brains than the other two, but the boss is someone else." After realizing that most likely no one would come to retrieve him, he became talkative. "The man you must watch out for is Kitamura, the driver."
"The driver?" Megure asked astonished. The man they'd already had in custody, but had to let go again. Damn! They didn't have the time to check him thoroughly, as they had kept him close to the bank.
Sugihara nodded. "He is the one who chooses the bank, who coordinates the getaway and who takes care of the money. He is a brilliant hacker and so he always knows which bank gets money and when. He also is a hunter. He's not much of a shot with a gun, but give him a rifle and he will hit a running target no problem."
Megure didn't like that at all. Would this Kitamura really try to free Sugihara? Or will he decide to leave him behind? In that case, Kudou-kun could be dead already for real.
"Okay, so let me ask the first question again. Where is the hideout?"
"Hard to tell," Sugihara shrugged.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Satou asked impatiently. The man was wasting precious time here.
"It's not one hideout," the robber clarified. "There are several of them and we are never told which one we are going to use until after the coup, to avoid leaks in case one of us gets caught." He laughed again. "Damn, Kitamura really knew what he was doing."
The officers looked at each other in alarm. Even if Sugihara told them every hideout he knew about, they still didn't know which one was used this time.
Seemed like they had no option but to wait for the kidnappers to make contact.
TBC