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  Cain put the flare gun down and quickly and quietly grabbed the yacht’s aluminum gaff pole, which was attached to the wall. Cain expanded the telescopic pole and tightened the fasteners. He held the gaff just like a shinai—the bamboo staff he’d trained with during his kendo classes. He lowered his center of gravity and shuffled toward the taller of his targets. Cain thrust the shinai into the man’s midsection with such force that the fasteners couldn’t sustain the impact. The gaff collapsed but not without first propelling the gangster off the yacht and into the abyss.

  The other man, who had been inspecting the engine, glanced up and was shocked to come face-to-face with the gaijin. He pointed the Uzi’s ten-inch barrel at Cain’s head. Cain dropped the gaff and lunged toward the gunman with arms outstretched, attempting to grab the Uzi and redirect its aim. He arrived a millisecond too late. The yakuza pulled the trigger. Cain was sure he was dead. He had failed to save Bonnie, just as he had failed to save his wife and son.

  In a surreal moment of recognition, Cain realized that he was not dead. The gangster had pulled the trigger, but the Uzi hadn’t fired. Cain wrestled the muzzle away with his left hand while simultaneously reaching down toward his calf with his other hand. He depressed the safety button and released the ten-inch knife from its protective case. He gripped the knife and thrust it upward with such force that the blade tore into the man’s solar plexus, stopping only when the hilt had struck his ribs. The mortally wounded yakuza went wide-eyed and dropped the Uzi onto the deck. He fell to his knees, clutching at his wound. Cain looked down at the dying yakuza without pity. He grabbed the handle of his knife, placed his foot against the man’s chest, and yanked out the knife as he kicked the man off the yacht and into the black water.

  El Viento slowly approached in the darkness. The other yakuza member was treading water and swimming back toward the Minashigo. Alvarez stood on the sailboat, widened his stance for balance and strength, and swung a baseball bat. The knocked-out yakuza submerged slowly like a crocodile.

  Cain gave Chief Alvarez the thumbs-up.

  “Behind you, Hurricane!” Chief Alvarez shouted, and pointed from his sailboat. “Check your six!”

  Cain turned his head and saw the brawny yakuza man running full speed toward him while firing his revolver like a cornered soldier. Cain fell to the deck, making his body the smallest target he could, and retrieved the Uzi that only moments before had almost blown his head off. He cycled the bolt, which ejected the dud round, and inserted a fresh bullet into the chamber. While still lying on his back, he pointed the Uzi at the advancing yakuza. He put his left hand over his right wrist to control the recoil and pulled the trigger. At a firing rate of six hundred rounds per minute, the Uzi sprayed thirty-two bullets in three seconds. The slide locked to the rear when it ran out of bullets to spit out. The barrel and chamber were smoking, but all the bullets had hit the muscle-bound kidnapper. He fell flat on his face and his revolver slid across the deck. Cain grabbed it and opened the cylinder. All the bullets except one had been fired. I better make this one count, he told himself. He took the revolver and ran toward the cabin where Bonnie was tied up.

  Chapter 79

  Cain had only one bullet left in the revolver, and it was reserved for Yamamoto—he was going to personally take care of Sato with his bare hands. The betrayal he felt seethed through his body as he envisioned tearing Sato apart limb from limb.

  Cain’s elbow was bent at waist level, his pistol leading the way. He opened the door and entered the grand room unnoticed. He was confused to see Sato and Yamamoto sword fighting.

  Although both men were in their sixties, they were strong and agile, and it was apparent that they were in a fight to the death as they swung their katanas with raw power and technique. With each potentially deadly swing, the air made a swooshing sound. With each contact, the swords’ forged steel clanged loudly—a constant reminder of imminent death. Yamamoto gripped his sword tightly, brought it to his waist, and lunged toward Sato with a straight-in strike.

  Sato stepped to the side, raised his arms in a clockwise direction, and swung his sword down like a lumberjack chopping wood. The downward swing was so powerful that the sword fell out of Yamamoto’s hands and bounced on the floor. Sato swung his body 360 degrees, like a tornado. His outstretched sword trailed him like a shadow. He stopped precisely below Yamamoto’s head, the blade nicking his neck.

