Warning Tags: Chapter 8
Title: Warning Tags: Chapter 8
Characters: Matsumoto Jun, Sakurai Sho Kato Shigeaki Ninomiya Kazunari, Kamenashi Kazuya, Ikuta Toma and Tsukamoto Takashi as the more prominent characters this chapter
Rating: PG-13 (Some language thanks to the presence of gang members)
Word Count: 4 861 words (more give than take)
Disclaimer: Purely fictional, of course. Glaring lapses of logic abound although the little clues I sprinkle about eventually make sense. Not beta'd
Note: I apologise for the long wait. I was working at my part-time job during the December holidays so had very little time to squeeze in to write. Consider this an early Sho birthday contribution. And thank you to everyone for reading and staying with this story so far, no matter how ridiculous it gets.
Summary: Jun gets to team up with Sho again, this time for a murder / kidnapping case.
“Son of a-” Jun cursed mentally as their quarry shoved the elderly woman in his path, flinging her into a stack of crates, bringing it all crashing down.
“Go!” Sho barked out, even as Jun thought to slow down. “I’ve got this.” He insisted, stopping to stay behind to help the elderly woman up.
Jun barely nodded, leaping over the pile of crates in pursuit. The scumbag was going down. The suspect bolted right, zipping into a sports park. Jun redoubled his efforts, determined not to lose the suspect in the crowds. Clearly, his suspect knew his way around, taking one corner after the next. Jun struggled to keep up at times, uncertainty looming over which of the many paths the suspect took. Following several outbursts, he rounded a corner only to crash into someone.
“He’s crazy!” Disoriented, Jun steadied himself as several others ran past him.
Nodding absently, Jun let the person who’d crashed into him go, approaching the arch cautiously. Sure enough, his suspect had trapped himself by running into the fenced audience area of a baseball field. “Back off!” The suspect growled, one arm wrapped around a young woman in a chokehold.
Jun frowned, scanning the man for any visible weapons. Nothing. “Or what?” Jun demanded, taking a step forward
That was when the grenade in the suspect’s hand became visible, thumb hooked into its pin. It was enough to halt Jun mid-step. “Or I’ll take us all out together.”
* * *
Less than 24 hours ago…
Matsumoto Jun studied his suspect carefully, heeding the words of his Police Academy instructor “It’s one of the basics of being a detective - observe and look for tells because that’s what will likely give away that the suspect has something to hide.”
But if Kamenashi Kazuya did have something to hide, he was doing an excellent job at concealing his concern when Nino requested to see the doctor’s mobile phone.
But then again, it might have had everything to do with the fact that Assistant Prosecutor Kato Shigeaki became the spotlight of attention by snatching the evidence bag out of Nino’s hand. Nino was about to voice his protest when Kato stared at it for all of ten seconds before his entire posture slumped lifelessly. “This is Tegoshi Yuya’s phone.”
Tegoshi Yuya.
The station’s temporary counsellor.
Currently AWOL.
The source of great annoyance amongst several extremely disappointed officers who had booked appointments with him.
Sho. Sho had been told by Ohno to consult him.
Nino crossed his arms. “The station’s shrink?”
While watching Kato nod in confirmation, Jun almost missed noticing that Kamenashi seemed just as interested in the revelation. Jun was about to question Kamenashi on a possible connection when he was interrupted by a loud buzzing emanating from the doctor who quickly fished his mobile phone out to answer it. Nino exchanged glances with him as both detectives noticed the same skull-shaped charm, confirming Jun’s recollection that he had seen the charm dangling from Kamenashi’s phone previously. It effectively ruled out Kamenashi. The caller on the other end did most of the talking, to which Kamenashi responded with curt words. After a hurried promise to be “there” right away, he hung up before turning back to them.
“I’m needed in one of the operating theatres right now,” he explained, eyes resting on Kato despite addressing Jun and Nino.
Nino nodded vaguely, waving him off. Kamenashi headed out the room in a hurry, almost colliding into Sho who stepped into the room to join them.
Sho waited until Kamenashi had disappeared before turning back to the three in the room. “Inagaki said you two had taken the victim’s mobile phone?”
Nino nodded, showing the evidence bag to Sho. “Kato just identified it as belonging to Tegoshi Yuya.”
Sho raised an eyebrow. “Okay, phone found on victim then.” Kato looked up in shock, staring back at Sho hopefully. “We don't have a positive ID yet, but our victim is definitely not Tegoshi Yuya - our John Doe has a tattoo that identifies him to the Matsuzakya Group.”
Nino frowned. "So how did our shrink's mobile end up on the dead body of a gangster?" He turned to Kato, "you don't ever make visits to crime scenes and yet here you are. What the hell is going on?"
Sho inserted himself between the two. "We would tell you if we could, Nino. I know you want to get the job done more than anything but right now, Kato needs to be able to exercise his right to remain silent."
Nino looked barely satisfied but whatever he wanted to say was cut off by the appearance of Ishitani Senior. And his secretary.
"Sakurai." The director's voice was cold.
"Director! Just the person I needed to see." Sho responded, all smiles.
Ishitani Senior glared, looking agitated. "This is a murder," he responded in a clipped voice. "Why are you", he turned to give Kato a glare before turning back to Sho, "even here?"
Sho seemed to ponder over his question, answering slowly. "Well it turns out that our victim had known ties to the Matsuzakya Group..." He looked back up to study Ishitani Senior's face. "Have you managed to locate your missing son yet? Considering how expansive the group has become of late-"
The secretary looked livid. "We resent your allega-"
Ishitani cut him off. "Do what you must." He muttered tiredly, walking off with the secretary following hurriedly.
“Well, that was helpful,” Nino remarked, crossing his arms.
Sho only smiled, nodding in agreement. “Quite.”
“I was being sarcastic,” Nino pulled his phone out, checking a new message. “Looks like Inagaki is done. He wants to know if we have any questions before he packs up to return to his labs."
* * *
Other than the fact that Inagaki Goro was not a sarcastic jerk like the other medical examiner Jun had the misfortune of dealing with on all other previous occasions, the other bit of positive news was that the man had managed to successfully identify the victim, having located a library card as well.
"A gangster that reads?" Nino snorted. "Are you sure he didn't get it after shaking some poor victim down?"
"Not everyone spends their free time playing games, Ninomiya," Inagaki looked down at his notes before returning to his audience. "Anyway, we ran a check and it matches up. As Sakurai surmised earlier, our victim is a member of the Matsuzakya Group, a low level henchman by the name of Suzuki Hayato. His cause of death was shock from severe blood loss. The slashes on his torso are typical of your gang killings.”
