The Manga Girl (30 page)

Chapter Forty-Four

     
They had left themselves no options now. Regardless of the consequences, they had to get out, and fast. Nick reached down with his tied hands and with some difficulty managed to get Satoru’s key chain off his belt. The old sadist groaned and tried to move his head, but Nick had given him one almighty blow and blood was pooling rapidly around him. Nick finally found the right key and unlocked Lucy’s cuffs. He started towards the staircase, but he stopped when he realized that she wasn’t following.

     
“Lucy, come on. We’ve got to go!”

     
He still had no clue as to her mental condition and it suddenly occurred to him that getting out might not be that simple. They were both naked and exhausted, Nick was still dragging the lead weight from his bound wrists, and Kono could well be waiting for them upstairs.

     
Ignoring Nick’s pleas, Lucy squatted over the prostrate Japanese pervert, and with some effort, rolled him over onto his back. His eyes flickered but he was still out of it. Lucy’s fingers worked his belt buckle and then pulled his pants and underwear down to his ankles.

     
“We don’t have time for this!” Nick implored her.

     
With a look of pure venom on her face, Lucy went over to Satoru’s cabinet and came back with a large purple dildo covered with hard rubber lumps. Nick resigned himself as she knelt between the old man’s legs and worked the dildo up under his balls. With a grunt, Lucy pushed with all her might as the phallus slid inside him. Satoru let out a feeble howl but was too groggy to resist as Lucy then handcuffed his wrist to the hanging frame. She looked into his unfocused eyes, and spat once more into his face before following Nick up the staircase.

     
With the heavy weight in his hands, Nick peered cautiously out of the trapdoor. At this early hour, the cabin was as yet deserted. Trying to keep as quiet as possible, they tiptoed towards the back door. Naked or not, they would have to try to make for the cover of the woods before anyone discovered what had happened.

     
When they were halfway across the room, Yuriko emerged from the kitchen, dressed in her sexy pseudo-maid’s uniform. They stopped and she looked at them with wide-eyed surprise.

     
“Is Johnny Ho still here?” Nick whispered.

     
For a moment, he thought she might scream for help, but then she shook her head.

     
“Kono?” he asked.

     
Yuriko pointed up towards the loft, put her finger to her lips, and gestured for them to wait. Then, in the blink of an eye, she kicked off her shoes and skipped silently up the stairs. Nick hesitated and looked at the back door, beyond which freedom beckoned. Lucy stood beside him looking totally disoriented.

     
Fuck this!
Nick thought.
Every second is crucial. Kono could wake at any moment.
       

     
He took Lucy by the wrist and had just opened the back door when Yuriko reappeared at the balcony holding a pile of clothes and a plastic bag. Nick pulled Lucy outside and a moment later, Yuriko joined them on the deck. She had quickly changed into a pair of shorts, a sleeveless shirt and running shoes. She took Nick’s wood carving knife out of the bag and cut through the rope around his wrists.

     
“Come on,” Nick said, dropping the lead weight, and they made a dash across the open ground towards the tree line. When they were some way into the woods, Yuriko handed Nick the plastic bag and his clothes, and then helped Lucy into a cotton dress and a pair of flat sandals. When Nick was dressed, he took his car keys and cell phone out of the bag. Then he looked down at sweet little Yuriko, whom he had known so intimately, and took her in his arms and kissed her.

     
“Thank you,” he said.

     
The moment was broken by a sharp crack and the splintering of wood a few yards away.

     
“Kono!” Nick hissed. “Go! Go! Go!”
  

     
Adrenaline overcame fatigue as they sprinted through the trees. Nick led the way, and he could only pray that his car was where he had left it. He figured they had probably a fifty yard start on Kono, and with the outside chance that he wouldn’t know which way they were going, they just might make it.

     
After a couple of minutes, he saw the early morning sun glinting off the familiar red paintwork of the Mustang and his heart leaped. He glanced behind and saw Yuriko and Lucy running hand-in-hand a few yards behind. They burst out of the trees and Nick unlocked the door and literally bundled the girls into the back seat. Slamming the door behind him, he fumbled the keys into the ignition with trembling fingers. The Mustang had been sitting idle for almost a week and there was every chance that the battery had gone flat. He turned the key and pumped the accelerator, and the car groaned and died.

     
“Come on, sweetheart, not now!” Nick yelled, giving her a moment, and then turned the key again. Like a musical masterpiece to Nick’s ears, the Mustang’s throaty engine roared into life. He threw it into gear and wheel-spun the car down the rutted track. As they reached the road, Nick looked into the rearview, and saw Kono emerging from the woods.

