Chapter 13-The Last
April Day 6 11:29 A.M.
Mai kept her light on her wrist as the men each took their turn in examining the mark. Lin moved his free hand to stroke his chin. "Well, this certainly explains what Yasuhara told me last night," he said with a grim look.
"And that would be?" Monk asked, clearly waiting for an explanation.
"Apparently, Kiko mentioned that Mai should have been the one to find Tomomi's body." He turned to face the young manager. "Hitomi Maeda had the same mark on her wrist and was for some reason obsessed with going into the lake, seeing as that was where the body was found, I think we can assume why."
"And if you said that she woke up with this mark a couple mornings ago," Monk added, also turning to Naru, "then that would match up with the Maeda couple leaving the resort."
"Can you guys stop talking like I'm not here?" Mai asked with a raised brow. She shook her head as all heads turned to look down at her. It was times like this that she realized she was short. "And the question we need to ask ourselves, is since Tomomi's body had been found, why do I still have the mark on my wrist? Not only that, why wasn't I drawn to the lake during the whole date night thing? It's not like we were all that far away."
"It took several hours after the word appeared on Mrs. Maeda's wrist before she started being drawn toward the lake," Naru explained, pulling out a band-aid from his pocket, earning a few stares. "By then, Kiko had already fallen into the lake and discovered the skeleton." He unwrapped it and carefully placed it on the irritated cut. "You have remained on the property even after her body has been found, so it could be that Tomomi's spirit has more to show you and that is why you still have the mark."
Distracting himself from the scene before him, Monk looked at his watch and let out a low whistle. "We should keep going. Madoka and the others should have reached the cave by now and we need to catch up with them."
Everyone nodded in agreement and proceeded forward in silence.
***
"I think we know why Mai and Naru sprinted out of here when they did," Madoka said with a tsk noise as her light flitted around on the cave floor.
"I'm not sure Mai will be comforted to learn that what grabbed her ankle yesterday was a skeletal hand," the priestess added with disgusted look on her face.
"Think it might be one of the Motos?" Yasuhara asked, unsure whether to be hopeful or concerned. "It looks like there might have been another tunnel here, it must have collapsed on them while they were exploring."
"That hand has no ounce of skin left," Ayako argued, crossing her arms. "Wouldn't it take longer than six months for a body to decompose to a skeleton like that? And it's missing a finger."
"We're in a cave, so it's very likely that mice and maggots devoured the flesh off the bone," Madoka replied, moving her light up the wall of the cave. "It's not completely unlikely for that to be the arm of one of the Motos."
"And the missing finger?"
"Mice," Madoka and Yasuhara replied together. They looked at each other and shared a shrug. "Maybe even a rat."
"That does not make me feel better." The priestess shuttered as the three of them continued down the tunnel.
"What's wrong, Ayako? A little mousey giving you the heebie-jeebies?" Madoka teased with a laugh, earning a scowl from the woman as she strode ahead of the other two. The college student took that as his cue.
"Ayako, it's just a little mousey!" he exclaimed in a creepy voice as he placed his light under his chin and popped up right behind her. Madoka ended up making a shape with her hand and pointed her light at it creating the shadow of a mouse on the wall in front of them.
Ayako jumped and managed to elbow the college student in the ribs while their group leader began to giggle like mad. Yasuhara stumbled backward with a grunt, but still wore a grin on his face. "I knew I should have stayed in Base," the priestess muttered as she continued forward, trying to ignore what sounded like scurrying by her feet.
***
"Haruna, we should go back."
The thought made Mai physically jump back from the wall. She had heard that voice before, in fact, she was hoping she would hear it again. There was something to this psychometry thing, she had to admit. She placed her hand against the wall again and she heard the voice again.
"Seriously, we should go back." It was Kenshin Moto, Mai was sure of it. She glanced up and was grateful no one had noticed she had been startled. She kept her fingers on the wall as she walked to keep up with the group. She just might find some answers.
"But what if she's in here, Kenshin? We have to find her." That was Haruna's voice and she sounded almost frantic.
