Chapter Nineteen
Anaheim, California
“I think Joe was wearing a listening device,” Kit said.
They’d gathered around Anson’s kitchen table after Lennox had dropped them off. Kit’s brother had arrived back from San Diego a few hours earlier, leaving Baz to watch over McKittrick House. Kit hadn’t seen Anson in a long time, but there was no time for a reunion.
Sam sat at her side, studying the photo of Joe on her phone.
Her father was whittling a piece of wood, his movements shaky and completely unlike the serene way in which he normally carved.
He was still tense with anger over the surprise meeting with Kenzo Takahashi.
Not because he’d met one of his children’s bio parents.
Several of Harlan and Betsy’s children had sought out their birth parents after being adopted. Her parents were always supportive.
No, Kit figured it was Takahashi’s dismissal of his son’s attempt on her life that had angered Harlan.
He hadn’t reacted well when Takahashi had disrespected their family, declaring himself Akiko’s father—and, really?
Kit had found it impossible not to laugh.
Harlan hadn’t laughed, though. He’d already been furious.
And he’d asked the most relevant question of all—how had Takahashi known where Akiko would be?
“Why do you think Joe wore a listening device?” Akiko asked. She sat with her hands neatly folded on the table, but her shoulders sagged, and she looked weary.
“Because of when Joe got out of the car,” Anson answered. “Right, Kit? You said it was right after Pop asked Kenzo Takahashi how he’d known where Akiko would be.”
Kit nodded. “And Takahashi said that he had sources.” She frowned at Anson’s laptop, which she’d been using to search for more information on Akiko’s bio father. “I assume that was Joe. He’s working for Kenzo, but also with Ito.”
“Playing both sides of the fence,” Sam said. “But to what purpose?”
She nodded. “Exactly. We need to know what Joe’s role is in the Takahashi corporation. He was armed like a bodyguard, but he’s pushing eighty years old. He wouldn’t be an actual bodyguard. I need to do more research.”
“The girls already have,” Anson said wryly. “Rita and Emma have been leading the charge.”
Harlan scowled. “How did the girls know about this?”
Anson rolled his eyes. “They read the article identifying Danny Takahashi as Mary Sherman’s murderer.”
“Tamsin Fucking Kavanaugh,” Sam muttered.
Kit snorted. “That is her name forevermore.”
Anson chuckled. “That’s what Rita says, too.”
“So they’ve been reading up on the Takahashis,” Kit said thoughtfully. “What did Dawn say?” Because the girl was insightful.
“She wouldn’t say anything for the longest time,” Anson said, “but we could tell she wanted to say something. We had to wheedle it out of her.”
Harlan put down the block of wood in his hands. “Why wouldn’t she speak her mind?”
“Because she feels sorry for Danny Takahashi and didn’t want to be disloyal to Akiko.”
Kit was surprised. “Why would she feel sorry for Danny? He’s killed a lot of people.”
“And shot at Kit,” Sam added.
“That’s why she was sitting silently, biting her lips.”
Kit could picture it. Of all the teenagers at McKittrick House, Dawn tried hardest to be tough. So much like I was. “Well, tell us what she said.”
“Danny’s mother died by suicide,” Anson said. “It was in one of the articles the girls found on Danny and his father. Danny was eight and he found his mother’s body.”
“I did read that,” Kit said. “My first thought was that he’d had a rough childhood, but that doesn’t—”
“Doesn’t excuse being a goddamn psycho asshole killer,” Akiko interrupted angrily.
“Of course not,” Anson said. “But Dawn said she felt for him because his father used Danny’s trauma for his own benefit. Google ‘Takahashi Los Angeles suicide prevention charity.’ ”
Kit obediently did so, then exhaled. “I can see her point.” She turned the laptop so that the others could view the Takahashi charity’s website.
“This is a different charity than the one I mentioned this morning. That one used Danny as an example of troubled teens who need help with mental health. This one is suicide prevention. He’s posted a photo of Danny at the time of his mother’s death.
Making people feel sorry for the fact he found his mother hanging from a closet pole.
It’s all ‘Don’t let this happen to other kids.
Donate and we’ll help people not end their lives this way. ’ Playing off the kid’s trauma.”
“Think of the children,” Anson added with a sarcastic edge. “And open your wallets. Not saying that they don’t do good things with that money, but it’s a shitty way to raise funds. I kind of doubt Danny was asked if he wanted to be a poster boy for his father’s charity.”
Kit had to agree. “Either charity. Kenzo uses Danny in both of them.”
“He looks catatonic in this picture of him at eight years old,” Sam said.
