“We could do that,” the spokesman said, raising his gun.
“Matsumoto-san!” Hitomi’s voice was sharp as he appeared in the doorway. “What is taking you so long?”
“He’s being difficult, trying to save the life of the girl by offering his own.” The tone of his voice expressed his opinion of such idiotic behavior.
Hitomi looked at Reno, shaking his head. “You’ve spent too much time among gaijins, Hiromasa-san. You’re forgetting that for each one lost, there are a dozen to take their place.”
“If you want to kill her, you have to go through me first.”
“So romantic,” Hitomi said with a sigh. “It must be the tainted blood of your American mother. We can work out a compromise. Your grandfather has a small group guarding him, and we can’t break in. I’ve already lost seven men trying. I had planned to drop the body of the girl in front of the door with the assurance that you and his great-nephew would be the next, but I am flexible. You can take the girl and get him to open the door.”
“And then what?”
“And then we discuss the future with your esteemed grandfather. His ways are old-fashioned and impractical. It’s a new world, and he’s keeping his men from earning the kind of money they deserve. It’s time for him to step down and a new order to take his place.”
“And you will run that new order,” Reno said. “I don’t think my grandfather will agree.”
“I don’t think your grandfather will have any choice, once he fully understands the situation. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Hiromasa-san. It’s up to you. This way you might have a choice of saving your gaijin girlfriend. Otherwise you’ll both be dead.”
“I thought you were waiting to get your hands on Taka,” Reno said.
Hitomi’s smile was chilling. “We have him, Hiromasa-san. My men found him outside the compound. He hasn’t been talking, but he’s not going to be able to come to your rescue. You’re on your own.”
Reno’s body didn’t move, but she could feel the momenta
ry shiver that hit him. Was it defeat, despair? Disbelief?
“Then it would appear we have no choice. I’ll get grandfather to open the door for you, if you let the girl go.”
“Not until we are able to talk to your grandfather.”
“And what makes you think I believe that you’ll let her go?”
“We are all honorable men, are we not?” Hitomi said with an expansive gesture. “We do not kill for pleasure, but rather for the greater good. If we do not need the gaijin’s death, then she will go free.”
And if Reno believed that, he was more gullible than he appeared to be.
“Yes,” he said. “But let me explain the situation to her in private. You know she can be impulsive. I want to make sure she behaves herself. I wouldn’t want her shot accidentally.”
“Nor would I,” Hitomi said with a small bow.
Reno bowed back, and Jilly wanted to scream. They were talking about murder and betrayal and they were fucking bowing to each other?
“I’ll give you five minutes,” Hitomi-san said. “If it takes any longer, we’ll shoot her, anyway.”
The men left, leaving the door unlocked, and Reno turned to her, grabbing her arms and speaking in low, hurried English. “We’re in trouble. They’ve got Taka, and they want me to get my grandfather to open the door so they can talk to him. They claim you’re worthless to them, but even so, when I give the signal I need you to fall to the ground, roll into the nearest corner you can and pray.”
“You want me to what?”
“You heard me. I tried to get them to take you as bait,” he said, trying for his lazy smirk. “I thought they could rough you up and drop you outside his door and then Ojiisan would have to negotiate, but they insisted on taking me instead.”
She looked at him for a long, endless moment. “Reno-chan,” she said gently in Japanese, “I understood almost every word you were saying.”
He’d been cool, almost off-hand, but now he looked shattered. “Your Japanese isn’t that good.”
“It’s good enough to know you offered to die for me. Why?”
“Don’t complicate my life further, Ji-chan. It’s family honor. They say they’ve got Taka, and my grandfather’s life is at stake….”