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Continued from Chapter 12.
“You didn’t sleep last night, did you?” Rob said as he brought a piece of bacon to his mouth. They were eating breakfast in the hotel restaurant. “I saw you standing by the window at dawn. Did I keep you up because of what I said?”
“—I’m grateful for it, Rob,” Yuto said, putting down his coffee cup and smiling. “It’s a good opportunity, so I thought I would think long and hard about it.”
“Did you arrive at an answer?”
“Yeah. I managed to.”
“I see,” Rob nodded and continued his meal. He probably didn’t ask what the answer was because he already knew. There was something about Yuto that looked refreshed, like he had come to terms with something.
“Oh, right, I forgot to tell you. Yesterday, I talked with a friend who’s knowledgeable about the munitions industry. He told me that President Egan of Smith-Backs Company is the nephew of the president of General Mars. This was news to me, too, so I was surprised.”
“Keeping the management in the family, huh?”
“And to add to that, the daughter of the president of General Mars is Bill Manning’s wife.”
“You mean the vice-presidential candidate, Manning?”
“Yeah, and that’s not it. The Manning family is lining their pockets with their family business in the oil industry. They have deep ties with countries in the Middle East. Inevitably, they have ties to the munitions industry as well.”
It was widely rumoured that the munitions industry and oil capital were constant presences behind the government. The cozy relationship between the government and munitions corporations was a famous example. Many people pointed out that the bloated munitions conglomerates were the cause behind increased military interference by the United States in other countries.
Rob glanced around and made sure that there were no other customers close by before speaking.
“Yuto. I can’t help but think that White Heaven has ties of some sort with the government, though at this point, I have no idea what they might be. You know about the Iran-Contra affair, right?”
“Yeah, of course. The political scandal in the 1980s, right?”
The American government had been secretly selling weapons to Iran, its enemy in war at the time, and had been passing the proceeds to the Contras, an anti-government group, for them to buy weapons. The discovery of the arrangement had led to the scandal.
“America was supporting the anti-Communist Contras, but the CIA created the Contras in the first place. The CIA backed them fully and made them engage in guerilla activities, causing civil unrest. Outwardly, the American government puts on a show of declaring they will stamp out terrorism, but the CIA has always pulled the strings in every coup d’etat in Latin America. Terrorism is one of America’s specialties.”
Yuto lapsed into thought again as he listened to Rob. Rob wasn’t wrong. In the past, the United States had certainly interfered unjustly in the politics in Latin America. But White Heaven’s targets were domestic. It was hard to imagine that they had connections to a political conspiracy.
When Yuto voiced his thoughts, Rob gave him a sardonic smile.
“Have you heard of Operation Northwoods, proposed by the military and CIA in 1962? To justify a military invasion, the Operation proposed, among other things, to set off terror bombings in parts of America and make it seem like they were done by Cubans, or disguising a military aircraft as a civilian one, blowing it up, and announcing that we’d been attacked by Cubans. President Kennedy rejected this one and it never happened, but there are countless other examples of American setups. Take Pearl Harbour. America knew that the Japanese were going to attack, but they didn’t prevent it. At the time, America was unable to join the war because the majority of its citizens were against it. But after the attack on Pearl Harbour, societal opinion shifted greatly in favour of war.”
“That hasn’t been confirmed as fact,” Yuto said, taking a sip of his long-cold coffee, waiting for Rob’s next words.
“I don’t trust the American government at all. They’ll do anything to sway public opinion in their favour.”
“But if White Heaven is connected with the government, why is CIA trying to get rid of Corvus? CIA is supposed to be moving on government orders. It doesn’t make sense.”
“That’s the mystery. But one thing we know for sure is that White Heaven is not just any cult.”
Rob wrapped up the shady conversation as some people had come to occupy the table next to them.
Once they finished their meal and were about to leave the restaurant, Rob paused in front of a tapestry that was displayed by the entrance. It was stylishly-designed, with a constellation theme.
“This is a beautiful piece,” Rob said, engrossed. “I’ve wanted something like this for my room.”
“You like constellations?”
“Not in particular, but it’s kind of mystical and intriguing, is it not?”
As they exited into the hallway, Yuto recalled a childhood memory. His father had bought him a telescope, and he had gone through a phase of stargazing. At the time, he was constantly reading his constellation guide, and his interest even branched out to the Greek myths from which the constellations came.
When Yuto spoke about it to Rob, Rob agreed.
“Greek myths are really interesting, huh?” he said. “Come to think of it, the crow constellation is called Corvus, right? There was a story behind that.”
“Yeah. The crow was originally a beautiful bird with silver feathers, and could speak human language. But once it angered Apollo by telling a lie, and Apollo turns its feathers black and took his ability to speak from him. After that, he was nailed to the heavens as a warning to everyone else.”
