Football Frenzy (8 page)

A movement on the image of the gambling room caught his eye, and he focused on that half of the screen again. Two men in uniform black shirts and visible earpieces were standing in the main
doorway to the gambling room, looking around. One of them beckoned over a grey-haired waiter, who listened to their questions for a moment before pointing to the left of the screen...right at
the empty chair where Granny had been sitting. The men strained their necks, looking around the room.

“Oh no,” Josh muttered. Jessica followed his gaze and gasped.

“Granny, be careful,” she whispered. “There are two men looking for you!”

Josh swallowed down a hard lump that had formed in his throat. “It’s no good – she’s exposed and unarmed...” He looked over at Mr. Yakamura, hoping to see a
reassuring smile on the old man’s face. The frown he saw instead made chills run down his spine.

“This is bad,” Mr. Yakamura said. “That place is full of Yakuza. She could be massively outnumbered. We should go in.”

“
You will not risk our cover,
” Granny’s voice whispered in Josh’s ear. “
I forbid it
.”

“Jess and I could go in,” Josh volunteered, without hesitation. He looked at Jessica. She’d gone pale, but her lips were set in a thin, determined line and she nodded.

“
No, absolutely not
,” Granny hissed.

“But you need backup, Mimi-san,” Mr. Yamamoto said thoughtfully. “You trained them yourself – are you sure they aren’t ready?” He caught Josh’s eye and
winked. Josh swelled with pride – Mr. Y clearly
did
believe they were ready, or he wouldn’t have suggested it.

There was a heavy pause, before Granny’s voice spoke again. “
They can come in to be my lookouts, no more
,” she said.

Mr. Yamamoto covered his microphone and leaned close to Josh. “Do what you need to, to protect our leader. Understood?”

“
Hai
,” Josh said, jumping to his feet. “Let’s go!”

“And quick,” Jessica said, getting to her feet. “Granny’s in danger!”

Josh shoved his hands into his pockets, trying to look casual, as he and Jessica strolled towards the front door of the Omajinai.

“
You can’t get in past those brutes
,” Nana’s voice said in Josh’s ear. “
They’ll never let a pair of children inside. There must be a back way
in we can’t see on our cameras. Don’t go for the front door. Keep circling the building
.”

“
Hai
,” Josh murmured. They passed the door and turned a corner into a narrow alleyway. Josh saw a row of flowering shrubs along the side of the building, but no door. Then he
felt Jessica’s hand gripping his elbow. She pulled him up against the wall, in a small gap among the shrubbery. She pointed upwards.

“A window!” she whispered. Josh looked up. The window ledge was a couple of metres over their heads. The glass looked dark and grimy, and the frame just wide enough for them to slip
through. “Give me a leg up,” Jessica said. “I’ll get it open.”

Josh laced his fingers together and braced his arms. Jessica stepped into his hand and he took her weight, his arm muscles straining, boosting her up until she was eye-level with the window.

“It’s on a latch,” she said. “I can just...” Josh heard a couple of small scraping noises, and then a click and a soft creaking. “Got it. The
drop’s about two metres.” She leaned forward and Josh felt her weight lift off his hands. Then she slipped through the window and was gone. He heard something hitting a hard floor, and
a small
oof
. “I’m in,” Jessica whispered. “Can you reach, Josh?”

He looked around. The window was too high for him to grab from a standing position. He inspected the bushes, but didn’t think they’d hold his weight. It was going to have to be a
running jump.

“Yep,” he said, backing up. “I’ll be with you in a second.” He walked as far back as he dared and then leaped into a sprint. His feet slammed into the ground once,
twice, three times, and he sprang into the air, grabbing onto the window ledge. His momentum made him swing wildly out to one side, and his fingers almost slid off the ledge as his wrists twisted
under the strain. Then he swung back again and hung there, gripping on tight.

Right. Now to pull myself up
.

With a grunt of effort he managed to scramble up to the window and dive through head first. The world turned upside down as he somersaulted through and landed on his feet in the corridor
below.

When the corridor had stopped spinning, he saw that they were on a landing, between the front door and a dim, narrow flight of stairs leading downwards. He could hear the faint sounds of
chattering and clinking glasses from below.

“Nana, what’s going on with the two men?” he whispered.

“
They’re still searching the main gambling room
.”

Josh breathed a little easier. “We’re on our way.”

As they descended lower and lower, the air grew thick and choking. Josh could smell cigar smoke, like the kind their English grandfather sometimes smelled of, but much more pungent and oddly
spiced. The stairs were dark and claustrophobic, only just wide enough for the two of them to walk side by side. They turned a corner sharply and continued down, round and round until Josh realized
he’d no idea which way they were facing.

He tried to fix the picture from the CCTV monitor in his mind. When they found the gambling room, the corridor that led to the back room would be somewhere to their right. If there was trouble,
they’d need to get over there quick...

“Nana, have we found out anything useful?” Jessica asked.

“
Oh indeed
,” came Nana’s voice through their ear-buds. “
Mimasu has been enhancing Mimi-san’s recordings. Minister Kobayashi sounds very upset. He says he
has had enough. He seems to be being blackmailed – something about photographs, and some men who Kobayashi didn’t know were Yakuza. Then Kobayashi says the violence is too much, he
doesn’t want to hurt Shini
.”

Josh and Jessica looked at each other, their eyebrows raised.

“Then Kobayashi’s innocent...sort of?” Jessica shrugged. “But he still arranged for those things to happen to him, didn’t he?”

“The question is, who’s controlling him?” Josh wondered.

“
We can’t tell yet
,” said Nana. “
But it looks like the Yakuza are heavily involved
.”