     
“Get down!” he shouted. The two terrified girls huddled together as Kono’s shot ripped through the soft-top and then punched a hole through the windscreen. Nick let out an exhilarated whoop as he fishtailed out onto the road and accelerated out of sight.

***

     
It took just under ninety minutes to reach the empty farmhouse in Connecticut - Nick could have done it faster, but he deliberately took a circuitous route to make sure Kono wasn’t following. From time to time, he checked back on the girls. Lucy had fallen into an exhausted sleep, her head in Yuriko’s lap. Each time he glanced at Yuriko in the mirror, she gave him a nervous little smile, and in spite of himself, Nick was reminded of her tight, wet cunt gripping his cock.

     
Once the panic had died down, Nick had time to ponder their situation, and although the immediate danger had passed, it still wasn’t good. Going home - anywhere near Boston - was out of the question of course, which is why he had decided on the farmhouse. It was isolated, and Nick knew that the property developers who owned it would not be putting it on the market until renovations were complete later in the year.

     
As they crossed the state line, summer storm clouds gathered on the horizon. Nick picked up his cell and checked the battery indicator. He figured he could make one quick call. Sid picked up almost immediately.

     
“Nick. How are you, buddy?”

     
“Alive. Look, I haven’t got much time, so listen up. I’m heading out to that farmhouse I was working on near Falls Village.”

     
“Yeah, I know it.”

     
“I’ve got Lucy but she’s been through a lot. I need you to bring food, blankets, and basic medical supplies. I can’t explain now, but I can’t risk being spotted and I need time to think.”

     
“I knew this wasn’t right,” Sid muttered angrily.

     
“Sid, I want you to be careful. Take the back roads and make sure you aren’t being followed. They might come to your place, so it’s important you move quickly.”

     
“That’s easy. I’ve already left for work.”

     
“Perfect. Now I want you to do something else. Call Summer and get her to meet you somewhere away from campus.”

     
“You want me to bring Summer?”

     
“I think Lucy’s going to need her for a while.”

     
“You’ve got it.”

     
They sat in the unfurnished farmhouse and listened to the rain. Thunder rattled the windows and lightening lit up the sky, but still Lucy slept. Yuriko sat quietly stroking Lucy’s hair and Nick found his gaze wandering over her slender, bare legs. Away from the surrealistic atmosphere of Johnny Ho’s cabin, he felt embarrassed about what they had been forced to do together. Sitting in such close proximity to her now, he vividly recalled how responsive Yuriko’s body had been to his. She sensed him watching and she looked up and smiled. She looked so flawless and delicate, like a little china doll.

     
“Thank you,” Nick said again.

     
“I couldn’t bear what he was doing to her,” she said.

     
“You weren’t having such an easy time of it yourself. I’m sorry about. . . you know.”

     
“It wasn’t your fault.” She blushed and lowered her eyes. “Anyway,” she added with a coy smile, “it wasn’t so bad.”

     
Nick lowered his face to hers and he kissed her dainty lips. With Lucy sound asleep in her lap, Yuriko allowed Nick’s tongue into her mouth. It didn’t feel wrong. They had escaped from hell together and a mutual bond had formed between them.

     
A loud crash of thunder broke their kiss. Lucy mumbled in her sleep and Nick took hold of her hand.

     
“She really loves you,” Yuriko said.

     
“I know.”

     
They fell silent again, then Yuriko frowned. “What happens now?”

     
“We stay here for a while until I can figure things out. Friends are coming to help.”

     
Yuriko looked earnestly into his eyes. “I’m scared.”

     
Nick reached out with his free hand, and she held it.

     
“Me too,” Nick said.

***

     
Two hours later, Nick was woken by the sound of a car engine. Somehow he had managed to fall asleep sitting up against the wall. Lucy and Yuriko were curled up together next to him. He crept quietly over to the window, saw Sid’s Dodge Ram coming up the gravel road, and went out onto the porch. The rain had stopped and there was an earthy dampness in the air.

     
As the car approached, Nick saw that Summer was sitting in the passenger seat with a concerned look on her face.

     
“Boy, am I glad to see you!” Nick said when they got out. Sid threw his arms around Nick and squeezed him so tight he could hardly breathe.

     
“Are you okay?” Sid asked when he finally let go.

     
“I’m fine,” Nick said.

     
Summer came up, gave Nick a hug, and asked, “Where’s Lucy?”

     
“Inside, sleeping.”

     
“How is she?”

     
“Her physical wounds aren’t serious. It’s the psychological damage that concerns me.”
 

     
“We should get her to a hospital.”

     
“Not yet,” Nick said. “It’s not safe at the moment. Johnny Ho will be looking everywhere and I’m afraid if he finds her, he might kill her.”

     
“Oh, Jesus!” Summer gasped.

