Full Wolf Moon (14 page)
"Very animal."
"Excuse me?"
"It seems more animal-like to me." Mrs. Tebbe's gaze was even, clinical, as if she were scrutinizing him.
He said more testily than he meant to, "You're not imagining that an animal's done all this."
With a shrug, Mrs. Tebbe said, "I'm thinking of what the Tamura twins said. Has anyone noted any large animal tracks in their reports?"
"Why the hell would they? An animal stalking the internees? Come on, Mrs. Tebbe..." Max almost laughed out loud.
Mrs. Tebbe's silence was long and uncomfortable. Of course, he'd just insulted her. Max's stomach felt knotted and that damn buzzing was threatened once again, low and ominous in one ear. He apologized to distract himself from that as much as to placate the C.A.
"Look. I'm sorry. I know we're brain storming here, I didn't mean to brush off your speculating."
Thankfully, she finally smiled, even looked a little sheepish. She shook her head and waved a quick hand at his apology.
"Oh, for heaven's sake. You're right, Captain, I don't know what I was thinking. I was just re-reading the boys' statement and..." She punched the intercom button before finishing. "... I was up most of the night. I'm not staying as clear-headed as I should. Harriet, how about some coffee?"
The tension was gone, Mrs. Tebbe was back to normal and the threat in Max's ear had all but faded.
The C.A. said, "Maybe you're on to something, Captain. It's just...an enemy insurgent in the camp...?"
Max leaned forward. "Mrs. Tebbe, I know it's hard for you to imagine, I know you want to believe the Relocation is tragic and pointless. I don't argue the tragedy, of course, it is. But, fifth column activity, enemy activity, is a real threat. That was always the point of the relocation. And now it's staring us in the face."
Mrs. Tebbe was still frustrated. "We don't have any real proof ..."
"Do you really think that little club of rubes in Disjunction Lake could pull off something like this? And, supposing they did, could they so utterly clean up after themselves? Keep in mind that I personally organized the Tamura search, I designed the sweep patterns myself.
"And could all of them keep their mouths shut? They have families. They have friends. Someone would have heard something by now. I don't know of any hate group that doesn't claim its bragging rights one way or the other, eventually. "
The C.A. pressed her lips together as if she didn't really want to speak but was compelled to do so. "Including the Inu Hunters."
"Yes..."
"But they've only laid claim to Ataki. In fact, we haven't had so much as a Bronx cheer out of them since the Tamura disappearance."
"Is that so surprising?" Max asked. "I doubt their ringleader wanted any boasting going on in the first place. The kids got out of hand. With Ataki confirmed dead and Tamura abducted, I think their performance is going to tighten up."
"Okay...one last time as the devil's advocate. Suppose you're right. The murderer's a professional. You don't think he operates alone--"
"Correct."
"He's brainwashed a bunch of kids and calls them the Inu Hunters--"
"Yes."
"How the hell did he get them whipped into shape for this? Tulenar's less than seven months old."
"This is war, Mrs. Tebbe. This man was undoubtedly planted in California well before Pearl Harbor. I'm not saying he anticipated the relocation but if he's as good as he seems to be, then his mind works fast and creatively. Things don't go perfect for him, I'm sure, but he has had five months to work with these kids. The killings only began a couple of months ago."
"This is assuming he was one of the first internees..."
"He'd have to be."
"Captain, how do you know Mrs. Tamura is dead?"
Once again, Mrs. Tebbe caught Max off guard. "What?"
"You said killings just now. We haven't found Mrs. Tamura dead yet."
"Oh-for-chrissake. Do you think she's still alive?"
It took a moment for Mrs. Tebbe to answer. Finally she admitted, "No. I don't think so."
"What the hell is with you today?"
"And how can you think that kid in jail is capable of what you're saying?"
"He doesn't have to be, Mrs. Tebbe. He's a foot soldier in their little battalion, not a lieutenant. But, by God, he knows who the Commanding Officer is."
