I was dying to take a peek at the CPT Owners Club website but decided not to anymore for tonight. Being antsy wouldn’t do me any good. Anyway, the other party was in a strategy meeting. I cut the internet connection and turned off the computer too.
The sound of the fan died down, and the room quieted to a surprising degree. I only heard Juri’s breathing.
“We’re done with the game for tonight. Good work.”
“We’ll finally get that ransom money.” Her chest heaved. “You won’t tell me how yet?”
“You’ll know eventually,” I replied with a smile. I wanted to tell her what I was up to, but she didn’t need to know everything. “Let’s go to sleep for tonight.”
I had Juri sleep in the bed while I lay down on the sofa. She seemed a little dubious about that but didn’t confront me.
To be frank, I was regretting having slept with her. It wasn’t for any reason I could put my finger on. It might’ve been because I’d committed a prohibited move in the game. Or was it guilt, for having touched my precious “merchandise”?
That wasn’t it.
Some kind of alarm was ringing in me as though to say, You can’t take it back now, can you? It was a feeling you could only call intuition.
I didn’t sleep well, probably thanks to that. Only having dozed off a little, I rose at pretty much my usual time. After washing my face in the bathroom, I booted the computer, also by force of habit.
I checked my email before hopping over to the CPT Owners Club. I glanced at the bulletin board and caught my breath.
Ready (Julie)
Good morning. This is Julie. I’ve finally gotten the money. With this, I should be able to get the dear car I’ve been hoping for. All that’s left is waiting for them to contact me.
By the way, these days, we can choose our plate numbers, yes?
I’d love to pick either:
3XXX or 8XXX
I’ve just started playing golf, so I can’t wait for the day when I can put my golf bag in the trunk and drive.
Chapter 10
I phoned in to Hotel Gardens and told them I wanted to make a reservation for tonight. I was transferred to the front desk and a male hotelkeeper came on the line. He asked how many people were staying, and I told him it was just me.
“Yes, we can prepare a single room for tonight.”
“If possible, I would like a room facing the avenue.”
“Do you mean on the front side?”
“I guess. And if possible, not too high up.”
“Please wait a moment.”
I was put on hold for about twenty seconds before the hotelkeeper’s voice came back on.
“Thank you. Would a room on the fifteenth floor be fine?”
“The fifteenth floor. Sounds good, I’ll have that room then.”
“Certainly. May I have your name and phone number?”
I told him a bogus name and number, then hung up.
“What hotel?” Juri asked me without getting up from the sofa.
“Gardens. It’s nearby. It’s a pretty decent hotel. The crab egg shark fin soup at the Chinese restaurant in there is a delicacy. Apparently, the head French chef is the most medaled old man in Japan.”
Juri had started shaking her head even as I spoke. “I’m asking you why you made a hotel reservation. It can’t be to have a meal at their restaurant. Or are we moving to a new hideout?”
“We don’t need a new hideout. We’re just using the hotel for today.”
“Are you using it for the ransom exchange?”
My shoulders shook with laughter. “I’m doing no such thing.”
“Then what’s the plan? What are you using it for? Just how are you going to do the exchange, anyway?” Juri demanded hysterically.
“Am I being interrogated or what?”
“But you won’t tell me anything. Aren’t we partners?”
“When the time comes, I’ll tell you.”
“Right now isn’t the time? Papa gave his answer on the internet, didn’t he? They’ve finished preparing the money. They also provided a phone number. The only thing left is the exchange.”
I sighed and blinked slowly. “Like I said, this is a once in a lifetime game. It won’t progress that easily. If we don’t go step by step, we won’t get to the goal. This is just another procedure.”
“But you told them to prepare the money…To pack it in a golf bag…”
“A necessary item to get to the next stage. You play videogames, don’t you?”
“I haven’t ever.”
“Really? Anyway, for now just be quiet and watch.”
She probably wasn’t convinced, but nodded begrudgingly.
After finishing brunch, which was the cream stew that Juri had made the night before, I started getting ready to go out. I took a sports bag out of the closet, put a video camera and tape and a tripod into it, then binoculars and such. The binoculars were a gift from a bird-watcher friend of mine.
“You got a reservation for a single room, so I guess you’re going to stay by yourself?”
“Today is Saturday, okay? Do you think a double room would be available? Even if one were, I wouldn’t be able to specify the location or floor.”
“So I can come with you?”
“Be careful not to be noticed by the hotel, though. Also, wear a disguise that won’t look unnatural.”
Juri stood in front of me and looked down at me with her hands on her hips.
“What?” I asked her.
“Don’t ‘what’ me. How are you saying I should disguise myself? I don’t have any clothes nor any makeup. I’d only be able to make myself look like a young homeless person.”
Ha ha ha, I laughed. She had a way with words. “Then you’ll wait in this room. The police must know what clothes you were wearing when you went missing. They’ve probably accounted for the chance that the kidnappers are using a hotel and circulated a notification.”
“I’m going with you no matter what. I don’t know what you’re up to, but surely I can be of some help?”
I looked into her eyes. They said she wasn’t backing down this time. I went over in my head what I would be doing soon. Having her there might prove convenient, in fact. I released my hand from the sports bag.
“Okay, okay. Let’s go.”
“I can come to the hotel, then?”
“First, we go shopping.”
—
There’s no kidnapper anywhere who would do this, I thought. I was going shopping at a department store in Ginza with the girl I’d kidnapped. In a way, I was doing what the police would never expect me to, but I couldn’t keep very calm.
As though she couldn’t care less about my state of mind, Juri rummaged through several racks of clothes. She looked no different at all from the other young women and beautifully melted into her surroundings, so it was hard to complain, but I wanted to tell her, Think about why we’ve come shopping.
At least she wasn’t stupid, and she didn’t make any blunders that would make the staff remember her face. Even as she looked for clothes, she deftly moved around. In fact, I might have been the one making an impression. I’d been standing in front of the window the whole time and watching her with a sour look. But if you thought of me as a man accompanying his young girlfriend’s shopping despite himself, no director would order a retake.
Finally Juri came out of the store. She was carrying a paper bag.
“It seems you’ve somehow managed to buy something. I thought it’d take more time.” I couldn’t resist being sarcastic.
“This is the first time ever I’ve shopped so fast. The staff might remember me if I stayed at the store too long, so I chose stuff randomly.”