KFC’s meeting room was teeming with people. Most had just been woken up, but they were abuzz with excitement. This was the first time they had been called in since the search began and after several days of manning the phones without hearing anything, they yearned for progress. Handing in their phones and getting scanned before entering the inner sanctum raised their expectations greatly.

  Once the last of them was settled in, Hotaru closed the door. He ran one last RF scan and turned to address the mob of volunteers. There were thirty-five of them already and more would come in soon.

  “Mina-san, I apologize for waking you up at such an hour, but as you will see, the situation is urgent.” Hotaru said, bowing deeply.

  “What we have found so far is very concerning, but it presents an opportunity. You have all seen on TV that Kaori’s kidnapper took her in a white van toward Niigata.”

  They nodded in agreement.

  “We have reasons to believe this story is a fake. We don’t have time to get into all the details, but there is credible intelligence that Kaori fled in her car, and here is some footage we retrieved from a Family Mart CCTV in Fujisawa during the night shift.” Hotaru said, playing the clip.

  “The clip is black and white but the Family Mart owner reported the car was actually pink. We are convinced that this was her car, and that she was in it.”

  He paused, watching the volunteers in silence. They were shocked. One of them raised his hand:

  “Are you saying the police are covering up a crime against Kaori-sama?” He sounded indignant.

  “It would appear so. They have tampered with the evidence in Chinzanso, and they are covering it up.” Hotaru answered in a neutral tone of voice.

  “But why would they do that?” Another man asked, a bespectacled young man of considerable girth.

  “We don’t know, but that’s not the point. If Kaori is indeed in Niigata, the police will find her. There are more policemen in Niigata right now than there are citizens, and there isn’t much we can do. However, if we are right, Kaori is fleeing on her own, being hunted and no one can help her. This cannot stand. We must track her and render whatever assistance she needs.”

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  Hotaru surveyed the room. They were all on board. The prospect of personally rescuing Kaori held tremendous appeal—how many times had they dreamed of such a thing? The mere thought it could actually happen had them on the edge of their seats.

  “We need to think like Kaori. It’s in the middle of the night, she’s fleeing, and she made it all the way down to Fujisawa. Where could she be going? I need you to think of any place in that direction that could be a safe place for her, a friend’s house, a property, anything. We in this room know Kaori better than anyone, it’s up to us to figure it out. Please help us help Kaori!”

  Yuto pulled up a map on the main screen and circled the Family Mart.

  “We all know she has a summer house in Hakone, here. We need volunteers to check it out.” Yuto said.

  Fifteen hands went up.

  “Let me finish. Her father is a patron of the Enoshima Shrine, so that’s a possibility. She’s shot a scene of her first movie in Isehara Country Club near Koyasu; she still has friendly ties with the owner. And then there is the Arabutso Resort where she stayed briefly seven years ago. Finally, there is Megumi Aiko’s secondary residence near Tsujido.” He finished, pointing to the map.

  “These are the places that would make the most sense after going through Fujisawa. We will need teams of volunteers to check out all of these locations, interrogate the neighbors, ask in the convenience stores, look at all the cars in the parking lots…”

  “There is also Aiko’s ship in Enoshima Harbor!” Kaneda interjected. “She went sailing with her friend Aiko three summers ago. Remember the swimsuit affair?”

  They looked at each other. How could they have missed that? A rather scandalous shot of Kaori bent over the railing of a catamaran, wearing a swimsuit.

  “How do you know it was at Enoshima on Aiko’s ship?” Hotaru asked, drilling the man with hard eyes. While tasteful, the photo had been quite a scandal at the time.

  The man blushed and answered, his eyes staring at the floor: “I took that shot. I had a tip off and…”

  A paparazzi. Hotaru despised them, they took advantage of the stars and appealed to the weaknesses of fans, and… well, how much time had he spent looking at that very photo? Isn’t it hypocritical to blame the man? Either way, this wasn’t the time. Kaori needed them and if that meant working with Kaneda, so be it.

  “Never mind. This is our number one lead for now. Come with us, we will check the harbor directly. If anyone has contact with the coast guards, I want you with us as well. Everyone else, you are going to search all the parking lots in the area. If she took the ship, her car should be parked nearby. Let’s go!”