CHAPTER 14 #2
“If she’s the perpetrator, she’ll be on one of those cameras,” Teruo said. “There’s no other street to take, so she had to pass either by the parking lot, or by the bank.”
“But she could easily hide her face,” Nakagawa said.
“No worries,” Teruo assured her. “We already have a list of suspects thanks to Morimoto’s son, and with this witness statement, we’ll be able to narrow it down.”
The list of suspects was in fact the list of extractors that Shinji had gotten from the Onmyōryō database, not the son, but Nakagawa couldn’t know that. And if Horiuchi kept her word, she would point out which of the extractors she suspected.
What really pissed Shinji off was the fact that Horiuchi seemed to have sat on this information the entire time, effectively letting an extractor murder six people, and it was likely to prevent panic and avoid exposure.
He felt that, if there was any time the Onmyōryō could take a damn risk for once, it was right now.
Unless she had bluffed and didn’t actually know who the responsible extractor was.
There were fourteen extractors on Shinji’s list and eight of them were women. Out of those eight, one was the killer. If Horiuchi had lied, Shinji intended to drag them all at the TMPD, do a lineup, and call the neighbor to identify them.
~ * ~
Teruo pulled the car into the parking lot and the engine barely had time to settle before he stepped out. Nakagawa quickly caught up with him, but Shinji remained behind, disheartened at the way Teruo was avoiding the conversation.
But Shinji wasn’t having it.
He caught up in a few quick strides. “Chief, may we talk privately?”
Teruo halted, his lips parting like he wanted to say something, but couldn’t. Before Shinji had a chance to ask one more time, Nakagawa spoke:
“I’ll go ahead and set things up in the office.”
“Yeah.” Teruo let out a breath. “Thanks. We’ll be right there.”
Shinji waited until Nakagawa was out of earshot before stepping closer. “Archive room, please,” he whispered.
“All right,” Teruo said as he changed direction, heading toward the farthest corridor of the first floor where the old archive room was. “I was hoping we’d talk at home about it.”
“We’ll get home late in the evening,” Shinji replied.
Though it was Saturday, there were still quite a few officers around. Two passed by them, bowing toward Teruo, but staring at Shinji who ignored them. They could stare until their eyes popped out of their heads. He didn’t care anymore.
After flicking his gaze behind him to make sure no one was walking in their direction, he unlocked the archive room’s door and hurried inside. The room faced the sun, and the air was thick with heat, only adding fuel to his irritation.
Shinji eyed Teruo, who averted his gaze. “What did you promise her?” Shinji asked, his voice choking with dread.
“That I’ll let the mad scientists at the Onmyōryō analyze my soul.”
A long and heavy moment passed before Shinji let out a humorless laugh. “You’re nuts,” he stated. “How can you just promise that? Hell knows what they’ll do to you.”
Teruo finally met his eyes and said, “Is it worse than death? Because that’s where I’m headed to right now. Be truthful: Do you think they plan to kill me?”
“No!” Shinji hesitated. “I don’t know… That’s why I’m worried!”
“If Horiuchi or anyone else wanted that, don’t you think they’d have done it already? If they keep me alive, then I’m fine with them doing whatever magic tricks they wanna do to fix me.” Teruo exhaled slowly. “Or would you rather I wait and die?”
“No, of course not!” Shinji held his breath for a moment. “I’m worried about you. About your safety. Kazuya—”
“Nakajima Kazuya hasn’t answered his phone. He’s still browsing through the journals. Do I really have time to wait for him? Because last we spoke, he didn’t seem to think so.” Teruo shrugged. “I know he made assurances, and I believe him. But I also believe one more helping hand won’t hurt.”
“What if she’s not a helping hand? She is the leader of the extractors.”
Teruo raised his palm. “And I plan on asking for an explanation. Just because she’s my superior officer, don’t think I won’t interrogate her.”
Shinji wrapped his hands in his hair, pacing around the small room, ruminating over Teruo’s words. He did have a point, and yet, this was Horiuchi they were talking about. She was intentionally withholding information about a rogue extractor and was bartering Teruo’s soul in exchange for clues.
How could they possibly trust her?
“You could withdraw the promise,” Shinji said. “Just tell her you chickened out—”
“Shinji…”
“Any excuse—”
“Shinji, come on.” Teruo stepped in front of him and gently grasped his upper arms. “I want this to be my decision, okay? I heard all the warnings that you, the superintendent and Nakajima gave me. Since we met, I have done my best to process, to understand, to keep up with your world, a world I can’t even properly see.
” Dejection crossed his face. “Besides your reiryoku, everything else is invisible to me. My soul is dying and I have to take others’ words for it.
I’m done being cautious and I’m done running from the Onmyōryō. I want to talk things out.”
Shinji deflated, closing his eyes for a second. Teruo was right that they always jumped to the worst possible scenario whenever Teruo’s healing powers and his soul were concerned, but it wasn’t like they based it on nothing. With all the good the Onmyōryō did, they also caused plenty of harm.
He knew that his caution came from all the things that had happened in his past—things he couldn’t move on from—and many other injustices the Onmyōryō did and for which no one was held accountable. He didn’t want Teruo to end up as yet another victim of theirs.
“Hey,” Teruo said softly, his arms wrapping around Shinji. “It’ll be okay.” He pulled Shinji into a tight hug, one hand cradling the back of his head, fingers tangling gently in his hair.
Their cheeks brushed, Teruo’s rough with stubble, and Shinji placed a kiss on his jaw, loving the prickle of hairs on his lips. His hands clutched at the back of Teruo’s shirt, fingers twisting in the fabric and holding tight.
From the corner of his eye, he could see the low, white glow of his energy, dimming slowly as his breathing calmed. He dropped his forehead against Teruo’s shoulder. He could not let the Onmyōryō get its slimy hands on Teruo. He had to do something.
An idea began to take shape in his mind when Teruo’s phone buzzed. They reluctantly pulled away and Teruo checked it.
“It’s Horiuchi. She wants to see us.”