The Last Assassin

'I'm a thoughtful guy. In fact, I brought you a present. And, at the risk of disappointing you, I'll tell you now it ain't a kimono or dainty silk undergarments.'

He put a paper bag on the table and I looked inside. I saw a black folding knife and slid it out. I opened it under the table.

'That there is a Benchmade Presidio 520S,' he said. 'Three-and-a-half-inch blade and a combo edge. Thought you might like it.'

'I like it a lot,' I said, closing it and sliding it into my pocket. 'Thanks.'

He nodded. 'What did you hear from your friend?'

I briefed him on what I'd learned from Tatsu. When I was done, he said, 'If the meet is the night after tomorrow, we're going to have to scramble. Can your friend get us the equipment we're going to need?'

'No. To do this right, we're going to need some unusual stuff.'

He smiled. 'Well, I reckon we know where to go for the specialty items.'

I nodded. He was referring to Tomohisa Kanezaki, of course, a Japanese-American CIA officer based at the embassy in Tokyo. Dox and I had both worked with Kanezaki over the years. Some of the things he used us for were official; others were undertaken pursuant to a slightly more entrepreneurial initiative. At this point he was more a friend than an enemy, although you never want to get overly distracted by classifications like those. In the end, business is business.

'I'll call him,' I said. 'But I'm going to leave your involvement out of it. The less he knows, the better.'

'Agreed on that.'

'Let's be ready to roll at oh-six-hundred the day after tomorrow. Check-in at the inn where Yamaoto's men are staying is at two o'clock, and I want to get there before they do.'

'We're staying there, too?'

'I'm staying there. Already made a reservation. But you we're going to have to keep under wraps. There aren't many white faces in those parts, and we don't want to do anything to be remembered.'

'Am I going to be camping out? I don't mind, just want to know what to bring.'

'I'll rent a van. We'll need it operationally, but it'll also be a mobile home, if you follow me.'

'I follow you. All right, I'll do a little shopping tomorrow for gear. Looks like I'll be enjoying a last couple of nights of luxury here at the Prince and roughing it after that.'

I nodded. 'Let's figure out what we need, and I'll call Kanezaki.'

We went through everything, starting with what we wanted to accomplish and working backward from there. When we were done, Dox went back to the Prince and I found a pay phone in front of the station.

Kanezaki picked up on the first ring, a habit I knew he had acquired from Tatsu. 'Hai,' he said curtly, also in imitation of the older man.

'Hey,' I said.

There was a pause. He said, 'What, are you living in Tokyo at this point?'

I smiled. Caller ID was exactly why I'd used a pay phone. I wanted to keep the cell phone sterile for as long as I could.

'I've got some business here,' I told him. 'Nothing that would displease you if you knew about it. I could use your help.'

'Okay.'

'Your phone secure?'

'Yes.'

'One tranquilizer rifle with a night vision scope and a minimum of ten darts; two suppressed pistols each with infrared laser and night sights, spare magazine, a hundred rounds of hollow point, and a right-side tactical thigh rig for carry; two pairs of night-vision goggles; one GPS vehicle tracking system with magnetic mounts.'

'That's it?'

I heard the sarcasm. 'Yeah.'

'Is this for Christmas? I don't know if I can get it all in a stocking…'

'I need it by tomorrow night.'

'John, come on.'

Kanezaki liked to play up the difficulty of whatever favor he was asked, as a way of extracting greater concessions in return. He might have been doing it now. Or my request might really have posed a problem. It didn't matter. I didn't have time to screw around.

'Can you do this?' I asked. 'If you can't, I'll figure something else out.'

'I'm not saying I can't do it…'

'Then what are you saying?'

'Look, don't get short with me. Checking out that kind of hardware isn't like borrowing a few yen from petty cash.'

'I imagine it's not.'

'If I can do this, you're going to owe me.'

'Owe you what?'

'A favor. A job.'

Your soul, I heard. My hopes for Midori and Koichiro seemed to recede in the distance, like the light going out on a television screen.

Well, I shouldn't have been surprised. I could have argued with him, but there were things more important than my soul in play at the moment.

'If that's the way you want to do it,' I said. My voice sounded far away.

'Is that a yes?'

I suddenly and badly wanted to tell him Fuck you. Tell him in person, in my own special way.

Instead I simply said, 'Yes.'

'Okay. How long are you going to need this stuff?'

'Seventy-two hours, if that.'

A pause. 'Is any of this going to come back to bite me on the ass?'

'Not if it goes well.'

He laughed. 'God, I feel so much better now.'

'Yeah, me too,' I said.

'Let me see what I can do. Call me tomorrow afternoon.'

'I'll post it on the bulletin board, too. Just to make sure you've got it all.'

'Good enough.'

I hung up and, out of habit, wiped down the phone.

I stopped by an Internet cafe and posted the shopping list on the bulletin board we used. After that, there was nothing to do except try to sleep.

I went back to the hotel and took a molten bath. It cooked the tension out of my muscles, and afterward, as I lay in bed, my body was almost rubbery with relaxation. But my mind refused to shut down. I kept picturing Koichiro's face, and remembering the way he had nuzzled closer when I held him. I stared at the ceiling for a long time, and at some point I realized that, like Tatsu, I was whispering Onegai shimasu, over and over. Please. Please.

15

Delilah woke from a nap in her room at the Mercer Hotel in SoHo Friday night. She hadn't slept at all on the flight over, but had dropped off instantly at the hotel after checking in and unpacking. It was early morning back in Paris now, and her body felt ready to go.

She opened the curtains and looked out onto what the hotel called a 'courtyard view.' Actually, the view wasn't bad. There really was a courtyard, pretty in the light of a gibbous moon, and she would rather face a quiet courtyard than a noisy street.

She liked the hotel. It was a little on the hip side – aspiring-actor doormen in black turtlenecks, a condom provided along with the cotton swabs in the bathroom, that kind of thing – but this was SoHo, after all, and it felt right.

She showered, blow-dried her hair, and put on just a little makeup – mascara, blush, a hint of liner for drama, that's all. Then a few drops of her favorite perfume – something she'd had made just for her at Guerlain and which happened to be what she wore for Rain. She knew he liked it, and that knowledge would feel good in the back of her mind.

She walked into the bedroom, laid out the clothes she was thinking about, and looked them over: dark, snug jeans, definitely. Her favorite boots, mahogany brown with high heels, definitely. Now the top. Hmm, there was the vintage silk Chanel jacket she had picked up at Les 3 Marches de Catherine B on the Rue Guisarde; that was certainly gorgeous. But… no, maybe the glass-beaded detailing would be a bit too fabulous for a jazz bar in SoHo. So… yes, better to go with the Santa Eulalia bolero. It was a lush, chocolate brown that looked great with her hair and would work with the jeans, too. Rain had just bought it for her in Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona… that would also feel good tonight. And underneath… yes, the Sabbia Rosa dark brown silk camisole and matching bra and thong panties; they were sexy even just lying there on the bed. Okay.