48. Kenzo
CHAPTER 48
KENZO
Right off of Red Rock Canyon Road, we take the scenic loop to Oak Creek. Going past the trailhead, there’s a large building hidden behind one of the sandstone rock formations. Out here, everything is rich red and mud brown, so the brown walls of the building camouflage the storage facility with the desert. With darker trim and authoritative writing over each door, it’s formal enough to be a visitor’s center; no one will ever second-guess its purpose. But there are no windows, and the double-door entrance and the garage hatch are always locked. It’s only one of several facilities we have spread throughout the desert.
Lightning cracks overhead. Vi startles, and I clench my jaw. The storm clouds swallow what’s left of the late afternoon light.
We’re here.
Jay stands outside of the building with his phone up to his ear, a smile on his scabbed lips. Bruised blue skin. Gray and brown hair smashed against his forehead. Sweat on his temple.
The bastard waves.
I check my holster, then get out of the car, moving slowly toward him. I consider telling Vi to stay in the car, but I know she won’t listen.
“This is it, isn’t it?” Jay asks. “I knew it.” He holds up the phone, and I aim my gun at the device, but he laughs. “I already sent the location to the Ito-gumi. They’re sending someone to pick it up right now.”
If he’s telling the truth, the Ito-gumi won’t do it themselves; they’ll hire someone else to come out here. And if Jay thinks they’ll actually pay up, he’s mistaken. The only reason they’ve kept him alive is to get more out of us, but he’s already lost that connection by letting Vi tell me everything.
Vi is my goddamn miracle.
“You’re fighting a losing battle,” I warn. “You don’t want to do this. The Endo-kai?—”
Jay’s hearty laughter bounces off of the sandstone. Thunder rolls around us, and the sky is gray and ominous. The storm is about to break.
“You ain’t gonna do shit,” Jay says. “The Ito-gumi will wipe their asses with your remains. It won’t be a war. It’ll be annihilation. ”
I want to ask what he means by “war,” but I don’t say anything. My word to keep him alive is null; he hurt Vi. I pull back the hammer on my gun.
“Do it! I dare you, motherfucker,” Jay howls like a madman. “See how sweet ol’ Vi likes it,” he mocks in a baby voice. He throws a look in her direction. “Good job. You played your part so well, sweetheart. You can drop the act now.”
“There is no act!” she shouts. “Give it up! The Endo-kai are coming!”
I put up a hand, making sure Vi stays back. Jay steps closer to the door, trying the handle to the storage facility, but it doesn’t budge.
“You can’t get in,” I shout.
“But I can, ” he says. He pulls out a different smartphone, a wide smirk on his face. “This is all I need.”
He presses it to the lock. A small light at the top of the keypad flashes red, then turns off. He wrinkles his nose. “What the?—”
I catapult my body toward him, pressing my gun to his temple, but he elbows me in the nose. I swing back, then connect my fist with his jaw. His teeth snap together, trying to bite me, but I crush his windpipe with my arm, and he kicks me.
“Give me your phone!” Jay shouts.
He rams toward me, and we roll on the ground, covered in dirt, trying to kill each other. Vi made me promise not to hurt him, but I can’t keep the promise now. Even if I don’t kill him, he has to die. The Endo-kai won’t let him go.
He punches my ear, and the red and brown rocks spin around me. I find my gun, but before I can aim, he lunges forward and pulls Vi into a headlock, keeping her imprisoned between the crook of his elbow and his other hand. Her face pools red, and with the way his hands are positioned, all it will take is one jerking movement, and he’ll break her neck.
“Drop the gun,” Jay says. “Fight me like a man. Isn’t that the honorable way to do this? The yakuza way? Fairness. Equality. Honor.”
I don’t care about honor, but when I aim the gun at Jay’s forehead, he shoves Vi in front of him, using her as his human shield.
“How good are you at shooting?” he asks. “Because Vivian here is pretty good at being my armor. I’ve been using her for a long time now.”
A tear slips down her cheek. She pulls at his arm, and he loosens the grip around her neck, giving her a small taste of air before he goes back to choking her again.
“Drop the gun, or I’ll kill her right now,” he says.
I don’t have time to think. I lower the gun to the ground, then lift both hands in the air. Jay shoves Vi out of his way as he leaps toward me. Vi loses balance, tripping over a rock and landing in the dirt. My heart stops. She coughs, struggling to breathe, but she pulls herself up to her hands and knees. She’s okay. Still, I race toward her.
Jay’s fists hit me at full force. He caught me off guard, using Vi to distract me, and it worked. I fall, hitting my head on a rock. I punch back, but I’m disoriented and everything shifts around like I’m slogging through mud. Jay pins me to the ground. I try using my legs to sling him off of me, but his punches rail into me. Blood trickles down my lips, and I’m on my back again.
I should have brought backup. I should’ve done a lot of things, but I couldn’t risk what Dice and Ronin could have done to Vi. I look around for her, but my vision is blurry. I can’t see her anywhere. I hope she took my car and ran.
Jay picks up a large rock in his hand, the size of a football, and raises it up in the air. I keep my eyes open, waiting for the last moment to strike. He’s playing dirty, using a rock. The damn hypocrite.
“Thanks for taking such good care of her,” he says. Then he swings the rock.
A gunshot snaps through the air, and the rock crashes next to my head, then breaks in two. The bullet echoes, mixing with the thunder booming over us.
A red hole paints Jay’s head. He locks eyes with me for a second, his expression blank, before he collapses on top of me.
Vi stands behind him, her elbows locked as she holds the gun, still aiming at Jay’s corpse.