CHAPTER 61
CHAPTER
“HE WAS JUST CHECKING IN,” said Nash. “He might have some leads on Walter Nash that he needs my help in running down.”
Steers walked toward him. “That may be a moot point now.”
“You mean you don’t care about finding Nash now? But it was your top priority.”
“When circumstances change, so do goals and priorities. The man that was here to meet with me?”
“Yes.”
“He is acquiring my business.”
Nash pretended to be stunned by this revelation. “What? Why?”
“Because it is time that I no longer do what I have done for far too long.”
“Will you be leaving here then?” asked Nash.
“I do not know.”
“But you talked about this man wanting to kill you.”
“One way to forestall that was by selling out to him. Then he can do what he wants.”
“And he’s agreed to this?”
“He will. I made the purchase price too appealing.”
Nash knew that it was one dollar but he wanted to know more. He said, “But if you make it too cheap he’ll probably think there’s something wrong with the business, or else you’re trying to trick or trap him somehow.”
“Of course he will because that is perfectly natural.”
“Again, I don’t understand.”
“As I told you before, you need not understand. Only I need to understand.”
“And your mother? What does she say about this?”
“She says nothing.”
“Because you haven’t told her? She doesn’t know?”
“I did not say that, did I?”
Nash took a step back. “Forgive me. I’m making inquiries about things that do not concern me.”
“I understand your natural curiosity. And what I have done will impact you.”
“You mean you won’t have need of my services anymore?”
“Quite the reverse. You will be one of the few things between me and a premature death. So I ask that you exercise hypervigilance going forward, Dillon-san, and stand by me. The coming days and weeks could be quite. . .bumpy.”
She walked back into the house, leaving Nash more confused than ever.
* * *
Nash called Shock and filled him in on Temple’s discovering Nash’s true identity.
“I threatened him with death if he tried to screw me. But I feel like an idiot for letting him find out the truth. You warned me about fingerprints.”
“Ain’t nothing we can do ’bout that now. So what does he want?”
“He wants you to do for him what you did for me,” said Nash. “But you do not have to do this. In fact most of me wants you to tell him to fuck off and leave him to the wolves.”
“But that may not help you,” said Shock.
“You’ve done enough for me, Shock. More than enough.”
“I’ll take the dude on, Walter.”
“Why?”
“Because it’ll help you. That’s good enough reason for me.”
“But what if it’s some kind of setup? I don’t want you in the middle of it.”
“I’ll know pretty early on if the dude ain’t legit and he’s got another agenda. And I ain’t gonna let no rich prick take me down.”
“What will you do if he does have another agenda?”
“Ain’t no need for you to know that, Walter. That will make you an accessory before the fact.”
Nash gave him Temple’s contact information and clicked off, just as he got a message from Masuyo that she wanted to go out. Now. But just with him.
He texted Thura, telling him this. He also instructed Thura to tell the rest of the security team to be especially attentive to their duties. He then headed to Masuyo’s suite of rooms.
She was waiting for him and already had her coat on.
Nash walked her out to one of the vehicles and got her settled inside. She told him the address she wanted to travel to and they set off.
As he drove along, Nash said, “I have seen nothing of Hirokosan of late. Her room is empty. Do you know anything?”
“I told you before that I do not answer ridiculous queries from my security people,” she snapped.
“Sorry.”
“What does my daughter say about her?” asked Masuyo.
“I have not asked her.”
“If you ask me it is good riddance. The old, foolish woman was not a good influence on my precious daughter.”
“I’m not sure she would see it that way.”
“Then she is as foolish as the old woman.”
The old woman who you murdered, thought Nash.
He drove to the address and parked in front of the office building. When he started to follow her inside, Masuyo told him to wait with the car.
“You’re sure?” he said.
“If I were not I would not have said so,” she replied brusquely and then walked inside.
Peering through the glass doors Nash waited until she was in the elevator before he slipped inside. He watched as the elevator rose to the eighth floor. Then he hurried over to the office directory and looked at the places on the eighth floor.
Dentists and doctors and lawyers and . . .