/ / / /
There were books in the jail cell now, and a radio, turned low because the jailer -who had stepped out per Max's request- disliked the "jitterbug noise these youngsters think is music." Some fresh clothes were neatly folded on a towel spread in one corner. Andrew Takei was going through the motions of working a jigsaw puzzle lying half-finished on a foldable card table. The feeble attempt at domesticity set a frame around the stress in the boy's face.
Max was sitting in a straight-backed chair just outside the bars. Silently, attentively, he watched the young Nisei's every move. When he thought the time was right, Max said, "Andrew, I know."
The boy had been trying to ignore Max's presence, but now he slid his gaze toward the captain. Clearly he didn't want to bite the bait, but he couldn't resist. "I don't care what you think you know, 'general.'"
"You should. Because his time is up, with you or without you. Has he even been here to see you once in all this time? Some friend. Some leader."
"Shut up..."
"While you've been here wasting away, he's been very, very busy. All too glad to let you take the heat in here, isn't he?" Max changed his tone. "Andrew. How could Mrs. Tamura have deserved this? She was a woman of compassion, she was a nurse. What are those two little boys going to do without their mother?"
Andrew stopped fidgeting with the puzzle, but still wouldn't look at Max. "I don't even have to talk to you."
"So don't. Talk to the court when you're asked how you could stand by and let him rip out an old man's brain, tear out a young mother's beating heart ..."
Andrew looked at Max then, his eyes wide, his face suddenly bloodless. Did it only now occur to the boy what Max was talking about? Only now did he understand why he was being held so long? Had his attorney, had his mother never warned him? Of course not. A legal connection between Andrew Takei and the murders couldn't be dared without something stronger than Max's speculation. The boy's protectors wouldn't alarm him until then.
But Max would.
"We didn't do that," Andrew said, his voice a stricken whisper. "I swear to God we didn't do any of that!"
"I don't believe you, Andrew. You bragged to at least two people about what you did to Ataki."
"No, we didn't! No!" The boy almost choked on his own voice. His eyes moistened. He rushed the cell bars. "That was just jive, you know? We were just slinging words. I swear to God, we didn't know Mr. Ataki was dead! We thought he just scat..."
Pity threatened to well in Max's chest, but he forced it down. He didn't dare let up. "Come on, Andrew! Are you trying to tell me you didn't think he was capable of killing?"
Andrew was clinging to the bars now, tears streaking his smooth, bloodless cheeks. "There's no 'he'! I mean, it's just us and nobody's done anything. Nobody's like that! None of us are, we just want to scare some sense into those stooges...!"
"But it's gotten out of hand, is that it?"
"No! Shit! Please! Listen!" The boy's voice was shaking so badly he could barely get the words out. "I swear to God, I swear to God...!"
"Andrew, you listen. I don't think you killed Mr. Ataki and Mrs. Tamura. But you know he did. And you know he's going to do it again."
A sob welled out of Andrew and he sank to his knees, head bowed. Damn it! Max let his head drop into his hands, knowing he couldn't bear to torture the boy any longer. Why won't the kid say the man's name? Just say the damn name! Max lifted his head and gazed down at the boy. If I just had a little more killer instinct.
He looked at his watch. Max had told the jailer to give him twenty minutes. The man would be back soon. Max reached a hand through the bars and laid it on Andrew's shoulder.
"Get up, son. I want you to think on what we've talked about. This whole camp needs your help. There's a monster on the loose. We've got to stop him."
Chapter 19
Tulenar Internment Camp
Mid-morning. Waxing Gibbous Moon.
As soon as Captain Pierce left the office, Doris crossed her arms over the desk and rested her head. For Heaven's sake, what is wrong with me? Lack of sleep, long hours. Milton Eisenhower. Publicly, he professed the WRA's steadfast belief in Doris. He recited her credentials to the press like a charm against the Evil Eye, but privately he was bearing down on her. Not that she blamed him. If she were the head of the WRA, she'd be doing the same.
Pressure or no pressure, where did she think she was going with these wild, idiotic thoughts? She raised her head, glanced at the folder that held the transcript of the Tamura twins' statement, then tossed it irritably into the file holder. She jabbed at the intercom button.
"Harriet, I'm taking thirty minutes. Anything comes up, I'll be out back."
