Chapter nine
Timing
ooOO-OOoo


Stupid! He had been utterly and completely stupid! The Kaitou KID, snatched off the streets like an idiot. It was ridiculous. Unthinkable. No one could catch KID!

Well, it seemed all it takes was Kaito deep in thoughts and in an emotional uproar. Add a blunt object, most likely a metal bat et voilà - one KID to go.

He sighed inwardly because the tape over his mouth prevented him to do so audibly.

His head hurt like a bitch and everything seemed a bit fuzzy. They must have drugged him to make sure he didn't come to too soon. He had woken a few minutes ago to find himself in some kind of cellar. It was completely dark, so he couldn't be sure, but if the slightly stale air and the cold, rough floor beneath him were anything to go by, it was the most probable option.

Again, he tried to turn his wrists and feet in an attempt to loosen his bonds, but duct tape wasn't exactly easy to get rid off in this position without something sharp or pointy. Usually, he carried several equipment everywhere he went to practice new tricks or just to occupy himself to shorten waiting time. Or to survive boring classes. Anyway, he doubted that he still was in possession of most of his tools save for the well hidden ones. The problem with those was that 'well hidden' also meant 'not easy to reach', especially when your hands were bound behind your back.

What bothered him almost just as much was the fact that he had been taken at all. He, Kuroba Kaito, shouldn't be a target for anyone. Was it a random kidnapping or did they figure him out? If it was random - who was behind it and why? And how much time had passed? Was it still night or already the next day? What if he missed the heist?

So many questions roared through his head it made him dizzy.

One thought gave him a bit of hope. 'Tantei-kun! He'd wanted to come by after the meeting the next day. Certainly he will search for me. So, at least my disappearance will be noticed quickly.'

A clicking sound told him that someone was about to unlock the door and he turned to the noise. When the door opened, he squinted against the bright light that fell into the room. Another click and a halogen spotlight came to life with a short flickering.

"Finished sleeping at last?" the man who entered asked mockingly.

The voice let Kaito's blood run cold. He knew it very well and it often haunted him in his dreams.

Snake.

So it was true - they really knew about him being KID and obviously decided not to wait till the heist to take him out. Kaito cursed. How did they know and why now of all times? It would have been over after this one last coup.

He thought about the letter for Aoko and gulped. If they'd had any doubts about his identity, what he had written had cleared them up.

His eyes finally adjusted and he briefly took in his surroundings. Indeed a cellar - complete with dull grey walls, a few metal boards and some spider webs in the corner. How cliché. He'd always thought when it really came to the worst, KID would go with a bang and not like this.

A tripod with a video camera on it caught his attention and he wondered what it was there for. Nothing good, he feared.

"Here."

With a clattering sound another man who had followed in after Snake, dropped a tray in front of Kaito. On it were some bread and water in a box with a straw glued to it. While Snake pointed his weapon at Kaito, the second man cut the tape around his wrists with a small knife.

"Now eat and no funny moves or else," Snake snarled and cocked the gun.

Kaito stared at him dumbfounded for a second before he obeyed and winced when he carefully ripped off the tape over his mouth. Were they insane to free his hands? Did they really think they had subdued him that easily?

Fools.

Now, with no problems to reach his hidden pockets and the smoke bombs in them, escaping was a piece of cake. With a swift movement, too fast for the eye to follow, he dropped two of the bombs and after a silent explosion, thick smoke filled the room. Snake yelled something and fired blindly at the spot where Kaito had sat a moment ago. The thief already had taken the knife and cut the tape around his ankles, sending the second, now unconscious man to the floor.

"The hell?!" Snake shouted and fired another shot, not caring about his partner.

Used to maneuvering with limited sight, Kaito slipped behind him and hit him hard over the head with the tray, splitting the plastic in two in the process. With a groan, Snake sagged to the floor.

Kaito searched him with nimble fingers and found a roll of tape, which Snake surely had intended to use to bind him again with. Now, Snake himself and his partner were the ones in tape and unable to move or speak.

