Dark Impulse Ch. 16

Gabriel briefly wondered why Liam went to all the trouble to become a doctor when he didn't practice, but then it occurred to him that he may be using his medical skills at AE.

He rested his head on his arm. "Go on, Mose."

"In March 1971, while still at Oxford, Anami married a woman by the name of Caitlin Blackwell. She was eight months pregnant at the time. Unfortunately, a month later she and the kid died from severe labor complications. After that, there's nothing about him on file for several years."

Gabriel dropped his arm. "How could he just fall off the face of the earth?"

Mosely shrugged. "That's what happened; there was no record of him at all until he resurfaced in Tokyo in 1985 to open the very first AE. What he was doing during the fourteen years between his wife's death and then is anybody's guess."

"So what happened next?"

"After Tokyo, Anami opened branches of the business in London, Paris and Hong Kong. In 1990 he moved on to Rome, Berlin, and Amsterdam. Two years later he opened the New York branch as well as others in Athens and Dubai. Apparently, he's been very busy."

Gabriel looked at Mosely. "How much is he worth? Same amount as Cooper?"

Mosely whistled softly. "Hell, no! More like twenty Coopers."

Gabriel stared at him. "Are you telling me that Anami is worth $20 billion?"

Mose smiled like a naughty child caught with his hand in the candy dish.

"Well, unofficially. On the actual record, Anami is listed to have just $5 billion, but his assets have been estimated to be a more substantial amount than that. Twenty sounds about right."

Now it was Gabriel's turn to whistle. "Damn, that's a lot of money. Which leads me to ask about his private life. What do you know about his family? Does he have any relatives from the old country? Did he ever remarry? Any children?"

Gabriel saw a strange look appear in Mosely's eyes in response to his questions; he watched his friend carefully, and identified the emotion that he saw.

It was sadness.

Mosely turned his head toward the window and faked a cough so he could shake off Gabriel's intense gaze.

"No living relatives in Japan or anywhere else; Anami was an only child. He did remarry on October 31st, 1995. One son, Raphael Yukio Anami, born April 6th, 1996 in Florence, Italy."

Gabriel couldn't help but chuckle at the date of Anami's wedding.

"You've got to be kidding me! A wedding on Halloween? What would that be like? Instead of a bouquet of flowers, the bride carries a jack-o'-lantern?"

Mosely was not amused, and after Gabriel's laughter faded he spoke again.

"Like I said, October 31st." He glanced at his watch; it was 2pm.

Avoiding Gabriel's eyes, Mosely stood up. He picked up the paper, giving it a brief glance before throwing it in the nearest trashcan. "Let's go."

Gabriel followed him outside, wondering what Mosely's problem was.

"You know what, Mose? I just thought of something. You told me that Anami remarried and had a kid, but you didn't tell me who the wife was. You easily gave me the name of his first wife, but who is his current wife?"

Mosely slowly turned around, and from his expression Gabriel knew that bad news was coming. He quickened his stride and caught up with Mose on the corner.

"I'm sorry, Bud. I really am."

Gabriel felt as if the ground was dissolving at his feet, leaving nothing to prevent him from falling into the dark abyss. "Say it, Mose."

Mosely put his hands on Gabriel's shoulders, looking into his eyes.

"In October 1995 in Tokyo, David Anami married Grace Nakimura."