Chapter Nineteen #4
“I think your plan to frame Akiko failed and you were angry. You know your father will want her as his daughter. She’s the child of his mistress, true, but she’s a good person. Doesn’t have the baggage you carry. No felony record. Not for your lack of trying, of course.”
You go, Sam.
Because Danny was visibly seething. The attorney placed a warning hand on Danny’s arm, but the teenager shrugged him away.
“Is that why you came after her today, Danny?” Sam asked. “Because you didn’t shoot her on Saturday in front of Mary Sherman’s house. You had a perfect opportunity, but you didn’t. I’m betting that someone told you not to.”
Danny sucked in a breath.
“You’re good, Sam,” Kit murmured.
Navarro chuckled. “He really is.”
“I think Dr. Reeves is right,” Lennox said.
“Because you knew who Akiko was. You had to have hated her as much on Saturday as you do today, and today you tried to kill her. Someone told you to kill the cop last Saturday, but not your sister. You had other plans for her. Framing her for smuggling guns. Was that supposed to make your father hate her? Because that makes no sense.”
“Look at the attorney,” Kit whispered. He was watching Lennox and Sam like he was at a tennis match.
Back and forth. “He should have ended this interview already, but he wants to know what we know. He’s letting them talk.
Getting all the details so he can share them with his boss.
I don’t think Kenzo Takahashi’s involved in framing Akiko. ”
Navarro nodded. “I’m inclined to agree.”
Sam leaned forward, his elbows on the table. “Now that you’re caught, what do you think will happen? Will the person calling the shots bail you out? I don’t think so. I think they’ll let you take the fall for all of this. For all the murders, for shooting cops, for assaulting Ito.”
Danny started to speak, then stopped himself.
“You know I’m right.” Sam smiled gently.
“You’re expendable, Danny. It hurts my heart to say this, but it’s true.
You’ve always been expendable—first to your father and now to whoever is guiding you in all this.
You’re a pair of hands. That’s all. Maybe you should start protecting your own hide.
Tell us who’s pulling the strings. Who told you to kill Mary Sherman? Was it Joe?”
Danny scoffed.
“Okay, I’ll take that as a no.” Sam dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.
“You’re going to take the fall, Danny. Your lawyer works for your father, not you.
Do you really think your father wants to protect you?
If he did, he never would have thrown you out of the family.
You wouldn’t have been alone, on the streets, at seventeen. ”
Danny opened his mouth.
“I’m only here to make sure he doesn’t incriminate himself,” the attorney said, “until he gets another attorney. He has a trust fund. He’ll be hiring someone.”
Danny’s gaze whipped to the side, and he stared at the lawyer. “I can’t access my trust fund until I’m twenty-one.”
The attorney lifted a shoulder. “Then you’ll be using a public defender. I’m only here for today.”
“Oh wow,” Kit said. “The lawyer wants Danny to spill all the tea.”
Danny looked down at the table for a moment. When he looked back up, he was smirking again. “I’ll get another attorney. No problem.”
Kit recognized that particular smirk. She’d used it often enough as a teenager. “He’s faking it because he’s scared. Go for it, Sam.”
But Sam didn’t have a chance to, because the door to the interview room opened and Special Agent Brewer strode in like he owned the place, just as he had when he’d entered Paolo’s home the night before.
Stunned, Kit glanced at Navarro. He looked as shocked as she felt.
“What the hell?” Navarro murmured, slowly coming to his feet.
Kit rose as well. “What’s he doing here?”
Detective Desoto was already standing. “Can we help you?”
“I’m Special Agent Brewer with the ATF. We’ll be taking Mr. Daisuke Takahashi into custody.”
Burroughs took a step forward while Desoto and Lennox shared a tense glance. “Why?” Lennox asked. “He’s ours. LAPD’s and SDPD’s. He’s been arrested for murder, attempted murder, and assault.”
“We found guns in the room he was renting,” Brewer said. “They’re from the same lot as the guns found in the storage unit rented in Akiko McKittrick’s name by Mr. Takahashi here.”
Danny lurched to his feet. “No. You’re lying.”
“Sorry, kid.” But Brewer didn’t look sorry at all.
He looked smug. “We got an anonymous tip that the guns were there and, sure enough, they were. You’re under arrest for the trafficking of firearms.” He proceeded to read Danny his Miranda rights.
“Detective Desoto, please unlock his cuffs. I’ll use mine. ”
Danny stood there for a moment, mouth agape as Desoto hesitated.
Brewer sighed and handed Desoto a piece of paper. “My warrant.”
Desoto skimmed it, then gave it to Lennox before unlocking Danny’s handcuffs. “It’s legit.”
“Sorry, guy,” Brewer said to Desoto, sounding condescending.
Danny’s forehead creased in a scowl. “Who turned me in?”
“It was an anonymous tip,” Brewer repeated, recuffing the kid. “We found the guns and the records from your rental of the storage unit.”
Danny went still. “You found what?”
Brewer just shook his head. “Come on, Danny. You’ve got an appointment with a federal judge.” He took Danny’s arm and gave him a little shove forward. Danny stumbled a step before regaining his balance.
He looked at Lennox and Sam, his expression one of fury. His entire body seemed to crackle with it. “Is that lady detective listening? The one I shot?”
Sam blinked, startled. “Yes. Why?”
Danny looked directly at the one-way mirror. “Joe Fujioka and Bob Fujioka.” Then he turned to the attorney. “You can tell my father to express his gratitude to me by hiring me a decent lawyer who’s not under his thumb. I just told him how to clean his damn house.”
In the interview room, even Brewer seemed shocked, but he regrouped quickly. “Let’s go, kid.”
“Well, well, well,” Kit murmured. “I wonder which one of the two gave him up.”
“Who is Bob Fujioka?” Navarro asked.
“I don’t know, but we’ll find out.”