[Thomas Caine #1] Tokyo Black (36 page)

Caine toasted Koichi with his beer and took a sip. “I know it’s not how you would have wanted it to happen, but congratulations anyway.”

Koichi sipped his beer. “So, you heard from your friend? The one in Thailand?”

Caine knew that was as much as Koichi would divulge about matters concerning the Yoshizawa family. He took the hint and allowed the change of subject.

“Yeah, Rebecca. She finally got through to me. She’s all right. Well, she’s alive anyway. The doctors in Thailand said she was hurt pretty badly in the explosion, but she managed to escape. And she took out one of Bernatto’s hired killers in the process, so I guess she did okay.”

Koichi nodded. “Sounds like a woman I wouldn’t want to piss off.”

Caine laughed. “Well, too late for that. We have some history there.”

“You have history here, too. Will you be staying in Japan?”

Caine shook his head. “The Japanese and American governments both want me out of the country for a while, for obvious reasons.”

Koichi nodded. “Well, there’s always next time. Soon you’ll come back and liven up an old man’s life again, eh?”

Caine sipped his beer in silence. He stared at the knots and whorls of the wood table. The slab of oak was probably older than he was.

“Maybe I should have stayed away,” he said. “I can’t help but feel like somehow I’m responsible for what happened. To Kenji, to Isato … hell, even Rebecca. It’s as if … somehow, I’m tainted. Everything I touch, everyone I care about … when I’m around, they get hurt.”

Koichi shrugged. “You left things unfinished before. You had to come back, to tie up loose ends. And what if you had stayed away? What would have changed? Kusaka would have succeeded, innocent people would have died. Nothing would have changed for Kenji or Isato. They made their choices; they chose their fate. Just as we all do.”

Caine nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe I never should have come here in the first place. Maybe things would have been better if I never got involved in this family.”

“Oh, you think so? If Kenji had died that night, I would have given up more than my finger. Protecting the oyabun and his family was my responsibility. If I had failed, and Kenji had died due to my negligence, the price would have been my life—a price I would have gladly paid.”

Koichi took a long sip of beer and sighed. “I’ll tell you something else. Maybe he didn’t know how to show it, but Isato loved Kenji. If he could have somehow seen the future, if he knew that letting Kenji die that night would have stopped all of this from happening…. Well, I don’t know much, but I knew that old gangster well. Better than my own father. And I tell you, he would not have traded a second of the time you gave him. Time to see Kenji grow up, go to school, become a man…. No matter how things turned out, Isato would not have given up those years for anything, in this world or the next.”

They were silent for a moment. Caine listened to the clacking of chopsticks and plates. The soft bubbling of the boiling pots filled the restaurant. The sounds were soothing, and he felt the melancholy fog begin to lift from his mind.

“Hey, what about that lady cop?” Koichi asked. “What was her name?”

“Mariko.” Caine checked his watch. “Actually, I should get going. I’m meeting her for dinner later tonight.”

Koichi insisted on paying the bill and tossed some yen from his wallet on the table. The two men stood and shook hands. As they walked out of the restaurant, Koichi slapped him on the back.

“You know, you think too much, Caine-san. All this talk of the past, the future, destiny … what is all that about? Me, I’m just an old gangster. The word ‘yakuza’ comes from a losing hand of cards…. That’s what we are, the losers, the outcasts of polite society. So what do I know?

“Well, I’ll tell you. The past and the future belong to the gods—or spirits, science, whatever you choose to believe in. You and me, we’re just men. And all a man has is this moment in time, right now, staring us in the face. True, it’s not much. Just one fraction of a second after another. But it’s enough. At any moment, you could change your life. But then again, at any moment, the ride might be over, and then you have to pay the price for your ticket.”

Caine caught a cab outside and looked back at Koichi as he drove off. The old man leaned on his cane and waved. Then he turned and walked down the street, flanked on either side by black, gnarled trees.

The night was clear, and the jeweled lights of Shinjuku were a dazzling sight. The glittering carpet of stars spread across the inky black velvet of the dark city streets. Caine knew there were alleys of death and ugliness hidden between the points of light. But still, he could not begrudge the view from the towering windows of the New York Bar, perched at the top of the Park Hyatt Tokyo.

