Last Stop Tokyo

by James Buckler

  ‘How do you know Tanaka is behind this?’

  ‘Because I know where your jidan payment came from. Tanaka is not the kind of man to lend such a large sum without expecting a substantial return on his investment.’

  ‘Who is he?’

  ‘Ichiro Tanaka sits at the top of a very big and powerful tree. A very old tree. His influence infects everything it touches, often fatally. He’s a very dangerous human being. The less you know about him, the better.’

  ‘And if we help you, then we’re free to go?’ Naoko asked.

  ‘If I wanted to, I could take you both into custody now and let you spend the next twenty-one days in Ushigome. Malloy-san will tell you that it’s not a pleasant experience. But you’re right about one thing – I don’t really want you. I want Tanaka and as many of his gang as I can take down with him. Removing him from society would make all of Tokyo safer. After that, I no longer have any use for you. Go your own way and put this behind you.’

  ‘How do we know we can trust you?’ Naoko asked.

  ‘Right now, the only people you can trust are at this table. You’ve both proved your loyalty to each other by not taking the easy option to save yourselves when it was offered to you. As for me, you will have to take my word for it. If I was going to arrest you, I would have done so by now. Beyond that, trust no one. I know that I don’t trust too many people where Tanaka is concerned. His people have managed to destroy everything and everyone they have touched. Lawyers, judges, policemen. Anywhere people value money above all else. As far as he is concerned, everyone is suspect and everyone is corrupt.’

  ‘So what do we do next?’ Alex asked. ‘The clock is ticking. They’re expecting me to call them to confirm we made it through.’

  Saito looked around the coffee shop at the bored-looking dropouts and solitary night owls. No one seemed to give him any cause for concern. He glanced from Naoko to Alex and back again and pursed his lips in a gesture of resigned acceptance.

  ‘This isn’t going to be easy,’ he said, ‘but you’ve managed to stick together after all you’ve been through. At least that’s a good start.’

  33

  THE FAIRGROUND WHEEL was visible above the Yokohama skyline for miles around. It was set on a boardwalk at the edge of the harbour, turning gently against the night sky and towering over the amusement park at its base. Thick steel spokes radiated from the centre of the wheel, with viewing capsules connected at intervals along the circumference. Tourists pressed their faces against the capsule windows as they took in the view from the revolving structure. An electronic clock at the centre shone brightly, colouring the thin clouds that had rolled in over the bay.

  Jun was waiting at the ticket office, as arranged. He was alone, standing to one side, away from the crowds, scraps of paper and empty food cartons blowing on the wind around his feet. He looked disconcerted, searching the crowds around him with quick glances from beneath his brow. He stubbed out a half-smoked cigarette as he saw Alex approach.

  ‘I don’t like this, Russia-jin,’ he said. ‘I don’t like this at all.’

  Alex tried to radiate calm. ‘Relax. I’m here now. Let’s just get this over with.’

  ‘I still don’t know why you wanted me to come all the way out here. What was wrong with the original meeting place?’

  ‘I couldn’t meet you in a bar I’d never been to before, Jun. Look at it from my point of view. I had no idea who was going to be there with you. I thought we should meet somewhere neutral. That’s all.’

  Jun looked around suspiciously at the rides and attractions covering the boardwalk. The soaring roller coaster, the carousel, the Ferris wheel slowly turning above him.

  ‘Why does it have to be here? I hate fairgrounds.’

  ‘Naoko and I came here on the night we met. Maybe it was sentimental but I thought it would be fitting. Coming full circle, or something like that.’

  ‘It makes me nervous to do this in a place that’s so public.’

  Alex nodded. ‘I know,’ he said. ‘That’s what makes me feel safe.’

  ‘You have it with you?’

  ‘It’s close by.’

  Jun cocked his chin quickly in surprise. ‘What do you mean, “close by”?’

  ‘It’s safe. I want to give it to you on the Ferris wheel. We can have some privacy there.’

