“We hack the ladies’ phones, of course. I think six months’ worth of data will suffice. We received the invitations three months ago. Knowing Flower as we do, we know she’s as meticulous as Akchiro. I’m sure she planned it all, then brought in the other women to firm up the details when they got here. Since she wasn’t thinking of running away from Akchiro, she was probably a little less careful.”
“This is our only chance to before everyone leaves to hack into their phones. I have everything we need in the library.” Takashi agrees as a feral smile creases his face. “We’ll have to work fast.”
Our principal job at Takeda is cybersecurity and defense. It takes the best hackers to beat hackers, and there is not a tech system in the world that we cannot infiltrate.
Once we settle in opposite one another — the way we’ve always worked since we were toddlers — we waste no time breaking into our sister-in-law’s phone and that of her cousins.
Okasaan, told us often this is how we show up in the ultrasound, always facing each other. Mirroring the other we make light work out of a task that should take hours.
In short order, we find the encrypted group chat they used.
“Ahh, here we go.” Seeing that the planning goes back further than I realized.
“They’ve been plotting a while.” I muse.
“At least eight months. Too bad it’s all for nothing.” My twin chuckles, showing the locations of rentals made in various countries.
“There are at least ten here. They must have stepped in when Prosper went on hiatus.” Looking at the addresses, I make copies of the locations.
Frustration eats at me. I want Ev back now. I was tempted to tell my brother she’s very likely pregnant.
Though he sympathizes, I’m sure he’d only encourage me to hurry.
It’s not quiet. The wind doesn’t get caught in a net.As my father used to say when he spoke about a fruitless task. No, we will find them.
“Ten is doable.” Our gazes meet in determination.
“What are you going to do when you find her?” Lounging back in the chair, he crosses one leg over the other, anchoring it.
“Punish her.” I steeple my hands beneath my chin and nod to him. “You?”
“The same. What if Ev’s pregnant?” His stare is steady.
“The same. There are many ways to exact punishment, even brutal ones, without hurting a fetus.” My chest aches at the words I utter, and my mouth sours just thinking of how fucking reckless she’s being with her and our child’s safety.
“What of Bridget? Is there a possibility that she’s pregnant?”He already shaking his head no.
“She stocked up on birth control long before I brought her to stay with me. I let her keep them, thinking to give her time to adjust. I always felt that was why Flower ran — because of all the changes in such a short period of time. That was a hundredfold truer for Bridget and Ev. Still —” he blows out a breath. I wait, knowing my brother needs time to get his shit together. His rage is legendary. Few people know how to calm the tsunami of emotion that blazes inside him. I’ve been doing it since before birth. Then there was Bridget. I wonder if she knows how she soothed him. Or did she just ignore it like Ev thawing my ice and walking away to leave me in a frigid tundra, knowing she could be carrying my child?
“I thought we were making strides.” Looking up and I see the pain in my brother’s eyes. I know it mirrors my own. If he didn’t love her, I’d have no qualms about snapping her neck, and I know he’d do the same for me.
“Well, let’s allocate the tasks by location. If I find yours I’ll let you know. We won’t be in contact with the others until we have our wives safe in undisclosed locations.”
“Hai, that way there won’t be any leaks. Not that Akchiro, Kiyoshi or Hisashi would tell — that damned Monster though…”
“He’s do it just for his own amusement.” I say drily.
3 Months later…Honolulu, Hawaii
I stand backin the shadows of the bungalow watching my wife wave to the driver as she waves off his help with a gentle smile then gets the bags from her grocery shopping juggling them in her arms as she makes her way up the slope of the drive to the front door.
The bags swing as if carrying them is no effort at all. Seeing her having to carry bags, seeing her taking a ride without proper security chafes. My nostrils flare as I exhale in exasperation. My neck is stiff from searching for her to return. Counting every blasted second it took for her to return.
He doesn’t back up but leans out watching her ass as she walks away. She doesn’t turn, but I can tell from the cringe on her face that he made her feel uncomfortable about what he’s doing. He’ll die tonight for the disrespect.
I step further back as she approaches, so she doesn’t see me. For someone being on the run, and in hiding, her situational awareness is awful. Her entire safety posture is trash. She’s not even periodically had the house searched. If she had, she’d have found that she’d had an unexpected visitor.
Turning, I go to the edge of the balcony, hop onto the stone support and pull myself into the attic window — my temporary home as I finalize the plans I’ve implemented for my errant little wife.
