Shinobi (A Katana Novel) (13 page)

“What are you doing?” I asked.

He frowned at me. “I’m following protocol. I’ve got to call the Network and alert them to the situation.”

“And you think they’ll believe you? What if they think I’m using Sumi’s mind control on you?”

He was quiet a moment. “Good question. I guess they would want you to come to New York to prove you were Rileigh. It would probably take a couple of days at most.”

A couple of days? I shook my head and took a step back. “I can’t do that, Kim. I don’t have time.”

His forehead wrinkled in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Q thinks that we only have three days at the most before we get stuck in these bodies forever. Even if the Network believes me, the delay would cost me my body!” I glanced at the motorcycle behind me. “Maybe … maybe you could go back to the Network and explain the situation. You could convince them to stop chasing me.”

His frown deepened. “That would never work. They’d want to see for themselves that you’re Rileigh. If I went without you, they’d assume I’d been brainwashed.” His eyes followed mine to the bike. “Besides, I made a promise.”

I was sure I heard him wrong. “What are you saying?”

He snapped the walkie-talkie off of his shoulder and dropped it onto the ground. Next, he walked over to the motorcycle and picked up the two helmets lying on the seat. He tossed one at me before straddling the bike and patting the empty seat behind him. “I’m saying you better hurry. We’re burning daylight.”

I hugged the helmet against my body. “But the Network …
you do realize if they think I’ve brainwashed you, they’re going to come after you too.”

“Let them.” He turned the ignition. The bike roared like a beast, making me gasp. “Let them send an entire ninja army after me.” He extended a hand toward me, and I slipped my fingers inside his. He pulled me onto the bike behind him and revved the engine.

After we put our helmets on, he glanced at me over his shoulder. “No one is going to take you away from me again. Not the Network, and definitely not Sumi.” With that, he kicked the bike into gear with his foot, and together we shot out of the barn.

When we hit the gravel road, I tightened my arms around his waist and rested my head between his shoulder blades. In both lifetimes, Kim and I had been torn apart. He seemed to think this time things would end differently.

I only hoped he was right.

21

I
t wasn’t until the winding inclines of the mountainous
roads gave way to level interstate that I loosened my white-knuckled grip around Kim’s waist. In fact, if we weren’t in a race against time with Network agents on our tail, I might have actually enjoyed myself. Cruising along on the motorcycle brought back fond memories of riding horseback in my previous life. Sure, our current speed was ten times greater, but the thrill of the wind pulling across my face while the ground blurred beneath me was just as exhilarating.

We crossed a bridge and Kim pointed a finger at a large, white billboard welcoming us to Ohio.

I nodded my chin against his shoulder.

“We’re making really great time!” he shouted, his words barely making it to my ears before being carried away by the wind. “Maybe eight or nine hours tops. We’ll be home by nightfall.”

By nightfall? I closed my eyes and allowed myself one
glorious moment to bask in the warmth of hope that flooded through my veins. After everything I’d been through in the last twenty-four hours—everything that had gone wrong—it was almost too much to hope I’d actually caught a break.

“We have a slight problem,” Kim said, interrupting my thoughts.

And apparently I was right.
“What’s wrong?” I screamed.

He pointed to the gas gauge and the needle falling deeper into the red.

“Do you have any money?” I asked.

He shook his head.

“Son of hibachi.” I spit the words through clenched teeth. That was what I got for thinking things were finally going my way. There was no way we’d make it all the way back to St. Louis on the little gas we had. I doubted we’d make it more than another fifty miles—if that.

As we continued to fly past mile markers, I wracked my brain for a possible solution. If we ran out of gas, not only would we lose valuable time, but we’d be stuck should any cop or Network official find us. Maybe we could make up a story about Kim losing his wallet and convince someone at a gas station to give us money. It might work … or it might get the police called on us. Either way, it was our best bet for getting home.

I leaned forward to tell Kim to take the next exit with a gas station when I caught site of a familiar black truck barreling toward us in the side mirror.

It couldn’t be.
My fingers curled like claws into Kim’s shirt. He glanced over his shoulder and gave me a questioning look.

It took me several swallows before the lump inside my throat loosened enough to allow me to speak. “I think we’re being followed!”

He frowned and checked the side mirror. At that early hour, only a few tractor trailers dotted the road around us. The black truck stuck out like a thorn on an otherwise smooth stem.

