Rainfall

returned his gaze. “Hello, Yamaoto.”

    He stood up and circled to the front of the desk with the strong, graceful movements that I had first noticed at the Kodokan. “Thank you for coming today,” he said. “I was expecting you.”

    That much was clear. “Sorry I didn’t call first,” I told him.

    “No, no, not at all. That I would never expect. But I did anticipate that you would find a way to take the initiative — after all, as a
judoka
you are more comfortable on the offensive, using defense merely as a feint.”

    He nodded to his men, told them in Japanese to wait outside. I watched them file out quietly, Flatnose eyeing me as he closed the door behind them.

    “Did I do something to offend the ugly one?” I asked, rubbing my ribs. “I get the feeling he doesn’t like me.”

    “Was he rough with you? I told him not to be, but he has trouble controlling his temper. Ishikawa, the man you killed outside your apartment, was a friend of his.”

    “Sorry to hear that.”

    He shook his head as though it was all a misunderstanding. “
Dozo, suwatte kudasai
,” he said. “Please, sit. Would you like something to drink?”

    “No, thank you. I’m not thirsty. And I’m more comfortable standing.”

    He nodded. “I know what you are thinking, Rain-san. Don’t forget, I’ve seen how fast you are. That is why there are three armed men outside the door — in case you manage to get past me.” He smiled, a supremely confident smile, and remembering how things went at the Kodokan, I knew his confidence was justified. “That would be an interesting contest, but now is not the time. Please, why don’t you make yourself comfortable, and we can think of a way to solve our mutual problem.”

    “ ‘Mutual problem’?”

    “Yes, the problem is mutual. You have something that I want, or you know where it is. Once I have it, you will no longer be a liability, and we can ‘live and let live.’ But if I don’t have it, the situation becomes more difficult.”

    I was silent, waiting to see if he would say more. After a moment he said, “I really would like to talk with you.
Dozo kakete kudasai
.” Please sit.

    I bowed my head and walked over to one of the chairs facing the couch, putting my hands in my pockets as I did so, affecting an air of resignation. I switched on the transmitter. Regardless of how this turned out, Harry would at least hear everything. I sat down and waited.

    “Thank you,” he said, sitting opposite me on the couch. “Now tell me, how did you find me?”

    I shrugged. “Your man Ishikawa broke into my apartment and tried to kill me. I got his cell phone and used it to find out he’s connected to you. The rest was just taking the initiative, as you say — the best defense is a good offense.”

    “Ishikawa wasn’t at your apartment to kill you. He was there to question you.”

    “If that was Ishikawa’s idea of ‘questioning,’ ” I said, “you should send him to Dale Carnegie.”

    “Regardless. We are not after you — only the disk.”

    “Disk?”

    “Please don’t insult my intelligence. You’re protecting Kawamura Midori.”

    That caught me by surprise. But then I realized — the men who were waiting for her at her apartment. They must have been Yamaoto’s people. They’d been focusing on her, thinking that if she had her father’s things she might have the disk, and then I walked into the picture. It was only after I ambushed them and Midori went underground that they started coming at me.

    “What does she have to do with this?”

    “I know that her father had the disk when he died. It is therefore likely that she has it now. And she is in hiding.”

    “Of course she’s in hiding. She had the same kind of welcome party at her apartment that I had at mine. She knows she’s in danger but doesn’t understand why.”

    “Ordinarily a person in her position would go to the police. She has not done so.”

    “I wouldn’t know anything about that. I don’t trust the police myself.”

    “Where is she?”

    “I don’t know. She took off after the ambush at her apartment. She thought I was with your people.”

    “Really? She hasn’t resurfaced.”

    “Maybe she’s staying with friends — in the country or something. She looked pretty scared to me.”

    “I see,” he said, steepling his fingers. “You understand, Rain-san, there is information on that disk that would be harmful to Japan, useful to her enemies, if revealed.