The Last Assassin

'Look,' I said, 'we just wanted to return your toys. Thanks for lending them to us.'

He raised his eyebrows. 'That's it?'

I looked at Dox, then back to Kanezaki. 'Yeah. That's it.'

Dox slid the duffel over to Kanezaki's chair.

We were all quiet for a moment. I knew Kanezaki had been hoping for information, his life's blood, and that he would be frustrated at not getting it. I waited for his next move.

'How do you like Japan?' Kanezaki asked, with a nod at Dox.

'It's all right. I like the ladies a lot. I keep asking my friend here to take me to see some geishas, but he won't do it. You know where I could find some?'

I thought Dox might be laying on the country bumpkin routine just a bit thick, but it seemed to have the desired effect. Probably despairing of getting anything via a more circuitous route, Kanezaki said, 'I hear they have geishas in the countryside. On the Sea of Japan.'

'Sea of Japan?' Dox asked. 'Sounds far just for a little entertainment.'

Kanezaki looked at Dox, then at me. 'All right. Are you guys going to tell me what the hell you pulled in Wajima?'

I looked at Dox. 'Do you know anything about Wajima?'

Dox knitted his brow. 'Wajima, Wajima… you know, it rings a bell, now that you mention it. Yeah, I might know something. Maybe.'

Kanezaki was starting to look decidedly nonplussed. This was the moment I was waiting for.

'Yeah, we might be able to tell you something,' I said. 'But that would be a favor, wouldn't it?'

There was a long silence. Finally, Kanezaki said, 'All right. In return for the favor I did you in getting you the equipment. And then quits.' He smiled a little. 'Until next time, anyway.'

Next time, I thought, is coming sooner than you expect.

'How did you know?' I asked. I was pretty sure I already had the answer, but I wanted confirmation.

Kanezaki shrugged. 'The GPS transmitter. I knew the code, so I just followed it using the mapping software to see where you went. Looks like you spent the night in Wajima. The same night three United Bamboo triad guys were shot to death on the beach there.'

Yeah, that's what I'd been expecting him to say. It was probably true, too.

Dox grinned. 'Hell of a coincidence.'

Kanezaki nodded. 'Yeah, and they were shot with forty-five-caliber rounds. That's a strange coincidence, too. Because those HKs I outfitted you with are forty-fives.'

Dox's grin broadened. 'A drug deal gone bad, would be my guess.'

'Why?' Kanezaki asked. 'Was this just a straight rip-off? Is that what you guys are doing now?'

Dox snorted. 'With the wages you're paying me, son, it's a wonder I don't turn to a life of crime.'

'No, it wasn't a straight rip-off,' I said.

'Then what?' Kanezaki asked. 'You trying to start a war between the yakuza and the triads?'

'What if someone were? Would you object?'

'No. I'd like to see them all snuff each other out, in fact. But I'd want to know about it.'

I thought for a moment. Kanezaki could already place us at Wajima. If he wanted to sell us out to the triads and the yakuza, I supposed he could. I had recognized that potential problem from the moment I first considered going to him for the equipment we needed. It was unfortunate, but unavoidable under the circumstances. You can't get something for nothing. Not anywhere, but especially not in this business.

'I think at this point you can trust me,' Kanezaki added, when I still hadn't responded.

I looked at Dox, who nodded, then back to Kanezaki. 'All right,' I said. 'And you can trust us, too. To hold you responsible if something goes wrong, before or after. After all, no one else could have known. You sure you want that responsibility?'

Kanezaki nodded. 'I'm sure.'

'Then here's the way it'll work. We need a sniper rifle. You provide it. We return it when we're done. At which point we give you a full accounting of what's really going on.'

'And we hold on to the night-vision equipment in the meantime,' Dox added. 'And those HKs, too.' He looked at me. 'Might come in handy.'

A long moment passed. Kanezaki said, 'No.'

Damn, I thought that in the heat of the moment Dox's 'spontaneous' request would slide right past him. Apparently not.

No one said anything for a long time. I waited, thinking Kanezaki might crack.

He didn't. Part of me was impressed. In just a few short years he had really matured. I wondered if it was Tatsu's influence.

Finally I said, 'What do you mean, 'no'?' And even as I said it, I knew that in speaking first I had ceded him the advantage.