His Revenge Baby: 50 Loving States, Washington

by Theodora Taylor

  That left only dead ends. Literal dead ends.

  Miyuki and Doug Tucker were the only connections No had to the woman who’d shared his life for six months, and both had met with untimely deaths.

  Miyuki hadn’t left a suicide note, and the investigation into Doug Tucker’s death yielded even less information. The baseball player had died in a tragic car accident before No’s investigator could question him about Ana Granger. According to Doug’s teammates, he hadn’t had a serious, long-term girlfriend since the untimely death of his Japanese wife. Doug did have a young daughter, but she’d moved back to the U.S. to live with a family member after his death.

  It seemed hopeless. But No was not one to give up easily.

  He doggedly continued to search for information about Ana, even after the investigator gave up. He spent hours sifting through the files he’d compiled until one day, he spotted something that, in retrospect, seemed glaringly obvious. It was a single name. A woman’s name. Buried in a blur of names on Doug Tucker’s report.

  No was too used to reading kanji, and his eyes were strained from staring at so much small print for weeks on end, otherwise he might have caught the name sooner.

  Lilliana Tucker. Lilliana. Ana.

  Lilliana was Doug’s sister. Almost ten years younger than the baseball player, she’d come to live with him and his daughter in Japan after his wife’s death. She’d been in Japan for roughly one year before No met Ana. And after Doug’s death, just a few short days after Ana vanished, Doug’s daughter left Japan to live with this “family member” in the States.

  It had to be more than a coincidence.

  No had called the investigator and asked him to look into the new lead. And that was how he discovered that the baseball player’s sister had worked at a local international school before resigning from the job in October, less than two months into the school year and only a few days after No first spotted her at the nightclub.

  Lilliana’s former coworkers, and her neighbors in the residential community she lived in with her brother, assumed she’d returned to the States. Gaijin burnout—not an uncommon story in Japan. She’d returned briefly after her brother’s accident to collect her niece, and headed right back to the U.S. shortly after. No one seemed to think there was anything off about Lilliana’s activities. It all seemed very cut and dry.

  But the accident, police, and insurance reports told a different story. Lilliana was there the day Doug was killed. She’d shown up at the hospital where they’d brought Doug’s daughter after finding the little girl, injured but alive, inside the car that had killed her father upon impact.

  How could Lilliana have been at the hospital on the day her brother died if she was living in the States at the time? It’s unlikely she would have even known of her brother’s death until several hours after. At which point she’d have had to make the necessary arrangements and catch a flight to Japan. It didn’t add up. Doug’s sister had also tried to file a life insurance claim on her brother’s behalf, even though the Hawks had a strict policy against paying out insurance on behalf of employees who died with drugs or alcohol in their system. And according to the post-mortem tox report No received from the hospital, it was clear that Doug had more than indulged prior to his car accident.

  So yes, it seemed likely Lilliana Tucker was Ana Granger. And his suspicions were finally—painfully—confirmed when he clicked open the .jpg file sent over by his investigator.

  Three images popped up on No’s computer screen: the passport photo of a young, grinning black woman; the smiling image of that same woman with one arm draped around the shoulders of a pretty young girl, and the other casually propped up on Doug Tucker’s shoulder; and a glossy Osaka International School staff headshot of, you guessed it, the same woman.

  No stared long and hard at the photos, feeling the same as if he’d been punched in the gut. But the young woman just smiled back at him as if she’d done nothing wrong at all.

  It was definitely Ana.

  His heart had frozen over in that moment, because now he knew the truth of the matter. Not long after posing for each of these photos, Lilliana Tucker would walk into No’s life and pretend to be someone else. She’d turn his world completely upside down, making him rethink everything he thought he knew about himself and the world around him. With her innocent eyes and caring smile, she’d convince him to give up everything to be with her…

  No could still remember the looks on the faces of the board members when he resigned his position before his father could demote him, telling them he would be leaving to start a co-venture with Go Gutierrez in the States.

  He’d even gone so far as to start trying to find TEFL programs in Portland. Ana had never complained, but he could tell she was unhappy cooped up in the love flat and gilded hotel room cages he’d provided for her. No blamed himself for her illness. Too much travelling, too little time outside. He was ready to make some changes to their relationship.

  It was then that he decided Ana would come with him to America as his girlfriend, not his paid mistress. And he’d wanted to make sure she had something to do while he and Go launched their “practical robotics” company. In fact, he’d almost settled on a program at Portland State College for her when he received that fateful call from Riyu.

  “I am sorry, Nakamura-sama. We looked for her everywhere. I even went to the house of her friends from the Osaka Charm agency…”

  Afterwards, there had only been a confusion of the red envelopes she’d left behind. One in each apartments, without so much as a 10,000 yen bill pulled out of either. To No it had been a mystery that didn’t make any sense. Except it did.

  He knew his father truly hated him then. Before Ana, No had refused to believe such a thing was possible. He’d held on to the memories of their close relationship before his mother’s death. And he simply could not begin to comprehend the deep animosity he often sensed directed towards him in his father’s scathing looks and words.