"She might not be," Kenshin argued. "If she did die here, I doubt her body would still be here intact. She died forty years ago."
"Doesn't matter, I know she's here somewhere."
"This was supposed to be a relaxing vacation." Kenshin was muttering at this point. He was obviously fed up with this. "To de-stress especially after your dad died. Not to go investigating the disappearance of a girl only one person seems to remember."
"Kenshin!" Haruna had lost what little patience she had with her husband at that point. "I love you, but I need to do this. If you want to leave, go ahead, I'll see you back at the hotel later."
"Fat chance, this place isn't stable. We've passed several tunnels that had caved in. If I leave you, you might wander in one and I'll never find you."
"Gah!" Mai was torn from her concentration when she bumped into Monk's back. He was looking down at her suspiciously. "Why did we stop?"
"You kept mumbling to yourself," he replied still eyeing her. "Are you sure you're okay? It's not too late to turn back and get some rest at the hotel."
But it was, and they both knew it. They were so far into the tunnel there was no point in turning around and going back now. Besides, it wasn't like she was actually sick, she was having a vision. Or would you call it a walking vision? "I'm fine," she defended, crossing her arms. "I'm just trying to figure out why the Motos were so obsessed with Ms. Kikuchi's story. It's not like they were private investigators or anything like that. They were regular people digging into a forty year old cold case."
"Like us," Lin quipped, earning an odd look from Monk. Did he just make a joke? But Mai scowled at him.
"We're ghost hunters, research and investigating things is part of our job description," she argued with a pout.
"Actually, I believe it's written out as 'research and observe cases of the paranormal,'" Naru said monotonously. "At least that's what I remember writing in your contract."
Mai narrowed her eyes. They were all teasing her now and three against one just wasn't fair. She shook her head and decided to keep going forward, passing her co-assistant and boss, before placing her hand on the wall and gasping.
She was no longer in the tunnel. She was suddenly looking into a hospital room. A man was in a bed, groaning in pain, a young woman probably around eighteen sat by his side, holding his hand. Tears streamed down her face, as she seemed to be saying something. "Dad...Daddy..."
Curious, Mai willed her vision to give her a clue as to who she was looking at. The scene shifted and Mai could see the man in the bed more clearly. She bit her cheek as she recognized him. He was much older than he had been when he abducted Tomomi, but Mai could see this scene must have happened after the car accident fifteen years ago.
She willed her vision again and she could see the girl sitting next to the bedridden man. At first, her resemblance to what Tomomi might have grown into was a little startling. She could have been the deceased girl's sister, but then something clicked from what Jin had said the evening before.
"She wasn't the last." Tomomi wasn't the last girl abducted, but this girl was. The scene changed and the same girl was older now, dressed in black with a man by her side. The bedridden man's picture was framed with flowers beside it for the small service. And Mai understood why Haruna Moto wanted to find out about Tomomi so bad.
"Mai!" She opened her eyes to the sound of her name to realize that she was being held up by Naru. She sucked in a breath and tried to straighten herself, but her legs felt like jello.
"Haruna Moto was the last victim!" she said breathlessly.
"Victim of what?" Monk asked as she pushed herself off of Naru. Her knees were still wobbling.
"The couple that kidnapped Tomomi." She shook her head. "Tomomi wasn't their first or last victim. But, Haruna was the last one."
***
Kiko was honestly bored sitting in Base. It had been almost three hours since she heard from Monk and about an hour since Yasuhara last called her to let her know they might be longer than they thought. She was to give them an extra hour before calling Juro and Saburo and letting them know about the team's mission. Ninety minutes to go before she was allowed to be worried.
She couldn't crack the password to Lin's laptop and there was absolutely nothing interesting going on when she watched the monitors. Luckily, she did manage to snag a deck of playing cards from one of the maids who saw how bored she had gotten. "There's only so many times one can play solitaire," she said with a long deep sigh after winning the eighth game in a row.
She rubbed her eyes and leaned back in her chair before glancing at the monitors. Nothing seemed odd, not that she was expecting anything. It wasn't like she would be able to do anything if something odd were going on anyway. Not when the rest of the team was in the middle of some tunnel that could very well be underneath the lake.
