by R E Swirsky
***
Nathaniel’s personal cell buzzed just as he left the city limits. He tugged it out while trying to keep the Citroen C5 on the road. It was Geordie. He pulled over onto the narrow shoulder as far as he could and slowed to a stop. Cars whizzed by him. A few honked.
“Geordie,” he said.
“Nate. Just calling to see where we’re at with our problem.”
“I’m in Paris at the moment.” He hadn’t expected Geordie to call, and scrambled for words. “I’m uh…” he laughed and looked in his side mirror. “Uh oh!” A huge lorry honked as it passed on his left, nearly clipping the mirror and buffeting his car in the back draft.
“I want an update, Nate.”
Nathaniel kept his eyes on his side mirror as he replied. “There is some good news. The two legitimate targets went down without a problem. Nothing to clean up on those. And I’ve got a pretty good handle on Kaito.”
He didn’t really have a handle on Kaito, but it was what Geordie wanted to hear.
“You have a handle on Kaito?”
“I’m about to go see his son, Takahiro.”
“The kid? I don’t give a goddamned nickel about this kid. Why is he still even around?”
Geordie was being a hard-ass at the moment. Nate had never felt this much pressure from above on any job. The personal disconnect Geordie was purveying was alarming.
“I need him. He has information on both Kaito and Metcalf that I’m not getting from Kaito.”
“What kind of information?”
“Kaito’s target was not Metcalf, it was his daughter.”
“His daughter? And you know this for sure?”
“Yes, and I don’t know why Kaito would target his daughter. I believe his son has some of the answers. I need to find out if that was all Kaito had in mind for Metcalf. His son knows something. I’m sure of it.”
“You just stay away from that kid and make sure he damn well disappears. You hear me?”
Another large truck rushed by, rattling the small car again. He wanted to give an outright “NO” to Geordie but knew it would be a grave mistake to be so bold. “I’m not doing anything with him just yet. So far he hasn’t offered anything about what went down with Metcalf’s daughter and he claims he didn’t even know she was kidnapped.”
“The boy’s lying. Get rid of him.”
“I’m not touching the boy until I speak with him face to face. I know this kid. He’ll talk to me.”
“Listen very clearly to me, Nate. I don’t care about the goddamned kid or what bullshit you think you need to hear him say to you to make you feel good about yourself. Going to see him in person is just a bad idea. Make the call, cut him loose, and move on. It’s Kaito I’ve asked you to take care of. I want reassurances that he is behaving like a man of honour and is not out carrying on some twisted vendetta of his own against an innocent man while under our umbrella.”
“I understand.…”
“I don’t think you do. I want you to step this up a notch. I want Kaito bagged and stripped bare. Every detail of why he decided to go after Metcalf, I want to know. If you want to save your friend, then have Jack and Lucas bring me back the bare bones of this man with everything exposed so we can make an informed decision. And that means bagging him like you did his boy.”
Nathaniel sighed heavily. “I don’t think I can have this wrapped up by the end of tomorrow.”
Geordie took a deep breath and coughed before replying. “I gave you three days to rein him in.”
Nathaniel pressed back. “And then you cut off all lines of support. This isn’t easy.…”
“No excuses. I’m sure you already have him well pinned down by now.”
There was no point in lying if he wanted more time from Geordie.
“That’s been sort of the problem so far.”
“Ha!” Geordie shouted. He could imagine Geordie on the other end of the conversation with his boney finger pointed at him, ready to poke it into his chest again. “I knew there was a problem. Kaito’s missing, am I right? You really don’t have any goddamned idea where he is, do you?”
He wanted to tell Geordie to fuck off. Geordie probably knew Lucas had lost Kaito at the airport even before he did.
“We think we know where he’s headed.…” He ran his hand through his hair. “Shit…he’s headed to Victoria. He’s going after Metcalf again. That’s why I need to see his son in person. I have to know what it is that ties these two men together and has got Kaito so pissed off at Metcalf that he’s willing to throw his entire life away to bring him down.”
Geordie went quiet for a few moments as if contemplating his response. It was one of his annoying traits that Nathaniel distrusted. “You think I’m just a callous, overbearing old man, I know you do, so quit the lying and stop pussy-footing around me. Two more days, Nate. But I want you to stay away from that kid. That’s it. And the moment you’ve got Kaito bagged, you call me!”
Nathaniel felt a short sense of relief wash over him, but it felt dirty, as if the devil himself had just granted him two more days. But nothing is ever free. Geordie was now demanding Kaito be bagged. Speaking with Geordie always made him feel like he was being manipulated, and he suspected when this was all over that Geordie would be there at the end with his palm extended, waiting for some kind of surrender payment.
“Two days should do it.”
“And remember. I want that kid gone.”
“Yeah, yeah.…”
“Don’t ‘yeah, yeah’ me. And I mean gone, Nate. He’s a loose string we don’t need flapping in the breeze. Gone. Stay away from him and make the damn call already.”
“I have a new phone number over here. If you need.…”
The line went dead.