Wheels of Steel Book 4

  “…hold on a sec babe. There’s something going on …” Robin hurried to the bathroom door and opened it. What she saw caused her to pull the door quietly closed and to take a rapid step back. “Oh my God!” She whispered into the mouthpiece. “There are people here with guns!”

  The front room was filled with armed men. About ten to fifteen of them were crowding the office space, some holding handguns, a few holding automatic weapons. They were all Asian and she had clearly seen that they all had their shirts opened to reveal colorful and intricate tattoos.

  The Yakuza.

  One man had forced the pretty receptionist to the floor by gunpoint. They were ushering people from offices to lie on the floor while others went about checking various rooms.

  Robin quickly looked around, forgetting about the cellphone in her hand until she heard the voice mail message instruct her to press one to keep the message or to just hang up if she was finished.

  The sound of footsteps outside of the bathroom door abruptly halted at the sound of the recorded voice coming from the cell phone. The door burst open and Robin yelped out fearfully.

  A man with a heavily pocked marked face was standing in the doorway with a gun pointed in the air. His unbuttoned white shirt was tucked into his pants and his tattoos covered nearly every inch of his torso. His brow gathered and he angrily gestured with his gun for her to follow him.

  Robin’s guts began to churn again, even though she had just left the toilet. Her legs felt as weak as noodles. She was afraid but she knew that she couldn’t let go of her cellphone and she couldn’t let the man know that she was holding it. So she quickly raised her hands above her and placed them behind her head, concealing the phone with her hands.

  The man grabbed one of her arms roughly and she let out a squeak of fear, gripping the cell phone so that it didn’t fall to the floor. He dragged her out to the front room where three other people had been forced to lay face down on the floor.

  Robin knew that the presence of the Yakuza was linked in some way to Y, but she didn’t see him or the people that he was supposed to be meeting with. She was pushed roughly to the floor with the others and Robin wasted no time following the unspoken command to lay face down.

  There was more loud shouting and then a tall Asian man wearing a suit entered the room from one of the corridors. He was handsome and looked important by the way he carried himself. Robin could see that one of his eyes was black and his arm was in a cast.

  It had to be Riyu, Y’s brother.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Robin had no doubt for the reason for this visit. Y’s brother was paying him back for last night’s fight. Other people were being pushed into the room and some of these she recognized. An impatient gun-toting thug was pushing James and Hideo was stumbling along right beside him.

  Robin then saw Hidalgo and his normally playful expression was now filled with fear. The shareholders were being led out of the boardroom by gunpoint and then Y appeared. But unlike the others two men were restraining him. Still he struggled and cursed them in Japanese. When he saw the people lying on the floor Y quickly scanned them until he located Robin. They locked eyes and then she blinked slowly.

  Y frowned and then he understood.

  Breathe.

  It was the message he’d given her at the meeting with Jerry when she seemed about to unravel. And now she was telling him to calm down and to think before reacting.

  When the armed men had crashed into the boardroom, Y’s first thought was not for his own safety but for the safety of the innocent. This fight was between him and Riyu and the other man was crazy to bring it to the studio—unless he intended to massacre everyone.

  And then it made sense. Riyu wouldn’t dare kill him. He’d face the wrath of their father, but killing the others would just be chalked up to a robbery. Y could even now see the headlines—An armed robbery leaves several people dead at the Akita Tom Studios located in Tokyo’s Shin-gu building. This after the untimely death of studio head Akita Tom who died in an auto accident weeks earlier. The only survivor of the attack is Yagano Kurahara, who described the massacre as vicious...

  It was the type of thing that happened all the time to punish those that tried to cut their ties to their gang. Only it mostly happened within the ex-members family.

  He thought about Amberly. Had they done something to her?! And what about Robin who they would have passed in the front room to get to this office?! And that’s when Y went into action. Even while the other board members were still seated in shocked confusion, Y had jumped into action.

  He caught the first armed assailant off-guard when he bounded to him and did a flying kick, which connected to the man’s stomach.

  Yagano was no prized martial artist, but he did know how to defend himself—and if needed, how to kick ass.

  The man who he had just kicked in the stomach, doubled over with a loud humph and the two men directly behind him jumped on Y. He fought valiantly but was no match for them once they had his arms.

  Riyu was watching him from the doorway, his eyes narrowed. “Hold him!” When Yagano saw his father’s son the anger and rage welled up in him.

  “You are a coward!” He spat.

  Riyu smirked. “Shut up, idiot.”

  “Yagano?!” Came Robert Chancellor’s voice from the conference phone. “What’s going on?”

  Riyu reached over and ended the call. The other members were being led out of the office by gunpoint and Yagano was roughly lifted to his feet and half dragged out along with them.

  “What are you doing bringing this fight between us to the studio?!” Yagano shouted in Japanese.

  “You came to my home.” Riyu replied angrily. “And now I come to yours.”

  “Riyu let these people go and you and I will handle this like men-“

  “Shut up. We will handle this like Yakuza.” Riyu replied calmly.

