Robin smiled. “We should do it after Peter’s and Belinda’s wedding.”
“Why?” Jason asked.
“Because they got engaged first. It wouldn’t be right to jump in and take all of the attention from them.”
Jason had a sudden idea. “We could have a double wedding.”
Robin made a face. “No. A bride should have all of the attention.”
“You would take all of the attention, so that wouldn’t be fair to Belinda I guess.”
Robin smiled at the compliment.
“Have you made a decision on what career path you want to take?”
Robin sighed. “It’s such a hard decision. I really wanted to work with kids with disabilities. But singing is something that I can do well and people are really interested in working with me. I’ve been using Akita’s death as an excuse to put them off but … I’m just not sure.”
“There’s no rush, honey. But Peter’s dad did look at the contracts for both you and Wheels of Steel and he’s made several changes. Everything is in our favor if we decide to sign.
“We have options. We can stay independent, we can sign under a more mainstream label—at least, you can. We can even produce our own music the same way Akita did with his label. “
Her brow lifted. “Do you know how to do something like that?”
Jason nodded. “Yep. Wheels of Steel has been doing it on a small scale for years. Remember how we were selling CD’s out of the back of Peter’s van? But of course a true label has the money to market us and to get us heard in ways that I couldn’t do. It’s the difference between making a couple grand and making millions.”
Robin grinned. “I do love this life. I don’t think I want to miss out on an opportunity to become a famous singer,” she added sarcastically. “I think I will pursue a music career. Maybe I can continue with college and get my degree while things are moving a head-“
Jason chuckled. “Sweetheart, you are already famous. You are just in a small little ball where you don’t see it. If you talk to the music makers you would see how many people are using snippets of your voice.
“There is this song on YouTube called Sessions by MTN which is using snippets of your voice from when you and Peter sang at the Omicron Christmas party last year. We uploaded it and people have been sampling it. The Sessions remix has over a hundred thousand hits.
“Now people are mixing the Sessions mix into their own beats. So your voice is like the Funky Drummer beat that was created by Clyde Stubblefield. It’s the most used beat in music. Sampling your voice is the new trend.”
“Well, how come I’m not getting paid for this?”
Jason raised his brow. “When you start accepting these offers to lay your voice on track then you’ll start getting paid. Now you need to sign that paper work I gave you a month ago so that you can get royalties for Loves End.”
“Wait a minute … so why do I need a record contract if I can just sing on other people’s songs and make royalties? I can still stay in school and live a rock-n-roll lifestyle.”
“There you have it. If Akita Tom Productions wants you, they can have your voice on a case by case basis.”
“I think I’d prefer that.” Robin stated. “And so you and Peter are going to sign the contract?”
“Only if they agree to our terms. Akita’s unreleased music remains the property of Wheels of Steel. I don’t want them ruining it just so they can make more money off of it.”
“Then I think we know what our future holds.” Robin said in relief.
“Yes. Fame,” Jason replied.
Chapter Sixteen
James Edelson stepped out of the limo and was walking up to his condo when a figure moved in his direction from a waiting vehicle parked by the entrance.
James didn’t know how the fans found him and what they thought they could get by accosting him but even getting next to an agent to a star was like getting next to a star. It was why at the age of fifty-six he was getting laid more than he had at the age of twenty-six.
He was about to turn and tell the groupie to go away when he saw that it was Yagano. James hadn’t been to Akita’s former house since the funeral. He only needed to hang around Jason, Peter and Robin—something that was easily accomplished since the two men were constantly in the studio. Therefore he made sure that he was constantly in the studio.
He smiled until he saw the rapid way in which Yagano was approaching him. And then the younger man buried his fist into James’ stomach and James immediately doubled over, his breath leaving his body causing him to gasp.
What the-?
Yagano grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket and straightened him. James was terrified at the angry expression on the face of the normally even-tempered Asian man. Although he’d never seen Y react violently he knew of the man’s connection to the Yakuza and James knew the power that the Yakuza held in Japan.
“Wha-a-t?” James stammered.
“You prick!” Y shoved him in the direction of the condo. “Get in the house. You and I have something to discuss.”
James entered the building, asking what was wrong. Y kept a grip on his jacket and led them to the elevator. He shoved James inside and stabbed the button for the twenty-second floor, refusing to answer the man who was rapidly explaining that he had no idea what had pissed Yagano off but assuring him that they could get to the bottom of it.
“Oh, we’re going to get to the bottom of it,” Y said evenly, an angry glint alight in his narrowed eyes.
Once James had managed to open the door to his condo he gave Y a confused look.
“What is this about, Yagano?”
“This, James, is about you getting involved in business that is way over your pay level.” He poked James in the chest causing the man to back up.
“Now hold on a minute-“ James sputtered.
“I am your liaison to the Yakuza.” Y pushed James hard until he ended up sitting on his sofa. Y leaned in close until he was inches from James’ face. “You don’t go to another Yakuza. You come to me and me only.”
“But I didn’t go to the Yakuza-“ James said in a small frightened voice.
