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That day, it had been raining since morning as always, and didn’t show signs of letting up even after nightfall. It was an unpleasant, depressing kind of rain.
Yuto was reading a book that he had borrowed from Corvus’ room when he heard a knock at the door. Before he could answer, the door opened and Ricky showed his face.
“Corvus wants you. Follow me.”
What could Corvus want at this late hour? Yuto was perplexed, but knew it was useless to ask Ricky anything about it. Corvus’ men were trained well, and refused to speak a word no matter what he asked them.
“Here he is,” said Ricky to Corvus. “Should I cuff him?”
“No need. It’ll be over soon.”
Corvus was sitting at a small desk in a corner of the room, typing something on a laptop. Yuto approached Corvus once Ricky left.
He peered at the screen which was displaying an article from a news site. It appeared to be about the summit, reporting on the leaders of each country as they arrived in New York one after another.
“You have internet access here?” Yuto asked.
“I can access it through satellites if I use this small antenna here. It’s a lot faster than connecting through a satellite phone. —Yuto, we’ll be leaving tomorrow morning,” Corvus said casually. Yuto felt his whole body tense up.
“I’ll only be taking Ricky and Brian along. We’ll fly into New York pretending to be tourists. Two days from now, around this time, America – no, the world – will be probably be in chaos.”
Yuto watched the back of Corvus’ head, a sinister thought crossing his mind. If he could kill Corvus right here, right now, would he be able to prevent the bombing from happening? Would he be able to save countless innocent lives?
“Give up, Yuto. You won’t be able to kill me.”
Yuto felt violently shaken at Corvus seeming to read his thoughts. Corvus turned to him and smiled.
“Unfortunately for you, I’m pretty sensitive to murderous intent. I feel an unpleasant prickly feeling on my skin when someone has animosity toward me. —Strangely, though, I never felt anything from Dick. I wonder what kind of training he underwent in the CIA.”
“He’s not CIA,” Yuto said wearily. “Dick used to be in the Delta Force of the Army.”
“I see. I figured he must have been in some form of military, but I didn’t expect him to be in the Delta.  I wonder why he joined the CIA? Do you know why, Yuto?” Corvus asked innocently.
Yuto had never felt more hatred for the man in his life. Corvus knew none of the suffering that Dick had gone through. He probably had no inkling that he was the one who had taken the lives of Dick’s precious comrades and lover.
“When White Heaven holed up with a hostage in a mountain cabin in South Carolina, the Delta Force were called in to defuse the situation. Dick’s team was sent to the site.”
“Really? Is that true?” Even Corvus seemed unable to hide his astonishment.
“All of Dick’s teammates were killed from the bomb you set. Dick later joined the CIA as the lone survivor of that unit. Do you know why? It’s because the CIA gave him permission to assassinate you. Dick voluntarily allowed himself to be painted as a criminal so he could infiltrate Schelger Prison and kill you.”
“Outstanding
”
“What?”
“I said it was outstanding. Basically you’re saying that Dick got close with me and pretended to be my friend, while aching to kill me the whole time, right? But not once did I ever get a whiff of murderous intent from him. He deserves to be praised for his sheer willpower. As I thought, Dick is every bit the man I thought he was. It’s really a shame that I wasn’t able to get him to join me.”
As he watched Corvus talk excitedly with glowing eyes, Yuto felt a sort of sadness more close to pity than anger. Corvus was not a normal human being. The fact was now crystal clear.
Corvus was not only lacking in consideration for others; he was incapable of even imagining the deep sadness, the feeling of being torn to shreds when losing someone you love. It wasn’t that his sensibilities were undeveloped; that part of him was simply missing completely.
“Thanks to you, everything makes sense now,” Corvus said. “I always wondered about Dick’s eyes, how they were filled with hatred. I see. He was hell-bent on revenge.”
Corvus appeared to feel no emotion toward the fact that he had killed Dick’s teammates. He was only glad to know the reason behind Dick’s obsession.
It was a waste to lecture someone like Corvus that human life was more precious than anything else. His senses toward death had been dulled. Corvus would probably never understand, no matter how many times it was explained to him. It was like lecturing a lion about why he should not kill his prey.
“I knew that Dick was following me closely even after getting out of prison. He sent me a message.”
“A message? How?”
“He killed one of mine. A guy who was in charge of selling cocaine in LA. To be honest, his counterattack cause quite a bit of damage for us. He was the highest earner in our organization, after all.”
Yuto pursed his lips as his theory was confirmed. Dick had killed Jim Faber, the big-time drug dealer of LA.
“Dick is probably still in a hospital bed right now, but as long as I have you captured, he’ll keep coming after me, no matter what. To the ends of the earth if he has to. I’m excited for three of us to get together again, aren’t you?”
Corvus clapped his hands like a gleeful child. For him, perhaps everything really was just a game. Murdering people, being pursued by the police, and being the target of Dick’s hatred.
“—Yuto, what’s wrong? You look like you’re about to cry. Were you remembering Dick?”
Yuto quietly shook his head.
“I was thinking about you. —Corvus, I feel very sorry for you.”
Corvus went silent for a moment before his lips twitched into a smile.
“You pity me, huh? That’s nice to hear. So you are my friend, after all.”
Once he began to feel compassion for the man in front of him, Yuto was suddenly struck by the idea that perhaps Corvus and Dick were similar. Although their appearances and personalities were starkly different, they had many other things in common.
Both knew nothing of their parents, and were raised at the hands of strangers without knowing love. They grew up to be professionals at battle, and had survived this far by devoting themselves to their bloodstained world.
An unfortunate upbringing. Living through battle. Deep loneliness. Although they stood on opposite sides as enemies, the two were almost like two poles of a magnet, being drawn to each other despite resistance.