/ / / /
Doris couldn't hit the mark to save her soul. The only satisfaction she got was when she took the bow and drove three arrows straight into the ground at her feet.
A voice came from behind her. "You missed the target."
Doris looked up Arthur Satsugai as he approached. "Don't push your luck. I was thinking of you when I did this."
Arthur stopped next to her and looked at the cluster of arrows, their shafts buried by a third. "Just like Cupid."
She was tired. She couldn't pull her gaze from him when he lifted his almond eyes, creased so amiably at the corners, toward her. But she could say, "What are you doing here? I thought you were mad at me."
"I am. This isn't a social call."
She stiffened and tugged off her arm brace and half-vest. "Well, then, Mr. Satsugai. Let's go in."
He stood between Doris and her sheltering office. She moved to walk toward it, but Arthur didn't step from her path.
"I don't want to go in," he said. "That place is armor for you. When you're forced away from it you're so much more--"
"I thought you said you were mad at me," Doris snapped.
"Royally," he said into her ear. His fingers came up to touch her arm.
Doris squeezed her eyes shut. "Don't do this."
"Why?"
"You know why." She looked at the building and wondered if anyone could see.
"I want you to tell me."
Doris's throat tightened and her eyes began to burn. No! I'm not so tired I'm going to start crying. Struggling to keep her voice steady, she said, "Jesus, Arthur. The timing's lousy."
When he touched his forehead against her hair and she could almost feel his acquiescing smile. "I know," he said.
He let go of her arm and Doris hurried them both toward the building. When they entered her office, he said, "At least I'm back to Arthur."
Doris tossed a warning glance his way as she settled behind her desk. "So," she said, glad to be Center Administrator again. "What's up?"
"I'm here to protest this morning's interrogation."
"What interrogation?"
"I just left the jail, where I learned that the Assembly Center C.O. did some unauthorized grilling this morning. As Police Liaison, I'm lodging a formal compliant. It's ridiculous, Doris, there was no call for you to allow that. Young Takei was so distraught afterward, his mother couldn't calm him. You'll be hearing from their attorney soon, no doubt."
"Pierce was at the jail earlier?"
"He asked the jailer to leave, which the old fellow took as an order -intimidated as he was by the uniform. The captain had Andrew all to himself for quite some time. Are you saying you didn't sanction this?"
"Sanction? I didn't even know about it."
"Honestly?"
"Arthur, come on!"
"Well...on a personal level, that makes me feel better. But professionally, Madame Administrator, you've really dropped the ball."
"Well, I've got an awful lot of them to juggle, don't I?"
Arthur remained unruffled. "What's the captain up to, do you suppose?"
Doris, of course, knew exactly what Pierce was up to. When she didn't reply, Arthur's eyes lost some of their feisty spark.
"So it's back to business as usual."
"You're here in an official capacity..."
"I don't want to be your adversary, Doris."
"Asking me to reveal classified information out of me, leaves us little choice."
Surprisingly, rather than offer an argument, Authur just sighed. Then he stood suddenly, but without rancor. "I'm going to see Mrs. Haku for the appropriate paper work and file my complaint. And that will end our official business."
/ / / /
How had Arthur talked her into this: sitting on the porch swing of her little house, so far from her duties, eating a light lunch together? She hadn't had the energy to argue. Tulenar was quivering behind veils of heat, given up by the red earth. But the breeze from the foothills was kept the air comfortable. So it was the friction of inner conflict chafing Doris, not the weather. She didn't know how to even begin to reconcile with Arthur Satsugai.
She owed him some sort of explanation for the way she was, some avenue into her mind set. She found herself saying, "I didn't love my husband, so much as respect him."
Arthur was obviously jolted by the sudden confession, but he said nothing. He took a long drink of lemonade and waited.
"He was a good man," she said, "a very good man, and to somebody like me...I was young and ambitious. I was looking for an alliance."
"Excuse me?"
"It seems more animal-like to me." Mrs. Tebbe's gaze was even, clinical, as if she were scrutinizing him.
He said more testily than he meant to, "You're not imagining that an animal's done all this."