  ‘But where is it, if you don’t have it with you now?’

  ‘A friend is looking after it. They are going to join us.’ ‘You’re kidding me? This is all becoming alarming, Russia-jin.’

  Alex reached out and touched a reassuring hand to Jun’s shoulder. ‘It’s your turn to trust me now.’

  He handed Jun a ticket and they both joined the snaking queue leading up the ramp to the entrance platform where new passengers were waiting to board. Shrieks, thrilled and terrified, rang out from the roller-coaster tracks high above. Jun smoked constantly, lighting one cigarette from the butt of the first. He moved with his familiar rolling shuffle, his head down and his eyes scanning the crowds for any sign of danger. Alex watched the capsules descend on the turning wheel and pause at the docking station. Soon they were near the head of the line, each gondola quickly emptying and then moving into position to take the next party.

  When they reached the barrier, Naoko pushed her way forward to join them. Jun turned to watch her as she approached.

  ‘Is that who I think it is?’ he said.

  ‘She’s knows everything, Jun.’

  He turned to Alex. ‘Everything?’

  ‘I couldn’t go through with it as planned. I had to tell her.’

  ‘She carried the stuff through customs knowing it was in her luggage?’

  Alex nodded.

  Jun gave a low whistle of respect. ‘This night is becoming very strange indeed,’ he said.

  Naoko stood beside Alex and took his arm. She gave Jun a stony look but said nothing. Jun seemed to decide that having Naoko’s complicity made her trustworthy. He bowed to her with a flourish.

  ‘My congratulations,’ he said. ‘It’s quite something the first time, isn’t it?’

  ‘Thrilling,’ she said with disdain.

  ‘Alex never told me how striking you are. I’m not sure I would have recommended you for the job if I’d known.’

  Naoko waved his compliment away. ‘Shall we just get this over with?’ she said.

  The barrier lifted and they walked across to the boarding platform and stepped inside the next available gondola. As the doors began to close, Alex heard the sound of surprised voices and scuffling feet. He turned to see two Japanese men, thick-necked and thuggish, push their way through the queue of waiting tourists. He recognized one of them as the scar-faced bodyguard who had been with Tanaka the night he had met him in the bath house. The other was burly, with a bald head that shone in the lights of the fairground. The little fingers on each of his hands were missing below the knuckle. Jun stood in the doorway and motioned for the men to board and they slipped through as the doors were closing. Now the five of them were alone. Cranks and gears turned as the capsule began to climb.

  ‘You want to feel safe, Russia-jin? Well, so do I. My associates are going to make sure nothing bad happens to me. I hope you don’t mind.’

  Jun’s companions stood behind him, crush-nosed and razor-lipped.

  ‘Not at all,’ Alex said. ‘I would have bought them tickets if you’d warned me.’

  ‘Our friend is very upset about this. He thinks you’re trying to cross him.’

  ‘Our friend from the bath house?’

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘You mean Tanaka-san?’

  Jun narrowed his eyes at the mention of the name. His bodyguards stood and glowered. The gondola rose steadily as the wheel turned.

  ‘How do you know that name?’ Jun asked.

  ‘It wasn’t difficult to find out.’

  ‘Then it should be easy to forget. Take my advice and never mention him again. Especially as you are already in deep trouble. Changing o
ur meeting place was a bad idea.’

  ‘Think about it,’ Alex said. ‘What would you have done in my place?’

  ‘I would have done as I was told. You’re acting like this is some kind of game where you can make up the rules. This is serious. People get hurt for less.’

  Alex nodded towards the brawler standing behind Jun. ‘You mean like that night in the bath house? The night when your friend tried to see how long I could breathe underwater?’

  Jun bristled at Alex’s tone. ‘That was just business, Russia-jin. Nothing personal.’

  ‘You set me up from the beginning. I was in trouble and you knew I had no one to turn to. I trusted you and all you saw was easy prey.’

