Secrets and Lies: Chapter 20
The sound of Megure-keibu's footsteps tapping on the concrete echoed in the car park as he rounded the corner. Yusaku took a deep breath and counted to 3, jumped out quickly from his hiding place and squeezed off 2 warning shots in rapid succession. He couldn't afford to take any chances when dealing with Anokata.
His first shot hit a pillar and the second knocked Megure's hat off his head. His hand dived automatically to his holster and he went into a firing stance. Yusaku observed this and aimed his gun at his former friend's head and stepped closer.
"Don't move, Anokata," he ordered harshly, throwing off his hat that had been jammed low over his eyes as part of his disguise.
Megure squinted at him in puzzlement.
"Yusaku-kun, is that you? Why are you shooting at me?"
"Because you are the leader of a nefarious organisation that has killed and ruined many people's lives," Yusaku spat out the accusation forcefully.
"Are you all right, Yusaku-kun? You're not making any sense," Megure replied concernedly.
"Where were you going to go after leaving here?"
"Home," he answered, surprised. "For dinner. Would you like to come Yusaku-kun? My wife and I haven't seen you in years."
Yusaku scowled and began to wonder whether he had got it right after all. Anokata could just be playing innocent, but there was just something that felt wrong with the situation. His plan hadn't been the best he could have come up with as he had been pressed for time and resources so anyone that was as clever as him could have predicted his actions. The head of an Organisation that was always concealed in the shadows would not let his guard down even for a second to get trapped like this. Megure-keibu did look genuinely surprised at his behaviour and his age was wrong to be the new Anokata too. They wouldn't choose someone of his age to lead a criminal organisation even if he did take substances to prolong his life; he had worked for the Police from a young age and it wouldn't have been easy to turn him.
Anokata being Megure didn't add up. He, the great crime author had been outsmarted.
He let his gun arm drop in defeat.
"You can go home to your wife now, Juzo-kun. I just had an um, a moment. I'm sorry about threatening you and don't worry about me."
As he turned away to order everyone to regroup in the car park his phone vibrated in his pocket. He fished it out his pocket and his blood turned as cold as ice as he read the text message on the glowing screen.
The great Yusaku Kudo got it wrong. Oh dear. You don't have time to start over again. Come to my office; I haven't left it yet.
Anokata
What terrified him was the fact that it had been sent from Yukiko's number. If she had really been captured then it was exceedingly likely that Hakuba and Nakamori had been compromised too.
If Anokata was really telling the truth about not leaving then that meant that he was Shiratori. Yusaku didn't stop to contact his son or the FBI- he just ran like hell, snagging Megure's hat and ID so he could get to where Anokata was as fast as possible. Once he was there he would gauge the situation and work out the means of escape.
"What do you mean; you're not Kudo-kun?" Jodie demanded impatiently. "This really isn't the right time to be joking Kudo-kun."
"Conan" glared at her and Kaito knew who it was immediately. He bent down next to "Conan" to speak kindly.
"Haibara-san, where did Tantei-kun go?"
Haibara looked at him before looking down again. "The egomaniac took the antidote that I had with me and begged me to cover for him. He said he had just worked something out and he was going to find an unexpected ally. This was before we all split off," she explained calmly.
"Did he say anything about when he was going to turn up with this ally of his?"
"No. But he said that his father's plan was too obvious to anyone that knew what they were going and could be predicted."
"Looks like he was right," Kaito commented. "That is if Anokata never intended to come here in the first place. Chief Hakuba, who is the new Anokata? You of all people should know who it is."
"It's Shiratori," he answered without any hesitation. "He is quite skilled in criminal matter despite his age and inexperience. His father was the previous Anokata before he was killed in a certain incident."
"We need to leave now," Jodie said starting for the door. "I'll just commandeer a car and we'll race over there to-"
"Stop," Chief Hakuba interrupted. "That's what he wants and expects you to do. You have to come up with a more subtle strategy."