With a shrug, Mrs. Tebbe said, "I'm thinking of what the Tamura twins said. Has anyone noted any large animal tracks in their reports?"
"Why the hell would they? An animal stalking the internees? Come on, Mrs. Tebbe..." Max almost laughed out loud.
Mrs. Tebbe's silence was long and uncomfortable. Of course, he'd just insulted her. Max's stomach felt knotted and that damn buzzing was threatened once again, low and ominous in one ear. He apologized to distract himself from that as much as to placate the C.A.
"Look. I'm sorry. I know we're brain storming here, I didn't mean to brush off your speculating."
Thankfully, she finally smiled, even looked a little sheepish. She shook her head and waved a quick hand at his apology.
"Oh, for heaven's sake. You're right, Captain, I don't know what I was thinking. I was just re-reading the boys' statement and..." She punched the intercom button before finishing. "... I was up most of the night. I'm not staying as clear-headed as I should. Harriet, how about some coffee?"
The tension was gone, Mrs. Tebbe was back to normal and the threat in Max's ear had all but faded.
The C.A. said, "Maybe you're on to something, Captain. It's just...an enemy insurgent in the camp...?"
Max leaned forward. "Mrs. Tebbe, I know it's hard for you to imagine, I know you want to believe the Relocation is tragic and pointless. I don't argue the tragedy, of course, it is. But, fifth column activity, enemy activity, is a real threat. That was always the point of the relocation. And now it's staring us in the face."
Mrs. Tebbe was still frustrated. "We don't have any real proof ..."
"Do you really think that little club of rubes in Disjunction Lake could pull off something like this? And, supposing they did, could they so utterly clean up after themselves? Keep in mind that I personally organized the Tamura search, I designed the sweep patterns myself.
"And could all of them keep their mouths shut? They have families. They have friends. Someone would have heard something by now. I don't know of any hate group that doesn't claim its bragging rights one way or the other, eventually. "
The C.A. pressed her lips together as if she didn't really want to speak but was compelled to do so. "Including the Inu Hunters."
"Yes..."
"But they've only laid claim to Ataki. In fact, we haven't had so much as a Bronx cheer out of them since the Tamura disappearance."
"Is that so surprising?" Max asked. "I doubt their ringleader wanted any boasting going on in the first place. The kids got out of hand. With Ataki confirmed dead and Tamura abducted, I think their performance is going to tighten up."
"Okay...one last time as the devil's advocate. Suppose you're right. The murderer's a professional. You don't think he operates alone--"
"Correct."
"He's brainwashed a bunch of kids and calls them the Inu Hunters--"
"Yes."
"How the hell did he get them whipped into shape for this? Tulenar's less than seven months old."
"This is war, Mrs. Tebbe. This man was undoubtedly planted in California well before Pearl Harbor. I'm not saying he anticipated the relocation but if he's as good as he seems to be, then his mind works fast and creatively. Things don't go perfect for him, I'm sure, but he has had five months to work with these kids. The killings only began a couple of months ago."
"This is assuming he was one of the first internees..."
"He'd have to be."
"Captain, how do you know Mrs. Tamura is dead?"
Once again, Mrs. Tebbe caught Max off guard. "What?"
"You said killings just now. We haven't found Mrs. Tamura dead yet."
"Oh-for-chrissake. Do you think she's still alive?"
It took a moment for Mrs. Tebbe to answer. Finally she admitted, "No. I don't think so."
"What the hell is with you today?"
"And how can you think that kid in jail is capable of what you're saying?"
"He doesn't have to be, Mrs. Tebbe. He's a foot soldier in their little battalion, not a lieutenant. But, by God, he knows who the Commanding Officer is."
/ / / /
There were books in the jail cell now, and a radio, turned low because the jailer -who had stepped out per Max's request- disliked the "jitterbug noise these youngsters think is music." Some fresh clothes were neatly folded on a towel spread in one corner. Andrew Takei was going through the motions of working a jigsaw puzzle lying half-finished on a foldable card table. The feeble attempt at domesticity set a frame around the stress in the boy's face.
