by R E Swirsky
CHAPTER 17
Sunday 10:21 Val David, Quebec, Canada
The stone building that was home to La Grillade du Nord restaurant was always on Nathaniel’s itinerary the morning he left Val David, especially if it was a weekend. The restaurant was closed Monday and Tuesday, and it seemed perfectly natural and fitting to be closed these two days. It was a necessity in the recovery process after the breakfast and brunch blitz it served up on weekends: always fresh, always hot, and always delicious. The jazzed-up potatoes were enough on their own to keep Nathaniel coming back, but today wasn’t about jazzed-up potatoes. He didn’t have much of an appetite this morning; the place was conveniently on the road heading out of town and the easiest place to meet Jack and Lucas before they all parted ways.
Nathaniel looked at his watch. It was after 10:00 and he was annoyed. Jack and Lucas should have arrived long ago.
The waitress was a slender, pretty girl with soft brown hair pulled up into a tight bun. Nathaniel watched her as she bounced from table to table taking orders and topping up coffee cups at the same time. She glanced over the many crowded tables and smiled at him. He returned the smile and pointed at his coffee cup. Her permanent smile touched him and lifted his mood. She scooted over and topped up his coffee.
He tired of waiting for the others and ordered his breakfast.
The toast and side of potatoes arrived and he was halfway through eating his meal when he spotted Lucas and Jack enter the restaurant. He raised his large arm high in the air and waved it slowly above his head. Lucas spotted him.
It was only minutes before each had breakfast ordered and a steaming cup of coffee in front of them. It was time to get down to business.
“Any update on last night’s targets?” Jack asked.
“Nothing conclusive,” he replied. Checking the overnight news on the hotel computer was the first thing he did after he was cleaned up. “One accidental fall off a mountain, which I am sure we’ll find out was Metcalf. There were a few other deaths in the past twelve hours, but not enough information to say for sure which ones may have been a target. I’m sure as soon as the reporters get wind of who these individuals were, we’ll hear about it.”
“Hui never told you any details?” Lucas asked.
Nathaniel shook his head. “I told you that last night. He didn’t offer, and I didn’t ask. It’s the first rule.”
Jack nodded. “So give us the nuts and bolts behind Kaito Hui. You know him. How is this guy put together? What are we looking at?”
Nathaniel released a heavy sigh and began to tell them all he knew about his long-time friend.
“You know most of it from last night. Kaito Hui is forty-six years old with a wife and one son. He had a daughter, but she died just over a year ago. He was pretty upset about it. Drowned in their pool at home, he told me.”
“That’s terrible. How old was she?”
“Thirteen I think. She was his youngest.”
“Drowned, huh? He must have taken that pretty hard.”
“Kaito had a lot of work-related crap going on at the time, but Reina’s drowning almost killed him.”
“So you knew his family well?”
Nathaniel nodded. “Very well. Kaito and I always tried to get together for a drink, at least when we were both in the same town, but he’s running his company, and most of my time is spent in Ottawa these days. Still, we managed a few vacations away every other year. Last getaway was about two years ago in British Columbia, camping and boating. He’s good on the water. We were due for another this summer. Yeah, I knew him well enough.”
“So you trust him, then?”
“With my life.”
Both Jack and Lucas nodded.
Kaito was younger than most who were accepted into the Order these days, but Nathaniel had pitched for him anyway. Maybe that was the root of Leboeuf’s disapproval of Hui from the start, but if that was the reason Leboeuf was opposed, he never shared it with Nathaniel. In fact, he never heard Leboeuf was against Hui being brought in until many months after Kaito was already on board.
“Hui’s track record is exemplary. He holds a few business degrees, has spent time leading a number of large Canadian companies as CEO, and currently sits on the boards of a dozen or more others. His ethics are unquestionable. Every company Kaito has been involved with are known to stand firm on supporting human rights here in Canada and around the world. Strict labour practices, no child labour, and if you want to do business with Kaito Hui or any of the companies he represents, you have to have proven human rights and ethical standards.”
Jack and Lucas both raised their eyebrows. They seemed impressed.
“I can name a few CEOs over here that could take a lesson from him,” Jack said.
“And every single one of these companies operates competitively to corner a decent market share and still manage good, solid profit margins.”
Lucas shot Jack a glance. “It can be done.”
