The Sword, page 7
part #19 of The Project Series
"Who gave the order?"
"Tanaka. Tanaka gave the order."
"Who is Tanaka?"
"He is…boss. Wakagashira . You…understand?
"Yes. Where is this man?"
Ito was dizzy. The room was beginning to spin. Selena shook him.
"Where is he?"
Ito's eyes closed. "He's lost too much blood," Selena said. "We're not going to get anything else out of him."
"What did he say?"
"They were ordered to get the sword by their boss, someone named Tanaka."
"Did he say where we could find Tanaka?"
"No."
Nick took out his phone.
"I'll call Harker."
He spoke for a few moments and ended the call.
"She's sending someone. Let's try to keep him alive until they get here."
Selena had been kneeling next to Ito. Now she stood.
"Too late. He's gone. Anna said there's one more, in the kids' room, wounded."
"What a mess."
"Thank God for Anna."
"Where is she?"
"In the living room with the kids, away from this."
"She has to be pretty shook up."
"Let's go talk to her."
Nick looked down at Ito's body.
He got up and walked back to find the man Anna had shot. Nakamura was propped up against a wall, his chest covered with blood, dead.
In my home, Nick thought. Then, I hate this .
EIGHTEEN
Nick and Selena sat on the couch near Elizabeth's desk. Stephanie was at her console nearby. Nick finished telling Elizabeth what had happened.
"It's too bad he died before he could tell you more," Elizabeth said.
"At least we have a name," Selena said, "and we know this Tanaka person is an under boss. That's an important position in the yakuza hierarchy, second only to the big boss, the oyabun. "
"If we needed confirmation the yakuza are involved, we have it now," Elizabeth said. "It's unusual for these people to target children. It shows how badly they want to get their hands on the sword."
"I don't get it," Nick said. "Why go to these extremes? Branmore and his son are dead, along with all those people in that fire. They killed the old guy that took care of our building. He was just a bystander. I'm certain they would have killed Selena and me and our kids. Seems a little over the top."
"I can't figure it out either," Selena said. "For one thing, you could never let anyone know you had the sword. You couldn't sell it. It's a national treasure. For someone who's Japanese, that means a great deal."
"I don't think the yakuza give a damn about those kinds of things," Nick said.
"Maybe not. But it still doesn't make sense."
"Let me see what Freddie can dig up on Tanaka," Stephanie said. "Freddie?"
Yes, Stephanie?
"Have you been listening to the conversation?"
Of course.
"I'd like you to find out about this person named Tanaka."
I anticipated your request and have already done so. Would you like to hear what I have discovered?
Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Yes, Freddie. Please tell us what you have discovered."
Sora Tanaka is a high-ranking member of the largest yakuza clan, based in Kobe. He is currently in charge of clan operations on the West Coast of the United States. He lives in Los Angeles in the Little Tokyo historical district and directs operations from there. Would you like to hear about yakuza operations within the United States?
"Not right now, Freddie, thank you," Stephanie said.
Are you sure? It really is most interesting. Tanaka oversees an extensive network involving drugs, prostitution, and extortion.
"Not now, Freddie."
"If he's in Los Angeles, I can pay him a visit," Nick said. "If he sent them he must know why they want the sword."
"Probably," Elizabeth said. "But a man like that will be well guarded. He isn't going to surrender information without violence. That's not the best way to go about this."
"He won't be expecting me."
"After everything that happened, the twins need me here," Selena said. "I'm not going to LA. You can't take on the yakuza by yourself."
"I wasn't thinking of doing it by myself. I want Ronnie and Lamont to go with me."
NINETEEN
Atagi Nobuyasu lived in central Tokyo, in an exclusive area of luxury condos and large homes far beyond the reach of the average Japanese. The Imperial Palace was nearby. Some of the homes here dated back to the times of the daimyos and the samurai. It was one of these, situated within a walled compound with a large, carefully tended private garden, that Nobuyasu called home.