Max was sitting in a straight-backed chair just outside the bars. Silently, attentively, he watched the young Nisei's every move. When he thought the time was right, Max said, "Andrew, I know."
The boy had been trying to ignore Max's presence, but now he slid his gaze toward the captain. Clearly he didn't want to bite the bait, but he couldn't resist. "I don't care what you think you know, 'general.'"
"You should. Because his time is up, with you or without you. Has he even been here to see you once in all this time? Some friend. Some leader."
"Shut up..."
"While you've been here wasting away, he's been very, very busy. All too glad to let you take the heat in here, isn't he?" Max changed his tone. "Andrew. How could Mrs. Tamura have deserved this? She was a woman of compassion, she was a nurse. What are those two little boys going to do without their mother?"
Andrew stopped fidgeting with the puzzle, but still wouldn't look at Max. "I don't even have to talk to you."
"So don't. Talk to the court when you're asked how you could stand by and let him rip out an old man's brain, tear out a young mother's beating heart ..."
Andrew looked at Max then, his eyes wide, his face suddenly bloodless. Did it only now occur to the boy what Max was talking about? Only now did he understand why he was being held so long? Had his attorney, had his mother never warned him? Of course not. A legal connection between Andrew Takei and the murders couldn't be dared without something stronger than Max's speculation. The boy's protectors wouldn't alarm him until then.
But Max would.
"We didn't do that," Andrew said, his voice a stricken whisper. "I swear to God we didn't do any of that!"
"I don't believe you, Andrew. You bragged to at least two people about what you did to Ataki."
"No, we didn't! No!" The boy almost choked on his own voice. His eyes moistened. He rushed the cell bars. "That was just jive, you know? We were just slinging words. I swear to God, we didn't know Mr. Ataki was dead! We thought he just scat..."
Pity threatened to well in Max's chest, but he forced it down. He didn't dare let up. "Come on, Andrew! Are you trying to tell me you didn't think he was capable of killing?"
Andrew was clinging to the bars now, tears streaking his smooth, bloodless cheeks. "There's no 'he'! I mean, it's just us and nobody's done anything. Nobody's like that! None of us are, we just want to scare some sense into those stooges...!"
"But it's gotten out of hand, is that it?"
"No! Shit! Please! Listen!" The boy's voice was shaking so badly he could barely get the words out. "I swear to God, I swear to God...!"
"Andrew, you listen. I don't think you killed Mr. Ataki and Mrs. Tamura. But you know he did. And you know he's going to do it again."
A sob welled out of Andrew and he sank to his knees, head bowed. Damn it! Max let his head drop into his hands, knowing he couldn't bear to torture the boy any longer. Why won't the kid say the man's name? Just say the damn name! Max lifted his head and gazed down at the boy. If I just had a little more killer instinct.
He looked at his watch. Max had told the jailer to give him twenty minutes. The man would be back soon. Max reached a hand through the bars and laid it on Andrew's shoulder.
"Get up, son. I want you to think on what we've talked about. This whole camp needs your help. There's a monster on the loose. We've got to stop him."
Chapter 19
Tulenar Internment Camp
Mid-morning. Waxing Gibbous Moon.
As soon as Captain Pierce left the office, Doris crossed her arms over the desk and rested her head. For Heaven's sake, what is wrong with me? Lack of sleep, long hours. Milton Eisenhower. Publicly, he professed the WRA's steadfast belief in Doris. He recited her credentials to the press like a charm against the Evil Eye, but privately he was bearing down on her. Not that she blamed him. If she were the head of the WRA, she'd be doing the same.
Pressure or no pressure, where did she think she was going with these wild, idiotic thoughts? She raised her head, glanced at the folder that held the transcript of the Tamura twins' statement, then tossed it irritably into the file holder. She jabbed at the intercom button.
"Harriet, I'm taking thirty minutes. Anything comes up, I'll be out back."
/ / / /
Doris couldn't hit the mark to save her soul. The only satisfaction she got was when she took the bow and drove three arrows straight into the ground at her feet.
A voice came from behind her. "You missed the target."