She shook her head and noticed the brown leather purse that was sitting on the chair that would have been Lin's if he was there watching the monitors. Judging by the tassels on it, it must have been Madoka's. Why had it caught the young investigator's attention? It was now open with a book sticking out.
Kiko gathered the cards back into the box and took the book out of the purse. It was the Japanese translation of Oliver Davis's newest novel. That shouldn't have struck the girl as odd, but she had the nagging suspicion that the purse had not been open with the book sticking out ten minutes ago.
"Something wants to tell me something," she muttered quietly as she complied with the urge to open the book to the acknowledgement page. And she smiled.
Acknowledgements:
Dedicated to the Davis Family and the Nakagawa Family.
Kiko turned back to the copywrite page and found the book had been published in Japan in September of last year. It might have been a last minute add, but she was glad that Noll decided to publicly acknowledge their friendship, even if most people wouldn't understand the reference.
She grinned. "Well, Gene, I suppose I should thank you for giving me some reading material. I guess you know I'm going to be here a while." She opened to the first chapter and began reading.
***
A young girl, probably around seven or eight, was lying on a bed with white sheets. There was a patch of gauze on her forehead and her black hair had been recently cut short. A man and a woman were at her side waiting for her to wake up. "Just how hard did you hit her?" the man asked, glancing at the woman who shrugged.
"I thought just hard enough to knock her out, but she might be weaker than the others."
"She's also younger. She wouldn't have put up as much of a struggle-"
"You've said that about all of them. Remember how much trouble that one girl was at the resort? She would always sneak off with that local girl, I know she was plotting her escape."
"You give these kids too much credit."
"You don't give them enough-"
"Shh! She's waking up." Sure enough, the little girl was stirring. She opened her eyes and looked up at the couple in fear. Her big brown eyes were wide and a little off in the size of the pupils. Concussion.
"Who-who are you?" she asked tears filling her eyes.
"You don't remember us?" The man asked, raising a brow at the young girl.
She shook her head, then looked at them questioningly. The woman smiled and brushed a tangled lock of hair behind the girl's ear. "Oh Haruna-chan, that's not funny. Surely you remember your own Mommy."
The man shot his wife a look, to which she grinned wickedly. "Haruna? That's my name? You're my parents?" the girl whimpered, still confused.
"That's right," the man confirmed, standing up. "We'll let you rest Haruna, you have a nasty bump on your head."
"I told you no playing on the stairs." The both headed for the door. "Sleep tight, Haruna-chan."
Once the door was closed, the woman gave the man a rather seductive grin. "All according to plan," she said, half expecting him to turn and walk away. Instead, he grabbed her head and planted a heated kiss on her lips.
"Have I told you how much I love you?" he asked, loosening his tie. She was already unbuttoning her blouse.
"Don't tell me, show me," she growled as the scene faded.
***
"I take it she did the same thing yesterday?" Monk asked as he hiked up Mai on his back. He felt her rub her head against the back of his neck as though she were trying to deny something.
"Hn," Naru grunted with a nod, slowing his stride to match the monk's and put a hand on his assistant's forehead. "She doesn't have a fever, so it's not quite the same as yesterday."
"So why is she suddenly having back to back visions?" Mai could be heard whimpering into the man's neck. "There's been only a few times where a vision just knocked her out entirely for an extended period of time. This is two days in a row."
"Do you remember the last time she had a vision?"
Monk looked up in thought. "Didn't she have one in the Headmaster's office at the college?"
"She was awake for that one," Lin commented, leading the group down the tunnel. "Prior to the last few months, Mai's visions typically came in the form of dreams. Usually at night or if she takes a nap in Base. Not while she's awake or forces her to pass out."
Monk frowned and glanced over his shoulder. "Do you think the change is because of her lack of sleep? Ayako told me she doesn't think Mai's slept well in months."
"We're not quite sure the reasoning behind her evolving abilities, but we do know that she's had insomnia since October." Naru's voice was impassive as he spoke, but he made a point to look straight ahead and quicken his pace.
