The Boy Who Glowed in the Dark

CHAPTER 22

Johnny drove for three hours. As soon as they entered Tokyo city limits, he got off the highway. He parked the car on the street near a warehouse. The sidewalks were empty except for the stray passerby. Nadia found an all-purpose cleaner and some paper towels in a box in the back. They used it to wipe down the surfaces they might have touched. Then they left the truck, found the subway, and went back to their hotel in Shibuya.

During the trip, Nadia asked Johnny if he thought she should call Bobby’s mobile phone. Nadia was the most logical thinker he knew. When she asked his opinion, it usually meant she didn’t like the conclusion she’d reached. Johnny loved those moments. They were the most intimate ones she shared with him.

“If he was in a position to get a call,” Johnny said, “he would have made one.”

“Meaning?”

“If you make his phone ring at the wrong time, you could put him in danger.”

“But if it were the right time…”

“He would have already called you.”

Nadia shook her head. “I was thinking the same thing. But isn’t there a chance he can answer but can’t dial?”

Johnny thought about it for a moment. “What has greater odds? That he can receive but can’t dial, or that he hasn’t called because he can’t and your ring can only hurt him.”

Nadia stared at her phone. “Am I overanalyzing this thing?”

“Probably, but under the circumstances, who wouldn’t?”

She chose not to make the call and the phone didn’t ring.

They arrived at the hotel at 5:25 p.m. They went to their respective rooms to clean up and rest before dinner.

Johnny took a shower hoping the hot water would rinse him of his frustrations. Bobby and Genesis II were gone. At home he got things done. He did whatever was necessary to protect the ones he loved. He’d framed Victor Bodnar and his twin blond protégés for drug trafficking because they wouldn’t have left Nadia alone until the formula was theirs or they were certain it didn’t exist. In Japan, Johnny was out of his element. It showed in his lack of results.

Nadia needed more help. More help than he could provide. And now another problem loomed. His week’s vacation was coming to an end. He needed to leave on Saturday to be at work on Monday. His boss had generously allowed him to leave on zero notice. Asking for an extension would be the equivalent of quitting. He loved his job and it had taken him years to find a man he could work with. But if he and Nadia didn’t find Bobby and Genesis II by Saturday, Johnny would have no choice but to resign. He certainly wasn’t going to leave Nadia alone.

They met at the bar at 7:00 p.m. As soon as he saw her he knew something was wrong. He could tell by the clouds in her eyes.

“I called him,” she said. “I couldn’t resist. I had to know.”

“And?”

Nadia’s eyes fell.

“What?” Johnny said. “No answer?”

“No. There was an answer.”

“And?”

“The person said hello in English, but the voice didn’t belong to Bobby.”