The Last Assassin

He nodded. 'Yeah, I've had a few of those.'

'Anyway, apparently Yamaoto is still unhappy about the damage I did to him when we locked horns. It's become a grudge.'

'He's in Japan but he's got people here?'

'He's getting help from the triads. The Chinese mob has a bigger presence in New York than the yakuza.'

'Haven't those triad boys been moving into Japan, too?'

'Yeah. There's a long-running struggle in Tokyo between the yakuza and the triads there. They both want the drug and prostitution trades for themselves. Yamaoto must be ceding something to the triads in Tokyo in return for their watching Midori in New York.'

'All right, I get it. And you want me to help you identify the surveillance so you can circumvent it.'

'Exactly.'

'Well, hell, this isn't even much of a favor. When you first called, I figured it was because you wanted to send someone on a Valhalla vacation.'

'If that's all it were, I could take care of it myself.'

'Yeah, I expect you could.' He took a swallow of beer. 'You know, the surveillance doesn't really bother me. I reckon we can spot the gaps easily enough and slip you through one of them.'

'Okay, good.'

'But, have you thought about… you know.'

'No, what?'

He finished his beer and signaled the waitress to bring us a couple more. 'I mean, she knows you killed her old man. I expect that's a hard thing for a person to get over. It sure would be for me.'

'Well, what am I supposed to do? Just pretend I don't know there's a child?'

'No, I guess you can't do that, either. It's a complicated situation, I'll give you that.'

The waitress brought our beers and moved off.

'They've been watching her since when?' Dox asked.

'Since they learned about the baby. About a year. That's what convinced them I'd come back to her.'

He looked at me, half amused, half concerned. 'Well, looks like they might have been on to something there.'

I shrugged.

'You thought about calling her first?' he asked. 'Or sending an e-mail?'

I shook my head. 'I don't think it's a good idea.'

'You worried they're monitoring her electronically?'

'No, Tatsu told me they're not. But I don't know how she'll react to hearing from me. It's better if I do it in person.'

He nodded and drained a third from the mug. 'Well, she's a jazz pianist, right? Her schedule's public. If you wanted to get to her, that's where you'd most likely start.'

'Right. So we can expect surveillance at her performances. But the photos Tatsu acquired weren't taken at a performance. She was at an outdoor cafe somewhere, with the baby. Daytime.'

'If it was daytime, my guess is they followed her from where she lives.'

'Agreed.'

'You know, sending a foot soldier to take in a public jazz performance from time to time is one thing. But if they're giving Yamaoto enough local manpower to watch Midori's apartment, too, that's a pretty big favor he must be doing them in return.'

'Told you he's got a grudge.'

'I swear, man, you've got an uncanny knack for getting people pissed at you. You ever considered charm school?'

'Yeah, it's on my to-do list.'

He paused as though considering. 'One thing we might not have thought of. Has her building got a doorman? Those boys aren't paid the best wages in the world, and…'

'Yeah, I've thought about that, too. There is a doorman, and it's possible someone got to him. But I think the odds of that are low. If Yamaoto had the doorman in his employ, why would he need to bother with the Chinese? We know they're costing him more than a bribed doorman.'

He nodded. 'Well, what does all this mean for you and Delilah?'

I hesitated. 'I don't know.'

'Guess you couldn't ask for her help on this one, under the circumstances.'

'Very funny.'

'If she dumps you for me, you won't be bitter, will you? She's bound to get tired of your Hamlet routine, and I can tell she's secretly in love with me.'

I looked at him, but he didn't flinch. Dox always liked to push things.

'I'll find a way to adjust,' I said.

He laughed. 'All right, I'll remember you said that. Now, what's the plan?'

'We start with the public performances. They're the easiest approach. It's where they'll be expecting me, so we'll know to expect them.'

'And who are we looking for, exactly?'

'My guess would be a lone Chinese man, age eighteen to thirty. At any given performance, you'll find only a relatively small percentage of Asians. Among them, a smaller percentage of males in the right age range. Among those, if you see a guy by himself, he's the one we want.'

'What about you?'

'I'm the one they're looking for, so I can't go in. But you can. We'll get you an escort from one of the services so you'll have a date and won't stand out.'

He grinned. 'I'm liking the sound of this more and more.'

'I'll wait outside. If we see our man, we'll follow him after the performance to learn more about who we're dealing with and what kind of coverage they're employing. We'll get you a digital camera, something that works well in low light. If you can take his picture, we can send it to Tatsu. He might be able to match it to something in a database.'

'He'll be able to recognize a lowly foot soldier?'

I shrugged. 'What Tatsu doesn't know, he always knows where to ask.'

'What about commo?'

'I don't have the gear we were using in Hong Kong, but we ought to be able to manage with cell phones and wireless earpieces. Here.' I pulled out one set of the equipment I had picked up and slid it across the table to him. 'That's a prepaid unit. Sterile, for now. I've got one like it. Just to be on the safe side, let's stay off your personal phone.'

'Yeah, I've learned my lesson there. Still, I'll have to insist on one thing.'

'What?'

'I get to choose the escort.'

'Absolutely. But I think she ought to be female this time. It'll be lower profile.'

We both laughed, remembering Dox's accidental come-on to a katoey, or lady-boy, in Bangkok. I planned to harass him about it as long as there was breath in my lungs.

'Yeah, poor Tiara,' he said. 'I reckon she's pining for me still. She was a near miss. "Near miss," you get it?'

I closed my eyes as though in pain and nodded. 'I get it,' I said.

He chuckled. 'All right, where's the first performance?'

'Zinc Bar. Just a few blocks from here. She's there four nights in a row starting tomorrow, two sets every night. I've already checked the place out and it'll work for us. We'll show up for the second set tomorrow, at midnight. I want to see what happens when she's done for the evening.'

'Sounds good.'

'Make sure you spend time learning the area first. The streets, the alleys, everything.'

'Yes, Mom.'

I looked at him, but there was just no arguing with that irrepressible grin.

We spent another hour going over the plan. When we were done, Dox went off to find an escort, and I went back to the hotel, alone.

6

At midnight the following evening, I sat in a second-floor window seat at a place called Pegu Club, a bar at the corner of Houston and Wooster, kitty-corner to Zinc. I nursed the eponymous cocktail, an admittedly tasty gin-based infusion, snacked on some of their light fare, and read a copy of The Economist so I wouldn't look like a guy on a stakeout.

At twelve-thirty, I saw Dox emerge from the stairway. He had the Nokia out. Mine vibrated a moment later. I was already wearing the earpiece and pressed the receive button after the first buzz.

'Yeah,' I said.

'He's here,' he said. 'Just like you thought. Chinese guy, maybe twenty or so, hundred forty, hundred and fifty pounds. All by himself, hardly drinking, just watching the stage. Hard-looking kid. Hasn't tapped his foot once since the music started.'

I could hear the band playing from inside. The piano especially. I tried not to think about it.