Chapter Twenty #4
“That came later, after Bob was orphaned. Joe adopted him. You see, Kenzo killed Bob’s parents.
Both of them. Bob was twelve. Kenzo was only twenty, not yet married to Umeko, and he was wild.
Mitch was trying to teach him some responsibility, so he sent him with Joe to punish Bob’s father.
Joe and Kenzo were only supposed to kill the father, but Kenzo went crazy, even though Joe tried to stop him.
Bob told Umeko that he was hiding in a closet and saw the whole thing.
He heard Joe yell at Kenzo not to kill his mother. After that, Joe adopted Bob.”
Kit was surprised. “Joe adopted Bob even though the kid knew what they’d done?”
“I don’t think Joe knew that Bob had witnessed the murders of his parents.”
“Why would Bob confess this to her?” Lennox asked. “Wasn’t he concerned that your sister would tell Kenzo?”
Haru looked suddenly weary. “At that point, Umeko had been a drunk for so long that no one would have believed anything she said, even once she was sober. I don’t know that I even believed her.
She’d finally come to the place where she was ready to leave Kenzo.
She was sober and seeing that he’d never loved her.
But she thought that since she and Bob had been sleeping together off and on for years, he’d want her to move in with him when she left Kenzo.
He laughed at her. Told her that the only reason he’d been with her was to have access to the house, because Kenzo kept his less legal business records in the house and not in the office.
He’d been searching Kenzo’s office and spying on Kenzo’s businesses for twenty years and killing all of Kenzo’s new initiatives from the inside. ”
Now that makes sense, Kit thought. “I read that the only new business Kenzo successfully started was the casino. That his father began all the other businesses.”
“That always frustrated Kenzo. I think he knew that someone was sabotaging him, but he could never figure out who. Guess who he had spearheading the investigations?”
“Bob,” Sam said. “Talk about the fox in the henhouse.”
“Did Bob love your sister, though?” Lennox asked, sounding sad.
“No.” Haru sounded equally sad. “He said he only slept with her because she belonged to Kenzo. He never loved her. She was merely a pawn, a weapon to use against Kenzo. And then he threatened that if she told anyone he’d turn her in for arranging the murder of Minako and Ichiro.
She’d go to prison and never see Danny again. ”
Kit frowned. “He’d be turning himself in, too.”
Haru shook her head. “He’s smart. He left no tracks, no way to prove it was him.
He had Umeko on tape ordering him to kill the twins, but he never says anything incriminating during the conversation.
Just a few grunts and uh-huhs. And, like I said, who was going to believe a drug addict? She didn’t dare turn him in.”
“So your sister ordered Bob to kill Minnie?” Kit asked, just to be sure.
“Yes. That’s my understanding. She saw Minnie as a threat.
Back then, I hoped that Umeko didn’t know that Minnie was pregnant, but she did.
She told Bob to kill Minnie and the baby.
I’m not condoning it in any way, Detective.
My sister did a monstrous thing. She made a terrible choice in the heat of the moment, and I think that drove her to drink and do drugs for the rest of her life.
She regretted her actions, but it was way too late for her to make it right.
Sober, she couldn’t live with herself. I should have stayed with her the night she told me.
But I was…horrified. I’m sure she saw it on my face.
I had to leave.” Haru’s voice broke. “I left her there. And the next day Danny found her body.”
Kit had so many questions. She wasn’t sure what to ask first.
Sam stepped in. “Why didn’t you say something? Why didn’t you tell someone what Bob had done?”
Haru’s eyes were wet and filled with agony. “Don’t you think I wanted to? I had no proof beyond a dead addict’s ramblings. She told me that secret and I had to live with it. You can’t know what that feels like.”
Sam exhaled. “Yes, ma’am. I do. If a client tells me that he killed someone twenty years ago, I can’t tell a soul. I’d lose my license.”
But when faced with that choice one year ago, Kit thought, Sam had chosen to do the right thing. He’d suspected that one of his clients had killed a teenager and he’d told someone.
He called me. They’d never met, yet Sam had trusted her with a dangerous truth. She respected the hell out of him for that.
He was the best of men.
Haru’s nod to Sam was respectful. “I suppose that’s true. I’m not going to ask you what secrets you hold in your heart, Dr. Reeves. I’m sure they’re legion.”
“That’s what I agreed to when I chose this profession,” Sam said, his tone as gentle and compassionate as always.
“You’re not a psychologist, Mrs. Carlson.
Holding a secret like that must have been difficult.
