“See?” Rin said with an almost gleeful tone. “Your mother is most definitely involved in what I’m calling the Odewara Kuchisake-onna Cover-Up. This is going to be big news!”

  Miki sat in the back of the passenger van with Rin, with a laptop computer between the two of them. “I can’t believe this,” Miki said quietly as she watched the live video feed on the computer. The video was being shot by Rin’s reliable cameraman, Kojima. Her mother and Travis flashed IDs and walked past policemen into the National Police command trailer. They were both in civilian clothes, and her mother wore a blue long-sleeved top, a birthday gift from her. The command trailer was part of a small temporary camp set up in an empty field at the edge of town near an old industrial park. Forty National Police officers assigned to the Odewara task force to capture the serial killer stalking the town were based here.

  Miki thought she should have known better. Clues were there all along, but she ignored them, wanting to believe that her mother, Yuriko, had left behind all the danger from her special forces career.

  “Mother said she was retired and wanted a quiet change of pace,” Miki said without emotion, hiding both her shock and disappointment. “I wasn’t sure why she settled way out here instead of back in Kyoto, but I figured that she still didn’t get along with grandfather. She said an old army buddy told her about this opportunity to manage the SuperQuickly.”

  “You’re a smart young lady,” Rin consoled, “but we believe what we wish to be true sometimes. I’ve interviewed many people for my show who come to their beliefs honestly, whether they are right or wrong.”

  “I just wonder why my mother is still in the military. She said she wanted to be around for me. She wanted to make up for the time she wasn’t there for me while I was growing up.” Miki’s well of trust felt empty inside her. “Grandma and Grandpa pretty much raised me. I really thought we were closer the last few years, too.”

  “Based on what you’ve told me, I think she loves you a great deal. She isn’t in the military anymore, either. My sources confirmed that she retired.”

  “So then why is she going into the task force headquarters? We saw those soldiers enter earlier, too. They were not National Police.”

  “Ahhh. That is a good question now, isn’t it?” Rin cracked a slight smile. “They were actually JSOF special forces—elite troops like your mother used to be.”

  Rin let the revelation sink into Miki. “You saw my story about Mount Kumotawa on TV. Everyone knows about the legends about Princess Chikako defeating the ogres, the legends of yokai on the mountain, and the mysterious fog that sometimes shrouds the mountain.”

  Miki nodded. “Mother warned me that the fog was dangerous too. And there was that strange light I saw on the mountain during that storm a few months ago. It was like an onibi.”

  “Yes. That is exactly it,” Rin gestured excitedly. “Your mother was concerned about you, right?”

  “She was really worried about me.” Miki found it strangely reassuring that she believed in her mother’s love for her, even if she was lying to her. “She went out that night with a policeman to investigate the light. She said it was pranksters afterwards.”

  “What if it wasn’t?” Rin replied.

  “What?” Miki saw that Rin was enjoying himself. It was like one of those reveal moments on his show. She always thought those were kind of funny, but not right now.

  “What if the legends are real? That ogres and yokai or strange creatures do exist on the mountain.”

  “That’s ridiculous! You can’t really believe that stuff. It’s just for your show.”

  “Ooohh. You’re right about that, but there are times when things are truly unexplained, or there is a real mystery. This is one of those times. Why else would the army be involved in a hunt for a serial killer?”

  “So you’re saying that strange light was a real yokai and that my mother is chasing monsters?” Miki’s tone deepened, indicating she was getting upset. “The only reason I’m cooperating with you is because you told me she was still secretly in the army, and there was some kind of coverup with the Kuchisake-onna Killer. I just needed to see for myself.”

  “I do apologize for the slight deception. I did think she was still in the army when I first contacted you. You’re on the right track, though. The imperial family and the government have been covering up the presence of yokai for centuries. Your mother works for the Imperial Management Agency. They have a pretty clever cover, but I managed to trace the ownership of the SuperQuickly chain back to them through a number of shell companies. It is no coincidence that there are SuperQuickly konbini near a number of mystical sites in Japan.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Miki noticed Kojima filming their little exchange from the driver’s seat. “You better not be showing that on TV,” she snarled.

  “Of course, we won’t,” Rin said honestly, his hands rising in the air, palms out. “I apologize for that. I’m a real journalist with integrity, even if my material is considered fantastical. I promised you confidentiality, but Kojima is a little too eager to film a good scene when he sees one.” Rin made a slicing motion to Kojima, who turned off the camera with a huff.

