Chapter 175: Jumping Off a Building
The elevator chimed softly, and the doors slid open with a quiet whoosh.
Cointreau straightened his suit, his posture immaculate as he stepped out. He strode confidently across the corridor, his footsteps echoing in the sterile hallway. Reaching the heavy metal door at the end, he twisted the handle and pushed it open, stepping out onto the rooftop.
Shuichi Akai followed a few paces behind, his movements silent, his eyes fixed on the man ahead. He observed every detail, every subtle shift in Cointreau's bearing. What is he doing? Akai wondered, a knot of apprehension tightening in his gut. Coming to the rooftop at a time like this… How does he possibly plan to leave the hotel? Surely he doesn't have a helicopter waiting.
A soft buzz from his pocket drew his attention. He glanced at his phone: a message confirming the snipers were in position. A significant number of agents had also been stationed on the top floor, boxing their target in.
A small measure of relief washed over Shuichi Akai; the plan was proceeding smoothly. Yet, as he watched Cointreau's unhurried pace, the complete absence of nervousness in the man who was supposedly cornered, the unease returned, sharp and insistent.
Cointreau's back disappeared through the rooftop doorway. The feeling of wrongness in Akai's chest intensified. He hesitated for a fraction of a second, then quickly confirmed with his colleagues that there was no ambush waiting on the other side of the door. Only then did he follow.
Stepping out into the cool night air, Akai's eyes immediately found Cointreau standing precariously on the very edge of the roof. The wind whipped at the hem of Cointreau's coat, but he stood perfectly still, seemingly unbothered by the glowing red dot of a sniper's laser sight dancing over his heart.
Akai frowned, the sound of his own voice cutting through the wind. "Cointreau. I don't know what you're planning, but you have nowhere left to run. If possible, I hope you'll cooperate with us. After all, from the looks of it, you aren't exactly loyal to the Organization, are you?"
"I refuse." The reply was instantaneous, delivered without a hint of hesitation just as Akai's words faded.
It was true—he held no loyalty to the Organization. But Cointreau knew with chilling certainty that, before Natsume had appeared in his life, there was nowhere else for him to go. Government agencies like the FBI, the CIA, or Japan's Public Security Bureau were, in some ways, even more dangerous. Once they discovered his unique nature, they would never let him go.
Immortality. What an irresistible temptation. The Boss understood that perfectly, which was why he had always been so confident in his control over him.
Of course, Shuichi Akai was oblivious to these thoughts. He had expected the refusal, but the sheer speed and finality of it still left him perplexed. "Why? To be honest, you don't seem to care about the Organization nearly as much as Gin does."
"Why..." A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched Cointreau's lips. "For freedom, perhaps."
With that cryptic answer, Cointreau took a deliberate step back with his right foot, his heel finding the precipice of the rooftop ledge. With a slight push, his body tipped backward. Before Akai's suddenly widened eyes, he fell from the roof, plummeting into the night like a broken bird.
The entire sequence, from Cointreau's answer to his fall, took less than two seconds. It was terrifyingly fast.
The moment Akai saw the backward motion, he lunged, his legs pumping as he sprinted toward the edge. But he was too late. His outstretched hand grasped only empty air.
He skidded to a halt at the ledge and peered down, his heart pounding in his chest. His gaze was met by the dark, unforgiving muzzle of a pistol. Cointreau was aiming back up at him.
Without a second thought, Akai threw his body backward, twisting to avoid the shot.
"Ugh!"
The move was too sudden. Though he had reacted instantly, the bullet still found him, tearing through the flesh of his shoulder. He had anticipated a helicopter pickup, maybe even a counter-sniper, but he had never imagined Cointreau would simply jump—and still be able to fire a weapon on the way down. The sheer audacity of it had caught him completely off guard.
Akai stumbled back several steps, his back hitting the wall of the rooftop access structure. He pressed a hand to the wound, a grimace twisting his features as he looked down. The entry point wasn't far from the sniper wound he'd received not long ago. A bitter smile touched his lips. His shoulder, it seemed, had been through a series of disasters recently.
Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps reached him. He turned his head to see Jodie Starling and his superior, James Black, rushing onto the roof.
"Shu! Are you okay?" Jodie's professional composure vanished. She quickened her pace, her expression fraught with anxiety as she moved to inspect his injury.
"I'm fine. It missed anything vital," Akai reassured her, his voice tight with pain. He then turned his attention to James. "What about Cointreau? What happened after he jumped?"
"Our snipers saw him fall," James answered, his brow deeply furrowed. "He didn't deploy a parachute or a glider—no measures at all. He just fell vertically until he was about a dozen meters from the ground. Then the surrounding buildings blocked our line of sight."
James was just as baffled by the situation. To fall that far, that fast… even if he had opened a hang glider at the last second, it would have been too late. Could Cointreau have intended to commit suicide?
"I've already dispatched a team to check the ground level for a body," James added, though his tone suggested he didn't expect them to find one. He couldn't imagine a man like Cointreau simply ending his own life. Though he had no idea how it was possible, James subconsciously felt that their target had once again slipped through their fingers.
Shuichi Akai shared his sentiment. He said nothing more, knowing everything now depended on what the ground team discovered.
"There's one more thing," Akai said, his gaze hardening with resolve. "I need you to investigate two people: Akemi Miyano and Natsume Natsuki. I want everything you can find, as detailed as possible." He paused for a fraction of a second when he mentioned Akemi's name, a flicker of some deep emotion crossing his face before it was gone.
"Huh? Why?" Jodie asked, confused by the sudden shift. "Did Cointreau say something to you?"
"Yes," Akai confirmed, then briefly recounted the information Cointreau had revealed about his past.
Jodie's expression grew complex as she looked at him. So, the situation is that Shu used his own cousin's feelings for him to infiltrate the Organization, and then indirectly caused her death. The thought made her feel conflicted. Was it right for Shu to have been in a relationship with his cousin? Then again, she recalled that Japan permitted marriage between cousins. It was probably fine…
Shuichi Akai, oblivious to the strange turn of Jodie's thoughts, continued explaining his reasoning. "I get the feeling Cointreau's attitude toward that Miss Natsume is different. There might be a connection between them. She could be a breakthrough, a way to finally get a handle on him."
James nodded, agreeing with Akai's assessment. He then looked worriedly at the bloodstain spreading across Akai's shoulder and held up a hand, stopping him before he could say more. "We can talk about this later. Right now, you need to get to a hospital. Since it's a gunshot wound, we'll have to go to Beika Central. The director there will help us keep it quiet."
The mention of the director reminded James of something. "That doctor with excellent skills I told you about has already arrived at Beika Central. We can have him treat your wound. It will be a good opportunity to see if he's as good as they say."
Shuichi Akai didn't object.
After cleaning up any traces they might have left, the group departed from the Beika Hotel rooftop.
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