Fire and Ice - Anne Stuart [3]
The residential street was dark and deserted. If she’d thought of it in time, she could have gotten the taxi driver to give her a boost over the wall. He probably would have—he’d tried so hard to be helpful.
There were trees inside the compound, just out of reach. “Okay,” she said under her breath. “I can handle this.” She pulled her belt free from her jeans, refastened it into a loop and tossed it toward the branch.
On the third try the belt caught, and she was able to drag it down far enough to hold on to. Tossing her knapsack over the wall, she followed, using the tree branch to scale the boundary, dropping over onto the other side, feeling ridiculously proud of herself. Ninja Warrior, here I come.
She half expected sirens and bright lights, but the tiny house was dark. Summer and Taka picked a rotten time to go on vacation, she thought, grabbing her bag and shoving her belt inside it as she walked through the tiny, winter-dead garden. The house was so small it would fit inside her mother’s bedroom suite, but Lianne was nothing if not pampered, and given Tokyo real estate this was probably considered palatial.
The last thing she wanted to do was break a window, but the inner door was unlocked. Probably because no one would dare mess with the grandson of a Yakuza leader. She kicked off her shoes and went in. Alice through the looking glass, she thought.
Where the hell was Summer?
It wasn’t like Reno was trying to sneak into Japan. If anyone, in particular, his very annoyed grandfather, bothered to check, they’d know the moment he landed at Narita airport. He was hoping Ojiisan wasn’t going to notice. If he had to choose between duty to his grandfather and saving Taka’s sister-in-law from blundering her way into trouble, his choice was clear. Even his grandfather, if asked, would agree. He wasn’t about to ask.
His name was powerful enough to get him through Customs quickly, and he rented a motorcycle and rode fast and hard toward the city, but he should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. By the time he reached Chiba City it was getting dark, and he knew he wasn’t alone—he’d been a fool to underestimate his grandfather’s influence. He should probably let the two men following him herd him straight to his grandfather’s compound. If Ojiisan knew when he landed, he could also know where Taka’s sister-in-law was. His grandfather might have even taken care of the problem, which would make life a lot easier. Reno had made a promise, and he wasn’t in the habit of breaking promises to family members, even if they were only his cousin’s wife.
He didn’t need to be the one to rescue Jilly—he’d only seen her once in his life. He probably wouldn’t even recognize her.
That was bullshit—he’d know her if he was blindfolded. He’d taken one look at her and felt his world begin to crumble away.
And he liked his world. He liked the variety of women, he liked making his own rules, he liked answering to no one if he could help it, his grandfather and his cousin if he must.
The men following him, his grandfather’s men, were some of the best. Grandfather would tolerate nothing less. It was going to be too bad that they lost him, and if he were a better person, he’d let them catch up with him. Mistakes weren’t tolerated.
But he hadn’t spent enough time in England to become sentimental. He took the last turn heading into the heart of the city, slowing down just enough to lull his followers, and then took a sharp left, disappearing down an alleyway too narrow for his grandfather’s cars. The air was crisp and cold, and he threw back his head and laughed from the sheer exhilaration of the day. He was back home, he’d managed to lose his grandfather’s men and he was riding a Harley-Davidson. What more could he ask?
He took another left down the next alleyway, leaning into it, and then