Hard Rain

it for the same job you're offering me
    today?"
    He wouldn't know that I was aware he had been with Kanezaki when he had
    first approached Tatsu inquiring about my whereabouts. The question
    was designed to trip him up.
    But it didn't. "No," he said. "The original thinking was that we
    could use you for Crepuscular. But the program is done now, as I said.
    There may still be some role in the future, but for now I just need you
    to tie up loose ends."
    I nodded. "It's just that it's strange. I mean, you had Kanezaki
    looking for me, right?"
    "Yes," he said. His tone was cautious, as though he was afraid of what
    I might ask next and was already trying to think of an answer.
    "Well, isn't that odd? Given that you actually wanted me to
    "interfere" with him."
    He shook his head. "He was only supposed to locate you, not actually
    meet you. I was going to handle the meeting personally."
    I smiled, seeing the truth.
    "All right," he said. "I'd read your dossier. I thought it was
    possible that, if you learned that someone was trying to find you, you
    might, as you put it, see that person as a threat and act
    accordingly."
    I almost laughed. Biddle had been looking for a freebie.
    "What about the guy who was with him at the time?" I asked. "Kanezaki
    said he was diplomatic security."
    "He was. What of it?"
    "Why would you offer a bodyguard to a guy you wanted taken out?"
    He pursed his lips. "Solo surveillance against someone like you is
    impossible. Kanezaki needed a partner. I wanted someone from outside
    the Agency, someone who wouldn't know what was really going on."
    "Someone expendable."
    "If you want to put it that way."
    "Mr. Biddle," I said, "I'm getting the feeling that this is a personal
    matter."
    There was a long pause, then he said, "What if it is?"
    I shrugged. "It's all the same to me, as long as I get paid. But
    we're not off to a good start. You've been telling me that the problem
    with Kanezaki is that he's a rogue, that his activities could cause
    embarrassment on both sides of the Pacific. It sounds as though the
    potential embarrassment is more localized than that."
    He looked at me. "What I told you is not untrue. But yes, I have
    personal reasons, as well. What do you think is going to happen to me
    as Kanezaki's direct supervisor if his activities are discovered?"
    "Likely a shit storm. But I don't see how Kanezaki's suicide would
    solve your problems. Won't there still be records of his activities?
    Receipts from disbursements, that kind of thing?"
    His eyes narrowed. "I'm taking care of that," he said.
    "Sure, you know better than I do. I'm just mentioning it. By the way,
    where do you suppose Kanezaki has been getting the money to run
    Crepuscular even after the higher-ups have shut off the spigot? I
    imagine we're talking about some significant sums."
    He glanced to his right. The glance said, Think of something.
    "I don't know," he said.
    "If you keep lying to me," I said, my tone mild, "I'm going to start
    seeing you as a threat."
    He looked at me for a long moment. Finally he said, "All right.
    Kanezaki has been getting the money from a man named Fumio Tanaka.
    Someone with inherited money and the right political sympathies. I
    don't see that as relevant to the job at hand."
    I paused as though considering. "Well, even if Kanezaki goes away,
    Tanaka is still around, isn't he? Why don't I interfere with his
    activities, too?"
    He shook his head violently. "No," he said. "That won't be necessary.
    I've asked for your assistance with a particular matter and would like
    an answer with regard to that matter only, please."
    "I'll need a way to contact you," I said.
    "Will you take the job?"
    I looked at him. "I want to think about your story first. If I decide
    I can work with you safely, I'll do it."
    He took out a Mont Blanc Meisterstuck, unscrewed it, and scrawled a
    number on a napkin. "You can reach me here," he said.
    "Oh, one more thing," I said, taking the napkin. "The guy you were
    using to try to get to me. Haruyoshi Fukasawa. He died recently."
    He swallowed. "I know. Kanezaki told me."
    "What do you think happened there?"
    "From what Kanezaki told me, I gather it was an accident."
    I nodded. "The thing is, Fukasawa was a friend of mine. He wasn't
    much of a drinker. But apparently he was loaded when he fell from that
    roof. Strange, isn't it?"
    "If you think we had something to do with this ..."
    "Maybe you can just tell me who did."
    He glanced to his right again. "I don't