Chapter Twenty-One #2
“Ah,” Lennox said. “There might be an answer coming on that one. While you were verbally smooching back there about how wonderful Sam is, I was talking with Navarro through my earpiece. I brought him up to speed—he’s going to sit in the surgical waiting room for news of your father, by the way. Your family won’t be alone.”
“Oh,” Kit breathed, clearly touched at the gesture. “That’s kind of him.”
“He wants to help you,” Lennox said. “He feels like shit about the suspension. You might be able to get some concessions out of him. Like a monthly Snickers bar allowance or something.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. So what about the guns? Was Brewer helpful?”
“He was. He and Navarro had a chat. The boss is supposed to call us with an update right about now. He also has information about what happened at Anson’s house. That’s why I interrupted your conversation.”
Lennox didn’t have to continue sharing information with Kit. Sam knew this meant a lot to her. He hoped a friendship between the two women would extend beyond this case. Kit needed friends.
“He didn’t give you a hint?” Sam asked.
“Nope, but— Oh. Here he is.” She answered the call and put Navarro through to the sedan’s speaker. “I’m in the car with Sam and Kit,” she said.
“Kit,” Navarro said. “I’m in the waiting room at UC Irvine.
Your father is in surgery right now. The paramedic I talked to said that his vital signs were strong.
He was shot in the chest, and the paramedic thinks his lung may have collapsed, but they were giving him oxygen and brought his blood pressure back up.
The bullet missed his heart. I haven’t talked to the surgeons, but your dad is a strong man.
The paramedics said he kept saying to make sure you knew what happened, to tell you to go after Akiko. ”
Kit shuddered. “Thank you. I didn’t know how bad he was hurt. We’re on our way to Kenzo Takahashi right now.”
“I know. Lennox has been keeping me up to speed.”
Kit managed a small smile for Lennox. “She’s a good cop. A good person.”
Lennox looked away and said, “What about Kit’s brother? Anson? How is he?”
Sam couldn’t help but notice that Lennox was as bad at taking compliments as Kit was. She tended to deflect back to the case, just like Kit did.
“Being treated for smoke inhalation, but he didn’t get shot. He said that his smoke alarms started to go off, so he got Harlan and Akiko out of the house—just as he heard an ambulance approaching. The ambulance used its yelp siren to get through his gates.”
“Yelp siren?” Sam asked.
“It’s a special tone that emergency vehicles use,” Lennox explained. “Activates the gate opener.”
“Anson said he didn’t think twice about the siren. The smoke was visible, and he thought a neighbor had called 911.”
“Bob was driving the ambulance?”
“One of his lackeys,” Navarro said. “Anson had run back into the house to get his cat. As he was coming back out, he saw Bob grabbing Akiko. Your father tried to stop him and Bob shot him, dragged Akiko into the back of the ambulance and it drove away. He…” Navarro hesitated.
“Tell me,” Kit said grimly.
“Bob had to hit her pretty hard, Anson said. She was fighting Bob like a wildcat, but he knew some martial arts as well and was countering her attacks. She went limp, but Anson thought she was more stunned than knocked out. Just so you know for when you find her.”
“Did Burroughs and Desoto find Joe?” Kit asked.
“No, he wasn’t home. They’re on their way to Kenzo’s house to provide support.”
“Thank you,” Kit said again.
“We’ve got your back, Kit. I promise.” Navarro cleared his throat.
“I also have information on the guns. Special Agent Brewer said that he’d been working with an anonymous source who tipped him off about the gun running and the use of Akiko’s boat.
The source said that the op was being controlled by Kenzo and implicated both Akiko and Paolo.
Brewer was told that if the ATF watched the boat, they’d get enough evidence on Kenzo to take down his operation.
The ATF has suspected Kenzo of smuggling guns and drugs into Japan for some time, specifically using his luxury car business.
The car trunks are packed with illegal firearms and drugs, then the cars are loaded onto shipping vessels and unloaded once they reach port in Japan.
Money changes hands at the docks for safe passage. It’s very lucrative for Takahashi.”
“Where does Akiko fit in?” Kit asked.
“Not sure and neither was Brewer. But if Bob has it in for Kenzo, it may have simply been emotional torment. Here’s the daughter you didn’t know you had, but whoops, now she’s going to prison and so are you.
He wouldn’t be able to contact her and he’d know she went to prison even though she was innocent.
That’s the best we can figure. When you find the bastard, you can ask him. ”
Kit nodded. “We will find him.”
“I know you will. A task force is forming to search for your sister. LAPD, the ATF, and the FBI are involved. You’re not alone.”
Kit closed her eyes. “Thank you.”