“Don’t suppose we were lucky enough to get a calling card?” Kato enquired, averting his eyes from where the body was being loaded into the van.
"No, but there was a bit of a fight in the parking lot. His blood type was not the only one found. We also found some by Ishitani Junior’s car. His car keys were still left in the driver's door." Inagaki offered, pointing in the direction of a Lexus parked in a disabled parking spot.
Jun had to ask. "Was the car moved?"
"That is his regular spot. Ishitani apparently didn’t like walking too much so his car is parked right by the elevators.”
“Charming,” Sho commented, walking over to the vehicle, Jun and the others following closely. “What do you think, Jun?”
Jun pointed upwards. "There's a security camera by the elevators here. We might get some footage."
Inagaki shook his head. "We have asked already - unfortunately, it is pointed at the elevator only. All we got is the time Ishitani came through the elevators, presumably to his car."
* * *
"You have got to be kidding me," Nino scowled, looking at the scrawled message on his desk.
"What is it?" Jun asked, passing him a can of coffee.
"The Yoshitaka sisters have "checked my schedule with Ohno"," he fixed his oblivious supervisor a glare, "and made arrangements for me to meet up with their sister for a blind date at 11 tomorrow. Do the opinions of the people involved in the actual dating not count anymore these days?"
"So cancel," Toma offered, looking up from his own work.
"Have you tried telling either Yoshitaka sister "No"?" Nino retorted.
"So will you be going?" Jun asked, taking his seat and logging into the police database.
Nino snorted. "Please. I already have plans. I have a huge MMORPG fest lined up all weekend long."
"Smooth, Don Juan." Toma snatched the note and scanned it before tossing it back at Nino. "How is it that you are able to fool women that you're not actually a video game nerd? What about the Yoshitaka sister's feelings?"
"If you feel so strongly about it, you can go in my stead," Nino offered.
Toma made a face. "As if, our football game is tomorrow." He turned to Jun. "You coming?"
Jun nodded. "I was asked by Aiba Masaki to play for his side earlier today."
Nino burst out into laughter. "Aiba? Hey, Toma - maybe you and Sho will actually have a bit of a challenge now."
Jun ignored the two of them in favour of his search window loading up. Sho and Kato might not have been willing to divulge any information about the missing Tegoshi Yuya but the fact that they were at the Suzuki murder scene where the younger Ishitani had also disappeared could only mean that some link existed A link like being in the medical profession?
It was a very long shot but he had nothing to lose anyway. Jun began by entering Tegoshi Yuya's name in the database. After eliminating a few matches, he finally managed to locate Tegoshi Yuya the station counsellor's file. Jun scrolled down until he found Tegoshi's educational background.
Next, he visited the Ishitani Private Clinic website where various high-ranking doctors were listed. "Bingo." He whispered, seeing the same university name listed under Ishitani Ryuichiro's biography.
"Hmm?" Nino looked up from his good-natured jostling with Toma, clearly interested in Jun's latest find.
Jun swung his monitor so that it faced the other two detectives. "I was curious about a possible link between Ishitani and Tegoshi - it turns out that they are both alumni of the same university."
"So maybe Tegoshi was meeting up with his university pal at the clinic and ended up getting grabbed as well when a rival gang came for Ishitani?" Nino speculated. "It would make sense, given what Sho said to Ishitani Senior."
"Jun, take this information to Sho." Ohno stood at the door to his office, having heard their latest development. "If this case isn't a top priority already, it will become one soon. The higher ups won't sit well with news of how one of our own got kidnapped."
* * *
Get the HELL out.
At least, that was the message that Jun's survival instincts was conveying to him internally as he scanned the room nervously.
Which was definitely a huge mistake because in doing so, he made eye contact with the heavily-tattooed gentleman guarding the only exit to the spacious office they’d been ushered into. The fact that said gentleman looked as if he could bench-press both Sho and he without so much as blink certainly didn’t reassure him. The set-up had all the elements of a bad cop/yakuza movie gone wrong. He willed himself to force his nervousness down even as he leaned slightly to his right to ask Sho whethe this as really such a good idea.
When Jun had gone to Sho with the information as Ohno instructed, Sho had accepted it with great enthusiasm, thanking him and asking if he didn't mind tagging along with him when he went to speak to his source, a person who was certain to be able to give them the low-down on any current gang rivalries. Since he enjoyed being in Sho's company (and there was always much to learn from the man, of course), Jun had jumped at the chance.
Needless to say, Jun was flabbergasted to discover that the source in question was none other than the head of the Inagawa Group, only the largest organised criminal society in the whole of the region.
Sho’s lips curved in a small smile, doing very little to soothe him. “Trust me.” Sho whispered back, standing up suddenly in response to a well-dressed man stepping into the office, flanked by two other men who looked even more intense than the door guard if that was possible. Jun quickly followed, scrambling to his feet. “Thank you agreeing to see us on such short notice, Ani.”
The Inagawa Group’s head glowered at Sho’s overly-friendly address but his attention was focused more on Jun who was certain that his mouth was agape. “Who’s the wet-behind-the-ears?”
“Detective Matsumoto Jun. From homicide.” Sho offered. “There was an overlap in our cases so he’s on temporary loan.”
Tsukamoto Takashi smirked, focusing back on Sho. “This is about Ishitani Private Clinic.” It was a statement. Not a question. He took his seat on the opposite couch, signalling that Sho and Jun do the same.
“Matsumoto is covering the homicide angle. I am more interested in two people who went missing that same evening.”
“From what I hear, they saved your life once.” Tsukamoto noted casually. “Is this a favour for them?”
Sho shook his head briefly. “You know that I would invite you to the station for an interview if I were convinced you were guilty of some crime.”
Jun had expected Tsukamoto to lose it. Instead, the man leant back in his couch, appraising both Sho and Jun. “Well, glad to hear that all those years of our misspent youths were a complete waste of time after all.” He nodded towards one of men who bowed and walked off. “Personally, I couldn’t care less about the Matsuzakya Group’s pathetic foray at expanding their power but some members of the Inagawa Group may not feel as magnanimous.” He sighed, turning to Jun. “It’s hard being the one on the throne these days - you need to take responsibility for the actions of those under you.”
"You are the one who chose to assume leadership," Sho noted.
"Was it?" Tsukamoto laughed bitterly. "What about you?” He asked, turning to Jun, “WHY are you a cop?"
