The Ghost in the Doll (Fox Meridian Book 6) (24 page)

Yuriko glanced at Fox, who shrugged. ‘Very well,’ Yuriko said. ‘I will attend my brother.’

The man led them to one of the elevators at the back of the more traditional part of the building, and then they went up. The contrast when the doors opened was almost alarming. Up here, Taro’s personal apartment was ultra-modern, not at all traditional. A sumptuous penthouse suite in a New York hotel, complete with a minibar off to one side, lots of chrome and dark leather, and a sunken lounge area where Taro had arranged himself.

He was sprawled languidly on one of the broad sofas, legs splayed. His Ghost Doll was propped on one elbow to his left while the blonde had been replaced with a redhead in a fetish schoolgirl outfit on his right. As Fox and Yuriko walked in, Taro cracked open a plastic vial of something which he waved under the redhead’s nose. She giggled and cooed, and then her eyes rolled back in her head and she was writhing in apparent bliss.

Fox flicked her gaze around the room, checking the positions of the four bodyguards, all in pristine black suits which did not do an excellent job of hiding the pistols they were all carrying under their armpits. Taro was not armed, but then he did not need to be.

‘Brother,’ Yuriko said, bowing to him.

Taro chose to speak Japanese, presumably a combination of calculated insult and defiance, given that he had no doubt heard what had happened earlier. ‘Are you going to introduce me to your… colleague?’

‘Of course,’ Yuriko continued in English. ‘Taro Fukui, this is Tara Meridian, head of Palladium Security Solutions’ investigations division, my most esteemed superior.’

Fox bowed her head: Taro was not going to return the gesture anyway. ‘It’s a… pleasure to make your acquaintance, Fukui-san.’

Taro was determined to make his point, apparently. ‘I have no doubt,’ he said in Japanese. ‘Please, take a seat. I was surprised when you accepted my invitation, sister.’

‘I did say I would come if you asked nicely. Or did your thugs not pass on the message?’

‘To walk openly into a place full of my people is not tactically sound. Perhaps your employer needs to further your education.’

‘This was pretty much my idea,’ Fox said, sitting down on the sofa opposite Taro and crossing her legs. ‘I wanted to meet you. I think it’s important to know about a colleague’s background, where she came from, her life influences so to speak.’

‘And now that you sit in my home, surrounded by my most trusted guards, do you still think it was a good idea?’

Fox smiled. ‘Cards on the table then. If you order them to do something violent, people will get injured, and that’s something I don’t want. One of those injured will be you, because I can snap your neck before they have a chance to stop me.
You
don’t want that. So let’s just talk and skip the veiled threats.’

‘You really believe you can–’

‘After what Grant did to me, I had to have
a lot
of cybernetic work done. I can get you, and quite possibly all of them, but I’d likely lose Yuriko.’

‘It would be an honourable death,’ Yuriko said, straightening her back.

Taro gave a grunt and glanced at his redheaded companion. Fox guessed he was judging how long it would be before she came out of her stupor. The drug had probably been ‘Party Juice,’ a mephedrone derivative popular at sex parties. He looked around at one of the guards. ‘You, take this one to a room and watch her. If I’m not there before she comes around, she’s yours.’ He turned back to Yuriko and Fox. ‘Your dress sense has changed, sister.’

‘We wished to fit in. I have heard stories of your parties.’ Yuriko glanced at the bodyguard who was hauling the redhead to her feet. ‘Apparently, none of them were exaggerated. I should thank you, however, for the opportunity to see a few faces I have not seen since Father’s funeral. It has been an interesting evening.’

‘I am glad you enjoyed it. Why are you sniffing around Aphrodite Cybernetics? You know it is one of our businesses.’

Yuriko looked to Fox and she nodded, taking up the conversation. ‘Okay… Out of nowhere, Aphrodite Cybernetics became the first company in the world to market a functional bioroid. One of MarTech’s companies, BioTek Microtechnologies, is heavily involved with that technology and there were suspicions of industrial espionage. Aphrodite employs an ex-BioTek scientist, Arvid Hummel, which obviously made us more suspicious.’

‘How did you find out about Hummel?’ Taro asked, his eyes narrowing.

