Sayuri heard a sound in the back of her mind, a single word that was being repeated so often that it was becoming irritating. Presently she came to realize that the voice was not in her head, but outside of it.
"Sayuri-san. Open your eyes."
The Asian woman dutifully obeyed, and was shocked to find herself lying in a hospital bed. She started to bolt upright, but she was stilled by the weakness of her limbs. Sayuri groaned softly before becoming aware of the woman that was standing over her.
"Careful, Detective, now take it easy."
"What?" was the only word she was capable of uttering immediately.
"I said you need to take it easy. You don't appear to be injured, but the foreign substance in your blood stream has yet to be identified."
Foreign substance, Sayuri thought with confusion. What on earth is she talking about? How did I get—in a flash, she remembered the injection, but more importantly, she recalled what had preceded it.
Sayuri grabbed the railing of the bed and hoisted herself up as far as she could while she gasped for the breath that suddenly heaved in her chest. "Takashi! Where are the Police? Where is my phone?" she demanded of the started nurse.
"All of that can wait—"
"No, it can't!" Sayuri insisted loudly. "You don't understand! They have him; they came just like I knew they would!"
"Detective Kimura—"
"But why did they release me? Why let me go?" Sayuri asked herself more quietly. "What purpose was there in letting me live, especially after they killed everyone else?"
"Detective Kimura," the nurse said more strongly. "You need to hold on. This has to wait for a little while."
"You don't understand!" Sayuri repeated. "Takashi is gone, he is gone! The Akiudo came and they killed the others! I must speak with the Police and I need my phone! Where is my phone?"
"Please be still, Detective. There is time to—"
A knock at the door cut off whatever the woman had been about to say. The annoyed nurse crossed over to the door and exchanged a couple of terse words with someone on the other side. A deeper voice seemed to be disagreeing with her, and the woman stepped angrily aside.
Sayuri tightened her grip on the railing as a man in a suit entered the hospital room. She studied his face, but was sure she'd never seen him before.
"Detective Kimura," the man stated, as if she wasn't aware of her own name.
"Yes! Are you with the Police?"
"I am Agent Ichiro-Kazuo, with the Tokushu Sakusen Gun."
"I am glad you are here, Agent," she told him. "The worst has happened, as I feared."
The man gave her a sympathetic gaze. "I understand that you memories might not be clear, but if you can remember anything that might be helpful to us, I would like to hear it now."
"We were moving Takashi," she said mechanically. "Our thought was to take him higher, where the chance of others catching up to us would be lessened. But as we were leaving our floor, two riot police joined the back of our entourage. I say 'riot police' because they were dressed accordingly, but in actuality they were traitors. I told someone to select the floor we needed, but they intentionally drove us down instead. When the doors opened again, there were weapons waiting for us."
The Agent nodded for her to continue.
"I had a strong feeling that the Akiudo would come for Takashi; I knew this transfer was only a ploy for him to create an opportunity to escape!"
"He did not escape, Detective Kimura, not from what we can determine. The individuals didn't come to free him, but to kill him, and anyone who stood in their way," the man replied.
Sayuri's mouth opened in astonishment, but then shut. "No," she said forcefully. "No, they were Akiudo. I know they were! I saw Takashi's right hand! They forced me to get off the elevator along with him."
"You may not be remembering everything clearly," Ichiro said patiently. "Oftentimes when the mind faces repeated trauma, certain events can feel real, even when they aren't."
"This wasn't in my mind! Do you have Takashi or not?"
"It is our understanding that no one made it off the elevator except for you," he supplied.
"They forced me off; I already told you that much! I don't know why they let me go, but I can tell you—"
Ichiro held up a hand to stop her. "Please, allow me to give you some information before we go any further. There are witnesses who reported hearing gunshots, but we cannot verify how Takashi or any of the transport team may have been killed. The elevator that they were inside of was rigged with an explosive, which appears to have been detonated by remote.
"We received a tip shortly after the explosion that led us to a vehicle about a quarter of a mile away from your Headquarters. It was equipped with enough materials to bring down the entire station if the bomber had wished to. We found compelling evidence inside the van, in addition to the home of the vehicle's registered owner.
"Receipts, phone records and computers are all being analyzed as I speak. There was a dead man inside the van, who appears to have committed suicide. We are only in the beginning stages of the investigation, but we found a notebook which outlines what appears to be detailed plot concerning an assassination attempt on Matsuo-Takashi.
"The bomber's original plan involved taking out the entire Police Station, but he couldn't bring himself to go through with it. He also couldn't bring himself to kill you."
"What? He mentioned me?"
"He knew of you, Detective Kimura, and your early crusade against the Akiudo. He chose to spare you."