Jun looked at Tsukamoto in confusion. Explaining why he chose to follow the path of an officer of the law to the head of a known Yakuza group was the last thing he had ever imagined doing. "Er...I've always wanted to right wrongs, protect those who can't defend themselves."
"Bless my heart," Tsukamoto placed a hand over his heart dramatically. "That was so naive and innocent. Such a newbie point of view." His smile grew, teeth showing. "Tell me, Jun - have you two-“ he gestured towards Sho, “-screwed each other's brains out yet?"
"Takashi." Sho said warningly, even as Jun choked on air in surprise. Shrinking back in the chair, Jun was certain that his face was red with embarrassment even as he tried to assume normalcy in his breathing.
"Oh, as if you weren't going to ever make a move," Tsukamoto harrumphed. Luckily, his henchman returned to give his boss a message, allowing the topic to change. After receiving his henchman’s news, Tsukamoto turned back to his visitors. "It appears that Suzuki Hayato had double-crossed his friend by pocketing the proceeds of their last enterprise.”
Sho crossed his arms. “Nice friend.”
Tsukamoto snorted, “not as nice as his friend - Abe Shinnosuke is known to be quite the unforgiving character."
That seemed to be what Sho was looking for because he stood up. “Thank you.” He signalled for Jun to do the same, even as Jun scrambled to his feet.
Tsukamoto craned his neck to look up at them grinningly. "You're welcome." Jun couldn't help but feel that Tsukamoto wasn't only referring to the information.
* * *
"We can't guarantee that Takashi's information will lead us to Tegoshi and Ishitani, but it's worth a shot," Sho commented, pulling out the laptop and booting it up. "Let's see if we can't find our friend Abe..." Noticing that Jun seemed lost in thought, staring out the windscreen vacantly, Sho waved a hand in front of his face. "Earth to Jun?"
That was enough for Jun to snap out of his reverie, "sorry," he muttered, scrambling for his seatbelt.
"Was Takashi's revelation that much of a shock to you?"
"What? Yes! I mean, no, I..." Jun stumbled over his words, his mind generating several possible combinations of words all at once, none of which made sense.
Sho looked a little sad, "It's okay, Jun. You can be assured that I won't make a move on you." Before Jun could get a word in, the laptop sounded, pulling both their attention to the screen. "According to this, Abe's last brush with the law was when he put his girlfriend in hospital with twenty-eight stitches in a domestic dispute. He was then sent to prison..." Sho scrolled down further. "...for six months."
Jun frowned. "Six months?!? You have got to be kidding me! He-"
Sho continued. "It seems that he was released after three for good behaviour. That was two weeks ago."
"Does it say where he is right now?"
"No, but he's supposed to report to a parole officer." Sho looked up, his mouth forming a grim line. "As arranged by Kato Shigeaki."
* * *
Shige stared at the phone on his desk, willing it to ring. Sakurai had assured him that Yokoyama was monitoring his mobile phone, office and home lines and would be ready the minute Tegoshi’s kidnappers called to state their demands.
If only I'd confronted Tegoshi ear-
"You!" Detective Matsumoto Jun stormed practically kicked the door to his office open, ignoring the protests of his secretary. "How do you sleep at night?"
"I don't fo-" Now that he had stood up, he could see that Matsumoto was not alone - Sakurai Sho was pacifying his secretary, insisting that her precious Kato Shigeaki was in no immediate danger. "It's okay, I've got this." He offered. His secretary reluctantly sat down, even as Sakurai came in, closing the door behind him. "What is this about?"
Matsumoto slammed his palms on his desk, inches away from Kato's face. "Abe Shinnosuke. Does the name ring a bell?"
Shige paled. No-
"I'm surprised it does. Did you only look the other way for Abe or are all scumbags who hit women to the degree that they end up in hospital beneath you in your lofty crusade against criminals?"
Shige felt his temper flare. "You're out of line, Matsumoto,” he growled, shoving his chair backwards as he stood up to square off against the taller detective. “I've-"
Sakurai stepped in at that point, placing a hand on Matsumoto’s shoulder to pull him back. “Calm down, the both of you.” He fixed them both glares that had Matsumoto’s tense posture relax slightly, prompting Shige to lower his defences in turn. “What’s done is done,” Sakurai continued authoritatively. “What matters is that we work towards getting Tegoshi and Ishitani back safely.”
“What do you need?” Shige asked tiredly, narrowly missing his chair as he slumped back down, rubbing his eyes.
“You signed off on Abe’s early release. We need to know the details of the parole officer to whom he is supposed to report.” Sakurai explained. Shige nodded, turning to his computer. In less than five minutes, the sought-after details were written on a piece of paper and handed over to Sakurai who seemed to have an afterthought, telling Matsumoto to go ahead and get the car. Matsumoto barely nodded, almost slamming the door behind him. Sakurai sighed. "I apologise for Jun - he is upset that a person like Abe Shinnosuke managed to get off so lightly. He's new so his sense of justice is still very black and white. I’ve worked with you long enough to know that you are a man of great integrity so you must have your reasons."
Sakurai’s words only made Shige feel worse.
Sakurai lifted the note in his hand, “don’t worry, Kato - we’ll find Tegoshi.” He smiled a little, turning to leave.
“Wait-“ Shige found himself speaking up.
Sakurai stopped and turned back to face him. “Kato?”
“I’m being-“
"Kato, where are those depositions?” Kimura chose that point to barge in. “I said I wanted-“ He stopped, noticing the presence of Shige’s visitor.
"Prosecutor," Sakurai greeted pleasantly.
“Hello,” Kimura responded stiffly. He turned back to Shige, “As I was saying, I want those depositions within the next half-hour."
"Yes sir," Shige responded as Kimura left, closing the door behind him. Turning back to Sakurai, he could see that the man was waiting for him to resume his sentence before they were interrupted. “It can wait,” Shige opted, running a hand through his hair.
Sakurai studied him briefly before nodding, “when you’re ready, then.”
* * *
“What do you mean you can’t make it?” Ikuta Toma demanded over the speakerphone. The man sounded annoyed. “Do you really want me to have all the fun embarrassing Aiba and his geriatric lummoxes?”
Sho grinned at his fellow team member’s overconfidence. “It means exactly that, Toma - Jun and I have a lead to follow up. We tried last night but the person we wanted to get hold of seems to keep office and home very compartmentalised - not that I blame him.”
Sitting in the driver’s seat next to him, Jun didn’t either. He had an idea how awkward it would be having parolees crash your family day.
