The Last Assassin

16

The next morning, I used the Watanabe identity to rent a van at a place in Shinjuku. After that, I shopped for some supplemental items: warm, dark clothing; waterproof boots; two-way radios in case cell phone coverage was lacking by the Sea of Japan. I spent the balance of the day sleeping. Not an ideal way to adjust to the local time zone, but I needed the rest and Dox and I were going to be working at night, anyway. I woke up just as the sun was setting, and after the proper procedures to ensure I was alone, I went out to a pay phone to tall Kanezaki.

'Hai,' he said, after the customary single ring.

'You get what I asked for?'

'It's all right here. Oplus-XT Gauged CO₂ rifle with AN/PVS-17 Mini night-vision scope, two SOCOM HK Mark 23s each with Trijicon night sights, AN/PEQ-6 infrared laser aiming module, Knight's Armament suppressor, spare mag, one hundred rounds of Federal Hydra-Shok, and Wilcox tactical thigh holster, two pairs of AN/PVS-7 night-vision goggles, Agency-designed GPS transmitter with magnetic mounts for surreptitious emplacement and accompanying monitor with mapping software. The only thing I couldn't do was the ten darts. Turns out we only had five on hand.'

'Shit,' I said, and started running through the plan to see how we could adjust.

'You were lucky we even had the rifle and the five darts. This kind of stuff is used mostly for rendering bad guys in Europe and the Middle East. The only reason we had any of it is because someone in the embassy must have realized there was some counterterror money left over in the budget and wanted to use it up.'

'What's in the darts?'

'Some commercial variation of liquid succinylcholine chloride. There's a small explosive charge that injects the drug on impact, so pulling the dart out won't help. Very fast-acting, depending on where you place the shot. The neck is best.'

'Is weight a factor?'

'No. These things are rated for anything up to a rhinoceros.'

'All right, five will have to do it.'

'This is some expensive equipment, you know. I'm going to be in major shit if any of it goes missing.'

'I can tell you you're not getting the darts back.'

'I'm not talking about the darts. Or the ammo.'

'Where do I pick it up?'

'Wherever you want,' he said, knowing I'd be more comfortable choosing the place.

I considered. I knew I was clean at the moment and didn't need time to run a route. And I didn't want to give Kanezaki time to set anything up. Not that he would – especially if he assumed I was on the hook now for a 'favor' – but it always pays to be careful.

'JR Harajuku Station platform,' I said. 'Thirty minutes from now.'

'Okay.'

Twenty minutes later, I stepped off the Yamanote onto the platform at Harajuku. Nothing pinged my radar. Crowds were moderate, and divided more or less equally between teenagers heading to nearby Takeshita-dori, the grunge/retro/hip-hop shopping strip, and smartly dressed adults heading to the bistros and boutiques of adjacent Omotesando-dori. That the two disparate groups and places existed side by side in parallel dimensions would never cease to please me. It was part of what made Tokyo tick.

Kanezaki arrived on time, stepping off a Shinjuku-bound train with a medium-sized blue duffel slung over his shoulder. He was wearing a dark suit and, but for something detectably western in his posture and gait, could have been just another young Japanese corporate samurai.

He saw me and headed over. I scanned the other people who had gotten off the train. I noted no problems.

He put the duffel down and we shook hands. The bug detector my late friend Harry had made for me slumbered in my pocket. Kanezaki was clean.

'How've you been?' he asked.

'All right,' I said, looking him over. 'You?'

'Fine.'

'How's the Global War on Terrorism?'

He smiled. 'These days we call it the Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism.'

I liked that he didn't get defensive. Not so long before, he would have taken my derisiveness personally. I wondered if his people knew how capable he was becoming. Probably not.

'Yeah, GWOT just wasn't a winning acronym,' I said. 'I'm sure it'll go better now that you've renamed it.'

He chuckled. 'You want to tell me what all the hardware's for? And who you're working with? Two of this, two of that, it's not like you.'

I looked at him. Yeah, he was capable. But maybe getting a little full of himself, too.

'You're charging me a "favor" for this,' I said, my voice cold, 'and now you're asking for freebies?'

He looked taken aback. 'I only meant…'

'Look, are we doing this as an exchange of cooperation and goodwill, or as a sales transaction?'

'I was hoping it could be both.'

'It can't. Choose one. And live with it.'

He was quiet for a moment. Then he said, 'Let me think about it.'

I shrugged. We were quiet again.

'Have you been in touch with Tatsu?' I asked.

'For a while, but not just lately. He's busy, I'm busy…'

'He's in the hospital.'

He looked at me, and the concern I saw was genuine. 'No. Nothing serious?'

'Gastric cancer. If you want to see him, he's at Jikei. But you better do it soon.'

'Oh, shit.'

'Go see him. He thinks of you as a kind of protégé, someone who can carry on his work. But he's too proud to say it.'

He nodded. 'Thanks for telling me.'

I shouldered the duffel. 'I'll be in touch.'

He held out his hand and, after a moment, I shook it.

'Be careful,' he said.

'Yeah,' I told him. 'I wouldn't want you to miss out on that favor.'