Chapter Sixteen #3
Sam squeezed her hand and she leaned her head on his shoulder for just a moment, taking the quiet strength he offered.
She’d been dreading seeing Akiko. Dreading the sadness she knew she’d see in her sister’s eyes, because there was nothing she could do.
There was no way to fix this, to make Akiko whole again.
“She’ll be okay,” Sam murmured. “She’s as strong as you are.”
And that was true. They were strong in different ways, but they were both children of Harlan and Betsy McKittrick. They’d be okay.
Lennox took the chair closest to Harlan. “Any change on Ito?”
Harlan wobbled his hand. “A little. He woke up two hours ago, but he’s on some heavy pain meds. He was awake for a few minutes and went back to sleep. But it’s sleep, now, and not unconsciousness, so that’s an improvement.”
“Did he say anything?” Kit asked.
“Told Akiko he loved her. Asked for Ricky.” He sighed. “Asked for Paolo.”
“Did Akiko tell him?” Kit asked.
“No. She was afraid of what the news would do to him. He was fuzzy, anyway. Couldn’t tell the doctor what year it was or what year he was born.”
Poor Akiko. “Then she was right to hold off on telling him. We have other news for her and most of it isn’t good.”
Harlan exhaled quietly. “Tell me.”
“Someone broke into her house, Pop. Made a mess. They were looking for something specific. They did the same thing to Paolo’s house and the house belonging to Leo Sherman’s mistress.”
“Why?” The whispered question came from behind them, the voice achingly familiar.
Kit lurched to her feet to find Akiko in the waiting room doorway. She met her halfway and folded her sister into a hug, tightening her hold when Akiko began to cry.
“Why is this happening?”
Kit’s arm was throbbing but she didn’t break the hug. “I don’t know. But we will figure it out.”
“Paolo and Hanshi and…my aunt. I never got to know her. And now my house?”
Kit’s eyes stung. “I know. I’m so sorry.”
She held Akiko until her sister’s sobs subsided, and then Kit pulled Akiko onto the sofa so that her sister was between her and Harlan.
“Where’s Lennox?” Kit asked, because Sam had moved to the chair that Lennox had been using. The detective was no longer in the room.
“Had to take a call,” Sam said. He passed a box of tissues and a bottle of water to Akiko. “You need to replace all that water you just cried out.”
Akiko hiccupped a small laugh, her head on Harlan’s broad shoulder. “Thank you, Sam.”
Kit drew a breath. “Okay, so there’s more.”
Akiko closed her eyes. “Of course there is.”
Kit took her hand. “Paolo was being investigated by the ATF.”
Akiko’s eyes flew open. “The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms?”
“The very same. They said he was using your boat to smuggle guns.”
Akiko paled. “What?”
Kit glanced at her father. “You kept her off social media?”
Harlan nodded once. “I forgot to charge her phone.”
Forgot on purpose, he meant.
Kit braced herself. “Okay, so some of this has been published online.”
“The name of my boat?” Akiko whispered.
“Yes.” Kit tried to keep her tone factual. “And your name is listed as the owner, but you’re not listed as a suspect in any of the articles I read.”
“My business,” she whispered. “This is gonna ruin me. Which sounds so selfish of me. People are dead. I’m a terrible person.”
“You are not,” Harlan said firmly. He kissed her temple. “Worrying about your business is a normal thing. Paolo betrayed your trust, honey. He must have gotten mixed up with the wrong kind of people.”
“Exactly,” Sam said. “You’re good and kind, Akiko, and we’ll mount an Akiko-is-good-and-kind PR campaign once this is over. And believe it or not, a lot of people are going to be drawn to the excitement of a boat that smuggled contraband.”
“Weirdos,” Akiko muttered.
“As long as their money’s good,” Kit said. “Okay. There’s more.”
Akiko dropped her chin to her chest. “What?”
“Paolo had the guns on your boat last night, but he ended up not meeting with his client. The ATF wanted the client, so they let him return to dock with the guns. No one is sure where they went after that, but someone wanted it to look like you were involved. The empty gun crates were in your garage.”
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Akiko whispered.
Sam rose quietly to retrieve a trash can from the corner and Kit offered him a small smile of thanks.
I couldn’t get through this without him.
Well, she probably could, but she was glad she didn’t have to.
Kit rubbed Akiko’s back in wide circles, just like Akiko did for her when she was upset. “They stole your customer files for the final quarter of last year and this year so far.”
Akiko looked up, her face a ghastly gray. “Why?”
Kit drew another breath. “There was another murder. The woman Leo Sherman was seeing.”
“He was cheating?” Akiko’s voice rose an octave.
“He was. Apparently had been for a long time. We’re still not sure why this woman was killed. Her name was Laurette Curry. Did you know her?”
“No. Never heard of her.”
“There were some photos on her bedroom wall. Of you.”
Akiko seemed to deflate. “Me? Why?”