As Yuto battled with his conflicted feelings, Corvus’ computer sounded a jarringly cheerful melody.
“Manning’s calling.”
Corvus put on a headset and tapped a key, which booted some type of software and displayed a grainy video. Bill Manning was the person on the other end. Apparently they were on a video call.
“Hey, Willy. How’s it going?” Corvus asked cheerfully.
“Not bad,” said Manning, looking disgruntled.
“It’s such a surprise to hear from you. I thought you were finished with me.”
“—Corvus, this is my last warning to you,” Manning said sharply. “Abort that plan. It’s beyond foolish to target the summit reception. Nobody will benefit from your stunt.”
“You’re right. But I don’t care. I’ve always wanted to orchestrate this type of thing – a large-scale massacre for no one’s benefit. Just pure murder. I’m leaving your control and carrying out the bombing of my own will. This act is for me and for me only.”
“Reconsider. It’s for your own good.”
“Hey, Willy,” Corvus murmured quietly, pressing his fingertip against Manning’s image on the screen. “I thought about this in prison a lot: what was my life for? I’ve always lived according to your wishes. My sole source of happiness was being praised by you. But you betrayed me. You tried to throw me out like a piece of trash, just like all the other guys you’ve disposed of. You always told me that I was special, that I was like a son to you. Why won’t you stay with me until the end?”
“I haven’t betrayed you,” Manning said with a gentle smile. “You are my son. So I don’t want you to cast a shadow on the path I’m about to go down. You’ve worked so hard. It’s time for you to lead a peaceful life. How about becoming an instructor at MSC again?”
“I can’t.” Corvus shook his head firmly to Manning’s attempt to appease him. “I’m not made to live in peace. The smell of burnt explosives, the smell of blood keeps me sane. I was your shadow. The more I dirtied my hands, the more satisfied I felt. I’m a bloodthirsty beast. You raised me that way. And if you’re going to stop feeding me, I’ll have to stop being your shadow.”
Manning’s shadow had cut itself away from its host and was now acting of its own volition. Once separated, the shadow would never obey the orders of its host again.
“I’m beyond disappointed in you. I thought you were more sensible than that.”
“Sorry, Daddy. I wish I could have been your good boy, too. It’s very sad.”
Corvus hung up first. He called Ricky and ordered him to take Yuto away. Just as Yuto was about to leave, Corvus muttered something as if to himself.
“I wonder how Micky’s doing.”
Yuto was taken aback to hear a name he had not been expecting. Micky was Corvus’ former cellmate at Schelger Prison, a man with a sunny disposition. He trusted and respected Corvus wholeheartedly – or at least the role of Nathan that Corvus was playing.
“If I remember correctly, he was transferred to San Quentin Prison after the riot.”
“I see. I’m sure he would do well wherever he goes.” Corvus continued to speak quietly, looking outside the window. “I enjoyed life there. Those were the most peaceful times of my whole life. I don’t know why, but I’ve been feeling a deep nostalgia for Schelger Prison these past few days.”
Yuto didn’t know how to answer. He gazed silently at Corvus’ back. Corvus appeared not to expect an answer, as he gestured at Ricky for them to leave.
After being brought back to his room, Yuto stopped Ricky on his way out.
“Ricky, I heard from Corvus that you grew up here, too.”
Ricky turned to look at him as if to say, “So what?”
“Don’t you find what Corvus is doing questionable?”
For the first time ever, Ricky answered his question. His young face showed no hint of hesitation or uncertainty.
“No. All of us here have given our lives to Corvus. We’re alive thanks to him. That’s why our lives belong to him.”
Where did this blind trust come from? Yuto could only guess that there was a special bond between them that he was simply unable to understand.
Once Ricky left and Yuto was alone, he became restless from mounting panic. If things proceeded according to Corvus’ plan, a mountain of corpses would litter the extravagant party venue.
He wanted to count on Manning to intervene, but if the man went public, he ran the risk of being questioned by society about why he knew about terror attack beforehand. If he was only concerned with protecting himself, it was very well possible that he would turn a blind eye.
Now that it had come to this, the only option left to Yuto was to sneak into Corvus’ room and steal his satellite phone. If he could get in touch with either Rob or Heiden, he could get the FBI on the case. But the question was how he could get the phone. Ricky was outside his door, armed with a machine gun.
Yuto’s guard had been reduced from two men to one for a while now, owing to his obedient behaviour. Perhaps he could handle Ricky alone. If he asked for his shackles to be taken off to go to the bathroom, he would at least have use of one hand. He would run into the bathroom pretending to be ill, and lure Ricky inside. If he body-checked Ricky inside the cramped space, he would be able to pin the man against the wall and restrict his movements. Then, he would steal the machine gun from him while his guard was down.
Realistically speaking, Yuto’s chances of success were slim. He was going up against a military man who trained regularly to keep himself in top shape. If he messed up, he could get shot. But this was the only way.
Yuto looked up at the clock on the wall. He would begin the mission at three o’clock, when all the men would be asleep apart from those on guard duty.
He had two hours and twenty-five minutes.
Yuto lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. Alternating waves of anxiety and fear flooded his tense mind. He told himself to keep his mind empty, but his attempts were fruitless.
If he died, who would mourn him? As he wandered along this train of thought, the faces of those he loved naturally rose in his mind.
His stepmother Leti. Adorable Lupita. Reliable Paco. Rob, who had shown him sympathy and helped him with his investigation. And lastly, Dick.
Although he had vowed to return alive, some things were more important than his survival. No matter how terrifying it was, no matter how hard he trembled from fear, he had people and principles he needed to protect. It wasn’t for justice or his self-esteem. He needed to do it in order to remain himself.
As long as he had these feelings, he believed that the small flame in his heart would never go out.