“That’s it, that’s the one. The crow’s been hated ever since antiquity, huh?”
The crow constellation was one of the forty-eight constellations of Ptolemy, and its academic name was Corvus.
“I don’t know much about it because it’s such a minor constellation. What stars were in it?”
“I think the alpha star was called Alchiba, and it means ‘tent’ in Arabic—” Yuto answered without thinking, but was struck with a shock that felt like lightning at his own words. “It’s Alpha Corvi, Rob.”
“Huh? The alpha star is the brightest star in the constellation, right? What about it?”
“The Alpha that Corvus was talking about! He was talking about Alchiba!” Yuto said excitedly. Rob stared at him, nonplussed. Yuto couldn’t be bothered to explain, and instead grabbed Rob’s arm and began walking.
“Hey, where’re we going?”
“The computer room. It was on the first floor, right?”
Yuto burst into the computer room in a corner of the lobby, and sat down in front of a free computer. He tapped on the keyboard, searching for the Corvus constellation, and got a large number of hits. On one website, there was a photo of the constellation over an illustration depicting a crow.
“This is it.” Yuto printed out the picture on the printer and handed it to Rob. “Turn it on its side. It looks just like it, doesn’t it?”
When looked at as-is, Corvus’ head was at the bottom of the constellation, and it formed an oblong trapezoid. But when turned 90 degrees counter-clockwise, the constellation matched up with the locations of the bombing incidents.
“You’re right. It looks just like it. Let’s try comparing it with the map while we’re at it.”
Rob also couldn’t seem to contain his excitement at the discovery. They rushed back to their room to open the file and take out the map. They compared it with the constellation and saw that it was the exact same shape.
“You did it, Yuto! It’s an exact match. Epsilon Corvi is Michigan, Beta Corvi is Florida, Gamma Corvi is Montana, Delta Corvi is Utah, and Eta Corvi is Arizona. Corvus must have used the locations of the stars in the constellation to set his bombs.”
“Then, where’s the Alpha Corvi on this map? The last star?”
Rob compared the scales of the constellation with the map, and marked a spot on the map that correlated with the Alpha Corvi.
“Around here, I think.”
Yuto stared at the map speechlessly. It was the worst place one could imagine.
“Corvus’ next target is New York.”
The area that Rob had marked was in Manhattan.
“I can’t say for sure – I might be off by a little. But it’s a fitting place for the grand finale, isn’t it?”
Yuto felt a chill run down his spine as he remembered the mass of pipe bombs at the Japanese American National Museum. Manhattan was a sprawling city with the highest population density in the United States. The entire area was covered with skyscrapers, and it was said that 80% of New Yorkers worked in Manhattan. One could only imagine the scale of devastation if a large blast were to occur here.
“We have to go to the FBI headquarters immediately. We need to let Heiden know—”
Rob was interrupted by the hotel phone ringing. Yuto picked it up. It was the front desk, telling him that there was an external line for Rob.
Rob answered the phone. He looked concerned as he interjected with the occasional “mm-hmm” to the person on the other line.
“Alright. I’ll be waiting in front of the hotel.”
After hanging up the phone, Rob threw a perplexed look at Yuto.
“Who was it?” Yuto asked.
“President Egan’s secretary. He says the president wants to talk to us about something, and wants us to come to his hotel. They told us they’re sending a car to pick us up.”
“What could it be? His attitude yesterday certainly said he’d had enough of us.”
“Well, let’s go and find out. No harm in talking to him again.”
Yuto and Rob left their room a few minutes later. As they waited at the driveway in front of the hotel, a man in a black suit approached them. A trench coat was draped over his arm, even though the weather was far from chilly.
“Dr. Connors?” the man asked. He was tall, with a hooked nose. Rob nodded. The man claimed to be from Smith-Backs Company, and led the two men to the street.
“My apologies. I missed my turn. The car is parked a little ways away.”
The man was courteous, but he struck Yuto as phony. He was picking up clients on the president’s orders, yet was making them walk. The normal thing to do would be to U-turn somewhere, bring the car back, and park it in front of the hotel.
“It’s that car,” said the man, pointing at a black sedan that was parked with its hazards flashing. There was another man in the driver’s seat. Yuto felt his sense of foreboding grow even stronger.
“Please,” said the man, opening the rear door and gesturing them to get in. As Rob prepared to get in without a single suspicion, Yuto found himself blurting out.
“Rob, don’t get in!”
“What?”
“We forgot something back at the hotel. Can you wait for a minute?” Yuto grabbed Rob’s arm and pulled him back, and the man’s expression changed instantly. His amiable smile vanished as he glared at them fiercely.
“You’re not going back to the hotel. Shut up and get on.”
