L07-1 Escape

The sweet potato truck traveled up a mountain road that could hardly be called a road at all. Occasionally Suruga jumped out of the truck to move a rock or fallen tree that blocked the path before resuming the slow crawl up the mountain.

"Are you sure this is the only road we can take?" The blue signs peeking out timidly from the overgrown ivy displayed a three-digit number, which indicated that this unpaved road was a national highway "This isn't a national highway, it's a highway to hell," Suruga muttered.

Without paying Suruga any mind, the woman in the passenger seat accessed the system of an area police department. The GPS onscreen showed the road map as well as the inspection checkpoints in red. "Routes 19, 21, 65, 402 all have checkpoints. This road will end in seven kilometers. Keep going, honey."

"Will you stop it with the honeys? You're giving me the creeps," Suruga snapped, a chill shooting up his spine. L smiled at him, his lips glossy with lipstick and a flattering female wig on his head. Maki was disguised as a boy thanks to a Hanshin Tigers cap. The three had managed to clear the checkpoints posing as a family.

"You don't have to be embarrassed." L's face was serious as he winked at Suruga. Suruga felt another chill and shivered.

Maki laughed. "This feels like a real family. We used to go out driving in a small, beat-up car like this when my mom was still alive."

"This truck may be small but it's not beat-up." L said, petulant.

Maki looked down and teared up. She began to cry on L's shoulder. L went stiff as a rod.

"I may call myself the world's top detective, but I haven't a clue what to do in this case." He reached out with a hand and patted Maki's head a little too roughly Maki was still, even as she scrunched her face as L seemed to massage her head more than stroke it.

"Ryuzaki, there's no way we'll make our destination at this pace."

"I know. Wait another two hours."

"Two hours?"

"Yes, I have a plan. Until then, keep going, honey," L said suggestively. He reapplied some lipstick and winked at Suruga again.

The sound of crickets filled the air. L and Maki lay on their backs gazing upward. A star-filled sky spread out before them.

"They're so beautiful. I never thought about stars before, but now that I know I'm dying, they really are beautiful." Wiping away a tear, Maki reached up with both arms toward the stars, which looked close enough to touch.

"I didn't think I was equipped to feel an emotion so imperfect and passive, but right now, I am touched by the sight of these stars."

L and Maki continued to look up at the luminous stars they might never see again.

"Say Ryuzaki, were you ever able to catch Kira?"

"No, while I was able to stop the killing, I was unable to catch him."

"Why not?"

"Kira died."

"Then I guess you lost."

"Why do you say that?" L sat up abruptly at the mention of defeat. But when she stared back at him, he scratched his head.

"He died a bad man, right? Your job is to catch him so you can make him see that what he did was a bad thing. If you couldn't do either, that means you lost."

"You're right," L said after a long moment of thought. "I lost."

"Not even close to winning."

"No, not even close," L said in a rare admission of defeat. He lay down again to contemplate the stars. He wrapped a hand protectively around the watch on his wrist.

"What are you thinking about, Ryuzaki?"

"I was thinking about my only friend."

"Did that broken watch belong to him?"

"Yes." Maki's hand reached out and rested on top of L's. For a moment, L remained awkwardly still. Then he asked, "Maki.. .should I hold your hand in this case?"

"Ryuzaki, in this case, you should shut up and hold it real tight."

"All right." He gave a satisfied nod and squeezed Maki's hand.

Maki's body shook from laughing. "You really don't know anything, do you, Ryuzaki?"

"That's the first time anyone has told me that."

The two laughed like brother and sister.

"How about you two stop fooling around and help me for a change? There's no telling when they're going to come after us again." Suruga peeked out from under the truck, brandishing a wrench. His face was blackened with grease. "Maybe I can squeeze a few more miles out of this truck, but I doubt it."

"It's nearly time." L sat up mechanically and pulled out a cell phone. It was the only hotline he had taken with him from the Kira Investigation Headquarters. The words "President of the United States" were scribbled on the back of it in L's handwriting.

"Mr. President? This is L," he said casually, as though talking to a friend. Then L declared, "You don t seem to be taking my threat seriously. Ten minutes from now, I will commit a murder using the Death Note. The victim will be the mob boss Rod Ross, currently incarcerated in Arizona State Penitentiary."

L ended the call and opened the Death Note. Holding the pencil precariously by the end, L wrote down the name:

—Rod Ross

will die of a heart attack July 23, 22:30.

"What's going on, Ryuzaki? You said you wouldn't use the Death Note." Suruga had never before objected to L's plans no matter how eccentric they seemed, because he had believed L was only thinking ahead, and in truth, everything had gone according to plan thus far. This time, however, he could only believe that L was acting out of desperation.

However, L ignored him entirely and closed notebook. "Mr. Suruga, would you mind making us some coffee?" Ten minutes later, after L had gulped down coffee sweetened beyond measure, he picked up the phone again.

"So what do you say, Mr. President? Do you see now that I am being serious?" There was a murmur on the other end of the line.

"Then please consider our demand of ten billion dollars. And let me remind you that I am capable of writing, The President of the United States, David Hope, will die after launching nuclear missiles at London, Moscow, and Beijing.' If I am attacked in any way, I will assume that you gave the order and write your name in the Death Note."