Kim’s frown deepened into a scowl. He twisted the handlebar and the bike growled as we shot ahead. My head swam as I watched the scenery whirl past in dizzying waves of color. I couldn’t be sure if the pounding inside my head was from the rush of wind or my own heartbeat. “Kim!” I cried out, but his name was ripped from my throat before it ever touched his ears.

He pointed a finger at the side mirror for the briefest second before placing his hand back on the handlebar. Keeping my head pressed against his back, I slowly turned to look behind us. The wind ripped lines of tears from my eyes, but even through my blurred vision, I could see the truck closing the gap between us as we continued to accelerate.

“We can’t outrun them,” Kim shouted. “But we might be able to outmaneuver them.”

“What?” I didn’t like the sound of that.

“Hang on!” Kim swerved sharply onto an off ramp, forcing me to bury a scream into the cotton of his T-shirt. Behind us, the truck squealed its tires and struggled to cross two lanes in time to make the exit. Even then, it kicked up gravel and swerved dangerously as its back tires caught the shoulder.

When we reached the top of the ramp, Kim jerked to the right, causing the bike to tip dangerously on its side. I thought for sure we would fall until the last second, when Kim put his foot to the ground, balancing us, as we turned and sped down the country highway.

“Kim!” I screamed, curling my nails into his shirt. “Please tell me you know what you’re doing!”

He shook his head, a sly smile reflected back at me in the side mirror. “When don’t I?”

My heart beat against my ribs like a hammer. I wanted to believe him, but at the breakneck sped we were traveling, I couldn’t help but wonder if facing the men with the guns was a safer option.

We raced along the empty road. Nothing but fields and pastures passed on either side of us. Each time Kim made a turn, we would jump ahead only to have the black truck catch up within seconds.

I bit my lip as I watched the truck close the gap between us yet again. We couldn’t keep this up forever. First of all, we were running dangerously low on gas. Second, I knew the truck behind us had probably radioed for backup and it would only be a matter of time before more trucks and more men showed up. And while we might be able to outmaneuver one, I didn’t think we’d be able to escape them all.

No sooner had I thought this than a tranquiller dart
sailed over my shoulder. Kim jerked the bike to the left, nearly tossing me from my seat in the process. I tightened my hold around his waist as he sped up. What the hell were they thinking shooting darts at us when we were on a bike? If one of us was hit, odds were we wouldn’t survive the fall. I assumed their orders were to bring me back alive. But maybe because I’d escaped them so many times, they no longer cared.

Anger burned through my blood, melting away my fear. I was not going to let them kill me or anyone I cared about.

I unlocked my hands from Kim’s waist and slid my fingers under his jacket until I found the cold piece of steel protruding from his waistline.

He glanced at me before turning his attention back to the road. “What are you doing?”

I wasn’t entirely sure. I’d never used a gun, let alone a tranquilizer gun, before. I much preferred the comforting grip of a katana in my hands. But since I didn’t have a choice, I prayed my aim would find my target.

“You’ve got to let them get a little closer,” I shouted.

After a pause, Kim let off the gas and the truck closed the gap between us. The man in the passenger seat leaned out his open window and fired several more darts. Kim swerved the bike and the darts sailed close enough to my head to tug at my hair whipping from underneath my helmet. If my plan was going to work, I had to act now before I became one with the pavement.

“Brake on my signal,” I screamed in Kim’s ear.

Even though I couldn’t see him, I could hear the grin in his voice. “Say when.”

A dart speared my seat cushion, inches from my body. “Now!”

The bike’s tires squealed angrily against the pavement, kicking up smoke as well as filling my nostrils with the smell of burnt rubber.

The truck also slammed on its brakes. But it was too big a vehicle to stop so suddenly, and it swerved dangerously from side to side as it tried to stop. When the front of it skidded past our bike, I aimed the gun and fired.

The first dart sank into the metal door. But the second met its target. The tire exploded with a bang that rang inside my ears several seconds after it was over. The deflated rubber spun around the rim several times before it tore free and landed on the road in shredded black strips. The truck careened off the shoulder and into the ditch. The sound of shrieking metal pierced my ears as the truck rolled onto its side, where it remained crushed and smoking.

“We did it!” I wrapped my arms around Kim’s chest and squeezed.

He nodded. “Yes. But that was only one truck out of the many probably headed this way.” He twisted the handlebar, revving the engine before peeling out. We lurched down the country road. “Now they know we’re headed home,” he shouted over his shoulder. “We’re going to have to travel side roads to keep them off our trail.”

