Bullet Train by Isaka Kōtarō

Author:Isaka, Kōtarō [Isaka, Kōtarō]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: thriller, Mystery, Crime, Contemporary
ISBN: 9781473596337
Goodreads: 57874814
Publisher: Vintage Digital
Published: 2010-09-23T07:00:00+00:00

Fruit

TANGERINE EXITS THE BATHROOM AND steps up to the sink, in no particular rush.

He immediately recognised the man who had entered car three as someone from their world. The man looked a bit younger than Tangerine and Lemon, and his black-framed glasses gave him an intellectual air. He also seemed somehow naive, trying to act natural, but obviously jumpy. When he passed by their seats he had to make a serious effort not to look their way.

Tangerine, in turn, had to make a serious effort not to laugh.

The timing couldn’t have been any more perfect.

Here’s our sacrificial offering, right on cue. If they were going to pin their failure on someone else, as Lemon suggested, they couldn’t ask for a more ideal victim than this particular individual. His arrival was like a ray of light shining into a dead-end alley.

Tangerine left Lemon alone with the man for no reason other than that he had to go for a leak. He didn’t want to be worrying about holding it in when things got more serious and figured he would relieve himself while they still had some breathing room. It didn’t seem likely Lemon would have a problem handling this guy on his own.

The man with the black glasses – he’s the one who works for Maria. While he was pissing he recalled what he knew about this character. Same field as him and Lemon, which is to say, not especially picky about what jobs he takes, a jack of all trades. They had never worked a job together, but the rumours said he was good, despite being relatively new to the game.

Even if he is good I doubt he’s a match for Lemon, Tangerine muses as he washes his hands carefully. I’m sure by now he’s taken his beating and is behaving nicely. He scrubs his fingers one by one, then turns off the water and waves his hands in front of the dryer.

The slim mobile phone in his rear pocket starts buzzing quietly. He recognises the number on the caller ID: it’s Momo, a fat woman who runs a hole-in-the-wall adult bookstore in Tokyo. She carries the whole range, from the merely suggestive to the hardest of hardcore, an exhaustive selection of adult magazines for old-fashioned people who still preferred their porn in print. While she has enough regular customers to stay in business, sales are never phenomenal. But her shop also happens to be a hub for underworld intel. The extralegal crowd comes to her for information, and they have to give information in exchange. Over the years Momo has become a central node in the criminal information network. Depending on the job Tangerine and Lemon will go to her to buy information, and sometimes to sell it.

‘Tangerine honey, are you in trouble?’ she asks him over the phone.

The racket from the tracks makes it tough to hear, and Tangerine steps over to the window and speaks loudly, feigning ignorance. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘I hear Minegishi is looking to get a bunch of people together.

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