“Keep me informed.” He ended the call.
“Meghan?” Kit opened her eyes. “Can you drive faster?”
Bel Air, Los Angeles, California
Wednesday, February 1, 10:35 p.m.
Kit studied the view through the iron bars of Kenzo Takahashi’s front gate. Only one corner of the immense house was visible, as the driveway seemed to twist and turn and wind through a thick copse of trees. Strategically placed spotlights came on as they approached the gate intercom.
“Yes?” a deep voice asked. It sounded like Takahashi himself.
“Dr. Reeves, Detective McKittrick, and Detective Lennox of the San Diego Police Department, here to see Mr. Takahashi on an urgent matter,” Lennox said.
The massive iron gates didn’t make a sound as they opened. After what seemed like hours, Lennox stopped the sedan. Only two more minutes had passed.
Takahashi’s house was more than immense. It was three stories of stone. A veritable fortress. “It’s a castle,” Lennox said.
Sam was also staring up at it. “I’m expecting a dragon to fly over at any moment.”
“Let me go first,” Lennox said. “Kit, you stay behind me. Sam, please bring up the rear. I want Kit protected. We don’t know what we’re walking into here.”
Kit wanted to disagree, but Lennox was right. “Where are Burroughs and Desoto?”
“They followed us in,” Sam said.
Kit looked behind them, and sure enough, there was a black SUV. That she hadn’t noticed them told her exactly how out of it she was. Lennox was right to go first. Kit would be a danger to herself and everyone else in this frame of mind. “Are they coming in with us?”
It felt surreal, not being in charge. But she was too numb for it to bother her as much as she’d always feared it would.
All she could think of was Akiko. And Pop.
The conversation with her mother had been heart-wrenching. Betsy was so scared, as were the girls. Harlan being shot, Akiko being taken. Anson losing his house. Any one of those things would have been devastating, but all three?
Kit was hanging on by a thread, but Akiko needed her. Her father was in surgery and getting the finest care at a Level I trauma center. Anson was being treated.
Still, she could hear her mother’s voice breaking. She was so grateful to Baz and to Sam’s parents. They’d provided the support that Kit wished she could. But getting Akiko back would be the best use of her time and skill right now.
“No,” Lennox said. “Burroughs texted that he and Desoto are going to wait outside. They’re backup, in case we need them, but they agree that we don’t want to gang up on Takahashi. He knows they’re there. It’s statement enough. Let’s go.”
So Kit found herself sandwiched between Lennox and Sam as they stood at the front door. Then it opened, revealing Kenzo Takahashi.
He wore a silk robe and honest-to-God silk pajamas. Kit had never actually seen anyone wear silk pajamas before.
“What is it?” he asked wearily. “It is very late.”
Even in the dim light Kit could see that he looked ill. He was much paler tonight than he’d been earlier. It occurred to her he might have been wearing makeup when they’d met him outside the hospital.
Now he looked old and frail.
“We need your help,” Kit said from behind Lennox. “Akiko has been taken.”
He gasped. “What do you mean, taken?”
Kit stepped to one side so that she was no longer behind Lennox. Lennox was taller and blocking her view. She wanted to see Kenzo’s face when she told him the truth.
“I mean your VP of security, Bob Fujioka, set my brother’s house on fire and when my family evacuated, Bob shot my father and kidnapped Akiko.” Kit stared hard at the man, watching the confusion flicker across his face. Watched the confusion become denial.
“You are mistaken.”
“I am not.” Kit showed him the photo of Bob on her phone. “This is him, yes?”
“Yes. Where was that taken?”
“It’s from a fake ID he used when he boarded my sister’s boat. She owns a fishing charter. This was her first trip out of San Diego, five years ago. Bob was a passenger.”
Kenzo shook his head. “This makes no sense.”
“It does,” Sam said. “Did you know that Joe Fujioka adopted Bob after his parents were killed?”
“Yes. I remember when Bob came to live with Joe. I thought he was a nephew or something.”
“No, not a nephew.” Kit looked Kenzo right in the eye. “Do you remember a visit you paid with Joe to a married couple? You were twenty years old. You were only supposed to kill the husband, but you killed the wife, too. Guess who was watching from the closet? A kid named Bob.”
Kenzo froze, anger slowly taking over his expression. “You overstep, Detective. No such thing ever happened.”
“You lie, Mr. Takahashi.” She’d seen the fear in his eyes before the rage took over.
“And it matters. Because Bob Fujioka has been slowly chipping away at your empire, at your life, ever since. He slept with your wife for more than two decades. He killed Minako Nakamura because your wife told him to.”