Cajun Justice(47)

Tanaka looked around the room, then stood and bowed before he asked, “Boss, what is MO?”

“Modus operandi. How we will conduct the business of executive protection.”

“Arigato gozaimasu.” Tanaka bowed.

“Okay, that’s all I have for now. Let’s get back to work.” Cain clapped his hands in a gesture to motivate his team.

The security guards and the driver stood in unison and bowed. As they were exiting the room, Cain asked the driver to stay behind.

“Morita-san, how long have you been with the company?”

He strained his eyes as he thought. “Forty-seven years.”

Cain’s eyes widened and his mouth gaped open. “Wow! That’s impressive.”

Morita-san smiled and nodded his head with several short, quick bows.

“How long have you been driving for Sato-san?”

He held up two fingers.

“Ever since Sato-san became the CEO two years ago?” Cain asked.

“Hai.”

“Forgive me for asking this, but how old are you?”

“Sixty-seven,” Morita-san replied.

“It’s my pleasure meeting you.” Cain bowed.

Morita left the security office and Cain approached Tanaka. “Are the guys always this quiet, or just in my meetings?”

“This is very typical of a Japanese meeting. We have two ears and one mouth, to listen twice as much as we talk.”

Cain smiled.

“But they understand what is required,” Tanaka said with confidence.

“What do you think about Morita-san?”

“He is very loyal, and very reliable.”

“Yeah,” Cain said. “But he’s getting up in age. Can he see well? What are his reaction times like?”

“He drives very safe,” Tanaka said. “He is very cautious.”

“Wouldn’t Sato-san want a younger driver who could probably see better and have faster reflexes?”

“Old age is relative in Japan. We have more centenarians than any other country. Plus, loyalty is very important to Sato-san. Morita-san has been with the company since he was twenty years old. He has no family. This job is his only family.”

Cain understood what it was like for a man’s job to be his only family. He took a deep breath and exhaled. “I’m heading over to Umiko’s office to talk about some of these changes. Can you talk to your dad for me? See if he has some people he could recommend to add to our security staff? Maybe some recently retired cops who still want to work, or maybe some applicants who were qualified but didn’t get hired by the police department?”

Tanaka inhaled air through his teeth with a slight head tilt. After a brief hesitation, he nodded his head.

“Good! Can you get right on that for me? We’re about to apply full military power.”

Tanaka nodded, but it looked to be more out of habit than out of understanding.

“That’s a navy term,” Cain said. “It means we’re about to maximize our protection for Sato-san at a speed never seen here before.”

Tanaka smiled and nodded his head. He was clearly excited to be working for Cain.

Cain started walking toward the exit. “Time for me to go grease the wheels with Umiko-san.”





Chapter 40



Cain walked across the parking lot, entered the main lobby, and took the stairs to the second floor. Umiko was sitting behind her desk, finishing up a phone call in Japanese. She wore a black fitted blazer with a white blouse. Her hair was pulled back, and she had sweeping bangs. When she finished her call, she stood and walked from behind her desk, now revealing her pencil skirt and heels.

She is so beautiful, Cain thought.

Umiko seamlessly switched from her native Japanese to English. “Cain-san, it’s nice to see you.”

“You, too, Ms. Umiko. Are you busy?”

“We have a lot of important meetings today. We have the press conference next week in downtown Tokyo.”

“Where in Tokyo? I thought it was going to be here.”

“We changed it at the last minute. It will be at the Tokyo International Forum. It has a beautiful glass atrium. All the Japanese press will be there and Sato-san will be talking directly to the news. Many people will be there. It’s very exciting.”

“I’m sure it is, but this event is a nightmare from a security standpoint. It’s televised, located at least an hour’s drive from here, announced a week in advance, attended by the public, and I’ve only got three inexperienced security officers on the payroll. I don’t like it at all. We’re not ready for this type of event yet.”

“The building is significant. It will symbolize Sato-san’s courage and strength as he moves our company forward.”

“I thought Sato-san was the one giving the statement, not the building,” Cain quipped. “I was assured by Mr. Sato that I could make any security adjustments that were necessary. And considering the scope of this type of event, I will need to make some changes.”

“Okay,” she said. “Mr. Sato told me to give you anything you needed.”

“We need to hire three more security professionals.”

“Where will you find these people on such short notice?”