Cash Cassidy Adventures: The Complete 5-Book Series (Plus Bonus Novels)

by K. T. Tomb

  “Thanks guys, I’ll leave you in peace. Don’t eat the glow sticks; they’re probably not good for you.”

  The macaques just looked at him in a slightly un-nerving silence as he left the cave.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Savannah and Ryo had barely believed him when Travis told of what he had found inside the cave.

  In fact, if he had not had the picture he had taken on his Smartphone it might have been easier for even Travis to think that he had merely hallucinated it. The fact remained that the amethyst mine was very real indeed. At the entrance to the cave he had found gem cutting tools and hooks for climbing harnesses, which told him all he needed to know. He couldn’t yet prove that Kinagawa was lying and he was indeed in possession of the deed to the mine, but he was going to find out, he was sure of it.

  The journey back to Nikko was filled with animated conversation, Ryo asking unending questions about the mine, and Savannah on the phone to Thyri trying to figure out their next move. Naturally, Kinagawa was unlikely to volunteer the deed and having once encountered the hired thugs in his employ, a direct confrontation would be ill advised at best and at worst, fatal. Thyri sounded like she was speaking from another planet as her voice came through the mobile phone, which she might as well have been, seeing as it was late afternoon in Sweden at the time, and she was not ramped up on adrenaline like the occupants of the van were.

  “I said, be careful. That van is really loud guys; it must be a hundred years old. If what you tell me is totally correct, then breaking in to the Himiko Corporation building is going to be at least a little tricky, what with the magnetic locks you’ve described and all. Even if you get past that without setting off the security system, there’s probably going to be cameras and such, so you won’t have long to find what you need. Not easy if you don’t know where the deed is being kept, don’t you think?”

  “Thyri, how do we get past the doors? Everything else is irrelevant if we can’t do that.”

  Savannah was much calmer now that Travis had succeeded in not getting himself killed, but there was still some terseness to her voice that kept Travis on edge.

  “Ah, we really need Fiona for this one; she’s broken into loads of places. Not much chance of getting hold of her while she’s in jail though. My best guess is to disable the magnetic lock somehow. I don’t know if an even stronger magnet would do the trick without setting off the alarms though,” Thyri said.

  Fiona, being the team’s resident environmentalist and petty criminal had managed to get herself incarcerated for one of her stunts protesting animal rights. Travis admired her spirit, which off-set a lot of the annoyance factor of her personality.

  “If you want something turned off that’s electronic, you need an EMP,” Ryo said.

  At the confused look from the two Americans, he rolled his eyes.

  “Come on, don’t you guys watch movies? An electromagnetic pulse. Destroys electronic equipment, boom and they’re done. Gone.”

  Travis laughed at the thought of getting schooled in basic science by a thirteen year old.

  “And you know how to make one, do you?” he asked the boy.

  “Of course not, but I have Google on my phone. No one needs to learn how to do anything anymore, until you need to do it. You guys are real fossils, you know that, right?”

  “Hey! I’m thirty- nine.”

  Travis was only partly offended. He knew that twenty was a lifetime away when you were a teenager. Thyri said her goodbyes and asked the team to get in touch if there was anything she could do. Ryo quickly got online and looked up the schematics for a rudimentary EMP device; to Travis’ surprise they really weren’t that hard to make. Copper wiring, an iron tube and a flash capacitor from a camera should be enough to create a strong enough pulse to disable the magnetic locks, or so was the theory. The items could be found easily enough in the morning, which left the only problem being how to find the deed in time to escape once they were inside the building. Travis estimated that they would only have five minutes at the most before security arrived, and that was if there was no on-site security, or wannabe yakuza thugs patrolling the premises. It was Ryo who again had the answer. Despite their best efforts to come up with an alternative which took the entire remaining journey to Tochigi, Travis and Savannah had to admit Ryo’s was the best plan, despite the massive risk he would be taking. That night, they slept on the futons in the Iwate house, waking early to begin the preparations for the raid on the Himiko Corporation.

  First thing in the morning, Ryo went out to buy the items for the EMP and to procure some fresh clothes for Savannah and Travis. They were sure that the hotel rooms were being watched by thugs, so it was decided not to expose themselves unless absolutely necessary. Savannah got right to work building the EMP, which left Travis with nothing to do but help Mr. and Mrs. Iwate clean the house, which was cause for lots of interpretation from Savannah who quickly began to show her annoyance at being forced into multitasking.

  Ryo left them at ten in the morning, back in his favorite baseball cap and wearing an apron he had swiped from the local flower shop. A large plant took up both of his arms as he took the short walk from the market district to where the offices of the Himiko Corporation were. On entry, despite his knees feeling like they were going to fall out from under him and completely give the game away, the pretty receptionist welcomed him with a warm smile.

  “Delivery for Mr. Kinagawa, I’m supposed to put it on the first floor.”

  He nodded to the plant in his arms.

  “Oh, you strong boy!” said the receptionist. “Go on up, it’s ok.”

