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The Company
Time: Wednesday, August 4, 2010 (evening).
Place: Bangkok, Thailand.
Last Event: Selling yacht and getting called to Tokyo.
Because a Saudi prince paying €20 million for a 50-metre yacht is the sort of thing that tends to attract attention, the Agents decide to leave for Tokyo as soon as that proves feasible. Money is no object; avoiding being caught is everything. Anabel electronically books one-way, full-fare flights for the group under their most recent false IDs. She staggers these in a way that will hopefully reduce suspicion.
By late afternoon on August 6, all and sundry are in Tokyo, checked into rooms booked for them by Chaturvedi. The hotel is luxurious and elegant, with spacious suites and excellent restaurants. Shortly after everybody is checked in, Chaturvedi calls on one of the room phones. He's staying at an even nicer hotel, not far away, and would like to meet with the group this evening. The Agents pass around the message and get ready to meet with their handler.
Some team members walk while others go by cab, but it isn't long before everybody is at Chaturvedi's hotel, where it seems that he has rented a conference room under the guise of being an importer of Indian specialty foods. As the Agents arrive and ask for him, they're directed to his meeting space. Chaturvedi greets his people personally, and soon everybody is seated around a long table.
The first order of business is new phones. Chaturvedi opens a crate that supposedly contains publicity items for his imports company, unpacks a dozen brick-sized boxes, and hands them around. He explains that the phones use a superior emissions-masking technology that means it won't be possible for the Agents to use them as locators in the field, but that they otherwise retain most of the features of the ones they replace: multiple SIM slots, dozens of "soft" phone numbers, panic-button function, etc. There's also more memory and a better camera (still with the ability to snap photos quietly while apparently "off"). He had the techs transfer the data from the old phones, so that nothing would be lost.
After that, Chaturvedi briefs the Agents on two assignments. He makes it clear that doing both of these jobs will mean either splitting the group into two teams or tackling one task before the other. With that, he starts his canned speech.
The first assignment involves finding a drug lab . . . but not the usual criminal sort. Apparently, while freeing some wrongfully detained locals in transit to or from a U.K. interrogation facility in Iraq, another team of Agents seized a case containing so-called truth drugs. The Company lab discovered that the packaging and materials associated with these were perfect matches with those of the M201 drugs captured in Kent, and also with some ordinary commercial drugs used as references. The latter openly ship from an Albuquerque, NM clearinghouse – Omni-Biotech Distribution Southwest – which is where the trail ends. Some highly placed Company people want to investigate Omni-Biotech, follow the leads back to the manufacturer, find the black lab, and bust it wide open to the media; others seem somewhat less keen on this plan.
The assembled Agents react with apprehension. This assignment amounts to asking the team to enter the U.S.A. illegally and tangle with organizations they crossed on their first assignment, and which they suspect were actively hunting them in Lebanon and the U.K. That would require a stealthy insertion from either Mexico or Canada – more likely the latter, given the security situation at the U.S.-Mexico border thanks to the drug wars in Mexico. Regardless, it would be incredibly risky.
The second assignment involves human traffickers – again. The Yakuza's biggest shipment of women in five years, maybe longer, left port sometime in the last 24 hours. It consists of victims from the Philippines and Thailand. It's destined for the L.A. sex trade, and arrives within reach of small craft capable of unloading the ship in about 13 days. The source of this information is one of the Company's local backers, a wealthy and powerful man. He cannot provide the authorities with details, such as the name of the vessel or how he learned of the shipment, because the gangsters have abducted his daughter, Asuka, as insurance against this eventuality! He wants his associates in the Company to free Asuka so that he can safely speak to police.
Chaturvedi warns that realistically, the authorities may do nothing even if they learn of the shipment. Historically, they've often been paid off on both sides of the Pacific. Moreover, neither the Americans nor the Japanese like to rock the boat on their international business relations – and the Yakuza have many legitimate business connections in both countries. Thus, there may be a need to intervene more pointedly once the ship's name is revealed. Not that rescuing Asuka is a bad idea; she needs help, and the backer won't reveal the ship's name to Chaturvedi until that's done. With so many ships plying the route from Tokyo to L.A., there's no reliable way to guess this.