He eyed his handiwork satisfied and got up, shaking his head. "Snaky, Snaky, just what got into you? You should know the Kaitou KID better by now. I almost feel a bit offended."

His eyes fell on the camera again. He quickly crossed the room and turned it on to see if they had filmed anything.

While he silently watched the image of himself, lying there and looking very vulnerable, it were the instructions given to the police and KID that got his full attention. So, they didn't know who KID was after all. That explained a lot.

They hadn't seen him as a real threat, just a teenager who would be easily intimidated. That they'd tried to blackmail KID with, well, himself was something that made him smirk a bit. What were the chances? They must have missed the letter somehow. Did Aoko find it or was it lost? He shook the thought off for dealing with it later. It wasn't that important right now. He had to figure out his next steps. If the video had been sent to the police, old man Nakamori would be on the case already. Probably with Tantei-kun and his division. What would Shinichi do about the heist when he knew KID wasn't able to pull it off?

He hurried back to Snake to take a look at his watch. Three p.m. Wow, whatever they had given to him must have been some strong stuff. But he still had plenty of time to get ready for tonight's show. But what would happen now that they lacked their hostage? Would they take a new one? He didn't want to endanger someone innocent who had nothing to do with anything. He had to make sure that they wouldn't notice that he was gone or if they did, that it would be too late to act on it. But how?

Snake was surely expected back wherever he came from and maybe give a report about their captive and Kaito had nothing to disguise himself with on him. He had to admit, he was a bit grateful that he couldn't dress up as Snake. Everything in him repulsed the very idea of impersonating his father's murderer. It was hard enough to control the urge to take revenge on the man right here and now. It would be so easy and the little boy inside him, who'd had to grow up without his father was more than tempted, but the older Kaito knew it better. His father wouldn't want him to dirty his hands with someone like Snake. He would do the right thing and ensure that Snake and all the lot would end up in jail and rot there till kingdom come.

He took a moment to think about his options. Just taking the clothes of the second man, who pretty much was about Kaito's built, would be risky as Kaito didn't know how many people were in the building and how well they knew each other. He didn't even know in what kind of building he was and how he could get out of it. So, maybe it would be good to scout the proximity first. If he had any luck, he maybe even could find out something about the boss. If you looked at it that way, Snake saved them a lot of work, because finding the syndicate's hideout had been their goal after all. He had no choice but to hope that the two men's disappearance wouldn't be noticed any time soon.

So, for the moment Kaito had his work cut out for him. Explore the place without being seen, find the boss, contact Shinichi or the police and get the hell out of here. Or maybe get out and then contact someone - depended on how it went for him.

He searched Snake for the keys and found a whole key ring. Very cautiously, he opened the door and peeked out of the gap. The corridor seemed empty. After listening for anything that indicated someone had been alarmed by the gunshots, he threw one last glance behind him to make sure that the two were still out cold. He stepped out of the room and locked the door. Making good use of his experience as a phantom thief, he set out to finally find the man behind his father's murder.

ooOO-OOoo

For once, Lady Luck wasn't on Kaito's side.

Just about twenty minutes after he'd left the cellar room, another man came down to look for Snake.

Rat was a relatively new member and had just recently earned his code name after a very difficult and dirty job. Though he still was subordinated to Snake and had to get his permission before every operation. Right now he needed his 'okay' to convince the owner of a small ramen shop to pay his dues. That 'to convince' didn't mean anything pleasant goes without saying. He wanted to get it done right away while he was in the right mood, so he had to find Snake and the last he'd heard was that he'd gone to look after a boy they held captive. Why the boy was here he had no idea, but it wasn't his business anyway. All he knew was that it was something high priority.

Rat came to a stop in front of the door he knew they preferred to keep their 'houseguests' in and waited for a moment to listen. Snake hated to be interrupted while he tended to the unfortunate souls who got in the syndicate's way. He heard nothing. Had Snake already left? Hopefully not, because he didn't feel like searching the whole building for his boss. He gave a short knock incase Snake was still inside and tried to open the door. It was locked.