“Don’t lie to me!” Y raised his hand to slap James and James cowered.
“I’m not lying Yagano! I know we’re not exactly friends but why would I mess around with the Yakuza? Yakuza is getting paid for essentially doing nothing—I’m not saying that you do nothing!” He added quickly. “But money is going through you to them. You should be the one getting rich, not them.”
Yagano squeezed James’ cheeks roughly. “There you go talking about things you need to keep out of.” He roughly pushed James away and the older man yelped in pain at the rough handling.
“Out of respect for Akita I won’t slit your tongue, you snake. But don’t ever piss me off like this again!” He pointed at James. “When you get into Yakuza business you are over-stepping your bounds! If I ever discover that you’ve spoken to my uncle about my business-“
“Your uncle …” James was shaking his head in denial. “I don’t even know who your uncle is. I know nothing about Yakuza business and I don’t know why you just beat me up! But if something else happens it’s not my doing! I swear it.”
Y narrowed his eyes and glared at James. “Don’t lie to me-“
“I’m not lying! I swear it. I have no idea what you’re talking about-“
“I’m talking about you pursuing Wheels of Steel and Akita’s unreleased music.”
James drew his brow together. “And what does any of that have to do with the Yakuza? You already have more than enough shares in the company to make whatever happens lucrative to the Yakuza. Why should they be interested in how the label is operated?”
Yagano scanned James face. “You’re the one pursuing Wheels of Steel and Robin. And you’re the one that wants that unreleased music. If you didn’t go to my uncle to get my help in making that happen then who did?”
“Hideo.” James said with a surprised look o
n his face. “Hideo is on salary with the label for only as long as he’s needed. If we dissolve or if we do nothing new his services would no longer be needed. Also he has a small share in the company so … are you saying that your uncle wants you to secure Wheels of Steel and Akita’s music for the label?”
Shit, Yagano thought. Had he made a mistake?
“You better not be lying.” Y said while staring closely at the frightened man, but he already knew that James was telling the truth. He had not been behind getting his uncle to force his hand.
“I’m not lying to you, Yagano,” James exclaimed.
Y rubbed his face and sighed. “Then I owe you an apology.” And then he glared at James. “But if you’re lying to me I will kill you.”
James quickly shook his head. “I’m not lying. And I know that you would kill me if I am lying. And I accept your apology.” He added in a weak terrified voice.
Yagano popped his knuckles. “I will make it up to you, James. But for now I have other business to attend to.” Y left without another word and James quickly hurried to the door and locked it.
He’d known Y for several years and had thought him to be too openhearted for the cut-throat business world. But now he knew the truth. Y was just as ruthless as the rest of them, maybe more so because he had kept this dangerous, angry part of his nature completely undercover. It was a lesson that James decided he would never forget.
When Robin and Jason returned to the house they heard music coming from the studio. Following the sounds they saw Peter making beats. Jason wasn’t sure if he was working or just doing it for pleasure and he thought how wonderful it was that they had jobs where you couldn’t tell the difference between work and pleasure.
“Hey guys,” he called. “Robin I’m working on a song. I’ve been inspired by the tribute album. Will you lay down some vocals on it?”
She walked over to his wheelchair. “You did the lyrics?”
“Well, not yet. But I got this cool melody going and it would sound good with lyrics.”
Robin listened with interest. “Well you know I’m going into the business of selling hooks and recording vocals. You gotta pay, son.” She said mimicking Jason.
Peter’s face fell. “Awww, that’s cold. I thought we were buddies.”
Robin laughed. “I’m kidding. It would be my pleasure to do the vocals on your first piece of music.”
He gave her a high five.
Jason sat down in one of the chairs and rolled over to Peter and Robin.
“And I’m ready to sign the contract-“ he began and then Peter’s loud cheer interrupted him. Peter whooped so loudly that Jason thought he was going to leap out of his wheelchair.
“Hell yeah, man! Wheels of Steel is about to make it big!” Peter dug into his pocket for his cellphone. “I’m going to call James now and tell him to haul his ass over here with Hideo before something happens to change your mind.”
“As long as they agree that we keep the unreleased Akita song then nothing is going to change my mind,” Jason grinned.
Peter left a message when the phone went to voicemail. “Yo James, can you and Hideo come over? Jason and I have changes to the contract that we want to go over with you. Call me back.”
“While we wait let me hear your new song.” Robin said. Peter was excited about it and he played it for them with Jason adding some suggestions and Robin humming along so that soon it sounded like it would turn out to be a very cool tune.
When James hadn’t returned the call after an hour, Peter joked that he must not want the contract as bad as he did in the beginning.
The girls came home without Y who said that he had a meeting with his uncle. The group kicked back and discussed weddings, marriage and a bright future for them all.
If Hideo and James had been better friends things might have turned out differently. But Hideo never received a call from James Edelson warning him that Yagano was on the warpath.
So when Hideo Choi left his office and headed to the parking garage, he didn’t see the black Mercedes parked across from his car. He barely saw the man jump from the vehicle and rush him. All he knew is that something had grabbed him by the back of his neck and slammed him face first into the driver’s side windshield.