Doris looked up Arthur Satsugai as he approached. "Don't push your luck. I was thinking of you when I did this."
Arthur stopped next to her and looked at the cluster of arrows, their shafts buried by a third. "Just like Cupid."
She was tired. She couldn't pull her gaze from him when he lifted his almond eyes, creased so amiably at the corners, toward her. But she could say, "What are you doing here? I thought you were mad at me."
"I am. This isn't a social call."
She stiffened and tugged off her arm brace and half-vest. "Well, then, Mr. Satsugai. Let's go in."
He stood between Doris and her sheltering office. She moved to walk toward it, but Arthur didn't step from her path.
"I don't want to go in," he said. "That place is armor for you. When you're forced away from it you're so much more--"
"I thought you said you were mad at me," Doris snapped.
"Royally," he said into her ear. His fingers came up to touch her arm.
Doris squeezed her eyes shut. "Don't do this."
"Why?"
"You know why." She looked at the building and wondered if anyone could see.
"I want you to tell me."
Doris's throat tightened and her eyes began to burn. No! I'm not so tired I'm going to start crying. Struggling to keep her voice steady, she said, "Jesus, Arthur. The timing's lousy."
When he touched his forehead against her hair and she could almost feel his acquiescing smile. "I know," he said.
He let go of her arm and Doris hurried them both toward the building. When they entered her office, he said, "At least I'm back to Arthur."
Doris tossed a warning glance his way as she settled behind her desk. "So," she said, glad to be Center Administrator again. "What's up?"
"I'm here to protest this morning's interrogation."
"What interrogation?"
"I just left the jail, where I learned that the Assembly Center C.O. did some unauthorized grilling this morning. As Police Liaison, I'm lodging a formal compliant. It's ridiculous, Doris, there was no call for you to allow that. Young Takei was so distraught afterward, his mother couldn't calm him. You'll be hearing from their attorney soon, no doubt."
"Pierce was at the jail earlier?"
"He asked the jailer to leave, which the old fellow took as an order -intimidated as he was by the uniform. The captain had Andrew all to himself for quite some time. Are you saying you didn't sanction this?"
"Sanction? I didn't even know about it."
"Honestly?"
"Arthur, come on!"
"Well...on a personal level, that makes me feel better. But professionally, Madame Administrator, you've really dropped the ball."
"Well, I've got an awful lot of them to juggle, don't I?"
Arthur remained unruffled. "What's the captain up to, do you suppose?"
Doris, of course, knew exactly what Pierce was up to. When she didn't reply, Arthur's eyes lost some of their feisty spark.
"So it's back to business as usual."
"You're here in an official capacity..."
"I don't want to be your adversary, Doris."
"Asking me to reveal classified information out of me, leaves us little choice."
Surprisingly, rather than offer an argument, Authur just sighed. Then he stood suddenly, but without rancor. "I'm going to see Mrs. Haku for the appropriate paper work and file my complaint. And that will end our official business."
/ / / /
How had Arthur talked her into this: sitting on the porch swing of her little house, so far from her duties, eating a light lunch together? She hadn't had the energy to argue. Tulenar was quivering behind veils of heat, given up by the red earth. But the breeze from the foothills was kept the air comfortable. So it was the friction of inner conflict chafing Doris, not the weather. She didn't know how to even begin to reconcile with Arthur Satsugai.
She owed him some sort of explanation for the way she was, some avenue into her mind set. She found herself saying, "I didn't love my husband, so much as respect him."
Arthur was obviously jolted by the sudden confession, but he said nothing. He took a long drink of lemonade and waited.
"He was a good man," she said, "a very good man, and to somebody like me...I was young and ambitious. I was looking for an alliance."
Other books
About That Night by Julie James
Wanted: One Ghost by Lynne, Loni
Confederate Gold and Silver by Peter F. Warren
The Zero by Jess Walter
Indelible by Karin Slaughter
Passion Awakened by Jessica Lee
Knife Sworn by Mazarkis Williams
A Banbury Tale by Maggie MacKeever
No Time to Cry by Lurlene McDaniel
The Fellowship for Alien Detection by Kevin Emerson