Hard Rain

gasping.
    I hauled him up by the lapels and shoved his back against the wall. I
    looked left, then right. It was just the three of us.
    "Tell me who you are," I said in Japanese.
    He made retching noises. I could see he was going to need a minute.
    Keeping my left hand pressed against his throat, I patted him down to
    confirm that he didn't have a weapon, then checked his ears and jacket
    to ensure that he wasn't wired for sound. He was clean. I reached
    into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a wallet. I
    flipped it open. The ID was right in front, in a slip-in laminated
    protector.
    Tomohisa Kanezaki. Second Secretary, Consular Affairs, U.S. Embassy.
    The bald eagle logo of the U.S. Department of State showed blue and
    yellow in the background.
    So these characters were with the CIA. I slipped the wallet into one
    of my pants pockets so I could examine its contents later at my
    leisure.
    "Pull yourself together, Kanezaki-san," I said, switching to English.
    "Or this time I'll hurt you for real."
    "Chotto matte, chotto matte? he panted, holding up one of his hands
    for emphasis. Wait a minute, wait a minute. "Setsumei sum toyakusoku
    shimasu kara ..." I promise I'll explain everything, but.. .
    His Japanese was American-accented. "Use English," I told him. "I
    don't have time to give you a language lesson."
    "Okay, all right," he said. The panting had slowed a little. "My name
    is Tomohisa Kanezaki. I'm with the U.S. Embassy here in Tokyo."
    "I know who you are. I just looked at your wallet. What were you
    doing following that man?"
    He took a deep breath and grimaced. His eyes were watering from the
    ball shot. "We were trying to find you. You're John Rain."
    "You were trying to find me, why?"
    "I don't know. The parameters I was given ..."
    I shoved hard against his throat and got in his face. "I'm not
    interested in your parameters. Ignorance is not going to be bliss for
    you. Not tonight. Understand?"
    He tried to push me away. "Just let me fucking talk for a minute,
    okay? If you keep choking me, I'm not going to be able to tell you
    anything!"
    I was taken aback by his gumption. He sounded more petulant than
    afraid. I realized this kid didn't understand the kind of trouble he
    was in. If he didn't tell me what I wanted to know I would have to
    adjust his attitude.
    I shot a quick glance at his prone friend, then back to him. "Talk
    fast," I told him.
    "I was only supposed to locate you. I was explicitly told not to make
    contact."
    "What was supposed to happen after you located me?"
    "My superiors would take it up from there."
    "But you know who I am."
    "I told you, yes."
    I nodded. "Then you know what I'm going to do to you if
    I find any of your answers unsatisfactory."
    He blanched. I seemed to be getting through to him.
    "Who's he?" I asked, gesturing with my head to the prone American.
    "Diplomatic security. The parameters ... I was told that under no
    circumstances was I to take a chance on encountering you alone."
    A bodyguard. Sounded possible. The guy hadn't recognized me, I'd seen
    that. He was probably here just for protection and surveillance tag
    team.
    Or he could have been the triggerman. The Agency relies on contractor
    cutouts for its wet work people like me. He might have been one of
    them.
    You're not supposed to encounter me alone because ...," I said.
    "Because you're dangerous. We have a dossier on you."
    The one Holtzer would have put together. Right.
    "The man you were following," I said. "Tell me about that."
    He nodded. "His name is Haruyoshi Fukasawa. He's your only known
    associate. We were following him to get to you."
    "That's not enough."
    He gave me a cold stare, looking like he was prepared to tough things
    out. "That's all I know."
    His partner groaned and started to pull himself up onto his knees.
    Kanezaki glanced at him, and I knew what he was thinking: If his
    partner recovered, I would have a hard time controlling the two of
    them.
    "You're not telling me what you know, Kanezaki," I said. "Let me show
    you something."
    I took a step over to his partner, who was now facing us on all fours,
    grunting something unintelligible. I bent down, took hold of his chin
    with one hand and the side of his head
    8-r with the other, and gave a sudden, decisive twist. His neck
    snapped with a loud crack and he flopped to the ground.
    I let go of his head and stepped back to Kanezaki. His eyes were
    bulging, shifting from me to the corpse and back again. "Oh my