Chapter 8: Yakuza and Bombs

A while later, Ed approached his sister Kate. Ellie was playing in the other room.

“Sis, do you have an education savings account for Ellie?”

“I do. It doesn’t have much yet, but I intend to save for her college.”

“I’d like to contribute to it,” he said. Ed pulled a stack of bills from his coat pocket and handed it to Kate.

“Wow! How did you get that much money?” asked Kate.

“I did some work for someone recently and he paid me in cash. I don’t need this, and I figured it could help Ellie.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Please take it and invest it in her education savings account. I don’t have kids of my own, but I can contribute to my niece’s education.”

Kate put the money in her purse on the kitchen counter.

“One day she’ll have a college education, and we’ll attend her graduation,” he said.

“Unless she gets an arts degree,” said Kate with a smile.

“Right.”

Meanwhile, outside Ed’s apartment complex, two Russian agents sat in a car. One received a phone call.

“Da?”

“Is the target there?”

“Nyet. The building super said he left town.”

“That sounds like he was expecting us. Return to the safe house. We’ll catch him later.”

“Da. On our way.”

The ghost of Conner roamed around CIA headquarters, in the same building as the Seattle police headquarters. Similar to Sara, he couldn’t let go of his old profession.

Conner watched his former CIA colleagues going about their business. Noah Johnson and his teams struggled to find a potential threat on the west coast. They had limited intel so far, but they knew it was significant.

“How can we gather intel on the threat? We don’t know who or where they are,” said one case worker.

“I don’t know yet. Impress me. I feel we have little time,” said Noah.

“They might stage in a warehouse, but I don’t know where to start.”

Conner listened in on them, getting all he could. Perhaps he could use his talents as a ghost to find something. Still, it was tenuous. Perhaps he could get lucky.

Later, Conner found Sara wandering around outside police headquarters.

“Detective, may I have a word with you?” asked Conner.

“Of course. What’s up?”

“I have a case, and could use your help. A potential threat on the west coast, probable domestic terrorism. We must find intel on the threat.”

“And if we find something, can we pass it to Ed?”

“He’s ok with passing intel to the local CIA branch chief. They treat him with respect.”

“Ok, what do you need from me?” asked Sara.

“We could float through warehouses and places these terrorists might have established a base. If we find anything of interest, we go back and study it further.”

“Sounds good.”

“If we can divide up the Seattle area, we can cover more ground.” said Conner.

“Do you have a map?”

“We can use the map in the incident room. Then we can begin our search.”

“Agreed.”

They went to the incident room and planned their approach.

On Sunday, Ed returned to his apartment.

Two ghosts greeted him. Both appeared to be Japanese.

“Hello,” said Ed.

The first ghost said something in Japanese. Ed didn’t understand it.

The second ghost spoke in English. “Ed-San, I am Sugano Bunjiro. I speak some English, and I’m here to translate for Toyoda-san.”

“Ok, and what does he want?”

The ghost known as Sugano spoke in Japanese to Toyoda-san. He replied in Japanese.

“Toyoda-san says he was part of a family business. He died, and wants to share some information with his family members before he can pass on,” said Sugano.

Ed looked at Toyoda-san. He seemed harmless, dressed in a business suit.

“Please ask if I am in any danger to help him.”

More Japanese between the two ghosts.

“You’re only required to help pass on a message. No harm will come to you.”

“Ok. But I don’t speak Japanese.”

“Toyoda-san says he can temporarily control your body, and will speak with your voice. It will cause no lasting damage, and he will leave your body once the task is complete.”

“That’s new. I haven’t met a ghost before who could do that.”

“Do you agree to help Toyoda-san?”

“Yes. If it’s safe and he can use me to speak Japanese. When will we do this?”

More Japanese between the two ghosts.

“Toyoda-san says now. There’s only now. You can drive there and it should take about half an hour.”

Ed put on his jacket and grabbed his keys.

Meanwhile, Sara flew through buildings in the northern area around Seattle.

She could zoom through any warehouse or factory building. The walls and any solid objects didn’t slow her down at all. It was quite exciting!

Occasionally, she saw other ghosts. With their help, she could cover most of Seattle in less time. It was a perfect search and surveillance technique.

Sara came out of one building, floated up, and dived into another building. She moved on once she confirmed there was nothing interesting.

Conner had asked for her help, and this task was right up her alley. They were searching for potential threats, which could include many things. She might even catch villains before they committed their crimes.

This flying and swooping through buildings was a blast. Since she died, she’d remained earthbound, as if she still had a physical body. Now she behaved more like a hawk.

Once they found any threat, Conner would pass the information to the CIA via Ed. Conner said Ed would do this. It was more than she could get.

Sara continued to complain about Ed. But she could let Conner handle Ed.

She dived through another building. Nothing of interest so far.

Ed drove with two ghosts in his car. He was getting quite used to having ghosts in his car.

The one known as Sugano passed on directions, which took him towards what he knew as Japantown. Soon, he parked in a parkade nearby.

Toyoda-san said something in Japanese to Sugano, who translated into English.

“Ed-san, Toyoda-san will now take control of your body. Please remain still.”

Ed sat still in the driver’s seat. Toyoda-san floated inside Ed. One moment, he felt a cold chill. The next moment, everything went dark.

Ed got out of his car, but it wasn’t Ed. Toyoda-san walked out of the parkade.

Conner flew through buildings, checking each building in about a minute. He flew just below the ceiling and looked down at whatever was happening.

He wondered how Sara was doing on the other side of town. So far, he’d found nothing of interest.

Suddenly, he encountered something different.

Several people below him worked on what looked like explosive devices. Conner guessed they were about halfway through their work.

Conner flew up through the roof and outside the building. He floated to the nearest intersection and looked at the street signs. He skipped the rest of his searching to find Ed.

By the time he arrived at Ed’s apartment, it surprised him to find it empty. It was the weekend, and Ed had no life outside of his job. Conner checked the parking garage, and Ed’s care was missing.

Toyoda-san (in Ed’s body) walked up to a Japanese noodle shop. He opened the door and walked in.

“Irasshaimase (いらっしゃいませ),” yelled the staff behind the counter. This was a traditional greeting, meaning “welcome, please come in.”

Toyoda-san walked past them and continued through a side door. The restaurant served as a cover for his previous family business.

A moment later, several Japanese men surrounded him, armed with swords and pointed at him.

“Stop right there,” yelled one of them.

“Oyama-san put that away before I show you how to use it,” said Toyoda-san (in Japanese).

“How do you know my name?” (in Japanese).

“Let me enter and I will explain it to you.”

Oyama-san and the other men exchanged glances. They all lowered their swords.

“That’s better. Now move aside, I’m here to talk with Oyabun-san,” said Toyoda-san (in Japanese).

This was confusing. They all stepped back and let him pass.