But I think you misunderstand my question.
Were you afraid that Bob would retaliate if you told someone?
Or that Kenzo might, in some way, retaliate? ”
“I was afraid of Bob, certainly. But, in the aftermath of Umeko’s death, I was focused on Danny. He was so little and broken and there wasn’t anything I could do except hold him.”
“Did you take him to therapy?” Lennox asked.
“I wanted to, but Kenzo refused. Told me that if I pushed it, I’d lose all access to my nephew.
I couldn’t have that. Danny needed me. And I needed him, too.
I considered turning Kenzo in, hoping that CPS might take custody of Danny.
Then I could raise him. But Kenzo has expensive attorneys, and I didn’t know specifics.
I might have said, ‘Kenzo Takahashi is the head of the local mob.’ But I had no proof.
So I stayed in Danny’s life and did the best I could.
Clearly, it wasn’t enough. Not that Kenzo ever cared.
He got what he wanted—Umeko’s money. Once she died, he became the trustee of Danny’s trust fund and he got the rest of her money, too. ”
“I thought it would go to a charity if she died,” Lennox said.
Haru’s smile was sharp. “It did. The charity he started in my sister’s name. She didn’t specify a charity by name, so Kenzo started one.”
Kit understood now. “The anti-suicide charity he used Danny to promote.”
Haru nodded. “Kenzo is smart. He saw the loophole and he took advantage of it. He now controls all of what belonged to my sister. And now, with Danny going to prison, he’ll be able to ‘oversee’ the boy’s trust fund even after he’s twenty-one.”
What a bastard. “How loyal is Joe to Kenzo?” Kit asked. “Because we’ve gotten the impression that Joe is trying to help us.”
This seemed to surprise the older woman.
“Really? Well, like I said, Joe was the one who brought Minnie and Ichiro into the company. They needed jobs after their mother died. And I went to Joe when I suspected that Minnie was pregnant and worried that Umeko would try to poison her. Joe whisked them away, which must have been very dangerous for him. Kenzo was still wild and liked to kill. If he’d found out that Joe was responsible for taking Minnie away from him, he would have killed Joe himself and I don’t think Mitch would have been able to stop him. ”
Once again, Kit wondered who Joe was to the twins.
He’d taken dangerous chances for them. She also wondered where Ito factored into all of this.
She wondered if he’d known that his children had come to LA.
She wondered if he’d spent time with them.
She wondered why it had been Joe that the twins had turned to after their mother’s death.
“Bob didn’t kill Akiko when she was a newborn baby,” Lennox murmured. “Did he tell your sister that he had?”
“I assume he did, or Umeko would have made it her mission to track the child down.” She shrugged. “Maybe there’s a line even Bob won’t cross.”
“Or maybe Mary was hiding with the baby,” Kit said.
“Also possible, since your sister exists. I can’t help you with that part of the story.”
“Why kill Ichiro, too?” Sam asked. “I can see Bob killing Minnie even if Umeko hadn’t ordered him to do so. Killing Minnie would hurt Kenzo, especially if Kenzo had real feelings for her. But why the brother? Unless Ichiro tried to protect her and got caught in the crossfire.”
“Or,” Kit said, “Bob was jealous of Ichiro. Bob was Joe’s son and all of a sudden, Joe brings strangers into his home. Gets them jobs. Takes care of them, like they’re family.”
“Or both,” Lennox said. “We’ll just have to find Bob and ask him. Do you know where he might be hiding, Mrs. Carlson?”
Haru shook her head. “I avoided him after Umeko’s death. I was afraid I’d lose control and hurt him. Or say something that would get me killed. Or, worse, Danny.”
Danny, who could not have coordinated a gun-smuggling operation on his own. Who’d given up Bob when he’d been taken away by the ATF.
“Were Bob and Danny close?” she asked.
Haru shook her head. “Danny never mentioned that. Why?”
“Just trying to connect the dots,” Kit said. “Is there anything else you think we should know?”
“No. If I think of anything, I’ll call you.”
Kit rose, as did Sam and Lennox. “Thank you for talking to us.”
“I hope you find Bob quickly.” Haru walked them to the front door, where a large burly man stood on the porch. “Can you see the detectives to their vehicle?” she asked him.
The man appeared to be Haru’s security, and Kit was relieved. After this case broke open, Haru was going to need all the protection she could get.
“Yes, ma’am.” Without saying another word, they were hustled to Lennox’s department sedan.
Anson’s car was parked at a nearby shopping center.