"Dammit!" he cursed. Now he had to ask around to find Snake. He hated not to get what he wanted immediately. He needed to blow off some steam. Now! Maybe he could get a good rise out of the boy inside the room. After all he had come all the way down here and he wouldn't do anything too noticeable. No need to get on Snake's bad side. But a little fun would do no damage, right?

He took out his keys, a privilege he'd earned along with his code name, and opened the door, stepped inside... and froze.

His eyes grew big at the sight of Snake and another man (he thought his name was Takahashi or something, who really cares?) unconscious and bound with duct tape from head to toe.

After the initial shock, he quickly knelt beside them and began to cut the tape while trying to wake them.

"Boss!? Hey, Boss! What happened?"

Snake began to stir and mumbled, "Wh... th.. boy?"

"I haven't seen him. He did this to you?" Rat couldn't believe it. A single boy should have overwhelmed Snake and an additional man? How was this possible?

Snake gathered his senses and shook his head to get rid of the drowsiness. He winced when the motion reminded him of why he lay on the floor and his hand searched for the bump.

"This damn brat! I fucking hate magicians!" he cursed and ripped the remaining strips of tape off his clothes while he got up.

"We have to find him!" he barked out. After a glance at his watch, he kicked against the man still groaning on the ground. "Hey, Takeuchi! Get your lazy ass to the next Police Station and find out if he's shown up there. And you," he turned to Rat. "Get the van ready. With this head start he could be anywhere right now. We are going to search the most likely places."

"Alright Boss, I'll just go and inform the shift leader."

"No!" Snake hissed and grabbed Rat by his collar as he was about to leave. He pulled him close to his face. "You won't inform anyone about this! Listen closely - if word gets out that the boy escaped, the leader will have our heads. And don't you think about shitting on me either - Trust me - I'll make sure you will go down with me."

ooOO-OOoo

Heiji stood in front of the Ekoda Police Headquarters, searching cover from the rain that had started to pour down and took a look at his phone. Getting here had taken him just a bit longer than four hours, a new record. But he couldn't brag about it because one, Shinichi wasn't there and two, he still brooded over the video.

While on the train, he'd watched it several times and with every repeat he felt like something was off about the Shinichi on the screen. His face looked, how to put it? Just... wrong. And his hair, though seemingly wet and therefore flattened and missing the usual cowlicks, appeared to be somewhat fuller than usual. Heiji just couldn't make heads or tails of it. Was someone impersonating Shinichi and got caught on his behalf? That didn't make much sense.

A frustrated puff of air left him. He was a bit miffed, because Megure-keibu had sent him a short message that he couldn't pick him up. The meeting he was in right now apparently took longer than anticipated.

He'd called the Inspector before he boarded the train, and Megure told him to meet up in Ekoda. He'd been fairly curt and Heiji didn't get more details. Megure just asked him if he'd heard about the case from Shinichi. The phrasing sounded a bit strange and added to his confusion regarding the video. How should Shinichi have told him if he was the one who needed help? Heiji was really curious to know what was going on, not to mention worried about his friend's wellbeing. Sure, the internet was going viral with speculations from 'insiders', but these information weren't trustworthy and most of the time outright lies.

While he waited, he tried again to reach Shinichi, but his mobile was still on mailbox. He absentmindedly scanned over the coming and going people and was a bit at a loss what to do now. A very special shock of hair caught his attention because it was a great deal brighter than the mostly dark brown rest around him.

Heiji closed his eyes and prayed for the patience he knew he never had when dealing with this particular guy. He didn't have the time or the nerve to be polite to jerks right now, and he hoped the other one wouldn't notice him and just pass by. But because Heiji's own appearance was quite unique too, his wish wasn't granted and a few seconds later he was greeted with polished, but somewhat foreign Japanese.

