Chapter 13 Pyrrhic
With some difficulty, Ran managed to pull him the rest of the way back onto the safety of the path. The last of the effort required her to anchor her feet on a rock as a pivot and heave backwards with the sum of her weight. When the point of critical mass arrived, the laws of physics proved to still be in effect.
She fell onto her back, dragging Kudo down with her. He landed on his hands and knees, straddling her, coming to a rest mere centimeters from her face.
Between sheer exhaustion and the adrenaline dump, her mind only processed notions of the world around her. And the world around her was him. His body shielding her from the rain. The warmth of his breath on her cheek. His bright, passionate eyes focused solely on her. There was something mystifying, serene and tragic in those eyes that caused her heart to race. She blushed deeply. "Shinichi!"
"I hurt you."
"No, I'm okay."
Flustered, he looked away. It had to be done. By him, right now while he still had his wits. Insanity was calling on him with all the sweet nothings with which sleep tempts the weary. It took all his focus, all of his will to keep his mind grounded in reality. Sooner or later the strain would win and the moment he relaxed, it would all be gone.
She deserved the truth, not from professor Agasa, not from his parents nor Haibara, but with his own voice. "I'm sorry Ran." He said.
"It's okay."
"No it's not. There's something I have to tell you."
She cupped a hand on his cheek. "Shinichi, it's alright."
"I don't know how much more time I have."
"That's just it. I…" She tried to interject but he was determined.
"Please, Ran. Listen. I don't know how to say this but the truth is, I…I…"
She pulled him down by the collar, bringing him to silence with a kiss. "I already know." She said gently.
All the wondrous charm her lips imparted disappeared as if it was a dream. He looked more hurt than ever by the sudden admission. "You do?"
"Your client already told me. But it's alright. I have the antiserum."
"Antiserum!?" He exclaimed.
"Yeah! I grabbed it from lieutenant Grierson's pocket when he took me hostage. That's why I took so long getting free." She gave a little exasperated huff. "He had a lot of pockets."
Every volt of energy Kudo Shinichi had left in his body escaped in a tired little laugh. He brushed a strand of hair from her face. "You are without a doubt the most incredible person I have ever known."
Together, they got to their feet and made their way south towards the makeshift landing zone, running into Akai half way up the road. His pistol was drawn but upon seeing the two, all urgency in his bearing ceased. Without exchanging a word, he seemed to understand what had happened and holstered the weapon to help carry Kudo back to the group.
Putting him down next to Shiho by the lighthouse, Akai provided the trio with water bottles, a med kit and space blankets before joining Jodie to stabilize Andre Camel for transport.
Shiho quietly administered the antiserum with the spare syringe she hid in her stocking. The relief was near instantaneous. Within minutes, the pain had completely cleared, the pressure evaporated and his vision came back into alignment.
They then put a splint on Shiho's leg and proceeded to bind and bandage the rest of their wounds as best as possible.
The storm had started to break by the time they were done, the crimson hue of the sky giving way to the majestic blues and purples of an approaching dawn as the fire aboard La Paloma was extinguished. This allowed a flood of first responders and law enforcement to wash over the island.
With the calvary attending to cleanup, there was little more for the trio to do but relax. For the first time in days they could breathe easy and it felt wonderful.
Ran rested her head on Shinichi's shoulder. "It's over now, right? You can come home?"
"Almost. But not yet. There's still work to do."
She had a feeling that was going to be the case but wild hope can still be hard to resist. Ran snuggled a little deeper to hide her disappointment. "I see."
"But," Kudo continued, an idea glittering in his mind, "that doesn't mean we have to part company just yet."
Shiho, who had been trying to ignore the conversation, elbowed him.
He winced then turned to her with all the slyness he could muster. "I'm sure you don't want to stick around the airport waiting half a day for our flight. This'll be all over the news in a couple hours. Safest course of action is to put as much distance between us and here as fast as we can. She has access to the Suzuki family private jet. I assume that's how you got to California."
This last sentence was directed at Ran who visibly brightened at the thought. "Yeah! We can be in the air in a few hours. As long as…" she broke off suddenly. "Sonoko! I completely forgot! Oh no! She must be worried out of her mind!" Quickly, she flipped open her phone only to see her own face reflected in the black glass. "My battery's dead. Let me use yours."
Kudo rubbed the back of his neck apologetically and explained that his was broken. "Try Jodie-sensei." He offered with a point of the thumb.
With newfound determination she darted off towards the helicopter, pausing briefly to say "Don't go anywhere!"
Shiho savored a sip of cold water before speaking. "You understand the dangers of flying back with her? Setting aside the possibility that she'll be seen, with all the chemicals in your blood, I can't guarantee you won't revert earlier than expected. My heartrate was a little high too, for that matter."
"A little high?" He asked skeptically.
She took another sip. "Once or twice."
"In that case the sooner we land in Japan, the better. The damage would be the same on board a commercial flight. Perhaps worse. We minimize the risk by moving quickly and with fewer people. Besides, I'm sure you have a lot of tests you want to run."
She eyed him carefully. "You're acting awfully cavalier about this whole thing."
He sighed and looked gloomy out into the distance. "If she doesn't know already, she probably will soon enough."
"Don't be getting sentimental on me now, Kudo kun. The organization is going to know one of their operations was raided. We backed them into a corner. They are going to lash out. It's about to become more dangerous than ever."
"It's not like I want her to get any more involved!" He scoffed. "Ran knows I have broken ribs and this stab wound is going to scar. She's not an idiot. When she sees that Conan has those same injuries, she'll put it together." His face flushed red in embarrassment. That wasn't the truth. She already put it together. That kiss had been specifically designed to shut him up. Perhaps to keep him from saying something irrevocable.
