Requiem for an Assassin

down the refineries at Rotterdam. AQ, Hamas, Hezbollah…and Hilger is mixed up with all of them.”
    Boaz pursed his lips and blew out. “If you’re right about what Hilger’s been doing, how long do you think we’ve got before this whole thing goes down?”
    Kanezaki nodded as though this was exactly what he’d been considering. “It’s hard to say. We know he’s been planning Rotterdam for a while, that it’s important to him. With the losses he’s taken, my guess is, he’ll get to the Netherlands as soon as he can to see it through.”
    Dox said, “If he shipped a device, why not just use a timer? Or a detonator rigged to a mobile phone? Call the number from wherever and whenever, and boom.”
    Boaz shook his head. “Too many potential problems. The timer isn’t good because he wouldn’t know precisely when the package arrived. The mobile phone isn’t good because there might be no reception inside the container. And either way, he’d be taking a chance that the device might have been damaged or otherwise rendered inoperable if the container were dropped or mishandled at sea.”
    “Boaz’s specialty is bombs,” I said.
    Boaz smiled. “These days, people call them Improvised Explosive Devices. It sounds more impressive. But nobody gave me a raise for it.”
    “Besides,” Kanezaki said, “if he could have done the whole thing remotely, he wouldn’t have needed Boezeman or any other inside man in the first place.”
    Dox nodded. “Right, right. And even if Hilger’s not in town, I’ll bet Boezeman will have plenty of information that could lead us to him. If he’s asked nicely, that is.”
    “What about your organization?” I said to Boaz. “Feed this to them, they’ll feed it to…”
    “To the Agency,” Boaz said. “Our counterpart relations with the Dutch are…not strong.”
    I shrugged. “Then the Agency will feed it to the Dutch.”
    “You can’t be serious,” Kanezaki said. “The Agency’s not going to pass along anything without studying it first. Most of what we’re going on comes from unvetted sources and the rest is speculation. They’ll probably never pass it along at all. Even if they did, I’d say the time frame is a month, minimum. No one wants to send a warning like this and have it turn out to be false. Believe me, in a bureaucracy, the fear of looking stupid is stronger than the fear of losing Rotterdam. Official channels are a waste of time on this.”
    We were all quiet for a moment. Boaz said, “This whole thing may be…a wild-goose chase, true. But my gut tells me it’s worth looking into. Besides, I’ve been thinking about visiting Amsterdam. Rain, what about you?”
    I looked at Dox. He said, “If you’re not going, I am, I don’t care if I have to crawl. It’s not just because of whatever nefarious shit Hilger’s up to there. And it’s not just because I want revenge, either, although hell yes I do. It’s because Hilger knows we’re going to come after him. First chance he gets, he’ll be looking to preempt us to improve his own longevity. I refuse to live my life wondering whether that bastard’s managed to acquire me again. I’ll take him out first, thank you, and I’ll sleep better because of it.”
    We were all quiet again. Dox said, “Besides, if Tom is right, Hilger’s fixing to do something nasty in Rotterdam, and we’re the only ones in a position to stop it.”
    I thought for a moment. What Dox had said was right, I knew. I didn’t want Hilger to live any more than he did.
    But I was keenly aware also of Kanezaki’s point about doing something to thwart what Jannick’s and Accinelli’s deaths were intended to foster. I hated that he’d hit a nerve with that shit. I knew he was manipulating me. But I also wanted to believe there was some way to undo what I’d done.
    I sighed and tilted my head toward Dox. “Let’s get him on the plane.”
    Dox shook his head. “I ain’t going anywhere unless you’re going to Amsterdam.”
    “I’m going,” I said.
    Dox smiled. “All right, good, ’cause I could use a good nurse about now. Boaz, watch out that he doesn’t sneak off to the red-light district.”
    Boaz grinned. “I’ll be careful.”
    Dox shook his head. “Goddamn, I wish I could join you boys. The thought of looking at that little spot between Hilger’s eyes through a Leupold scope…man, it’s giving me wood right now.”
    “All right, time to go,” I said.
    Kanezaki called out, “Marine!” The