Gale Force

14

There was nothing to do but wait.

Okura had eaten until he was sure he would never feel hungry again. He’d smiled and attempted to make conversation with the well-meaning Americans who’d brought food to the little town’s community center. Now all but a few of the Americans were gone, and Okura stood alone in the corner of the center’s gymnasium, waiting for the customs official to return and tell them their plane had arrived.

Outside, it was no longer sunny. A thick layer of fog was settling on the mountains above the town. Okura watched it drift down. It did nothing to help his mood.

He’d given his life to the shipping company. No woman would marry a man who was away at sea for nine months of the year. He’d missed the death of his mother and the marriage of his younger sister. There was nothing else in his life but the work. Work, and the gambling parlors.

When he climbed aboard that plane, he would no longer have a job. That was a certainty. He might even face criminal charges for his role in the Lion’s disaster—especially if Tomio Ishimaru ever surfaced. And even, if by some miracle, Okura managed to escape with his professional life intact, he would still owe debts he was incapable of paying, huge debts, to men who regularly called on the yakuza to help them collect.

Put plain, he was finished. There was simply no hope.

TWO WOMEN WORKED at the front of the gymnasium, clearing empty dishes from the table. They talked, and their voices carried in the silent space.

“That was Robbie who just called,” the first woman said. “Some bigwigs just came down to the dock, want to charter Bill’s boat and head out to the wreck.”

Her friend cocked her head. “What, the big wreck? What for?”

“See if they can save it, I guess,” the first woman said. “I didn’t really get the whole story. Anyway, they’re leaving first thing tomorrow morning. Probably gone for a week, ten days, Robbie said. So you know what that means.”

The second woman smiled. “Girls’ night.”

“Girls’ week. If the guy’s going to leave, I’m having a party.”

The women walked out of the gym, laughing. Okura watched them go. So someone was going out to the Lion. Probably, they would find Tomio Ishimaru, and his briefcase. Maybe they would even take a cut of his profits.

Good luck to them. May they live long and happy lives. I will think of them often, from prison.

He dwelled on this unhappy thought for a while. Then the customs officer came into the room, and everyone straightened and shifted and looked at him. The man wasn’t smiling.

“There’s a delay,” he told the crew. “It’s too foggy to land your jet. They’re going to fly on to Kodiak and try again tomorrow.”