“Jun,” Sho tapped a hand on his arm, getting his attention. “You see what I think I’m seeing?” He asked, nodding his head in the direction across the street. Jun frowned, narrowing his eyes as he followed Sho’s direction to see a tall burly and hirsute man shuffling towards the direction of the parole officer’s office.
“Abe.” Jun muttered in agreement. Sho opened his door and stepped out even as Jun followed suit. Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, the pair crossed the street and were several metres away when Jun’s eyes made contact with Abe’s.
Jun barely yelled out for the man to freeze before Abe bolted off, he and Sho in pursuit.
* * *
Tegoshi groaned as he opened his eyes, only to realise that he was blindfolded. Blindfolded was good. That meant his kidnapper(s) didn't want him to see their faces.
Which meant he had a chance of being let go.
Or so he hoped.
"Er...hello?" he asked cautiously, feeling his voice crack. His throat was parched.
"About damn time you woke up," a voice growled feebly. "I was beginning to think you had died, being the puny twerp that you are."
"Ishitani?" Tegoshi paused. "Would it be too much to hope that I've been kidnapped for the sole benefit of you getting your ha-has from my misery?"
"If only," Ishitani retorted. "I have better things to do than get stabbed and kidnapped."
"Stabbed?" Tegoshi blanched at the memory of seeing Ishitani being attacked in the parking lot. "Are...are you ok?"
There was some heaving, as if Ishitani was struggling in anger before being cut off by a groan. "I...I don't think I'm going to make it. Hey. HEY!" At first, Tegoshi thought that Ishitani was screaming at him until he heard footsteps grow louder. "I need medical attention." Ishitani demanded. "Unless it was your intention to have me killed after all."
There seemed to be some deliberation before Tegoshi felt the blindfold being yanked off him. He blinked in confusion, trying to adapt to the lighting in the room. The face of one of his kidnappers swam into focus Shit.
A kit landed at his feet even as another cut the ropes binding him. "You're a doctor, fix him." The first kidnapper ordered.
Tegoshi started to protest. "I'm not that kind of a-"
But Ishitani was even more vocal, cutting in. "Are you kidding me? He's not even a real doc-"
The second kidnapper clocked Ishitani, shutting him up. "You have a choice, take it. Or leave it." The first kidnapper offered. "It is a lot better than the choice you left your malpractice victims and their families with, isn't it?"
Tegoshi turned to study the first kidnapper, all protest vanishing at the sight of the gun in the man's hands. "I'll get started right away," he promised, scooping the kit up and turning to where Ishitani was handcuffed to a cheap bed.
Ishitani groaned. "You have to be kidding me."
* * *
Ikuta Toma glanced at his watch for what may have been the umpteenth time since he sat down. He was going to be late for the game.
Scanning his immediate vicinity again, Toma made another sigh. The woman sitting on the other edge of the bench looked up from her reading and offered a smile before returning to her book. Yes, he’d called it - neither Nino nor the dreaded Yoshitaka sister had bothered to pitch up for the blind date as arranged by Officers Yoshitaka One and Yoshitaka Two after all. While he knew that Nino would stay at home, he’d been worried about the Yoshitaka sister being foolish enough to pitch up.
But thankfully, it didn’t seem as if that was going to be the case after all. Still, he had to try. Just in case. Checking his watch again, he saw that he was definitely late for the game. He grabbed his sports bag and ran.
* * *
Now
Jun glared back at Abe Shinnosuke. The idiot looked scared. He took a step forward to confront his suspect. There was no way he was going to-
His thoughts were cut off as he felt a pair of hands grab him from behind, throwing him backwards almost violently. “Calm down, you don’t want to do anything rash, right?” A voice asked gently. Abe only continued to glare at them like a trapped animal. “My name is Aiba Masaki,” the newcomer offered. “What about you?”
Jun pulled himself back up on his feet, wincing. For a scrawny person, Aiba had demonstrated some amazing inner strength when he pulled him back.
“Leave me alone!” Abe growled, making a point of demonstrating a willingness to pull the pin out of the grenade. “Or I will really kill us all!”
“You don’t need to do that,” Aiba offered soothingly, taking steps back and pushing Jun with him. “We’re leaving, ok? Please let the lady go.”
“That’s not-“ Aiba elbowed him at once, cutting off Jun’s attempt to tell him that the grenade wasn’t a real one. It matched the photo that Nakamaru had shown Kuroki - those missing pyrotechnic grenades used for army training.
Abe looked aggravated. “Like hell I will trust you.” He tightened his hold on his hostage, even as she tried to squirm out of his clutches.
“Oh for heaven’s sake-“ Jun lunged forward, throwing his full weight behind his tackling of Abe. It caught Abe off guard, releasing his hold on his hostage who ran into the safety of Aiba’s outstretched arms. Grunting, Abe managed to yank the pin out of his grenade even as Jun knocked it out of his hand, allowing it to roll to the side.
Aiba and the female hostage bolted off for safety at once, even as Sho arrived on the scene. Assessing the situation, he dove for the grenade, picking it up and getting ready to toss it in the direction of the empty football field.
“Don’t worry, it’s a dud.” The words barely left Jun’s lips when bright lights seared his vision, followed by a deafening explosion.
* * *
“Good bye, sir!” the mid-morning security officer greeted cheerfully.
Shige nodded in reply as he walked past the man and entered the lift, pressing the button for the parking lot. He hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, waking up every few minutes, having dreamt that his phone was ringing, bringing news of Tegoshi from his kidnappers. Yet every time he reached for the phone, the ringing cut off, returning the room to silence.
When were they going to call He wished that they would just get it over and done with Or perhaps Sakurai had made good on his words and had managed to find Tegoshi?
The elevator chimed, doors opening to reveal the parking lot. For a brief second, Shige had a flash of the bloody scene at the Ishitani Private Clinic’s parking lot, forcing an involuntary shudder down his spine. Slowly, he emerged from the elevator, cursing himself for being paranoid.
It was Saturday almost afternoon. Of course there would be nobody around. He had been so desperate to get his mind off Tegoshi’s kidnapping that he had come in to draft some documents. Unfortunately, he had also been doing most of that the previous day which meant that he had nothing left to do except fold paper cranes and doodle.
Walking more confidently and with purpose, he crossed the parking lot over to his own car. Fishing his car keys out of his pocket, he was about to press the button to unlock his door when a pair of hands grabbed him from behind and yanked him away forcefully, a cloth clamping over his mouth before he could scream.
