Broken Storm Part One (6 page)

I
t was when Keiko came back from work, her
shoulders and arm tired from serving trays all night long, that she got a call
from her grandmother.

Her grandmother hardly ever called. Phones and any
kind of technology went against everything Ami had ever believed in.

'Two men came to see me,' her grandmother snapped
immediately, without even a hello.

Keiko, caught off guard, pressed her mobile into
her ear as she walked for her room, closing the door gently behind her.

‘Sorry, grandmother?' she asked politely,
completely confused.

'Two men came to see me. They asked about you. They
wanted your picture.'

Alarm rising through her, Keiko paused, halfway
through removing her shoes. The fingers tightened over the buckles as she
practically flopped on the bed behind her. ‘What are you talking about,
grandma?' her voice was high and tight.

'Today. A man, calling himself Chase Harlow came to
see me. He wanted your picture,' she said in broken English, her accent peaking
around her hastily-said and slurred words.

Keiko actually gave a shake. 'He what?' her voice was
so high it was practically a shriek.

'He wanted Aiko, he wanted to see her, wanted a
picture,' her grandmother continued.

The alarm that had built up within Keiko gradually
subsided as she closed her eyes and briefly shook her head. Her grandmother sometimes
got confused.

‘He wanted your picture,' her grandmother repeated.

‘You mean he wanted a picture of
Aiko
,'
Keiko said softly.

'I know what I said,' her grandmother answered, her
tone quick.

'Just calm down, grandma, what happened?’ Keiko
pulled her legs up, tucking them neatly into her middle, bringing one hand
around and locking them in place as she still held the phone hard against her
ear.

'When he left, another man came in. I had to call
the nurses. He wanted a picture of you. I wouldn't give him a picture,' her
grandmother said, voice shaking now.

‘It's okay, grandma, it's okay.’ Keiko tried.

Except it wasn't okay. As she sat there, listening
to her grandmother's harsh and rapid breath, a mix of emotion swirled around in
Keiko. Alarm, yes, but anger to.

That man, Chase Harlow, had gone behind Keiko's
back, found out where her grandmother was, and had gone to see her.

Keiko didn't care if he was rich and handsome, that
was a terrible thing to do.

Curling her fingers into her palms and digging her
fingernails into the flesh, she told her grandmother it would be okay several
more times.

But the woman was beside herself. Scared, for some
reason, her English kept on dropping out and turning into Japanese halfway
through her sentences. Eventually Keiko had to hang up, call the nursing home,
get them to send a nurse to her grandmother's room, and then she sat there on
her bed, rocking back and forth as she breathed hard.

She didn't know what to do. A part of her wanted to
call the police, but she knew that technically Chase Harlow had committed no
crime.

‘What a jerk,’ she said. Then she gave a stuttering
laugh. Jerk did not begin to describe what he had just done. It wasn't just
creepy, it was borderline criminal. Tracking down an old woman, berating her,
then sending in one of his men afterwards – it sounded like organized crime,
the activities of a Mafioso, not the head of the country's largest Fortune 500
company.

It took Keiko a long time to calm down after that.
She called the nursing home several times to see how her grandmother was going,
and it wasn't until they confirmed that she had gone to sleep that Keiko
allowed herself to hop in the shower.

When the water was running down her face, dripping
down her hair, she kept on balling up a fist and hitting it lightly against the
shower door.

He shouldn’t be allowed to get away with something
like that, she thought to herself.

Just because he was rich, didn't mean he could run
around doing exactly what he wanted, harassing old ladies, and creeping out
young women in the rain.

When Keiko got out of the shower, pulled on her
robe, and tucked her hair neatly into a towel, she came out to see Jenny
swanning around the kitchen with an enormous bunch of flowers in her hand.

'What's wrong with you?’ Jenny asked her as she
nodded her way. 'You haven’t lost your job or something, have you? You look
terrible.’

Keiko shook her head. ‘I'm fine,' she lied as she
tugged at the ties of her dressing gown. ‘Who sent you those flowers?'

Jenny's eyes twinkled, her cheeks tweaking up into
the strangest of smiles. 'Don't you mean who sent
you
these flowers?'

Keiko faulted. The flowers were incredible. They
looked incredibly expensive too. They were lilies and roses and irises and all
of Keiko's favorites, and considering it was winter, they’d probably been
brought in from another state.

No one ever sent her flowers, and no one ever spent
that much money on her.

Before she could get caught up in the idea that she
had a secret admirer, she frowned.

There was one man she knew who could afford flowers
like that.

'You have to tell me, you really honestly have to
tell me, why
Chase Harlow
has sent you these,' Jenny said, her voice
shaking with excitement as she brandished the flowers like a sword, several of
the petals falling off to the floor lightly by her feet.

Keiko didn't suddenly jump forward, grab the
flowers up, and dance around on the spot like a girly girl should.

Instead she crossed her arms and frowned. 'Was
there a letter with them? A package? Any documents?'

Jenny looked at her askance. 'What exactly have you
been getting up to with Mister Chase Harlow? Did those lacy white knickers pay off?'
Jenny squealed at the mere thought of it.