My stomach sank. Traveling the side roads would take us longer to get home—and we didn’t have much time to spare. Not to mention, what would happen when Sumi got news I escaped and was heading her way?

We drove on, and the farmland gradually gave way to woods. I rested my head against Kim’s back, trying to fight away the exhaustion that pulled at me with velvet fingers. At least I had Kim with me, believing in me.

Kim, as if sensing how overwhelmed I felt, let go of a handlebar long enough to squeeze my arm reassuringly. That was my samurai—always so confident and determined. Once upon a time I’d been confident as well. But that was before I died. Now I knew how fragile life really was, and how easy it was to lose everything you loved.

No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than we rounded a sharp corner to discover a man and his dog walking in the middle of the road.

I screamed, but it was too late.

The brakes squealed as Kim wrestled with the bike for control. He turned the wheel sharply, avoiding the man by inches. We skidded onto the shoulder. I tried clinging to Kim’s arms, but it was useless. Once the bike met with loose gravel, it slid out from beneath us, sending us airborn.

I wasn’t sure what part of me hit the ground first. One minute I was flying through the air, the next there was an explosion of pain, followed by nothingness as the world around me went dark.

22

A
cool, leathery hand touched my face and my eyes shot open.

I gasped. “Get back!” I scrambled backward, convinced a Network agent had been moments from choking the life out of me. Instead, I found myself staring at Sumi’s wide eyes reflected back at me in the old man’s black glasses.

“Easy there.” He lifted his hands. “I’m sorry for frightening you. But your crash sounded pretty bad, and I wanted to make sure you weren’t dead.”

“Dead?” I pulled off my helmet and felt along my torn clothing. I winced every time I brushed a cut or scrape. Luckily, none of the gashes appeared too serious. And while every bone in my body throbbed with a gnawing ache, nothing inside me screamed it was broken.

After my self-examination, my head snapped up in realization. “Kim!” I climbed to my feet on wobbling legs. I spun a quick circle as the old man stood beside me. The sideways motorcycle sat several yards away, but Kim was nowhere to be seen.

Panic ripped through my chest, and I fought to breathe.

“Kim?” The man dropped the tip of his cane against the ground. “There was somebody else on the motorcycle with you?”

“Yes! Didn’t you see him?” I whirled around, and that’s when I realized the dark glasses, white cane—
duh, Rileigh
. The man couldn’t see
anything
. “Never mind,” I added before he could answer. “Kim is my boyfriend. He was driving the motorcycle and now he’s … ” My voice cracked as I scanned through the woods. “I don’t know.”

“I bet Rosie does,” the man answered.

Fear pulled tight across my chest like the laces of a corset. “Who’s Rosie?”

“Rosie!” The man patted his thigh.

A second later, a large golden retriever lumbered out of the woods. She met my gaze with a whine, bobbing impatiently on her feet before turning and disappearing back into the brush.

“If you follow Rosie, I bet you’ll find your friend.”

I didn’t have to be told twice. Despite the burn of my screaming muscles, I sprinted into the brush after Rosie. I only had to tear through two thorn bushes before I found her on the other side of a fallen log. She stood over Kim’s unmoving body with a look of concern I’m sure mirrored my own.

“Oh, my God.” I clapped my hand over my mouth to stifle a scream and fell to my knees at his side. His helmet was still on—a good sign. But there was a trail of blood twisting along his neck to the ground below.

I lifted a trembling hand to touch him, but it only hovered above his chest. I was too frightened to discover the truth. “Please, please, please,” I muttered. I couldn’t lose him—not again.

“Now don’t you worry, young lady.”

I looked up, startled to find the man standing beside me. I briefly wondered how he’d managed to maneuver through the woods with only his cane to guide him.

He kneeled beside me. “He’s not dead. Probably just a concussion.”

I glanced back down at Kim’s unmoving body. “How could you possibly know that?”

The man shrugged. “I can hear him breathe. And the sound of a person’s breathing can tell you an awful lot about what condition they’re in.”

Reluctantly, I tore my gaze away from Kim.
Who was this guy?
“Are you a doctor or something?”

He chuckled softly. “Definitely an
or something.
” He
grabbed Kim’s arm and slung it around his shoulder.

“Wait.” I stood and hugged my arms across my body. “What are you doing with him?”

The man shook his head. “We can’t just leave him in the woods. Help me take him back to my place—it’s not far from here.”