Characters: Matsumoto Jun, Sakurai Sho Kato Shigeaki Ninomiya Kazunari, Kamenashi Kazuya, Ikuta Toma and Tsukamoto Takashi as the more prominent characters this chapter
Rating: PG-13 (Some language thanks to the presence of gang members)
Word Count: 4 861 words (more give than take)
Disclaimer: Purely fictional, of course. Glaring lapses of logic abound although the little clues I sprinkle about eventually make sense. Not beta'd
Note: I apologise for the long wait. I was working at my part-time job during the December holidays so had very little time to squeeze in to write. Consider this an early Sho birthday contribution. And thank you to everyone for reading and staying with this story so far, no matter how ridiculous it gets.
Summary: Jun gets to team up with Sho again, this time for a murder / kidnapping case.
“Son of a-” Jun cursed mentally as their quarry shoved the elderly woman in his path, flinging her into a stack of crates, bringing it all crashing down.
“Go!” Sho barked out, even as Jun thought to slow down. “I’ve got this.” He insisted, stopping to stay behind to help the elderly woman up.
Jun barely nodded, leaping over the pile of crates in pursuit. The scumbag was going down. The suspect bolted right, zipping into a sports park. Jun redoubled his efforts, determined not to lose the suspect in the crowds. Clearly, his suspect knew his way around, taking one corner after the next. Jun struggled to keep up at times, uncertainty looming over which of the many paths the suspect took. Following several outbursts, he rounded a corner only to crash into someone.
“He’s crazy!” Disoriented, Jun steadied himself as several others ran past him.
Nodding absently, Jun let the person who’d crashed into him go, approaching the arch cautiously. Sure enough, his suspect had trapped himself by running into the fenced audience area of a baseball field. “Back off!” The suspect growled, one arm wrapped around a young woman in a chokehold.
Jun frowned, scanning the man for any visible weapons. Nothing. “Or what?” Jun demanded, taking a step forward
That was when the grenade in the suspect’s hand became visible, thumb hooked into its pin. It was enough to halt Jun mid-step. “Or I’ll take us all out together.”
* * *
Less than 24 hours ago…
Matsumoto Jun studied his suspect carefully, heeding the words of his Police Academy instructor “It’s one of the basics of being a detective - observe and look for tells because that’s what will likely give away that the suspect has something to hide.”
But if Kamenashi Kazuya did have something to hide, he was doing an excellent job at concealing his concern when Nino requested to see the doctor’s mobile phone.
But then again, it might have had everything to do with the fact that Assistant Prosecutor Kato Shigeaki became the spotlight of attention by snatching the evidence bag out of Nino’s hand. Nino was about to voice his protest when Kato stared at it for all of ten seconds before his entire posture slumped lifelessly. “This is Tegoshi Yuya’s phone.”
Tegoshi Yuya.
The station’s temporary counsellor.
Currently AWOL.
The source of great annoyance amongst several extremely disappointed officers who had booked appointments with him.
Sho. Sho had been told by Ohno to consult him.
Nino crossed his arms. “The station’s shrink?”
While watching Kato nod in confirmation, Jun almost missed noticing that Kamenashi seemed just as interested in the revelation. Jun was about to question Kamenashi on a possible connection when he was interrupted by a loud buzzing emanating from the doctor who quickly fished his mobile phone out to answer it. Nino exchanged glances with him as both detectives noticed the same skull-shaped charm, confirming Jun’s recollection that he had seen the charm dangling from Kamenashi’s phone previously. It effectively ruled out Kamenashi. The caller on the other end did most of the talking, to which Kamenashi responded with curt words. After a hurried promise to be “there” right away, he hung up before turning back to them.
“I’m needed in one of the operating theatres right now,” he explained, eyes resting on Kato despite addressing Jun and Nino.
Nino nodded vaguely, waving him off. Kamenashi headed out the room in a hurry, almost colliding into Sho who stepped into the room to join them.
Sho waited until Kamenashi had disappeared before turning back to the three in the room. “Inagaki said you two had taken the victim’s mobile phone?”
Nino nodded, showing the evidence bag to Sho. “Kato just identified it as belonging to Tegoshi Yuya.”
Sho raised an eyebrow. “Okay, phone found on victim then.” Kato looked up in shock, staring back at Sho hopefully. “We don't have a positive ID yet, but our victim is definitely not Tegoshi Yuya - our John Doe has a tattoo that identifies him to the Matsuzakya Group.”
Nino frowned. "So how did our shrink's mobile end up on the dead body of a gangster?" He turned to Kato, "you don't ever make visits to crime scenes and yet here you are. What the hell is going on?"
Sho inserted himself between the two. "We would tell you if we could, Nino. I know you want to get the job done more than anything but right now, Kato needs to be able to exercise his right to remain silent."
Nino looked barely satisfied but whatever he wanted to say was cut off by the appearance of Ishitani Senior. And his secretary.
"Sakurai." The director's voice was cold.
"Director! Just the person I needed to see." Sho responded, all smiles.
Ishitani Senior glared, looking agitated. "This is a murder," he responded in a clipped voice. "Why are you", he turned to give Kato a glare before turning back to Sho, "even here?"
Sho seemed to ponder over his question, answering slowly. "Well it turns out that our victim had known ties to the Matsuzakya Group..." He looked back up to study Ishitani Senior's face. "Have you managed to locate your missing son yet? Considering how expansive the group has become of late-"
The secretary looked livid. "We resent your allega-"
Ishitani cut him off. "Do what you must." He muttered tiredly, walking off with the secretary following hurriedly.
“Well, that was helpful,” Nino remarked, crossing his arms.
Sho only smiled, nodding in agreement. “Quite.”
“I was being sarcastic,” Nino pulled his phone out, checking a new message. “Looks like Inagaki is done. He wants to know if we have any questions before he packs up to return to his labs."
* * *
Other than the fact that Inagaki Goro was not a sarcastic jerk like the other medical examiner Jun had the misfortune of dealing with on all other previous occasions, the other bit of positive news was that the man had managed to successfully identify the victim, having located a library card as well.
"A gangster that reads?" Nino snorted. "Are you sure he didn't get it after shaking some poor victim down?"
"Not everyone spends their free time playing games, Ninomiya," Inagaki looked down at his notes before returning to his audience. "Anyway, we ran a check and it matches up. As Sakurai surmised earlier, our victim is a member of the Matsuzakya Group, a low level henchman by the name of Suzuki Hayato. His cause of death was shock from severe blood loss. The slashes on his torso are typical of your gang killings.”