Keiko didn't join in. 'I'm serious, was there a
package?'

'There wasn't a package.' Jenny narrowed her eyes,
brought the flowers up, smelt them, batted at her face coquettishly, then
handed them to Keiko.

Keiko ignored them though. ‘There's not a letter
with them, is there?

‘You know, for a girl who is getting incredible
flowers from the country's richest and most eligible bachelor, you look sour as
hell. What's up?’

Keiko still didn't answer. She walked over to the
flowers, checked them, and finally pulled out a card.

She opened it, and tracing her fingers over Chase’s
terrible handwriting, she frowned even deeper.

The card read, 'thank you for the documents, if I
can't compensate you, at least I can get you flowers.'

'Are you sure there wasn't a package with these?' Keiko
closed the card and looked up at Jenny sharply.

She shrugged her shoulders. 'A courier brought them
in. He didn't say anything about a package, he said he’d brought these express
from Harlow Enterprises.’

Keiko let the hand holding the card drop to her
side.

Her whole life people had called her timid. Mousy.
The kind of girl that would let herself be trodden on by anyone, just as long
as she never had to confront anything.

Well right now she was angry. Angry at Mister Chase
Harlow. Not only had he seen her grandmother without her permission, but now it
looked as if he’d stolen her documents too. Why else would he send flowers,
mention the documents, but not have sent them back? How long would it have
taken to run them through a photocopier?

‘I don't know what's happening between you two, but
you need to turn that frown upside down,' Jenny said in a sultry breath.
'Because we are talking about Mister Chase Harlow. I don't know if you've taken
a long hard look at your life recently, Keiko, but you are never going to come
across a man like him again.'

Jenny was right. It was a fact Keiko didn't have
any problem with though.

Because though maybe she had been taken with the
idea of Chase to begin with, right now didn't want to have anything to do with
the man. Rich or not, handsome or not, he was a jerk.

'You need to go over to his company tomorrow,'
Jenny said excitedly as she wiggled a little, her hips shifting from side-to-side,
her long shirt dancing over them, 'and say
thank you
.'

Keiko opened her mouth to say that would never
happen.

Then she stopped.

She looked down at the flowers, she twisted the
card around in her fingers, and she got the sudden idea that just maybe she
should go down to Harlow Enterprises tomorrow. Demand to see Chase, and then
ask him exactly who he thought he was for stealing her documents and harassing
her grandmother.

Keiko really didn't like confrontation, but maybe
she had never faced something that had made her this angry before, because as
she finally went to bed, the plan solidified in her mind.

Tomorrow morning she was going to make a visit to his
offices. It would not be a friendly one.

C
hase Harlow

He was in an important meeting with Julius and
Victor, but he couldn't pay attention, no matter how important it was.

His mind kept on fixating on Keiko and Ami Teshi. He’d
really stuffed things up.

Looking up from underneath his eyebrows, he glanced
past the table, staring at the thick glass doors that separated the conference
room from the hallway outside.

He knew he shouldn't be so glum; it wasn't over
yet. Even if Ami wouldn't talk, Chase could use his contacts in Japan to find
out where her property was, and get someone to go and explore it. They would no
doubt find the shrine, and within the next day Chase would know whether much of
it was left.

'Is there something wrong with you? You haven't
said a thing,' Julius pointed out in a drawl. ‘News of this collection boring
you?'

Chase hazarded a grin, reaching towards his drink
and rolling the glass around on the table a little. 'No, it rivets me,' he said
in a dry voice.

'So it should, because we haven't had information
like this for a long time,' Victor agreed.

Chase still hadn't told either of them about Keiko.
What was he meant to say? He’d met this strange girl at a party, she’d told him
how she’d died, showed him her scar, lent him her grandmother's documents, and
probably never wanted to see him again?

There would be no way to make this all make sense.
Plus, was there any point? Was this actually a strong lead? Or was Chase just
letting himself get distracted?

Sighing, bringing his hand up, latching it onto his
shoulder and pressing hard into the muscle, he shifted back in his chair.

‘Why do I get the feeling you want a break? Your
heart is not in this meeting, is it?' Julius said as he leaned forward,
clapping his hand onto the table and drumming his fingers onto it.

Chase nodded.

Then he pushed himself to his feet, kicking his
chair out behind him.

He made for the glass doors.

And then he stopped, hand pressing into them,
getting ready to push them open.

He saw something. To be precise, he saw a small
woman in loose jeans, a T-shirt, and a ragged cardigan.

Keiko.

He pushed open the doors with a jolt, practically
running out of them.

Tugging down on his shirt, grabbing his tie and
pushing it underneath his closed jacket, he ran up to her.

She was talking to his receptionist, and at the
sound of his footfall, she turned.

'I'll be honest, I didn't think you would come
back,' he said honestly and through a light chuckle.

She turned to him.

She did not look pleased.

For the first time she did not compulsively push
her hair behind her ears, play with her hands, or look anywhere but at him.

'Just who do you think you are?’ she asked, her
voice wavering.