  “You are defeated,” Sato said between panting breaths. “You tried to take my life, yet I have spared yours. Leave me and my company alone.”

  Yamamoto touched his neck and looked at his hand. Fresh blood was on the tips of his fingers. He lowered his head in shame, a gesture ceremoniously acknowledging his defeat.

  “Watashi wa haiboku o mitomemasu.” Yamamoto had admitted defeat.

  “Hai,” Sato acknowledged, and turned toward Bonnie, his sword still in his hand.

  Cain aimed his snub-nosed revolver at Sato and placed his finger on the trigger.

  “I’m so sorry this happened to you, Bonnie-san.” Sato untied the knots on the rope that bound her.

  When Cain saw this, he lowered his pistol.

  Sato took off his shirt, and Bonnie emitted a slight gasp at the sight of the tattoos on his chest.

  “That was from a past life,” he said as he covered her nude body with his shirt.

  Yamamoto quickly picked up his sword from the floor and rushed toward the unarmed and now kneeling Sato.

  “Watch out!” Bonnie yelled.

  Sato looked at Yamamoto, but there was nothing he could do from his position. He turned and placed himself in front of Bonnie. At that very instant, Cain straightened his arms and pointed the revolver at Yamamoto. He squeezed the trigger and fired the remaining bullet. The single .38 full-metal-jacket bullet tore into Yamamoto’s shoulder, causing him to drop the sword and fall to the floor a mere foot from Sato and Bonnie.

  Cain ran toward Yamamoto, who was reaching for the sword, refusing to give up. Cain stepped on his hand clutching the katana and felt the man’s bones break against the weight. He grabbed the sword out of Yamamoto’s mangled fingers and stared into the emotionless eyes of the yakuza’s head boss. Cain gripped the sword with both hands, just as he had learned to do at his kendo classes. He positioned his right foot in front of him and raised the samurai sword into the air.

  “Cain!” Bonnie shouted. “Don’t kill him.”

  He turned to Bonnie, still holding the sword at the ready.

  “I’m safe now. Don’t kill him. He’s not worth it.”

  Cain was looking at his sister when he heard the swooshing sound of disturbed air. He quickly turned to Yamamoto and realized he was dead. With one powerful swing of the blade, Sato had decapitated Yamamoto, sending his head rolling across the carpet.

  “You’re right, Bonnie-san,” Sato said. “He’s not worth it.”

  Cain dropped the sword and rushed to Bonnie.

  “I always knew you’d find me,” she said. Tears of joy streamed down her face. “I never doubted.”

  “Well, that makes one of us, because I certainly had my doubts.” After a moment of embracing his sister, Cain turned to Sato. “How do I know that this wasn’t just some internal rivalry, and now you’re taking over the yakuza as the new oyabun?”

  “Cain, he risked his life to save me!” Bonnie exclaimed. “And he just killed the head of the Yamamoto-gumi.”

  “You must believe me, Cain-san,” said Sato. “Had I known that Bonnie-san was taken and held like this, I would have corrected this much sooner.”

  “How can I believe you after all I’ve seen?”

  “I believe him,” Bonnie said. “Sato-san is a good man.”

  “Yamamoto and I met as young boys in the orphanage,” Sato explained. “The yakuza became our family. As I grew older, I became disheartened by the violence. I was more interested in making my money legitimately and giving back to the communities.”

  Sato turned to Bonnie. He reached out to shake her hand. She push
ed it aside and tightly embraced him. “Thank you for coming for me. I will never forget you.”

  Sato’s hardened eyes softened and he nodded his head briskly. He turned to Cain. “I have a helicopter here. I will take you and Bonnie-san wherever you want to go.”

  “Thank you, but I already have transportation waiting outside.”

  “I’ve never met a gaijin more resourceful than you,” Sato said. “You have saved my life twice, and I am forever in your debt.” He bowed in respect.

  “Arigato gozaimasu.” Cain returned the bow. “You go ahead and hop in your chopper and get out of here. I’ll make sure none of this gets tied back to you.”