  Jun looked him straight in the eye, the beginning of a self-satisfied smile starting to form on his lips. ‘There is no trust,’ he said. ‘Trust is just betrayal waiting to happen.’

  The capsule moved higher, up towards the apex of the wheel. The lights from the buildings along the horizon created a distorting effect through the criss-cross pattern of the wheel’s structure.

  ‘I want the package,’ Jun said.

  ‘I want the money you promised me.’

  ‘You go first.’

  Alex shook his head. ‘After everything you’ve put me through, I think you can pay what you owe me before I do anything else.’

  Jun reached inside his jacket pocket and took out an envelope and handed it to Alex. He opened it and riffled through the thick wad of notes inside. It looked like the correct amount but there was no time to stand and count it.

  ‘This is for you,’ Alex said, and passed the envelope to Naoko.

  She opened her bag, tucked it inside, then lifted out the silver-wrapped package. She handed it to Jun.

  ‘It’s all there?

  Alex nodded.

  ‘What’s this?’ Jun asked, and pointed to the corner that had been opened.

  ‘We sampled it,’ Naoko said. ‘In Bangkok. There’s only a little missing.’

  Jun turned the package over, weighing it in his hand. He tore the opening wider at the corner and peered inside. He shrugged when he saw the contents to be as expected.

  ‘I don’t see a problem with you taking a gram or two for your personal use. I hope you both had fun. You know where to come if you want more.’

  The capsule began the long descent towards the docking station. Jun seemed happier now that business was concluded. He took out a pack of Lucky Strikes and lit one. Wisps of blue-grey smoke filled the capsule.

  ‘I’ve been told to ask if you would consider doing another trip. It’s always easier the second time.’

  ‘How much will you pay if we do this again?’ Naoko asked.

  ‘Another two million yen. More if you can make deliveries that are higher value. We like to start beginners with small-time stuff, then you can progress to the lucrative goods if you can be trusted.’ He smiled lecherously at Naoko. ‘Of course, you’ll earn more money if you make the trip on your own. Is it really worth sharing the proceeds when you do all the work?’

  Naoko looked at Alex. ‘We work best as a team,’ she said.

  The two young brawlers were peering out at the view, their body language showing they had decided the need for vigilance was over. Jun took a long, deep drag on his cigarette, waiting for the wheel to complete its turn. Everything in the capsule was calm.

  The silence was broken by a muffled ring tone. Jun reached into his jacket and removed his phone. He looked at the screen and answered.

  He gave no greeting, just stood and listened to whoever was at the end of the line, nodding his understanding as the conversation progressed.

  Quickly, his expression changed. His cocksure demeanour was replaced by a rat-like survival instinct. He hung up the phone and leaped towards Alex. The two heavies saw his movements and followed. The atmosphere inside the capsule sparked with adrenaline.

  He ripped open the front of Alex’s shirt, popping buttons on to the floor. The microphone, connected to the hidden recorder, was taped to the skin of Alex’s chest. There was a bald patch where the police technician had shaved him to help the adhesive stick.

  Jun was breathless with fear. ‘You’re a fucking dead man!’ he shouted, spittle flying from his lips. ‘You set me up.’

  Alex pushed him away. ‘Now you know what it feels like.’

  ‘We were almost home and dry. Why fuck it up now?’

  Alex reached and grabbed Jun by the throat with one hand and swung for him with the other. His fist connected with the side of Jun’s skull with a crack and Jun stumbled back against the window of the gondola.

  ‘Because I can’t stand to see you win,’ he said.

  The two yakuza were on him quickly, pressing Alex’s body into the corner of the capsule, where it was impossible for him to fight back. One of the men held him while the other began to pummel his chest and abdomen. Jun was swiping at him, trying to rip the microphone away, while Alex covered up and protected himself as best he could. The bald-headed thug stepped back and pulled a long-handled butterfly knife from inside his coat. Turning his wrist in a swift motion, he flicked out the blade and stepped forward and began to raise it up.