“Quite a view, isn’t it?” Mariko’s voice was relaxed. Soothing.

Caine turned away from the window and gazed at her across the candlelit table. “Well, it’s not as impressive as the view I got at Skytree tower.” Even as he joked, he felt his stomach tremble as he recalled the dizzying sight of the city beneath his dangling feet.

Mariko laughed. The flickering candle reflected in her dark eyes, highlighting their newfound warmth and openness. The cold intensity of her stare seemed to have melted away. Her smiles looked natural, genuine.

Caine knew that, like him, Mariko had been touched by darkness. And when darkness had left its mark on you, moments of brightness could be brief and short-lived. He hoped Mariko’s would last. He liked seeing her smile. It chased away some of his own dark thoughts about the last few days.

Her white silk cocktail dress wrapped around her like a kimono. The dip-dyed fabric faded to a dark black where the hem ended above her knees. A thin black band of black fabric cinched the dress closed at her waist. Caine thought it suited her. Sleek and modern, but somehow traditional at the same time.

Her hair fell in dark silken waves around her face, and she wore no jewelry. Caine realized that he was staring and smiled. He had to admit, she was even more beautiful than the spectacular view out the window.

“So, I assume you’ll be back on duty again soon?” Caine asked.

She sipped her wine and shook her head. “I don’t know. We’ll see. The Security Branch has convened a special anti-corruption task force. The director, Taro, and many others, they’ll all face charges. After I testify before the committee, they said they would revisit the matter of my suspension.”

“Revisit the matter? Your boss was a dirty cop. You saved the city!”

She nodded. “Yes, but it’s not that simple. I disobeyed my superiors. I broke the law. I detained and even killed with no legal authority. I may lose my badge when this is all over as well.”

Caine shook his head. “You did what you had to do. You were the only one willing to do your duty. Everyone was against you, even the people you were supposed to be able to count on. It just doesn’t seem right.”

“Caine-san,” Mariko said, her voice quiet and thoughtful, “duty always has a price. Anything of value does. I had a duty to the Security Branch, but I also had a duty to my family. To my mother and sister. Now, that duty has been fulfilled. I am free. I know they can rest easy. If this is the price….”

Caine nodded. “It’s a price you’re happy to pay. I think I understand. And, for God’s sake, please call me Tom.”

She smiled again. “Tell me about the girl, Hitomi. What happened to her?”

“Well, to be honest, I don’t exactly know. Rebecca, my handler, said she would arrange for the girl to get a visa and passport. I know she left Japan, but I don’t know where she went. She didn’t say goodbye, not that I blame her. I’m sure she wants to start over, put all this behind her. Thanks to Kusaka, she has enough money to start a life anywhere she chooses.”

Mariko shuddered, and Caine regretted bringing up Kusaka’s name. But then the song changed, and the music seemed to brighten the mood.

“So, this is it,” she said. “I can’t believe it’s over. You know, right now, at this moment, I honestly don’t care what happens to my job at the Security Branch. I’ve given them enough of my life. I feel like that night we met in that bar, that was another person, another life. Mariko Smith … she’s gone now. I’m a different person.”

They stopped talking as the waiter cleared away their dishes and refilled their wine glasses. A piano played soft, quiet jazz, as Caine leaned back in his chair. He took a sip of his dark red cabernet. Like the food, it was exquisite. Perfect.

“So, this is where you wanted me to take you?” Caine asked. “You know, it’s funny, I checked into this hotel the first night I got to Japan. And I haven’t spent a second here since.”

Mariko was quiet for a second. She sipped her wine, then looked up at Caine. Her dark eyes were like liquid onyx in the warm glow of the candlelight.

“No, Tom, I took you here because I thought you would like it, but this is not where I wanted you to take me. I want to go back to that love hotel in Shinjuku. I haven’t thought about going to a place like that in years. Now, tonight … after all this, I can’t think about anything else.”

Caine touched her arm. “Mariko, you should know, I have to leave Japan tomorrow.”

She grabbed his hand and stood up. “I know. So we should stop wasting time.”

Their sex was all appetite and hunger. They were two souls, lost in the darkness, clawing for a taste of the light. The flickering neon signs outside bathed them in a pink glow as their bodies writhed and rolled on the enormous circular bed of the love hotel.