  “Arigato,” Sato said. Before he left the room, he grabbed the noren, the yakuza’s brotherhood banner, from the wall and ripped it. He used it to wipe off Yamamoto’s blood from his sword and then tossed the blood-soaked noren onto Yamamoto’s headless body.

  Cain wrapped his arm around Bonnie’s waist to support her. “Sis, how about getting the hell out of here?” On their way out, Cain turned back to look once more into the unblinking eyes of Yamamoto’s severed head. “Sayonara.”

  Chapter 80

  Bonnie was exhausted, and Cain supported her weight with his arm around her waist. “I kept sending you messages,” she said. “I knew you’d get ’em.”

  “I always do.” He picked up the flare gun outside the room and walked alongside her as they made their way aft.

  “Yep.” She smiled. “Ever since that day I fell overboard when we were just kids—that’s when I was convinced.”

  “We’re connected,” he replied. “At the hip,” he added for levity.

  Chief Alvarez, who was still bobbing up and down on El Viento, saw them staggering toward the rear of the yacht. He pulled the rope that started the outboard engine and met them at the Minashigo.

  “Give me your hand, Bonnie.” Chief Alvarez helped her onto the small sailboat. Bonnie was still shaking.

  “Alan Alvarez? Are my eyes deceiving me?” Bonnie said. “How many years has it been?”

  “Hurricane and Claire’s wedding.” He embraced her. “You’re safe now. Just relax.”

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “I’m taking us to the American Navy base.”

  She nodded.

  “I’ve got one last thing to do,” said Cain, who was still on the Minashigo. He grabbed the fuel lines on the outboard motors and ripped them off with his hand. Diesel fuel started pouring onto the deck of the yacht and spreading. He then stepped on board El Viento and kicked the sailboat away from the yacht.

  Chief Alvarez twisted the throttle and reversed the sailboat away from the yacht. When they were about ten yards away, Cain instructed the chief to stop.

  Cain balanced himself on the rocking sailboat and retrieved the flare gun. He cocked the hammer and pointed the gun toward the yacht’s outboard engines. He squeezed the trigger and an orange fireball rocketed across the ocean, lighting the darkness, until it hit the engines and they caught fire. The blaze grew, consuming more and more of the yacht until the entire Minashigo was on fire. Dark smoke billowed into the sky.

  They could feel the heat and smell burning plastic and diesel from the sailboat. Cain turned to Chief Alvarez. “RTB.”

  “Roger,” Alvarez acknowledged.

  “What’s RTB?” Bonnie asked.

  “Return to base,” Cain said. He sat on the deck next to her, his arm around her shoulder, and watched the Minashigo start to disintegrate.

  Bonnie looked at him. “I gotta go to my apartment. I’ve got nothing with me. No clothes, no jewelry.” She paused. “My life is there.”

  “We can’t go back to your apartment. We can probably never even return to Japan. We’ll both always be on the yakuza’s hit list. Forever. Or at least until the yakuza is disbanded.”

  Bonnie started crying. “I feel so guilty,” she said.

  “Guilty?” Cain asked. “Why?”

  “There are more women, just like me,” she said. “They’re being held somewhere else. I overheard them talking about how they were going to send them on a cargo ship that goes from Japan to Italy before heading to the Middle East.”

  “Where in Italy?”

  “Naples,” she said.

  Dismantling the yakuza’s global influence would require attacking the organization from multiple angles. Cain called Tanaka to follow up on the information that LeRoy Hayes had mailed.

  “We did the impossible,” Cain said with relief.

  “You rescued Bonnie-san?”

  “You guessed it. She’s safe now.”

  “That is wonderful news!” Tanaka said.

  “I need to get that package from you—the one His Royal Highness sent. Can you meet us at the base in Yokosuka?”

  “You cannot come near me,” Tanaka warned. “The police are looking everywhere for you. Your picture is all over the news. You’re wanted for the murder of Hayabusa. My father even interrogated me about your whereabouts. The inspectors have been following me. I detected them using the countersurveillance techniques you taught us.”

  Cain’s realization that he would never be free from this chase started to set in. He doubted that the Japanese would understand that a gaijin was a victim of circumstances. They would always look at him as a cold-blooded murderer.