  But he’d sent Ana in to spy on him. And Ana’s betrayal finally made him believe what he’d refused to truly contemplate before she destroyed his life. And with that belief came a plan. A move to Portland, followed by the carefully devised purchase of the Seattle Fishers, his father’s favorite baseball team.

  It was a multi-billion yen cold war declaration, one that left his father with no recourse but to pretend to the Japanese press that he approved of his son’s purchase. Forcing him to act as if No hadn’t just rendered every piece of Seattle Fishers memorabilia Kazuo owned a bitter reminder of how his son had one-upped him.

  Yes, it was an admittedly crude and expensive maneuver. But it was also one that told his father, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that the son who owned the second largest share in Nakamura Worldwide had just become his biggest enemy.

  Which was why No laughed out loud when Lilliana Tucker’s report and photos showed up in his inbox. She was now living in Seattle, a mere three hours from his current home in Portland. Closer even than his mother’s mountain house had been to Osaka. It was hard not to imagine fate was finally on his side, because everything No needed to get his ultimate revenge had fallen into place.

  However, the cold, hard feeling he’d been carrying around with him for nearly a year disappeared the moment he saw Ana. No, not Ana. Lilliana. Lilli—that’s what she called herself—what everyone but Japanese children had called her before she walked into No’s office that fateful day.

  There Lilli stood, with only a piece of glass separating them. She was wearing a set of Hello Kitty scrubs and cuddling a small white puppy, of all things. Stroking its fur in the same affectionate way she used to stroke No’s hair.

  That was when the cold numbness he’d enjoyed since discovering her betrayal vanished. Replaced by a boiling hot rage that threatened to—

  Remain calm. Remain patient, he told the rage. He reminded himself of the Western proverb: “Revenge is a dish best served cold.”

  He would get his revenge. Very soon. This
he silently promised himself as he moved away from the activity room window.

  “So as you can see, The Children’s Hospital of Seattle more than deserves its reputation as one of the most well-regarded pediatric medical centers in the world,” the administrator who’d shown him around the hospital said as she finally finished her pitch for why he should give this hospital a significant donation.

  Now back in her tidy office, surrounded by framed accolades of the hospital’s various achievements, she indicated a fan of brochures on her desk, awaiting his perusal.

  “We have brochures with even more information, and of course any member of our medical staff would be happy to meet with you to go over any further questions you might have.”

  “That is good news,” he told the director with a slight bow of his head. “In this case, I would like to meet here, in your office, with Ms. Lilliana Tucker.”

  Ms. Fields scrunched her forehead with almost comic confusion. “Lilliana Tucker? Do you mean the new pediatric nurse?”

  “Yes,” he answered, composing his face so it was as aloof and cold as his heart. “She is an acquaintance from Japan. And I would like to meet with her to go over my additional questions…alone.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Lilli’s whole world changed within a matter of an hour. She’d felt that chill on the back of her neck. Then laughed over lunch with Dr. Dunhill all the while thinking the other woman had, quite possibly, the craziest story she’d ever heard.

  And then suddenly Harriet Fields, the director who’d chastised her that morning, was at the break room’s door demanding Lilli go downstairs to meet with a Mr. Norio Nakamura, the new owner of the Seattle Fishers and a potential big donor.

  “He specifically asked to speak with you, and I’m not about to disappoint a potentially motivated donor,” Harriet told her.

  What could Lilli do? Harriet was her supervisor. The woman who had the power to terminate her position at the hospital at any given moment. She desperately needed this job and wasn’t in any position to decline to meet with “the esteemed Mr. Nakamura.”

  So in the end, it seemed to her she had no choice but to follow Harriet downstairs. All the while chanting patent untruths to herself. Lies like, It’s okay, Lilli. You can do this. You can do this…

  Even though walking to Harriet’s office felt exactly to Lilli like walking through a dark tunnel. An extremely long and dark tunnel with an elevator and several hallways before they finally reached a door with Harriet’s brass name plaque next to it.

  “Go right in,” Harriet gestured her in with an annoyed hand motion.

  “Alone?” Lilli asked, unable to keep the terrified squeak out of her voice.

  Harriet gave her an unamused look. “That’s what he requested.”

  Okay, Lilli. Don’t panic. Do NOT panic. You can do this, she silently assured herself. You are in a crowded hospital in full daylight. There is nothing to be afraid of. You are going to go in, apologize, and then get out as fast as possible. You can do this…you can do this…

  She opened the door.

  She SO couldn’t do this.

  Lilli’s heart completely froze when she spotted No standing behind Harriet’s desk with his arms folded. Well, technically it was No…but it only took one glance for her to realize this was not the No she’d left behind in Japan. Her No had been clean-cut and model handsome, never letting so much as a hair fall out of its swept back, contoured place unless they were in bed together.

  However, this No was nothing at all like his former self. This No stood behind Harriet’s desk as if he, and not the hospital administrator, had complete authority here. This No wore a suit, but the ubiquitous white shirt had been replaced with a black hoodie. And this No’s hair, though still black, held little resemblance to his previous style. It was no longer swept back. Instead it fell in unfettered waves, the ends indistinguishable from the black of his hoodie.

