Chapter Eighteen #2
“I think the better question is,” Sam said, “who could be worth your silence? Who are you protecting?”
Eddie Ito turned his face away from Kit and Sam, who stood on one side of his bed, closing his eyes so that he didn’t have to look at Akiko, who stood on the other side. “Please stop,” he murmured. “Just…stop.”
Sam stepped back from the hospital bed, shaking out his hands. He’d been clenching his fists so hard that his fingers ached. It was a singularly helpless feeling. Ito knew what was going on. He knew. Sam had never been surer of anything in his life.
“This is unbelievable,” he muttered.
Never before had he wanted to strike an old man.
“Excuse me.” Lennox approached Ito’s bed.
“Mr. Ito, my name is Detective Lennox, SDPD. I’m the primary investigator on this case.
You have evidence that you’re refusing to share with your family and their friends.
I’m asking you now in an official capacity.
Why were you meeting with Mary Sherman, Riccardo Nicchi, and a man named Joe? ”
Ito remained silent.
“All right,” Lennox said. “You really leave me no choice.” She pulled her phone from her pocket. “Will you look at me, sir?”
Clenching his jaw, Ito opened his eyes. Then clenched them shut again when Lennox showed him a photo of Paolo Feliciano’s body.
“That’s what he’s capable of doing,” Lennox said. “That’s what we’re trying to protect Akiko from. I know you can help us.”
“Mr. Ito?” The nurse entered his room and frowned at them. She hadn’t said a word when Lennox had shown her badge earlier, but she clearly didn’t want them all to be there. “What can I do for you?”
Sam realized that Ito held the call button clutched in his hand. Asshole.
“Make them leave,” Ito rasped.
“Everybody out,” the nurse ordered.
“We’ll go,” Lennox said. “Just know that from here on out, you’re a material witness.
LAPD has agreed to station a uniformed officer outside your room.
Once you’ve recovered enough to be discharged from the hospital, we’ll be putting you in protective custody.
You will not be permitted to go home. You will not have your freedom. Do you understand?”
Ito nodded. “I understand.”
“You all have to go. Now.” The nurse ushered them all out the door, threatening to put them on the no-visit list because they’d caused Ito such distress.
“I’ll show him distress,” Kit muttered once the six of them had crowded into the elevator. “I’m sorry, Akiko. I honestly thought he’d tell us once he realized that you were in danger, too.”
“I thought so, too,” Akiko said, visibly depressed. “I thought he loved me.”
Harlan’s big hands were fisted at his sides. “God forgive me, I wanted to hit him. I wondered why Danny would beat him so thoroughly when he was supposed to have respected him. Now I’m imagining Danny asking him for whatever it was he was searching for and Ito just saying ‘no.’ It’s infuriating.”
Sam sighed. “I know. I wanted to hit him, too, and I’m now questioning my own moral compass.”
“Don’t do that,” Lennox said. “Your moral compass is pointed at Kit and Akiko, just as it should be. And neither of you actually hit him, so don’t feel guilty for wanting to.”
“I wanted to arrest the old bastard for conspiracy,” Navarro said, “but I don’t know what he’s conspiring to do.”
“And that should be the focus.” Kit linked her good arm through Harlan’s.
“What were Ito, Mary, Nicchi, and Joe conspiring to do? What was Danny searching for? It’s bigger than Danny Takahashi.
He’s only seventeen years old. He’s not planning a smuggling operation on his own.
Who is directing his efforts? Is it his father?
This Joe person? Ito?” Akiko made a wounded noise and Kit sighed. “I don’t want it to be Ito, either.”
“But he’s not making it easy for me to defend him,” Akiko said.
The elevator opened and they left the hospital in silence, because Akiko was right. Ito wasn’t making any of this easy at all.
All six of them began looking around when they exited the hospital, no doubt wondering if anyone else was waiting to shoot at them, but all Sam saw was a well-dressed man getting out of the back of a black Mercedes.
Two hulking men in black suits also emerged from the car and, together, the three men headed toward them.
And, once they’d gotten closer, Sam saw why.
The well-dressed man was Kenzo Takahashi. He was about five-nine, his hair impeccably styled, his shoes polished to a dazzling shine. His suit was expensive. Must have cost upward of five thousand dollars. He wore dark sunglasses that reflected the light, making Sam want to blink.
But he didn’t blink. This was Akiko’s father. And Danny Takahashi’s as well. That he might defend his son at the expense of his daughter was a distinct possibility, and Akiko had already been through so much.
Beside him Harlan tensed.
Akiko drew a deep breath. “Oh.”
Kit’s expression became grim. “I suppose we knew this was coming.”
Lennox and Navarro said nothing at all. Sam glanced at them from the corner of his eye. Both of them looked…prepared.
For what, Sam had no idea.