When it was over, they collapsed, glowing with sweat and exertion. Mariko rested her head on Caine’s chest, and he felt the tickling caress of her long, dark hair running down his arm. His eyes grew heavy, Mariko’s rhythmic breathing a lullaby. Soon, they were asleep, clinging to each other as if to ward off the nightmares of the past.

Later into the night, the rain that had doused Tokyo earlier returned, and Caine woke to the distant sound of thunder. Raindrops pelted the window, and Mariko moaned softly as the sound pulled her from sleep.

“You know,” Caine said softly, “I had a perfectly good suite at the Hyatt.”

Mariko giggled. “This is better. For us, somehow this feels right.”

“Whatever you say.” Caine kissed her and slid his body on top of hers.

Mariko looked up into his eyes. “First promise me one thing. Tomorrow, when you leave, do not wake me. Do not say goodbye. I feel … new somehow. Reborn. I do not want to start this life with goodbyes.”

“No goodbyes,” Caine agreed.

He entered her again, but slowly this time. Their appetites fulfilled, they focused on prolonging their brief taste of pleasure. Then they slept until dawn.

In the morning, true to his word, Caine quietly dressed and left the love hotel. He shut the door quietly and did not look back at Mariko.

There was no goodbye.

He walked out into the grey dawn and into the puddle-covered streets of Kabukicho. It was early, and the rain still poured down from the clouds overhead. The streets were empty. Caine walked alone past the bars and the batting cages and massage parlors, and all the other pleasures the district had to offer.

Soon, he found himself walking under the Kabukicho gate. Its red lights blinked eternally, even at this hour, like a lighthouse beckoning to the lost and the damned. Caine paused just under the arch. He let the rain wash over him, let the thoughts and memories of the last few days settle. Some drifted away, while others were etched permanently in his mind.

It wasn’t a long pause. Just a brief moment in time. A fraction of a second.

Then, he stepped forward and passed through the gate.

Caine was woken from a restful, dreamless sleep by the chirp of his cellphone. Sitting up in bed, he yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He felt the gentle rocking motion of the waves as his new boat bobbed up and down in the bay.

Warm sunlight streamed in from the side porthole. It bathed his sleeping quarters in the warm, peaceful glow of morning. Soon, the scorching hot Pattaya sun would begin to raise the temperature, but for now the air in the cabin was comfortable. A fresh sea breeze blew down from above deck. It smelled of salt and brine from the water outside.

Caine crawled out of bed and looked around the tiny cabin. He dropped to the floor and did a series of pushups and sit-ups, his morning ritual. Then, when his body was dripping with sweat and his muscles begged for mercy, he stopped. He walked over to the small drafting table he had set up in the corner. Picking up his phone, he saw a waiting text message.

He did not recognize the number, but the sender’s avatar was familiar. It was an anime character with neon green hair and huge, luminous green eyes. Masuka Ongaku.

He knew immediately that the message must have been from Hitomi.

It was a picture. A girl’s feet, lying on a beach. In the distance, hazy and out of focus, Caine could make out aqua blue waves crashing on the shore. Her toenails were painted neon green.

Caine smiled. He didn’t know what the picture meant, or where Hitomi was. But she was out there, somewhere, on a beach, taking pictures of her toes. And that thought made him happy.

A voice called out from above deck. “Boss, looks like you got some company!”

It was Apinya, a local boy he had hired as a deck hand. Together, the two ran the boat as a charter. They took businessmen on fishing trips, or the occasional sightseeing excursion to the stunning rock formations of Khao Phing Kan.

Something in the boy’s tone told him his visitors weren’t looking for a charter boat. He slipped his new Beretta Storm pistol into his waistband and made sure his shirt covered the bulge. “Okay, coming up.”

He climbed the ladder and stepped onto the deck. The wood was already hot and burned the soles of his feet. Apinya, as always, wore a pair of denim cutoffs and no shirt. He pointed to the long pier that led from the shore to their boat’s berth.

A woman in a wheelchair was moving down the pier, past the colorful fishing boats and shaved ice shacks. Men in cargo pants and t-shirts flanked her on either side. Their bulging muscles and wary stance screamed military.
Bodyguards
, Caine thought,
but who are they guarding?