  Suddenly, the figures in the capsule seemed to freeze in a bright flash of illumination. Jun and his henchmen instinctively reached up their hands to shield their faces from the painful glare streaming from the capsule following behind. Naoko turned to peek through her fingers at the source of the light.

  There were four uniformed police officers inside, along with Inspector Saito, standing at the window, looking directly towards the commotion. One of the officers had a long-lens camera to his eye and was hurriedly snapping pictures; beside him, another officer shone a searchlight towards them. Saito stared ominously at the scene before him, his stillness a warning.

  Jun looked at his friends. He was heaving from exertion, the veins standing out angrily on his temples. He nodded to them and they stood down. The knife clattered to the floor as it was dropped. The wheel finished its turn.

  34

  THEY WAITED AT the boardwalk rail, looking into the cold, dark water of the harbour. The fairground was closing and the rides were shutting down for the night. Above them, the illuminated wheel was plunged into darkness section by section. Naoko touched a tender hand to the bruises on Alex’s ribs.

  ‘How does it feel?’ she asked. ‘Is anything broken?’

  He was inhaling in small lungfuls, patting himself gingerly on the chest to feel for damage. ‘I’m fine. I think.’

  ‘Is it painful?’

  ‘Only when I breathe,’ he said, and winced. ‘I should be getting used to it by now.’

  ‘I’m sorry you got hurt. I wouldn’t have involved the police if I’d known that would be more dangerous.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Alex said. ‘We did the right thing.’

  There hadn’t been any dramatic showdown at the end. It seemed that even arrests in Japan followed an organized structure where everyone involved tried not to lose face. Jun had stepped from the capsule defiantly, his hands held up in a show of surrender to the officers waiting on the platform. His henchmen had followed suit. Jun had turned to Alex with a look of burning contempt as they led him away and Alex had glared back in return, keen to show his satisfaction in revenge. He watched as Jun was escorted across the boardwalk to one of the waiting patrol cars and manhandled into the rear seat. The late-night visitors who remained in the fairground stood aside as the police officers passed, huddling close to each other and whispering with subdued excitement. It was by far the biggest thrill of the night.

  Saito waited until the police vehicles had pulled away in a close convoy, ferrying the suspects back to the city. He walked tall over to the boardwalk railing, his usually dour expression replaced by the trace of a smile.

  ‘Well done,’ Saito said. ‘I’ve listened to the tape and we have everything we need. There’s enough evidence to build a strong case.’

  ‘What about the phone call?�
� Alex asked. ‘Someone must have tipped them off.’

  ‘Are you sure it was the call that made them suspicious? It could have been a coincidence.’

  ‘No way. Jun went straight for the microphone as soon as he hung up. Someone had told him exactly where to look. How could anyone have found out about the surveillance so quickly? Only the police officers under your command were aware of it.’

  The inspector seemed unconcerned. ‘It wasn’t one of my men,’ he said. ‘We traced the call to a public phone booth in Kabukicho. I’ve given orders for the local CCTV to be checked to see if that shows anything. Until then, I don’t want to speculate. We have all we need on the voice recording. That’s the main thing.’

  ‘So now you’re going to prosecute Jun and the others?’ Alex asked.

  ‘I want Tanaka, not them. They know that. Tonight’s evidence is only useful to convince them to accept a deal. It solves little to lock them up and leave the boss free.’

  ‘But you’ll keep Jun in custody?’

  ‘Only until I interview him and explain his options. If I hold him too long, Tanaka will know the exchange was compromised. Anyway, it’s best that he tastes freedom while he thinks his choices through. It will give him focus. Prison time tends to dull the senses.’

  ‘But what about Naoko and me? I thought we would be safe, otherwise I would never have agreed to this. If they are out walking the streets …’

  Saito interrupted him with a reassuring wave of his hand. ‘I will make sure that my officers monitor them day and night. You have nothing to fear. Just go back and live your lives as normal. Take the usual precautions and, if you see or hear anything suspicious, call me. Only me, just to be sure.’