***
Mai watched as a young Haruna ran before being struck on the head and falling like a ton of bricks. It was odd, seeing a vision out of order, but she soon understood why it held an almost snowy film over it. It changed once the girl hit the ground and followed with an older Haruna waking up in her bed, panting.
"That dream again," she muttered as she got up and went to the bathroom. She looked like she had just graduated high school making her around eighteen or so. Mai had the sinking suspicion that she was alone in the house. "What the hell does it mean?" the girl wondered as she washed her face.
Mai watched as Haruna walked down into the kitchen and filled up a glass of water. She drank it greedily and took a breath. A horrible feeling filled the pit of Mai's stomach. The knock on the door only confirmed it.
Knock. Knock.
Glancing at the clock the young girl furrowed her brow and headed for the door. Who could that be at three in the morning? She opened the door to a police officer standing there looking grim. And Mai knew instantly what had happened.
"That's right, this was the night when the couple who kidnapped Tomomi and Haruna were in that car crash." Jin appeared next to her looking grim as well.
"Haruna grew up as this couple's final victim," Mai breathed as the scene faded. "And because she didn't remember running away from them, they kept her alive. Why?"
"The couple was getting older and needed to throw off suspicion. Haruna having amnesia of her life until that point was the break that they needed. They just needed to move and start anew."
"And then the woman died in the accident while her husband was bedridden," Mai finished as Jin gave a sullen nod. "And Haruna is heartbroken because the only parents she ever knew were pretty much taken from her."
"Don't forget her dream, it's not the first or last time she's seen that before." With that the scene changed to a more recent Haruna sitting beside the man who kidnapped her with tears staining her face.
"Dad, please don't leave, I need you," Haruna begged, holding the dying man's hand tight. He scoffed which turned into a horrible cough. "Daddy!"
"I'm not your Dad!" he snapped shocking the woman. "I don't deserve the kindness you are showing me."
"But D-"
"Don't call me that, because you are not my child." Haruna gapped at the man but didn't say anything. The man gave a long sigh before squeezing the girl's hand. "I'm an old dying man, who has done many terrible things. I don't deserve someone like you to care for me."
"What are you talking about? Sure there were things I did where I got in trouble, growing up but-"
"I know about the dream you keep having. Now tell me, what was the first thing you remember about your life?" Mai watched as Haruna's eyes widened as she realized what he meant. "I've done horrible things, things that I will suffer for greatly when I finally die, but you deserve the truth with my death."
"Mom was the one who hit my head in my dream?" She shuddered as everything became clearer. "That was real? You took me from my family and raised me like your own, why?"
"Because we could. We could get away with you not remembering your life, not like the other girls-"
"There were other girls!"
"I never once said I was one of the good guys." But Haruna had had enough and stormed out of the room.
"I can't say I blame her," Mai said with a shrug.
***
"Well, fancy meeting you guys here," Yasuhara quipped once the two teams finally met in the tunnel. "I was wondering how much farther we'd have to go to find you."
"Mai!" Ayako exclaimed running up to the monk who was holding the teen. "What happened?"
"Don't move her," Monk warned, dodging the priestess smoothly. "She started having a vision and has been knocked out for the last half hour. Although, thanks to that we do know why the Moto couple were looking into Tomomi's death."
"Really? And why is that?" Madoka asked, putting her hands on her hips.
"Apparently, Haruna Moto was a victim of the same couple who kidnapped Tomomi forty years ago," Naru explained earning several concerned looks.
"You know, it could make sense," Madoka decided, stroking her chin with her index finger. "A young Haruna would fit a similar description of Tomomi when she was alive and that age. Black hair, brown eyes, she was a tall woman from what I found out from Saburo, so she might have been a tall child. Her favorite color could have been pink-"
"You've described at least a third of the little girls in Japan right there," Yasuhara said with a look, earning one back. "But from what we know of Mai's vision yesterday, that couple kidnapped multiple girls, why did they stop with Haruna? Why did they let her live, if we assume the others are dead?"
