“You’ll find out soon.” She smiled and then headed up to the helm to speak to the captain. A few of the Chopmen joined us on the bow.
Again, I found myself whispering an apology to Miki for dragging her into this, though I knew words did nothing to lighten the burden. The truth was, if anything happened to her because of me, I wouldn’t be able to carry that.
The island drew nearer. Up close, the cliffs were taller than I imagined, sheer and towering. I wondered how we’d get past them.
A modern pier jutted from the base of the cliffs, slick with steel and concrete, an unnatural seam against the rock face. The fishing boat slowed as crew members prepared to dock. Two Chopmen waited on the pier, ropes in hand, ready to tie us off. A gangplank clattered down.
The Chopmen ushered us off the boat. My feet hit the pier with a dull thud. The cliffs rose up close now. I could make out streaks of moss clinging to cracks in the rock.
We were led to the base of the cliff, where a large cage elevator waited, bolted into the rock face. The doors groaned open. Rust chewed at the grating, but the cables looked new, taut and gleaming. Someone had put care into making sure they didn’t fail. Not yet, anyway.
Miki let out a shaky laugh, dragging the back of her hand across her forehead in an exaggerated wipe. “For a minute there I thought we’d have to hoof it.”
We all crowded inside. The gate rattled shut, and then the cage jerked to life, rising with a grinding pull.
Through the gaps in the cage, I watched the pier drop away, then the boat—small, like a toy abandoned in a bathtub. The sea stretched in every direction, vast and black, swallowing the horizon. The higher we rose, the more the cables creaked and swayed. Each groan made it feel like the whole cage might give way. I tightened my grip on Miki’s hand.
The elevator finally clanged to a stop. At the top, we stepped out onto a small paved lot, the asphalt smooth enough to pass for a turnout where cars could idle. A low guardrail traced the cliff’s edge.
Two vans waited, engines idling, their headlights cutting through the lot like watchful eyes. One of the Chopmen yanked Miki toward the first van.
“Hey! What are you doing?” Miki shouted, twisting hard. “Get your hands off me!”
Instinct kicked in and I grabbed for her, but another Chopman seized my arm and dragged me back.
“Miki!” My fingers brushed her sleeve before slipping away.
Two Chopmen hauled me backward, my heels skidding across the asphalt. The separation was brutal. One second she was beside me, the next she was gone.
I kicked, swung my fists wildly, but they only tightened their grip, steering me toward the open side door of the second van.
Keiko stood off to the side, arms crossed, smiling. She didn’t need to lift a finger; watching was enough for her.
The last glimpse I had of Miki was her eyes, terrified and pleading before the Chopmen shoved her inside. Then the door slammed, and she was gone.
I was thrown inside the second van hard, my shoulder slamming against the metal floor. Two Chopmen followed, forcing me down, their weight crushing.
“Let go of me!” I snarled, swinging a fist into one of their jaws.
He answered with a stinging slap to my face and left me curled on the van floor.
I’d thought losing my restaurant was rock bottom. I was wrong. This was worse, so much worse.
The door slammed. Keiko slid into the passenger seat like she’d been waiting for this exact moment. A second later, the van lurched forward, carrying me deeper into whatever waited for me on this island.
24
Jiro
With a Chopman on either side, I followed Sana down a low-lit hallway, gas torches hissing from iron brackets on the walls. Their flames guttered and spat, throwing jagged shadows that made the place look older than it was. For all its medieval dressing, it felt staged, like a movie set trying to pass for something ancient.
I hadn’t seen the outside of this place, only these grimy corridors. The steel walls sweated with condensation, and water dripped steadily from the pipes overhead, keeping the floors slick. The air was always hot and wet.
We passed a caged freight elevator set into the wall, its metal gate pulled shut. Heavy chain pulleys and a motor big enough to lift a truck sat beside it, grease smeared across the stone floor. A few steps farther, the corridor widened for no clear reason, as if built to funnel something larger than a handful of people.
The last time I’d walked through here, a thin shaft of light had spilled from a ceiling grate. It wasn’t sunlight, more of a white glare from industrial lamps.
Overhead, something heavy rumbled past, the vibration shaking dust loose from the beams. A vehicle?
