Stephen Mertz - The Korean Intercept

Meiko's brow furrowed. "They had a connection in the White House?"

"In a manner of speaking," said Galt. "That contact was you, Meiko."

He had never seen her so startled. "Me?"

"It's no coincidence that you and I met," he told her. "You're too close to this for you to be a White House correspondent without more than coincidence at work, and I don't believe in coincidence." His eyes remained on Sachito, particularly on the nearness of the gun next to her on the bench. He said to Meiko, "Without your knowledge, strings were pulled by Ugaki and Sachito, in your father's name, to have Stan Hakura assign you to the White House press corps. It would have been done indirectly, with a great deal of subterfuge and subtlety. Hakura wasn't knowingly a part of this. There are ways. There's no way they could have foreseen what happened personally between us, Meiko, but everything else was stage-managed. They would use every minute of your uncut satellite feeds to Tokyo for Hakura to monitor my government's response to this crisis. Someone on the scene, particularly a trained journalist, would be perfect. This was done without your father's knowledge. They didn't want to kill him, because it would draw attention, as it did. Because as sick and weak as he was, your father somehow pierced his pain-and-medicated fog and he learned of what they were doing in his name, or at least enough for him to cause trouble. He would try to contact his old-time loyal allies within the corporate hierarchy of Kurita Industries. That's the only motive strong enough to justify them taking the risk of resorting to his murder after the hijack was operational. My hunch is a poison was administered that wouldn't be evident to his physician. Either that or your father's attending physician was bought off by Ugaki."

Sachito asked Galt, "Is there any legal proof of what you say?"

"You know there is. That's where Meiko comes in. She's already started tracing this on her father's computer. But for me, there doesn't have to be proof. I'm no court of law. If there's enough to convince me, that's all I need, because what's between you and me, Baroness, it's personal."

"I understand. Your wife."

"And my best friend," said Galt, "a brother from a different mother named Barney Markee. Barney was killed because I went to see him first thing after I arrived in Tokyo; and his death, and my responsibility in it, is another issue I need to work on. I brought death to his door."

"I did not kill your friend."

"No, but your gangster friend, Ugaki, ordered it done, and that's enough guilt by association for me. Barney was on the fringes of the Tokyo underworld for years, but someone waits to kill him until just after he's talked to me? That's too damn much coincidence. I was followed from the airport by a yakuza hit team sent by Ugaki. And they were damn good, because I didn't realize they were onto me until I left the cemetery after the funeral. I lost them at that time, but by then it was too late for Barney." Galt felt a bitter taste in his throat. "Ugaki's men were on me from the minute I touched down at the airport. That's the only way it makes sense. I was a wild card and, considering that I was White House-level, Ugaki was hesitant about killing me unless he had to directly, because of the police scrutiny that would bring. So they killed Barney instead, as a safety measure. Ugaki thought that taking out Barney would shut down my intel source. But Barney did what I asked him to do before they blew him up with a car bomb. He contacted a friend of mine who happens to be a general and can make things happen, and that got me back on track. So you see, Baroness, the yakuza killed Barney for nothing."

"I am sorry about your friend," said Sachito. "But I hear of nothing resembling legal proof against me."

"I told you, I don't need proof. I went straight to Barney after leaving you and Meiko at the airport, and that, Mrs. Kurita, puts my friend's murder right at your feet. You were the only one Meiko told about our flight number and time of arrival. You passed that information on to Ugaki, so he could have his hit team in place when we touched down. That's the vital piece of the puzzle that took awhile to click in my mind, but once it did, I had all the proof I needed to convict you in my mind, Baroness."

Meiko clenched her fists, her eyes blazing.

"Between you and Ugaki" she said to Sachito, "who initiated the germ of this grand scheme? Before you murdered my father, you were unfaithful to him with Ugaki. You and a yakuza contaminated the sanctity of my father's world. You let this yakuza filth into your bed."

Sachito again lowered her eyes. She said nothing.

Galt told her, "If you and Ugaki were lovers, you should know it won't stop him from coming after you. This shuttle hijack, luring that NASA scientist astray, personally coordinating the construction of an airfield in North Korea, it's got to be the biggest deal Ugaki has ever undertaken. He's got a lot of face to save after fumbling this one, if he intends to hold onto his power in the yakuza, and he will take severe measures. To him, you're a liability, Baroness. And you're the perfect scapegoat. And he may know that you double-crossed him. You saw how hot Meiko was to learn the truth, after she saw Ugaki and Anami together at her father's funeral. You allowed her complete access to her father's computer files. That's how you double-crossed your lover boy. You wanted Ugaki the yakuza to take the whole blame, if everything fell apart. Ugaki may be in the hospital, but I'll wager he's got a team on its way here right now. And if I'm a judge of the character of a guy like Ugaki, he'll be riding in the car with his hit team when they show up here, even if he had to be carried out of the hospital. He'll want to be here when his men pay you back for your betrayal. You know how much stock guys like him put in personal loyalty. And you know how far-reaching his power is. There's nowhere for you to escape from him anywhere in the world, and you know this." He nodded to the pistol. "That's what the gun is for."

Sachito looked up at him. Her eyes were sorrowful. "Do not attempt to dissuade me from taking my own life."

Meiko snorted. "Hardly that. You have not lived your life honorably, but you can still end it honorably. You are Japanese, after all."

"Frankly, Baroness," said Galt, "we came here to encourage you to take the honorable way out. Meiko wants that because of what you did to her father. As for the authorities, your suicide will be tied to your grief for your departed husband. Unfortunate and sad. But the Kurita name will be spared scandal and humiliation. Everything can be pinned on the CEO, Anami. He's too dead to defend himself."

"And you, Trev Galt," said Sachito, "will you have your vengeance and be satisfied?"

"I don't deal in vengeance, lady," said Galt. "I owe this to people who died because of you, and what you and those yakuza scum have done. But to answer your first question, yes, there is enough electronic and paper trail evidence to bring you to court and you know it."

A tear formed in the corner of one of Sachito's eyes, and glided down her cheekbone. "The humiliation of a public trial would be unbearable."

Galt reached down and picked up the pistol, a petite snub-nosed.22 revolver with a pearl-handled grip.

He broke it open with a flick of his thumb across the latch and a shake of his wrist, revealing a single cartridge chambered in a cylinder that could hold six bullets. He snapped the cylinder back into the frame with another sharp flick of his wrist and replaced the pistol upon the bench, inches from her right hand.

"We're done here," he said to both women.

A car horn beeped once in the near distance.

Sachito glanced into the darkness, in the direction of the sound. "Ugaki," she said.