“Don’t suppose we were lucky enough to get a calling card?” Kato enquired, averting his eyes from where the body was being loaded into the van.
"No, but there was a bit of a fight in the parking lot. His blood type was not the only one found. We also found some by Ishitani Junior’s car. His car keys were still left in the driver's door." Inagaki offered, pointing in the direction of a Lexus parked in a disabled parking spot.
Jun had to ask. "Was the car moved?"
"That is his regular spot. Ishitani apparently didn’t like walking too much so his car is parked right by the elevators.”
“Charming,” Sho commented, walking over to the vehicle, Jun and the others following closely. “What do you think, Jun?”
Jun pointed upwards. "There's a security camera by the elevators here. We might get some footage."
Inagaki shook his head. "We have asked already - unfortunately, it is pointed at the elevator only. All we got is the time Ishitani came through the elevators, presumably to his car."
* * *
"You have got to be kidding me," Nino scowled, looking at the scrawled message on his desk.
"What is it?" Jun asked, passing him a can of coffee.
"The Yoshitaka sisters have "checked my schedule with Ohno"," he fixed his oblivious supervisor a glare, "and made arrangements for me to meet up with their sister for a blind date at 11 tomorrow. Do the opinions of the people involved in the actual dating not count anymore these days?"
"So cancel," Toma offered, looking up from his own work.
"Have you tried telling either Yoshitaka sister "No"?" Nino retorted.
"So will you be going?" Jun asked, taking his seat and logging into the police database.
Nino snorted. "Please. I already have plans. I have a huge MMORPG fest lined up all weekend long."
"Smooth, Don Juan." Toma snatched the note and scanned it before tossing it back at Nino. "How is it that you are able to fool women that you're not actually a video game nerd? What about the Yoshitaka sister's feelings?"
"If you feel so strongly about it, you can go in my stead," Nino offered.
Toma made a face. "As if, our football game is tomorrow." He turned to Jun. "You coming?"
Jun nodded. "I was asked by Aiba Masaki to play for his side earlier today."
Nino burst out into laughter. "Aiba? Hey, Toma - maybe you and Sho will actually have a bit of a challenge now."
Jun ignored the two of them in favour of his search window loading up. Sho and Kato might not have been willing to divulge any information about the missing Tegoshi Yuya but the fact that they were at the Suzuki murder scene where the younger Ishitani had also disappeared could only mean that some link existed A link like being in the medical profession?
It was a very long shot but he had nothing to lose anyway. Jun began by entering Tegoshi Yuya's name in the database. After eliminating a few matches, he finally managed to locate Tegoshi Yuya the station counsellor's file. Jun scrolled down until he found Tegoshi's educational background.
Next, he visited the Ishitani Private Clinic website where various high-ranking doctors were listed. "Bingo." He whispered, seeing the same university name listed under Ishitani Ryuichiro's biography.
"Hmm?" Nino looked up from his good-natured jostling with Toma, clearly interested in Jun's latest find.
Jun swung his monitor so that it faced the other two detectives. "I was curious about a possible link between Ishitani and Tegoshi - it turns out that they are both alumni of the same university."
"So maybe Tegoshi was meeting up with his university pal at the clinic and ended up getting grabbed as well when a rival gang came for Ishitani?" Nino speculated. "It would make sense, given what Sho said to Ishitani Senior."
"Jun, take this information to Sho." Ohno stood at the door to his office, having heard their latest development. "If this case isn't a top priority already, it will become one soon. The higher ups won't sit well with news of how one of our own got kidnapped."
* * *
Get the HELL out.
At least, that was the message that Jun's survival instincts was conveying to him internally as he scanned the room nervously.
Which was definitely a huge mistake because in doing so, he made eye contact with the heavily-tattooed gentleman guarding the only exit to the spacious office they’d been ushered into. The fact that said gentleman looked as if he could bench-press both Sho and he without so much as blink certainly didn’t reassure him. The set-up had all the elements of a bad cop/yakuza movie gone wrong. He willed himself to force his nervousness down even as he leaned slightly to his right to ask Sho whethe this as really such a good idea.
When Jun had gone to Sho with the information as Ohno instructed, Sho had accepted it with great enthusiasm, thanking him and asking if he didn't mind tagging along with him when he went to speak to his source, a person who was certain to be able to give them the low-down on any current gang rivalries. Since he enjoyed being in Sho's company (and there was always much to learn from the man, of course), Jun had jumped at the chance.
Needless to say, Jun was flabbergasted to discover that the source in question was none other than the head of the Inagawa Group, only the largest organised criminal society in the whole of the region.
Sho’s lips curved in a small smile, doing very little to soothe him. “Trust me.” Sho whispered back, standing up suddenly in response to a well-dressed man stepping into the office, flanked by two other men who looked even more intense than the door guard if that was possible. Jun quickly followed, scrambling to his feet. “Thank you agreeing to see us on such short notice, Ani.”
The Inagawa Group’s head glowered at Sho’s overly-friendly address but his attention was focused more on Jun who was certain that his mouth was agape. “Who’s the wet-behind-the-ears?”
“Detective Matsumoto Jun. From homicide.” Sho offered. “There was an overlap in our cases so he’s on temporary loan.”
Tsukamoto Takashi smirked, focusing back on Sho. “This is about Ishitani Private Clinic.” It was a statement. Not a question. He took his seat on the opposite couch, signalling that Sho and Jun do the same.
“Matsumoto is covering the homicide angle. I am more interested in two people who went missing that same evening.”
“From what I hear, they saved your life once.” Tsukamoto noted casually. “Is this a favour for them?”
Sho shook his head briefly. “You know that I would invite you to the station for an interview if I were convinced you were guilty of some crime.”
Jun had expected Tsukamoto to lose it. Instead, the man leant back in his couch, appraising both Sho and Jun. “Well, glad to hear that all those years of our misspent youths were a complete waste of time after all.” He nodded towards one of men who bowed and walked off. “Personally, I couldn’t care less about the Matsuzakya Group’s pathetic foray at expanding their power but some members of the Inagawa Group may not feel as magnanimous.” He sighed, turning to Jun. “It’s hard being the one on the throne these days - you need to take responsibility for the actions of those under you.”
"You are the one who chose to assume leadership," Sho noted.
"Was it?" Tsukamoto laughed bitterly. "What about you?” He asked, turning to Jun, “WHY are you a cop?"
