Kazutaka really was like a fawn, Ren thought. Ren decided to stand guard on the savannah and make sure no misfortune would strike the fawn. He was determined to protect Kazutaka.
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Fuwa read the mood and got up with a smile.
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“If that’s the case, we’ll have to eat something before we go on our way, Ren.”
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Fuwa walked over to the room’s phone. Ren noticed a little melancholic tilt to Fuwa’s shoulders, but he had already made up his mind. It was like finally getting closure and opening a new chapter for Ren.
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Two hours later, Fuwa informed them that Bud had called from Hong Kong.
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“Bud found Shīno. It doesn’t look like he has visited any appraisers yet. He’s at a restaurant with some local jewelers right now.”
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“Is Shīno safe?”
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“Probably.”
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“How come Shīno is safe if I’m in danger?”
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Fuwa answered with a smile.
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“Shīno is actually well known in the underworld. He’s gutsy when dealing; he doesn’t mess around with the valuables brought in to him. Shīno only functions as a middleman. He may be shady, but shady people trust him. Do you understand that?”
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Kazutaka thought of Shīno’s nervous look. Gutsy wasn’t an adjective he would have used in describing Shīno.
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“Shīno used to be nervous and sensitive when we were high school students. He was just a normal guy.”
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“Maybe Shīno has a dual personality. While he was in college, Shīno flew all over the world in place of his father. I contacted him one time then. Shīno has such a poker face that he never reveals his real character or what goes on behind the curtain to anybody. The clerks at his store probably don’t know Shīno’s true nature.”
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Kazutaka remembered how Shīno didn’t trust his clerks. He had felt sorry thinking it had to be so hard for Shīno to be in a line of business when he couldn’t even trust his own clerks. But the lack of trust perhaps stemmed from his own dubious set of values. When you're in a dirty business, you become suspicious. Kazutaka was getting a vague picture of the real Shīno.
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“I thought Shīno was working diligently at his store.”
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“Oh, he is diligent. Shīno doesn’t alter predetermined routes or embezzle merchandise that is brought in to him. Nobody would ever entrust anything to him otherwise and Shīno would lose all those handsome commissions. He assists in the resale of jewelry on a steady basis. Shīno also studies hard and pays close attention to horizontal connections. Even when he’s appraising obviously stolen goods, Shīno doesn’t say anything unnecessary.”
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According to Fuwa, how Shīno used Kazutaka might be worthy of high praise from among his potential clients. By asking Kazutaka to deliver a fake Teardrop of the Nile to the police, Shīno had protected the real piece. At least, that’s what those people might think.
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“Fuwa-san, you completely wasted your time on the replica.”
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“It’s okay. I wasn’t all that excited about this job anyway.”
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“You said that you were not after the profit, right? Fuwa-san, what were you going to do with the Teardrop of the Nile if you got the real one?”
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“Do you really want to know?”
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“Yes, I do.”
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Ren has been fidgeting with the sensor key for the handcuffs. He stopped mid motion to look toward Kazutaka. It seemed as if Ren wanted to say something, but he didn’t open his mouth.
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“We're engaged in a certain project. Bud is at the backbone of it. We’ve been purchasing heroin and cocaine coming from abroad. We then dispose of the drugs before they reach our shores.”
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“Wow. I thought that done by the police.”
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It wasn’t the kind of thing people usually talked about over coffee after a meal.
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“Who is Bud anyway?”
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“He teaches at an English conversation school near the train station. Privately, he's also a struggling sculptor but his family is super rich.”
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“That is only on the surface, right? What kind of person is he really?”
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“He operates a sort of NPO as an activist. Blocking the influx of drugs on the waterfront was its objective.”
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To Kazutaka, such stories existed only in the news. He had occasionally heard that investigators had confiscated a huge shipment of drugs at a port, and that the drugs were estimated to be worth millions of yen. But all that didn’t seem real to Kazutaka.
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“But this time, it wasn’t about the drugs. Bud was taking a big chance and putting himself into an even more dangerous situation. He was planning on going home to succeed his family business if all went well. Bud wanted to make a big last score.”
