As for her, she could just forget about Reno. He was done with her, and if she never saw him again, it would be too soon. Too bad Taka couldn’t beat the crap out of him for no reason. Maybe he’d do it as a personal favor.
The food was divine. Miso soup, an egg dish mercifully free of tentacles and green tea. By the time she’d devoured everything, she was feeling almost human. Kobayashi had brought her backpack, and he’d shown her the bathroom connected to the room, his English brief but adequate. There was no mistaking his orders. She was to stay put until someone came and got her.
Which was fine as far as she was concerned. It would mean she was less likely to see the red-haired, tattooed skunk….
The shower felt so good she almost cried. There was a soaking tub, as well, but she decided to avoid that, remembering far too vividly what had happened the last time she’d lingered in a tub. Not that Reno gave a damn—he wasn’t going to come striding in here and pull her out. She’d been dismissed. Asshole.
She pulled on her clean clothes, wishing for some reason that she’d brought a dress with her. Ojiisan was formal enough that she had the irrational urge to be on her best behavior, silly as it was. He’d have to take her as she was. He’d gotten used to Summer, and Summer was as free from vanity as Jilly was.
The bed in the room was Western-style, and she stretched out on it, bored. There was nothing to read in the room that wasn’t in kanji, no TV, no radio. Just her and her thoughts, and at the moment they weren’t the best company. She slept for a little while, just out of sheer boredom, and when she awoke the room was in dusk-laden shadows, and she was tired of being dutiful. She needed to find Kobayashi, anyone, and find out when she was going to go home.
She half expected the door to be locked, but it opened easily enough, and the hall was deserted. She considered calling out, then decided she didn’t want to disturb any of the brutal-looking gangsters under Ojiisan’s iron rule. Particularly if, as Reno said, they weren’t as obedient as they were supposed to be.
She couldn’t remember where Ojiisan’s throne room, as she thought of it, was, but she was bound to run into it sooner or later. She was wearing her sneakers, when she knew she shouldn’t, but somehow wandering around this place in her socks made her feel just a little too vulnerable. Which was silly—she was under the protection of Ojiisan now. No one would dare touch her.
She heard the murmur of voices, and like a fool she went in that direction, looking for someone, anyone, who could answer her questions.
She saw the flash of light first, followed by a strange, popping noise. And then a thud, followed by a short, sharp word.
She knew what that noise, that flash, was, and she should have run. Instead she was frozen, telling herself she was imagining things, telling herself no one had just been shot. It was impossible—these things didn’t happen.
But in her new, crazy, mixed-up life on the run they happened far too often. She moved quietly, cursing even the soft squeak of her sneakers, as she crept up to the open door, telling herself it would be nothing, knowing it would be nothing.
The man lay in a pool of blood on the floor, the hole in his forehead mute testimony to what had happened. She couldn’t see the shooter, and she backed away, cold with fear, her stomach churning. There was a sound from the room, from someone just out of sight, and her nerve finally left her, and she ran down the hall, not caring how much noise she made, not knowing where she was going.
She felt something brush past her, the strange popping noise from behind her, and she realized with shock that someone was shooting at her, and if she didn’t get out fast, she was going to be as dead as Reno had said she was. Who was trying to kill her? Maybe it was Reno himself, but she didn’t dare slow down, didn’t dare look behind her, afraid of who she might see.
She came to a corner and skidded around it, momentarily putting herself outside the line of fire. This hall was darker, and someone was coming toward her, and this time she knew she’d have no way of escaping. She was going to die, and Taka was going to be seriously annoyed, not to mention Summer, who would make his life miserable, and what the hell was she doing, thinking things like that when she was running for her life…?
He came out of nowhere, and she tried to fight him, blind with fear, but he simply wrapped his arms around her, imprisoning her against his body, and pulled her into darkness.
She whimpered in fear. Then she heard Reno’s voice in her ear, and it was the best sound in the world. “Be quiet, you idiot, or you’ll get us both killed.”
And at that moment Jilly Lovitz knew she was in love.
9
It was pitch-black, wherever they were, a tight, enclosed place, and Jilly was crammed up against him, his arms imprisoning her. She could feel her heart slamming against her chest as she tried to catch her breath. His heart was racing, too, which wasn’t much of a comfort.
“Where are we?” she mouthed in a trace above a whisper.
She was half expecting him to slam his hand across her mouth, but instead he answered. “Janitor’s closet,” he whispered. “I don’t think he saw us go in.”
“Who?”
“Hitomi-san. Why the hell was he trying to kill you? Not that I blame him—you’re enough to drive anyone to murder, but he must have had a reason.”
“He killed someone. Or somebody did. I walked in on it.”
“Holy motherfucker,” Reno said. “You have great timing. Did you see the man who did it?”
“I didn’t see anything,” she said irritably. “And this is a gangster hideout, for God’s sake. Don’t people kill one another all the time?”
“No.”
There was no noise from beyond the door, and now she could smell cleaning supplies. “It’s a good thing I’m not claustrophobic,” she whispered. “I could be having hysterics right now.”
“No, you couldn’t.” Even in a whisper his flat statement was chilling. “I need to get you out of here.”