  “Then can you do me one last favor, Tanaka-san?”

  “Hai.”

  “Please mail that package to the Stars and Stripes office in Yokosuka. Address it to the attention of Champ Albright the Third. He’ll know what to do with it.”

  “I thought you hated the press.”

  Cain smirked. “That journalist has grown on me. Kind of like an ugly birthmark you learn to accept.”

  Tanaka started laughing. “You have a certain way with words.”

  Cain laughed back. “You’ve always gotten my sense of humor, Tanaka-san. I’ll miss you. You’re always welcome at my home, partner.”

  “Partner?” Tanaka repeated. “You’ve never called me partner before.”

  “You’ve earned it, Tanaka-san. Before I go, someone else here wants to talk to you.” He handed the phone to Bonnie.

  “I’ll miss you, too, Tanaka-san,” she said. “You’re one of the good guys.” She listened and smiled. “Thank you for being there for my brother.” Following Tanaka’s response, she replied with tears in her eyes, “Genki de, Tanaka-san.”

  After Bonnie handed the phone back to her brother, she asked, “Where is your wedding ring? Did you lose it on the yacht?” She knew what his ring meant to him, what it symbolized.

  Cain looked down at his bare finger. “I stopped wearing it.”

  “What? After all these years?”

  “I found a special woman who helped me find inner peace.”

  “That’s wonderful.” Bonnie smiled. “A little shocking, and way overdue, but still wonderful news. Who is she? Where is she?”

  “Safe,” he replied. “But we’re not. The yakuza must have stolen your passport at your apartment. It wasn’t there when I searched the place.”

  “They must have,” she replied. “I certainly don’t have it.”

  “I was able to grab your flight attendant ID, though,” he said. “The police are surely watching for us at Narita and Haneda. They’d be foolish not to.”

  “Do you have any suggestions?” Bonnie asked.

  Cain shook his head.

  “I might have an idea,” Chief Alvarez suggested.

  Bonnie and Cain turned to face him.

  “It’s a wild, crazy idea, and it’s a long shot, but it might work.”

  “Well,” Cain said. “We ain’t got any other ideas. And beggars can’t be choosers.”

  “The USS George Washington departs Yokosuka tomorrow for exercise Valiant Shield. What if I were able to smuggle y’all on board? There’s over five thousand sailors. What’s another two?”

  “What’s Valiant Shield?” Bonnie asked. “And how is being smuggled on board another ship
gonna help us get back to America?”

  “Valiant Shield is the largest military exercise in the Pacific. There’ll be tons of ships, submarines, and other countries participating. We’ll have a rest and relaxation port call in Guam.”

  Cain started nodding in agreement. “That might just work. Guam is American territory.”

  “And United Airlines has a hub there,” Bonnie said. “If we can get to their counter, we can deadhead to America.”

  “Well then,” Chief Alvarez began, “I just need to make a call and get two flight suits ready for you guys.”

  Cain felt a sense of relief as El Viento rounded Monkey Island and headed toward the dock at the Yokosuka American Navy base. At that moment, nothing symbolized the United States more than the McDonald’s right next to the boat launch. Its golden arches illuminated the night sky and served as a lighthouse calling the Lemaires home—or at least one step closer to being back in Louisiana.

  But then it hit him. There was one big problem with Chief Alvarez’s plan, Cain realized. It meant he’d be leaving behind what he had come to love most about Japan.

  Umiko.

  He stood up and walked toward the front of the sailboat for privacy. He pulled out his phone. He wanted to call her, but he couldn’t. The police would be tracing his calls. He looked down at the phone. If they’re searching for me by this device, then they can look for me here. He tossed his phone into the water and watched it get swallowed up by the ocean.

  Chapter 81

  “Can I borrow some yen from you?” Cain asked Alvarez. “I need to make a call before we board the Washington.”

  “Just use my phone,” the chief offered, and patted his pockets in search of it.

  “Thanks, but I don’t want any of this being tied back to you. And I’m worried the police may be tracing my phone, so I’m gonna use the pay phone outside the Mickey D’s.”

  “Okay, but make it fast. I have a petty officer bringing me the flight suits now.” Alvarez gave him a handful of coins.