Despite all these complications, the Agents decide that dealing with the Yakuza is their first priority. It falls within two of their strongest areas of expertise: human trafficking and ships. It will probably take a week or two to resolve, allowing their trail to cool some more. And it's likely to see the team travel to L.A. covertly, which would nicely position them to begin their other assignment, as Albuquerque is perhaps a 12- to 13-hour drive from L.A.
Chaturvedi agrees that this is the best move. He proceeds to pass out what he has on Asuka, which consists of little more than her first name (the Company backer doesn't want his family name used), a bunch of photographs (she's very pretty), and the name and address of the nightclub where she was last seen (two days ago). The Agents take this skimpy info, bid Chaturvedi good evening, and get to work.
The first order of business is to research the nightclub online. The joint seems to be big and chic, costs a fortune to get into, and has all the hallmarks of a front for drugs and prostitution. Its Yakuza ownership is essentially an open secret. Given the stress that Chaturvedi put on the wealth, power, and conservative nature of Asuka's father, this seems like a strange place for the girl to go. Why would a kid from a traditional, well-heeled family frequent a gangster-run club for the rich and tasteless? Perhaps she likes bad boys?
Vinnie has further questions: Why would the Yakuza stage a kidnapping at their own club? Wouldn't that attract the wrong kind of attention, bringing the law and/or driving away business? It seems like a dangerously bold move, which in his experience means that there's a power struggle of some kind going on behind the scenes, although he has no idea whether it's a hostile takeover, a succession struggle, or a simple case of macho stupidity. He warns his associates to be vigilant – they could run afoul of gang warfare or worse, and poking around is liable to get them marked as targets.
The Agents decide that this will be another "girls' night out" investigation. Anabel prepares Jili, Qoqa, and Wen for the night's activities, doing her professional best to make them look sexy. As Anabel laminates her friends in makeup and dresses them up like slutty dolls, Vinnie goes off to rent a car to use as an escape vehicle. By the time it would be cool to line up for a trendy club, all five are ready to move. Despite a few protests, the rest of the team hangs back at the hotel, ready to come in like the cavalry if anybody hits the panic button.
The club proves to be highly Western in style, with a big line out front, velvet ropes, doormen, etc. Fortunately, Anabel is an old pro at this sort of thing. Some sexy posturing and a large bribe later, she has herself and her three companions through the door. The menacing bouncers with expensive metal detectors at the entrance make it very clear that this place is serious about security.
The interior meets the Agents' expectations. Each of three themed areas has its own décor, DJ, and distinctively dressed waitresses. All three rooms have VIP galleries high above the dance floor, and there's a show stage in the center of it all. There are several bars, all with barmen mixing drinks in showy ways in front of backlit displays of expensive brand-name booze. The place doesn't look like a sleazy gangster dive, but none of the four women has any doubts about the origins of the money that paid for it all.
As usual, Anabel is elected to do the talking – not the least because she's the only one with passable Japanese. She slinks around, checking the place out, while Jili, Qoqa, and Wen stick to their table and watch her back. Wen has her phone out and keeps Vinnie up to date on the situation, sending him text messages and the occasional photo. Vinnie lets her know that, amazingly, he has actually managed to find a parking spot nearby!
Anabel's first mark is a waitress. Anabel drops Asuka's name and flashes the girl's photo on the screen of her phone. After a large tip, the waitress points Anabel to a group of stylish-but-tough-looking punks near one of the bars: "I don't really know her, but those guys do."
To Anabel's eyes, the boys are wealthy sons playing tough guy. They don't look like gangsters, more than in part because they're on the main floor and not in the VIP area. It doesn't take long for her to catch their eye, and soon she's flirting with them. Her angle is that Asuka was at the same "international school" as her, and is supposed to meet her here tonight. When she shows Asuka's photo on her phone, she's a little worried when the lads spend more time admiring the "cool phone" than her looks or the picture of the pretty girl . . . but eventually, they acknowledge knowing Asuka.
