Shadow Reaper (Shadow #2)(124)

"I'm going to be fine," she assured him, although she was really reassuring all of them. She'd gone from just having Ryuu  – and that was often part-time  – to having what seemed an enormous family. Siblings and cousins treated her as if she were already a part of them.



"I wish you'd stay with Franco here where I know you're safe," Ricco said. "I've got a bad feeling, il mio amore." He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck. "I wouldn't make it very long without you. I'd much rather know you're safe than take chances."



"Seriously, Osamu is no threat to us. Her husband was a rider. As far as I know, she stopped riding shadows when she had children, but she always respects a rider."



"Except for you," Franco murmured.



Stefano's head jerked up. "Osamu was trained in riding shadows?"



Mariko frowned and nodded. "She told me once that she was. She was upset because I'd beat everyone's times in the trials. We had to go from one end of Tokyo to the other. There were checkpoints to ensure we didn't cheat, as if any shadow rider would. She detested that I was given any recognition and she told me she could have easily beat my times when she was training." 



Stefano's eyes met Ricco's over her head. "That information is not common knowledge, Mariko. All trained riders are known within the community. Osamu was never registered as a rider."



"I asked Dai about it. He said she didn't like being in the tubes, but that she was trained and, despite feeling sick when she was inside, was very good when she was young." She looked from Stefano to Ricco. "What difference does it make? She's married to a shadow rider. She produced children and they were riders. She respects the riders even though she didn't want to go out on missions or continue into her adult years. There are many riders who try but don't make it for various reasons."



"Everything makes a difference, Mariko. The more knowledge we have the better," Ricco said, his voice gentle. "We investigate everyone we target thoroughly."



"We aren't targeting Osamu," Mariko pointed out. She looked from one brother to the other. "Are we? Isn't it possible she was just given the note and put it in my room?"



As terrible as her childhood had been, Osamu was still the only mother she had. Grief had lived in that house every single day. Osamu had been a good woman, a rider, a mother of two little boys she adored. A wife. Dai loved her despite how sorrow had weighed her down and changed her. He'd always come back, and more than once, Mariko had seen him holding Osamu as she cried. She didn't want the Ferraros to think Osamu was all bad. People had layers to them. She had never experienced the compassionate, good side of Osamu, but she'd seen it in her interactions with Ryuu and Dai. She'd heard her laugh with her friends.



"We're just investigating," Stefano said. "And we need all the facts."



"I'm sorry, I guess I didn't think to tell you that she had trained. She was never an official rider nor did she go out on missions. Something about being in the tubes made her violently ill."



"Mariko," Stefano said. "There's a reason we don't investigate close to home. You're missing important facts because you don't want to see the truth."



"You admitted to me that you believed Osamu slipped the note under your door," Ricco pointed out gently, giving his brother a quelling look. He wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her back against him, holding her close.



She didn't want to be the cause of an argument between the brothers, but …  "It's occurred to me that any shadow rider could have put that note in my room. It would have been easy enough to do."



"True," Stefano said. "And just as easy for Osamu. You let us do the talking."



There was no looking away from those dark, compelling eyes. Even with Ricco surrounding her with the force of his personality, with his strength and protection, his older brother was just plain scary. She nodded, not because she was intimidated, but because, as a rider, she knew he was right.



She was too involved emotionally. Her brother's life was in jeopardy  – if he was still alive. There had been no word from the kidnappers. None. That wasn't a good sign. She couldn't let herself think about that. She had to believe he was alive and that somehow the Ferraros or the International Council, in their investigations, would find Ryuu's trail.