  Back in Japan, he’d put her in mind of a slightly amused hawk. But here in Harriet’s office, the hawk had been replaced by a fierce dragon with burning obsidian eyes.

  “Hey!” she said on a shaky breath. “Long time, no see! This is crazy, right? And hey, look at your hair! It grew, like…super fast. So fast…”

  She was babbling. She knew this. But his very still, very unsmiling face was making her nervous as hell. Lilli took a deep breath and tried another tactic.

  “So…I hear you have some questions,” she said, deliberately calming her voice while gingerly taking a seat in one of the guest chairs. “Questions I’d be happy to answer if you want to sit down, too.”

  She indicated the leather swivel chair behind Harriet’s desk. Hoping to bring him closer to eye level so he’d look more Takeshi Kaneshiro, less Ken Watanabe.

  But No’s eyes merely flickered toward Harriet’s chair before landing back on her.

  Okay, she thought to herself while beginning to hyperventilate. She definitely, definitely, de-fin-it-ely could not do this.

  “Look, No. I’m sorry. I’m very, very sorry about what happened in Japan,” she blurted out. “I think about the situation and how I handled it almost every day. It was a bad move on my part and you definitely didn’t deserve to be treated that way. And…well, I just can’t apologize to you enough for what I did.”

  Lilli paused, giving him a chance to respond. Shout. Stomp his feet. Call her a whore. Anything.

  But he didn’t so much as blink an eye. And she began to wonder… “Are you even hearing what I’m saying?”

  No response.

  “Okay, look. I realize you’re giving me the silent treatment. Like, the silent treatment on steroids. Which is fine, I guess. But frankly I’m having a real hard time imagining you came all the way here and arranged to meet with me in my supervisor’s office just so you could stare angrily at me and say nothing.”

  No acknowledged her comment with a very slight incline of his head. A mere centimeter. Yes, it was more than he’d given her so far, but still not nearly enough for Lilli to know how to proceed.

  And though she was trying hard to keep it together, Lilli finally had to ask, “Why are you here, No? Please tell me.”

  A beat passed. Then, “You can call me Mr. Nakamura from now on, even in your thoughts.”

  Whoa. Well, ok then. But at least he’d actually spoken.

  “Sure, I get it. The intimate nickname train has clearly left the station. I completely understand. Anything else?”

  Her only answer was angry silence.

  Lilli could only sigh as she said, “Okay, well, I’ve got sick kids to look after upstairs because, you know, cancer…and,” she tapped her badge, “I’m a nurse in real life, so I can’t stay here and do this with you. But you should know, I feel sick to my stomach just thinking about how angry and betrayed you must be feeling right now...must have felt for a long time after I left without any explanation. So if you want, we can talk tonight after I get off of work. I promise to answer any of your questions to the best of my ability—”

  Without warning, his arm swung like a sword and hit the intercom at a precise angle. The sudden movement cut Lilli off in mid-apologetic babble.

  “Ms. Fields, we are done here. I would like to speak with you about my donation now.”

  Whoa! That was abrupt. Then again, who was Lilli to judge? She had no right after what she’d put him through. Yes, she’d had her reasons for the choices she made, but No clearly wasn’t interested in hearing about any of that. And who could blame him, really?

  Maybe he only came here to glare at me, she thought to herself. But what No probably didn’t realize is Lilli had spent the last year living with an angry, grieving teen. An experience that had required Lilli to develop a very thick skin in a very short period of time. So if he wanted to make her feel even worse about what had happened in Japan, he’d have to do a lot more than glare at her and give her the silent treatment.

  Just then the door opened, mercifully interrupting the awkward silence between Lil
li and No. Harriet entered her office.

  “Good conversation?” she asked, looking back and forth between the two of them. Her tone was chipper enough, but Lilli could sense the overbearing older woman was fighting not to lose her shit after having been more or less kicked out of her office by a complete, albeit wealthy, stranger.

  Lilli rose from her chair with a tight smile. She was more than ready to get the hell out of here. But she apparently still had some residual muscle memory left over from her time in Japan. Because like Pavlov’s dog, she waited to be dismissed before leaving the room.

  “Thank you for the use of your office,” No—Mr. Nakamura to her—answered, giving Harriet a small bow. “I’d like to discuss a few more points with you now that I’m done speaking with Ms. Tucker.”

  “Oh fantastic!” Harriet answered with a bright smile. Then with slightly less enthusiasm, she said, “Would you prefer that Ms. Tucker remain here?” It was pretty clear from her tone of voice that she really wanted Lilli to just leave already. And at this point, Lilli was in 100% agreement with her supervisor.

  “It is not necessary for Ms. Tucker to stay,” No answered. “She may go now.”

  It was all perfectly polite. But his response sent a chill through Lilli. And the expression on his face when he dismissed her without so much as a second glance her way…it was as if an iceberg had made its way into Harriet’s warm office.

  The icy chill of that meeting followed Lilli out of the hospital administrator’s wing and clung to her as she made her way back to the oncology center. It took all of her mental effort to stay focused on her patients for the remainder of her shift. She just couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling that, in spite of the few words she and No had exchanged, this situation between them wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.