Shiho bowed her head in silence, trying hard to suppress the shakes of long buried trauma. "When Gin shot me at the Beika City hotel, I should have bleed to death. The reversion process somehow healed my wounds. Or at least greatly sped up the process. It's a strange phenomenon I haven't had the opportunity to fully study. That'll help with the bone fractures."
"And the scars?"
Those stay with you for life. "It's a moot point. Nothing we can do about it so there's no point in dwelling on it. Wear long sleeve shirts, I guess. Right now we need to focus on dealing with the FBI. They'll want to interview us before we can leave. Who knows how long that'll take."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." With a nod of the head and a coy smile, he gestured up towards Akai Shuuichi who was strolling over with a pair of clipboards under his arm.
"How's Agent Camel?" Shiho asked.
"Already in surgery at Mt. Zion Medical Center. Don't worry. Camel is tough. He'll pull through thanks to you."
The relief left her head spinning. "That's good." She said softly. "That's good."
Akai lit up a cigarette and inhaled smoke. "I don't suppose I can talk either of you into going there as well?"
They both declined in unison.
"I didn't think so." The FBI agent handed each a clipboard and a pen. "In that case, you'd better take these."
Shiho flipped through the pages absently, "What is it?"
"First one is a medical release form, saying you waive transport to a hospital. Second is for your contact information. You've both had a long night. I see no reason why we can't get your statements over the phone after you've had some time to rest."
She gave a side glance at Kudo, certain this fortuitous decision was somehow of his making. The whole thing seemed highly irregular. But, then again Kudo Shinichi was a highly irregular person.
The detective put down the paperwork by his side. "Any word on Grierson?"
Gravely, Akai shook his head no. "We're still looking but given the water temperature, it has officially become a recovery operation. Coast Guard says with the tide going out, there's not much of a chance of finding anything. He's probably halfway to Hawaii by now."
"If the tide is ebbing, he could have used it to go south west, towards the mainland. We need to cordon off the Marin headlands and…"
Akai cut him off. "We are doing that, Kudo kun, and more. As we speak I have teams searching the rest of his properties. His assets have been frozen, his passport has been flagged along with three other aliases we believe he has used." Shuuichi finished off the cig, casting it to the ground and stomping out the cherry with his boot. "If he did survive however, he's smart enough to come to us of his own free will. Otherwise his old friends will hunt him down like a dog and cut him up into a thousand little pieces."
Kudo gazed off into the dawn, wishing he could believe all was well. He had the hard drive, he had the evidence, soon he would have his life back. Yet something deep in his gut warned him that Shiho was right. The worst was still to come.
Had he looked the other way, into the receding night, towards the august arches of the Golden Gate Bridge, he would have witnessed prophecy manifest as northbound traffic came to a stop.
A sleek black Porsche 356A put on its hazards and pulled off to the side of the road.
The taxi behind layed on the horn in protest but the cabbie immediately shrank under the withering glare of the black clad mountain who got out of the passenger door. The driver of the Porsche, an equally intimidating wraith of a man with long silver hair, stepped out a moment later and proceeded to pop open the trunk of his car. He retrieved a military grade digital spotter scope and radio scanner.
Placing the earbud in its place and setting the scope, the driver calmly walked over to the railing to investigate the ruckus going on two miles west. The island of Alcatraz was lit up like a christmas tree with flashing warning lights and the dying embers of a fire. His scanner spoke in urgent tones about a furry of police activity.
Scowling through the spotter scope, he zoomed in first on the damage, then people scattered around. He flipped a switch to automatically record everything for later analysis.
Interest peaked when Agent Jodie Starling came into his crosshairs. What was she doing all the way over here? He checked himself with a sneer. If such irritants had to be tolerated, the least she could do was cause trouble in her own jurisdiction.
It wasn't in character for the FBI to simply abandon their mission. Had she been reassigned? Had their welcome in Japan finally worn out? Unlikely. The high school girl she was talking to looked Japanese. That could be a coincidence. But for them to be there of all places? And now? No. The whole thing reeked of a trap. A poorly laid one but a deliberate provocation nonetheless.
He continued to scan the scene, looking for any details which could prove valuable. His scope stopped on another familiar face.
"What is it, Aniki?" Vodka asked. He refused to abandon his sunglasses.
"Akai Shuuichi." Gin growled. "The man just doesn't know how to stay dead."
"What!?" In disbelief, Vodka gripped the rail and instinctively leered towards the traitor. "That no good laos!"
Gin held out his hand, motioning for silence. Another target had come into his sights. A far grander prize. Sherry was down there, seated next to another Japanese teen. He studied the face carefully, committing them to memory. They both looked like they had been through hell and back. Severely injured. Good, he thought. Hopefully it hurt. His anger was lost in the fantasy of all the fun he would have throwing the pair right back into the fires of damnation.
There was the rap of glass behind them, ending his reverie. Gin walked back to his car, bowing his head at the rear passenger window.
"What is it?" The old man said.
"It would appear Moonshine has been compromised. The safe house is on fire and the place is swarming with federal agents. I'll have Vodka take you somewhere safe and handle this myself."
"Damn the fool." The old man waved his boney arm. "Too ambitious. Too reckless that one. At least it would seem he had the good sense to initiate the failsafe. No matter. We have nothing more of value here."
"Sir…"
"Do not strike when the iron is hot but make the iron hot by striking." His boss rasped. "This is not the time or place. We shall regroup and consolidate our forces. Only then will we strike back at a time and place of our choosing. Let them have this day. We have all the time in the world."