NaNoWriMo 2009: Cold Ghost - Prologue
Synopsis: Cold Ghost
Here is the prologue for 'Cold Ghost'. That's the title I'm giving it for now, but I don't particularly like it at the moment. I don't know if it really says much about the story... The prologue has been edited, but anything you see highlighted in red are the bits I don't like and think need re-working. Please remember that this is a work in progress, so I'm not feeling over ly confident yet, but constructive criticism is appreciated.
Next Chapter: Chapter 1: Hot Gossip
Index
Prologue:
Terashima had known that this was coming. The Big Boss had requested that they do what they could, but even he had acknowledged that they could only hold off the Hanaoka group from asking questions for so long. He had hoped that Suzuki would have been fooled by the old “Naha” gambit for a while longer. At least Yukihiro was probably out of danger by now.
He sighed and took a long drag on his cigarette. Damn it. He could hear Suzuki raging at Inoue, his second lieutenant. The man was like a fire, no control, no finesse, only explosions. In his peripheral vision, he could see young Miki flinching as he poured the tea - the boy wasn’t shy or easily cowed by any means, but he obviously knew what Suzuki’s arrival meant for all of them.
Terashima waved his arm lazily in Miki’s general direction.
“Put the damn kettle down already. Let them in. Go on, we’d better get this over with then,” he sighed, expelling smoke slowly.
As Miki opened up the door, Suzuki and his men shoved past Inoue and burst through, forcing the door to swing back and forth and bat the younger man face first into the wall. Miki stumbled to his knees, blood dripping slowly from his nose. Terashima flicked his eyes over Suzuki, not even standing, not even nodding his head.
“Can I help you Suzuki-san?” Terashima said calmly, leaning back in his chair and fingers linked together.
Suzuki pointed at him, brandishing his index finger like a weapon. Unless he had concrete evidence of anything, it was about all he could brandish at Terashima.
“YOU! Where the hell is Ohno?”
“Last I heard, he asked for a week off. He’s on holiday, but the silly boy didn’t leave an address or number.” Terashima shrugged his shoulders, keeping eye contact on Suzuki’s purpling face. “Miki, did Ohno leave a phone number? Say where he was going to?”
Miki had one hand clapped to his nose, his voice muffled.
“I dunno bozz. I dink he zaid maybe Okinawa, he banted to zee da zea.”
Terashima nodded his head and spread his hands.
“You see, Suzuki-san? He’s on holiday. There’s simply nothing to be done about it. So perhaps you had better take yourself back to Kabukichō”
Then something happened that chilled Terashima to the bone. Suzuki did not shout. Suzuki did not threaten him with a gun, nor did he swear that he would make him pay. Suzuki did not proceed to trash his office. Suzuki did not explode.
He just started laugh, free and wild. Even his own men were sneaking odd looks at him, so they could not be in on the joke.
Then he jumped forward, and slammed both palms down on Terashima’s desk, a sinister grin still plastered to his face.
“You’re still clinging on to the old “Naha” trick? Hell Terashima, Old Man Hanaoka has socks as old as that one. You and I both know that Ohno is no-where near Okinawa, unless he’s taken the slow boat to Seoul. You don’t want me to know where Ohno has gone to? Fine, I can cope with that, I’m sure he’ll bring me back a nice souvenir. Providing that Yoshida doesn’t get a hold of him first, and we both know that the Yoshida captain doesn’t like to be kept waiting; especially when it involves their property.”
Terashima would not swallow. He would not bat his eyes. He would not react. He would not grant this arrogant fool the upper hand. The success of the mission would depend on it. Ohno needed time to make his escape. Suzuki would only foul it all up for them.
“Yes. We all know what will happen when Yoshida finds him. And Yoshida will find him, it’s only a matter of time before he realises that he’s skipped the country. He’s got a lot of international contacts. So let me find him first, Terashima.”
Terashima would not make eye contact. He would not give Suzuki the satisfaction.
“You got anything to say for yourself?”
“Ohno has told me nothing. And I imagine that if he believed that he was in need of your help for anything, then he would have requested it already.”
“You’ve said that he has told you nothing already, and I think we can both agree that there is a big leap between what Ohno thinks and what is actually happening. So tell me something that you do know.”
Terashima looked up at Suzuki sharply. The manic grin was gone, but the grimness was still there. Who had broken their sworn silence? Suzuki wasn’t smart enough to put all those pieces together by himself. Terashima knew that Suzuki and Ohno had been close, but Ohno of all people had known what was at stake. He could not have been so stupid as to drop hints.
He stood slowly to face Suzuki head on, and planted his own hands on his desk.
“What are you suggesting Suzuki? That I had a hand in Ohno’s disappearing act? He’s my enforcer, I dislike his up and buggering off as much as you. What makes you think you have the right, to get involved in Ohno’s personal business?” Terashima said, keeping his tone even.
“Because I hear rumours, Terashima, I keep my ear to the ground, hear a lot of very interesting rumours. If I’m remembering correctly, it’s not just Yoshida who wants to know where Ohno ‘went on holiday to’. The Sun Kee Fong has also taken an interest in his whereabouts,” Suzuki hissed. “As in, Yoshida has enlisted them to look for Ohno. And that psychotic brother of his that lives in Hawaii. Even you have to have heard of the Barracuda, right?”
Terashima knew the Barracuda. Fuck, everyone who was high enough up the ladder to rank as a lieutenant was aware of the Barracuda’s reputation if nothing else. And Ohno was unsuccessful, and the Barracuda was the first to intercept him… He would do what a barracuda did best.
He did not like Suzuki. Terashima was the first to admit that. Suzuki was the worst kind of yakuza, the lowest common denominator, and a thug who only knew violence. Suzuki was never going to graduate beyond a low level street lieutenant.
The friendship between Suzuki and Ohno had always puzzled him. However, Terashima supposed that now was not the time to be puzzling out why Ohno cultivated the relationships that he had. It was obvious though, that Suzuki still felt a great deal of loyalty towards Ohno, and that whatever Terashima said today, Suzuki was set on following after Ohno.
“I know a guy at Narita, he works for British Airways. I introduced him to Ohno a long time ago, when he was just starting out with us. He still does a lot of paperwork for us, gets us into first class when he can. Perhaps he and Ohno are still close friends. Perhaps he has had a chat with Ohno recently…”
“And you can introduce me to him?”
“Perhaps. I have not spoken to him in some time, but we should have a contact number for him around here.”
“Then now we are getting somewhere.”
Next Chapter: Chapter 1: Hot Gossip
Index