"Why on earth would you want to help us?" Kaito asked suspiciously.
"Because I want to save my son. Please give me a chance," he begged,
Jodie, Camel and Kaito all glanced at each other before checking Chief Hakuba's pulse rate and facial expression for signs of lying and weighed up the pros and cons before coming to a decision.
"What do you suggest?"
Yusaku crashed through the doors of the 1st Investigation Division and sprinted on to Shiratori's personal office. Nothing could have prepared him, not even a gruesome murder, for the horrendous, bloody site that met his eyes.
Aoko Nakamori and Saguru Hakuba were tied back to back on chairs and their mouths were gagged with parcel tape. Hakuba's usually neat hair was askew and there were spots of blood in it from the wound on his head. His eyes were open were shooting urgent warnings at Yusaku. Aoko's head was slumped to the side and she appeared to be unconscious which was probably a good thing. He couldn't see any visible wounds on her.
In her lap there was a ticking timer counting down the seconds. Yusaku eyed the flashing red number and observed that he had just less than 20 minutes before something exploded.
He tore his eyes from the timer to look at Yukiko. She was in a even worse state than Hakuba. She was kneeling on the carpeted floor of the office, her blood slowing dripping into the pool of blood that was gradually forming around her. Her hair was matted with blood and her eyes were half open, but she seemed to be in a stupor from blood loss.
Anokata himself was sitting cross legged on the edge of his desk, his eyes never leaving Yusaku.
"What have you done to my wife!" Yusaku demanded angrily.
Shiratori smiled and brushed a stray lock of hair from his face. "Slashed open a few major arteries. Nothing much." He shrugged casually as if he did that sort of thing everyday.
"She is going to die."
"So are you. All of you are. I am just keeping you alive for a while so for once, in the presence of non-organisation members I can stop acting the part of a dim witted Police Officer who needs everything at crime scenes pointed out by everyone else. It's nice to finally meet you Kudo-san, I've heard a lot about you from Megure-keibu. I cannot believe that you thought that he was the head of a criminal organisation."
He threw his head back and laughed sardonically. His eyes narrowed when he glimpsed Yusaku's hand slowly sneaking to his pocket.
"Don't get any ideas," he said sharply, drawing something out from his own pocket. "You see, concealed in this room is a small bomb. The timer is in Nakamori-san's lap, but I have a secondary remote control. If you make another move I will detonate it now."
"You will die too."
Anokata shook his head. "Its blast radius had been carefully calculated. You will die, but I won't; I will just waltz out of here alive whilst the 4 of you will be blown to bits."
"You're bluffing."
"Try it and see," Anokata dared him. "By the way I have calculated it so that your wife dies a few minutes before the blast so you can watch her die and then you will die too. I love Maths; it is so useful."
Yusaku couldn't think of anything to do. He couldn't stall for time; there was a timer that couldn't be stopped. He couldn't contact anyone. Attacking Anokata was out of the question as he had a low probability of being able to overpower him before he pressed the button and he couldn't afford to assume that Anokata was bluffing. For once in his life his brain stopped churning ideas out like popcorn. He slumped to the floor in defeat.
"You've won Anokata. Kill me and let everyone else go."
"No," his face hardened as he stopped playing the genial host. "I don't need you. I want your son. Shinichi Kudo or Conan Edogawa. I want his brain and skills of deduction."
"He'll never take orders from you."
"He will, when the right stimulus is applied. He is perfect; he had already taken APTX 4869, he has spoiled some assassinations and deals for the Organisation, he knows how peoples' minds work and best of all, he had got a weak spot: Ran Mori."
Yusaku fell silent and watched the seconds count down instead of attempting to find a means of escape. He cradled Yukiko's head in his arms and waited. Someone had to come and help them. Somone.
Yes "Conan" being Haibara wasn't much of a surprise.
Next one: Who is Conan's unexpected ally? It really isn't hard.
I also think I had a little too much fun making Anokata evil and sadistic.