     
Sid regarded him for a moment. “Nick, what the hell happened?”

***

     
It took Nick well over an hour to recount the events in the cabin. He spared few details, as painful as it was for all of them. When he had finished, Sid said, “What a sick fucker.”

     
“Now you know why we have to lay low.”

     
“But,” said Summer, “you can’t stay here forever.”

     
“I know, but I’m not going to risk moving until we can be sure it’s safe.”

     
“How are you going to do that?” Sid asked. “If this guy is what you say he is, he’ll have people looking for you all over the country.”

     
“It’s insane, isn’t it?” Nick said. “Somehow I’ve managed to get us on the run from the fucking yakuza.”

     
“But surely there must be someone you can talk to?” Summer said. “This is a personal vendetta, right? There must be a, I don’t know, code of honor or something, surely?”

     
“Right,” Nick said. “How many yakuza gang members do you know?”

     
They looked at each other in helpless silence and then a croaky voice said, “Aunt Akiko.”

     
Lucy had woken up.

***

     
She still looked worn out, but the light had returned to her eyes. The first thing she did was remove the nose ring and studs. Yuriko took them outside and threw them into the long grass. Then Summer helped Lucy tend to her abrasions while Sid cooked supper on a small gas stove.

     
“My phone is back at the cabin,” Lucy said. “So somebody is going to have to go to Porter Square.”

     
“I can do that,” Sid offered.

     
“You need to go to the Sakura restaurant in the mall. Ask for the owner, Akiko Miura, and tell her what has happened. Give her Nick’s number and don’t speak to anybody else.”

     
“How will she be able to help?” Nick asked.

     
“The only way she can. By going to Mama Bunko.”

     
Nick thought back to the ancient old woman who had so warmed to him at her birthday party. “And what can
she
do?”

     
 
“It’s a long shot,” said Lucy, “but our only one. I told you that she was the mistress of the
oyabun
of the American yakuza during the war? Well she had a son by him - who is now one of the most powerful underbosses in New York.”

     
“And she would ask him to stop Johnny Ho?” Summer asked.

     
Lucy nodded. “I think she would - if she can remember who we are.”

***

     
Nick lay on his sleeping bag and listened to the calling song of the cicadas outside. Sid had gone back to Boston, while Summer had opted to stay behind. Now she was lying side-by-side with Lucy and they were whispering together, their noses almost touching. Yuriko slept nearby, as if their closeness lent her a sense of security.

     
Nick sat near the front door, keeping a watchful eye on them. By sending Sid to Porter Square, he knew they might just be compromising their position of safety, and he was uneasy about it. But Lucy had reminded him that his family could be at risk now, and that this was their only real option.

     
Aunt Akiko had called earlier that evening and Nick had passed her over to Lucy. They had spoken for a long while and when the call was over Lucy had informed them that their plan was in progress. Nick just hoped that it wouldn’t backfire.
  

     
Now he looked around at his charges in the strange knowledge that he had had sexual relations with all three of them - albeit under different circumstances. It was too hot to get into their sleeping bags and Lucy and Summer had stripped down to their underwear. Yuriko too, had removed her shorts, revealing a tiny pair of yellow panties. None of them any longer saw the need for modesty in front of Nick.

     
Lucy and Summer both giggled quietly, still gazing into each others eyes like a pair of lovers. Nick smiled. Since her long sleep, Lucy seemed to have recovered much of her old disposition. Thankfully, her mental withdrawal appeared to have been only temporary.
 
There was a feeling of sanctuary inside the farmhouse, but as another thunderstorm rumbled in the distance, Nick wondered if this was just a lull.

     
“Nick, come over here,” Lucy whispered.

     
He stepped over Yuriko and knelt down beside them. The moonlight illuminated their half-naked bodies and Nick could see that apart from a couple of bruises and the welts across her breasts, stomach and thighs, she had emerged remarkably unscathed from her ordeal.

     
“How are you doing?” Nick asked.

     
“I think I’m good,” Lucy replied. “Why don’t you take off your clothes and join us?”

     
“You’re unbelievable.”

     
Lucy reached behind and unclasped her bra. “I want you to hold me.”

     
She tossed it to one side, slipped out of her panties, and then turned onto her back. Summer reached out and began to caress her stomach.

     
“Are you sure. . .?” Nick began but Summer cut him off.

“She needs some love right now, Nick.”

     
As Nick undressed, he figured this must be Lucy’s way of drawing a line under what Johnny Ho had put her through, and perhaps she was also telling him that everything was alright between them.

     
There was to be no lovemaking that night. Nick lay down between the two girls and they rested their heads on each of his shoulders, their legs wrapped over his. He kissed them both in turn and felt the warmth of their bodies.