The audio was muted, but it was clear they were arguing. He saw Isato hang up the phone. Looking at the time stamp, Caine realized he had been on the other end of the phone call, asking Isato for back up. Now he knew why it never arrived.
On the screen, he saw Kenji raise the pistol. From the high angle of the camera, the image looked surreal and impersonal, like a video game come to life. He saw the explosive puff of the bullet leaving the gun as Kenji fired. Isato slumped over and fell to the ground. The video continued playing.
“Admit it, old man.” Kenji spoke up. “You’re getting off on this, aren’t you? This is what you wanted all along. Now you’re finally in control, instead of just being my father’s bitch.”
Koichi pressed a button, and the TV went black. He did not look at Kenji.
“I would have given my life for you. Or your father. As for who will take control of this family, that is not for me to decide. I have reported your actions to the Yamaguchi-gumi. The heads of the families will meet and decide what is to become of the Yoshizawa clan. For all I know, they may disband our whole goddamn organization. Absorb us into another family.”
Caine’s voice was quiet. “Kenji, why? Why did you do it?”
“I was trying to do it for him.” Kenji’s eyes were wide, damp, pleading. “It was all for him. To show him I wasn’t just an accountant, that I could help him.”
Koichi slammed his fist on the desk. Caine was reminded for a brief second of Isato and his rare bursts of emotion.
“Help him? You helped him to the grave! You may have destroyed everything he spent his life building! If you were anyone else but the oyabun’s son, you’d be chopped into little pieces by now. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
Kenji sobbed. “I didn’t mean to…. I just snapped. I thought this time would be different. I thought he’d listen to me. And when he didn’t, it was like I wasn’t even in the room anymore. Like I was watching as someone else pulled the trigger.”
Caine turned to Koichi. “I need answers. Kenji has them. People are going to die if I don’t get them. Do you understand?”
The older man grimaced and gave an uneasy nod. “I understand. Do what you have to.”
Caine kneeled down in front of Kenji. A twitch of fear shivered through the young man’s features as he looked into Caine’s eyes.
“Kenji, what’s your connection to Kusaka? What the hell are he and Bobu planning?”
For a second, Kenji’s face flared with anger and determination. He stared hatefully at Caine and kept silent.
Caine did not blink. “I’ve been trying to keep the shameful things I’ve done buried, Kenji. Don’t make me add more to the list.”
Kenji’s head rolled forward, and the determination drained from his features, like a balloon deflating. His voice was quiet and meek. “I interned with Kusaka Industries during my senior year in the United States. When he visited his US offices, he seemed to take an interest in me. Took me under his wing.”
Koichi threw the TV remote against the wall. The young man jumped as it shattered into plastic shards and clattered to the ground. “You idiot! What are you, a schoolgirl? He knew who you were. He took an interest in you because he wanted influence in the Yoshizawa clan.”
Kenji laughed. “Then he picked the wrong kid. You know better than anyone, my father never listened to me. Kusaka respected me more than my father ever did. Anyway, when Bobu was released from prison, Kusaka shifted his attention to the Shimizu clan. He helped Bobu splinter the clan and reshape it into Tokyo Black. He financed them, gave them direction. Used his government connections to keep them out of jail. He said he needed an army of pawns and Bobu’s fanatics fit the bill. Christ, what those men did to themselves … they’re all fucking crazy!”
“But what does Kusaka want?” Caine asked. “What is this all about?”
The young man took a deep breath. “I don’t know all of it, but one of his deep sea salvage operations recovered a damaged Chinese drone. They dredged it up in the waters between China and Japan. He’s managed to keep his political leanings quiet, and he has powerful business connections to Chinese aerospace industries. He found out where it crashed and was able to recover it before the Chinese government did. They didn’t report it missing because it went down in disputed territory. It’s a prototype, some kind of advanced stealth technology.”
Caine stared at Kenji in shock. “A prototype? Is it armed?”