“Hey,” Rob grimaced at the man’s commanding tone. “That’s a little rude, don’t you—” Then he froze. The man flashed the muzzle of a gun from beneath the trench coat draped over his arm.
“Get the fuck in the car. Try anything funny, and I’ll shoot.”
Yuto raised his hands in the air. “I get it, I get it,” he said. “We’ll get in the car. Just don’t point that thing at us.”
Yuto hastily made for the car, pretending to be frightened. But it was all an act. As he bent over slightly to get in, he slipped his hand inside his jacket.
Yuto swiftly pulled his SIG Sauer P226 from his shoulder holster and spun around, pressing the muzzle squarely over the man’s heart.
The man gulped, his expression tense as the gun dug into his chest. Yuto dug the muzzle in harder and used his left hand to swipe the handgun from under the man’s trench coat. He jammed the handgun in his belt and interrogated the man sharply.
“Who sent you? Egan?”
The man’s lips were pursed tightly shut even as he went pale. Just then, Rob looked at the driver’s seat and shouted.
“Watch out!”
The driver had pulled the trigger at Yuto. Yuto managed to get down on the ground to avoid the bullet, but ended up letting the man escape into the vehicle. He evidently had a backup gun, which he pulled out and began firing successively at Yuto and Rob from the back seat.
Gunshots rang out, and the passersby screamed as they curled up on the spot. Starting a shootout here would end up bringing innocent people into the fray.
Yuto grabbed Rob’s arm and started running. The car’s tires screeched as it gave chase to them.
“Yuto, they’re gonna catch up! We should take cover indoor somewhere.”
“No. We’re only going to corner ourselves that way.”
They were approaching an intersection. Just as they made to dash across it, a white sedan flew into their path and came to a sudden stop on the sidewalk.
They had backup, Yuto thought in frustration. The driver’s side window rolled down to reveal a man in dark sunglasses.
“Get on,” he yelled at them.
Yuto could only watch wide-eyed at the appearance of the man he least expected.
“Dick…?”
“What’re you waiting for, Yuto? Hurry up!”
There was no mistaking him. It was Dick. Yuto snapped out of it and opened the rear door, pushing Rob into the car. As soon as Yuto crawled in and shut the door behind him, Dick floored the gas and began tearing through the streets at an astonishing speed.
“They’re coming after us!” Rob yelled, looking behind them. The black sedan was tailing them ferociously, blowing through red lights. The man in the passenger’s seat leaned out of the window.
As soon as Yuto saw that, he body-checked Rob to get him down. A split second later, there was a loud bang, and cracks formed a spider web as they spread across the rear window.
“So they’re serious about it,” Dick muttered disdainfully, accelerating harder. As he weaved from lane to lane, driving dangerously at high speeds, the cars around them honked at them indignantly.
“Hold on tight. Once we lose them, I’ll drive you back to the FBI.”
“Dick, watch out in front of you!” Yuto yelled, aghast. They were approaching an intersection where the lights had just turned red, but a tractor trailer was pulling in from the right side, squarely in their path.
“We’re gonna crash!” Rob shouted. The truck was taking up the entire intersection, and was only getting closer.
There wasn’t enough time to dodge it.
Yuto clutched the seat in front of him, bracing for impact. But rather than stepping on the brakes, Dick stepped on the gas and veered to get in front of the trailer. Yuto and Rob tumbled from side to side in the back seat like ragdolls.
Dick managed to cross the intersection, beating the tractor trailer by a hair. It was nothing short of miraculous.
“…Phew,” Rob sighed in relief. They turned around to see the intersection in chaos, with not only the truck but other cars that had been involved in the pile-up.
By the looks of it, none of those cars would be able to get anywhere for a while. The black sedan was also obscured by the truck. Surely they were gnashing their teeth in frustration, unable to move forward nor back.
“Looks like we made it,” Dick said, finally reducing his speed. Rob shook his head.
“I didn’t think I’d get to experience a car chase in DC,” he muttered.
“Dick, what were you doing there?”
They had been saved thanks to Dick being on the scene, but the timing seemed too convenient to be true.
“I was actually tailing that black sedan. I didn’t think it was after you guys, though.”
“Are those guys from Smith-Backs Company? That’s what they said.”
“I wouldn’t think they’re entirely unrelated,” Dick said vaguely. “But Egan wasn’t the one who put the hit on you. He doesn’t have the balls.”
The car pulled up to FBI headquarters. Yuto and Rob got out of the car.
“Thanks, Dick.”
Dick kept one hand on the steering wheel and took off his sunglasses.
As their eyes met, Yuto remembered what happened last night and felt overcome by emotion. But he wasn’t about to let those feelings show.
“Be careful,” he said.
“You, too. The more you try to cast light on the darkness where Corvus lurks, the more dangerous it’s going to get.”
