Chapter Thirteen The Warehouse #2
"They wanted us to find it," Ken said.
"Yes."
Daisuke checked beneath the desk and along the walls for wires. Nothing. He scanned the folder with a handheld detector.
"No electronics."
"That doesn't mean safe," Reina said.
"No."
Haruki stepped around Daisuke. Ken blocked him.
"I'll open it."
"I'm capable."
"That has never been the issue."
Haruki looked at him. Ken did not move. Eventually, Haruki stepped back. Ken pulled on a pair of gloves. He opened the folder.
Inside was a single photograph. For a moment, no one reacted.
The image showed the entrance to Takamori University Medical Centre. Haruki recognised the angle immediately — taken from across the street, the hospital sign in the foreground, rain blurring the pavement, a dark car waiting beneath the main entrance. Two people stood beside it. Haruki. Renji.
The photograph had been taken three weeks earlier.
The day Haruki had returned to check on the tunnel survivors.
He remembered the moment — Renji had followed him outside after replacing the dressing he had torn open, and they had argued beneath the awning while Reina arranged the car. Haruki had been smiling. Renji had not.
The photograph captured Renji reaching towards Haruki's coat, one hand near his side as though checking the wound without touching him. It was intimate only because whoever took it had chosen the exact second when it could appear so.
Reina looked at Haruki. No one commented.
Ken turned the photograph over. A time and date had been printed on the back. Beneath them, one sentence appeared in black ink.
HE SHOULD NOT HAVE SURVIVED.
The room became colder. Haruki took the photograph. The paper was new. The ink had not smudged.
"They were at the hospital," Reina said.
Haruki looked again at Renji's image. His face was partially turned towards the camera. Not looking at it. Not aware.
"They were watching the survivors," Ken said.
"Or Haruki," Reina replied.
Daisuke moved towards the door.
"We need to leave."
Haruki did not move. His attention remained on the photograph.
The threat was simple enough. He should not have survived the tunnels.
They knew he had. They knew where he went afterwards.
They knew who treated him. Something inside him tightened.
Not at the threat against himself. At Renji's face beside him.
"Boss," Ken said.
Haruki looked up.
"We leave now."
A sound came from the warehouse. Metal striking concrete. Once. Then rolling. Everyone froze.
Daisuke extinguished his torch. Reina moved towards the office wall. Ken pulled Haruki behind the desk. The fluorescent light continued flickering above them, turning the room bright, dark, bright again.
Daisuke raised one hand. Silence. Haruki listened. Nothing.
Then footsteps crossed the warehouse floor. Slow. Unhurried. Not trying to remain hidden. One. Two. Three. They stopped outside the office.
Reina aimed at the doorway. Daisuke stood beside her. Ken kept one hand against Haruki's chest, holding him low.
The fluorescent light flickered. The doorway remained empty. A small object rolled into the office. Daisuke kicked it back before it stopped. The object struck the outer wall.
A flash of white filled the warehouse. Haruki turned away. Sound exploded. The concussion struck his ribs and drove the air from his lungs. Ken dragged him behind the desk as Reina fired through the doorway.
Three shots. Then two more. Daisuke moved out. Haruki heard his boots cross the concrete. Reina followed. Ken remained.
"Stay down."
Haruki blinked against the afterimage burning across his vision. His ears rang.
"Go."
"No."
"They need—"
"They need me to keep you alive."
Haruki pushed himself upright. Pain tore through the scar at his side. Not damage. Memory. He reached for the desk. The fluorescent light had shattered. Darkness filled the office. Outside, shots echoed from the warehouse floor. Then silence. Too sudden.
Haruki felt Ken shift beside him. A voice called from beyond the doorway.
"Daisuke."
Accord. Haruki recognised the woman who travelled with Kael. Ken waited.
"Clear," she called.
He did not trust her. Neither did Haruki.
They left the office together. Emergency lights moved through the warehouse as Accord officers entered from the front and side doors. Six of them. Weapons drawn.
Daisuke stood near the centre of the floor, unharmed. Reina searched behind one of the support columns. No attacker. No body. No blood. Nothing.
"What happened?" Haruki asked.
Daisuke looked towards the mezzanine.
"Movement above."
Reina lowered her weapon.
"I saw someone."
"Description?"
"Dark clothing. Masked."
"Which direction?"
She pointed towards a narrow service door at the rear. It stood open. Morning light entered through it.
Kael appeared from the main entrance. His coat remained unfastened, rain marking one shoulder. He saw Haruki. Then the photograph in his hand. His expression hardened.
"I told you not to come."
Haruki held up the image.
"You knew this was here."
"No."
"You knew the location."
"Yes."
"How?"
Kael looked towards his officers.
"Secure the perimeter."
"They're gone," Haruki said.
"You cannot know that."
"They cleared an entire operations site before we arrived."
Kael crossed the distance between them.
"Give me the photograph."
Haruki did not. Kael's eyes moved to the printed message. Something passed through his face. Recognition. Not of the image. Of the method.
"You've seen this before," Haruki said.
"Give it to me."
"Who leaves messages like this?"
"This is Accord evidence."
"It was addressed to me."
"That does not make it yours."
Haruki placed the photograph inside his coat. Kael's hand closed around his wrist. Fast. Cold. Haruki did not flinch. The Accord officers noticed. So did Reina. Her weapon remained lowered, but only technically.
Kael released him.
"You endangered everyone who came with you."
"The site was empty."
"It was prepared."
"For us."
"Yes."
The admission silenced the room. Haruki studied him.
"You knew it was a trap."
"I suspected."
"And allowed us to receive the coordinates."
"We did not send them."
"That wasn't what I said."
Kael's jaw tightened.
"You were being observed before the message arrived."
Haruki felt the words settle.
"How long?"
"We do not know."
"Days?"
"No."
"Weeks?"
Kael looked towards the office. The black folder remained on the desk.
"Yes."
Haruki's hand closed inside his coat, around the edge of the photograph.
"Since the tunnels?"
"Possibly before."
Ken swore quietly. Reina looked towards the covered windows.
The warehouse no longer felt empty. It felt occupied by absence.
Every cleaned surface became evidence of what had been removed seconds, minutes or hours before they arrived.
Every route they had taken to reach it could have been predicted.
The anonymous message had not led them to a clue.
It had demonstrated control. The Unveiled knew what Haruki would do.
They knew he would ignore Kael. Knew which people he would bring.
Knew how quickly they could reach the district.
They had calculated the time required to clear the site and left only what they wanted him to see.
Haruki looked towards the mezzanine.
"Whoever threw the flash device stayed behind."
Kael nodded.
"To confirm arrival."
"Why?"
"To see who came."
"They already knew."
"To confirm your response."
Haruki turned towards him.
"Response to what?"
Kael looked towards the place where Haruki had hidden the photograph.
"To a threat against the doctor."
The answer struck with precision. Haruki's expression did not change. He refused to let it. Reina looked at him anyway.
Kael continued.
"They wanted to know whether the image mattered to you."