The building was traditional, as befitted a man who believed in restoring Japan's past. The floors were made of polished cypress and covered with tatami mats of the highest quality. Yukumi shoji , traditional sliding screens of paper that could be lifted to reveal a window, were a slight concession to modernity. They preserved the traditional look and allowed light to pass through, but the windows offered a barrier against the weather.
Stepping into Nobuyasu's home was like taking a journey into the heart of Japan's history. A beautiful entrance hall greeted the visitor, where visitors took off their shoes and stored them in a cabinet made for that purpose. No one wore shoes inside a Japanese home. The rest of the structure was slightly elevated above the level of the entrance. Tokyo often experienced heavy rains during the monsoon season. Raising the floor helped prevent flooding.
Various rooms inside were used for relaxation, preparing food, bathing, viewing the garden or the moon, sleeping and entertaining. There were no chairs, no Western furniture, only low tables and cushions. Sleeping futons were stored in cabinets during the day. It was a home that would have seemed familiar and comfortable to an upper-class Japanese from the seventeenth century.
Nobuyasu was a man of culture and taste, well acquainted with the many artistic traditions of Japan. He was especially fond of the art of bonsai.
Bonsai was much more than making a miniature of something that grew large in nature. A true masterpiece produced a complex feeling of emotion and appreciation that could only come from observing perfect balance and symmetry. Pride of place in his collection was a particularly nice example of a three hundred-year-old pine, a little under twelve inches tall. It had been created to form the illusion of a tree on a rocky cliff, the branches bent as though swept by winds.
The bonsai had been placed on a low table. Nobuyasu sat cross legged in front of it, contemplating its perfection. Usually, fifteen minutes in front of the tree was enough to restore his sense of harmony at the end of the day. But today was different. He couldn't stop thinking about Masamune's sword, and all of his thoughts were disturbing.
He knew Harker's people had found it. Why hadn't she called him? He couldn't ask for it without revealing that he'd been spying on her. That was the least of his concerns. Far more important was the involvement of the yakuza. That made everything more complicated. His informer in Kobe had reported that a yakuza operation had gone badly wrong in the United States, and that it involved the sword.
The yakuza were supposed to be allied with Nobuyasu, in support of the common goal to restore a powerful Japan. They were not supposed to know about Harker, or that Nobuyasu had hired her to find the sword. No one except a few people within Black Swan knew that. One of them could had gone to the yakuza. Or it could have been one of the people he'd assigned to keep an eye on the Americans.
Either way, he'd been betrayed.
Finding the traitor would take time, but Nobuyasu was patient. Sooner or later, the man's name would be revealed and a suitable punishment administered. In the meantime, he had to retrieve the sword.
Why hadn't Harker called? Before he did anything he needed to find out more about what had happened in America. Perhaps he needed to force the issue. Now that the sword had been located, it was only a question of time before it was in his hands.
One way or another, he would have it.
TWENTY
Ronnie Peete and Lamont Cameron stood in front of the new headquarters in Virginia.
"Fancy digs," Ronnie said.
"Nick said it was pretty nice. Like working in someone's country home."
"Yeah, someone named Rockefeller maybe."
Ronnie and Nick went back a long way. They'd first met in a Marine Recon unit years before. Ronnie was a stocky, wide shouldered man with a narrow waist, a full blooded Navajo. When the Project disbanded, he'd gone back to the reservation in Arizona to study with his uncle, one of the last traditional healers on the Reservation.
Lamont was a former Navy SEAL. Nick had recruited Lamont as he was about to complete his twenty years. They'd met during a joint mission in Iraq. He was whipcord lean, in the way an NFL wide receiver was lean, all muscle and speed. He'd lost some of the speed with injuries he'd gotten during his time with the Project, but he was tough as old iron.
The two friends climbed the steps and entered the foyer. Lamont looked at the sweeping staircase rising to the second floor of the building and whistled.
"Like I said, fancy."
Nick came out of the back of the house.
