My eyes stray to Cassie. The blood crusting her upper lip.
I don’t know, I whisper. Iwhat gradeofof security ?
He leans back, crossing his arms like he is satisfied. I don’t care. You will have seventy-two hours to do it when you first start, otherwise it will completely erase itself. If you don’t succeed . . .
I . . . I don’t even know if I can do it.
He smiles then, and it scares me the most. Surely you must know why you’re here by now. You know what you’ve done.
What ? What have I done ?
If you can’t solve it, nobody can, he says, with a flash of blinding white teeth. His handsome face twists, for just a second.
You have to let Cassie go, I manage. And the others. You have toyou’ve got to set them free, or II won’t.
Imai laughs, and the sound is somehow silvery.
Glass and soft silk.
You must have such a low opinion of my intelligence, he says. I’ll let the others go, but Cassie . . . I think I’ll keep her.
No ! The word comes free. His eyes harden. No, I add. No, please. I’ll do whatever you want, but youyou have to let my sister go.
Tadashi ?
The man with the impenetrable stare looks at Imai, and there is pure devotion there. Yes, Imai-dono ?
Release the others.
Cassie, I plead. Please, let my sister go. I’ll doI’ll do anything, if you just let her go.
No, he says thoughtfully. You won’t.
Someone laughs. A man with a cigar, the third of them. He looks bleary with exhaustion, and smoke billows out from his mouth. His thick fingers slide between the cards, shuffling them.
Tobio-kun, Imai commands.
The man glances up. The wisp of a smile still on his mouth as he rolls the cigar between his teeth.
Call the pilot.
Tobio stands up, searing out the cigar into the ash tray. The smoke is so thick I could choke on it, but I manage to meet Imai’s eyes.
You don’t have to do this, I say.
Where is Heaven Tanaka ?
She left, I say bitterly. She dropped me and my sister off and took off. I have no idea where she is.
It’s partially trueI don’t know where she is right now.
My plan is falling apart.
Why did I think this would work ?
I thought that if I managed to get here, if I offered myself in exchange for the hostages, he would let them all go. Once we were alone, I could use a nitrocellulose explosive to disarm him. I would have an opening : Shoot to injure.
Okay, fine. My plan took all of five minutes to come up with.
But he is supposed to let Cassie go. I can’t risk hurting Cassie in the blast, even if it will only have a small radius.
You’re a math major, Kaya. Figure it out.
If I can get Imai further from this table, if I could get him to the stairs, then Cassie might be far enough way that the blast won’t hurt her.
The stairs might collapse beneath us, but
One condition, I say. II dropped something. On the way up here. I dropped my earring on the stairs.
Imai only laughs at the pitiful attempt. And I realize that Tadashi has now just returned, which means Lacy, Kiara and Emilie must be returned to the Underground by now. Safe.
Will the Wolves still help me, even if their own people aren’t in danger ?
I don’t know how much I can trust the Mafia, so the answer is no. This is up to me, and whatever I do now . . . it’ll either kill us or save us.
But then Imai says, Tadashi, shojo no yubi o kiriotosu.
What ? I gasp. What does that mean ? Wait ! What does that mean ?
Cassie has slumped back against the chair, and my words become unintelligible as Tadashi says, Yes, Imai-dono.
He grips her wrist, turning it so her palm is flat on the table and her fingers are spread out. She mumbles something, and I realize with horror that she is waking up.
Kay ? Kay, is that you . . .
Wait ! I shriek. Wait, you saidI saidI’m going to do it ! I’ll do it ! I said I’ll do it ! Stopstop !
Smoke swirls in the air between us. Imai’s eyes are black ice.
He smiles gently. I know you will.
There is a knife in Tadashi’s hand, hovering over Cassie’s pinkie finger. Her eyelashes twitch, and she mumbles, Five more minutes . . .
Silver glints. Cassie startles awake. Kaya ? What ?
There is no time to warn her before the knife severs flesh.
This is private property.
Please, sir, I say, shivering from the cold. I don’t have anywhere to go.
I am eighteen. I am homeless. Yesterday, I told my mother I was a lesbian, and my stepfather gave her a choice : me . . . or him.
Now, I’m outside the Rockefeller park, and until only minutes ago, I was curled up on the splintering bench.
It’s only for the summer, I tell myself.
Until I go to school. Until I get my scholarship.
Cassie’s med school deposit emptied out my savings, but I don’t regret it. Even if it means I’m sleeping in a park with nothing but a backpack.
The officer’s eyes seem to soften, just a little.
There’s a shelter not too far from here, he says. I can drive you there.
But it’s nighttime, and I’ve heard stories about cops. I shake my head feverishly, but I say, Thank you, sir, thank you so much. I’ll just walk.
No, really. I insist.
There is no one in the park to watch, and the officer’s eyes tell me he won’t take no for an answer. I don’t have the energy to fight himI only follow him into his car, slipping into the backseat.
Fear tenses every muscle. The ride takes minutes, but each second, I count. Afraid he will try something. Afraid he will stop the car and climb into the back . . .
But fast, so fast, we are at the women’s shelter. He says, This is our destination.
It must be at least four in the morning.
Thank you, sir, I say. He didn’t . . . he didn’t try anything.