The Scent of Death Page 7

  "How did you just happen to see us leaving this stateroom?"

  Sums jerked his head toward Kate. "I met Miss Reinhold on deck the other night. I was hoping I might run into her again, maybe have a drink with her."

  Ted patted his pocket. "Why are you carrying a gun?"

  Sums seemed to rally, as though he were coming onto more familiar ground. "I'm going to the Far East on business. It's plenty crazy over there right now, and I wanted some protection."

  "What kind of business?" T.J. wanted to know, but Ted ignored him.

  "Where are you going?"

  Sums shrugged. "You probably never heard of it. It's a little spot in the mountains called Quanyu."

  Someone gasped, but Ted merely nodded. "Okay." He stepped back. "Sorry for the rough stuff, Mr. Dean. You can go if you want."

  Sums's eyes narrowed. "That's it? Just go?" He scrambled to his feet, hesitated, and held out his hand. "Can I have it back?"

  "No. Not yet." Ted opened his hand over the other's palm and let the bullets slide into it. "But you can have these. When we get to Yokohama, if I think you can be trusted, you can have your gun back."

  "What do you mean, if you think I can be trusted?"

  "Oh, we'll be seeing more of each other, Mr. Dean. After all, I doubt there are all that many roads that lead to Quanyu."

  "Well, that was illuminating," Damien commented.

  "I can't believe I missed his gun," T.J. moaned.

  Kate jabbed him with a finger. "You're going to have to get better at that, if we're going to stay in this business."

  "I'm just having a lousy day. I can't seem to do anything right."

  "I wouldn't so hard on myself if I were you," Ted told him. "Mr. Dean may not be an undercover officer with the steamship line, but he's not going to Quanyu on business, either. At least, he's not selling insurance."

  "What do you mean, Ted?" Kate asked.

  "I mean he's a professional. What kind of professional I'm not certain of yet. But I don't think he's a member of whatever gang has been after you, for what that's worth. If he was, he'd know all about us, and he would never have announced he was going to Quanyu. That would be bound to make us suspicious, and since we all know what he looks like, he couldn't hope to sneak around any more. That's why I want to talk to him some more before we make port. I think he's on a mission similar to ours. Whether he's on our side remains to be seen, but as he said, China is a rough place right now and we could use all the help we can get."

  Suddenly T.J. broke out into a broad grin. "Oh, I have an idea he'll a lot of help."

  Damien put his face in his hands and groaned. "No, please--not another one of your ideas. What is it this time?"

  T.J. preened as though he had just solved the mystery of the Sphinx. "Oh, nothing much. I just happen to know what our friend Mr. Dean is all about." Although he waited expectantly, no one would rise to the bait. "The reason Ted thinks he's a professional, and the reason he's so interested in watching out for Kate--is because he's her brother. 'Mr. Dean' is actually Eric Reinhold."

  Chapter Thirteen

  Entering the Orient

  For reasons unexplained but welcome, the remainder of the voyage passed without incident. Kate increasingly chafed under her confinement, but as the days went by peacefully, she was able to persuade the captain to allow her outside, if chaperoned, and only during daylight hours. While she accepted these conditions with outward grace, none of her friends was fooled for a moment. She spent her time in durance practicing her martial arts skills with an unsettling ferocity and tenacity.

  Of her two brushes with death, little was said. Of the kiss she had planted on Ted, even less. T.J. and Damien had agreed privately that it was none of their business--nor Eric's, when it came to that--and Ted would rather have fished for sharks with a bamboo pole and a bent nail than bring it up.

  He did find several opportunities to engage "Sums" Dean in conversation, although none of the others appeared interested in following suit, despite T.J.'s continuing belief that Sums was actually Eric in disguise. Ted amused himself in trying to trip up the man with references that Eric might recognize but Sums would not, but each time it failed to produce a reaction.

