Parker Raymond recently inherited his estranged grandfather's large plantation home in Savannah, Georgia. The Spanish Moss hanging from the estate's large oaks, its massive gardens, and a near endless bank account were, in the end, not what captured...
"Who are you, exactly?" the large man behind the steering wheel asked Parker in English.
Parker could see the driver's eyes glaring at him from the rearview mirror. "Nobody. I just kind of, erm, fell into this crazy situation by accident. I still don't know what's going on myself."
"I don't believe him. Hey, Ryohei, you sure you've never seen this American before?" Suke asked, this time in Japanese.
"He can understand you, dummy," Kanda said seated next to Suke in the front passenger seat. "It doesn't matter what you think, Suke, whoever he is just helped me and Ryohei escape. I owe him at least a chance to walk away with his life." The young woman turned to look at Parker. "Regardless, Parker, I would still like to know how and why you got in my room."
Parker began to open his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the sound of a machine gun firing from behind them. Muzzle flashes erupted from a black Mercedes emerging from a dark on-ramp and onto the Kanpachi-Dori highway. It pulled up next to the SUV. The truck's driver-side windows exploded in sequence. Blood and glass flew everywhere as the black SUV began to swerve into a neighboring lane.
"What are you doing?" Kanda shouted at the driver.
Suke's lifeless body slumped over to the left.
Ryohei screamed as Kanda grabbed the steering wheel in an attempt to maintain control of the massive mechanical beast. The SUV swerved side-to-side until the woman steadied the machine. "I can't move him and steer! Suke's too big and his foot is stuck on the gas pedal!"
Parker leaned forward to help, but noticed the black car was now falling back a couple meters. The rear, tinted window on the German car slowly lowered to reveal Wada's smiling, evil face. The man was sitting in the rear passenger seat and he was staring directly at Parker through the SUV's broken window. The barrel of a small machine gun rose into the air and pointed right at Parker. Wada wanted blood...Parker's blood.
"Get down!" Parker shouted and grabbed Ryohei by the shoulders. He stuffed the pop star into the SUV's floorboard as bullets ripped through the vehicle's interior without concern for where they flew.
Kanda screamed as the SUV approached a highway divider.
Wada looked up at Kanda in the driver's seat struggling with the steering wheel and then down the road at the divider. The Yakuza let his anger get the best of him, not considering the results of his actions. He could not let Kanda die this way; it would mean the end of all of his plans. Wada snorted, reached over the seat with his right hand, ignoring the protestations of the driver, and forced the steering wheel to the left. The Mercedes smashed up against the SUV, shoving it into a parallel lane and away from danger.
Attempting to avoid the impending disaster that lay before them, the Yakuza driver regained control, gripping the steering wheel and turning it right, away from the quickly approaching obstacle, but it was too late. The left corner of the vehicle slammed into the edge of the barricade and sent the machine pirouetting out into the multi-lane highway. With a boom, steam erupted from the front end of the car and the airbags deployed. Another vehicle, unable to stop suddenly slammed into the SUV's side and flipped it, sending it skidding down the highway on its roof.
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Thankfully at this time of night, the highway was relatively clear of commuters. Kanda was able to nudge the SUV in and around the sporadic, much slower vehicles occupying the other four lanes. Streetlights zipped overhead faster and faster. Unfortunately, the truck was still gaining more and more speed. "Our luck is going to run out soon if I cannot get Suke off of the damn accelerator!"
Parker quickly reached around the right side of the driver's seat and activated the seat adjustment control. The top of the motorized leather chair slowly lay back allowing him to grab the heavy bodyguard's body to move it. It did not want to budge. "Help me, Ryohei!"
"I-I-I can't!"
"Help him now, or we will all die, Ryohei!" Kanda yelled as she felt her control begin to weaken over the SUV careening wildly down the highway.
Ryohei closed his eyes and grasped the right arm of his dead friend. He and Parker pulled the bloody man into the backseat clearing the way for Kanda to jump behind the wheel. The SUV instantly began to slow.
The singer looked down at Suke and sputtered, burying his face into his hands.
Parker closed the bodyguard's eyelids and placed a hand on Ryohei's shoulder. "I'm so sorry..."
"Why? Why would they kill him? He didn't do anything to anyone! He was my best friend..."
"Damn! Here comes more of them!" Kanda screeched as another black car screamed onto the highway attempting to intercept and overtake the bullet hole-ridden SUV. With a yank to the left, the woman expertly cut the car off and kept it safely behind her. "Everyone get down! I'm going to try something!"
Parker peeked up over the dash and read a passing highway sign. He imagined he knew where Kanda was going. Only a few hundred meters ahead was the off ramp exit for the Haneda Airport.
As the two cars approached the turn off to the left, Kanda let the pursuing vehicle gain on her on the right. She accelerated...they accelerated.
"Here we go! Grab something!"
Kanda swerved to the right, forcing the Yakuza driver in the other car to move away and avoid the large SUV threat looming over them. The action pushed them farther away from the approaching exit. Kanda suddenly slammed on brakes and then jerked the SUV's steering wheel to the left. White smoke erupted from beneath the SUV's tires as the rear of the vehicle bounced and skidded around into the right lane.
"Whoa!" Parker felt the top-heavy vehicle beginning to tip over.
Kanda stomped the accelerator sending the truck sailing forward, but at an angle. Turning the wheel, she let the front right of the SUV smash into the acutely angled barricade. Kanda used the structure to keep the vehicle upright. Letting inertia control the direction of the SUV's body, it slammed up against the rock hard wall of the exit and raced forward. The side of the machine generated sparks as it scraped along the concrete and roared around the circular off ramp. Kanda finally righted the vehicle when it broke out onto the straightaway leading toward the airport.
"That was some insane driving!" Parker exclaimed as he sat upright in between the two front seats. "Where did you learn to drive like that?"
Kanda looked up into the rearview mirror at Parker's excited face. "You know the man you hurt at the hotel room?"
"Yeah?"
"He taught me...taught me everything about being Yakuza, including how to drive."
"So, why is he trying to kill you?" Parker asked.
"He's not...he's trying to kill you and his anger is making him crazy. But me? He wants me to marry him and take control of the family from my father."
