Chapter 18 The Crucial Clues #4
“Right!” Jack said and quickly moved his nearly six foot frame to the door. His dark brown hair bounced as he jostled between the Jeep and the wall. He opened the door then turned back to smile, his brown eyes lighting up for the first time in weeks. “Freedom looks so good. Can we have pizza?”
“Pizza?” Keith asked as he moved in behind him.
“Sure. I’ll have Randy bring some Papa Murphy’s with him.
Get inside,” Keith urged, pushing Jack into the house.
Keith followed him in, then Brick checked the area one last time before joining them.
“Stay away from any windows Jack. Take that second doorway on the left for your room.”
“Where’s the bathroom?” Jack asked.
“First doorway on the left. The one on the right is my room. Brick will be sharing your room and Danny will take the second room on the right. Randy will be keeping the living room to himself.”
“Sounds like you’ve done this before,” Jack mused as he started down the hallway.
“A time or two,” Danny confirmed with a hearty laugh. “This ain’t our first rodeo, Jack ol’ boy.”
“Get settled in. We might be here for a while. Brick, call Marvin and update him. I’ll call David and try to find out more about that situation.”
“Got it,” Brick replied. “I’ll check our room,” he said as he passed Jack in the hall.
Jack finally turned into the bathroom as Brick entered the bedroom.
“Hey Marvin, we’re safe on site. Thanks for the help, partner.
” There was a pause while Brick listened.
“Yeah, just let my folks know I won’t be home for dinner like I had promised.
Give them my regrets but don’t tell them anything else. Right. Talk with you later. Bye.”
“David,” Keith began on his cell phone as he turned into his room, moving to the window to peer out.
“We’ve got a lot more information thanks to Jack.
So, how’s Greg? What do you mean you don’t know?
Hold on, am I hearing music in the background?
” Keith had a perplexed look on his face.
“Well, okay, if Darren said to stay put for now, then that’s the best thing.
I want an update on Greg as soon as you get one.
” He stepped back into the hallway as Danny emerged from his room.
“Greg’s in the hospital and stable, but that’s all he has right now. David’s still at the reception.”
“Makes sense,” Danny said matter of fact like. “He can’t do anything for Greg, and that wedding was his baby.”
“I guess,” Keith grudgingly admitted. “Let’s start pouring over all this information that Jack smuggled out with him.”
“Sounds good. Randy said he’s on his way with five different Papa Murphy specialty pizzas.”
“Tell me he was smart enough to order the original crust and family sized,” Keith begged.
“I confirmed it. He’s also got three two-liters of Pepsi, one Dr. Pepper, and the Cinna wheel,” Danny said with a smile. “I guess he learned from last time?”
“After the butt chewing I gave him, he’d better have,” Keith said with a bit of tongue in cheek. “He’s a good man, but doesn’t always follow all the directions to the letter. Sometimes that’s a good thing but others it shoots you in the foot.”
“Don’t be so hard on your cousin. He’s worked hard trying to live up to your reputation in the teams,” Danny said, patting Keith on the shoulder.
“Grab me a Modelo Negro, please. I’m going to hit the head before I come to the dining room,” he said as Jack exited the bathroom. Danny took the paperwork and headed down the hall as Keith stepped into the bathroom.
“Did he just say head?” Jack asked, a puzzled look on his face. Brick just stood there in the hallway looking at Jack like he was clueless. “What?”
“He was in the Navy, Jack. They refer to the bathroom as the head, numnutz. Now, get yourself situated, I’ve got to look through that data you smuggled out.”
“Hey, Brick?” Jack called back from the door of the bedroom. “What is this Norikuko thing that kept coming up?”
“WHAT?” Brick said in shock and was immediately in front of Jack. “Did you just say Norikuko?”
“Yeah. That place is all over those communications from Jenny to Lance,” he confirmed nonchalantly.
“Oh My God!” Brick said and slapped his own face with an open hand. “She’s the mother!”
“Mother?” Jack said even more confused than before.
“Norikuko Tashugi is Noboko Tashugi’s mother, and the widow of the late Nobuko Tashugi who invented a new way of finding oil at the bottom of the Pacific.”
“Oh…I see now. It’s not a place, it’s a person.” Jack froze in place and terror suddenly filled his face. “She’s in grave danger then!” he exclaimed and sprinted toward the dining room. “Where’s page twelve?!” he demanded.
“On the right side there,” Danny said. “Why?” Danny could see the fear in the eyes of Jack as he started flipping through the pages of data he’d brought. “What’s wrong Jack?!”
“Here it is, on page twelve. Project Norikuko!” He thrust the papers at Danny. “Read this!” Danny took the papers and began reading, mumbling the words as he went. “Brace yourself,” Jack warned as Brick came into the dining room.
“WHAT! Holy crap!” Danny nearly dropped the papers as his arms collapsed beside him. “We’ve gotta warn Tanaka-San! They’re going to try to kidnap her!”