RainStorm

to hire
    him for the shit we do."
    We got to the street and paused. I heard gunshots from in front
    of the gate, then return fire from inside the Toyota.
    "Damn, those boys haven't killed each other yet," Dox said.
    "Looks like we're shit out of luck. Here we go."
    He pulled me across the street fast. If Hilger or the Arab noticed,
    they gave no sign of it. They had each other to worry about.
    A few seconds later we were on the other side, heading upward,
    enveloped by darkness. I lost my footing again and this time couldn't
    find it. For a moment I felt I was floating on water, that some sea
    creature had risen up beneath me and lifted me onto its snout. My
    head cleared, and I realized that Dox had picked me up over an
    enormous shoulder and was carrying me.
    "Wait," I said. "Put me down. The money's right there, if you
    can drop those two."
    "Partner, you are bleeding out," I heard him say from under me.
    He didn't even break stride. "Don't worry about the money. We'll
    get another chance."
    I drifted away again. When I came to, we were back at the van
    we had rented. Dox laid me out in the rear and slammed the door.
    The engine gunned and we drove off. A moment later, I heard him
    on the cell phone. His tone was urgent but I was fading in and out
    again and couldn't make out what he was saying. Something about
    a doctor, maybe.
    "Come on, man," I heard him bellowing from somewhere in
    front of me. It seemed that his voice was coming from a great distance.
    "Stay with me now. Kanezaki's scrambling a doctor and I
    need to know your blood type."
    "AB," I said, my lips moving thickly. "AB negative."
    "Well, thank God for small miracles! A universal recipient!
    Come on down!"
    I was gone a long time after that. When I woke up, I was in a
    bed in a dingy room. I looked around. Taupe drapes from another
    millennium. An old television on a cheap dresser. A metal door
    with a peephole. It was a hotel room.
    Dox was in a chair next to the bed, facing the door, his head
    slumped forward, the rifle set across his lap.
    I pulled back the blanket and looked down at my thigh. It was
    heavily bandaged. Likewise for my wrist. The thigh and wrist hurt,
    and the ribs were worse, but none of it was terrible. My head felt
    fuzzy, though, and I realized someone had given me something
    for pain.
    "Hey," I said.
    Dox's eyes popped open and his head snapped up. "Well, all
    right," he said, flashing me the grin. "It's damn good to see you,
    man. You had me worried there for a while."
    "Where the fuck are we?"
    "A little Motel 6 kind of place on Lantau Island. I didn't want
    anyone bothering us while you were recuperating."
    "Who bandaged me?"
    "Your uncle Kanezaki made a few phone calls and took care of
    everything. Got a local doctor out here pronto. He sewed you up,
    but you'd lost a lot of blood. Luckily I was on hand to lend you a
    quart or so. So don't be surprised if your dick's grown to about
    twice as big as you remember."
    I laughed weakly. "Am I going to start looking at sheep differently,
    too?"
    He grinned again. "You should only be so lucky. But one way
    or the other, take comfort from the fact that you've got a quart of
    Dox sloshing around inside you. There's people who'd pay good
    money for the privilege, and here it's yours for free."
    I nodded, taking it all in. "Thank you," I said, looking at him.
    He shook his head. "Forget about it. Like I told you, you were
    good to me in 'Stan. I don't forget."
    "Well, I reckon we're even, then," I said.
    His eyebrows shot north. "Did he say 'reckon'? My God, son,
    it's working already!"
    we called kanezaki the next day, after we had changed hotels.
    We put him on the speakerphone on Dox's cell phone.
    "I was always afraid the two of you were going to join forces,"
    he said.
    Dox grinned. "Well, someone's gotta save western civilization
    from the forces of darkness," he said.
    "You're closer to the truth there than you know," Kanezaki
    replied.
    "What are you talking about?" I asked.
    "I can't go into it now. But it'll all be in the news tomorrow.
    We'll talk after that."
    "The two hundred thousand?" I asked.
    "The balance has already been transferred. Congratulations."
    That was good. In our haste to depart, Dox and I had left behind
    the binoculars and parabolic microphone, and I had been
    mildly concerned that Kanezaki might argue that this evidence
    made things look too well planned to be attributable to the kind of
    straightforward inside job we'd discussed. Apparently there