They’d followed Lennox that far, then they’d driven to Haru Carlson’s house together so that Kit wouldn’t have to flash her badge to gain entrance.
Since she was still suspended, after all.
We need to scan the car for trackers or listening devices, Kit thought.
As if reading her mind, Lennox took a handheld scanner from her bag.
I really like her.
When they were back on the road and headed for Anson’s car, Lennox asked, “What do you think? Did Haru tell us the truth?”
“I think so,” Sam said from the front seat. “Kit?”
But Kit’s attention was on her phone and the three voicemails and fifteen text messages she’d received while they were talking to Haru Carlson.
All of them from Anson. All of them within the last fifteen minutes. All of them begging Kit to call him. Each more frantic than the last.
Hands trembling, she dialed her brother, holding her breath as he answered.
“No,” he rasped, once the call had connected. “Get that away from me. I have to take this.”
“Anson?” she asked, her voice high and reedy. Something was wrong.
“Meghan,” Sam said, “pull over, please.” He twisted to stare at Kit, his expression grave. Lennox pulled the car into the parking lot of a grocery store.
Kit met Sam’s worried gaze, knowing her own was panic-stricken. “Anson?”
Anson coughed, the sound painful to hear. “Kit?” he whispered. “She’s gone. Taken.”
Kit forced herself to stay calm, because there was only one she he could mean. “Akiko is gone?”
“Fuck,” Lennox said through clenched teeth as she brought the car to a stop. “When? How?”
Her heart racing, Kit put her phone on speaker. “What’s happened, Anson?”
“Fuckers used drones. Flame-throwing drones.” He started coughing violently. “Stop.”
“Sir, you need to let us treat you,” a voice said in the background.
“Not yet,” Anson snapped, continuing to cough. “I need to tell her.”
Breathe. Breathe. Don’t panic.
It was no use. She was panicking. “Anson? Are you all right?”
“Yeah. Pop’s hurt.”
No, no, no. Her mouth opened but no words came out.
Sam was out of the front seat and sitting beside her in the back before she could blink. He took her hands and held on tight. “Anson, it’s Sam. Where’s Harlan?”
“Ambulance took him already. Two drones flew over my house. I have jammers.” Another coughing fit.
“Drones got past them. Set my house on fire. We got out, but he got through my gate.” More coughing.
“Was waiting with a rifle. It was the guy on Akiko’s boat.
Her very first charter. He shot Pop.” Anson’s voice broke into a sob. “Kit, he shot Pop.”
“Bob,” Kit whispered. He took her. He hurt Pop.
No, no, no. Please, no.
“Which hospital?” Sam asked.
In the front seat, Lennox was already on her phone, calling…somebody.
Kit couldn’t think. She was shaking, her teeth chattering.
Akiko.
Pop.
Another voice came on the line. “I’m the paramedic treating Mr. McKittrick. He and his father are being taken to UCI.”
UC Irvine. It was not the closest hospital.
But it did have a Level I trauma center.
She opened her mouth again to speak, but still no words came out.
“Sir,” Sam said, “I’m with Mr. McKittrick’s sister. Will he and their father be going into surgery?”
“I’m not the doctor—”
“I know that,” Sam cut in. “And I apologize for interrupting, but I need to know if I should take her to the police station to work on finding her sister or to the hospital. If they’re going into surgery, there won’t be anything she can do for the next several hours.”
“I think surgery is a definite possibility for her father.”
“Thank you. Can your partner radio the responding officers to contact Detectives Burroughs and Desoto?” Sam cupped Kit’s face as he continued talking to the paramedic. “And please tell Anson we’ll be there as soon as we can, but we’re going to find Akiko.”
“I’ll tell him.”
The line went dead.
Kit couldn’t breathe. Her lungs wouldn’t work. Her panic escalated and black spots began dancing in her field of vision.
And then Sam was pulling her into his arms. “We’ll find her. And your father is the strongest man I know. We’ll get through this, Kit. You and me. Now, sweetheart, I need you to breathe. In and out.”
She laid her head on Sam’s shoulder and sucked in a breath. And then another and another until the black spots faded away. She couldn’t think. She needed to think. “We’re wasting time. I need to find Akiko.”
Another door opened and Lennox was crouching next to them. “Where do you want to start, Kit? I vote for Kenzo Takahashi. If Joe’s with him, we will find out what the fuck is going on here.”
Kit nodded. “Yeah. Let’s do that.”
And if either Kenzo or Joe gave her any shit…
I’m already suspended. I’ll beat it out of him if I have to.