537Chapter Two
The elevator doors opened. Takeshi fished for the keys in his pocket; his footsteps echoing in the dark and empty parking lot as his silver Corvette ZR1 came into view. Despite owning it for over a year it was still a thing of beauty to him, even though it looked a little too conspicuous in this parking lot. He would've gone with a valet, but it was by far his most favorite car to date. He didn't want anyone else driving it.
The Corvette beeped at his arrival. He opened the door, about to climb in when a man began walking towards him. It was Eizo Masuda, brother to the recently departed CEO of a major construction company.
Takeshi's eyebrows met in confusion. "Mr. Masuda."
"Mr. Ryuzaki," the man said, stopping at a fair distance from him. He had his hands in his pockets, looking respectable in a dark grey suit.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Takeshi inquired with a frown. "I'm sorry to hear about your brother."
"Thank you." Masuda parted his jacket, revealing the gun around his waist with a grim smile. "I'm sorry about you too."
Akemi hummed a random tune to herself while she leaned waiting against her father's blue sedan. She unslung her backpack from herself, letting it drop to the ground as she looked at her watch with a frown. What was taking her father so long? At this rate her mother would be arriving home first, and then it would prove trickier hiding her surprise gift.
She pulled on the door handles, but to no avail. She should've asked for the keys.
There was movement from the corner of her eye. She looked up to find a middle-aged man in a grey suit headed west of her. He walked slowly but with purpose, and when she followed his line of sight, a younger man standing next to a gorgeous sports car stood at the end of it. The young man looked familiar, for some reason.
Takeshi stood his ground, not breaking eye contact with Masuda. If the man wanted him dead, he would've already shot him.
"I know it was you," Masuda said, his calm voice quickly giving way to a shaky growl. "You killed my brother in cold blood, and now you're going to pay."
"I don't know what I've done to warrant that accusation," Takeshi replied. How many security cameras had he passed by? There had to be at least four in this floor alone.
"Don't lie to me!" Masuda's anger reverberated off the walls. "We were promised the contract by your Board of Directors for your next expansion project, and you got him killed just to veto him!"
Takeshi slowly raised his hands. "I understand you're upset over your brother's death, Mr. Masuda, but let's not jump the gun here, if you know what I mean."
He would've laughed at his own joke, but it seemed to achieve the opposite effect as Masuda pulled out the silenced pistol from his waist and pointed it at him with a trembling hand.
"Fuck you, Ryuzaki," the man snarled. "You assholes think you can get away with anything, just because you're bigger than us. Say your last words now."
"He had it coming," Takeshi said, and the smirk that broke on his lips made Masuda's eyes widen in shock.
That one second of realization was enough for Takeshi to charge forward and seize the gun from Masuda's hand. The man had a surprisingly strong grip, and for seconds they struggled for the weapon. Takeshi kicked him in the shin and elbowed his nose as Masuda fell back, a hand to his bleeding face with his own Beretta 9mm aimed at him.
"You think I wouldn't know you've been bribing half of my Board just to win your stupid project?" Takeshi lowered the hammer. "I was going to let it pass, until your brother didn't take too nicely to me saying no. You're not the first one to come up to me, trying to blow my head off. I just beat him to it first."
"I-I'm sorry!" Masuda stammered, extending a bloody hand. "I told him not to go through with it! Please don't kill me!"
"And yet you've come trying to finish what he started," Takeshi scoffed. "You can join your brother in hell, Mr. Masuda."
"Wait—"
The release of the bullet was nothing more than a dull, muffled explosion that bounced off the walls nonetheless. Masuda fell on his back, eyes glazed with horror towards the ceiling.
Takeshi released a sigh and massaged the back of his neck. Great. How the hell was he going to clean up now?
Akemi's hands were cold and shaking on her open mouth. She'd ducked behind her father's car for cover the moment a gun had been taken out. Now a man was dead, and she'd been there to witness it.
She tried to control her breathing, but no air was entering her lungs. She would gasp, and in the resumed silence of this parking lot, Takeshi Ryuzaki would definitely hear her. The same man from the magazine she'd seen just this morning… a mogul who also happened to be a killer. It all felt like the makings of one bad movie, if only she could stop watching and no longer be a part of it.
To her continued horror, she watched as Takeshi Ryuzaki dragged Masuda's body towards the shadows. His face was an unperturbed blank; his hand still holding the gun while he crouched over the body and felt for Masuda's suit pockets.
"Akemi? Where are you?"
Her heart froze like stone and dropped to the pit of her insides. She whipped around to find her father finally emerging from the elevator, walking past aisles of cars looking for her. Still crouched to the floor she faced the scene of the crime again and met Takeshi Ryuzaki's eyes, looking straight back at her.
Ice-cold terror paralyzed her. She no longer heard herself breathe or feel any of her limbs. All that consumed her was the sight of Takeshi's body cloaked in shadow with Masuda's corpse next to him; his gaze locked on her and her alone. He was going to kill her and her father. No one would leave this parking lot alive.
"Akemi? What are you doing down there?"
She closed her eyes, swallowing; a lump forming in her dry throat. It felt like pulling teeth to put on her best, convincing smile when she turned to face her father.
"I dropped my pen." Her muscles felt like old rubber when she stood up. Her father entered the driver's seat as she threw another fearful glance across the parking lot. Her chest tightened with newfound horror to discover Takeshi's gaze unwavering.
Akemi wanted to run, but she forced herself to round the car naturally until she climbed into the passenger seat.
"Are you alright, dear? You look pale." Her father asked with a frown while he started the engine.
"I-I'm fine," she stammered. "Let's just go now, please."
She tried to breathe normally for the rest of the ride as her father drove them out of the parking lot.