The Last Assassin

45

I checked into a business hotel in Shinjuku and took a shower and then a long, hot bath. It didn't do much to relax me. I couldn't stop thinking. The thoughts weren't good.

What if Yamaoto didn't wind up in a hospital? What would it mean? A guy that powerful would have doctors on the payroll, people who could patch a bullet hole without involving the authorities. Maybe one of them was making a house call right now. But from what Dox had said, Yamaoto was going to need a lot more than that. A trauma surgical team, probably, and a lot of blood.

Regardless, what if he lived, and told his people, and Big Liu's, what happened at the club? With all the bad blood, the Chinese might not have believed him, but the bullet hole in his chest might be persuasive of truthfulness. And regardless of what the Chinese thought, Yamaoto's own people would do what he told them. If he got the chance to send them after Midori and Koichiro…

I glanced at the phone, perched on the edge of the sink counter within grabbing distance of the tub.

Call her, I thought. Call her right now.

Just a little while longer. I can get to him. I can finish this. All I need to know is where.

The phone rang. I half leaped out of the bath to grab it. I looked at the caller ID. Tatsu.

I flipped it open, my heart pounding. 'Yeah.'

'You'll never guess where our friend is.'

'Tell me.'

'Right here at Jikei hospital. In surgery. It took my people some time to find him. There are quite a few hospitals in Tokyo, and Yamaoto is here under a false name.'

I was gripping the phone hard and tried to relax. 'Is he going to make it?'

'The doctors seem optimistic. He was lucky. From what I understand, another centimeter and he would have been past saving.'

'How do I get to him?'

'You can't while he's in the operating room. And he'll be in the ICU afterward for at least twenty-four hours, being monitored constantly. You have to wait until he's in intermediate care.'

'I can't wait that long,' I said. I felt like shouting, putting my fist through the wall, smashing things. 'He could move against Midori.'

'I don't believe so. He's fighting for his life now. That's all he's doing. That's all he can do.'

'What about when he's out of the ICU? Won't he have people guarding him?'

'He already does, quite a few of them. Don't worry. I'm going to take care of it.'

'What about Kuro? What's his status?'

'Leave Kuro to me. You focus on Yamaoto.'

I looked left and right as though I might see a way out. Finally I said, 'Goddamnit, just keep me posted.'

'I'll call you the moment I learn more.'

I clicked off and put the phone back on the sink counter.

I thought again about calling Midori. The thing was, even if I warned her, she might not listen. She hated everything about the life and didn't want any part of it.

I realized I might be rationalizing, but I decided to hold off for just a little while longer.

If I was wrong, though, I knew the opportunity to take my own life would seem in retrospect like a state of grace that had been offered to me and that I had stupidly, perversely refused. I'd have no more options then. I would have used them all up and cashed them in for damnation.