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Kazutaka noticed Ren was frowning. Assuming that Ren looked so serious because he cared so much about Fuwa made Kazutaka feel uneasy.
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“What do you mean by ‘a big chance’?”
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“I can’t give you much detail, but a government affiliated organization built some storage facility on a small island between Kyushu and Okinawa nearly a year ago. Officially, it’s a facility for conducting seismic observations as well as being a communications link. The organization paid almost ten times as much as normal to the company that did the underground construction work. They built a huge reinforced concrete structure 30 to 100 feet below ground level. What do you think that was?”
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“An amusement park?”
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Fuwa smiled brightly and patted Kazutaka’s head softly.
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“It was a storage shelter for arms and munitions, a sort of depot.”
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Hearing this, Ren interrupted. “Yuri, this is all news to me. I thought you were simply generating funds to stop the influx of drugs as usual.”
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“Bud and I didn’t tell anyone else except for the team members who were to be directly involved in the execution of the mission to destroy the facility. We were planning to obtain a ship and some explosives, and then go to the island to destroy the shelter.”
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“That sounds dangerous.”
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“Of course, it is. But Japan should not have allowed a secret agency to build such a thing on that island. We were worried about exactly what might be stored underground on a remote island. So, we visited the island to check out the shelter. There was nothing there yet. And since it's not an official government building, they don’t have guards posted or anything. That’s why we decided to secretly destroy it.”
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Fuwa also told them that they already had a demolition expert in their group, who had been standing by in Okinawa. Since they couldn’t generate the funds, the plan was being called off and the expert had gone home.
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“Is this what Bud and you had a disagreement over, Yuri?”
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“Not just a disagreement. I think it’s over between us. We’re breaking up.”
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“I’m with you, Yuri. If I had known the true objective was the bombing of a building, I wouldn’t have assisted you.”
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Yuri gave a sad smile.
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“Bud claimed that he's going to destroy the facility no matter what it takes. We talked it over for a long time. I tried hard to dissuade him, but he wouldn’t change his mind. So I decided to break up my unit, even while knowing it's probably the end of our relationship. Bud must be furious about it. He’s probably wandering around Hong Kong with steam coming out of his ears. I thought we were contributing to Japan’s public safety by disposing of illegal drugs. But I also understand where Bud is coming from. Having an unofficial weapons hangar, built with government funds, is a far more dangerous thing.”
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“What are they trying to keep in that storage area?”
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“Bud thinks it’s missiles. They must be thinking about importing them. All top secret, for sure. According to Bud, the first shipment could come within a year. It’s easier and safer to destroy the facility now because it’s still empty. But once they receive the armaments and have guards posted, we won’t be able to approach.”
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Kazutaka felt sort of lost, listening to Fuwa and Ren talk like this. Kazutaka wasn’t appalled by Bud’s idea, but it seemed outlandish to him. It wasn’t the kind of talk an ordinary school teacher should be listening to. Talking about the Teardrop of the Nile was already way too much for Kazutaka to deal with and now they were talking about secret government agencies creating a weapons hangar while planning to procure a bunch of missiles in utmost secrecy.
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“Were you reluctant to take part in the operation, Fuwa-san?”
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“I was. Although I understand Bud’s ideas and principles, it’s just too much for me. Our plan fell through this time because the Teardrop of the Nile was a replica. But there’s no next time for me.”
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If Bud is worried about a weapon depot on a remote island, he could spread the word through the mass media or on the Internet. We don’t live in a world where an individual can just go vigilante to prevent sophisticated weapons from coming in. Using explosives to destroy a dangerous facility might be heroic, but it’s also extremely reckless. It’s information that moves the world nowadays. Not weapons, Kazutaka thought.
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“Can’t you stop Bud, Fuwa-san?”
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“He won’t listen to me.”
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Hearing the resigned tone in Fuwa's voice saddened Kazutaka.
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Bud may be an idealist but he's also foolhardy. Kazutaka admired Bud’s bold ideas but it was all way over his head. Kazutaka thought of an ant climbing on the back of a whale. The ant would never know what it was climbing. Kazutaka felt like that ant.