"You know, I think Mai might be able to tell us the answers to all of our questions pretty soon," Monk said loudly as Mai shifted on his back. "I think she's waking up."
"Or having a nightmare," Ayako remarked shooting a look at Naru who blatantly ignored it.
"Nuh..." Mai whimpered into Monk's shoulder, rubbing her face into it. "No...no don't!"
"Should we wake her?" Yasuhara asked with a raised brow.
"If her vision is anything like yesterday's, she might be pissed if we do wake her up," Ayako said with a shrug. "She apparently woke up just before she found out what happened to the Moto couple, even though I think we might have an idea now."
"It's true that with astral projected visions it can dangerous when you let the projector continue the vision if they are thrashing and waking them up too soon is another issue too," Madoka added with a nod. "You could potentially allow another spirit to take over the body."
"All of her visions are through astral projection?" Yasuhara asked, crossing his arms.
"Yeah, at least when she is asleep," Madoka said with a shrug. "Sorry, I thought you all figured that part out."
"As much as this discussion is interesting and I'd love to hear about what you found, can we figure out what to do with the girl thrashing around on my back?" Monk asked, everyone looked and saw him struggling to keep his hold on the flailing girl.
"Let's lay her on the ground and try to restrain her from hurting herself," Madoka suggested, nodding to Lin and Yasuhara who went to help get the girl off of Monk's back. "We'll need something to rest her head on, the way she's going she'll bash her own head on the floor."
"Here," Ayako said, untying the flannel that was around her waist. She bundled it up to as close to a pillow as possible. "This is the best I've got."
"It'll do," Naru said, taking the shirt and placing it under Mai's head as she was laid down. He placed his hands on either side of her face to try and hold her still.
"Well look at you," Monk said, eyeing the priestess. "I didn't know an old hag could show of her arms these days."
"I'm younger than you, jackass!" she hissed, her fists clenched at her sides. "And I sure as hell can show off my arms if you can walk around shirtless. Who needs to see that flabby belly?"
"Hey! That was low!"
"No!" All heads turned back to the thrashing psychic.
***
"Thanks for setting up this trip, Kenshin," Haruna said. Judging from the steam and lack of clothing the couple wore, Mai knew they were in the mixed bath. The wife was curled up under her husband's arm and they were alone.
"I think we needed it," he said, kissing her head. The scene shifted and they were at the boat house. Kikuchi was there and staring wide eyed at Haruna.
"Tomi?" she exhaled but seeing the confused look on the woman's face, she shook her head. "I'm sorry, you reminded me of someone I used to know."
"Used to know?" Haruna asked her brows furrowed. "What happened to her?"
"She disappeared, right here. Made me promise to remember her and ask for her, but I've been told she was just an imaginary friend. No one else remembered her." Kikuchi looked sad, but shook her head. "You're much too young to be her, but you do resemble her quite a bit."
"And that's how Haruna figured out about Tomomi," Mai said, seeing the understanding in Haruna's eyes as the scene shifted again. She turned to Jin. "They died in the tunnel, didn't they?"
Jin didn't say a word and let the vision explain for itself. The Moto couple were back in the tunnel. "I'm sorry that we didn't find her for you," Kenshin said, taking his wife's hand. "And I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier."
"It's fine," Haruna sighed. "It was irrational but I know my father said I wasn't the first girl. And I feel like-"
"Like maybe you'd find some sense of purpose if you told this 'Tomi's' story? Like you're on a journey of self discovery since you found out what your parents really were?"
Haruna shot him a look, and leaned into him. "You've just about hit the nail on the head. How did you figure it out?"
"Well, we've been married a few years now and you're going through a bit of an identity crisis, which is completely expected with what you found out." He switched to moving his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close as they walked. "And while you might not be able to find out who you used to be, you want to make a difference opposite to what they did. If you could figure out that Tomi was really taken by your parents, someone would finally know her story."
"It sounds even more stupid out loud," Haruna laughed.
