by Arne Bue
"What do I do?" she said.
"You have the keys in your pocket. Get them out and undo one of the cuffs. Do it now."
Elaine fumbled around, and found the key and worked it into a cuff. After a few tries, the cuff clicked. Mr. Nakano worked the cuff off. He rolled Elaine over and got up.
"Stand," he ordered.
Elaine got up.
"Don't look at me. Face the door," he said.
Mr. Nakano twisted an arm behind her. He leaned down and picked up the duffel and slung it over his arm. He reached around with the blade and pressed its edge against her throat.
"Open the door."
The seaman had gone, but Captain Sewell stood in the hallway with a .30-.30 leveled in their direction.
"Back away," Mr. Nakano said.
Mr. Nakano worked Elaine down the passage. Captain Sewell backed away. He stayed in front of them a few feet, uncomfortably close, eyes hard and concentrated through the sights.
"I will cut," Mr. Nakano said.
Mr. Nakano worked Elaine down into the foyer, past a wide-eyed Anna Knight, stepping past the Captain and out to the boarding area.
Captain Sewell followed with the .30-30.
"Throw the weapon overboard," Mr. Nakano said.
Sewell looked at the .30-.30 and looked at the edge of the knife pressed up and into Elaine's throat. A slight movement would cut an artery.
"Do it," Elaine said. "He'll cut."
Captain Sewell threw the rifle over the rail.
"Tell the Purser-woman to get me a life preserver," Mr. Nakano said.
"Anna, you heard him," Captain Sewell said.
Anna Knight hurried off, and in a few minutes returned with an orange life preserver.
Mr. Nakano's eyes fixed on the life preserver. He pushed Elaine to the side and dropped to the deck by the orange vest. His knee hit the deck. An electric pain shot through his body and sent a light bright as the sun though his brain.
Captain Sewell fell upon Mr. Nakano, driving his whole body weight upon Mr. Nakano's back. The force drove Mr. Nakano s knee harder to the steel deck.
Mr. Nakano fell upon the blade.
Mr. Nakano died before the ambulance could get him to the hospital in Homer. The knife had cut into the lungs. But the autopsy later requested over the phone by Misako proved Mr. Nakano's heart had not been strong. The shock of the pain from his knee and the knife damage had probably been too much for Mr. Nakano to bear.
The heart simply had ceased trying live.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
At year's end, Captain Sewell took the early retirement package offered by the State of Alaska. He and Chief Mate Elaine Miller married six months later.
Together, they bought a condo in Hawaii.
No one hears from them, not even the Deck Officers aboard the Tustumena.
Gary Quinsen married his girl friend in Guam. Occasionally, he sends a card to Harry Lingenberry, sometimes a short letter with pictures of his little boy. It is said he runs a small tourist business and is doing quite well.
Harry Lingenberry and his wife reconciled. She is expecting their first child. He is still a Deck Officer in the Alaska State Ferry System, but he never sails aboard the Tustumena.
Anna Knight attended the Marine Academy in California and graduated with honors. Today, she is Second Mate aboard the Tustumena.
Mr. Nakano's wife Misako lives in the same apartment she and Kenso Nakano had shared.
Kano Nakano, the son, is a full time foreign student at the University of Alaska, Anchorage. He is studying anthropology. His grades have kept him on the dean's list.
Shige Nishimoto visited Mr. Nakano s wife, Misako, a few weeks after the Tustumena docked in Homer. In tears, she told the gang leader how her husband Kenso Nakano had died when he'd tried to escape. Mr. Nishimoto looked about the apartment, and tried to read the letter of this death, written in English and signed by Captain John Sewell of the Tustumena. Nishimoto did not say goodbye to Misako Nakano as he stormed from the apartment.
The accountant, Yasumasa Uchigama, continued to use his position of power in the organization for another year and a half. One night in a restaurant near Nishimoto's office, he became quite ill after eating sushi. He died a few hours later at the hospital. Mr. Uchigama's wife requested an autopsy, but she was overruled by the gang leader, Shige Nishimoto. She did, however, receive a handsome sum, proceeds from a generous insurance policy that had been paid for by the gang leader. There were rumors Mr. Uchigama and Kosuke Ochi, the cousin of Mr. Nakano's wife Misako, had recently argued.
Kosuke Ochi, Misako's cousin who helped Mr. Nakano with the fake Alaska driver's license and extra inventory of methamphetamines, operates in Tokyo much the same as before. He's told no one of his business transactions with Kenso Nakano. Secrets keep Ochi in business. His secrets and his reputation for keeping his mouth shut keep him relatively safe.
The Alaska State Troopers and DEA closed the case on Mr. Nakano and his methamphetamine route, the murders of Jeffrey Johnson, the assassin Kiichi Sugimoto, the night watchman Dick and Mr. Nakano's appointed supervisor, Redbeard.
Trooper Henderson did not receive the promotion he'd hoped for.
THE END
About the author.
Arne L. Bue lives
with his wife, Shirley,
in Anchorage, Alaska.