The young man shook his head. “No, it wasn’t carrying any weapons. But Kusaka-san had his engineers gut it. They ripped out any non-essential systems and packed the body full of explosives. Whatever that thing hits … it’s over, vaporized. It’s just a big, flying bomb now.”
Koichi leaned forward in his chair. “So he’s turned a billion-dollar Chinese drone into a hi-tech kamikaze? And just what does he plan to do with it?”
“All I know is he’s going to use it to attack a target in Japan. With all the tension between China and Japan right now over the Senkaku Islands … I mean, the Japanese government is just looking for an excuse to take a harder stance against China. Something like this….”
“The match that lights the fuse,” Caine finished. “But those drones use encrypted control signals. Even with his industrial connections, I can’t imagine the Chinese government would give him access to those codes.”
“That’s where Allan Bernatto came in. Kusaka had already been working with him as a CIA asset, reporting on Chinese industrial espionage. Bernatto wanted the CIA to start taking Chinese cyber-terrorism seriously. So he helped Kusaka. Apparently, he had a Chinese state-sponsored hacker stashed in a black site somewhere. Renditioned the guy out of Hong Kong. He got him to crack the drone’s encryption.”
“That’s what was on the hard drive,” Caine said. “Kusaka needed it back to control the drone.”
Kenji nodded. “When Hitomi stole it, he flipped the fuck out. Tore up the whole city looking for her. And I guess Bernatto got cold feet… He said Kusaka changed the target, that it was too high profile now. He tried to get the drive back, pull out of the whole thing.”
“So he had Rebecca send me,” Caine said. “Once I found Hitomi and the drive, he would have sent in his private mercs to kill us both and take the drive back. Keep himself from getting exposed if the whole plan went south.”
Koichi sucked air through his teeth. “So you’re not just a traitor to this family, Kenji. You’re a traitor to Japan as well. What was in it for you?”
“Once this thing blows up, China’s economic relations with Japan and the West are gonna tank. I mean, even if they blame it on hackers or rogue terrorists or whatever … it’s going to set back trade relations for years. Kusaka’s shorted all his Chinese investments.”
“And you did the same,” Caine said. “You ran your father’s finances. You shifted his money to short positions on the same investments, didn’t you?”
“I would have made this family millions. Maybe even billions. Do you know what kind of power that money could bring? We could have absorbed the other clans. We could have—”
“Kusaka’s going to murder innocent people, and possibly start a war, just to satisfy his personal politics,” Caine interrupted. “Your father may have been a lot of things, Kenji, but he wasn’t a mass murderer or a traitor.”
Kenji flinched.
Caine lifted his pistol and placed the barrel on Kenji’s knee. “What’s the target?”
Kenji shook his head. “I swear, I don’t know. He never told me.”
Caine cocked the trigger on the pistol. Koichi eyed him warily, but said nothing. He grunted and turned away.
Kenji looked up at Caine, desperate.
“Kenji, you need to think very carefully. What is the target? Don’t make me ask again.”
“Look, I don’t know, okay! What does it matter? He could attack anything … the capital, a mall, an office building. All that matters is the news will report a Chinese stealth drone attacked Japan!”
Caine pressed the barrel harder into Kenji’s knee. “Where is he?”
“He could be anywhere in the city! Bernatto didn’t just give him the drone codes. He modified the piloting controls, so they fit in a suitcase. He can’t access the Chinese satellites, but once the drone is over the Tokyo metro area, all he needs is line of sight.”
“Dammit, Kenji, you have to do better than that! People are going to die unless we stop him!”
“Caine-san, just a minute,” Koichi said.
Caine turned towards him but kept Kenji in his peripheral vision. “Go ahead.”
“The boy said Kusaka needs line of sight to control the drone once it reaches Tokyo?”
“That’s right. That’s all I know,” Kenji stammered.
“That’s actually more difficult than it sounds,” Koichi said. “There are so many tall buildings in Tokyo. Even local radio and TV stations that broadcast from Tokyo Tower have trouble with blocked transmissions. If Kusaka and Bobu are using a portable transmitter, they’ll need someplace taller than that. It would have to be taller than all the surrounding buildings. Oterhwise, they’ll break the line of sight between the transmitter and the drone.”