"Maybe but it makes sense, after all now we both know your story or at least most of it. You just wanted to do that for someone else-what was that?" Kenshin stopped mid-step and they listened. Pebbles rolled down the walls as though they were a warning. "We need to get out of here now!"
"Well, we need to turn around, that's where we came in," Haruna said. Mai saw a flash of a memory. The couple were deep in the tunnel and went down one of the splits.
"Oh my god," Mai exhaled as she could feel the vibration of the cave. She didn't want to see this.
"Run!" Kenshin ordered and they raced toward the way they came in. The rumbling ceased and the couple could be heard coughing and cursing through the debris. "You've got to be kidding me," Kenshin groaned as his flashlight fell upon the entryway. Or what was left of the entryway.
"There's no other way out of here, is there?" Haruna asked disheartened.
"Only one way to find out," he decided, pointing his light toward the way they came. "Hopefully there is, but turn out your light so that way when mine goes out we still have something."
"How long did they wander the tunnel?" Mai asked Jin who never said a word. He continued to watch the changing scene as Mai turned her head back to it. Kenshin and Haruna looked weaker as they gripped the cave walls as they traveled down without their flashlight.
"I think we're almost there, Haruna," Kenshin said with a few huffs. "I can smell fresh air."
"I hope you're right," Haruna said.
"It's only been about thirty-six hours since they became trapped, but they haven't stopped to rest for more than a few hours," Jin said matter of factly. "Early stages of dehydration are setting in and they are becoming more and more irritable. They are close to the end of the tunnel, but they'll never get much farther than where they are here."
"Shit!" Kenshin cursed as the tunnel rumbled and vibrated. "Run!"
The couple ran as fast as they could. Mai could see the outline of the exit of this tunnel, it may not have led outside, but she knew it wasn't too far from it. She watched as the hope in the Motos' eyes was shattered by the falling rubble around them. They were so close. So close!
"No!"
***
"Mai! Wake up!" Naru exclaimed, doing his best to keep her head in place before she bashed it on the ground. At the command, Mai's eyes snapped open and she saw the rest of the team, minus Kiko, around her with worried stares.
She slowly released a breath she unknowingly held and Naru gently removed his hands from her face. Lin and Yasuhara also let go of her arms that they had held down. After a few more deep breaths, she didn't feel lightheaded anymore and her heart rate had slowed. She carefully sat up, the men around her gave her support when she faltered, but they did not make her lie back down.
"They were crushed..." Her words were but a breath as she rubbed her neck. "They were trapped in one of the tunnels and then it collapsed on them..."
"Well, that confirms what we found," Madoka said, pursing her lips.
"What did you find?" Naru asked, but before anyone could explain Mai held up her hands.
"Think we can walk and talk?" she asked with a worried look. "I'll explain after they do, but I'd rather get out of the tunnel ASAP." She was met with several odd stares so she shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "Please?"
***
It was quarter after two in the afternoon and Kiko was starting to get worried. She gave them an extra fifteen minutes before calling everyone's phones only to be sent to voicemail. "I don't like this. I don't like this," she muttered, her leg fidgeting underneath the table. Something told her that everyone was okay, but she still didn't like not knowing for sure.
She stood up and walked to the monitors and scanned them all. No sign of anyone on the team. The newest camera in the basement hadn't shown any movement other than Saburo going down to check on one of the filing cabinets, but he left the trapdoor undisturbed. It was still open. She dialed her phone one last time as she tapped her foot impatiently. "C'mon, Yasu, pick up," she murmured drumming her fingers on the table.
"You have reached Osamu Yasuhara, please leave a message." BEEP.
"Shit." She shoved the phone in her pocket and headed out the door of Base. Yasuhara might have joked about her sending the police officer from a few days ago for reinforcements, but she was actually considering it now. Instead, she walked briskly through the hall heading for Saburo's office and planned on making a stop at Juro's office as well.
She knocked on the door to the manager's office. "Mr. Mizushima? It's Kiko Yasuhara with SPR!" she called, holding her breath as she waited for a response.
