Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens, 7:58 PM
The park lamps beside the path glowed like individual lighthouses on a foggy distant coast. Fox could not see much from either side as the thick fog obscured everything that was more than thirty feet away. His informant could not have predicted the fog. That didn’t bother Fox considering that it would be harder for someone to follow him. On the other hand, it would also be easy for someone to ambush him. Fox sat down on a bench beside a sign that said Shidarezakura, which meant Weeping Cherry in Japanese. He looked at his watch, leaned on the arm rest and tapped his fingers.
A couple passed by him, hand in hand. The age difference was obvious. Jesus, another sugar daddy. They were a few feet away when Fox glanced at them a second time. He’d recognize them for sure if he saw them again.
Why the hell did I get stuck with someone that holds grudges? He rubbed the spot where Parris had kicked him. It still hurt slightly to the touch. Maybe I deserved that. An older couple walked by in the opposite direction from the previous couple. Maybe I should’ve added ginger beer or the sorrel to the lunch menu today. Those were popular Caribbean drinks from Barbados. Fox rested both elbows on his knees. Here I go again, thinking about what I did wrong. Why the hell am I even thinking about her? Why should I even care if she likes me or not? Fox glanced at his watch a second time.
Maybe things would’ve been better had he been partnered with an antisocial, like Levickis. He’d be more focused and have no one to pester him, that would work. Thanks to him, he was now armed with a Beretta 92G Elite II regular sidearm, along with its relative, the Beretta 950 Jetfire mini-pistol that was concealed in his ankle holster. Fox then checked the pen in the breast pocket of his jacket to make sure the micro video camera lens was facing outwards. Other than the weapons, the other concealed item he had was a Hexagon Pharmaceuticals guest ID.
At that point, Fox noticed a man approach. His face was partially hidden under the peak of his baseball cap. He wore a green polyester spring jacket, blue denim jeans and slightly worn running shoes. He came close to being five foot five inches tall-about the same height as the man that had bumped into him at the airport. But it was the brown paper bag he carried that gave him away. Fox stood and joined him in his stroll.
“I trust you weren’t followed,” said the man.
“I trust that you trust me when I say I wasn’t.”
“I’ll take your word for it. You can call me Ken Katori, a Boeisho operative. I’ll make this meeting as brief as possible. I take it that you met with Tanaka?”
“Yes.”
“I am one of three that had infiltrated a doomsday cult. We had reason to believe that they were planning a major attack on Japan. But our cover was blown.”
“Was it Tanaka?”
“Yes, he’s the mole for the cult. He blew our cover.”
Fox looked at him. “Explain.”
“Have you heard of a man named Hideaki Hashimoto, the CEO of Hexagon Pharmaceuticals?”
“Tanaka spoke of him.”
“His group somehow got to Tanaka and recruited him,” said Katori, as they walked around a curve.
“Why would Tanaka join with Hashimoto?”
Katori dropped the paper bag in a trash can. “He didn’t join Hashimoto’s group, he was coerced.”
“Hashimoto brainwashed him, didn’t he?”
“So you know of his alleged involvement with the Soviets during their war with Afghanistan.”
“I’ve been briefed about it.”
“Well it doesn’t stop there. It appears that he’s started up his program again. Tanaka, along with members of the police department and other organizations, were also his victims. My colleagues didn’t know about Tanaka until recently. The Boeisho has been keeping a close eye on cults since cult groups were responsible for the wave of pipe bomb explosions and other terrorist activities that rocked Japanese cities back in the mid 1990s. Hashimoto’s group was no exception. I was recruited as one of the guards, or a ninja if you wish, and so were my two colleagues. He’s recruited people from all over the world to build his group, mostly those between the ages of thirteen and twenty-five, from all cultural backgrounds, and of all types.”
Fox checked their surroundings surreptitiously to make sure they were not being followed. “What do you mean by types?”
“Hashimoto hasn’t limited his selection to a specific group of people. Along with small-time criminals and juvenile delinquents, he’s mostly recruited academics. Not the ones you’d find interning or looking for jobs, but the ones who failed or cheated on their exams. Especially those that were kicked out or who had dropped out of school. There were many from all over the world.”