Caine nodded. “Okay, sure. You have a place in mind?”
Koichi examined his cellphone. “Kusaka has offices all across the city, but his newest branch just opened a few months ago. It’s in the Skytree Plaza, right across from the Skytree tower.”
“Never been there.”
Koichi nodded. “It’s new, wasn’t built when you were here last. But take a guess what the tallest structure in Tokyo is?”
“Sounds like it’s worth a look.”
Koichi stood. “As I said, the Yoshizawa family has been ordered to lay low until the council makes its decision. I am forbidden to send any of our men to help, but that doesn’t mean I can’t go with you on a sightseeing trip.”
The old man stepped forward, then grabbed his stomach and groaned in pain. Caine hurried over and eased him back in the chair. “Koichi, you’ve done enough. Mariko and I will take it from here. You’ve got other things to worry about.”
Koichi nodded glumly. “Damn it. Can’t take a bullet like I used to.”
“Jesus, how many times have you been shot, old man?”
“Lost count after the third.”
Kenji’s trembling voice rang out. “Listen, there’s one more thing you should know.”
“Speak up, kid,” Caine said.
“Kusaka gave me a deadline to get all my trades in. Whatever he has planned, it’s happening today. And soon.”
Caine glared at him. “Soon? As in when?”
Kenji looked at the clock on the wall. His voice wavered. “Soon, as in, an hour from now.”
CHAPTER FORTY
Caine and Mariko sped down the expressway in silence. The skies overhead were a swirling abyss of black clouds. The rain had intensified, and droplets of water battered the windshield.
Mariko flipped on the windshield wipers of the new car Koichi had lent them. It was an economy car, nothing fancy, but the last thing they needed was to stand out and get pulled over by the police right now.
Koichi had also provided him with another firearm, a new Beretta PX4 Storm Compact. The pistol came with a range of adjustable back strap grips in its case. Of all the weapons he had used recently, it fit the most comfortably in his hand. He ejected the weapon’s magazine and checked the slide as they raced through the rain towards Tokyo’s Sumida district.
Mariko hissed a string of Japanese curses under her breath as she turned and exited the expressway. Caine couldn’t quite make out the words, but her sentiment was clear.
“I take it your phone call with your partner didn’t go well?”
“Ex-partner, you mean. And no, it didn’t. He felt bad about ratting us out before, so he gave me a heads up that the Security Bureau has issued a warrant for my arrest. Yours, too, by the way.”
Caine shrugged. “Well, it beats being executed by a private death squad.”
“Hiyowana okubykomon, ne!”
“I don’t know what that means, but it doesn’t sound good.”
She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. “It means coward with no waist.”
Caine chuckled. “I think you mean spineless coward.”
She nodded. “Yes, exactly. I told them what you found out, but I don’t know if they will take the threat seriously. Even if they do, I doubt they would make a move before bringing me in for a debriefing. They’ll have to get approval from the various security and intelligence chiefs. If what you say is true, there simply isn’t time.”
“We make quite a team,” Caine said. “I’m wanted for treason. You’re under arrest for defying your superiors. And Koichi’s entire clan may be disbanded.”
Mariko flashed Caine a bitter smile. “Now we truly are ronin. Masterless warriors. But we will still do our duty.”
Caine slapped the magazine back into the Beretta and flicked the slide release lever on the pistol. The slide slid shut with a metallic click. He thumbed off the manual safety and tucked the gun into his waistband.
“Duty? No, that’s not why I’m here.”
“Why then? You completed your mission; your superiors betrayed you. You could have left at any time. Why stay?”
Caine looked out the window and watched the raindrops trickle down the glass, each one following a unique, unpredictable path.
“First of all, there’s Hitomi. Drone attack, terrorists, billions of dollars on the line … in the middle of all that, no one else is going to care about one missing girl. Kusaka has her stashed somewhere. I’m to find her before this is all over. Assuming she’s still alive.”
