Cajun Justice(43)

“Employee records?” Tanaka asked.

“Yes. You told me a lot of employees lost their jobs and their life savings. Each one of them is a potential threat to the CEO. Money and revenge are a motive to murder. I want to see each of their files.”

“They’ll be in Japanese.”

“Have ’em translated. In the meantime, I’ll look at their official photos. A picture is worth a thousand words. Also, are there any physical fitness requirements for security staff here?”

“Fitness is encouraged but not required.”

“The first overweight Japanese person I’ve seen in this country, and he’s on our security detail? He’ll have a heart attack if he has to get into a fight.”

Several hours later, when it was a more reasonable time for employees to start arriving for work, Tanaka approached Cain.

“Sato-san has arrived,” Tanaka said. “I’ll take you to his office.”

“How does he get to work?” Cain asked.

“Morita-san is his driver.”

“Is Morita-san part of our security detail?”

“No,” Tanaka replied.

“He needs to be if he’s going to drive our principal. I’ll make sure he receives specialized training in counter-ambush driving.”

When they entered the reception area of the CEO’s office, Cain noticed a beautiful Japanese woman sitting behind a desk. He extended his hand and she stood.

“My name is Cain Lemaire.”

“Hello, my name is Tamura.”

“Is that your last name?” Cain asked.

“It is my family name. My given name is Umiko.”

“U-mi-ko,” he repeated slowly.

“Hai,” she said.

“That’s a beautiful name,” Cain told her.

“Thank you.” Her pale face showed a hint of a blush.

“What does it mean?”

“It means ‘the sea.’”

“Are you pulling my leg?”

“I’m sorry?” She was confused by the American idiom.

“My name also means ‘the sea,’ but in French.”

“I know.” She smiled. “I studied French in high school.”

“Enchanté,” Cain said.

“Enchantée,” she replied. “Monsieur Sato is expecting you.” She opened the door to Mr. Sato’s office and led Tanaka and Cain into the room. She stayed there to scribble notes on a legal pad.

“Welcome to Japan, Mr. Cain.” As a prominent business leader of an international company, Koichi Sato was familiar with Western culture. He shook Cain’s hand.

“Thank you, sir. It’s an honor to be here. Thank you for this opportunity.”

“It is our honor,” Sato replied. “Bonnie-san was my English teacher, and she highly recommended you.”

Cain chuckled. “She’s done a great job, because your English is excellent.”

Mr. Sato shook his head to show humility and dismiss the compliment.

“I’m serious, sir. Your English is fantastic, and you couldn’t find a better English teacher than her. You’re in good hands.”

“That’s funny,” he said. “She said the exact same thing to me about you. That I’d be in good hands.”

Cain smiled. “We don’t look alike, but we’re twins.”

Mr. Sato looked around the room at his employees. “I’d like to talk to Cain-san privately, please.”

Tanaka and Umiko looked caught off guard. They glanced at each other, stood, bowed, and then exited the room by walking backward.

Mr. Sato leaned forward, moving closer to Cain. “Now I can talk more openly about the threat I face.”

“The threat we face,” Cain said before Mr. Sato continued. “When I took this job, your threats became my threats. We’re in this together.”





Chapter 38



Cain exited Mr. Sato’s office about fifteen minutes later. Tanaka and Umiko were standing in the lobby, waiting impatiently.

Cain sighed. He had learned more in that meeting than he had anticipated. He turned to Umiko. “It was nice meeting you. I look forward to working with you more.”

“Me, too,” Umiko replied with a smile that showed off her perfect teeth. “Maybe my Fran?ais and English will get better.” She giggled and placed her hand over her mouth.

Cain smiled. “Your English and French are better than mine.”

“Merci,” she said.

“De rien,” he replied.

Cain and Tanaka left the CEO’s office quarters and headed back to the security office.

From his desk’s landline, Cain called Bonnie.

“How’s your first day at the office going?” she asked.

“I can already tell I’m going to have to make some changes.”

“What kind of changes?”

“I’ve got a lot more work ahead of me than I originally thought. But I’m so jet-lagged right now I gotta be careful about making any major policy changes. Security here has been too complacent for waaaay too long. Security cameras are in black and white, one of my officers is retired on duty and on the verge of a heart attack, and there’s another one who looks at cartoon porn all day!”