Anson nodded. “Which is what Dawn said. I got the impression she had a personal reason for being so upset, but I didn’t ask.
And then for Danny to find out that he had a sister out there, one who was fathered while his parents were married.
” He shrugged. “She knows what he did was wrong, but she can see why he’s so angry. ”
“I hadn’t done that math,” Sam said. “When did Kenzo and Danny’s mother marry?”
Kit checked her notes. “Kenzo married his wife, Umeko, when he was twenty-one. She was eighteen.”
“Young,” Akiko said thoughtfully.
“They were,” Kit agreed. “Danny wasn’t born until twenty years later. She was thirty-eight.”
Anson came to sit beside her and pulled his laptop closer so that he could type.
“Here’s the article that Dawn found. It discusses the various charities that were operating in the city at the time.
This was nine years ago, by the way. It wasn’t written by Takahashi or any of his charity’s employees.
It says that Umeko Takahashi experienced postpartum depression and had never recovered.
That her suicide was tied to that. Who knows whether that’s true or not? ”
Kit skimmed the article and then glanced at the comments that followed. “Huh. Here’s a comment calling Kenzo a hypocrite, saying he didn’t love his wife, that he cheated on her ‘with abandon,’ and that he blamed his son for his wife’s mental illness.”
“What an asshole,” Harlan said, his teeth clenching. “Blaming the child, using the child to get donations? I hope I don’t see him again. I’m sorry, Akiko, but I don’t think I could stop myself from punching him in the mouth.”
“I’ll hold your coat,” Akiko said grimly. “So far I’m not impressed with my paternal bloodline.”
Or her maternal bloodline, but Kit wasn’t going to say that aloud. Edwin Ito might be doing what he thought was right for all his grandchildren.
Kit read the comment again, because something was tugging at her memory.
“There’s something about this commenter that’s familiar.
” On her phone, she pulled up the notes she’d been taking on Kenzo Takahashi the night before.
“Here it is. Like I said, Kenzo runs two mental health charities. One is for suicide prevention and uses the photo of the eight-year-old Danny to tug at heartstrings and open wallets. The other is for ‘at risk’ kids—kids like Danny who got into trouble and ran away from home. Sam, remember when I mentioned that I saw a comment on the teen charity’s website saying that Kenzo was a hypocrite and that Danny had run away because his father had disowned him? ”
“Yeah. You said that the comment was taken down within hours.”
“I’m glad I took screenshots. The commenter’s exact words were: ‘Kenzo is a hypocrite. He didn’t love his son. He disowned him when he needed him most. But that’s no surprise. He’s always been a sorry excuse for a man, cheating on his wife with abandon.’ ” She made air quotes around the phrase.
“It’s the same commenter?” Anson asked. “ ‘With abandon’ isn’t a phrase you see every day.”
“Maybe.” Kit opened the most recent article about Danny and Kenzo Takahashi. “Here’s Tamsin Kavanaugh’s latest. It’s where she names Danny as Mary’s killer and names his father as Kenzo. And…yep. Another comment. Similar wording. No ‘with abandon’ this time, but he or she calls Kenzo a hypocrite.”
“They really must hate Kenzo a lot,” Akiko said. “I’d like to talk to this person.”
Kit did, too. “The username is the same in all three comments. Oneesan.”
Akiko leaned in to see Kit’s phone screen. “ ‘Oneesan’ means ‘older sister.’ I wonder if this woman is Umeko’s sister.”
Kit wondered the same. “I’ll find out who her sister is.
She may be able to give us information on Danny.
I want to know what went down between him and his father.
I want to know if Kenzo was involved in the smuggling operation.
But I don’t think I’ll ever feel sorry for Danny, despite his childhood trauma.
” She could see Dawn’s point, but her aching arm was a constant reminder that Danny really was a goddamn psycho asshole killer.
“At any rate, any info we can get will help Lennox when she questions him. She might be able to get him angry enough to give her the information we need.”
“I’ll make sure Dawn knows she’s okay to have these opinions,” Akiko said. “I’m not mad. She’s right, kind of. But I can’t feel sorry for him. He’s left too many victims in his wake.”
“But why?” Kit asked. “I mean, it’s most likely that he killed Mary so that she couldn’t talk to you, Akiko. But why her and not you? If Pop was right and this is about money, about sharing an inheritance, why not simply kill you?”
“I don’t think that was the original plan,” Sam said.
“They wanted to frame Akiko for the gun running. That was either to hurt Ito or Kenzo Takahashi. Or both. Given that Ito has been conspiring with Joe and that Danny has reason to hate his father, I’m more inclined to believe this is about Kenzo. ”