‘Hummel worked on a number of projects, including a regenerative nanodrug which Reginald Grant obtained from the Fukui-kai… Uh, we’re not going to have to dance around that, are we? No, good. The initial line of investigation was into that drug. Yuriko managed to track Hummel to Aphrodite while hunting down the source of the drug, and then Aphrodite announced the Ghost Dolls.’

‘And what, if I may ask, have your investigations uncovered?’

Fox looked across at the still, white woman lying beside Taro. ‘Well, I’m absolutely sure that Hummel didn’t provide bioroid research data to Aphrodite so that they could produce the Ghost Dolls.’

‘Then your investigation is concluded and your visit to Awara is simply a trip to the spa.’

Fox smiled. ‘There are a couple of loose ends to tie up, but I don’t see this taking much longer.’

Taro’s lips tightened. ‘I understand. You are obligated’ – and he emphasised the word a little too much – ‘to do a thorough investigation. We all have our obligations.’

Fox felt Yuriko tense beside her. ‘We both know what obligation you’re talking about, and I think any debt Yuriko may have owed for your help in finding me was wiped out when you sent Kurowashi to kill me.’

Taro’s teeth gritted and he pushed upright, switching to English when he spoke. ‘You are gaijin. You know nothing of honour, of giri.’

‘I know what it isn’t.’ Fox got to her feet. ‘I think, since we’ve gone back to the insults and threats, we should leave.’ She bowed her head again. ‘Perhaps, Fukui-san, if you hurry, your guard will not have started on that redhead.’

Yuriko got up and bowed. ‘Brother. I am sure we will meet again soon.’

‘I would hope there will be no need,’ Taro replied. Then he turned his head away dismissively.

Fox waited until they were in the elevator and going down before she said, ‘Are you sure one of you two isn’t adopted?’

‘I wish I could say that were true, Fox-san. It would, perhaps, set my mind at ease. Do you think he believed what you said about the investigation?’

‘I think…’ Fox sighed. ‘What do you think?’

‘I think that you told him the truth, but Taro is so used to lies that he will find it hard to accept that.’

‘Yeah. So we’d better wrap this up sooner rather than later. We’ll head back to Tokyo in the morning and tonight… Tonight I’ll keep watch.’

20
^th
April.

‘Yuriko-san.’

Yuriko had just belted her yukata around her waist in preparation for bed and she turned when Fox said her name. Her eyes widened. Fox was executing a
very
formal bow for no reason Yuriko could imagine. ‘Fox-san, what–’

‘I must apologise,’ Fox said. ‘I put your life in danger tonight… to make a point.’

‘I… Please, Fox-san, stop that.’

Fox straightened her back, but she was still frowning. ‘No, we shouldn’t have been there. It was… unnecessary. We learned little. I have no idea what I was thinking. I don’t know whether Taro would risk coming at you openly, but I’m sure he’ll think of some way of getting back at you.’

‘That was only a matter of time. I would have “bumped horns” with the Fukui-kai eventually. They have their fingers in everything. What matters to me is that my superior is here to back me up. That she knows of my brother’s attempts to compromise me and still trusts me.’

‘I trust you because you came clean on what he was trying to do, but you didn’t try to hide behind it and shirk your responsibilities to Palladium. You
could
have used it as an excuse to stay away from investigations involving the yakuza.’

Yuriko grinned. ‘I would likely have had little work. I think I would have had to request a transfer to another country, which would have defeated the object of hiring me.’

‘Maybe, but that doesn’t give me the right to… to act like someone in a bad spy movie. Seriously, walking into the enemy’s stronghold for a face-to-face chat full of passive-aggressive banter? I think I’m losing it. Next I’ll be ordering martinis. I can’t
stand
the stuff.’

‘I sort of enjoyed it.’ Bending, Yuriko picked up her dress. ‘I may even keep the dress pattern, though I cannot imagine when I will use it again. It is not me, which is sometimes a good thing.’

Fox shook her head and went to the safe to get her pistol. ‘Well… I’d still like you to accept my apology. And we’ll come up with something to keep Taro off your back.’

‘If it will make you feel better, I will accept your unnecessary apology, Fox-san.’

‘Thank you. I’ll invite you over to the US again sometime so you can wear your dress without people looking at your tattoos funny.’

‘That would be most agreeable. Helen-san mentioned a night club, uh, Sheela Na Gig? She said it was an interesting experience.’

Fox laughed. ‘Yeah… Well… Not a place I’d have taken you before tonight, but if you’ve survived your brother’s party without psychological damage, maybe Sheela Na Gig
is
something you could handle.’

