Chapter Nine #2
“You what? Not all the way from the hospital?” Aurora was aghast. The hospital was on the outskirts of town and at least fifteen kilometers from her place, so it would’ve taken him hours to walk that far in these conditions and in the dark.
Instinctively, she took his hands between her own.
They were like ice blocks. She began to rub them gently, trying to impart some of her warmth into his frozen digits.
Even ice-cold, there was something about having his hands in hers.
The touch was electric, and even though she tried to ignore the sensation, it reminded her of their hands entwined last night, and threatened to bring back those thoughts of wanting to kiss him.
She suddenly became acutely aware that she was only wearing her worn cotton pajamas.
This was the second time in two days he’d encountered her in her fluffy pink nightclothes, and she mentally kicked herself.
Why couldn’t she have been wearing something a little sexier?
Like that cute little pair of silk pajamas she’d bought on a whim last year.
But no, he had to see her in her most frumpy outfit.
She avoided his gaze, not wanting him to see how embarrassed she was.
His voice brought her back to the present problem at hand.
“No, only from the main road that skirts your suburb. I got that much right at least. But then the Uber driver got confused, and then mad at me because I asked him to drive up and down all the streets, so we both agreed he would drop me at that big roundabout out on the main road.”
“You mean Bensbyv?gen?” That was the large arterial road that serviced her suburb, leading back out to the main highway.
Even if he’d known exactly where to come, the walk would’ve taken him twenty minutes or so, but it sounded like he was out there walking up and down the streets for perhaps an hour or more.
“Probably. That sounds about right. I didn’t think it would take me quite so long to find your place, I must admit.
This place is like a maze…” His voice trailed off, and she looked up to find his gaze fixed on her.
“That feels nice,” he acknowledged, his fingers tightening around hers.
Was that a flash of desire she saw in his eyes?
That wasn’t what she been aiming for when she took up his hands to warm them, but now…
She couldn’t believe she was actually thinking this, but if her father hadn’t been in the next room, she might’ve even leaned in to try to taste him.
It really wasn’t the time or the place, but try telling her hormones that.
Her body was suddenly alight with craving.
Craving to take his mouth in hers, find out if those lips were as delectable as they looked.
Find out if he too felt this overwhelming desire like she did.
He would be a great kisser, she just knew it.
“Tell me who is there.” Karl demanded from the kitchen, his voice breaking into their intimate interlude, hitting her like a slap in the face.
“Bloody hell,” Aurora whispered. But knowing she needed to answer him, she said more loudly, “It’s my friend Jiro, from the other night.
We’ll be in in a second.” Time to stop her daydreaming and get on with reality.
Dropping her voice to a whisper again, she asked, “Why didn’t you message me? I would’ve come and got you.”
“I’ve been trying to text you for the past hour,” he replied, raising both eyebrows so they disappeared beneath his lock of unruly hair.
Aurora stopped chafing his hands between hers. “What? But my phone is… Oh, God, I’m sorry, it’s next to my bed. I leave it on silent so it doesn’t annoy my father first thing in the morning. And I just haven't checked it since I got up.”
“It’s not your fault,” he assured her. “I left the hospital in a rush, which is why I forgot my gloves and beanie.” He glanced down at where their hands were still joined. “But I might leave my gloves behind more often if this is the treatment I get.”
Aurora smiled at that. “Come on, let me make you a hot coffee and get you something hot to eat.” Reluctantly, she let go of his hands and turned to go into the kitchen.
“I don’t have time to eat,” Jiro countered as he reached into the front pocket of his pants and pulled out his phone.
“I wasn’t joking when I said I needed your help.
I can’t find Taro. I left the hospital room to get something to eat this morning.
I was only gone for half an hour, but when I came back, Taro was nowhere to be found. ”
“Okay.” Aurora wasn’t sure why that was such an emergency.
“I tried to call him and message him, but his phone must be turned off. It’s weird. Taro had nowhere to go and no one to see. We were both waiting for Papa to wake up. Why would he just leave?”