"Hattori-san, what a rare sight. What are you doing in Ekoda? I hope you are not here for the KID case, because I'm afraid then you would have made the long journey for nothing. After all - they already have me onboard and I don't remember that you ever showed any interest for KID," Hakuba told him somewhat smug.

That was enough to let Heiji forget about his intention not to explode on the half-Brit. "Yeah? So what? Tell ya somethin'. Ya can keep yar precious thief! I'm just here ta help my best friend, who got kidnapped because of that aho!"

If he'd expected Hakuba to shoot something like 'Hotheaded fool' back at him he was disappointed, because the other teen just gave him a confused look. "You are best friends with Kuroba? Since when?"

Now it was Heiji's turn to blink baffled. "Kuroba? Who's that? I'm speakin' about Kudou!"

"Kudou? As in Kudou Shinichi?", Hakuba asked frowning. "I think you've got something seriously wrong here. Last I heard, Kudou-san was with Nakamori-keibu when I called him a few hours ago. The Inspector asked me to get the results about the video footage. In fact, I'm about to meet up with him here. Want to tag along?"

ooOO-OOoo

Shinichi looked at the Nakamoris in the other corner of the room. Aoko still was teary-eyed and distraught, and her father was comforting her while speaking with someone on his mobile.

After their explanation to the Inspector, he had wordlessly left the little office and had hung on the phone since then, giving instructions and gathering the task force. Shinichi and Jii had spent the time trying to figure out what to do about the heist, but hadn't been able to come up with something viable.

He wondered how Nakamori really was taking the news about KID. He was sure the man must have noticed at least something strange about his neighbors, but suspecting it and having it spelled out to one were two different things. He just hoped Nakamori would be ready soon, so they could head to the Police Department. They were losing time here.

He was just about to speak up when Nakamori came over to him.

"Kudou-san, can I ask a favor of you? I want Aoko to go home and pack up some things, so she can spend the night at the Department, but because we were on another crime scene before Aoko's call came in, I only have a rookie with me right now and I would feel better if someone additional could escort her." He scratched his head awkwardly. "I would drive her myself but I'm needed in the Department immediately, so...", his voice ebbed away at the end. He was clearly uncomfortable asking Shinichi after he'd yelled at him just recently and hadn't shown much respect for the young detective in general.

Shinichi wasn't one to hold a grudge and he knew why Nakamori had behaved the way he did. He hadn't had much points of contact with Shinichi and therefore not the trust Megure had developed over time. Also, he was worried about Kuroba and understandable on edge. The more telling it was that Nakamori now entrusted Shinichi with his daughter's safety.

Shinichi wanted to be at the Department as soon as possible too, but he thought about Ran and how he would feel if he had to let her go without some security in this kind of situation.

"It's okay, Keibu. I will drive with them and then meet you at the Department. Just make sure to keep me updated if anything occurs in the meantime. I'll give you my,... huh?" he let out surprised after a look on his mobile, that greeted him with a black display. So, it really had run out of battery.

Nakamori glimpsed at the phone. "No problem, you can charge it in the car. You have your number memorized I assume?"

After a nod, Shinichi dictated his number and turned to get Aoko and the officer.

"Thanks a lot, Kudou-san," Nakamori said after him. "You don't know me and my daughter at all, and we hadn't the best start, I know. So just... thanks."

Shinichi stopped to give him a short smile. "You're welcome, Keibu. I happen to know a girl I care for deeply as well, so I know where you're coming from."

Nakamori looked after him for a moment. These teens really grew up fast these days.

ooOO-OOoo

Shinichi waited for his phone to come back to life. Aoko and the officer, Sakamoto-keiji, just headed for the door of Nakamori's house. Sakamoto had insisted that Shinichi stayed in the car after he had examined the house for any signs of intruders from the outside. Shinichi didn't mind. He was even thankful that he hadn't to go out there. It was pouring down and with his immune system still somewhat shot, it didn't seem like the brightest idea to catch a cold. So, he looked out of the window and let his gaze wander up and down the street.