As a group, they stopped, allowing Kenzo to approach them.
The man looked them up and down, then took off his sunglasses. Sam did blink then. The man’s face was gaunt. The sunglasses had hidden the extent of it, but he looked sick. He looked far, far older than his fifty-eight years.
Now that he was closer, it was apparent that his expensive suit hung on his frame. He’d recently lost weight. A lot of weight.
He doesn’t just look sick. He is sick. Or has been recently.
Kenzo’s gaze lingered on Harlan. Then he focused on Akiko.
“Hello,” he said, his voice both softer and deeper than Sam had expected. “My God. You look so much like your mother.”
Kit moved closer to Akiko, her body language screaming protectiveness.
Takahashi ignored her, not looking away from his daughter. “I am Kenzo Takahashi.”
Akiko nodded once. “I’m Akiko McKittrick.”
Once again, Takahashi glanced at Harlan before returning his attention to Akiko. “I didn’t know you existed before today. I learned of you in an online newspaper article.”
“Tamsin Fucking Kavanaugh,” Kit muttered.
Takahashi lifted a brow. “Yes, Tamsin Kavanaugh was the reporter.” He took a step closer. “I didn’t know I had a daughter. I’m…overwhelmed.”
He sounded sincere, Sam thought. But there was something about the man—beyond his gaunt appearance—that didn’t seem right. He was too smooth. Too confident. Just…too much.
“I just found out about you as well,” Akiko said. “My aunt tried to contact me but was murdered an hour before we were to meet. She was the first family to contact me since I was surrendered as an infant.”
Takahashi frowned. “Your aunt?”
Ah. There it is. That was what had been bothering Sam. Kenzo Takahashi was lying. He knew about Mary Sherman. How long he’d known was the question.
“Mary Sherman,” Akiko supplied, but her irritation was very thinly veiled. She knew he was lying, too. “My mother’s younger sister.”
Something flickered in Takahashi’s eyes. It looked like rage, but it was quickly banked. “I didn’t know she existed, either. Not until today.”
Kit moved to stand in front of Akiko. “I don’t know how long you’ve known about Mary Sherman and I don’t know how long you’ve known about Akiko, but—”
“I don’t lie,” Takahashi interrupted. “You’re very rude.”
Kit didn’t blink. “As I was saying, I don’t know how long you’ve known about Mary and Akiko, but your son has known about her for quite some time. He killed Mary Sherman and he tried to kill Akiko only an hour ago.”
Takahashi’s eyes widened, and Sam thought that his surprise might be genuine. “What?” the man demanded. “What is this?”
Sam stepped to Kit’s side. “Danny was arrested and taken into custody by LAPD for assault. When LAPD’s done with him, San Diego will prosecute him for three homicides—Akiko’s aunt, the man who was Akiko’s business partner, and the mistress of Akiko’s uncle.”
And that they still didn’t know why Laurette Curry had been targeted bothered Sam greatly.
“He also shot three cops,” Kit said. “Including me. Aimed for my head.”
“Then he’s a very bad shot,” Takahashi said blandly.
Sam saw red, but he bit his tongue to keep his angry words inside. There was a chance that this man knew nothing of Danny’s plans. If he didn’t, Sam’s flying off the handle wouldn’t help Akiko have a relationship with her biological father, should she choose to pursue one.
He hoped she wouldn’t. He did not like this man.
Sam heard Harlan suck in a quick, startled breath at Takahashi’s insolence.
Kit only smiled, equally blandly. “I moved at the last minute. He’s killed three other people that we know of. He’s a pretty decent shot, Mr. Takahashi.”
A muscle ticced in Takahashi’s taut jaw. “Please move aside, Detective McKittrick. I came to speak with my daughter. I’d like to have a few moments with her alone.”
That Takahashi knew who Kit was wasn’t a big surprise. Once he learned of his daughter’s existence, it only made sense that he’d research her family.
“Nope,” Kit said, her smile unwavering. “Akiko stays with me.”
“And me,” Lennox added. She was not smiling.
“And me,” Harlan said.
Takahashi’s gaze flitted to Harlan once again. “And you are, sir?”
Like he doesn’t know. If Takahashi had dug deep enough to know about Kit, he knew who Harlan was. Sam’s dislike for Takahashi grew.
Akiko took Harlan’s hand and stepped around Kit and Sam. “This is Harlan McKittrick. He’s my father.”
Takahashi’s rage was not so quickly banked this time. “I am your father.”
Join me, Luke. Sam had to fight not to laugh. It was not the right time for levity and would likely sound hysterical anyway.
Kit had no such compunction. She snickered softly.
Takahashi turned his anger on her. “You are exceedingly rude, Detective. Akiko, please come with me. We have matters to discuss. Family matters.”
Uh-oh, Sam thought. That was the wrong thing to have said.