"Hey, if you're gonna act, move faster!" the doctor snapped. "Now this cop saw your face—how're you supposed to play the kidnapped victim now?"
"So he saw me," the "patient" sneered. "As long as he can't talk, what's the problem?"
With that, the "patient" leapt off the stretcher, revealing himself as the tall young security guard—Yoshikawa—whom Shuichi Hayashi and the others had seen downstairs. He snatched the fallen officer's gun and aimed it at the two unconscious policemen on the ground.
"Whoa, murder's a whole different ballgame from robbery—especially when it's cops!" the doctor said, rushing to stop him. "Robbery gets you three to five years. Killing cops? You're looking at fifteen, minimum."
The two orderlies chimed in, pleading, "Calm down, Yoshikawa!"
"Don't do something stupid!"
Amid their argument, the apartment building's door burst open. Shuichi and the older security guard ran out.
"Yoshikawa! You're… you're really a robber?" the older guard stammered, seeing Yoshikawa with the gun, standing alongside the doctor and orderlies, while Mrs. Nishikawa—the supposed patient—was nowhere in sight. Shuichi's warning finally sank in.
As two more witnesses appeared, Yoshikawa didn't hesitate. He swung the gun toward the older guard.
"Watch out!" Shuichi shouted, tackling the guard to the ground.
A gunshot rang out, shattering a car window behind them.
Yoshikawa advanced, intent on finishing them off.
The doctor and orderlies, horrified that he'd actually fired, scrambled onto the ambulance, desperate to flee.
Yoshikawa cursed them as "idiots" under his breath, then stormed back to the ambulance. He yanked the doctor out of the driver's seat. "I'm driving!"
The doctor, fuming but silent, climbed into the back with the orderlies.
"Go call the police!" Shuichi urged, shoving the trembling older guard toward the building.
As the guard crawled back to the entrance, Shuichi sprinted to the police car.
Yoshikawa started the ambulance but didn't flee immediately. Instead, he swung the vehicle around, aiming straight for the unconscious officers on the ground.
He was going to run them over.
Just as the ambulance bore down on the officers, a police car shot out from the side, slamming into it with a deafening crash, knocking it off course.
Shuichi, behind the wheel of the police car, had saved the officers' lives—thanks to the fact that the two cops hadn't removed the keys when they'd stepped out.
Yoshikawa slammed the steering wheel in frustration as the ambulance swerved, missing the officers. "Damn it!"
"Stop screwing around, Yoshikawa!" the doctor yelled from the back. "Drive, or we're done for!"
"It's your fault, you three idiots, wasting time!" Yoshikawa shot back. "If it weren't for you, those cops would be dead, and those two back there wouldn't have seen me!"
He gave up on silencing the witnesses and floored the gas. "Where to now?"
"Get out of Tokyo," the doctor said quickly. "Ditch the ambulance somewhere, switch to a low-profile car, and head to Hokkaido. It's sparsely populated, fewer cops. Even if you're wanted nationwide, there's plenty of places to hide."
"What about the stuff we stole?" Yoshikawa asked, fixated on the loot.
"We'll come back for it later," the doctor said, sensing Yoshikawa's greed. "It's too hot to move now. We'll lie low in Hokkaido until the heat dies down, then return to sell it."
Of the four, only Yoshikawa had been photographed as an apartment employee. The others, masked the whole time, hadn't shown their faces. As long as Yoshikawa wasn't caught, they could return to Tokyo as "normal" people and retrieve their haul.
One of the orderlies, peering through the ambulance's rear window, shouted, "Oh no, that police car's catching up!"
"Hold on tight!" Yoshikawa barked, slamming the accelerator.
Shuichi, in the police car, floored it too, tailing the ambulance closely. The stormy night and post-rush-hour streets were nearly empty, letting both vehicles speed through unimpeded.
Less than 800 meters ahead was the Mihama Police Station.
Inside the station, Chief Ono yawned, fighting off exhaustion. "Where are Sakurada and Kasamatsu? They should've been back by now."
He glanced at the clock. The communications center had received a report about impostor paramedics at a nearby apartment building. Since it was close, Ono had sent two young patrol officers to check it out.
Mihama wasn't a large jurisdiction, and the station was modest, with just over a hundred officers under Ono's command. On a night like this, the older, jaded cops had found excuses to duck out, leaving only the eager, fresh-faced rookies to take on patrol duties.
After thirty years at Mihama, Chief Ono had long since settled into a comfortable routine. For major cases, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police would take over, and his team just had to cooperate. No big accolades, but steady contributions kept him climbing the ranks.
One more year, and he'd retire. Just don't let anything big happen now, he prayed, sipping his coffee and staring out at the storm.
No sooner had he thought it than a young female officer burst in, panic on her face. "Chief, we've got a problem! We just got a call—Sakurada and Kasamatsu were attacked, and Sakurada's gun was stolen!"
"Cough—cough!" Ono choked on his coffee, stunned. "What the hell happened?"
The officer repeated the report.
This is bad… Ono's heart sank. Two Mihama officers attacked, a service weapon stolen—this was a major incident. Recovering the gun might mitigate the fallout, but if it stayed missing, he'd face serious repercussions.
With just one year until retirement, a demotion now would slash his pension significantly.
(End of Chapter)