Collector of Secrets (55 page)

She raised her overflowing voice. “What is this place?”

“Prince Takeda built it.” Max and Jeff glanced significantly at each other before Max finally continued. “He spent forty years collecting valuable items stolen by the military. His plan was to give it all back to the rightful owners.”

“
Wau!
This is unbelievable! What about the cabinets?”

Jeff chimed in. “Documented evidence of Golden Lily and its aftermath. The plan was to reveal the global corruption at the same time the stolen goods were returned.” He motioned to the television. “Prince Takeda left a video, if you want to watch it.”

“So why didn’t he finish the plan?”

Max shrugged. “We don’t know. Maybe he got scared or sick. We’re not really sure.” He removed his day pack and retrieved the second diary along with a paper-clipped copy of the first. “I’m planning to return these to Ben, but I want to leave them here, for safe keeping while we’re away.”

“I’d like to watch the video . . .” Tomoko took the documents from his hands, “and I’ll find a place to put these, for now.”

Max smiled. “Great. Toshi said he needed a couple more hours to get the plane ready, and I want to show Jeff a few things, since we didn’t have much time to look around before.”

“Go ahead.” Tomoko wasn’t paying attention as her neck craned and her eyes roamed the high ceiling and far walls.

Max took his time moving down the central corridor. The pain killers he’d taken were helping but there was no need pushing any harder than necessary. “You have to see this amazing dragon statue . . . and the terracotta warriors.”

Jeff adjusted his ponytail as they walked along. “So, what do we do about this place?”

“Nothing, for now.” Max said matter-of-factly. “Exposing it would get us all killed. We simply need to wait a while longer. But we will tell the world what really happened. I guarantee it.”

“You think we could open a few crates?” Jeff asked.

“No.”
I am the new guardian
.

Behind them, emanating from the television, Prince Takeda’s regal voice echoed in the cavern.

R
ising to twenty-eight thousand feet, the Learjet 40XR soared on its flight path over the Pacific Ocean. Toshi motioned to the copilot to take over as he exited the cockpit and moved back into the main cabin.

“Everyone comfortable?”

Max nodded but saw that Tomoko was simply staring out the window. Silver-gray clouds floated overhead, while pure white clouds below made the reflected sunlight appear to be glowing upward from beneath the aircraft. She appeared lost in thought.

They were seated in high-backed leather chairs that faced each other, two on each side of the aisle. Toshi took the fourth empty space across from Jeff. He leaned over and tapped Tomoko on the knee.
“Daijobu?”

“I’m fine.” She turned her head and smiled. “I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

Her face grew a guilty mask as she looked at the three men staring back at her. “Well, when we went to Prince Takeda’s bunker today, I took the diaries . . . ”

Max sat straight up. “You told me you’d found a place for them in the cabinets.”

“I did, and I also watched the prince’s video to the end. He told where to find a book that explained the file organization. There was a space already reserved for the diaries. It was a metal box and—”

The three men spoke simultaneously.
“And?”

Tomoko retrieved her purse lying on the floor next to her seat. Her cheeks flushed red. She unzipped the bag and removed what looked like a tan piece of cloth. Reaching across the aisle, she handed it to Toshi, who immediately unfolded it on the tabletop next to him. They all gathered around, staring down at the faded lines of mountains, rivers, and strange symbols.

Max couldn’t contain himself, finally blurting out what he was sure everyone was thinking. “Is this really it? The 176th map?”

“I think so!” Tomoko gripped his arm, her voice pulsing with excitement. “It was in the box.”

The cabin erupted in a chorus of shouting and laughter, causing the startled copilot to rush stumbling from the cockpit, a look of surprise and fear etched on his face.

Jeff held up a waving hand. “
Daijobu!
Don’t worry. Everything is fine.”

Toshi echoed the reassurance before dropping back into his seat. He rubbed the hair on his chin while staring out the window. Finally, he turned and looked directly at Max with a mischievous spark in his eyes. “Shall we make a detour to the Philippines? Do a little treasure-hunting?”

For a moment the air in the cabin hung still, unmoving; each person eyed the others’ reactions. The only evident noise was the powerful sound of the humming engines. Then Tomoko broke the silence with a veiled phrase.
“Trunk-u hitotsu dake de.”

“Romantic Airplane”—it was their song, and the message being conveyed was clear.

Max squeezed Tomoko’s hand before leaning over to kiss her. “Interesting idea, Toshi, but for now, there’ll be no detour. We need to stay on our present course.”

Richard Goodfellow sp
ent two years teaching English in Japan in the early 1990s. A software engineer and self-described road warrior, he penned the majority of
Collector of Secrets
on airplanes and in small towns throughout Oregon, Texas, Florida, and everywhere in between. After completion of the novel’s first draft, he returned to Japan for a month of further travel to lay fresh eyes on the locations of the novel, almost every one of which is real.

The following is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in an entirely fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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