Yuto nodded and looked Dick straight in the eye.
“Dick, there’s something I want to tell you.” He needed to put it into words. Now was the only chance.
“What?”
“I’m going to find Corvus before you do. I’m not going to let you kill him. I’ll arrest him first so he can be punished under the full extent of the law.”
Yuto had uncertainties about saying these words to Dick. His statement could easily be interpreted as a declaration of war. But Yuto had made up his mind. He was going to catch Corvus, not to be at odds with Dick, but because he cared about him. He wasn’t going to let Dick dirty his hands with Corvus’ blood.
From here on out, he was going to abandon all personal sentiment and chase after Corvus purely as an agent.
“You should follow the path that you believe in.”
Dick’s eyes were devoid of anger. Nor did they harbour any sadness or irritation. There was nothing,
His unwavering blue eyes were like lakes at the very end of the world. The small rock that Yuto had thrown was sucked into their depths without causing so much a ripple.
Perhaps Dick had made up his mind, just as Yuto had taken a whole night to arrive at his answer.
“I was always afraid of you,” Dick said. “You’re the only one who makes me feel uncertain about myself. You make me waver in my decisions. But now, I’m finally free from it. I’ll go down my own path, just as you’ll go down yours.”
“Dick…”
The thread that connected them had been broken once at Schelger Prison, but by coincidence, was connected once again in this city 2,800 miles away. And now, that knot was about to unravel once more.
But this was something that they had decided. No one was forcing them. They were choosing to part of their own wills.
Yuto spoke to Dick in his heart.
If you’re in the midst of a lonely battle, then I’ll dive into the loneliness with you. If you’ve chosen to chase Corvus as if possessed by his curse, I’ll chase Corvus as if in prayer. Even if it means you’ll hate me.
“Yuto, listen to me,” Dick said, speaking quickly as he disengaged the parking brake. “Move carefully. Take one wrong step, and you’ll end up six feet under before you have a chance to lure Corvus out. They don’t care if you guys are FBI, and they’re not going to play nice because of it.”
Yuto couldn’t help but follow up with Dick’s warning.
“They? You mean Smith-Backs Company?”
“No,” Dick said, shaking his head. He put his sunglasses back on. “Your real enemy is the monster in the White House.”
The White House?
Just as Yuto fell speechless, Dick floored the gas and peeled out.
“Dick…!”
As he watched, the car grew smaller and smaller in the distance. Yuto could only stand there dumbfounded as the white sedan drove away.
Afterword
Hello everyone, this is Aida. This is my second book from Chara Bunko.
This is a continuation of Deadlock, released in September of last year. If you haven’t read the previous book yet, please have a look and read about how Yuto and Dick met.
The previous book was set in a prison. I have a thing for prison settings, so I enjoyed writing it very much, but I was very worried about whether readers would be as receptive.
However, readers were very open and accepting, and I received many letters telling me how much they enjoyed the book. “What a relief!” I sobbed in happiness, and riding that high, I went out and rented some prison movies that I’d been eyeing. “I knew it, prison movies are the best!” I said as I watched them, tears of emotion streaming down my face. And that’s how I went on to write the next book.
Enough about my love for prisons. The spotlight for this book was Dick’s long-time wish – making love on a clean bed. Dick Burnford (alias), a man who orders pizza for sex….
Also appearing in this book is Neto, who had a passionate following from the previous book. I had a lot of requests asking for him to appear, so he made a cameo. As always, he can’t help but be indulgent to Yuto. He ended up more like a worry-wart father of a young girl rather than a friend.
Rob, a new character, is in a bit of an awkward spot (laugh). However, despite his flippant attitude, he is quite reliable in bringing the investigation forward, so I think he will continue to support Yuto in the next book, too.
Yu Takashina handled the illustrations for this volume as well. Thank you for another wonderful cover! Yuto doing his sexy pose (?) and Dick in a suit with glasses. They’re both so handsome, it makes me swoon. Words cannot describe how much your wonderful illustrations have helped my books. Thank you so much. I look forward to your works in my next book as well.
To my editor, M, I feel nothing but apologetic for causing you trouble yet again. Despite the terrible situation, you always encouraged me and said, “Let’s make this an excellent work.” Thanks to that, I was able to write to the end without losing motivation. Thank you.
A few words regarding the title of this volume, Deadheat. In Japan, the word is often used to describe a heated race, or a close fight. However, its original meaning is different; in English, apparently it is used more to describe a draw or a tie, a match where the winner is undecided. I feel like the latter meaning fits this work better.
The CIA and FBI – one tries to kill, while the other tries to arrest. Yuto and Dick have drifted apart again as they choose their own paths. In the third volume, the story will come to an end.
As they chase after Corvus, how will their relationship end up? I hope you will stick around to find out.