Blood instantly began to pour from a gash on Hideo’s nose. The perpetrator who was dressed in black including a cap that sat low on his head pushed the confused man to the waiting Mercedes.
Hideo began to protest in Japanese and that’s when Y removed his cap.
“Get in the car. Now.”
Hideo’s mouth fell open and when he didn’t move quickly enough, Y grabbed him by the back of the neck and roughly pushed him into the passenger side of the car.
The businessman was too confused to open the car and escape, and when Y entered on the driver’s side he engaged the child locks so that there was now no way to escape.
“What are you doing, Yagano?” Hideo exclaimed while staring in surprise at the blood that was on his hands from where he’d wiped at his nose.
Y didn’t immediately answer. He had never been fond of the lawyer. Unlike him and James, Hideo was not a true member of Akita Tom Productions. True he handled the legal end of things—but anyone could do that. Hideo pushed for things that might be lucrative but wasn’t the best fit for the label—or for Akita Tom.
“Hideo, I want you to sit there and think long and hard. There will be no games between us.” Y took his eyes from the road long enough to give the frightened attorney a long look. “And it will be in your best interest not to piss me off more than I already am.”
Surprisingly, the drive was silent. If Hideo thought to make a plea he thought better of it when he looked at his bloody hands. He didn’t have tissues or a handkerchief so the blood flowed down his nose and chin where it dripped onto his expensive shirt and tie.
They drove silently for nearly half an hour before Y pulled up to a set of warehouses. He drove around back where he parked the car. He unreleased the child locks and then turned in his seat to look at Hideo.
“Get out.”
Hideo looked even more afraid then before. “Yagano-“ He began.
“Get the fuck out.” Y’s voice rose.
Hideo quickly opened the door and stepped out. He looked around, seeing only warehouses lined up for what appeared to be several blocks. One warehouse had the sign of a noodle manufacturing company. But the warehouse closest to them had a sign that advertised a dog food company.
The Yakuza had their hands in many different businesses. They ran loan companies—not legitimate ones but very lucrative ones. They also had their hand in many small and large businesses such as the warehouses that lined the waterfront.
Hideo felt Y’s hand roughly grab the back of his jacket where he was then led to the dog food factory.
“Yagano, what are you doing?” Hideo asked while turning to look at the younger man, stumbling in the process.
“Quiet.” Y said simply. Hideo stopped walking, sputtering out an explanation in rapid Japanese until Y gripped his hair with his free hand and dragged the struggling man into the building.
“No!” Hideo screamed. “Help!”
Y kicked him in the ass. “Quiet, I said!” He snapped and Hideo began to blubber as Y half dragged him inside. When the door was closed behind them Hideo scampered away, looking around at the old, unused machinery and catwalk. It was obvious that the warehouse was no longer in use but it was still noisy. One large piece of machinery was running, making a terrible grinding noise.
When Hideo realized that the noisy machine was a meat grinder he screamed again in earnest. Yagano was upon him in a few short steps and he raised his fist and brought it down fiercely against Hideo’s face.
“Stop your blubbering.” Yagano reached into his pocket for a switchblade, which he opened with a flick of his wrist. He pressed the tip of the blade against the whimpering man’s neck. “Now strip.”
“What?” Hideo asked. “But why-?”
> Yagano’s eyes narrowed as he glared at Hideo. “Because dog’s don’t need cotton polyester blend in their food.”
Hideo’s eyes bulged. “Please, I wasn’t trying to hurt you. It had nothing to do with you! It was just about making money and getting more artists!”
Y paused. “Keep talking.”
Tears were streaming down Hideo’s face. He was old and no match for Yagano who was nearly half his age. He would spill his guts if he could get away from this deadly encounter.
“I just wanted to make sure the label had artists. That’s all. James mentioned that Wheels of Steel and Hidalgo had unreleased music and I told him that we could get it and sign Wheels of Steel and take care of both needs. If we could get the girl it would be a packaged deal.
”But they wouldn’t sign. They know Akita’s music will make them rich and famous even without us!”
When Hideo saw that he now had Yagano’s attention he placed his hands together while on his knees and begged.
“Give me a reason not to kill you—and your begging isn’t it. So you went to my uncle so that he could have me help you?”
Hideo shook his head adamantly. “No! No. Not your uncle but Riyu!”
Yagano frowned. Riyu … his father’s son was involved in this? But why? How would any of this benefit Riyu?
“Riyu came to me right after the accident. He wanted to know the terms of Akita’s will. So I told him about the shares in the company. When he heard that you were getting more shares he went wild!”
Yagano’s teeth clenched as he listened.
“He knew that the label was going to get bigger now that Akita was gone. And he said he wanted in and for you to be out.”
Yagano swallowed back the curse that he was about to shout. “Go on,” he said while giving the cowering man a brief shake.
“We talked about how important the label could be if only we had the music and the artists. It was Riyu’s idea to go to your uncle.”
Yagano’s stomach felt like it was about to cave in. Why would his uncle help Riyu?