‘Sorry? Was there something wrong with the flowers?’
he asked stupidly.

‘There was nothing wrong with the flowers. But I
would still like my documents back. In fact, I've come here to get them,’ she
closed her arms around her middle, crossing them tightly.

‘They were sent to you yesterday, by courier,' he
said clearly, making his voice slow as if Keiko was having trouble
understanding him.

‘I didn't get them. I got the flowers. Got your
card. But where are my documents? And why exactly did you think it was okay to
go behind my back, track down my grandmother, and harass her? And why did you
send somebody else in afterwards? I had to call the nurses and they had to
sedate her so she could go to sleep.’

Chase receded, his neck darting back into his shirt
as his cheeks paled. ‘Sorry I,’ he began.

‘Yes, you should be sorry. Because just because you
rich doesn't mean you can swan around doing exactly what you want. You scared
the hell out of her, and that other man you sent practically gave her a heart
attack,' Keiko snapped. Though she had her arms tightly closed around her, her
knuckles practically white as her fingers latched onto the edges of her
cardigan, she did not back away. And neither did she keep her voice quiet. She
glared at him, and she did not look away.

He opened his mouth to defend himself, then he
stopped. ‘What other man? I didn't send anybody,' his hands started to slick
with a cold sweat.

'You don't need to lie to me. She already told me.
Now give me back my documents,’ Keiko said in a harsh voice that was miles away
from the personality she had displayed yesterday.

‘I told you, they were sent to your house by
courier,' he cleared his throat.

At that moment the receptionist caught his eye. He
understood the look. She mouthed the word security.

He shook his head.

He realized that Victor and Julius had already left
the conference room and were standing behind him.

'Jesus, I can't believe I trusted you. Fine, if that's
the line you're going to take, keep them.’ Keiko turned on her foot and stormed
down the corridor, her arms still closed around her, her hands still clutching
at her sleeves with tight, crooked fingers.

For a moment Chase didn't say anything.

How could he?

‘What the hell was that about?' Julius said from behind
him.

‘I've seen her before,' Victor announced as he
walked up to Chase’s side.

Chase did not pay any attention to his friend’s
statement.

Instead he felt the cold sweat that had picked up
crossed his neck travel down his back. It seemed to jolt right through him.

It reinforced one simple fact. He had been stupid.
Very, very stupid.

Without thinking about it, he’d dragged Keiko into
this world.

Because Chase had not sent someone else to question
Keiko's grandmother. He had also seen his receptionist personally hand the
documents to the courier.

He really doubted she was lying. Which left only
one uncomfortable, dangerous possibility.

One of Chase’s competitors, one of his enemies, had
been following him. They’d found out he’d been interested in Keiko, and they’d
picked up where he’d left off.

Turning sharply, Chase half ran back to his office,
Victor and Julius hot on his heels.

He didn't say anything to either of them until the
door was closed.

'I'm telling you, I've seen that woman before,’
Victor said as he crossed his arms in a powerful move. ‘She was snooping around
last Friday night. I found her outside your office.’

Chase, reaching for his phone, suddenly stopped. ‘What?’

‘She was with the catering company. Pretended she
was lost. Said she got off on the wrong floor. Who is she?’ Victor's eyes
narrowed.

Chase had known the man for a long time, and he
could tell when his best friend was suspicious.

And nearly everything made Victor suspicious. He
did have a lot to be suspicious of though, to be fair. The competition they
were up against was stiff, and it was also dangerous. Perilously dangerous. Men
had and would continue to die over these secrets.

'Do you think she belongs to the Sect?’ Julius chimed
in from his side.

Chase spluttered.

There was no way that Keiko Teshi belonged to the Sect.
Despite the anger she had just shown, she did not have the bloodthirsty,
murderous nature you would require to work for that group.

She also had nothing to do with this world. Or at
least she hadn't. And then Chase had done something stupid. He'd been lax,
caught up with his own desires, and not smart enough to be careful. Swallowing
uncomfortably, for a moment he hesitated.

He wasn't sure exactly what he could do.

He was just sure he had to do something.

Keiko was in danger now, wasn't she? If the Sect
had stolen those documents and sent someone in after her grandmother, then they
too must think this was a clue worthwhile. That Keiko and her family posed an
interesting and new angle into the mystery of Aiko. An angle that would have to
be thoroughly investigated. Except while Chase was happy to leave his
investigations to a short and unsuccessful conversation with Ami, the Sect
would not be so kind.

'Are you going to sit there looking like you've
just swallowed a fish, or are you going to tell us who she is?' Julius said as
he stood up, walked over to the dresser, and poured everyone a drink. 'Because
I'm with Victor on this one. She looks suspicious.’

Chase let out a sharp, uncomfortable laugh. 'Trust
me, she is not.' He latched a hand on his cheek, let it pull over his jaw, then
rested it on his neck as he closed his eyes.

It took him a while, but Chase Harlow proceeded to
share with his friends everything he knew about Keiko Teshi. From what the
grandmother had said to the scar that Keiko had revealed.