"No," she said emphatically. "No, that's not right! These were not protesters. I was there, Agent, I know what their intentions were! I am telling you, the Akiudo came to retrieve Takashi, and it sounds like they got away with it!"
"We are still investigating these events, and searching for other individuals who were involved," he said gently, as one would speak to a small child.
"NO!" Sayuri's fist struck the mattress to signify her point. "This is a set-up, don't you see it? They did the same thing to me; they are masters of manipulation! Didn't it all seem to fall into place too easily? When has all of the evidence ever appeared in such a manner?"
"When you are dealing with a despondent individual who cares nothing for his own life, but only for revenge, things can be this obvious, Detective. I have seen it before. We are taking all things into account. Is that everything that you can remember?"
"You don't believe me," Sayuri said bitterly. "The most dangerous man you will ever encounter is free, running the streets of our beloved Naha, and you don't believe me!"
"I believe that your past experience with the Akiudo is catching up with you, Detective. You were drugged. Under those circumstances, it is not unusual for one to see things other than the way they actually happened."
"I am not crazy! Takashi is out there! He planned this for months!"
"Forgive me for disturbing you so soon, Detective. It is clear that you need to rest."
"I don't need to rest; you need to dig back into the evidence and see the truth in front of your faces! The camera feed would show…" Sayuri slowly trailed off. The power went out, she recalled inwardly. That was probably their doing too. The feed would not have picked up anything that happened after the elevator was stopped!
"We examined the digital camera feed, but it was cut short when the building lost electricity," the Agent confirmed unnecessarily. "I apologize for bothering you so late, when you have already been through this ordeal today. I am going to leave my card with you, and if there is anything you need—"
"My phone! I need my phone," she said through clenched teeth.
"I will help track it down."
Sayuri shook her head in frustration and rage at the man's retreating form. I cannot believe it! After all of that, not only did Takashi escape, but he found a way to set someone else up for his supposed murder! The police are not even looking for him! He could not have played this smarter. I was such a fool. Of course he contacted me – Takashi wanted me front and center so he could do as he pleased with me! But why did they let me go?
Sayuri sank back to her mattress with tears in her eyes. Why can't it be a bad dream? Can I go to sleep and wake up to a different reality? I must speak with Hisui and Shunshi. I have to make sure they are all right! Then I must call the States, and let everyone know that I failed.
Another knock at the door made her try to sit up, but she couldn't manage it this time. The same nurse as before appeared with an apologetic look. "I am sorry about that Agent, Detective. I didn't want to let him in."
Sayuri couldn't think of an appropriate response. She was so discouraged that she merely buried her head in her pillow.
"We know where your phone is, and it's being retrieved," the nurse said helpfully. "There is someone else who would like to see you, but I already told him that it would likely have to wait."
Sayuri cocked her head. "Who is here?"
"One of the paramedics who brought you in; just a nice young man who is checking up on you."
Sayuri raised her head curiously. "Let him in."
"Detective, when are you going to rest?"
"When Takashi is in prison or dead!" she replied honestly.
It was obvious that the nurse didn't know what to say to that, but she did stick her head out into the hall and call someone's name. "Naoki, she will see you now."
The Asian woman turned on her side and waited to see the man who would enter. He was young; probably no more than his early twenties.
"Good evening, Detective," he said shyly. "Pardon my intrusion."
"No, you are not intruding," she said quickly. "I need to know how I got here. Where did you find me?"
"The riot police had you," he answered. "We were waiting outside when they exited the building. They said that they could handle you themselves, but we thought it was important for them to return to the front line."
She gasped softly. "You took me from them?"
"Took you? We only volunteered to perform our normal duties, Detective."
"You saved my life."
The young man shook his head. "We found out that you were never in mortal danger. But at the time, your life signs were vague, and you were so far under that we had great reason for concern."
"You may never be able to understand this, but you saved my life," she insisted. "Thank you."
Naoki rubbed the back of his head self-consciously. "We only did our job," he repeated.
"You did more than that tonight. You took me straight from the hands of some very bad people, who would have certainly killed me. Always keep your eyes open, Naoki."
He shuffled from one foot to the other. "Are you feeling better?"
"I am glad to be alive, but I don't feel better, no. A great evil has been unleashed once more, and no one wants to believe it. They won't believe me, and Takashi knew that they wouldn't," she realized suddenly. "It is little wonder that he was willing to let me go. My past is tarnished, and my sanity is subject to doubt. Of course no one believes me!"
"Is there something else I can do for you?" Naoki asked in confusion.
"You can pray with all of your might that Takashi is found, before he has a chance to accomplish whatever he has set out to do."