XLIV

“Now, where’d you go, Amanda, you bitch?” Rei muttered to herself, standing outside the plainly abandoned house and chewing her lip thoughtfully. She had hurried back from her surreal encounter with the would-be assassin not entirely sure what she would do if Amanda was here but relatively certain she wouldn’t be. After all, there was no need for her to be here anymore. She’d gotten what she had wanted, after all. Akari alone and seemingly abandoned and anyone who might have stood in her way eliminated.

Rei tried the door and found it, unsurprisingly, locked. Tracing her way through the dense bushes on the side of the house Rei finally found what she was looking for, an unlocked basement window. Pushing the window open Rei clambered through and into the cool, dark interior. How could I be so stupid? Rei asked herself. She’d played an unwitting role in this madness. She’d been a friendly face Akari could confide in. She could be a lifeline that would be yanked away. Amanda had played a long game and now? Well, now the conclusion was at hand.

But what conclusion was it? What could she hope to accomplish? To break her, Rei scowled at the answer she came up with. To tear Akari down and remake her in the image Amanda felt best. There was no way she could do that in Japan, though. There’d be questions. There’d be people who would try to stop her. Ah…but who? The man had said she’d been the second target. So the first must have been…someone from her group, perhaps? Akari didn’t have any family except Amanda and Rei had begun to seriously doubt Amanda was anything close to family. It would take time, Rei decided. She had no idea how much time psychological and physical torture took but she didn’t imagine it would be instant. Rei grimaced in horror at the thought.

Since it would take time and Amanda felt Rei and whomever else she’d contracted the guy to kill were dead that gave Rei time to figure out where Amanda was and…do what? Shoot her? Rei thought about the gun tucked in the glove box of the car and shuddered slightly. She was not at all sure she could just kill someone. Not even someone who’d just paid to have her killed. To take someone’s life was a bridge too far. Maybe call the police? She could well imagine how that conversation would go.

“Yes, hello, police? My name is Rei Hamamori, my friend has been kidnapped and is being held somewhere against her will.”

“Who kidnapped her?”

“Her aunt. –click- Hello?”

Yeah, as long as Amanda had that family card to play no one would listen, Rei thought, making her way up the stairs and into the silent, darkened house. So, she reasoned, I either have to find proof Amanda’s not her relative, or find where she’s taken Akari and go do something about it myself. Maybe I could pistol whip her? If she was honest, she had no idea how to pistol whip anyone or, in fact, what it meant beyond a vague idea that you beat them with the gun. What end of the gun? Where did you hit them? Amanda was much taller than she was so over the head might be difficult to manage. Why in the hell didn’t I learn any of this on the streets? Everyone in the movies knew these basic things, why don’t I? Rei thought to herself irritably.

Rei made her way to the locked door of Amanda’s office and stared at it. I have no idea how to pick a lock, she thought, glancing around her. I am wholly useless as a thug. Maybe I can break it or something? Shoot it with the gun? No, that only worked in movies, too. People in the movies sure knew a lot about these things, she mused. Rei was so engrossed in her own thoughts she didn’t hear the soft tick as the front door lock gave way or the almost silent footsteps on the hard wood floor. In fact, Rei heard nothing at all until the cold click of a gun being cocked sounded behind her, causing her to stiffen in terror.

“You make a move other than putting your hands up and I will end you,” a woman’s voice in imperfect Japanese said from behind her. The tone made it clear that she was not one to make idle threats. Rei raised her hands, knees shaking in terror.

“I-I’m just trying to find Amanda!” Rei stammered, raising her hands skyward then freezing in place. Please don’t shoot me, she thought to herself.

“Yes, that’s who I’m looking for as well,” the voice said after a long moment in halting Japanese. “What’s your relationship to her?” Ah, Rei thought. There’s the crux of the problem, isn’t it? What is my relationship with her? Near victim? Enabler? Assistant? Bystander? Just what, Rei asked herself, is my relationship with her?

“I’m a friend of Akari’s and I’m trying to find her,” Rei finally decided to say. Until she found the other person’s motives it was probably best to not say too much.

“Turn around,” the voice finally said. “Slowly.” Rei spun slowly around until she was facing a tall blonde Caucasian woman wearing a smart business suit carrying a wicked-looking gun in her right hand. A gun, Rei noted unhappily, currently pointing directly at her head. The woman’s light blue eyes glinted coldly in the dim light and left no doubt in Rei’s mind she would end her as she claimed if Rei made a wrong move.

“Do you speak English?” the woman’s Japanese was terrible. Rei shook her head.

“I barely speak Japanese,” Rei replied with an attempt at a smile. The smile was not returned and Rei gave up trying.

“Too bad. Sit on the floor, hands behind your back,” the woman ordered. Rei sat down slowly and soon found the woman slapping a pair of handcuffs around her ankles. Using a plastic tie the woman similarly bound Rei’s ankles before stepping back and returning the gun to the holster under her jacket. Picking a small pouch from one of her pockets the woman knelt beside the door and within twenty seconds the lock clicked over and the woman swung the door open.

“Sugoi,” Rei whispered. These, Rei thought to herself, these are things I wish I had learned on the streets. Instead, I learned the proper cooking temperature for convenience store Takoyaki. Nice.

The woman dragged Rei roughly into the office while Rei struggled listlessly. It would do no good to fight, really, Rei reasoned. The woman was plainly more than a match for her in every way. If she wanted the woman could most likely break Rei in half without thinking about it. The woman attached Rei’s handcuffs to the leg of Amanda’s massively heavy desk. “Wait here. If you have moved when I get back it will not go well for you.” Rei watched as the woman moved around the room, searching, before leaving her alone in the gathering darkness.

“Well,” Rei whispered miserably to herself, her butt cheek scraped from being dragged over the wood floor. “Today just gets better and better.”

“We’ll wait here until the others arrive,” the woman said, returning nearly an hour later from wherever she’d disappeared to. “Comfortable?”

“Not really,” Rei replied, arms aching.

“Good,” the woman smirked and sat on a chair nearby. She pulled a smart phone from her jacket pocket and Rei soon heard the sound of a popular game Rei herself played often chirping from the phone.

“Oh!” Rei said by way of attempting to hold a conversation. “That’s that Demon Quest game, right? I love that game!” The woman grunted noncommittally but said nothing else. “That demon on stage 19 is rough, right? Its like, how do you even beat that thing? I’ve tried lots of damage, lots of healing, balance, you name it and I can’t beat her!”

“Two tanks, a healer and three damage,” the woman muttered. “The tanks have to share the damage or she’ll wipe you.”

“Really?” Rei replied with a scowl. “Seriously? I never thought of that. Are you sure?”

“I was part of the team that designed that demon so, yeah, I’m sure,” the woman’s Japanese was poor so Rei wasn’t sure she’d understood properly.

“I see,” Rei was not convinced but didn’t have the nerve to question her further. “So, how long are we waiting? Akari could be in danger, you know.”

“We wait until we stop waiting,” the woman replied, indicating the discussion was over.

“Good to know,” Rei muttered with a sigh. Well, she thought, at least she hadn’t been shot dead, yet. Yet being the operative word, she supposed.