“We don’t know, but my gut tells me it was to protect you.”
Akiko stared at her. “Protect me? What the fuck?”
“Mary Sherman was meeting with three men in LA,” Kit told her.
“We don’t know why. Ricky Nicchi and your grandfather were two of the men.
We don’t know the identity of the third, but it looks like he might have been the person to post those photos on Laurette Curry’s wall.
They were taken on your boat, sometime after Christmas.
We know because you’re wearing the coat that I gave you. ”
Akiko shrank back into the sofa. “So someone came on my boat to hurt me?”
“Maybe,” Sam said. “But the photos clued us to look at your passenger lists.”
“Which were stolen,” Kit added. “But those are just the liability forms everyone has to sign. You have the passenger lists on your computer, don’t you?”
“Yes. Files are stored on the cloud.”
“Good. Detective Lennox will need them.” She hoped the woman came back from her phone call soon. Lennox had wanted to be present when Kit told Akiko about her half brother’s identity.
Akiko frowned faintly. “I thought you didn’t like her.”
“I don’t like her partner. Lennox has been a stand-up cop.”
“How has so much changed so quickly?”
“It’s been a ride,” Kit said.
“Is that it?” Akiko asked. “Everything you needed to tell me? Please say that’s it.”
Kit hesitated, wishing Lennox would hurry up and return. “There’s more.”
“Oh God,” Akiko whispered. Then she squared her shoulders. “What is it?”
“I have some news,” came Navarro’s voice.
Heads snapped to the doorway, where the lieutenant stood, looking awkward as hell.
As he should, Kit thought, narrowing her eyes at him.
“Why are you here?” Sam asked, not unkindly.
“Because I have news,” Navarro said.
Which wasn’t what Sam had meant, and Navarro knew it. Like Kit, Sam wanted to know why Navarro had driven all the way to LA to impart this news. Why not call or text?
“Just tell me,” Akiko said wearily.
Navarro pulled an empty chair next to Sam’s and sat down. “First, I’m so sorry for your loss. I know you and Paolo were close.”
Akiko nodded. “Thank you.” But her tone was wooden.
“We identified the man who killed your aunt, Mary Sherman,” Navarro said. “His name is Daisuke Takahashi.”
Akiko flinched. “Danny? He joined our dojo last summer. He came from the LA dojo, where he was one of Ricky’s students. Hanshi said he’d been through a lot.”
“So Nicchi did know him,” Kit said with satisfaction, nodding at Sam. “You were right.”
“Wait,” Akiko said, shaking her head. “Just wait. Danny is my half brother? Danny Takahashi?”
“Yes,” Navarro confirmed. “DNA from the skin cells found under Mary Sherman’s fingernails was matched to his criminal record.”
“I heard he was in juvie in LA,” Akiko said, “but not what he did.”
“Carjacking,” Kit told her. “And assault on the driver. Plus grand theft auto.”
“Oh, Danny.” Akiko sighed. “So who’s his father?”
And her own father, but that went unsaid.
“Kenzo Takahashi,” Navarro said. “He lives here in LA. Wealthy businessman. Have you heard of him, Akiko?”
“No.” Akiko pressed her fingertips to her temples. “Paolo and Danny hung out together outside the dojo. Was Danny involved in the gun running?”
“We don’t kn—” Kit started, but Navarro said, “Yes.”
She looked at Navarro in surprise.
“What’s happened?” Sam asked. “How do you know that?”
Navarro looked uncomfortable. “We located the guns that were taken from the shipping crates in your garage. They were in a storage unit rented under Akiko’s name.”
“No way,” Kit snapped, surging to her feet. “You are not pinning this on my sister.”
“Of course I’m not,” Navarro said irritably. “Please sit down, Detective.”
“Not a detective,” Kit grumbled as she sat down. “Suspended. Remember?”
“Oh yes, I remember,” Navarro said, his tone heavy. Like he was upset at her suspension.
Too damn bad. Kit didn’t feel sorry for him.
“Tell us about this storage unit, Lieutenant,” Harlan said quietly.
“Yes, sir,” Kit said. “Please do.”
Navarro’s shoulders slumped. “Still making ‘sir’ into a slur.”
Kit shrugged and said nothing. Yes, she was being petty and quite possibly immature. She didn’t care.
“The storage unit was rented by a man using Akiko’s name on a fake ID.
I suppose he figured the guy behind the counter wouldn’t know that Akiko is a woman’s name.
At any rate, the signatures do not match yours, nor was your credit card used.
The surveillance recordings show a man moving the guns from a ten-foot truck into the storage unit.
He had on a long black wig, like he was trying to look like you. ”
Akiko nodded silently. Numbly.
“I’m sorry,” Kit whispered. “I wish this was happening to me instead of to you.”
“It shouldn’t be happening to either of us,” Akiko whispered back. “But you’ll fix this. I know you will.”
“How did you locate the storage unit?” Sam asked.