I chewed on my lip as I considered my options. Kim was hurt, and the man was right. I couldn’t let him sit in the woods, especially with the Network hot on our trail. But the other part of me couldn’t help but be suspicious of the blind man
—m
aybe because my run-in with the moonshine woman was still in the front of my mind, or maybe because there was really something to be suspicious of. What was he doing in the middle of the road, anyway? On the other hand, I had to get Kim someplace safe and hidden until he recovered. Time was ticking away, Q was counting on me, and I couldn’t afford to be caught in the woods again.

I had no choice but to go with the blind man.

I slipped underneath Kim’s dangling arm and hoisted it over my shoulders. “Lead the way,” I said, though I immediately cringed when I realized how my words might sound to a blind man. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

The man’s chuckle interrupted my words. “The world cannot be seen through something as simple as eyes, young lady.” With one hand gripping Kim’s arm and the other guiding his cane in front of him, he moved through the brush. “A person’s true self isn’t something that can be seen, but rather how the world around them is affected by their presence. So despite this”—he lifted his cane—“I can see just fine, thank you.” He smiled and continued on.

I stared at him a moment before concentrating on the path ahead of me. He sure was philosophical for a random stranger out for a walk. He kind of reminded me of … I shook my head, dismissing the thought. No. It was simply a weird coincidence.

The old man was right about one thing, though. He really didn’t need to see. He carefully guided us around thorn bushes and trees until we emerged at the road with his golden retriever happily bouncing along behind us.

Still, the thought nagged at me as we walked along the side of the road. I swallowed before asking, “What you said about a person’s true self—did you just make that up? Or did you hear it somewhere?”

He smiled and shrugged, not appearing burdened at all by Kim’s weight. My own muscles, however, burned with strain. “Oh, I suppose I read it in a book somewhere. I’m always reading this or that.”

“Right.” I tried to shrug back my disappointment. The man’s explanation made perfect sense. It was my own wishful thinking that Lord Toyotomi would be here, the one man who always knew how to fix any situation. Still, as we continued to travel along the road, I couldn’t help but sneak glances at the blind man, hoping to spot any similarities between him and my long-lost daiymo.

As if reading my mind, the man smiled. I quickly turned my attention back to the road. The hair on the back of my neck prickled for no reason that I could determine.

“See the clearing up ahead?” he asked, the smile still on his face. “We’re going to follow that to my house. Once we get there, we can call an ambulance for your friend.”

“Ambulance?” I jerked back, my throat suddenly dry. “That won’t be necessary.”

“Of course it is.” The man’s smile faded and his brows furrowed. “After a nasty accident like that—you should both be looked over.”

I shook my head before realizing he couldn’t see it. “No. That’s okay—really.” My mind raced in search of a believable explanation. “We don’t, um, believe in modern medicine. Going to a hospital would be going against, uh … .our religious beliefs.”

The man’s frown deepened. “Religious beliefs, huh?”

The golden retriever glanced at me from over her shoulder. Even she appeared to roll her eyes at my pathetic excuse.

As soon as we reached the edge of a gravel driveway, the man stopped short, forcing me to do the same. He didn’t look at me as he spoke. “Before we go any farther, I need you to be honest with me about something. Do you think you can do that?”

A solid lump rose inside my throat, and I struggled to swallow around it. Could I? I didn’t know anything about this man, and he didn’t know anything about me. What would prevent him from calling the cops if he learned I was a fugitive on the run? But at the same time, a niggling in the back of my head told me I could trust him. He had helped us this far, and I certainly couldn’t help Kim on my own. “Okay.”

He nodded. “Are you and your boyfriend in some sort of trouble?”

I sucked on my bottom lip before answering. That was definitely a loaded question. And if I told the truth, would that be enough to turn us away? But at the same time, didn’t I at least owe him the courtesy of finding out?

“Yes. We’re in a lot of trouble, actually.” I held my breath and waited for him to tell me to get off his property.

Except he didn’t. He inclined his head to the little white house at the end of the drive. “Let’s get him inside and set up on the couch. I’d prefer he go to the hospital, but since you can’t, I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you.” My words, so heavy with relief, were barely a whisper.

Together we hoisted Kim’s body down the driveway with Rosie bounding ahead. Once we reached the house, the man opened the front door and we carried Kim inside.

His house wasn’t anything like I’d expected—though I’d never been inside a blind man’s house so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The shades were open, filling the tiny living room with an abundance of light. On each windowsill sat at least five different potted plants and herbs. Some I could recognize easily as aloe or basil, while others, with yellow flowers and striped leaves, I’d never seen before.

