9 Investigation

The whole day, Kei's thoughts are filled with Sam. He hasn't been able to concentrate on anything he was doing. He also couldn't come to terms with his behavior earlier. It was strange. He tries to convince himself that he was just worried about an old friend. But his emotions were too intense for it to be a simple worry.

'I should be more careful in the future.'

"What's wrong?" Candy hands him another drink. He takes it and gulps it down at once. "Wow, something must really bother you. I'll make you feel better, baby."

She gently saddles him and starts nibbling his jaw and then his neck. She unbuttons his shirt and kisses his chest. But as soon as she touches his belt, he puts his hand on hers to stop her.

'What the hell is wrong with me?'

"I'm not feeling it tonight. I will call you."

Candy slides over as Kei grabs the bottle of his expensive whiskey and pours himself a generous glass. He walks to the window overlooking the night lights of Tokyo and rests his forehead on the cold glass.

"Why are you back, Sam?"

Kei spends the night tossing and turning, haunted by Sam's face, her voice, her smell. When his phone rings in the morning, he feels like he has only slept for an hour. But it is already 8:10.

"Hello?"

"Sir, we found a suspicious person from the CCTV videos, we caught him and I thought you might want to be the one to interrogate him."

He jumps from his bed immediately. "Great work Matsumoto. I will be on my way in a few minutes. Text me your location."

"Right away, sir."

Kei drives to the address his chief of security sent him. An old and unused warehouse still owned by the company. 'Perfect.'

He enters the place and finds a guy sitting on a chair, surrounded by his men. He looks a little roughed up. Kei glances at Matsumoto with a raised eyebrow.

"He tried to run, sir." He shrugs. "Sorry."

Kei grabs a nearby chair and drags it across the floor. The screeching of the metal legs against the concrete echo in every corner of the empty warehouse. He sits in front of the scared man and stares at him for a bit.

"What's your name?"

"Amari, sir. Takumi Amari."

"Do you know who I am?" The man nods. "Then you will answer my questions, right?"

The man nods again, frantically. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Who hired you to start the fire in my warehouse?"

The man looks down. He looks terrified. "Sir, they will kill me if I tell you. I just needed the money for my boy's surgery. I am truly sorry."

The mention of the man's son makes Kei think of his own for a second. It softens him a little.

"Mr Amari, I promise you that nothing will happen to you or your family. But you need to tell me everything."

The man nods in surrender. "I have never seen the man before, he said his name was Hayashi. He provided the address and the gasoline and told me when to do it. Then we met after the fire and he gave me the money."

"I doubt that is his real name." Kei looks at his chief of security who agrees. "Do you remember anything else about this guy?"

"Not really. I thought he was pretty tall…" Amari stops for a second as if he just remembered something. "Oh, he had a tattoo behind his ear. It was... some kind of bird."

Kei looks back at Matsumoto and the message passes between the two. If what they're thinking is correct, then there will be way more trouble than they had anticipated.

"Matsumoto, please take care of Mr Amari and his family."

"Yes, sir."

Kei leaves the place and drives to his company. He spends his day catching up on the meetings he missed the day before and keeping up with today's tasks. He finally gets a break in the late afternoon and he uses this chance to call an old friend.

"Hello?"

"Hey Daisuke, it's Kei."

"I think I must be hallucinating. Is the king really calling me right now?"

Kei Chuckles. "Don't call me that, jerk."

"Damn, it is really you."

"How are you, brother?" Kei asks. They haven't been in contact for a couple of years, but their brotherhood is forever.

"I'm great. It has been awhile. How are things with you?"

"Things are alright. You know how it is, you are successful and all, all of a sudden, everyone tries to take a piece of your pie."

"Anything I can help with?" Daisuke has always been good at reading people and determining their needs.

"Actually, there is something. Something that we can't discuss over the phone. So, how about you join us on Thursday, for my birthday party? We can talk comfortably at my house."

"Are you sure you want me there?"

"Of course. And don't worry, it is going to be family and friends only, so no press."

"Alright then." Daisuke is silent for a few seconds. "Want me to bring you a birthday gift?"

Kei bursts out laughing. "No. Last time you gave me a gift, we almost spent the night in jail."

"That was a long time ago, I was thinking about a nice watch."

"Yeah, right. I am sure that's code for some atrocity." They both laugh,

"Fine, I won't get you anything. I will see you on Thursday."

"See you, then."

Kei can finally relax a bit. He knows that with the help of his old friend, they will figure out who's behind the fire.

'And then, I will burn the bastards responsible with my own two hands.'