My Yakuza, A.J. Llewellyn [best book clubs TXT] 📗

“Isn’t that strange?” Kono asked.

Saunders smiled. “I heard he had…distracting company last night.”

Kono’s thoughts flew to Shiro. Yeah, he knew how that could be.

“You were on the docket as a live witness and you’re…well, still alive.”

“Talk about opening with a bang, eh?”

Saunders winced. “That’s a scary choice of words. You wearing a bulletproof vest under your shirt?”

Kono nodded.

“You nervous?”

“Of course.”

“So am I.” Saunders paged through his notes.

“There will be opening statements and then the state will call its first witness who will be you. You will remain secluded until just before I call you. Once I announce your name, all hell is going to break loose in that courtroom. You’ll enter under escort to protect you from any sudden lunges by Harada’s men. You’ll be sworn in, and the rest will happen automatically. You will have to remain under heavy guard until this is all over because you will be targeted. By the way, where is the man who was charged with killing you?”

“He’s being held at a secluded destination for his own safety as well.”

“Good, he’ll need it. They are going to be so pissed when they see you walk into that courtroom, old man Harada just may have a heart attack,” Saunders said.

“Well, time for me to get into the courtroom. You won‘t be able to hear the proceedings because that’s against the law until you testify…but when I’m ready for you, you’ll hear your name called as a witness. Hightail it in there with your escort. Don’t look at anyone but me. Answer my questions and the questions of the defence as best you can. Don’t look at Harada or any of his people. They’ll surely try and freak you out on the stand.”

“I appreciate the advice, Ken, but this isn’t my first day at the Rodeo,” Kono responded.

“Oh, I’m counting on that,” Saunders said as he left the conference room.

One of the guys poured coffee for everyone and brought Kono his cup. “You look pretty calm detective, you okay?”

“Sure. I’m not the one on trial. I don’t have to be nervous.”

“Yes, but he didn’t just come back from the dead,” the cop said and raised his coffee cup in salute to him.

Kono grinned. “The scumbag sitting in there has to be nervous or he will be when he realises I’m not dead.”

* * * *

In the lobby bar of the Hanalei Bay Resort in Kauai, Alia Kennon watched the trial proceedings on TruTV. She watched the courtroom room turn silent as the bailiff gave the order to rise.

The Judge entered the courtroom.

Alia’s palms sweated. A bead of water ran down behind her left ear. Lord, was she nervous. She was worried about Shiro.

“Good morning, everyone.” Before the Judge could utter another single word, Harada’s defence counsel interrupted the Judge.

“Your Honour, the defence urgently moves for a complete dismissal of all charges against my client as the state has no case. Without the testimony of the unfortunate Detective Kono Takumi, the state cannot prove its prosecutorial case.

“My client has been in jail for five months now and as your Honour can see plainly, Mr. Harada is an elderly man and prison life is doing him great harm.”

The D.A. rose to his feet.

“Objection, your Honour, the defence is in no position to make a determination of the state’s case and what we can or cannot prove.”

“First of all Mr. Denizen, the next time you interrupt the bench, you’ll find yourself being held in contempt! Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, your Honour. I’m sorry, your Honour, it’s just that justice compelled me to move for dismissal as soon as possible. No disrespect meant, your Honour.”

“Very well, don’t let it happen again.” He turned to the D.A. “Mr. Saunders are you, in fact, ready to proceed in good faith with this case?”

“Yes, your Honour, the state is ready to proceed.”

“Very well, you may make your opening statement as the jury has already been sworn in.”

* * * *

One of the officers protecting Kono came into the anteroom.

“Wow, fireworks right off the bat. This is going to get good when you walk into that courtroom, Kono!”

Kono recognised him as Sergeant Maven from his old unit in the city.

“I knew there would be. How many men are guarding Shiro out on the island?”

“There are six there now. When you’re out there, the number will rise to fourteen. That doesn’t include the police patrol boats or the occasional flyover by the choppers. You’ve basically got an entire SWAT team looking after you two. You’ll be fine.”

“Sergeant, you don’t know these men and what they’re capable of when angered. They’ll kill a hundred men to get to their target. The only other group that I can think of that is as ruthless would be the Russian mafia. They like violence for the sake of violence.”

“Are you saying, you don’t think we have enough men to protect you?” Maven asked, looking indignant.

“That’s what I’m saying. There should be no less than twenty heavily armed officers with K-9. If they manage to get on the island, they will approach with extreme stealth and take out guys as they progress. The only thing to balance out those skills would be dogs and sensors. Another thing, I would consider using choppers to move us each day.”

“All right, I’ll contact the captain and get authorisation for more men and K-9 as well as the choppers.”

“You might mention to the captain if he balks at the additional assets, that there are a lot of advantages to being out there, but one big disadvantage—backup is a bitch.”

* * * *

Alia sipped her second glass of guava juice. Why am I so nervous? I’m shaking. She watched the District Attorney finishing his opening statement, then the defence attorney stood to talk to the jury.

He spoke for only five minutes restating his opinion that the state would be unable to prove the charges against the defendant. He ended by stating,

“The District Attorney has no credible