Jun looked at Tsukamoto in confusion. Explaining why he chose to follow the path of an officer of the law to the head of a known Yakuza group was the last thing he had ever imagined doing. "Er...I've always wanted to right wrongs, protect those who can't defend themselves."
"Bless my heart," Tsukamoto placed a hand over his heart dramatically. "That was so naive and innocent. Such a newbie point of view." His smile grew, teeth showing. "Tell me, Jun - have you two-“ he gestured towards Sho, “-screwed each other's brains out yet?"
"Takashi." Sho said warningly, even as Jun choked on air in surprise. Shrinking back in the chair, Jun was certain that his face was red with embarrassment even as he tried to assume normalcy in his breathing.
"Oh, as if you weren't going to ever make a move," Tsukamoto harrumphed. Luckily, his henchman returned to give his boss a message, allowing the topic to change. After receiving his henchman’s news, Tsukamoto turned back to his visitors. "It appears that Suzuki Hayato had double-crossed his friend by pocketing the proceeds of their last enterprise.”
Sho crossed his arms. “Nice friend.”
Tsukamoto snorted, “not as nice as his friend - Abe Shinnosuke is known to be quite the unforgiving character."
That seemed to be what Sho was looking for because he stood up. “Thank you.” He signalled for Jun to do the same, even as Jun scrambled to his feet.
Tsukamoto craned his neck to look up at them grinningly. "You're welcome." Jun couldn't help but feel that Tsukamoto wasn't only referring to the information.
* * *
"We can't guarantee that Takashi's information will lead us to Tegoshi and Ishitani, but it's worth a shot," Sho commented, pulling out the laptop and booting it up. "Let's see if we can't find our friend Abe..." Noticing that Jun seemed lost in thought, staring out the windscreen vacantly, Sho waved a hand in front of his face. "Earth to Jun?"
That was enough for Jun to snap out of his reverie, "sorry," he muttered, scrambling for his seatbelt.
"Was Takashi's revelation that much of a shock to you?"
"What? Yes! I mean, no, I..." Jun stumbled over his words, his mind generating several possible combinations of words all at once, none of which made sense.
Sho looked a little sad, "It's okay, Jun. You can be assured that I won't make a move on you." Before Jun could get a word in, the laptop sounded, pulling both their attention to the screen. "According to this, Abe's last brush with the law was when he put his girlfriend in hospital with twenty-eight stitches in a domestic dispute. He was then sent to prison..." Sho scrolled down further. "...for six months."
Jun frowned. "Six months?!? You have got to be kidding me! He-"
Sho continued. "It seems that he was released after three for good behaviour. That was two weeks ago."
"Does it say where he is right now?"
"No, but he's supposed to report to a parole officer." Sho looked up, his mouth forming a grim line. "As arranged by Kato Shigeaki."
* * *
Shige stared at the phone on his desk, willing it to ring. Sakurai had assured him that Yokoyama was monitoring his mobile phone, office and home lines and would be ready the minute Tegoshi’s kidnappers called to state their demands.
If only I'd confronted Tegoshi ear-
"You!" Detective Matsumoto Jun stormed practically kicked the door to his office open, ignoring the protests of his secretary. "How do you sleep at night?"
"I don't fo-" Now that he had stood up, he could see that Matsumoto was not alone - Sakurai Sho was pacifying his secretary, insisting that her precious Kato Shigeaki was in no immediate danger. "It's okay, I've got this." He offered. His secretary reluctantly sat down, even as Sakurai came in, closing the door behind him. "What is this about?"
Matsumoto slammed his palms on his desk, inches away from Kato's face. "Abe Shinnosuke. Does the name ring a bell?"
Shige paled. No-
"I'm surprised it does. Did you only look the other way for Abe or are all scumbags who hit women to the degree that they end up in hospital beneath you in your lofty crusade against criminals?"
Shige felt his temper flare. "You're out of line, Matsumoto,” he growled, shoving his chair backwards as he stood up to square off against the taller detective. “I've-"
Sakurai stepped in at that point, placing a hand on Matsumoto’s shoulder to pull him back. “Calm down, the both of you.” He fixed them both glares that had Matsumoto’s tense posture relax slightly, prompting Shige to lower his defences in turn. “What’s done is done,” Sakurai continued authoritatively. “What matters is that we work towards getting Tegoshi and Ishitani back safely.”
“What do you need?” Shige asked tiredly, narrowly missing his chair as he slumped back down, rubbing his eyes.
“You signed off on Abe’s early release. We need to know the details of the parole officer to whom he is supposed to report.” Sakurai explained. Shige nodded, turning to his computer. In less than five minutes, the sought-after details were written on a piece of paper and handed over to Sakurai who seemed to have an afterthought, telling Matsumoto to go ahead and get the car. Matsumoto barely nodded, almost slamming the door behind him. Sakurai sighed. "I apologise for Jun - he is upset that a person like Abe Shinnosuke managed to get off so lightly. He's new so his sense of justice is still very black and white. I’ve worked with you long enough to know that you are a man of great integrity so you must have your reasons."
Sakurai’s words only made Shige feel worse.
Sakurai lifted the note in his hand, “don’t worry, Kato - we’ll find Tegoshi.” He smiled a little, turning to leave.
“Wait-“ Shige found himself speaking up.
Sakurai stopped and turned back to face him. “Kato?”
“I’m being-“
"Kato, where are those depositions?” Kimura chose that point to barge in. “I said I wanted-“ He stopped, noticing the presence of Shige’s visitor.
"Prosecutor," Sakurai greeted pleasantly.
“Hello,” Kimura responded stiffly. He turned back to Shige, “As I was saying, I want those depositions within the next half-hour."
"Yes sir," Shige responded as Kimura left, closing the door behind him. Turning back to Sakurai, he could see that the man was waiting for him to resume his sentence before they were interrupted. “It can wait,” Shige opted, running a hand through his hair.
Sakurai studied him briefly before nodding, “when you’re ready, then.”
* * *
“What do you mean you can’t make it?” Ikuta Toma demanded over the speakerphone. The man sounded annoyed. “Do you really want me to have all the fun embarrassing Aiba and his geriatric lummoxes?”
Sho grinned at his fellow team member’s overconfidence. “It means exactly that, Toma - Jun and I have a lead to follow up. We tried last night but the person we wanted to get hold of seems to keep office and home very compartmentalised - not that I blame him.”
Sitting in the driver’s seat next to him, Jun didn’t either. He had an idea how awkward it would be having parolees crash your family day.