That did sound a little weird. But she hadn’t been privy to their conversation last night.
What had Taro told him about their father’s potential kidnapping?
Before she’d left the hospital room, Taro had said something about it being his fault.
She didn’t know exactly what he meant by that, but he clearly knew more than he was letting on to the cops.
Which didn’t bode well for anyone in that family, including Jiro.
“Did he say something last night that might make you think he could be in trouble too?” she asked, her cop brain taking over as she studied him with narrowed eyes.
“Look…” he paused and gritted his teeth. “Yes, he did. But I’m not sure what I can reveal. Yet.” He hesitated again, his face screwing up in aggravation as he rubbed the back of his neck. “He’s trying to find a way out of this without anyone else getting hurt. But…”
“But what?” she queried. “It doesn’t sound like his plan is working if he’s gone missing. Has he been kidnapped too?” This was beginning to sound surreal all over again. First Kenichi, and now the older brother. There was something going on in his family.
“It’s possible.” Jiro’s handsome face paled as he made the admission. “I got this text as soon as I walked into the hospital room.” He held out his phone so she could read the words.
If you want to see your brother alive, you need to do exactly as I say.
Follow the clues I send you, and they will lead you to him.
Taro has been a very naughty boy, but he is learning his lesson.
And so will you. The same rules apply as before, no police.
If you do go to the cops, Taro will not survive.
Apart from one exception. Make sure to take your pig girlfriend with you.
If you don’t, there may be a terrible and very tragic accident at work for her in the future.
Delete this message as soon as you have read it.
“What the actual fuck?” She was assuming by pig girlfriend, this person meant her; she’d heard the term pig used on American television as a derogatory term for a police officer.
And what exactly did they mean by a tragic accident?
Were they threatening her? Because if they were, that was unacceptable.
Now she understood the pained expression on Jiro’s face.
This had become very personal for her. Whoever this was, they were playing dirty.
But he’d already admitted he knew more than he was telling her.
So, she needed him to answer her questions.
“Who is this person? And why do they want me to go with you?”
“I’d be guessing.” Jiro raised his palms upward in supplication when she gave an exasperated snort, and said, “Look, I have my suspicions from what Taro told me last night, and it possibly has something to do with a link to the Yakuza, but any more than that I can't say. And as to why you have to go, I’ve been thinking about that on my way over here. Perhaps he—whoever he is—thinks you know too much?” Jiro looked as if he was going to be sick.
“God, Aurora, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to get you involved. But now I don’t know what to do.”
The Yakuza? Aurora was completely thrown by that statement.
She knew very little about the criminal groups that made up the larger entity, but according to her police knowledge, small as that may be, they didn’t have much Yakuza activity here in northern Sweden.
So it seemed perhaps the Nashimori family had brought their trouble along with them.
One thing she knew for sure; she shouldn’t go with Jiro.
She’d already promised M?rten she wouldn’t get involved in anything else outside the strict line of her duties.
Going off alone with Jiro would break all the rules yet again and break all trust with M?rten.
She didn’t want to do that. There was a lot she needed to dissect in the message that Jiro had just delivered.
Too much to digest in only a few moments; she would need to gather as much information as she could first.
She asked the next logical question that came to mind. “Have you had any more messages since that one?”
“No,” he shook his head with a rueful grimace.
So what was this guy waiting for? How would he know when to send the first clue?
Was he tracking Jiro? Did he know that he was now at Aurora’s house recruiting her to the cause?
Waiting to send the next message until he knew she’d agreed to the terms. The thought made her sick to her stomach.
Because it meant that now she wasn’t the only one in danger.
If they knew where she lived, Karl could be next on their hit list. Fuck that.
She might struggle to love her father, but she certainly wasn’t going to leave him to the mercies of some thug.
“I’m so sorry, Aurora,” Jiro said again. She wasn’t sure what to do with the apology. She understood that Jiro was exceedingly troubled about the whole thing, and really didn’t want her mixed up in it, but it didn’t make the circumstances any less dire. Or get her out of this sticky situation.