"Well I'll be damned," Nick said. "Look what the cat dragged in."
"Hey, Nick," Ronnie said.
Nick hugged each of them in turn.
"Man, it's good to see you guys."
Ronnie was wearing a bright Hawaiian shirt from his collection. Nick looked at him and shaded his eyes.
"Bright. I've missed those gaudy shirts of yours."
"This? This isn't gaudy. This shirt is a work of art. You really need to get educated, Nick."
"You're looking pretty good, " Lamont said. "Looks like being a dad agrees with you."
"They keep me busy, that's for sure. Come on in. The others are in the back."
Stephanie, Selena, and Elizabeth were waiting in Elizabeth's office.
"Hi, guys," Selena said.
She got up off the couch where she'd been sitting and hugged them. Stephanie followed suit. Elizabeth stood up behind her desk and gestured at the couch.
"Take a seat. I'm really glad to see both of you."
"Kind of like old times," Lamont said. He sat down on the couch next to a large orange cat and scratched it behind the ears.
"Hi, Burps."
Burps looked up and drooled, rumbling like a miniature truck. Ronnie sat down next to Lamont.
"So it's the Harker Group now," Ronnie said. "No more Project?"
"Not officially, no," Elizabeth said. "Things are a lot calmer now."
"I'll believe that when I see it," Lamont said. "If things are so calm, how come you called us?"
"It's a long story," Nick said.
"It always is."
"We've run into a little problem with the yakuza," Elizabeth said.
"The Japanese Mafia?" Ronnie said.
Elizabeth nodded. "That's right."
"Those guys are bad dudes," Lamont said. "You ever see Black Rain? Cool movie."
"I need to go out to LA to talk to one of their bosses," Nick said. "I figured you guys might like to come along as backup."
"You want us to help you talk to some Japanese Godfather?"
"More or less."
"I knew I should've stayed in Florida."
"What's going on, Nick?" Ronnie asked.
"It's about an old sword," Nick said.
"Oh, boy," Lamont said. "Every time we get mixed up with something old, things get real complicated. What is it, Excalibur?"
Nick laughed. "No, not Excalibur. It's a sword made by Japan's greatest sword smith, eight hundred years ago. For the Japanese, it's like Excalibur. They consider it a national treasure."
Elizabeth said, "The sword disappeared at the end of World War II. We were hired to find it. We did find it, but the yakuza want it. They came after Nick and Selena and their kids."
"Oh, oh," Lamont said. "That must've pissed you off. I'll bet that didn't work out too well for them."
"No, it didn't," Nick said.
Elizabeth continued. "I don't trust the man who hired us to find it. He's not telling us the whole story. I'm not ready to hand it over to him without finding out what's going on. Something doesn't add up. The sword is worth a lot, but what's been happening is over the top. Too many people have died. Until I know why it's worth piling up bodies, we're keeping it."
"Where is it?" Ronnie asked.
"Here. Well hidden."
"So now you want to talk to this guy in LA to find out why they want it."
"That's right," Nick said.
"Why should he talk to us?" Ronnie asked.
"That's where you come in. We won't get anything out of him without a little intimidation. One look at Lamont, he'll probably tell us what we want to know."
Lamont had an evil looking scar that crossed over his right eye and down the left side of his nose, a hard, pink line caused by shrapnel he'd taken in Iraq.
"Haven't you heard you can't make fun of people these days?" Lamont said. "I ought to turn you over to the PC police."
"Go ahead, but who's going to pay for the pizza later?" Nick said.
"Pepperoni?"
"Whatever you want."
"In that case, I'll forget it. This time."
"Boys," Elizabeth tapped her pen on her desk.
"Sorry, Director," Lamont said.
Selena laughed. "I've missed this."
"The target is a man called Sora Tanaka," Elizabeth said. "He's an under boss, in charge of all yakuza operations on the West Coast. That makes him a big deal. He'll be well protected."
"What's an under boss?" Lamont asked.
