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I collect them and walk through the house toward the kitchen. Darkness lines my path.
Where is everyone?
“Takeshi? Shinji?”
Movement from the front of the house causes me to pause. The Kimura compound is one of the safest places on earth, yet I can’t help the instant spike in my heartbeat. After all, we failed to eliminate a threat.
As if sensing my disquiet, the kittens quiet and crawl into my pants pockets. Their tiny bodies tremble against my thigh.I rush forward on silent feet. Thanks to Takeshi, the kitchen has a ridiculous number of knives even though he rarely cooks. They’re all honed to peak sharpness. I need only one, but I take two, ready to hurl it at whoever crosses the threshold.
“Kimura-san?” Riu asks seconds before stepping into the kitchen and unknowingly saving his life.
“Dammit, Riu. You scared the shit out of me.” I relax and replace the knives on the magnetic strip where I retrieved them, and gather the ingredients for the kittens’ meal.
“Sorry, I thought I heard you calling out.”
“I did.” I look at the digital clock display on the microwave reading eight o’clock. “Shinji and Takeshi haven’t returned. Do you think they’re still downtown with Katsuo?”
A shadow crosses Riu’s face before he shakes his head. “The big boss doesn’t miss dinner with his kids unless there’s an emergency. And no one’s mentioned anything going down.”
“Okay, then.” I nod him away, but a sense of foreboding follows me while I bottle feed the kittens. Their greedy antics, usually enough to distract me, barely scratch my consciousness.
Something is wrong.
Although my husbands are adults and don’t need my permission for anything, their radio silence is unusual. Especially Takeshi’s. That man has an addiction to hearing my voice for the most mundane reasons, and he has no intention of weening himself off it.
I leave the kittens to entertain themselves and go in search of my phone in case I missed Takeshi’s call. No missed call, but I have a message from an unknown number.
My previous unease, that I haven’t successfully silenced, roars in my ears as I tap on the message and gasp. My phone falls to the ground.
I’ve no need to stare at my screen because in the split second I glanced at the message, the image has forever branded itselfbehind my eyes. Paul stands between my unconscious husbands with his hands bunched in their hair. He wears the same smirk he used when wooing me in college. What I thought was sexy and dangerous when I was younger is nothing less than pure evil.
I want to move, but my body won’t obey my commands. I want to blink and have the horrifying reality disappear, but my eyes won’t close and the picture in front of me won’t change. I can almost hear Paul’s voice taunting me, threatening me, and calling me a bitch.
“Kimura-san! Kimura-san!”
Finally, my hearing begins to return. Although Riu’s voice seems far away, his panic is urgent and forceful. I blink, relieving the dryness in my eyes, and he comes into focus.
“Riu?”
“Thank God. Are you okay?”
I blink again and again as tears fill my ducts to overflowing. I don’t know how long I stood frozen and unable to act, but I’m glad Riu’s panic is working to bring me back to who I am.
“Takeshi… Shinji… I have to… Where’s my phone?” I search the floor for my handset.
“Here.” Riu hands me my cell.
I unlock the device and hand it to Riu because I can’t risk another episode. “What does the message say?”
He blanches at the image. “I’ve got to call the big boss.”
“Not yet. First, tell me what it says.”
Riu raises his head, but can’t hide the pity from his expression. “It says, trade yourself for them to guarantee they live. I’m sorry Kimur?—”
“Don’t be sorry yet. We’re bringing my husbands home. Do you hear me? I’m bringing them back!”
“Yes, but how?”