Mariko’s voice softened. “I see.”
“And then there’s Kusaka. I know Kenji is responsible for his own actions, but I just can’t…. I’ve held on to the memory of what happened so long. It’s the one thing that’s kept me going all these years. And Kusaka took that and twisted it. Corrupted it. Now, it’s just one more bad dream, something that will keep me awake nights.”
“And you want to make him pay?”
“Call it what you like. I don’t care if it’s justice or revenge. I just want Kusaka out of this world. Whatever waits for people like us … hell, bad karma, or just worms and dirt, I’m going to send him there.”
“People like us? You are nothing like Kusaka,” Mariko said. “You are a good man.”
Caine shook his head. “No. I’m not. But for this, I won’t have to be.”
Caine looked up to see the massive Skytree tower looming before them. It drew closer and closer in the distance.
The tower was a slim, delicate-looking skeleton of steel. The graceful lines of its support structure swept up into the air, narrowing as they reached its apex. It looked almost too fragile to support the bulbous observation decks at the top, over a quarter mile above the city streets.
The clouds around the tower were grey and grim. To Caine, it felt like the sky and earth had somehow been inverted. When they ascended the tower, they would not be rising up, closer to the heavens. They would be descending, deep into the dark underworld of death.
After parking, Mariko used her police ID to bluff their way past the ticket line in the lobby. First, she informed the guards that Caine was an Interpol agent, on loan to the Public Security Bureau. Then, she battered them with a barrage of threats and insults when they failed to pay the proper respect. In the end, they bowed and ushered them through the security line, eager to get rid of them.
Safely ensconced in an elevator, Caine watched the floor numbers flick past on an LCD screen. They rose at a dizzying speed. A recorded voice played over the elevator’s speakers: “Next stop, Tembo Deck, floor 355.”
It was still early morning, and the heavy rain had discouraged most tourists. They were alone in the glass box as it rose up the tower. The rain and clouds obscured the view. Caine saw only a dream-like landscape of partially hidden skyscrapers, protruding from the mist.
The grey, rippling waters of the Sumida River snaked towards the complex. He could just make out the lights of boats, forging across the water, leaving cold, white trials in their wake.
The elevator began a gentle deceleration. Floor 340, 345, 350 … finally, there was the soft hiss of brakes. “Floor 355, Tembo Deck,” said the voice. The doors opened. Caine and Mariko stepped out.
They were immediately greeted by a Japanese woman in a hospitality uniform. “Welcome to Skytree tower,” she said and guided them to the panoramic observation window that curved around the entire floor.
Caine nodded and smiled but kept a wary eye on the small crowd as they ventured out into the lounge. He froze when he felt a slight tremble under his feet. “Is this thing moving?”
“Yes,” Mariko said. “It was designed to move counter to wind and earthquake vibrations. Its flexibility makes the structure stronger. Japan is one of the most seismically active regions in the world. We have to design our buildings to withstand quakes and typhoon force winds.”
Caine shook his head as he felt the subtle shifting of the floor beneath his feet. “Guess I’m glad we skipped breakfast then.”
They cautiously walked the edge of the observation lounge. On any other day, Caine would have enjoyed the stunning view of the Tokyo skyline. Even through the rain and clouds, he could still see the massive city, stretching out in all directions. But today, he kept his eyes on the crowd. He searched for any sign of Kusaka, Bobu, or their Tokyo Black soldiers.
“The clearest line of sight would be from the upper observation deck, the Galleria. It’s about a hundred meters higher than this point,” Mariko suggested.
“Then that’s where we go,” Caine answered.
“We have to take a second elevator up. It’s a more expensive ticket than this floor.”
They followed the curved path to the other side of the lounge. There, they found another attendant and a set of ticket machines, next to a separate elevator. To avoid a scene, Caine purchased the tickets normally, and they stepped into the elevator.
[Thomas Caine #1] Tokyo Black Page 25