"Come in, Miss Kiko!" a rather cheerful voice called back, and Kiko sagged with relief. She didn't have to go searching for Juro Murakami after all. She opened the door and walked in to find the two men sitting across from each other at a desk.
"Sorry for the interruption," she said as she shut the door behind her.
"No need for apologies, we were finished our discussion," Juro said with a warm smile. It reminded her of an older version of an anime character. One who specifically was only part Japanese.
"I just wanted to inform you that the rest of the team is currently-"
Life is a road that I wanna keep going. Love is a river I wanna keep flowing.
Kiko had never been so happy to hear her phone ring, even if the ringtone earned her a few odd looks from the men in front of her. "Please forgive me, I need to take this, it's my husband," she apologized and picked up the phone to see that it was Yasuhara calling her. "Thank God, you finally got back to me." She tried hard to not visibly sag in her relief.
"Sorry about that, we ran into a few things in the tunnel," Yasuhara said through the phone. "Are you sending the troops?"
"I'm with Mr. Mizushima and Juro right now," she said with a smile.
"Okay, we're heading back through the trails so we should be back soon. We're going through what we've found and we'll fill you in in Base. For now can you update Juro and Saburo about the cave and tunnel? Be sure to let them know that there have been cave-ins and it should be blocked off from the trail."
"Interesting, well, we'll see you soon. Bye." She quickly hung up and turned to the two men in front of her. "You see, gentlemen, the rest of the team have been investigating a tunnel that had been dug underneath the basement of the hotel and leads all the way to the cave on the other side of the lake..."
***
"So let me get this straight," Kiko said holding her hands up as though she were actually moving the information around. "The couple that kidnapped Tomomi forty years ago also kidnapped Haruna. But because Haruna had amnesia and couldn't remember her life before waking up to them, she wasn't a flight risk and grew up as their daughter. But, fifteen years ago the couple was involved in a car accident that killed the wife and paralyzed the husband. Just before the husband dies, he reveals to Haruna that he actually kidnapped her and other girls. Thus lead her and Kenshin to come to the resort to clear her head only to hear about Tomomi from Kikuchi and then Haruna wanted to find out what happened to her?"
"Which would explain why activity escalated after the Motos disappeared," Monk added, rubbing his arms with a damp towel to remove some of the grime.
"Buried alive is more like it," Ayako corrected, crossing her legs in her seat next to the monk on the couch. "But Haruna being a victim of kidnapping definitely helps to make her obsession with finding Tomomi more rational."
"And the Motos' deaths made Tomomi much more desperate to be found," Lin said from his laptop. "Once her body was found, she wanted to help us find the Motos and pushed Mai into the tunnel yesterday."
"One thing that doesn't make sense," Yasuhara said, stroking his chin in thought, "is the note left on Mai and Naru's room yesterday. 'Help me or you join them.' Who wrote that?"
"It was Tomomi," Mai answered from the college student's right. "It was an actual warning. She wanted me to follow her clues in the tunnel quickly before there was another cave-in."
"The other threatening messages were probably the spirits of the Motos and Tomomi getting frustrated that no one could find them," Madoka decided with a nod. "Lin and I will give Juro a full report and details on the tunnel and the cave-ins. He'll need to call the police to excavate the tunnel for the bodies, and they'll want to talk to us. I guess we won't be leaving until tomorrow at some point."
"I guess we'll start packing up now," Monk said standing up and stretching.
Madoka gave Mai a said smile. "It's a shame," she said as she was about to walk out the door. "I really was planning holding a celebration for you getting into your senior year. I know you've been working hard."
"Packing can wait until the morning," a certain voice said causing all heads to spin in his direction. "It's best if we leave the equipment running in case the haunting isn't over yet. Unless you would like to leave a case unfinished?"
With everyone's confused faces and Naru's dead serious tone, Mai couldn't help but smile. That smile turned into a grin, which turned into a giggle, which turned into laughter. Then all eyes turned to her and before anyone knew it the whole Base was in a fit of giggles.
Naru, you're not as coldhearted as you want to seem, Mai thought as she looked at her boss and could have sworn he wore a smirk for a brief second.