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was quick and efficient. What looked like a superficial pat to Tetsu’s sides served to disarm him of the gun and the belt with its explosives.
    Gabe was waiting at the elevators. Another guard tried to stop Tetsu. The man put a hand on Tetsu’s shoulder and reached into the pocket that held Tetsu’s mobile, but Gabe cut the inspection short.
    They were in the tallest building still standing from the Old Tokyo quakes, thirty-two stories and all of it owned by ValCo. Valnyk’s office was somewhere near the top. No one outside the company knew for sure because the last ten floors were unnumbered on the elevator panel, and the buttons were re-programmed weekly -- at least that was what Tetsu had heard from his sources. Looking at the panel, he noted twelve unnumbered buttons. Close enough.
    He tried to get a sense of how long it took to pass each floor so that he’d have an idea of where they were if the need to escape arose. But Gabe had moved up close, body to body, and placed his hand on Tetsu’s chest.
    “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
    Gabe moved to kiss Tetsu but Tetsu turned his head to the side. “I don’t know why security is giving you a free pass, but you can only guess how a man like Valnyk will react.”
    “I was the mole -- not what you had put on my skin. Me.”
    Tetsu jerked his head in Gabe’s direction, felt his mouth go slack and snapped it shut. His hand went instinctively to where his gun should have been. He dropped his hand to the side. “For what?”
    Gabe shrugged. “Whatever. I pick my own targets. Magnus and I have an understanding. Originally, I was hoping for someone in logistics or security. Someone like you.” Here he offered the slightest of smiles, the pained wince that accompanied it only a little conciliatory. “I settled for Mikio-san.”
    Out of everything Gabe had said, one thing struck Tetsu hard. He had called Valnyk “Magnus.” He looked at the lights above the elevator doors. They’d cleared the twentieth floor already. They could be stopping any second. He knew what he wanted to ask Gabe. And he knew why he needed to ask. But he had no right.
    He felt another floor go by. Even if he had no right, he needed to know what they were walking into. “That doesn’t mean --”
    “Magnus will do what I want in this, trust me.”
    He had his hand against Tetsu’s chest, the warmth of his palm radiating through the fabric to heat the skin. But, from there, ice spread across Tetsu’s flesh. He felt… something … he didn’t know what, sinking. Why would a rich man like Magnus Valnyk do what Gabe wanted? Gabe was danshou . A beautiful danshou , talented and accomplished, but still danshou . For a single moment, a flare of jealousy ignited and blocked everything else, even the Code, from his mind.
    Tetsu leaned against the elevator wall. He wasn’t sure if he was feeling faint or if the elevator was stopping. He wasn’t ready to meet Valnyk yet -- not until he knew. Grabbing Gabe’s arm, he pulled the dancer closer. “Is he your danna ?”
    Gabe’s smile was dark and unreadable. Gently he took Tetsu’s hand and pulled him away from the wall. The elevator doors slid open behind him, but not before he quietly answered. “Magnus Valnyk is my father.”
    The elevator opened onto an entry room covered with a single cut tatami mat. The room served as a genkan , and Tetsu numbly watched Gabe slip off the sandals Tetsu had stolen yesterday. When Tetsu continued to stare at the sandals, Gabe dropped to his knees and removed Tetsu’s shoes and socks. Still on his knees, Gabe looked up at Tetsu. His head was tilted a little to the left, but the slate blue eyes were focused on Tetsu.
    “I need my father to meet the man who shot Jun Shugoro and outwitted Obara no Ryuu last night.”
    Tetsu felt his own gaze narrow, and his professional mask settled into place. Behind it was confusion and shock. He knew Valnyk had a son. With family assassinations a frequent negotiating