Josh swallowed hard.

They turned another corner, and found themselves standing in a large doorway decorated with kanji and Chinese lettering. Through it they could see the gambling room. It was even bigger than it
had looked on CCTV. Josh could make out the first two rows of mah-jong tables, but the rest were lost in the crowd. He and Jessica pressed themselves against the wall.

“What now?” Jessica whispered.

“Get to that back corridor before the two guys figure out where Granny is. Then take them out if we need to, before they can raise the alarm,” Josh said, in the most confident voice
he could muster. “If we keep moving we can get through the crowd without getting caught...I hope.”

“Right...” Jessica breathed.

They slipped into the hot, crowded room. One gambler gave them a slightly odd look, but Josh moved fast, ducking under someone’s arm and slipping between two tables. He stopped by a bank
of slot machines, peering around the room, looking for the two men in black shirts. The air was thick with the chatter of Mandarin conversation, punctuated by the clicking of mah-jong tiles and the
flutter of playing cards. He thought he saw a large black-shirted shoulder moving through the crowd.

“Let’s keep moving,” he whispered to Jessica. They dodged around the slot machines. Josh tried to keep his head down and look out for the best way round to the back
corridor.

Jessica grabbed his arm and pulled him to the floor. They rolled under a table, just in time to see the kimono of the young waitress shuffle past.

“If the staff spot us, we’re out of here,” Jessica hissed. “We have to avoid them, too!”

Josh nodded. They crawled out from under the table. Josh nudged Jessica’s shoulder and pointed through the forest of gamblers’ legs. He could see the entrance to the corridor, only a
few metres away.

“
Hurry
.” Mr. Yamamoto’s voice was suddenly in his ear. “
The men are heading right for you
.”

Josh took a deep breath, grabbed Jessica’s hand, and they both ran, doubled over, towards the corridor. Josh thought they would be spotted as soon as they came out of the crowd, but no
outcry followed them as they dodged past the last table and made a run for it, turning the corner into the dim corridor and stopping, their backs pressed to the wall, out of sight of the
gamblers.

“Did we make it?” Josh gasped.

“Think so!” Jessica edged away from the gambling room, her shoulders sagging with relief. Josh looked down the corridor and saw Granny, standing by the door with her ear to the wall.
She gave him a hand signal, somewhere between
I’m fine
and
Don’t come any closer
. He nodded and waved back.

“Let’s hope the men didn’t see us,” Jessica whispered. “We can lie in wait here, and—”

“
Shimatta!
” Granny snapped. Josh looked up, his blood chilling in his veins as he watched his granny crane to listen harder, her eyes narrowing. “I know that
voice!” she hissed. “It’s Yoshida!”

Josh gaped.
Mr. Yoshida, the Yakuza boss? Not him again
...

Suddenly the expression on Granny’s face changed and she pointed.

“Josh!” she called. “Behind you!”

Josh turned just in time to see a fist powering through the air towards him.

Josh ducked, but the fist struck a glancing blow to the top of his head. He felt a burst of pain, and his vision swam. He backed away, the corridor
spinning around him.

The scene came back into focus and he saw Jessica hit their attacker square in the chest with a spinning kick. But the second man was just behind. Josh barrelled forward into him, striking with
his shoulder and pushing the man back.

There was a bang, and Josh turned to see the door to the back room wide open. An elderly Japanese man with a ponytail stood there, his thin grey brows drawing together in surprise as he stared
at Granny. His glance flickered over her shoulder, taking in Josh, Jessica, and their attackers.

“Why, Mimi,” he said. “Always a pleasure. And your charming little—”

Granny didn’t wait for him to finish. She dropped to the ground, rolled, came up behind him and planted a solid kick to the middle of his back. He stumbled forward, but turned the fall
into a somersault and was on his feet again at once, twisting round to face her, his hands raised.

“Why don’t you let me take my grandchildren outside,” Granny said. “Then we can talk, just the two of us.”

“Ah, Mimi. I have no interest in making deals, even with you. Take them!” Yoshida snapped, nodding at the men in black. One of the thugs grabbed Josh’s arm and shoved him
towards the wall. Josh jumped up at the last minute and planted his feet on the brickwork, pushing back with all his might. They toppled backwards and hit the ground together, rolling and tumbling
along the corridor until Josh came to a rest with the man on top of him. Now Josh was on his back, and the man raised a fist to drive it into Josh’s face...and then hesitated. Josh
looked up. They’d rolled all the way into the main gambling room. Silence had fallen. Players, spectators and gamblers turned. A waiter gasped and dropped a tray of glasses, shattering the
silence.

Suddenly, everyone seemed to be moving. Waiters and waitresses screamed and ran for the exit. The sharp-suited young Yakuza with the slicked-back hair stood and squared their shoulders. Elderly
gamblers creaked and hobbled from their chairs. Tables toppled and mah-jong tiles scattered across the floor.

With a roar of annoyance, the man slammed his fist down into Josh’s face – or at least, the patch of bare concrete where it had just been.

“Gaaaaaaahhh!” he screamed, clutching his hand.

Josh couldn’t help but grin at the yell of pain as he ducked away under the man’s arm, but he stopped smiling when he nearly caught Jessica’s foot in his face. She was vaulting
over him into the gambling room to escape a vicious roundhouse kick from the other man in black. They both scrambled to their feet. Josh scanned the room. Two big men in black. Three slick Yakuza
– was that the glint of a flick knife he saw in one of their hands? And there was a commotion from the stairs as the two Chinese bouncers burst into the room, flexing their muscles.