And despite the fact the man was blind, there had been some attempt at decoration at one point. Sun-aged yellow doilies sat on top of a coffee table littered with condensation rings from a lifetime of no coaster use. Dust-coated pictures of the blind man in various stages of his life hung on a far wall. In one, he wore a graduation gown, and in another, he proudly held a largemouth bass in his hands. And in every picture of him from his twenties and beyond, a smiling woman stood by his side with her hand lightly on his arm.

Through the smell of herbs and dust, the scent of something sharp and tangy hung in the air—like overly steeped tea.

Together, we lowered Kim onto the faded floral coach. His head rolled lazily on his neck and a groan escaped his lips. I held his hand tightly within my own. Had I made the right decision not calling for an ambulance? What if Kim’s injury was more serious than a concussion? If he had internal bleeding …

But no, I wouldn’t allow myself to dwell on the worst-case scenario. He was going to be fine. He had to be.

“Take that blanket over there.” The man motioned to a blanket draped across a cracked leather recliner. In front of it, an old tube television quietly played the news. “Get him wrapped tight and meet me in the kitchen. He’ll need some ice for his head and steeped cinnamon to combat the nausea he’s going to feel when he wakes.”

I nodded and the man retreated into the kitchen.

Rosie stayed by Kim’s side, watching him with anxious eyes as I grabbed the blanket and tucked it around his body. When I finished, his eyes cracked open before flying wide. “Sumi!”

“No, Kim.” I took a step back and glanced over my shoulder, hoping the blind man wouldn’t hear. “I’m Rileigh. Remember?”

He blinked several times before his body relaxed. “Rileigh, yes.” He started to sink against the pillow before jerking upright. “We were in an accident. Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. And you will be too.” I sat beside him and smoothed his hair off of his face. He hissed softly when my fingers ran over the goose-egg-sized lump on his head. I quickly pulled my hand away. “Sorry.”

But Kim snatched my hand and drew it to his face, planting a kiss against my wrist that sent shivers along my back. “If your touch condemned me to a lifetime of pain, I would gladly accept my fate.”

“It’s good to see you two back together again.”

Kim and I turned to find the man standing in the doorway with a steaming mug in one hand and a plastic bag of ice in the other.

“What?” I asked.

The old man chuckled. “I guess that came out wrong. What I meant to say was, it’s good to see your boyfriend awake so you can be … back together.”

“Oh.” I gave Kim an uncertain glance, and he shrugged in response.

The man waved dismissively. “Anyway, now that you’re awake, we can be properly introduced. My name is Gene.” He shuffled forward and handed Kim the mug and bag of ice. “Put the bag on your head to reduce the swelling. And take small sips of the tea to help with any nausea.”

Kim placed the bag of ice on his head and sipped the tea as instructed. “Thank you for your kindness, Gene. My name is Kim, and this is Rileigh.” He said my name without hesitation, which only made me love him more. “We are in your debt.”

Gene waved his words away. “Life is mysterious in that it always delivers us where we need to be—even if that place is where we least expect.”

“Very
mysterious
,” I agreed. Kim shot me a questioning look, but before I could say more, the nearby television stole the words from my mouth. The local midday news cut to a picture of Sumi’s face—or rather, my current face—with the title caption
Criminal at Large
scrolling across the screen.

My teeth snapped together with an audible click. Kim followed my eyes, his lips parting when he saw the screen.

“Breaking news,” the reporter announced as Sumi’s face disappeared. The camera cut to a woman wearing a blue blazer sitting behind a news desk. “Seventeen-year-old Sumi Meadows is wanted for questioning in the murder of her adoptive parents, Alice and Christopher Meadows. The middle-aged couple was found brutality murdered in their beds. The teen disappeared from her home in Waterloo, Illinois, and is believed to be in the Ohio area. If you see her, you are urged to call police. Do not approach, as she is considered to be armed and dangerous.”

The urge to vomit was overpowering. I took the cinnamon tea from Kim and swallowed a large gulp.

Gene tsked and shook his head. “So sad how some can be lead astray at such a young age.”

I placed the mug back into Kim’s hands before my shaking fingers could spill the contents on his lap. It was nothing short of a miracle that we had found ourselves in the home of a man who couldn’t see—especially when my face was broadcasted on his television.

I ran my fingers through my hair, realizing just how complicated our situation had become. Not only did I have the Network hunting me down, but I also had the police and general public to worry about. There was no telling how many people saw the news broadcast, or how far across the country the coverage ran.