The Rising Sea

19

Kurt gathered his chips, left his winning table and circled around the room, walking up behind Akiko. “What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?” he said. “Then again, something tells me that’s the wrong question.”

She froze at the sound of his voice, her back stiffening.

“Card?” the dealer asked.

Akiko did not respond.

“Would you like a card?”

“You have sixteen,” Kurt told her.

Akiko was playing blackjack. She refocused on the game and made the motion for another card instinctively. A red king gave her twenty-six and the dealer took her chips.

“Now would be a good time to walk away,” Kurt suggested. “And I’m not just talking about the game.”

She stood and brushed past Kurt without looking him in the eye.

He followed, moving alongside her and matching her stride. “Aren’t we on speaking terms anymore?”

“You’re going to interfere,” she said.

“With what?”

She glanced at him. “How do you even know about this place?”

“A little bird told me. What about you?”

“This was my home,” she said. “My prison.”

Kurt grabbed her by the arm and turned her. “What are you trying to say?”

“I was owned by Kashimora,” she replied bluntly. “It’s nothing special. They own plenty of people. But I was property and I did what they told me. You can imagine what I was used for. But, as it turned out, I had a knack for fighting and when a chance came to be more than a prostitute, I took it. I taught myself everything I could. I studied the martial arts, the samurai, the way of the warrior. A chance encounter led me to Master Kenzo and, when I had the opportunity, I left here and joined him. But they found me. They came after me.”

Kurt was beginning to understand. “You think that—”

“They found me,” she repeated. “Because I tried to escape them, they punished my new family. Kenzo tried to save me from myself and now he’s dead. So I’m going to make things right even if I have to die to do it.”

The story was something of a surprise, despite what Superintendent Nagano had told him. He wasn’t altogether convinced, but there was great determination in her eyes.

“Kashimora,” he said, just to be sure. “The man who runs this place.”

She nodded. “They don’t like to lose their property. And they don’t let people take things from them. I thought I was free, but I will never be free, so I will face my enemy and embrace him in death,” she said. “If I was you, I wouldn’t be seen with me. They might kill you for what I’m about to do.”

A group of patrons came a little too close and Kurt hustled Akiko onto the ramp that led upstairs. He was late for his meeting with Joe anyway.

“Listen to me,” he said. “You’re making a huge mistake. I spent a couple hours with the police the other day. Those men who attacked us were once part of the Yakuza, but not anymore. And they didn’t attack the castle to get you back or make an example out of Kenzo. They were trying to stop him from giving us the information we came for.”

She looked at him as if she wanted to believe.

“Trust me,” he said. “What happened was not your fault. It was our visit and what Kenzo found in the sea that caused the attack. It’s connected to earthquakes and those Z-waves he found.”

She narrowed her gaze. “These are the people I escaped from. I know their secrets. Things they don’t want coming to light.”

Kurt shook his head. “If they remembered you, they’d have killed you the moment you walked in here. I’m telling you, you can let go of the guilt on this one.”

“I don’t know if I can accept that.”

“Think about it on the cab ride home,” he said. “You’re leaving.”

“Why?”

“In case they do recognize you.”

By now, they’d reached the top floor and were nearing the piano alcove. Joe was nowhere to be found, but a distinct lack of music and the sight of staff members cleaning glass off the floor and rearranging the furniture suggested a commotion had taken place. Security members with earbuds talking to several guests confirmed it.

“Keep walking,” he said, passing the alcove and the exit and continuing in the other direction.

“I thought I was leaving.”

Kurt didn’t look back. “None of us are leaving, not without finding our own way out.”

They continued down the hall and then back down one level toward the crowded casino pit. By the time they got there, screens were updating the list of fights to bet on.

Joe’s image and the false name he’d been provided with were now prominently displayed in the slot marked Fight 1, the first bout of the evening.

“What do those symbols mean?” Kurt asked.

“That’s for the weapons fight,” she said. “Nunchucks, staffs, half-staffs. Seven three-minute rounds or until either combatant cannot rise. No submission.”

All thoughts of finding Ushi-Oni or whoever paid him vanished as Kurt’s mind turned to a different problem. “I’m going to need your help.”

“To do what?”

“Rescue Joe.”