  They were now in the front room and Yagano could see that everyone present had been made to lay face down on the floor. Other than the shareholders there were only five people present and he saw that Robin was lying there watching him. Everyone else was whimpering and crying. But Robin wasn’t. She looked at him as if she knew that he would save them all. The trust in her eyes did something to him, brought him back around. And then she blinked once, very slowly and he read her message clearly. She was telling him to stay calm and to think. Think before reacting.

  Y drew in a calming breath. He took note of the armed men. There were ten to twelve that he could see—which meant maybe five to ten more that he couldn’t see.

  The board members were now on the floor along with the others. Y saw that Hideo was among those made to lie on the floor so perhaps he wasn’t part of this ambush—or perhaps he didn’t want Yagano to know that he was involved.

  “It was a fair fight.” Yagano said calmly.

  “You had a weapon, I didn’t. How is that fair?” Riyu replied while touching the cast on his arm.

  “You had a gun,” Yagano said. “You could have shot me.”

  Riyu’s brow gathered. “Not around my child. Not around my woman.”

  “Is it revenge that you want then?” Yagano asked.

  “I want this company. You’re going to make sure I get it or there won’t be anyone left to run it.”

  “Do you think that I have that kind of power, Riyu? To give you an entire company?”

  “Yes. Your uncle told me that you got the black woman and Wheels of Steel to sign the contract …” Riyu suddenly swung around. His eyes moved to Robin who was watching everything. He looked at Yagano. “Is that her?”

  Y didn’t have to speak, the look on his face was all the answer Riyu needed. The taller gang leader stepped carefully past the prone figures until he reached Robin. He offered her his hand.

  “Rise.” He said in English.

  Robin hesitated for only a moment and then she accepted his hand, making sure that the other concealed her phone. Thankfully she had opted for an iPho
ne instead of the Samsung with its humongous screen.

  Riyu gently took hold of Robin’s hand and led her to the elevator.

  “Riyu?!” Y called. “What are you doing?!”

  “Finish this.” Riyu said. The two gangsters holding Yagano dragged him toward the elevator, which was guarded by two armed men. They entered along with Riyu who was still holding Robin’s hand and Yagano who was being restrained by the two Yakuza.

  Robin and Y could see that the other armed men had fallen upon the people lying on the floor before the elevator doors closed cutting off their fearful cries and screams.

  Peter looked at Jason. Jason was a quiet dude, and when they were working with music he was even more absorbed, but for most of the day he wore a sour look on his face. With all of the great things happening to them Peter couldn’t figure out what had Jason in such a bad mood.

  Peter sat back in his chair, removing his hands from the controls that they had been tirelessly using to mix the music of the album. It took a minute but Jason finally looked up and at Peter.

  His frown deepened. “What?” Jason asked.

  “You tell me?” Peter replied.

  Jason just blinked and shrugged. “Nothing-“

  “Dude, you’re mixing music for an album that’s got to be the biggest thing to hit Japan in years. You’re negotiating a label deal with a studio created by one of your favorite music artists, you were just given your own record store, you asked a beautiful woman to marry you and she accepted—and said beautiful girl just got us a part playing music in our favorite anime show. So what in the FUCK do you have to be sour about?!”

  Jason blinked and a half smile crossed his lips. He removed his headphones and his expression became thoughtful.

  “It’s nothing, really. Robin and I were talking this morning. I wanted to go with her to discuss the contract with the guy from the show but she wanted to do it on her own.” Jason rubbed the stubble on his chin and sighed. “Before she left we got into this argument.”

  “Uh oh …” Peter said.

  “Well,” Jason frowned, “I said something I shouldn’t have said and it’s eating at me. But even though I shouldn’t have said what I did, I really don’t feel like I’m completely wrong about how I feel.”

  Peter inhaled. “Maybe this is something you might not want to discuss with me. Maybe Belinda is better for this conversation-“

  Jason’s eyes cut to his friend. Guys didn’t talk about feelings because you manned up and owned your actions. But this is something that he needed to talk to Peter about because part of it had to do with him and his relationship with Belinda.

  “Look, Robin smokes pot,” Jason stated. “Not a lot but I don’t like the way she acts after she smokes it.”

  Peter nodded, relaxing now that he realized that their conversation wasn’t so much about feelings as it was about reactions.

  “Yes, I know you two have been having that conversation lately.” Peter stated. His expression became thoughtful. “B does it too. I didn’t use to mind it but …” he sighed. “It seems like she’s doing it a lot more—and drinking.”

  Jason had noticed the same thing about Belinda. It had concerned him but he didn’t want to over-step his bounds by bringing it up to either of them. He was just happy to know that Peter was uncomfortable with it as well.

  “This morning I asked Robin to move in with me once we got back to the States.”

  Peter nodded.

  “She told me that the only thing holding her back from it is my dislike of her pot smoking. She basically said that she was a grown ass woman who would make the decision on whether or not she stopped smoking dope.” Jason bobbed his head in the sassy way that a black woman would while he mimicked Robin.

  “Is that when you said something you shouldn’t have said?”

  Jason nodded. “I told her smoking pot was stupid.”