  “Thank you.” Miki felt sullen now. There was a lot to process. “What do we do next?”

  “We could wait for them to make their move and follow them, but you saw the map on the wall of my office, right?”

  “Yes.” Miki remembered the crazy wall going on top of a map of Odewara. “There were pins, threads, and post-it notes everywhere. It was like something out of a conspiracy movie.”

  Rin scrunched his face in a slightly hurt expression. “That is real research. Your comment does pain me a bit, but I suppose I might deserve that.” Rin recovered quickly from the verbal jab. “I may do sensational journalism, but the chase after a story is what I really live for. Based on the locations of the attacks and eyewitness accounts, I think I’ve determined the area where the Kuchisake-onna Killer is hiding.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. You figured it out before all those police detectives?”

  Rin grinned again. “Never underestimate the power of celebrity. People tell me things that they would hesitate to tell the police simply because they know I’ll understand. But the final clue was the discovery of the bodies of the elderly couple this morning.”

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “That was terrible news. Their son broke into tears when reporters tried to interview him.”

  “Yes, it was. But the news didn’t report the whole story. The police didn’t release the information about the door to their home being smashed in to avoid panic. The killer is getting brazen, probably because everyone avoids going out at night now after the two policemen were attacked. My source inside the department said that something big is going down tonight. I’d guess that the police have also figured out where the Kuchisake-onna Killer is, and they called in the special forces to take the monster down.”

  “You really believe it is a monster, don’t you.” Miki could see the conviction in Rin’s eyes. “And my mother is going along to help them.”

  “Absolutely,” Rin replied. “Everything fits together. That is what’s going to happen.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to film them taking it down for a big exposé. I have the best thermal imaging camera and shotgun microphone you can get.”

  “It’s really expensive equipment. Almost makes you afraid to use it,” Kojima joked, although Rin and Miki didn’t seem to hear him.

  “If my mother is going to be there, then I want to be there. I need to see this.”

  “This could be quite dangerous. I can’t let you go along.”

  “You must be taking precautions! If it’s safe enough for you, then it’s safe enough for me. I need to find out the truth about my mother.” Miki couldn’t believe she was taking such a risk, but she needed to know.

  “She does have you there, boss,” Kojima dryly said.

  After a moment of thought, Rin relented. “I guess I owe you that much. But you have to follow my instructions to the letter. If there is any danger, we will all leave. Got it?”

  Miki nodded in agreement. “I agree.”

  “Okay, then. Let’s get moving. We need to get into position before they begin their operation. They’ll want to move before it gets dark, as the kuchisake-onna doesn’t seem to like daylight.”

  *****

  Major William Fredericks waved Yuriko and Travis into the National Police command trailer. Both he and Warrant Officer Abraham Johnson wore olive battledress uniforms, in contrast to the dark blue uniforms of the National Police around them. The visitors walked past busy black-suited investigators and operations staff to the far end of the trailer, where there was a semi-private meeting area.

  The major walked forward to meet them and shook hands. “You guys made it here in good time! We can really use your expertise on this op.”

  “We wouldn’t miss this. The creature needs to be killed,” Yuriko replied.

  Abraham and William stood next to a thin, serious-looking Japanese man wearing glasses and a dark suit. Both of the JSOF soldiers were taller and larger than him, but the man seemed to have a large presence due to his dark eyebrows and prominent cheekbones over a gaunt, narrow face.

  “Chief inspector, this is Yuriko Morimoto and Travis Sanger,” said William. “They are the IMA’s local agents working with us. Yuriko has the most expertise in dealing with visitors from Confluence. Yuriko, this is Chief Inspector Kinichi Saito of the National Police. He is running the police investigation on the Kuchisake-onna Killer and containment operation.”

  Kinichi, Travis and Yuriko bowed to each other. He looked her in the eyes as if assessing her. “You come highly recommended at the highest levels,” he said, “I am glad to have you here with us.”

  “Thank you. I do the best that I can. So what is the situation?”

  Kinichi walked over to a large flat panel display that showed a map of Odewara with an industrial park centred on the display and pointed to it. Concentric rings were drawn around it, and flag icons represented the known attacks on the map.

