Barry Eisler - The Last Assassin

'If the girl's price doesn't match the customer's,' I said, 'she doesn't have to leave with him. But what about when they're entertaining a guy like Big Liu? They're going to just turn him down?'

'For a big shot like Liu, the girls are expected to provide complimentary services. It doesn't matter how old he is or what he looks like. You're his for the night and he had better wake up with a smile the next morning. Otherwise, the girl is fired.'

'And suddenly cut off from the incredible cash flow she's gotten used to.'

'Precisely.'

Not exactly what I was hoping to hear. Maybe I could gloss over the 'If you help me, you might have to sleep with a repulsive, degenerate gangster' part of the sales pitch.

'Well?' he said, after a moment. 'Is any of this useful?'

'Maybe,' I told him. 'There might be someone I can get inside. I'll let you know. You have any pictures of Big Liu? I want to know what he looks like.'

Tatsu pressed the call button by the bed. The bodyguard came in.

'I'll take that file now, please,' Tatsu told him.

The man wordlessly handed Tatsu a large envelope and returned to his post.

'So this is how you're getting all this work done while you're laid up,' I observed.

He smiled and handed me the envelope. I unsealed it and took out a folder. Inside were several police and surveillance photos of a fat but still dangerous-looking Chinese man with graying hair and pockmarked skin.

'Big for a Chinese,' I commented.

'Hence the name,' Tatsu said, with his trademark 'infinite patience' tone.

'I see you've got Yamaoto in here, too. And who's this guy?'

'That's Kuro. I thought a dossier on the principals might be helpful.'

'Thanks. It is.'

He nodded. 'You don't have much time.'

I looked at him, frail and diminished on the hospital bed, tubes in his arms and up his nose, and realized he wasn't talking about Yamaoto's meeting.

'Are you… can I get you anything?' I asked.

He looked at me, his eyes fierce and alive inside his pallid skin.

'Yamaoto,' he said.

Delilah was on her way back from a morning workout in her neighborhood in the Marais when her cell phone rang. She stopped walking and looked for it in her bag.

Pedestrians carrying fresh bread and cut flowers and bags of fruit from the open-air market on Rue de Bretagne maneuvered around her on the narrow sidewalk. She ignored them and looked at the phone. The caller ID said private.

She'd been feeling delightfully relaxed from two hours of yoga and Pilates, but now her heart was suddenly beating harder. She pressed the receive button and said, 'Allo.'

'Hi. It's me. John.'

This time it's hi, she thought. Usually it's hey. She wasn't sure what that meant.

'Hey,' she said.

'How've you been?'

'Fine. I didn't think I was going to hear from you.' She liked the way that sounded. Calm, not accusatory. Just a statement of fact.

'Why did you think that?'

'Last time we talked, it sounded as though you'd gotten pretty tied up in what took you to New York. And then you were going to Tokyo, and I just thought… that was it for us.'

Good, this was really good. Be cool, but get it out in the open. Give him the chance and the inclination to explain, without seeming to ask for that.

'I'm in Tokyo now,' he said. 'And I am tied up. But not the way you think.'

'What is it, then?'

There was a long pause. He said, 'I need your help.'

That wasn't what she'd been expecting. Before she could think it through, she said, 'You know, you call for my help more than you call for my company.'

'You're probably right. And I'm sorry for that. But right now I need both. Can you come to Tokyo?'

'Why?'

'I'll tell you when you get here. Please, Delilah. I wouldn't ask if it weren't important.'

She knew she should say no. But… there was something in his voice, something she'd never heard before. Whatever the problem was, he must have been nearly desperate to ask for her help after their last conversation.

Desperate about what, though? The only thing she could think of was that something had gone wrong when he visited Midori. But the woman had been relaxed when Delilah had seen her… yes, but she was clueless, she wouldn't have known what was going on in the shadows around her.

What could it have been? Was Rain seen? And if so, was his child in danger? If that were the case…

She felt her resolve slipping. But still, it was so damn galling. She wasn't sure what he wanted, but for all she knew its ultimate objective might be a life with Midori and the child.

Still, if something happened to Midori or the child that Delilah could have helped prevent, her own hopes for Rain would be doomed no matter what.

Also, she realized, going to him now might give her a chance to try to correct the mistake she'd made in doing that number on Midori, to provide a cushion against its possible consequences should Rain ever find out.

What if he had found out, though'? Could this be a setup?

No, she couldn't believe that.

But you ran your kind of op on him. Why wouldn't he run his kind on you?

That made the choice clear, didn't it? She could give herself over entirely to suspicion and manipulation, which was to say she could give herself over to fear. She'd already sampled that particular dish, when she went to see Midori in New York, and the aftertaste was still vaguely nauseating.

Or she could go with hope.

'When?' she asked.

'Can you be here tomorrow?'

'Probably.'

'Let me give you a number. Call me and let me know.'

When they were done, she headed back to her apartment to check on flights. There was a 1:20 on Air France leaving that afternoon from De Gaulle, arriving in Tokyo at 9:20 the following morning. If she hurried, she could make it.

Tatsu called me that night to tell me he had some items I'd requested. He warned me to expect a different bodyguard this time, which was thoughtful of him. If I saw someone unfamiliar outside his door at night, he knew, it would make me jumpy.

I went to the hospital, using a lot of care in my approach. Repeated meetings in the same place was a huge violation of SOP, but right now obviously there wasn't an alternative.

The new guy knocked, then let me in. Tatsu was on his bed, pale and sweating this time. I looked at him for a moment. 'You okay?' I said.

He nodded, grimacing. 'It's okay. Just… hurts, sometimes. It'll pass.'

I pulled up a chair and sat with him, feeling helpless while he gritted his teeth and groaned.

'Let me get a nurse,' I said. 'She'll give you something for the pain.'

He shook his head. 'They'll give me morphine. It knocks me out. I can't have that. Not now.'

After a few minutes the groaning stopped and his breathing evened out.

'That was a bad one,' he said. 'They're getting more frequent, too. Fewer and fewer breaks. Hand me that towel, would you?'

There was a damp towel on the bedside stand. I gave it to him and he mopped his face.

'Don't worry,' he said, 'I'm all right. You see, cancer is simply nature's way of making you want to die.'

I couldn't laugh, even though I knew he wanted me to. But I managed a weak smile for him.

I put my hand on his shoulder and we sat quietly for a few minutes. I said, 'What have you got for me?'

He pressed the call button. The bodyguard came in and handed him a backpack, then left.

Tatsu gave the backpack to me. I opened it. Inside were a set of floor plans and assorted commo gear.

I pulled out the plans and unfolded them. 'Whispers?'

He nodded. 'And the communications equipment you asked for. Three pairs.'