This has been the last place Kuroba had been seen yesterday. Jii had dropped him off a bit further down the street so he could get something from home and then go over to Aoko. Somewhere in between he had been kidnapped. It still was hard to imagine how someone had been able to surprise Kuroba, but if he really had wanted to come clean with Aoko, Shinichi could understand that he might have been a bit out of it.

As a matter of routine, he catalogued everything he saw in the street and took special notice to little details that seemed out of place. Not that there was much to see to begin with. Mostly single-family houses on both sides with the occasional rental unit here and there. Some trees lined the space between the curb and the sidewalk, making the environment a little friendlier. A waste container stood beside the car. With a huff, he noticed some trash right next to it. He really hated people who couldn't even be bothered to throw their own shit away properly.

On a closer look it seemed to be an envelope, the writing on it slightly smudged from the rainwater. '

'The first sign looks like 'blue' the rest it mostly unreadable,' he mused, entertaining himself with the little guessing-game. 'Blue... blue-what? Blueprint? No - not enough signs for that. I think it have been two kanji and the second doesn't seem to be that complicated. Blue...'

And then it hit him. 'Of course! Aoko's name is written with the kanji for blue as well!'

The moment the answer came to him, he already was out of the car and picked up the wrinkled and wet paper. And yes - now up close he could make out the second kanji as the one for 'child'.

His thoughts whirred. 'Kuroba must have dropped it last night. I have no idea if the content is still readable, but I will hold on to it until he decides if he still wants to give it to her. If it is what I think, I'm sure it is better not to let Aoko know right now.'

He hastily stowed it away in the inner pocket of his jacket and turned to get back into the car.

ooOO-OOoo

Snake and Rat drove in silence after they'd hit several dead ends, and Takeuchi had reported that the brat hadn't shown up at the Police Station. Their next stop was his home, even though it was unlikely if the boy had any brains. He had to know that they would look for him there, but who knew, maybe they got lucky anyway.

The windshield wiper was clicking softly with every stroke, trying in vain to clear the view for the driver.

The two men were tense.

Snake had filled Rat in about the plans they had for the Kuroba boy and they both knew that they didn't have to come back without him. They would have to leave town, no, the country, get a new name and maybe even find a surgeon and get a new face to escape the wrath of their boss.

"Do you really think he will turn up here?" Rat asked surly. What had he done to deserve this mess? All he'd wanted was to scare the hell out of a little shop owner, maybe beat him up a bit, and now this.

"How should I know, idiot?" Snake bit out. "Let's just hope he does and why the fuck is it raining so hard? I can't see shit out there!"

Rat wisely didn't give a comment to Snake's ranting. He'd worked long enough with him to know when to shut up. Instead, he tried to see something that would tell him where their target hid. A few houses further a car stopped and what seemed to be an officer ran up to the front door and after that rounded the house, getting completely wet. After he had finished, he ran back to the car and helped a girl to jump over a puddle. Together they disappeared inside the house.

"Hey, Snake. Isn't that the house of Nakamori-keibu? Didn't you tell me you caught the boy there last time?"

Snake narrowed his eyes. "Yes, this must be his daughter then, Nakamori Aoko. Hmm... maybe we should change targets. Don't you think the little girl of the task force's head would do the trick as well?"

"I sure think so," Rat grinned.

They drove closer to the house to watch for an opportunity when the door of the parked car opened again and a boy got out. He bent down, but they couldn't see what he was doing. When he came back up Snake did a sharp intake.

"What the fucking hell - that's him!"

"What? Are you sure?" Rat asked surprised. Really - what were the chances?

"Oh yes, it's him. He was standing there just like that the last time too. Come on - let's get him and off we go!"


A/N: If anyone wonders about the kaniji-thing:

青写真 - aojashin - blueprint

青子 - Aoko