  “This is the Momoji light industrial park. The area was built during the real estate boom of the late 1980s and mostly abandoned after the bubble burst in 1991. My analysts have determined with a high degree of confidence that the kuchisake-onna is hiding within the mixed-use buildings of offices and workshops here. We have checked the buildings around the periphery, leaving these four buildings in the middle. They are larger two-story buildings with storerooms, office areas, and basements. I suppose they would make good places for a monster to hide during the day.”

  Yuriko nodded.

  “We have cordoned off the park with national and local police and one tactical team in reserve. I also have two sniper teams that can partially cover the buildings. Best of all, at the request of the IMA, the military has tasked a reconnaissance drone to circle the area so we have eyes in the sky. If anything moves, we will spot it.”

  “You have containment. So what’s the plan?”

  “Major Fredericks and his soldiers will conduct the clearing operation. This limits the number of people who will find out about the true nature of the kuchisake-onna. Everyone else still thinks it is a serial killer.”

  “I wish we had more men myself,” Wiliam stated as a matter of fact. “Having you two along would be good.”

  “We wouldn’t mind tagging along, but our orders are to observe and advise,” Yuriko said with a faintly ironic smile. “Your men are quite capable.”

  “That we are,” William replied, “you two were a couple of my best operators, though.” The major paused momentarily. “This thing seems to be bullet-resistant, too. The forensic techs combed over the site where the two policemen were attacked. They found eight shell casings on the ground and only five bullet holes in the shipping containers. They probably hit it two or three times as traces of some kind of black blood were found at the scene.”

  “At least we know it can be hurt since it did bleed,” Yuriko agreed. “Your people are armed with rifles, so they will do more damage than the pistols the police used. As I told Abraham before, you just might have to shoot it a lot. The surviving policeman told me it was fast, very strong, had claws, and could see in the dark. It also appears to be intelligent, playing the role of the kuchisake-onna, as the urban legend describes. Sargeant Noguchi said it even toyed with him, so it has a sadistic streak.”

  “Is the officer’s information reliable?” Kinichi asked.

  “I’ve worked with Sergeant Noguchi before and know he’s reliable under pressure. I’d trust him to back me up, so I believe him.”

  “That’s good to know,” William said. “We will be ready for it this time, so that will work in our favour. Does this creature have any special powers? This whole magic thing is still beyond me.”

  “I believe it does,” Yuriko said. “IMA investigations have confirmed that the victims had their life energy drained from them. This creature is unlike anything we have encountered before. It feeds on this life energy, the basis for magic, like a vampire sucks blood. I suspect it can cast some spells because of this, but we don’t know what. One thing we know for sure is that it can generate some sort of EMP. There were small localized blackouts around the attack sites, and the personal electronics of the victims had stopped working. You confirmed this, right Travis?”

  “Yes. I took apart and tested some of the phones and the police radios and found the electronics had been fried,” Travis said. “I’m pretty sure it is an EMP, but I’d say its range is maybe 20 or 30 metres. It would take a lot of energy to even do that, so it probably cannot do it more than once or twice.”

  ”That’s not good,” Abraham said. “It means we are going to lose comms and our night vision gear.”

  “I’d say it is probably guaranteed,” Yuriko nodded. “I’m just glad our combat gunsights aren’t electronic. Be prepared to go without comms. If you lose your electronics, at least know you’re close to it.”

  “Not exactly reassuring, but we’ll just do this the old-fashioned way with flashlights and teamwork,” William confidently said. “We plan to clear one building at a time, with the police snipers providing some limited overwatch in the open. We will divide up into four three-man teams. One team covers the back, while the other three will clear the building from the front. If we’re lucky, we might even flush it into the team out back.”

  “It’s a sound plan,” Yuriko agreed. “Just remember that it is extremely dangerous and cunning. I would not be surprised if it could sense you before you can see it. That’s why all the searching for it has failed so far. Expect it to attack from the side or the rear, not the front. Make sure your flanks are covered.”

  “That’s good advice. Is there anything else?”

  “No. The rest is up to you.”

  “Very well. Abraham, let’s go brief the troops,” the major spoke in haste. “We need to move out and be in position in half an hour. Sun is going down in an hour, so let’s hit this thing before it’s active.”

  “Yes, sir,” Abraham turned and headed out.

  “Yuriko. Travis. Please monitor the situation from here with the Chief Inspector. It’ll be good to have someone with combat experience against monsters present.”

  “Your help is most welcome,” Kinichi said. “Let us proceed to the operations area. We have communications there, a drone feed, and will be able to monitor their locations in real-time.”

  *****