  Nor would Sums elaborate on the nature of his occupation or how it was leading him to Quanyu. He seemed genuinely surprised when Ted revealed that they, too, were heading for the tiny mountain kingdom, to seek to meet with Kate's parents. Since Ambassador Reinhold's trip had not been a secret, there was nothing to be lost by being honest, although it failed to elicit a corresponding disclosure.

  They met again in the forward lounge the night before landfall. Ted, having sent a note asking for the rendezvous, was seated in a secluded booth, a small package next to him on the table. Sums joined him there, beer in hand. As he sat, he nodded to the package.

  "Is that what I think it is?"

  Ted slid it across the table. "Yeah."

  "Are you going to tell me why you kept it all this time?"

  "No."

  Sums took a deep sip. "Have you made arrangements to get to Quanyu from here? It's not easy."

  "Yeah, we have. Kate's name opens a lot of doors, even in Japan, even now. She spent a year here when she was a kid."

  "Ah. I had to make my arrangements the old-fashioned way. I paid people."

  Ted nodded. "There was some of that, too. Look, I don't know what you're doing here, and that's your business. I hope it doesn't have anything to do with us. But things out on the frontier aren't going to be easy; with the invasion there are likely to be all sorts of people grabbing for whatever they can get. If we get into trouble, we need to be able to count on each other."

  Sums took up the package and slid out of the booth. "Tell you what--if we're attacked by bandits, I'll shoot at them before I shoot at anybody else."

  The Queen of Spain steamed into Yokohama early the next morning. They all gathered in Kate's suite to await word on their disposition. If the local authorities wanted to speak to them, as the captain had indicated, it made sense that they could not expect simply to be allowed to disembark with the rest of the passengers.

  There was a knock at the door, and Damien, who was closest, opened it. A crewman smartly presented him with a sealed envelope.

  "It's addressed to you, Kate."

  Evincing no surprise, Kate tore the envelope open, read the card inside, and placed it carefully in her purse.

  "All right, boys, let's get ashore."

  They stared at her. "Just like that?" Ted asked. "What about--?"

  "Just like that," she said, and headed for the door with no doubt that someone would open it for her.

  During the organized chaos of disembarking, wrangling luggage, it was difficult enough for Kate and the boys to stay in touch with each other, and Sums was nowhere to be seen. If he was indeed headed to Quanyu, however, they would doubtless meet up again with him soon.

  "Oh, man, look at that customs line!" Although it was quite cool, and they had done nothing more strenuous than corral a wayward dockhand or two, T.J. swept a hand across his brow as though to wipe away the sweat. The customs queue looked a mile long, with armed soldiers standing every few yards. Ted and Damien groaned at the prospect of a lengthy delay, but Kate merely smiled craftily.

  "Just follow me, boys. Watch and learn." She motioned to one of the dockhands handling the luggage. "You can stay here. We'll send for the trunks."

  She slid through the crowd like a tiny fish, leaving her larger companions to make their more clumsy way in her wake, much to the annoyance of their fellow travelers. When she reached the head of the line, she turned and waited for them to catch up to her. She pulled a piece of paper out of her purse, presented it to the nearest customs clerk, and added a few words in a rattle of perfect Japanese.

  Every customs worker, guard, and dockhand within hearing dropped whatever he was doing, and in complete unison they bowed deeply in her direction.

  "Close your mouths, boys," she advised her friends, "
before something flies in."

  The official she had first addressed straightened and said something that oozed deference and politeness. She handed over her passport and he stamped it without looking at it.

  "Domo arigato." Kate waved the others forward, said something in Japanese, and in short order their passports were stamped and returned with a bow.

  Within moments, the way had been cleared for their party to leave the terminal, with their luggage on their heels. They were escorted to a long, black car waiting at the curb, and left in the care of a driver who bowed low enough to shine their shoes with his tie. Another man waited stiffly alongside the car, dressed in a conservative Western-style suit, and although his bow was highly respectful, it lacked the same deference as the others'.

  Ted, Damien, and T.J. recognized him instantly despite the lack of uniform: An officer.

  "How do you do, Reinhold-san," the officer greeted them in English. "I am Captain Kuragawa. I have been given the honor of acting as your escort."