"There are four main yakuza families, broken down into more than eight hundred clans. It's a complicated organizational structure, with lots of traditional subcategories that determine rank and status. The only person over Tanaka is the big boss, the man who controls everything in Tanaka's family. He's the Godfather in spades, for real."
"Where does he hang out?"
"Kobe. In Japan."
"At least LA is a lot closer."
"I'm not going to kid you," Elizabeth said. "These people are dangerous. They live by a different set of rules than we do. They make the Mafia look like amateurs. You'll have to find a way to get to Tanaka without going through his soldiers. There have to be times when he's alone, or at least with very few people around him."
"Tell you the truth, I was getting tired of sitting around on my butt waiting for the fish to bite," Lamont said. "I didn't think I'd miss the action, but I do. I'm in."
"Me too," Ronnie said.
"Maybe there won't be any action," Nick said.
"Uh, huh," Lamont said.
TWENTY-ONE
"I've found out a few things about Tanaka, with Freddy's help," Stephanie said. "Being a yakuza boss pays pretty well. He has a three million dollar home in California set on twenty acres."
"Do we know anything about his routines?" Nick asked. "Does he have a regular schedule, predictable patterns?"
"He runs his rackets out of an office in Torrance, right on the main drag. There are several Japanese companies that have their American headquarters in the city. That's resulted in a large Japanese population, second only to Hawaii. Except for occasional trips to Japan, Tanaka is usually in his office during the day. He heads back home in the evening. If you didn't know any better, you'd think he was simply another businessman living in the country and commuting to town for work."
"Yeah, some business," Lamont said. "Drugs, hookers, and extortion. He must be a real nice guy."
"How about nightlife? Does he go to clubs? Bars?" Ronnie asked.
"Sometimes, but not on a regular basis. There's no pattern."
"Is he married? Who's in the house besides him?"
"He was married, but his wife died several years ago in a car accident in Tokyo. The servants live in a separate guest house. The back of the house. He has a maid, a cook, and a gardener. He calls up an escort service if he wants a woman. There are usually four of his men on the property. One of them acts as a chauffeur. All of them live over the garage. There don't seem to be regular patrols of the grounds."
"He'll have electronic security," Ronnie said.
"Okay," Nick said. "I don't think we should go after him when he's in town. There are too many chances something will go wrong. People could get hurt. That leaves his house. Steph, can you pull up a photo?"
"I thought you might want one. Freddie, please display the satellite shot of Tanaka's house."
Certainly, Stephanie.
A large monitor positioned on a table near Elizabeth's desk lit up with an overhead shot of the house. The building was situated at the end of a long drive. There were no neighbors nearby. A large backyard featured a long swimming pool and broad patio. The yard was bordered with mature trees and backed up to a gentle, grassy slope. The satellite had caught someone on a horse riding along a trail about a hundred yards behind the house.
"Could be worse," Lamont said.
"It could be a lot worse," Nick said. "The house is relatively isolated. We won't have to worry about neighbors, only his guards."
"We can go in from the back," Ronnie said. "Those trees will give us some cover."
"I want to know what kind of alarm systems he's got," Nick said. "Freddie?"
Yes, Nick?
"Can you find out if Tanaka has an alarm service?"
I have already done so. The structure is protected by a national service that operates using cellular connections.
"Remember the good old days when we could cut the phone line?" Ronnie said.
"It's not a problem," Elizabeth said. "We have Hood backing us up, remember? We can jam the cellular signal."
"Sometimes the technology we use to help us out scares the hell out of me," Nick said. "It could come back and bite us some day, if the wrong people get to be in charge of it."
"That's the problem with government, isn't it?" Selena said. "We expect people who run things to respect personal rights and freedom. We expect them to believe in the Constitution. If that ever changes, we'll find ourselves living under a dictatorship before we know what happened. The politicians will spin it to sound like a wonderful thing, but it will be like Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union under Stalin. The only difference is going to be the uniforms of the people with the guns."
