Page 47 of Over the Top

Spencer shrugged. “I’ve been researching him while we waited for you guys to get here. He’s an architect and heir to a construction and real estate conglomerate. His family builds high-rise apartments and major office buildings all over the world. The Tanakas are stupidly rich.”

Gunner’s gaze snapped to Poppy. “She’s an heiress? Was she kidnapped? Is that how she ended up in Misty Falls?”

“Possibly,” Spencer answered. “We’ll have to DNA test her to be sure she’s the Tanaka baby. As for how she ended up in New Hampshire, that’s a mystery to us. Chas, what can you tell us about the woman who brought her to you?”

He frowned. “Leah Ledbetter. Single lady, lived alone. Quiet. Her son was in and out of jail, though. Maybe he got mixed up in a kidnapping plot.”

“The son’s name?” Spencer murmured, already typing.

“Leo.”

“Got him. Released from jail about six months ago. Rap sheet consistent with low-level gang crime. There’s a note in his record that he’s tattooed consistent with membership in the Oshiro gang.”

“Who are they?” Chas blurted.

Drago typed a bit, and then read off the screen, “Yusi Oshiro founded the Oshiro gang in 1985 in Brooklyn, New York. It spread to other major cities, including Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Its largest concentrations are in New York City and San Francisco. Thought to be primarily a drug smuggling enterprise. Gang membership is estimated at between three and five thousand.”

“Five thousand!” Chas exclaimed. “And they’re after Poppy?”

Drago responded, “Three to five thousand is small as gangs go. Some of the big ones in the US are ten times that size.”

Chas frowned. “If they’re drug smugglers, what do they want with Poppy?”

Silence met that question.

Eventually Spencer said, “If the Oshiro gang is doing business with the Tanaka Clan—maybe distributing drugs for them in America—the two gangs could have a beef. Or, if the Oshiros are looking to expand into Asia, they could have run afoul of the Tanakas.”

Gunner commented, “If these Oshiros have decided to tangle with the Tanakas, we know one thing about them. They’ve got cast iron cojones.”

“Why do you say that?” Chas asked.

Drago answered the question. “Clan Tanaka is one of the biggest, oldest, and most powerful Yakuza clans in Japan. Tangle with them and youwillpay a steep price. These modern Yakuza outfits aren’t like old-school Yakuza families. Nowadays they’re more like Western-style mafias, motivated by profit and power. They’re well trained, well armed, and violent.”

“How violent?” Chas asked warily.

“As violent as any South American drug cartel.”

“Holy cow,” Chas mumbled.

Gunner added quickly, “Before you freak out, Chas, Japan is a significantly more lawful part of the world than certain Central and South American countries. Gang violence is tightly controlled in Japan, and because Japanese officials are generally not corrupt, the gangs don’t have control of the government.”

“Still,” Chas retorted. “Poppy is related to these Tanaka mafia dudes?”

Drago shrugged. “Spencer’s trying to find out if this Kenji guy is one of those Tanakas.”

Chas glanced over at Poppy, who was sitting on a blanket playing with a set of stacking blocks. “Assuming she is one ofthoseTanakas, how did she end up in Misty Falls?”

Spencer fielded that one. “Let’s assume the Oshiros have some problem with the Tanakas. What better way to hit them where it hurts? Kidnap Grandpa Tanaka’s cute little granddaughter. The Oshiros snatch Poppy in Japan. If they’re smuggling drugs, they obviously have shipping conduits from Asia to the United States. They smuggle her over here, hand her off to Leo Ledbetter to hide. He knows squat about caring for a baby, so he takes the kid home to his mom. And voilà, Poppy is in Misty Falls.”

“Then who shot up the town and tried to grab Poppy?” Chas asked logically.

Chas looked around at all the other men, and finally Drago muttered, “I’ve got nothing.”

Spencer added, “We’re obviously missing a piece of the puzzle.”

Gunner said grimly, “I don’t care who all is coming after our girl. Nobody gets near her until we hand her off to her parents—Tanaka or not.”

Drago fiddled with his laptop for a bit and then announced, “I’m guessing our guy Kenji is one of those Tanakas. He’s in construction, they’re in construction. He’s rich, they’re rich. His great-great-grandfather has the same name as a founder of the Tanaka Yakuza family.”

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