“So Hashimoto’s been profiling these individuals. Why?”
“I’ll get to that part later.”
Both Fox and the informant descended a curved stairway while they continued talking.
“What about the ninjas? Were they brainwashed also?”
“No. They’re Hashimoto’s own private army, and they’re all loyal to him. They will do everything necessary to protect him and his goals. But before my team and I were compromised, we suspected that Hashimoto may be taking orders from someone.”
“Like who?”
“We weren’t able to find out. But we discovered Hashimoto’s plans to assault Ares’s Groznyy laboratory to steal a specific bio-weapon, we immediately informed Tanaka. The problem is that he informed Hashimoto and that’s when they decided to get rid of us. If only we’d known that Tanaka was on their side from the beginning, one of my colleagues would still be alive.”
They both got to the bottom of the stairs and continued along the path.
“But they didn’t attack the Groznyy lab after all,” said Fox.
“No, they had a change of plan and attacked the Ares lab in Belarus.”
“It figures. I didn’t leave much behind for them in Groznyy.”
Katori looked at Fox. “So it was you.”
“Damn right it was. What happened to your partner?”
“He escaped with me, but we often don’t stay together, to make it more difficult for Hashimoto to track us. His name’s Aijima Sato. We still work together and were able to find out that the CIA would get here sooner or later. He’ll find you when the time is right.”
“I think it’s way past that time. If Sato has valuable information then he must give it to me if you both expect me to help you.”
“You’ll get it. If you want to take down both Ares and Hashimoto, you’ll have to do it on our terms. Don’t forget we have to be careful. Hashimoto got to Tanaka-Tanaka of all people! And it’s no thanks to that former KGB spy.”
“Valerik.”
“Exactly. My only regret is that we didn’t eliminate him earlier. He’s the only one who could’ve provided Hashimoto with enough information to aid in Tanaka’s capture and subsequent brainwashing.”
“I didn’t think the Boeisho would’ve killed Valerik,” added Fox.
“Of course not. His own people did it.”
“The Arms of Ares.”
“Exactly. I’m surprised he allowed himself to be tracked down so easily.”
“It’s starting to make sense now. Hashimoto stole Pandora from Ares and now they’re trying to get it back. And they’ve killed off Valerik-”
“For revenge.”
“I don’t think it’s only for revenge,” asserted Fox. “They didn’t want him talking to me when I found him, or anyone for that matter. This brings me to my next question. I’m assuming you heard what happened in southern Uganda?”
“Yes, a bit.”
“Why would Ares risk infiltrating a military-guarded compound to steal back Pandora when they already knew of Valerik’s whereabouts? All clues point to them but I always felt something wasn’t right.”
“Oh that wasn’t Ares. It was Hashimoto.”
“I don’t understand. He already has Pandora, he didn’t need any more. Unless he wanted to frame Ares.”
“That’s exactly what he wanted to do.”
“But he obviously knew that the CIA would’ve figured out that Ares wasn’t involved eventually.”
“Yes, eventually. ” Katori said. “He’d be way ahead of you by the time you found out that you were on a wild goose chase. Hashimoto would’ve had someone on the inside. It’s my theory that one or more of his recruits were already at the compound at the time. Once Pandora was delivered, they destroyed it.”
Fox sighed with a chuckle. “It was all staged. Only one of the scientists had torn clothing, meaning that he was the only one attacked with the dagger found at the scene. Up until now, no one has been arrested at any of the checkpoints set up on all of the highways and airports. The culprit or culprits were on a suicide mission.”
“Exactly.”
“Tell me a bit about Tanaka. What’s he like?” asked Fox.
“There’s not much to say about him. He’s been Head of Section for the past ten years. He lost his only daughter in a traffic accident about six years ago. He got the news while at a Tchaikovsky recital with his wife on their wedding anniversary. Other than that, he’s normally reserved. Why?”
“I was curious. Wanted to see if there was a connection between his…” Fox paused just when he noticed that Katori had stopped walking with him and was two steps behind him. What he wanted to know was if there was a connection between Tanaka and the other brainwashing victims.
