“Should we have left more of your bodies at the hospital?”
“Two more would be useful. I will only be able to take the form of a motorcycle instead of a car with fewer bodies on hand, however.”
“That’s fine. It’s not raining today, so send the bodies over now.”
Two dark figures slipped out of Jason’s shadow and quickly vanished. Jason retrieved his phone and placed it in his newly enhanced phone case. A few seconds later, it rang.
“G’day, Uncle Hiro.”
“Hi, Jason. Did you do something to your phone?”
Jason chuckled.
“Were you tracking it? I just installed some security, so thanks for helping me test it.”
Jason made his way to the apartment building next to his townhouse, where Hiro’s penthouse apartment occupied the entirety of the top floor. It was large, open and modern in design, with lots of white, cool grey and metal. Jason drooled over the kitchen where a personal chef was working on their dinner.
“You had a haircut,” Hiro said.
“It got a bit out of control in the process of coming back,” Jason said.
“But you’re letting the beard grow in?”
Jason rubbed the stubble on his chin.
“I started wearing one while I was away.”
“Do you go all bushy, or more of a sculpted, archvillain look?”
“Villain all the way,” Jason said.
Hiro led Jason to the entertainment lounge. Showing off the bar, Hiro drank Tasmanian whisky while Jason eyed the white chocolate liqueur. He made himself a cocktail that was milky, smooth and sweet.
“So, I’ve been looking into selling this gold bar of yours,” Hiro said as they sat. “There is someone who can take it off your hands, but he wants to meet you in person.”
“You don’t think I should.”
“I don’t,” Hiro confirmed. “Jason, I operate on the periphery of legality. A large part of what makes me useful to the people I answer to is that I stay more or less clean. This man I’m talking about is not clean. He’s serious. Dangerous. If you need money, I can help you out.”
“I appreciate that, Uncle. I’d like to go through with it, though.”
“I thought you’d say that, but I had to ask. We’ll go after dinner.”
“Thank you. There’s something I’d like you to ask you about, Uncle.”
“Oh?”
“What can you tell me about the EOA?”
Hiro frowned.
“Where did you hear about the EOA?”
“I’ve been getting the lay of the land. I heard about them, and something about drugged-up thugs. That’s all I know, though.”
“They’re a gang. Or an organised crime outfit. There are a lot of stories. Strange stories. Word is that they have international backing, although from who I have no idea. They started taking things over in Perth, maybe two years ago. Melbourne a year after that. Now, they’re turning their eyes on Sydney.”
“They just move in and take over?”
“They’re strange, like I said. Dangerous, and not the regular sort of dangerous. They have some kind of drug regimen they use to turn their muscle into ’roid freaks.”
Hiro was watching Jason carefully as he gave his explanation.
“I’m not one of them, Uncle.”
“Would you tell me if you were?”
“I have no idea. I genuinely only heard of them for the first time today. What does EOA stand for?”
“No idea,” Hiro said. “You are into something, though, aren’t you? Coming back from the dead with a walk full of swagger and pockets full of gold. Sleek sports cars and anti-tracking software. It’s all very James Bond.”
“I’ll tell you about it, one of these days. Once I have a better handle on things.”
“Is someone going to come looking for that gold bar?”
“It’s not just one bar,” Jason said. “And, no. I obtained the gold quite legally. I just didn’t bring it into the country legally.”
“Why not?”
“I couldn’t explain where it came from, I never left the country legally in the first place, and I was dead.”
“Fair enough.” Hiro chuckled. “How many of those bars do you have?”
“More than your dangerous associate can handle. I’ll have to find a way to legitimise it if I’m going to get any use out of it.”
“I don’t know anything about gold regulation,” Hiro said. “I know some good lawyers, so I’ll see if they have someone who works in that field.”
“Thank you, although I don’t anticipate it being a simple process.”
“How much gold do you have, if you don’t mind me asking.”
“The bar I handed to you,” Jason said, “plus thirty-nine just like it.”
Hiro took in a sharp breath of air.
“Jason, that was a ten-kilo bar.”
“Yep.”
“You have four hundred kilos of gold? That’s a market price of…”
“More than thirty million,” Jason said. “It’ll have to be a very good lawyer.”
“No kidding. The lawyer I sent you to today was adequate?”
“He was great,” Jason said. “My legal status should be cleaned up without too much fuss.”
“Any more thoughts on letting the rest of the family know you’re back?”
“It’s Erika’s birthday next Friday,” Jason said. “I thought I might start by seeing her then, and go from there.”
“A birthday present she’ll really appreciate,” Hiro said. “She wasn’t happy with the investigation into your death. She didn’t let it go for a long time and was never truly satisfied.”
“She’s always been good to me,” Jason said. “Do you know what happened with her TV show when she moved home?”
“She has a new one now. Beachside Kitchen with Erika Asano. She films outdoors, on the boardwalk right by the Surf Club. Big audience, cooks huge batches of food to give out.”
“I hope she wasn’t meant to be filming yesterday. It was really coming down when I got back.”
“She takes winter off. They asked her to be a judge on one of those cooking shows where they vote people off, but she turned them down.”
Jason chuckled.
“She hates those shows.”
7
BOOGIE MAN
Taika drove Hiro’s large town car with Hiro and Jason in the back.
“The advantage of being on the legitimate side of the business is that I can be more conspicuous about enjoying the fruits of my labour,” Hiro said. “The man we’re going to see doesn’t live in a penthouse apartment, but don’t think that means he’s without influence and power. Especially don’t make the mistake of thinking he isn’t dangerous.”
“I’m familiar with the ramifications of crossing powerful criminals,” Jason said.
“Oh?”
“I received an unfortunate lesson some time ago,” Jason said, not explaining further.
“You seem fairly comfortable with my criminal entanglements,” Hiro said. “Your grandmother would be disappointed in you.”
“It wouldn’t exactly be out of her way,” Jason said. “She always liked Kaito better.”