  Peter looked up to the ceiling as he thought about that. “What’s wrong with that?”

  “I used the word ‘stupid’. And Robin is very sensitive about the whole use of stupid. It’s like using the N-word or calling someone retarded or gay.”

  “Well it’s insulting,” Peter agreed.

  “Yes, but I didn’t call her stupid.” Jason paused and then he sighed. “But I actually did.” He looked at his friend in embarrassment. “I meant for her to take it as if I was calling her stupid. I know it was wrong but I really wanted her to understand how she makes bad decisions when she’s under the influence of pot. It makes her look bad. She doesn’t look cool. She-”

  “Jason why do you feel as if you have to insult Robin?” Peter interrupted. “She is a grown-ass woman and recreational pot will be legalized everywhere. So it won’t even be illegal to use. Look the marijuana isn’t really the issue here. It’s your controlling attitude.”

  Jason rubbed his hands through his hair and sulked in his stool. “I know, man. I know. That’s why I’m all ate up about it.”

  “Look, I know that you love Robin but in some ways you’re also a little obsessed. You don’t have to own her-“

  Jason flashed his friend a look of surprise. “What? You think I’m obsessed?”

  “A little. You freaked out when you two were apart. And now that you’re back together you think that if you just talk to her about things she’ll dump you. That night at Hidalgo’s party she was basically masturbating on the dance floor. I know you didn’t say anything about it to her. I know you didn’t. And you were pissed.”

  Jason had to agree with that.

  “You’re letting that shit build up. Top, you two have to keep the lines of communication open.”

  Jason stared at Peter. “Have you talked to Belinda about your concerns—you know about the drinking and drug use?”

  “Oh, we had a pretty long discussion the morning after the party.” Peter’s lips turned downward. “But we will be having a long discussion about it. I’m waiting until we get back to the States.

  “My baby has been through a lot this year,” Peter said, his voice going quiet. “She’s had a hard life, Jason--like the type of life that you read about in the newspaper when someone gets sent to jail for child abuse. I wish that I could kill that bitch that raised her. She doesn’t deserve to continue to take a breath. But B still cares about her. I don’t understand that. Maybe that’s why she drinks and does so many drugs.

  “But I’m worried about her. I don’t want to lose her—and not the way you’re worrying about losing Robin—but permanently.”

  Jason nodded. Their discussion had given him a lot to think about. He was controlling but he was also too passive when it came to speaking his truth. He had to speak his truth and allow Robin to speak hers and then they had to deal with it. It’s what couples had to do.

  “When she gets back home I’ll apologize and this time I won’t negate it by telling her how what she does impacts me. I was an idiot for what I said and I have to let her know that I realize it.”

  “Good,” Peter said. “But then you have to have that talk with her, Jason. Otherwise you guys will never move ahead.”

  Jason looked down at his hands and nodded. “And you do too, because B is my friend regardless of you two being a couple. And if you don’t have the conversation with her, I will.”

  “Understood.” Peter sighed. “I think we can use a break. Let’s get the girls and go to Tokyo to celebrate Robins news.”

  Jason perked. “Good idea. Tell the girls while I call Robin.” Jason reached into his pants pocket for his phone but saw it sitting on the console. He reached for it noting that Robin had already left him a voice message. He played it back as he turned off the controls and powered down the system.

  He paused when she said hold on because there was something going on. And then he heard her frantic whisper that there were men with guns. Jason gripped the console for support. The phone went dead then and Jason quickly redialed her number. There was no answer.

  “Robin!” He yelled. “Call me back. Are you o
kay, baby?! Call me!” He hung up the phone and re-dialed with the same result, it went directly to her voicemail.

  “Peter!” Jason screamed as he hurried into the main house, his cane hitting the bamboo floor with loud thunking sounds.

  Peter appeared from the office with Amberly and Belinda at his side, his face etched in concern at the look on Jason’s face.

  “Amberly,” Jason shouted. “Call Y. Robin just left me a message saying that there were armed men in the studio and then the phone went dead. Now I can’t get her to answer.”

  “Oh my God!” Amberly cried as she hurried back to the office for her cellphone. She was dialing when she returned to the main room.

  “Yagano! Answer the phone! Are you okay?!” Amberly looked at the phone and then at Jason. “It went to voicemail.”

  “Call the police!” Peter yelled.

  Amberly stared at her phone and then she looked at Jason. “Robin said men with guns? Did she say anything about tattoos?”

  “What? No just men with guns!” Jason yelled while running his hands through his unruly hair. Why was she asking questions instead of calling the police?!

  “I know who to call,” Amberly said in a shaky voice. She rushed back into the office and pulled open the desk drawers until she found Y’s address book.

  Her hand brushed a crumpled white handkerchief and when she pushed it aside a fingertip rolled across the bottom of the drawer.

  Amberly screamed and covered her mouth and the others rushed to see what she was looking at.

  “What the fuck is that?” Peter frowned.

  Belinda’s face was twisted in disgust. “It’s the tip of a finger.” She looked around at the faces of the others. “Y is part of the Yakuza,” Belinda said softly.