“Now here’s something else most people don’t know anything about—his philanthropy. He made anonymous bursaries, scholarships, and endowments all across Canada where he saw a need or gaping hole. Kaito Hui has donated considerable amounts of his own money to many causes but has always declined to have a wing of a technical institute, theatre, or building at a university, or any other facility, named after him. He’s not pretentious that way. Not Kaito. He has made a few significant public donations from time to time to encourage others, but his largest donations are always anonymous. His humbled generosity towards others in need was one of the reasons I put up his name.”
Jack was quick to counter the preaching of the man on the pedestal. “Then why are we here today if he is so pure?”
Nathaniel lowered his eyes. His voice droned in a low monotone as he explained.
“This man, more than any other I’ve ever known personally, is dipped and coated from head-to-toe in ethics and compliant behaviour. And he’s already redirected over fourteen million in funds towards our organization.”
Jack laughed. “Like I said, then why are we here?”
“Kaito’s a good man. Deep down, I mean. I just think he’s lost.”
Lucas shook his head violently. “No one gets this lost. He’s obviously not insane, so what does that mean? What he’s done took a lot of balls and even more tenacity.” He leaned in across the table to Nathaniel and shook his finger in the air. “You said twelve of our men are under him. Are you telling me none of them questioned what he was doing in bringing his son in there with them?”
Nathaniel leaned back in his chair. He hated it when others encroached on his space, and Lucas was leaning much too far over the table at the moment. “I wouldn’t know if they questioned him or not, but they’re trained to follow orders. You know that. When an agent is assigned to someone, he will take no instruction from anyone else, no matter how high ranking he may be. That’s why it works.”
Lucas shook his head and pulled himself back upright in his chair. “But his son shouldn’t have been brought into this at all.”
“Right, I agree. I could tell any agent under me to take you out and he wouldn’t hesitate. You, me, Geordie, even the Prime Minister. The ones assigned to Kaito listen to Kaito and only Kaito, no matter who is shuffled in front of them. Kaito shuffled his son out there with them, but they would still only take their direction from Kaito.”
“There must have been times when they took direction from someone else.”
Nathaniel tried to think of a scenario when any agent would stray and take direction from another while assigned to one man, but couldn’t come up with anything. He shook his head. “No, I don’t think so.”
Lucas scoffed. “So no one questions it, and he gets away with it. Just like that?”
Nathaniel responded by thumping one fist onto the table. “No! No, he doesn’t get away with it. You heard Geordie last night. I’ve already packaged up his son. Do you think I liked doing that?”
“Of course not. So what are we expected to do here? Ta
ke Kaito out?”
Lucas’s words slammed Nathaniel like a bulldozer. “No,” he said. “No. No,” he repeated. He wondered for a moment how Lucas came to this sudden conclusion. Had Geordie said something in private to Lucas and Jack that he missed? “No one’s taking Kaito out. Shit, we’re only talking about containment here. The risk was his son and I’ve contained him already. Who said anything about taking out Kaito?”
Both Lucas and Jack stared at him. He couldn’t read either man.
“Sorry, Nate,” Jack offered and he looked over at Lucas as if waiting for his explanation.
“I don’t know where that came from,” Lucas said. “It just sounds like this friend of yours may have a blackened vein running through him, that’s all.”
“He’s just off track.”
“Well, I hope you’re right. We don’t need this going any further than it already has.”
“Unfortunately, I’ll be flying overseas as soon as I get back to Ottawa tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I heard you were going away. Vacation is it?”
He nodded. “Wife and girls left yesterday.”
“And we’re heading west,” Jack added. “Both of us.”
“What do you have planned for Kaito’s son?” Lucas asked.
“I don’t know yet.”
“You know what I mean. Geordie said.…”
“I don’t care what Geordie said!” Nathaniel interrupted and his nostrils flared. “I’ll handle the boy. He’s mine to deal with.”
Lucas retreated. “Take it easy, Nate.” He pressed a smile at Nathaniel. “We’re only here to help. Whatever we can do, we will do. If you need help there, we can assist with that, too.”
Jack nodded. “That’s why we’re here. Anything you need, we’ll be here.”
Although the words from both men were supportive, he didn’t really know either man, and he wasn’t feeling all warm and cuddly with them just yet. It was going to be a rough few days.