Barry Eisler - Killing Rain aka One Last Kill

There was a pause. “Tell me you weren’t involved in this,” he said.

“I told you, I’m not doing this stuff anymore.”

“Yeah? What are you doing instead?”

“I’m thinking about the greeting card industry.”

“That’s funny. You going to wear a shoe phone?”

I smiled. “Anything you can tell me, I’d be grateful.”

“You know where to look,” he said. Meaning the bulletin board.

“Thanks.”

“And don’t forget. This isn’t a one-way street. I’m taking a lot of chances here. I expect good information in return.”

“Of course.” I clicked off and shut the unit down.

I pulled on a pair of shorts and did my daily two hundred and fifty Hindu push-ups, five hundred Hindu squats, several minutes of neck bridges, front and back, and a variety of other bodyweight calisthenics and stretches. What you can get done with nothing more than a floor, your bodyweight, and gravity in thirty minutes of nonstop activity would put the fitness equipment industry out of business if people caught on.

When I was done, I got in the shower. I lathered up to shave and winced when I touched my cheek. I checked in the mirrored surface of the shower door and saw that my cheek was bruised. Then I noticed that my forearms were black and blue, too. Damn, I was lucky that bag hadn’t been filled with something heavier. And that I’d turned my face away from her head butt in time.

Delilah joined me just as I finished shaving. She looked at my cheek and said, “Ouch.”

I looked at her. “Don’t worry, I accept your apology.”

She gave me an odd look-half smile, half glare. “You deserved it,” she said. “And then some.”

I decided to respond to the smile, not the glare. I put my arms around her and pulled her close.

Some time passed before I got to finish showering. This time was slower, and a lot more tender. Thank God.

Afterward, Delilah stayed in the shower. I changed into jeans and an olive polo shirt and packed my bags.

I sat on the couch and waited for her. When she was done, she walked out into the suite naked. No makeup, wet hair. She looked great. I wished I could have had more time with her. Well, maybe there would be another chance. If we were lucky.

She pulled on a pair of navy silk shorts and a cream linen blouse. She sat next to me and brushed some wet hair back from her face.

“I’ve got some preliminary information,” I told her.

She raised her eyebrows, and I went on. “I have a contact at the Agency. According to him, those men weren’t active duty. They were retired.”

She frowned. “What did you expect? You called the CIA, and your questions confirmed your guilt. Your contact reacted by lulling you, telling you there’s less to worry about than you first thought. That’s exactly what you would expect him to say.”

She had a devious mind. Probably she thought I was telling her this so she would feed it to Gil and company, maybe get them to rethink. She was discounting the information accordingly.

I shook my head. “I’ve known this guy for a while. I don’t think he would play it that way.”

“Let’s hope not.”

“Check on your end. We’ll see if we can resolve the apparent discrepancy. If we can find proof, or something like proof, maybe your people will get them to change their assessment before things turn really ugly.”

She nodded slowly as though considering, then said, “I meant to tell you-I saw a big man, sandy-colored hair, outside the arrivals area in Bangkok and then again after dinner here. Did you notice him?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head automatically as though it was no big deal and probably just a coincidence. Damn, she’d caught me by surprise there.

She nodded. “I thought it was odd that he was at the airport in Bangkok at the same time we were, and then here afterward, but that he wasn’t on our flight.”

“Maybe he was waiting for someone and they caught a later flight.”

She looked at me. “I’m surprised I spotted an incongruity and you didn’t. I know you’re attuned to the environment.”

Fuck. I knew she had me. Still, I struggled for a moment longer. I said, “I guess I’m not as sharp as I used to be.” Given the less than adroit way I had just handled her probe, my words rang worryingly true.

“If you didn’t know him and you hadn’t noticed, I would have expected you to be more alarmed to learn of his presence,” she said, relentless.

I didn’t say anything. Dox was blown. There was nothing I could do.

“Who is he?” she asked.

I sighed. “My partner.”

She nodded as though she had already known, as indeed she had. “He was with you in Manila?”

I shrugged. There was nothing to say.

“You might as well call him, then. We should talk.”

I realized I had never been with Dox in front of civilized company. The prospect made me uncomfortable.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said.

But she misunderstood my reticence. “It would be more efficient for us to put our heads together.”

For the second time in as many days, I thought, Nothing good can come of this .

And for the second time I found myself saying, “All right.”

I took out my cell phone and called him. He answered immediately. “Everything okay?” he asked.

“Peachy,” I said, the code word to tell him that everything was indeed okay, that I wasn’t under duress. “But my friend noticed you at the airport, and again here. She’d like to meet you.”

“Oh man, how did she notice me? You must have told her.”

“I didn’t. She just noticed you.”

“How? Damn, this is embarrassing.”

I looked at Delilah. She was smiling slightly, enjoying what she must have been making of the other side of the conversation.

“I told you, she’s good,” I said.

“Yeah, apparently so. You going to give me a hard time about this?”

“God, yes.”

There was a pause. “All right. I reckon I’ve got that coming. But not in front of her, okay? This is embarrassing enough.”

“All right.”

“Promise me.”

Christ. “I promise.”

“Okay, where do you want to do this?” The tone was of a little boy resigned to a spanking.

“I think my room would be best. No sense the three of us being seen together.”

He sighed. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

I clicked off. Delilah asked, “Was he upset?”

I shrugged. “Embarrassed.”

She smiled. “I would be, too.”

“I promised him I wouldn’t be hard on him in front of you.”

Her smile broadened. “That’s what you were promising?”

I nodded and added innocently, “But that was only me. You didn’t promise anything.”

She chuckled and said, “There’s a streak of cruelty in you, I see.”

I looked at her.“How did you make him? Really.”

“I told you, the incongruities. But also… he’s a big man, but when you look at him, it’s almost like he’s not there.”

I nodded. I saw no sense in telling her about his sniping background. I said, “He’s like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Most of the time he’s as loud and obnoxious as an ambulance siren. But when he goes dark, he can damn near disappear.”

“That’s what tipped me. I didn’t notice him, but then I noticed that I didn’t notice, you know what I mean? I took a second look, and realized how big he is. That’s what told me he was a pro. It’s not easy for a big man to make himself fade away like that. Even for a small one, it’s rare.”

There was a knock at the door. I walked over, stood to the side, and leaned over to glance through the peephole. It was Dox.

I opened the door. He nearly blotted out the sun behind him. I turned and waved him inside.