Fox didn’t have to know what was on Katori’s mind. From his body language, he knew that Katori sensed that there was something wrong-as though they were being watched.
Katori pulled the peak of his baseball cap lower over his face and walked quickly in the opposite direction away from Fox.
Fox ran and caught up to him as Katori said to him. “Sato will get in touch with you and tell you the rest.” They passed through the exit and walked out onto the sidewalk. Fox had to shout to be heard above the noise from the cars and trucks that zoomed by. “Look, I can get you protection.”
“What are you going to do, call them? The Boeisho will trace your phone signal, or worse yet, even block your call. Think. You sat in Tanaka’s car. Did it occur to you that he had a recording device to register your voice patterns so they could be used to track you?”
Damn, he’s right.
“Besides, it’ll do neither of us any good. Not against them. Now I’m warning you, Fox. This meeting is over.”
“No, it isn’t.” Fox grabbed Katori by the shoulder, and he immediately and violently slapped him off. He stared back at Fox with narrowed eyes and heavy breathing.
“Listen, it’s always on our terms when either I or Sato chooses to meet with you. We know who these people are and how far they’re willing to go. So if you want to stay alive, I suggest you go back to your car and get away from here, and me, as quickly as possible.” He turned and walked away rapidly.
While Katori tried to act tough, Fox knew he was scared. All he could do was obey him and nothing else. He watched Katori run off to the curb where he was just in time to catch the bus.
Fox ran the opposite way in a slow jog and snatched his cell phone off his belt clip. With his thumb he switched it off and replaced it on its clip. Its internal scrambler should keep him undetected for a while. Walsh and Dobbs would be pissed off, Walsh more than Dobbs since Fox hadn’t contacted either of them yet. But after what Katori told him, it was for their own good. But Dobbs should be able to tell whether or not they were under surveillance. He was one of the best technicians he had ever worked with. In fact, Fox wouldn’t be surprised if he knew of every satellite in orbit. The Boeisho wouldn’t find him easily. And as long as Walsh stuck close to him, they shouldn’t find him either.
The Tokyo City Dome was nearby, and Fox headed that way. There were always crowds in which he could lose anyone that may have been following him. Fox already knew where all of the closed-circuit cameras were along the way. It was all a matter of keeping his face hidden from them.
After having walked through the Tokyo City Dome and its labyrinth of underground connecting corridors, he emerged to the surface from an exit that was reserved for city maintenance workers. Fox’s navy sports car was the third car away from the intersection. He used the automatic locking mechanism on his keys to unlock the door, and then got in his car from the street side, where the driver’s side was. When he started her up, a blast of warm air flowed from the vents. He lowered the temperature to a cooler setting, turned up the defogger, and threw the gear into drive.
Whenever he parked, he always left enough space between his car and the back of the car in front of him to allow him to simply drive out. This was useful when he needed to make a quick getaway. Nevertheless, that tactic was useless this time.
A vehicle with disabled headlights screeched to a stop beside Fox. The back bumper lined up exactly with the front end of his car and blocked his path. Just as quickly a red sedan screeched to a halt right behind it, blocking the back passenger door of his car.
Fox expected to see a group of Asian men rush out of the two cars, but to his surprise, two Caucasian men dressed in jeans and light jackets appeared instead. It only took seconds before men with Micro-Uzis surrounded him. For sure if they wanted him dead, Fox knew they would’ve shot him already. These men wanted him alive.
Fox heard a car door slam behind the red sedan, and when he turned to look, Fox saw a man about his height, with thuggish looks and a pair of thick eyebrows that practically joined to become a single brow. He walked up and stood a few feet away from his door.
“Get out of the car. Keep your hands where they can be seen.” The heavy Russian accent gave him away. Valerik’s killers no doubt, and now they came for him. Fox had no plans to become the cause of another pile-up on a Tokyo freeway, but he wasn’t going to be forced to give up intelligence either. This called for a more reckless and aggressive approach. No matter how slim his chances were of getting out unharmed, it was still a chance he had to take.