Hard Rain

looked at me. "What should I do?"
    "If you get picked up, tell the truth. You won't want to mention that
    you opened the door just now it'll make you look comp licit But don't
    deny that someone came up here and tried to get in. They're going to
    see me on the security tapes, although I was careful to hide my
    face."
    She nodded. "Okay."
    "But the police aren't your real problem. Your real problem is going
    to be the associates of the men who came here tonight. They're going
    to come after you, either for revenge, or as a way to get to me, or as
    both."
    The color drained away beneath her caramel skin. "He would have killed
    me tonight, wouldn't he," she said.
    I nodded. "If I had shown up as he hoped, they would have killed me
    and then eliminated you as a potential witness and loose end. My not
    showing up made you less of a liability. In their minds, killing you
    became not worth the trouble. It's that simple."
    "Meu deus," she said, swallowing. She was pale.
    "Pack a bag," I said. "Do it quickly. Take a cab to Shinjuku or
    Shibuya, someplace where there are still people around. Get another
    cab there. Stay at a love hotel, someplace with automated check-in.
    Use cash, no credit cards. First thing in the morning, take a train to
    Nagoya or Osaka, someplace with a major airport. Get the first flight
    out. It doesn't matter where it's going. Once you're out of the
    country, you'll be safe. You can find your way home from there."
    "Home?"
    I nodded. "Brazil'
    She was silent for a long moment. Then she took my good hand in both
    of hers. She looked at me. "Come with me," she said.
    Looking into those green eyes, I almost could have said yes. But I
    didn't.
    "Come with me," she said again. "You're in danger, too."
    And then, in that instant, I realized I'd created a new nexus, another
    Harry or Midori, that a determined pursuer like the Agency or Yamaoto
    might follow as a way of getting to me. And this one was heading
    straight to Brazil. Where Yamada-san, my alter ego, had planned to
    establish himself.
    I think I smiled a little bit at the irony, the jokes fate likes to
    play, because she said, "What?"
    I shook my head. "I can't travel now. Even if I could, it would be
    too dangerous for you to try to travel with me. Just go. I'll find a
    way to contact you in Salvador after you're back there."
    "Will you really?"
    "Yes."
    There was a long pause. Then she looked at me. "I don't think you'll
    really come. That's okay. But contact me and tell me that. Don't
    make me wait, not knowing. Don't do that to me."
    I nodded, thinking of Midori, the way she had said, Let's see how you
    like the uncertainty.
    "I'll contact you," I said.
    "I don't know where I'll be exactly, but you can contact me through my
    father. David Leonardo Nascimento. He'll know how to find me."
    "Go," I said. "You don't have much time."
    I turned to leave, but she caught me and stepped in close. She put her
    hands on my face and kissed me hard. "I'll be waiting," she said.
    Twenty-Two.
    I made my way out of the area on foot. I didn't want to be seen, not
    even by an anonymous taxi driver.
    I cleaned myself up in an all-night sauna, then stopped at a
    twenty-four-hour drugstore and bought a bottle of ibuprofen, I ate a
    half-dozen dry. My arm was throbbing.
    Finally, I found a business hotel in Shibuya and collapsed into
    comalike sleep.
    The sound of my pager awoke me. I heard it in my dreams as an
    automated garage door, then as a vibrating cell phone, then finally in
    the wakeful world for what it was.
    I checked the readout. Tatsu. About fucking time. I went out, found
    a pay phone, and called him. It was already midday.
    "Are you all right?" he asked me.
    He must have heard about the carnage. "Never a cop around when you
    need one," I told him.
    "Forgive me for that."
    "If I'd gotten killed, I wouldn't have. Under the circumstances,
    though, I feel magnanimous. I could use a doctor for an injured
    arm."
    "I'll find someone. Can you meet me right now?"
    "Yeah."
    "Where we parted last time."
    "Okay."
    I hung up.
    I did an SDR that took me to Meguro station. Tatsu and Kanezaki were
    standing by the wickets.
    Oh good, I thought. I needed a surprise.
    I walked over. Tatsu pulled me aside.
    "The theory is that there is a gang war under way," he said to me. "An
    internal jakuza conflict. It will blow over."
    I looked at him. "You've heard, then."
    He nodded.
    "Well?" I said. "Didn't your parents teach you to say thank you?"
    His face broke into a