“Jun,” Sho tapped a hand on his arm, getting his attention. “You see what I think I’m seeing?” He asked, nodding his head in the direction across the street. Jun frowned, narrowing his eyes as he followed Sho’s direction to see a tall burly and hirsute man shuffling towards the direction of the parole officer’s office.
“Abe.” Jun muttered in agreement. Sho opened his door and stepped out even as Jun followed suit. Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, the pair crossed the street and were several metres away when Jun’s eyes made contact with Abe’s.
Jun barely yelled out for the man to freeze before Abe bolted off, he and Sho in pursuit.
* * *
Tegoshi groaned as he opened his eyes, only to realise that he was blindfolded. Blindfolded was good. That meant his kidnapper(s) didn't want him to see their faces.
Which meant he had a chance of being let go.
Or so he hoped.
"Er...hello?" he asked cautiously, feeling his voice crack. His throat was parched.
"About damn time you woke up," a voice growled feebly. "I was beginning to think you had died, being the puny twerp that you are."
"Ishitani?" Tegoshi paused. "Would it be too much to hope that I've been kidnapped for the sole benefit of you getting your ha-has from my misery?"
"If only," Ishitani retorted. "I have better things to do than get stabbed and kidnapped."
"Stabbed?" Tegoshi blanched at the memory of seeing Ishitani being attacked in the parking lot. "Are...are you ok?"
There was some heaving, as if Ishitani was struggling in anger before being cut off by a groan. "I...I don't think I'm going to make it. Hey. HEY!" At first, Tegoshi thought that Ishitani was screaming at him until he heard footsteps grow louder. "I need medical attention." Ishitani demanded. "Unless it was your intention to have me killed after all."
There seemed to be some deliberation before Tegoshi felt the blindfold being yanked off him. He blinked in confusion, trying to adapt to the lighting in the room. The face of one of his kidnappers swam into focus Shit.
A kit landed at his feet even as another cut the ropes binding him. "You're a doctor, fix him." The first kidnapper ordered.
Tegoshi started to protest. "I'm not that kind of a-"
But Ishitani was even more vocal, cutting in. "Are you kidding me? He's not even a real doc-"
The second kidnapper clocked Ishitani, shutting him up. "You have a choice, take it. Or leave it." The first kidnapper offered. "It is a lot better than the choice you left your malpractice victims and their families with, isn't it?"
Tegoshi turned to study the first kidnapper, all protest vanishing at the sight of the gun in the man's hands. "I'll get started right away," he promised, scooping the kit up and turning to where Ishitani was handcuffed to a cheap bed.
Ishitani groaned. "You have to be kidding me."
* * *
Ikuta Toma glanced at his watch for what may have been the umpteenth time since he sat down. He was going to be late for the game.
Scanning his immediate vicinity again, Toma made another sigh. The woman sitting on the other edge of the bench looked up from her reading and offered a smile before returning to her book. Yes, he’d called it - neither Nino nor the dreaded Yoshitaka sister had bothered to pitch up for the blind date as arranged by Officers Yoshitaka One and Yoshitaka Two after all. While he knew that Nino would stay at home, he’d been worried about the Yoshitaka sister being foolish enough to pitch up.
But thankfully, it didn’t seem as if that was going to be the case after all. Still, he had to try. Just in case. Checking his watch again, he saw that he was definitely late for the game. He grabbed his sports bag and ran.
* * *
Now
Jun glared back at Abe Shinnosuke. The idiot looked scared. He took a step forward to confront his suspect. There was no way he was going to-
His thoughts were cut off as he felt a pair of hands grab him from behind, throwing him backwards almost violently. “Calm down, you don’t want to do anything rash, right?” A voice asked gently. Abe only continued to glare at them like a trapped animal. “My name is Aiba Masaki,” the newcomer offered. “What about you?”
Jun pulled himself back up on his feet, wincing. For a scrawny person, Aiba had demonstrated some amazing inner strength when he pulled him back.
“Leave me alone!” Abe growled, making a point of demonstrating a willingness to pull the pin out of the grenade. “Or I will really kill us all!”
“You don’t need to do that,” Aiba offered soothingly, taking steps back and pushing Jun with him. “We’re leaving, ok? Please let the lady go.”
“That’s not-“ Aiba elbowed him at once, cutting off Jun’s attempt to tell him that the grenade wasn’t a real one. It matched the photo that Nakamaru had shown Kuroki - those missing pyrotechnic grenades used for army training.
Abe looked aggravated. “Like hell I will trust you.” He tightened his hold on his hostage, even as she tried to squirm out of his clutches.
“Oh for heaven’s sake-“ Jun lunged forward, throwing his full weight behind his tackling of Abe. It caught Abe off guard, releasing his hold on his hostage who ran into the safety of Aiba’s outstretched arms. Grunting, Abe managed to yank the pin out of his grenade even as Jun knocked it out of his hand, allowing it to roll to the side.
Aiba and the female hostage bolted off for safety at once, even as Sho arrived on the scene. Assessing the situation, he dove for the grenade, picking it up and getting ready to toss it in the direction of the empty football field.
“Don’t worry, it’s a dud.” The words barely left Jun’s lips when bright lights seared his vision, followed by a deafening explosion.
* * *
“Good bye, sir!” the mid-morning security officer greeted cheerfully.
Shige nodded in reply as he walked past the man and entered the lift, pressing the button for the parking lot. He hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, waking up every few minutes, having dreamt that his phone was ringing, bringing news of Tegoshi from his kidnappers. Yet every time he reached for the phone, the ringing cut off, returning the room to silence.
When were they going to call He wished that they would just get it over and done with Or perhaps Sakurai had made good on his words and had managed to find Tegoshi?
The elevator chimed, doors opening to reveal the parking lot. For a brief second, Shige had a flash of the bloody scene at the Ishitani Private Clinic’s parking lot, forcing an involuntary shudder down his spine. Slowly, he emerged from the elevator, cursing himself for being paranoid.
It was Saturday almost afternoon. Of course there would be nobody around. He had been so desperate to get his mind off Tegoshi’s kidnapping that he had come in to draft some documents. Unfortunately, he had also been doing most of that the previous day which meant that he had nothing left to do except fold paper cranes and doodle.
Walking more confidently and with purpose, he crossed the parking lot over to his own car. Fishing his car keys out of his pocket, he was about to press the button to unlock his door when a pair of hands grabbed him from behind and yanked him away forcefully, a cloth clamping over his mouth before he could scream.