"Did your mother seal the brown envelope with wax?" Roberto chose to sit on a spot furthest away from us.
"Yes, but I was the only other person that signed the document. We can just rush to the hospital and ask him about his next successor– "
Their uncle interrupted, "there's no use. He's almost braindead at this point. We can only rely on the last ounce of energy he has to sign a new will. A thumbprint is invalid in the eye of court."
"Then, what good is there to change it? Surely, he hadn't written down a name of someone outside of our family. Right?" Kenji continued.
"That's where you're wrong. I've got an inkling that he had put your mother's name in. The moment I received the telegram from Shang-Francisco regarding your father's deteriorating health, I knew something was wrong.
"We had never seen eye to eye, your father and I. But we had never hated each other. From your defensive behaviors I had guessed that you thought me being here was to inherit the company unrightfully from you," he looked at Tadashi who was still listening intently.
"Prove us wrong then," Hiro stepped up.
"I don't blame any of you for worrying about the firm and your father's well-being, I'm actually pretty proud of the heroism. Though you lack the maturity. But we need to get going if you want to keep the company under our clan. I want nothing to do with the company."
"Wait, are you saying that you're the one trying to help us?"
"Technically it would help me too. Once your mother inherits the company, she would get a hold of my company's detailed secret. Now that I'm helping you, she will definitely use it against me. And there's nothing I can do about it. I can't go to the government for asylum."
"But that woman barely acted like the person we knew. Why did it take her that long to finally break character?"
"Are you saying that the mother that we knew was merely an act? I was never that fond of her, but that's a huge accusation," Tadashi turned to his brother.
"Clearly she didn't act alone. Remember when we had our suspicions about Mr. Smith? Who's to say the whole Smith family wasn't after our clan?"
"Are you listening to yourself, Hiro?"
"He's right. But, as I said before, we have to make a move before it's too late. I have the documents with me," their uncle stood up and opened the door to collect his things.
We sprang up to our feet and followed behind. He had put on his mask once again to Hiro's discomfort. As we shuffled around trying to avoid stepping on the many sedated guards on the floor, our devices gained their functionality again.
"Is that one of yours?" Roberto turned to Tadashi.
He watched the CCTV monitor showing a black car resembling one of our own, "no."
"Run!"
An echoed boom vibrated from the main gate as the monitor showed the car crashing itself to break in. Soon after, the car must had hit the camera as it cut to black. Roberto led us back into the ritual room and tried to lift the table with all his might.
"Don't just stand there, help me!" he grunted.
My male companions dashed to his sides and pulled the table to reveal its surreptitious use as a trapdoor leading into a metal chamber.
"I knew it! That's why it sounded sonorous," Tadashi grinned.
The three of us had our mouths gaping wide open at the sight of it. After an aggressive sigh from out misunderstood guest, we followed along before my friend closed the heavy cover. Kenji had his phone flashlight on to guide us through the dingy pathway that seemed to lead nowhere.
"I hope you know where you're going cause I have no clue," the middle child dragged his feet.
"Have they reached the house yet?" his uncle asked.
"Hmm?" he checked his phone. "They just blew open the gate!"
"That should give us at least five minutes until they figure out where to look."
"Hey! How did you know about the communication defect?"
He pulled out a metallic gizmo of some sort.
"You broke our signal transmitter?"
"Evidently, she's trying to have all of you killed before inheriting the company and blame it on me. I can't take any risk."
"How could she?" Kenji's brows tensed.
"Naïve boy, you've always been her favorite. But I'm sorry to tell you. Once a Smith, always a Smith. Your father took a bullet for me by marrying her."
"What do you mean by that?"
"We're here. I promise to tell you everything once we're done with everything. From now on, not a peep."
He opened a door that led us into the east front of the garden. We came out of an artificial cave ornament and snuck out the main gate. Hiro hailed a taxi and we paid the driver a hundred bucks if he could make it to the hospital in under half an hour. The ride there might have been the most intense trip I had ever taken so far.
I wasn't sure on what they were planning to do and whether Kelly had any inside help. Everyone I saw going in the room earlier had disappeared. She must had known about the secret passage and manipulated her loyal servants into helping her escape. But why wouldn't their loyalty lie with their dad? Was she wrong to want control? These questions repeated themselves in my mind like a never-ending credit.
"Thank you. If anyone asked about us, you don't know anything," their uncle handed the driver an extra hundred-dollar bill.
"Yes, sir," he smiled from ear to ear.
"C'mon, all we need is his signature now."
"How are you so certain that they hadn't gotten to him before us?" Kenji asked.
"I sent my man to follow them. Apparently, they opened a wrong door and had gotten one of their man injured. They took a detour and stopped by an old warehouse. Their car just left 10 minutes ago."
* Buzz * Buzz *
Tadashi's ringer went off and upon opening it, he froze in place and dropped his phone. His screen fell facing up.
"Tadashi, what's up with you? C'mon, we can still make it," Kenji pulled on his shirt.
"Makoto…" he pointed at his phone.