  Ryo felt there were few advantages to being thirteen, but not being suspected as being up to no good, when you were clearly just working for your parents, was definitely one of them, especially when being up to no good was your main order of business for the day. Ryo made his way upstairs, and due to the relatively compact nature of the building he found a room marked “records” on a brass plaque in fine engraved kanji. He put the plant down, and tried the door, which was locked, as he had expected. The information was the important thing, he could now tell Savannah and Travis. He was about to dump the plant in the corridor and make his escape, when a firm hand took hold of his shoulder. Turning, Ryo came face to face with the man who had destroyed his family. Kinagawa looked down on the boy, and saw the fire of anger in his eyes, but fortunately for Ryo he did not recognize his features as being of the Namarisawa’s genetic pool. Kanagawa took off Ryo’s hat, and ruffled his hair in a very rude and patronizing manner.

  “Hello, young man. I don’t recall ordering any plants for these offices. Why are you here?” Kanagawa’s voice was perfectly level, but Ryo felt menace in the words nonetheless.

  “It’s a… a gift, from my parents. Yoshimoto Flowers? It’s the anniversary of the shop opening, so I’m taking plants to all the businesses in the area. It is our honor to be in the patronage of such fine businesses such as yours.”

  Ryo did not feel confident that Kanagawa bought his lie at all, but he let him go without another word, and with a wave of his hand directed him to place the plant in the office which unbeknownst to Ryo, Savannah and Travis had had their own encounter with the head of the Himiko Corporation. Deciding that he had pushed his luck far enough, Ryo dumped the plant on the table and fled the offices as fast as he could carry himself without breaking into a flat out run.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Travis heard Ryo’s report of the reconnaissance mission with great interest.

  The more news he heard about this Kinagawa, the less he liked the man and the more he was sure that Kinagawa was in possession of the deed to the amethyst mine in Nikko. Savannah had completed her basic construction of the device according to the instructions obtained online, and as darkness fell it was time to put phase two into action. Feeling as if he were one part James Bond and one part school truant, Travis zipped up the heavy combat jacket Ryo had purchased for him that morning.

  “You sure t
his will work, Ryo?” He said, adjusting his collar. Ryo was typing rapidly into his laptop.

  “Sure, just don’t get fried by the EMP, or killed by the yakuza, or arrested. At least not until we have what we need, right?”

  Travis appreciated the black humor from one so young. This kid was alright in his book, precocious though he may be.

  “Or intercepted before we get to the building,” Travis shot back, with a grin.

  Ryo cottoned on to the game.

  “Or, run over by a monster truck. Or eaten by Godzilla! Or shot by—”

  Savannah silenced him with a sour look, and his face fell back to the bright glare of his laptop screen. Savannah was dressed similarly to Travis, dark blue combat jacket, tough boots and thick trousers. Ryo had perhaps gone a little overboard on the special ops theme of the wardrobe, but Travis had to admit that they looked the part, even if they didn’t quite feel the part. In silence, having run over the plans for most of the day, the two adventurers left the Iwate household. The streets were misty and almost deserted, which was ideal for the felonies Travis and Savannah had in mind to commit. Once outside the Himiko office, Savannah broke the silence, but only with whispered instructions.

  “Okay Travis, you had better stand back, you don’t want to get burnt with this thing.” She held up the crude EMP device, and then held the iron rod over the glass doors which were held by the magnetic lock. She turned on the flash capacitor, and there was a barely audible popping noise.

  “I think it worked, Travis. All the hairs on my neck are standing up. It’s safe to come closer.”

  Savannah tried the door, which swung open easily, and in total silence. The reception area was dark, but they waited until they had crept upstairs before turning on their flashlights. It wouldn’t be a good idea to be seen from outside, not yet.

  “We haven’t got much time, have you got the kanji written down still?”

  “Yeah,” he replied.

  “Then you go ahead while I watch our backs.”

  Travis pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, on which Ryo had written the word records in Japanese. Comparing the letters on the paper to the brass plaques on the doors, he quickly found the records room, which was unlike the front door in that it was locked with a standard Yale system. Savannah shrugged, and put her full weight behind a kick just below the doorknob with the keyhole set in it. The noise sounded in the silence like a car crash, but Travis had to admit that the tactic was effective. The door swung open, locking mechanism smashed.

  “Did Fiona teach you that move, too?”

  “Come on Travis, I wasn’t always as clean cut as this, you know.” Savannah’s grin was illuminated by torchlight. “Let’s move it, we had better find this deed in a hurry.”

  Finding the document was by far the hardest part, relying as they were on Ryo’s handwritten instructions on what the words Namarisawa, Nikko and Amethyst should look like in the Japanese dialect of the region, but eventually, in the third filing cabinet they opened Savannah pulled out a yellowing roll of parchment paper that apparently contained the property rights to the macaque infested mine. Miya Richards was about to become a very wealthy person, although Travis did wonder what she would do about the monkeys. He would have wagered they would be intractable tenants with a dim view of a serious mining operation. That was not his problem. Travis’ main problem was that the lights in the building had just come on, and he could hear the sound of running footsteps.

  “Showtime,” Savannah said.

