Chapter 13 – We have a problem.

Nishiwaki had just finished his shower and was drying off when his cell phone beeped. He checked the display and felt his heart sink when he saw it was Iwase calling. He knew what that meant. He was right, there was a problem.

He answered the phone. "Yes Iwase, you're right. There's a problem."

"What do you mean, I'm right! If something was wrong why didn't you call me?"

"I wasn't certain until you called. I thought it was just the Instructor being himself and wanting his traceless vacation."

"You thought..Wait! When was the last time you heard from him?" Iwase thought his heart was going to pound out of his chest as he waited for Nishiwaki's answer.

"He left his brothers' place Monday morning." Nishiwaki's voice was flat but he closed his eyes in pain as he delivered the news.

Iwase collapsed on the bed. Two and a half days. NO! He couldn't be dead, he couldn't. For a long minute he just sat there.

"Iwase! Iwase listen to me!" There was no answer. Nishiwaki took a deep breath. "Motohisa, listen. Just because we haven't heard from him doesn't mean he's dead." He was lying and he knew it. But he also knew that every possibility had to be checked out."

"What - " the voice on the other end of the phone took a deep ragged breath and then managed to choke out a little more. "What do you mean?" Deep breath, "What else" he stopped unable to continue.

"All sorts of things. Just listen, if something has happened to him it means we may have a spy here on the inside, someone who leaked information so there's only so much I can do. I need you to stay available while I call in the 10-00. I'll call you back as soon as I know anything, you hear me?"

"Ye – yes."

"Motohisa, promise me. You're not going to do anything until I get back to you."

The voice was a little stronger. "I promise. You have 24 hours."

Nishiwaki didn't even try to ask what would happen after 24 hours. "All right, I doubt it will take that long. I'll call you back as soon as I have anything." He hung up but paused just a moment making plans before he actually did anything. He was thankful that his roommate was Noda. If Noda was the traitor the entire garrison would be dead by now.

He dialed a number on his phone. Noda came out just as the other end answered and seeing him on the phone started to go back into the shower. He was stopped with a wave of the other's hand. If the Instructor was alive he would need Nota's help. If not, well Noda would probably be one of the two that learned of this for the next Instructor. "Hai, this is Nishiwaki of the Tokyo garrison, I need section 15." a pause. "Hai, this is Nishiwaki of the Tokyo garrison. I need to call a 10-00 on Ishikawa Haruka. I believe we may have a leak here so I need for the results to be relayed back to me and to me only. I'll await your return call." He hung up.

"Section 15? A 10-00? What is all this? What's happened to the Instructor? I thought he was on vacation."

"A 10-00 means the Instructor is missing and we don't know where he is. Central Ops is able to trace him by means of an ultra secret tracing device implanted in his body. Iwase and I were the only ones other than the Instructor to know about it but I'm going to need your help to find him – I hope."

"But, if he didn't call in this morning -"

"He hasn't called in at all. I let others persuade me that it was his decision not to call, that he was just trying to make what he had called a "trackless vacation" truly trackless. It seemed like something he would do. But he was supposed to meet Iwase today for some time together and evidently he didn't show."

The cell phone rang again. Nishiwaki reached for paper and pen from his desk and flipped it open. "Hai. Hai." Suddenly he relaxed slightly. "A building? No, I have someone here who can get that for me. No. We're closer, we can handle it. I will. Thank you." He flipped the phone shut.

"Noda, there's and address on this sheet. I need you to get me plans for the building and if you can, get some information on who owns it. But the plans first." He handed the sheet to Noda who immediately went over to the computer on the desk that was his and started working. He still had several questions, but now was not the time.

Nishiwaki once again reached for his phone. "Mifune, I need you to come to my room right now. No, I'll tell you when you get here."

He dialed a second number. It rang several times before it was answered. "Iwase, listen. There's a chance. He's in a building. No, I'm not going to tell you where yet. You know why. I want you to get to Maebashi as soon as you can. I'll call you as soon as I have some definite plans." He clicked off without even saying goodbye. At this point he felt it would be best to keep Iwase slightly off balance.

The door opened and Mifune walked in. His generally jovial face sobered as he took in the atmosphere in the room. "What is it. What's wrong."

"The Instructor is missing. He was supposed to meet up with Iwase today and he hasn't shown."

Mifune's face mirrored his shock. "Oh my God, this is my fault. I told you to ignore the fact he hadn't called in. If I hadn't -"

"I still would have done nothing. Mifune, if I had really thought there was a problem I would have tried to figure out what to do as soon as he didn't call in. I agreed with you, I thought it was just him trying to get away from work. Its no one's fault."

"Iwase. If he knows.. what is he doing?"

"Right now he's trying to find a way to get to Maebashi as soon as possible." Mifune looked a question at him. "Maebashi is within 40 mins of where a tracking device indicates the Instructor is being held. And I don't want the information about a tracking to device to be mentioned outside this room. Noda is looking for a copy of plans for the building so we know what it looks like. We need to decide how we are going to get into the building and find Ishikawa. We can create a team later when we have our plans made. Lets hope whoever has him wants information from him and is willing to wait to kill him. I'm not telling Iwase exactly where the Instructor is until we join up with him. He'd completely take things into his own hands."