  Kate returned his bow with one of precise depth. "Gokigenyo, Kuragawa-san," she responded. "Korera wa tomodachidesu, Kane-san, Pierrot-san, soshite Gillis-san."

  Captain Kuragawa gave the three men a polite but shallow bow. "It is a pleasure to meet you, gentlemen."

  " Gokigenyo, Kuragawa-san," Damien said. T.J. and Ted stared again, but Kate seemed unfazed.

  With a surprised smile, Kuragawa responded in his native tongue, but Damien merely looked embarrassed.

  "Sorry, that's about all I could learn on the trip over."

  "Nevertheless, your graciousness honors us." Kuragawa waved them into the touring car. "Please. You must be anxious to reach your hotel. You will have one night to enjoy our hospitality before your train leaves tomorrow."

  On their journey into the city, Kuragawa acted as tour guide, pointing out the various buildings they passed and explaining which businesses they housed, which the boys, having never been to the Far East before, could barely fathom without help. Kate gazed out at the passing scenery with the air of a woman who had returned from a long time away to find nothing changed, and everything different.

  At their hotel, they were guided through an abbreviated check-in process by the manager, a small, precise man whose English was, if anything, better than Kuragawa's. He personally led them to the top floor, where adjoining suites had been prepared for them.

  Kate turned to the manager in some confusion. "Thank you, this is all very grand, but these are not the rooms I arranged for."

  The manager smiled and bowed slightly. "I am very sorry, Miss Reinhold, but the rooms you requested were not available. We hope that these will meet your needs."

  Kate took another look around and assured him that, yes, these rooms would more than meet their needs. He bowed again and backed out, closing the doors behind him with a soft click.

  "I will leave you, then, Miss Reinhold, gentlemen," Captain Kuragawa said. "If you need anything, I will be remaining in the lobby. You may simply call down for me, or if you would like to go out, anywhere at all, please let me know and I will see to it." With a military grace that matched the manager's, he let himself out.

  "All right," T.J. blurted, pointing at Damien. "You speaking Japanese, that I get. I bet you got Kate to teach you. But you--!" He pointed at Kate like she was the butler in a bad mystery movie, and sputtered to a halt.

  Ted nodded. "Yeah, Kate, who died and made you Queen?"

  She smirked. "Funny you should ask. Actually, it's not surprising. This is the kind of treatment you get…when you visit Japan as a guest of the Emperor."

  Chapter Fourteen

  Down Memory Lane

  Waving away all of their questions, Kate pushed the boys out of her suite.

  "You need to get freshened up, and I mean freshened up. We've only got one night here, and we're going to see some of the town. The Japanese are very fastidious people. I don't want them complaining about the stinking gaijin after we leave. We are VIPs here, if you hadn't noticed, and I want to make a good impression on behalf of the USA. So clean yourselves up, and be back here in an hour. Then I'll tell you the story before we go out, so you know enough not to embarrass yourselves."

  Exactly sixty minutes later, Damien knocked on Kate's door. She let them all in, inspecting each as he passed by, and allowing that they had followed her instructions adequately. They sat down in three of the room's plentiful chairs and awaited her belated explanation.

  "As you know, I spent some months in Japan as a child when my father was posted here. Eric was already going to school in the States, and to be honest things hadn't been as good between them since my father married my mother, so I was alone. My father had his duties as ambassador, and a great many of them seemed to pull my mother in, too, so for a lot of my childhood I was cared for by nannies.

  "My parents could have employed someone to accompany us; the government would have covered it, I think, but my father had other ideas. Wherever we went, if it was at all practical, he hired local women to watch me. One of the results, of course, was that I learned all their languages. I seemed to have a talent for it, in fact, which worked out very well. In addition, however, he--and my mother--wanted me to learn as much as I could about local customs. Eventually, I was going to be old enough to be seen with them in public while they were working, and they wanted me to be comfortable wherever I went and not act…well, not act like a child.