An import-export company, which the Mandarin characters translated to “Out of This World LLC,” he found out with the aid of a phone app.
He took the stairs up to the eighth floor, opened the door, and peered out.
There was no one walking down the hall. Following the descending office numbers he made his way around a corner and peered down it. Halfway along the corridor he saw a set of wooden doors with the name of the company on a square of metal next to it.
He quickly walked toward it and noted that there was a button to ring if one wanted to be admitted. So they kept the door locked, he thought.
He took a picture of the doorway and sign. Then he rode the elevator back down and got into the car. He texted the picture to Reed Morris and asked him to find out what he could about the company.
He sat there and wondered why Masuyo would be visiting such a place. What did she have to import or export?
A half hour later, through the glass doors, he saw her exit the elevator. He got out of the car and held the building’s door open for her and then helped Masuyo into the car.
As they drove off he said, “Back home or somewhere else, Mrs. Steers?”
She stared at him in the mirror with more intensity than his simple question warranted, he thought. Something else was clearly going on here.
“Let’s go get a drink. And talk, Dillon.”
“Yes, ma’am. Any place in particular?”
“You pick.”
He drove them to a downtown restaurant that had an outdoor section. At this hour it was pretty much empty. They sat at a table and ordered their drinks. Masuyo had a martini while Nash opted for a tonic and lime.
“Still on duty,” he said to Masuyo, who looked at him with contempt.
“I would think a man as large as you could hold his liquor.”
After their drinks came and they had each taken a sip, Masuyo, who had not taken her eyes off Nash the whole time said, “For some odd reason my daughter has taken a fancy to you. I’m sure you are aware of this, Dillon-san. After all, you are the only one she refers to in that way.”
“Except for Hiroko-san,” he corrected. “And it is an honor for me,” he said casually and he hoped disarmingly. “And keep in mind that I saved her from an assassination attempt. It’s perfectly reasonable that she would be grateful.”
“Why? Because you simply managed to do your job?” she said derisively.
“Gratitude can take many forms.”
“I see that you have chosen to be both evasive and deceptive in your responses.”
“I wasn’t aware I was being either,” he replied quietly.
“A man visited my daughter. A very powerful man. The same man that had imprisoned me for all those years.”
“I was aware of his visit. I was not aware that he was connected to the prison.”
“Well, now you are. My daughter made an arrangement with him. I would like to know the details.”
“Surely, you can ask her.”
“You do not know?”
“That is something that your daughter, in her boundless wisdom, would not confide in someone like me, Mrs. Steers.”
Masuyo stared at him for so long that Nash barely managed to maintain eye contact. It was a withering look that seemed to drain all the energy and resolve out of him. He could not imagine having such a person as a mother.
Or as an enemy. But she surely is an enemy. For both me and her daughter.
“Then I need you to find out.”
“How can I possibly do that?” he said.
“You can ask her.”
“Clearly your daughter would tell you if you asked her.”
“And if I wish that you do it?”
“I can try, but I cannot guarantee that I will be successful.”
“Then if you’re not, you can consider yourself terminated. And you will explain it to my daughter as your wish to leave and tell her nothing of my request.” She paused and studied him. “But of course you will tell her the truth in an attempt to save face with her and blame me for your leaving.”
“I will do my best, but again, the simplest way would be for you to ask her.”
“I will await your results with interest,” Masuyo replied, picking up her drink once more. “But do not take more than a day or two to provide them.”
After driving Masuyo back home, Nash walked toward the guesthouse, thinking that Steers had deliberately kept the lines of command vague between his mother and herself and him.
And if I have to speculate, it was to prove my loyalty to her and also get her mother to prove her dominance. And to do that, she has to confide in me to a certain extent. And then Steers will expect me to report back to her. Which means I’m spying on her mother for her.
This was getting beyond his capability to process.
As soon as he walked into the guesthouse Nash received a reply from Reed Morris.
THE COMPANY IN QUESTION IS SUSPECTED OF BEING PART OF A CHINESE ESPIONAGE RING BUT NO HARD PROOF.
So it seems that Masuyo has gone rogue again.