After more drinks and conversation, it comes out that none of the punks have seen Asuka for two days. Their last encounter with her was here – her usual hangout – when she ditched them for some "really uncool Filipino sailors." When Anabel expresses shock that a club like this would admit people like that, one of the boys admits that actually, the guys were well-dressed and had money. In fact, he only heard that they were Filipino from Asuka, and simply assumed that they were sailors because she said something about them being "in port." Anabel eventually manages to convince him to point out where these "sailors" were sitting, and then breaks things off for a moment to head over there to ask questions.
As both the five punks and Anabel's three companions watch, Anabel crosses to the far side of the room and approaches a waitress there. Again, she orders and tips well, and then drops Asuka's name and flashes her photo. Once more, her approach is that of the out-of-town friend.
The second waitress seems much tougher and more outspoken than the first. She confirms that Asuka was flirting with some Filipino guys seated in her section two nights ago. She eventually lets slip that she can't believe that a "Yakuza princess" would be so naïve as to sit with foreign scumbags, much less leave with them for a party. Anabel lets this roll off as if she didn't hear it, and simply asks where her friend is. That's all the waitress has, though – and she ends the conversation with, "You didn't hear it from me."
Anabel returns to her associates' table. The four women converse briefly and agree that there's clearly more to Asuka than they were told. They also find it odd that if she's really a "Yakuza princess" and this is actually a Yakuza bar, the obviously well-trained security staff at the door would let her wander off with strangers without at least keeping tabs on her. Unless, say, she was so influential that they didn't dare do so . . . or they were bribed not to get involved . . . or there's something else fishy going on, which seems likely.
Wen texts Vinnie about all this, since he's the group's only bona fide ex-gangster. Vinnie's first comment is that if these Filipinos are involved with human trafficking, then making one girl vanish into a shipload of others wouldn't be all that hard for them. He also recommends looking for tough-looking guys in the VIP area with signs of recent injury – specifically, the sorts of injuries that would result from yubitsume in penance for losing the daughter of somebody important. Wen looks around and does indeed see several bandaged pinkies.
Meanwhile, Jili asks Anabel to try to get Asuka's phone number. With the right gear, she might just be able to track its present location, if it's still operating. Anabel decides to try the five boys over by the bar. With the pitch that her "cool phone" is also very new, and that she messed up transferring her friends' numbers to it, she asks them whether any of them has Asuka's number, the implicit promise being that this might mean a date with two pretty girls. One of them does indeed have the number, and Anabel carefully records it. She also asks whether any of the lads could point her to one of the doormen on duty two nights ago . . . but strangely, none of those guys are working tonight.
Anabel then bids her new acquaintances farewell, leaving them with one of her phone numbers. She's off to find her friend; maybe they'll all hook up later. The boys are sorry to see her go but seem to believe her story. With that, Anabel rejoins Jili, Qoqa, and Wen, and the four of them head out and get into Vinnie's car. As far as Vinnie can tell, nobody followed the women out of the club. After driving for several blocks, he's fairly certain that nobody is tailing him, either.
The next order of business is to get Jili the gear she needs to track Asuka's phone. Rather than order this through the Company, the Agents decide to get what they need on the street. Tokyo is the world's top city for black-market electronics – if you can't get it here, you probably can't get it. Wen asks Vinnie to drive to a Chinese area to do the deal, reasoning that a crooked Chinese merchant is less likely to be talking to the Yakuza than a dishonest Japanese one. Thus, Vinnie finds himself making a late-night trip to Yokohama.
On arriving there, it doesn't take long to locate a suitable back-street shop operating in the middle of the night. Wen seems to have a knack for such things in Chinese areas. She and Jili are buzzed inside, where two stern, silent men – openly armed – make it very clear that what Wen is asking for is illegal. They tell her exactly what the sentence would be for possessing such equipment in Japan, and seem to be challenging her resolve on the matter. She simply stares back, produces the cash, and buys the goods. It's just before dawn by the time the Agents are driving back to their hotel, carrying $42,000 less cash and a backpack full of illicit phone-tampering gear.