What could he do? There were CCTV cameras set at regular intervals along the road, and a large black rental bumping over the central reservation would only attract attention. Katsuro did not like attention of any sort, least of all from the authorities. He had some contacts in the Balinese police force, but they were all low-level functionaries. They were good for tidbits of information in exchange for a few rupiah, but not senior enough to bail him out if he had a problem.

He had no choice. He would have to wait and trust that he could pick up the scent.

He knew, with a sickening feeling in his gut, that he needed to alert his father. He found a parking spot and pulled over, then opened the door and stepped out into the heat. He walked a few steps away from the car, turned his back on it, and reached into his pocket for his phone. He dialled the number.

“Otōsan, it’s me.”

“Katsuro?”

“We have a problem.”

“That doesn’t sound promising.”

“Our friend has left the airport.”

“With you?”

“No, Father. With a Westerner. A man.”

“I don’t understand,” Takashi said. “Why?”

“I can’t say.”

“Why are you telling me this? Find her.”

“I will. And then?”

“The goods must be delivered. This is a valuable opportunity. We must show them that we can be trusted.”

Katsuro bit his lip; his father made no effort to disguise his exasperation, and disappointing him was something that Katsuro could not tolerate. “I understand, Otōsan.”

“Don’t let me down, Katsuro-chan.”

Katsuro pressed his lips together into a thin smile, ignoring his father’s childlike suffix. He waited for more, then realised that he was listening to a dead line. He put his phone back in his pocket and turned to walk back to the car. He decided to wait for a while to let things settle. The local police would either catch Sakura and her companion, or they would not. There was nothing he could do to influence what happened, but he would be ready to adapt to whatever fate allowed. He dropped into the driver’s seat and tapped out a quick text to one of his contacts. He told him that there had been an incident at the airport and that he needed as much information as the man could provide. The quicker the update, he said, the more generous the reward.

18