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I’m not crazy about Mari going over to her family’s house right now. I miss her and worry about her as soon as she gets in her car and drives away, but Sonomi’s people will be gone by the time she arrives. Even if they aren’t, she knows the drill about what to tell them.
“Want to sing to me some more?” I ask Mari, who’s already calling me when I’m halfway to Katana’s shop. Instead of singing, though, it sounds like she’s crying, and my heart sinks.
“The house! It’s completely ransacked. My dad, Uncle Suki, and Honey! Everyone is missing!”
“Get out of there! Go back to my place. I’ll meet you there.” I’m turning the car around and heading home.
“There’s something here on the floor just inside the front door,” Mari says.
“What is it?”
“A poker chip. Someone is here! Who are You?”
I don’t hear her anymore after that. I look down at my cell. The call ended. My muscles harden involuntarily, thinking of the only person I know who carries poker chips around. Mari didn’t recognize the person she was talking to, and she knows Artyom. One of the men loyal to him has Mari now. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! That podrazhatel betrayed me!
“If you hurt her. If you hurt any of them, Arty!” I say when the call connects.
“They are safe, for now, Yosef. I have to move them again!”
“Fuck! What the fuck, Arty? It doesn’t matter where you move them. I’ll find them, and I’ll find you too. Arty! Answer me, Arty. What the fuck, Arty? Arty?” You fucking ebat!” I curse at him in Russian and punch the dashboard. “You’re going to break the record for dying slow! Arty? Are you there you fuck? Arty? Fuck!”
Think. You're a professional, Josef. Think.I could send a coded text message to soldiers in my new crew to meet me at my house, but I’m not sure where all their loyalties lie yet. Maybe Katana can help.I tap the sword icon.No answer. Fuck.I’m texting him a quick message, “HELP. MY HOUSE. QUICK”. Okay, what else?I head to my house to hopefully meet Katana and pick up some of the weapons in my shed, and try to figure out where Artyom would have taken Mari and her family. I try to call her. No answer.Fuck!
Brenda’s van is parked outside. Of course, she didn’t let me know she was here again. I get out and run to the shed to get the extra weapons. Brenda is sitting in the bondage chair. I don’t have time for this now. I’ll just get the guns and a few other things. Brenda being blindfolded, bound, and gagged gives me a little relief. I can just ignore her and leave to find Mari.
I try to call her again. All of a sudden, a sickening feeling hits me. I realize Brenda couldn’t have gagged herself and bound all four limbs like that. Not by herself. The unmistakable sound of a gun hammer being pulled back comes from behind me. While turning towards the supply closet behind me and reaching to pull the gun from my waistband a shot is fired into the ceiling. I’m too late. Fuck! I let someone get the drop on me. A big gun is pointed at my face now. I take a deep breath and take in a whiff of the strong sulfur now in the air and try to make the call one more time. The last thing I’ll hear is Mari’s voice if this is it for me. At least I’ll know she’s alright.
The thug rushes forward and uses his gun to hit my hand. The phone crashes to the floor, destroyed. I’m pissed now and start to reach for my gun again, but I’m looking down the barrel of a Forty-four Magnum. It’s a really nice gun. It’s the most powerful handgun in the world. Well, it’s still referred to as such after a movie gave it that tagline years ago. They’ve made a lot more powerful guns since then. It would still be more respectable than getting killed by a Saturday Night Special or some homemade 3D-printer gun.
I might have a chance if I move out of the way quick enough while I draw, but another man steps out of the closet with a stainless-steel Smith and Wesson nine-millimeter, another nice gun. My odds just went from slim to about zero.
“Not so fast, Blondie,” Sonomi Sagawa walks out of the supply closet with a shit-eating grin on her face. She steps in between her two thugs.
I think at any other time in my life I would have gone for it at this moment. I’d pull for my piece, and if I didn’t win, I’d be happy to go down to respectable weapons like these. But not today. I’d be dead already if that’s what the Siren wanted. As long as I stay alive, I have a chance to make sure Mari is safe.
“Sonomi Sagawa. Welcome to my home. Were you all having a party in there?” I joke as if what’s happening is a most usual occurrence. “I think we got off on the wrong foot when we met at your office. Let’s talk.”
“Well, thank you, Blondie,” the Siren says, “Yes, let’s talk. But first, you listen.”
I nod and try to remain calm but I have a weird, unfamiliar feeling. Maybe it’s because I’ve always been on the other side of this kind of situation. I have thought of what I’d do if I ended up like this, though. First, recognize any opportunity to gain the upper hand, any mistake the opponent makes. Second, if that opportunity doesn’t present itself, stall for time and watch, in this case, listen to my adversary for information that might be able to give me that upper hand—The Sweet Science.
“Good boy Blondie. After the way you looked at Marika Yumiko during your rude interruption at my office, I had a feeling about you two," she smiles and winks at me, then continues. “As soon as she ran away from my compound with my property, I thought she might come to you for help. Thank you for taking care of that little Indian bitch for me, by the way. I heard. I bet Marika doesn’t know about that.”
I resist the urge to ask if Mari is safe. I just look at Sagawa and continue to listen.
“Anyway, imagine my surprise when we found Bend Her here. That’s what she said you call her sometimes. That’s cute. She wouldn’t say anything to the boys here for a few minutes. She didn’t seem to mind being beaten, then Phil here found the track marks and gave her a fix.”
That figures.
“You’re welcome,” I say. “The Native American girl turned out to be a pain in my ass. She even tried to stab me with a stiletto heel. So I did what I had to do. You’re also welcome to join Brenda, by the way.”
“We’re getting to the other chair. Don’t worry,” Sonomi goes on. “Bend Her told us about your little problem. Don’t be embarrassed. Maybe I’ll be able to help better than she has with that when all is said and done here.”
“Help me, Josef! Where are you? ! J–sa! Where are you?” Brenda screams out. The gag has fallen to her chin. I thought I’d shaken off the helpless feeling, but it’s back, stronger than before. My stomach feels queasy, and my head is pounding as Brenda continues calling out my name. It doesn’t sound like her voice anymore. It’s a different woman’s voice calling out the name Jasha, and I recognize the feeling I haven't had since I was a kid. Helplessness.
There's a memory entering my mind the way a dream is suddenly remembered. The memory is so strong that everyone and everything around me is fading away. I’m dizzy. The smell of sulfur lingering in the air changes to a scent of sea salt. Mari’s fishing village song is starting to play in my mind. My sight is returning but what’s forming around me isn’t real. I’m on a road in Russia, looking out the back window of a van at a woman with long, blonde hair. She’s screaming, “Help Me! One of my boys is missing! Jasha! Jasha, where are you? Where are you, Jasha?”
“We have our Yosef back, Daddy. Thank you!” There’s a woman in the passenger seat of the van speaking to the driver in Russian.