  Travis slipped his hand in his pocket as they left the records room, and casually walked to the top of the stairs, where Kinagawa and four of the bike gang awaited them. They were caught, and there was no mistake about it.

  “Very strange, to find two American geologists breaking into my offices. Whatever should I do with you now? I must congratulate you on getting through my security door, but you failed to notice the Infrared camera that looks down here from over your head.”

  Travis and Savannah looked up, seeing only a white plastic blister, but which they now knew held the camera he spoke of.

  “Kinagawa, you know we’re not geologists,” Travis said. “But we know you’re not a regular businessman, as well. You have many fingers in many pies, criminal ones at that. How do you think the police would take you hiring these goons to beat people up for you, or worse, and how do you think they would feel about an illegal amethyst mining operation? You don’t own the mine, and you don’t have any permits for mining it. That’s the Namarisawa family mine, which your family stole during the war.”

  Travis was sure a beating was coming his way, but he needed to keep Kinagawa talking.

  “Oh, you misunderstand, my friend. These men are legitimate security contractors here for my protection. The mine was entrusted to the Kinagawa family when Akira Namarisawa disgraced himself by keeping revenue from the war effort; a very sad business.”

  Kinagawa folded his arms, and smiled. It was a snake like smile that sent an involuntary shiver up Travis’ spine.

  “I don’t think so. If the mine was entrusted to you, why does the deed bear the name Namarisawa? I think that’s why you had Ryo’s uncle killed, because he found out his relatives still owned the mine, and you stole it. I think you send people to Nikko to mine the amethyst illegally, and then you have it crafted right here, in the old market district. We’re going to the police with this evidence, and you are going down, my friend.”

  Travis also folded his arms and with a word from Kinagawa the thugs advanced on Travis and Savannah, seizing them by the arms. Kinagawa laughed in their faces.

  “What makes you stupid Americans think that you are going to live long enough to tell anyone about that? This is what I am going to do. I’m going to have these fine men make you disappear, there’s a construction site close by that could hide your bodies easily. Then, I’m going to see the old couple Iwate, and have their house destroyed. You lose, American.”

  Travis grinned. The thug holding his right arm punched him in the guts, hard, but the heavy jacket took a lot of the sting out of the blow. He looked Kinagawa in the eye, and now with a free arm he tapped his own ear, and then pulled the ear piece from it.

  “Here’s a word to the wise, Mr. Kinagawa, from a stupid American. Next time you make death threats, you might want to make sure that the guy you’re threatening to kill isn’t video calling the police, in conference with the kid who you just threatened to make homeless.”

  He undid his jacket to reveal the buttonhole camera and microphone wired to his phone. Kinagawa looked like he was about to call Travis’ bluff when red and blue lights pulled up outside, policemen already departing the vehicles as they came to a halt.

  Savannah clapped him on the back. The plan had gone off even better than they had hoped in their wildest dreams.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Three days later, Savannah and Travis were back in Atlanta, jet-lagged but happy for a successful adventure. Thyri had been over the moon that they had pulled it off, and as a promise to Ryo they had brought letters from him and his mother to pass onto their long lost relative, Miya Richards.

  The Japanese police had been surprisingly lenient with them for the minor crime of breaking and entering seeing as they had acquired a confession to large scale corruption and murder from Kinagawa, who the last time they had seen was being bundled away in the back of a police car. On the whole, Travis thought, this had been a much better investigation than the previous one in Russia. After all, this time he had avoided getting shot, and he had even forgotten to have a drink for several days with very limited signs of withdrawal, he presumed due to the excitement. Savannah had been right, as usual. Getting back on the horse had been exactly what he needed. Savannah had picked him up in her little BMW at two in the afternoon and they drove over to Miya’s house in the affluent Druid Hills area, eight miles and several social classes above Travis’ apartment by the university. Travis, in all honesty, had wanted nothing more than to get Angelo back and go
to the park, but Savannah had insisted on him being there to close the deal, so he went along primarily to maintain the easy relationship they had developed over their short time in Japan. He wondered if he maintained his clean record with the demon of drink if something more might come from their friendship, but he quickly put those thoughts away. He needed his head straight, and for good this time before he could contemplate anything else. So wrapped up in his own mind was he that before he knew it they had covered the eight miles or so to the Richard’s abode and Savannah was parking in the spacious driveway.

  The house was easily one of the largest on the street, and Travis considered its value to be at least half a million dollars or more. There was a heavy wooden front door under a somewhat intimidating portico and through the windows he could see a living room bedecked with high value items, expensive sofas and a large flat screen television on one wall. Savannah knocked, and Miya Richards answered the door, looking substantially more glamorous than their first meeting; now dressed in a classy suit jacket and matching pencil skirt. She welcomed them to her home, and led them through to a study that would possibly rival the office of Adventurer’s Inc. for the sheer quantity of objet d’art on display. Taking seats in a pair of comfortable wingbacks opposite Mrs. Richards’ own chair across her desk, Savannah relayed all the events of the Japanese trip; the lost relatives, the amethyst mine and finally the recovery of the deed. Savannah withdrew the paper bearing the property rights to the mine, and handed it over to Miya.