Cajun Justice(90)

She tried to untie the knot, but with every movement, it tightened more. She closed her stinging eyes.

Hurry, Cain! I’m drowning! she’d messaged him telepathically.

Bonnie’s lungs had burned as she fought with the knotted rope. She could see through the murky water that the trap was not full of fish but lodged between an old stump and a large rock on the bottom of the lake.

Bonnie made one last effort to free herself, but it didn’t work. Panic set in and she believed she was about to drown. Suddenly, she sensed she was not alone. Cain was in the water. She felt his presence before she ever saw him. Her eyes opened to see her twin, calmly and carefully cutting the rope with his pocketknife. Cain grabbed Bonnie and pushed her up to the water’s surface.

Bonnie gasped for air and coughed up dirty lake water.

“Is she okay?” Seth yelled, swimming toward them.

Cain was patting Bonnie’s back to help her regain her breath.

“You got my message,” Bonnie said with relief.

“Yes,” Cain replied.

“I was hoping you would.”

“I always do.” Cain winked at his twin.

Bonnie smiled at that memory, and at the thought of how she and her brother were connected. She continued staring at the moon through the yacht’s porthole, directing all her energy and thoughts toward her twin. I’m on a yacht. I’m sure it’s in Tokyo Bay, near land. I can hear seagulls and the constant arrival and departure of airplanes.

She heard muffled voices from the hall. The door opened, backlighting the silhouette of a large man in a suit. The bald man in the doorway was Japanese and had a tattoo that covered his neck and head. He was carrying what looked like a small medical bag as he walked toward the edge of her bed. He gawked at Bonnie as she lay helpless on the bed. She felt violated by the way he looked her up and down. Her bound wrists did not allow her to cover herself. She crossed her legs tightly and turned away from him.

“You are very beautiful,” he said. “It is a pity you will not be with us much longer. I would have enjoyed myself with you.”

Bonnie heard him reach into his bag. She could not look. She felt cold metal touch her neck at the top of her spine and continue slowly down her back, stopping briefly at the bottom of her tailbone before continuing around her buttocks toward the inside of her thighs. Angered and repulsed, she kicked wildly at him. He laughed maniacally and slapped her hard on her thigh. It blossomed bright red and she tried to stifle her cry of pain and humiliation. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. She turned to face her abuser and saw that he was holding a small pistol of some sort. It reminded her of something a television detective might carry around his ankle as a backup gun.

“Go ahead and shoot me, you chickenshit!” she exclaimed. “I’d rather die than give you any pleasure, you sick pervert!”

“Oh, I have no intention of shooting you, Bonnie. May I call you Bonnie?”

She was disgusted by him and spat in his face.

He was unfazed. “You are worth more to us alive than dead. Although from what I hear about our Saudi friends, you may wish that I had killed you.”

Saudis? What is he talking about?

As if reading her mind, he said, “Yes, the Saudis will pay top dollar for a yellow-haired girl. And I can see that you are naturally blonde.”

Bonnie knew that her face showed her anguish.

“They were very happy with Elena and the others. That is the beauty of the Japanese. We are very efficient, and because we are an island nation, we are experts at the sea trade. I’m sure they will be very pleased with you also.” He was searching for something in his bag as he spoke. “Your brother has become quite a nuisance.”

Bonnie immediately felt grateful: that meant Cain was looking for her. Tears of joy streamed down her face.

“First by saving Sato, and now by killing Hayabusa.”

Hayabusa? Who the hell is that?

As if reading her mind again, the man continued. “Your brother caused Hayabusa, the only grandson of Yamamoto, to lose face in front of many people at the Angel Cloud. And in his quest to find you, he threw Hayabusa out of a third-story window. He has angered many people who should not have been angered.”

“My brother can be a real pain in the ass.” Bonnie smirked. “He’s going to cause a lot more problems until he finds me.”

“Yes, I believe you. He has proven to be quite the adversary, which is why we have chosen to expedite our shipment.”

Bonnie gasped when she saw the man put his revolver into the medical bag and remove a large syringe. She thrashed wildly, and the bald man shouted for another guard to come into the room and hold her still. A guard rushed in, and a hand covered her mouth and nose, depriving her of air. She felt the sharp needle puncture her skin, and then the warm liquid flow through her veins. It gave her the strange sensation of being underwater. Her last thought before slipping into unconsciousness was, Hurry, Cain! I’m drowning!





Chapter 70



Cain lay awake, Umiko’s head resting on his chest. His body ached from the fight at the tattoo shop, and he was restless, worried about Bonnie. He carefully got up from the futon on the floor in the living room and walked toward the balcony. He quietly slid the door open and walked outside onto the balcony of the apartment.

It was still dark outside, and a slight cool breeze blew from Tokyo Bay. Red and green navigation lights bobbed up and down from all the ships in the bay. The waxing crescent moon provided a beam of light over the water. Cain reached out to touch it. No matter how big the world was, the moon gave him a connection to Bonnie. He knew they were staring at it together.