Homecoming - Chapter Thirteen

He was going to wring her pretty neck.

“She never listens,” Ryo growled a few hours later, as the sun was already high on the horizon.

Mick slapped him on the back with a smirk. “Good to know some things never change, huh?”

Ryo glared back down at the note in his hands.

I DON’T WANT YOU TO RELIVE BAD MEMORIES. SORRY I DRAGGED YOU INTO MY MESS.
K

He’d rushed back home immediately after getting the call from Saeko that Kaori informed her where Kuroda was supposedly keeping Noemi. Kaori—naturally—was already gone. Leaving him only a note.

A fucking note.

Still more than he’d gotten the last time she’d disappeared.

Ryo crumpled the piece of paper in his fist. “She’s going to get herself killed.” From what their resident IT wiz, Toshi, had gleaned, Kuroda had a small army at his disposal. Just what the hell was the bastard hiding? “And if not, I’ll kill her myself.”

Mick chuckled. “Yup, some things definitely never change.”

“How did she find him?” Umibozu muttered. “Even Toshi doesn’t know yet. There are loads of properties to sift through.”

As Ryo was rolling his eyes—like he cared how Kaori found the bastard—his gaze fell on the laptop on his desk tucked in the corner of the spacious living room. The computer was in its usual spot, but not aligned with the edge of the desk. It had been moved. “What the—”

Mick blinked. “Huh?”

Ryo strode to his desk and lifted the laptop lid to wake the computer up. A few keystrokes—Toshi had trained him well—was all it took to display recent activity, and he cursed. Long and eloquently.

Mick, peeking over his shoulder at the computer screen, whistled appreciatively. “Toshi’s an amateur.”

Umibozu, peering over his other shoulder, asked the obvious question. “What does she do for a living exactly?”

Wasn’t that the question of the century?

Because on his laptop there were neatly stacked little screens. Utility companies, security firms, municipality records, Kuroda’s resident record, family registry, bank statements…and medical records.

Those definitely weren’t readily available, attainable, or easily accessible.

Mick leaned in closer and whistled again. “She actually hacked the bastard. And to think Toshi keeps asking for a raise. He’s still trying to find the asshole. Hey!” He straightened with a grin. “If you get her to stay, she could come work for us. I bet you could convince her to take a pay cut.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

Ryo ignored him, his eyes riveted on the medical records. “Kidney failure. Three operations so far, three organ rejections. He’s still on a transplant waiting list.”

Umibozu grunted. “Looks like he decided to skip the line.”

“And minimize the possibility of rejection by using a close relative,” Mick added. “Fucker plans on using his own daughter for spare parts.”

“Not on my watch,” Ryo snarled.

“Not on mine either,” Umibozu muttered.

“Ooh, it’s like the old times.” Mick rubbed his hands together. “What are we waiting for? Let’s roll.”

X Y Z

Kaori checked her watch and rolled her eyes. Where the heck was Saeko? Or her cronies; the woman was pregnant after all. So much for the cavalry.

“If you want something done, do it yourself,” she muttered, jumped, grabbed the lowest branch of the tree conveniently growing close to Kuroda’s compound wall, and pulled herself up.

She couldn’t believe the guy. For all the security and thugs guarding him and his properties, he let the tree grow close to the wall. What an idiot. Shows money can’t buy brains.

She lightly dropped onto the soft grass on the other side of the wall, scanning her surroundings.

Not only Kuroda, but also his security team were apparently idiots as well. Who doesn’t patrol the grounds behind the house close to where the effing tree grows?

She could imagine what choice words Ryo would have for this situation—Kaori quickly shook her head. Enough of that. This was no time to be thinking about Ryo and his rather extensive vocabulary. She was here to save her daughter. Sure, it would’ve been nice having Ryo around. And Mick and Umibozu do all the heavy lifting. But she’d be damned if she dragged them into her mess. Because it was her mess, and she’d clean up after herself. She wouldn’t be dragging Ryo back into darkness. She knew what havoc flashbacks could wreak.

She couldn’t do that to him.

She just hoped Saeko didn’t get the brilliant idea of calling him and telling him of her plans. Because if the woman had called him to charge to the rescue, Kaori was ready, willing, and able to tell the pregnant idiot to go straight to hell.

“Enough thinking about him already,” she admonished herself. She’d thought about him, about his words too much last night, anyway. Shaking her head, she ran toward the large panoramic terrace entrance straight in front of her.

Too easy.

Her friend Nikki’s mantra popped up in her head. If it’s too easy, something’s wrong.

Nikki knew what she was talking about. A former FBI agent who, along with her common-law husband, a former NSA operative, ran one of the best P.I. agencies on the East Coast. The two had taught her a lot: from hand-to-hand, close-quarter combat techniques, shooting, hacking…Everything she’d never even dreamed of knowing while she’d been working with Ryo.

And there she went, thinking about him again. And his voice was suddenly in her head with a complete opposite of Nikki’s mantra.

If it’s too easy, it means you’re dealing with idiots.