Chapter Thirty-One - Asako Kato
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Asako Kato
ASAKO CROUCHED BEHIND a decorative shrub near the entrance of the psychology building. The frigid ground pressed into her knees.
“I’ve got you now,” She muttered. After hours of staking out Bellamy’s office, her patience had paid off. And not a moment too soon, her 25-year-old knees were starting to protest, this amateur sleuthing was taking its toll. Leaning forward through the shrubbery, she caught sight of the two of them.
Asako watched as a handsome broad-shouldered Jason with stylishly tousled auburn hair looked concerningly at Ethan, his jet black wavy hair equally artfully disheveled. They moved in unison, possessing a natural rhythm. Asako tilted her head, surveying them for a moment, Jason was just a bit taller than Ethan, the couple looked perfect together. While Jason portrayed a quiet confidence, Ethan seemed softer and understated.
They looked annoyingly perfect together. It made Asako ill.
Pfft — I could have a boyfriend or girlfriend if I wanted one too.
A pang of something — jealousy? Longing? Whatever it was rose in her watching an obviously perfect-for-each-other couple make their way inside the Henderson Building, they looked like they belonged on a glossy university campus brochure. Where was this envy coming from? She frowned at her reaction. Ethan and Jason had become the center of her world for the last week. Following and tracking their every move had become her full-time job — or at least that’s what she told herself.
I seriously need a personal life.
Jason held the door open for Ethan, murmuring something softly that made Jason smile as he briefly glanced in her direction. Asako couldn’t hear the words, but something told her she needed to work on her incognito-mode. She waited for them to disappear inside before stepping out from her hiding spot, she brushed her coat and made her way towards the building.
“All right, love birds,” she whispered, steeling herself. “Let’s see what you’re up to.”
Adjusting her scarf, she made her way inside. Through the glass double doors, her boots softly clacked on the linoleum floor as she worked to keep a distance while trailing them.
They seemed deep in conversation when they came to the entrance of Bellamy’s lab.
“Dr. Richard Bellamy,” she quietly sneered. Journalists at the Ledger had tried to get interviews with Bellamy, but he refused them. Why be interviewed by a lowly campus newspaper when you’re featured in the Washington Post or New York Times?
She watched as they entered, “I thought Mr. And Mr. Perfect were unemployed.” She said. “What are you doing back here?”
Quickly, she pulled her notepad and scribbled a note to herself. She occupied herself in thought, staring at the yellowing announcements and research flyers on a bulletin board just down from the lab entrance. She slipped into a shallow alcove near the corner trying to say out of sight, Asako wasn’t going anywhere. She had trailed them for days and now she had them cornered.
Glancing at her watch, her stomach gurgled with hunger.
“Damn it,” she muttered.
She sighed and stared longingly at the lab door. Asako figured if she was going to commit to this, she needed sustenance. Having passed a vending machine on the way in, she scurried back to the entrance of the Henderson Building and spotted the machines.
Digging through her small cross-body bag, she pulled out a few coins and made a selection from the meager offerings of the vending machines. Finals week was approaching and the graduate students had raided the vending machine during late-night study sessions.
Deciding on a pack of peanut butter cookies, she sighed knowing she’d be picking out the peanut butter from her teeth all night. She pressed the buttons with more force than necessary, making her selection. The machine hummed to life, the metal coil wound and pushed the pack of cookies forward as her stomach gave another growl of protest.
She watched it hungrily when the cookies tipped and teetered…and wedged between the glass and their spot on the top row shelf.
She froze, staring at the traitorous machine.
“Are you kidding me!?” she hissed.
Digging back into her bag she scrounged for a few more coins and found nothing but lip balm and a questionable slice of gum. Why did the campus have a coin-operated vending machine anyway? Everything had moved to student ID last year.
She gazed at the machine with malice, her stomach now roaring. Looking up and down the dimly lit hallway, she stepped forward and shook the vending machine.
“Give. Me. My. Dinner.” She muttered through gritted teeth, hitting the machine after every word. But her assault yielded nothing. The cookies mocked her from their position.
“Great. Just great.” Asako didn’t make it a habit of hating inanimate objects, but this vending machine was pushing the depths of her benevolence.
Again, she scanned her surroundings getting down on her hands and knees, pushing open the machine’s dispenser door, she reached her hand up and in towards the cookies but they were just out of reach. Then suddenly a flat palm gave two good whacks on the glass and the cookies fell to the bottom.
Asako looked up at Jason as he gave her a small crooked grin, “That top row always gives people trouble.”
Asako stood up brushing her knees off, “Thanks.” She said, her brow furrowing as she opened the cookies. Popping one in her mouth, “You’re Jason Havelock, right?” she said. “I’m Asako—”
“I know who you are,” Jason said, cutting her off. “Why are you following us?”
She chewed thoughtfully and then swallowed hard, taken aback by Jason’s pointed demeanor. Despite Asako’s doggedness, she wasn’t accustomed to such a straightforward introduction. But being a reporter meant that you chased the story no matter what, even if a handsome Hallmark holiday rom-com boyfriend of a foster kid was standing in front of you trying to throw you off the trail.
“At first, I needed a quote for the Ferris wheel, but then…” She trailed off.
Jason held up his hands, his gaze hardened,“We have no comment, now stop coming to our apartment. Leave us alone. We have nothing to say to a reporter.”
He turned on his heel and started in the other direction.
“Where’s Romeo? You leave him in there with Bellamy?” Asako called out. “Or, is it about the missing student? Naomi.”
Jason stopped. His back stiffened at the name.
Asako felt a thrill rise in her, she knew she was onto something, “She was your coworker in the lab wasn’t she? Is that what your boyfriend and Bellamy are talking about?”
Turning, Jason stepped towards her defiantly. While Asako didn’t feel threatened, she was unsure what he was going to do.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about, reporter. Leave. Us. Alone.” He said, his voice tightened.
For a moment, Asako felt her vision grow hazy, Jason seemed to flicker in and out of her sight.
Asako shook her head, her blood sugar must be getting low. She reached for another cookie, then collected herself, “I know that Naomi Halston and Ethan Hernandez had the same case worker when they were in the foster care system and I know you three worked in the same lab before she disappeared. Before she was found dead this afternoon.”
Jason stepped back, his face immediately softened, “What?”
Asako felt Jason’s armor crack just a bit, “She was found dead in front of the bell tower. Today. I saw the body myself.”
Jason was shocked, “I had no idea.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know,” Asako said, her tone less pointed.
Jason put one hand in his coat pocket, his other scratching the back of his neck. Then he sighed, “Maybe we should talk. You want something real to eat?” He said, pointing to the cookies.
Asako’s eyes flitted between him and the cookies, “What did you have in mind?”
‘I have some time to kill,” Jason said, as he pulled his phone from his pocket checking the time. “Let’s go to the union, I could use some coffee and you look like you could use a snack. It’s on me.”
Asako eyed him suspiciously, but she was not going to turn down an exclusive interview, “Okay, fine, but I get a least one official quote.”
Jason shrugged, smiling, and made his way towards the exit.
Asako had to admit, it was a nice smile and it annoyed her, “What about Ethan?”
“Oh, he’s going to be in there awhile,” he said, his eyes gazing down the long hallway toward Bellamy’s lab.