  "But when we found we were going to be in Japan for some time, my father decided that he wanted me to do more than learn the local customs--since we were in the Orient, he thought it wouldn't hurt me to learn some martial arts." She shrugged self-consciously. "Turns out I had a knack for that, too. Which is a good thing, because now I know why my father got me started on it. All of which brings me to today.

  "After we had been here a few weeks, my father was summoned to meet the Emperor. This was an extremely big deal, and I don't know how he fixed it--or if somebody higher up did. Anyway, not only was he summoned, but my mother, as well. And at the last minute, the word came down that the Emperor wanted to meet me, too. Heaven only knows why--or I suppose I should say, Son of Heaven only knows why, since that’s his title, but he said it, and what he says, goes. My father was in a panic, but what could he do? So I toddled off with my parents to meet one of the most important men in the world.

  "By the time we got to the audience chamber, I was bored and hungry, but I was my father's daughter, as well. We were all presented, and--then I said something. I spoke in the presence of the Emperor without being spoken to. I thought my father was going to die on the spot. A hundred years ago, he would have--and so would I. But they got us out of there, and nobody died, and I was hustled back to the embassy like there was no tomorrow.

  "Of course my father was a wreck, and my mother spent the entire evening assuring me that I hadn't done anything wrong, even though I knew Daddy was upset and I was pretty sure I had something to do with it. Then, the next day, an Imperial courier showed up at the embassy with a letter for my father. As it happened, I had spoken in Japanese. It turned out that the Emperor had been so impressed with this little blonde girl who spoke such wonderful Japanese that he decreed that for the remainder of my lifetime, should I ever again set foot in Japan, I would be treated as a personal guest of His Majesty."

  They sat in silence for a few moments, allowing this to sink in.

  As usual, T.J. broke the spell. "So all of these people--those guys at Customs--they're all treating you like royalty because you really are royalty?"

  Kate rolled her eyes. "No, I am not royalty. I'm just the guest of royalty. But I received a wireless message on the way over that the Emperor had learned I was coming--more likely someone on his staff--and that someone would be waiting to meet us at the terminal. And this morning, I got a note that nobody would be asking me anything about the man who went overboard. As far as the local authorities were concerned, it was not an issue. So I knew we'd be able to sail through Customs." She stood. "We s
hould go. There's a lot to see."

  "One second," Ted interposed. "Why did your father wanted you to learn martial arts?"

  "Oh. Right. That." Kate glanced around the room. "Move in closer." They did, huddling until their heads were almost touching. Even then, she only whispered. "I shouldn't tell you, because it's a secret, but since you've come all this way and you're going to Quanyu to find him, you deserve to know. My father wanted me to be able to protect myself in case I ever got into a dangerous situation. You see, my father's not really an ambassador--he's a spy."

  Chapter Fifteen

  Across the Steppes

  The next morning, with T.J. moaning piteously, they rose early and had their bags packed into a hired car. Kuragawa was nowhere to be seen, so Katherine hurried through check-out while they others waited in the car. Not until she had given the driver instructions and they were several blocks away from their hotel did she relax.

  "I was worried we were going to have to explain our departure to him. For all I know, the Emperor had plans to summon me to the palace or some such, and that would have cost us no end of time."

  They kept quiet after that; although it might have seemed paranoid, they had no idea if their driver spoke English--nor even if he might be working for Kuragawa. At this hour, however, their trip to the airfield was quick and without interruption.

  "That's our plane." Kate pointed to a ship already warming up on the tarmac. "I told them to be ready for us."

  "You make it sound like we're taking it on the lam," T.J. said.

  "Japan makes me nervous right now," she replied. "Normally, I wouldn't be--normally I'd wish we could spend more time here. But right now, they're at war, and in a country at war, anything can happen."

  "Which is precisely why you need me to accompany you," interrupted a silky voice. They all spun around to see Captain Kuragawa emerge from behind a hangar.

  "Accompany us?" Ted asked. "This is our plane. I don't remember inviting you along."