Yuriko settled down on her bed with a frown. ‘Suddenly I am not so sure…’

Niflhel.

Vali smiled as Kit walked into his little farmhouse in her tunic dress. ‘It must be my lucky month,’ he said. ‘
Two
unexpected visits from my favourite infomorph.’ Kit returned the smile, but there was an odd hesitancy about it. ‘Is something wrong?’

‘No. And also yes. I need help which I am reluctant to ask for.’

‘That sounds complicated. Perhaps you should explain the circumstances.’ He passed across a cup of mead which Kit took gratefully and then gulped from.

‘One of Fox’s subordinates, Yuriko Fukui, is the sister of–’

‘I’m aware of Miss Fukui’s family situation.’

‘Good, then I don’t have to go over it. The case she is working on with Fox has put her in a difficult position. Fox thinks she may have made matters worse, and I think Fox may be right. It is possible that Taro Fukui may attempt some form of retribution. Fox is worried about it. I said I would look for information we might use to take control of the situation.’

‘I see.’ Vali paused, looking down at his cup.

‘Yuriko believes that Taro was responsible for her father’s death. If we could find evidence of that, it would not only provide closure for her but also give considerable leverage against Taro.’

‘It would…’ He knew what she wanted, and he knew why it made her uncomfortable. ‘Perhaps I can provide… a sounding board for your strategy.’

‘I have begun checking whatever evidence I can find on the case. Yuriko obtained all the police files.’

‘I believe that that is a very good place to start. I have some sources of information in Japan. I could look into the matter, perhaps. If I were to discover anything useful, I could pass it to you.’

Kit forced a smile onto her face. ‘If you could, I would be very grateful…’

Vali smiled back. ‘Ah no. No rewards for this. It feels too mercenary.’

‘But…’ Kit’s smile got less forced and more plaintive. ‘I
like
giving you rewards.’

‘Perhaps, if we jointly find sufficient evidence to be useful, we could celebrate a successful investigation together.’

‘I think that would be a very amicable solution.’

‘Good.’ Vali raised his cup. ‘To a successful investigation then.’

Kit clinked her cup against his and grinned. ‘And all that follows after.’

Chiba Industrial Zone.

‘That’s the last one,’ Yuriko said. She watched the pod she had just tossed out of the back of the vertol as it fell.

‘Good,’ Fox called out. ‘So get your ass back in here before you find out whether that safety harness works or not.’

Yuriko moved back into the cabin as the rear ramp lifted. ‘They don’t always work?’ she asked.

‘Oh… I’m sure you’d have been fine. Honest. Would I lie to you?’

‘I think,’ Yuriko said slowly, ‘that you are teasing me again.’

Fox grinned and turned to look at the server unit she was standing beside. ‘Pythia, do we have feeds from all the pods?’

‘All seven pods are transmitting, Miss Meridian,’ Pythia said. ‘Sensor feeds are good. They are at their designated stations and holding.’

‘Great. I’ll come up and take over the controls and we’ll head back to base.’

‘Do you really think this will work?’ Yuriko asked as she settled into the co-pilot’s seat beside Fox.

‘They have to be moving these women in from somewhere. So we monitor traffic through the area, identify transports going into the factory, and then we
should
be able to get evidence that they’re trafficking people. That should be enough to get the police involved.’

‘They would be hard-pressed to ignore it, even if the Fukui-kai is attempting to keep them out of Aphrodite.’

‘Uh-huh. My guess is that they’re bringing them into Ichihara. The docks there are perfect.’

‘Agreed. There is heavy yakuza influence in the area and it supplies much of the industrial zone. They would probably need to move them at night.’

‘Yeah. Let’s just hope we can spot what we’re looking for. You’re going to be busy, Pythia. If you spot anything suspicious on those feeds, I want you to let us know. One of us will be available at all times.’

‘I will not fail you, Miss Meridian,’ Pythia announced from the console.

‘That’s my forensic analysis infomorph.’

‘Technically, I am Miss Fukui’s forensic analysis infomorph, Miss Meridian.’

Fox grinned. ‘Turn of phrase. Yuriko, is there anywhere in the vicinity of Aphrodite we could set this thing down in at night? It might be useful to be able to overfly the area at short notice if Pythia does spot something.’