Requiem for an Assassin

what.
    Other questions: Why did Hilger have Accinelli killed? Why were Demeere, Accinelli, and Boezeman at the Maritime Security Expo in New York at the same time?
    I know you’re in the air. Call me as soon as you get this. This thing is bigger than just Hilger, I can feel it.
    It was what I’d been hoping for. A bunch of disconnected pieces that, with just one additional datapoint, or one fresh perspective, suddenly cohere into meaningful intelligence. But Accinelli, and now Boezeman and the rest…I didn’t care about any of it. Hilger had Dox right here in Singapore. That was all that mattered.
    I gave Delilah the half-hour she’d asked for, then accessed our bulletin board. She had pasted in Hilger’s message:
    I don’t know what you’re talking about. Good work on Accinelli, but you still have one more to do before Dox walks. I know you’ll want to talk to him. Call me like last time at 08:00 GMT. That’s 24 hours from the time I’m leaving this message.
    I smiled. Stimulus, response. By leading with threats and accusations, I’d created an opening for him to deny everything and try to dissuade me. And maybe I’d bought Dox a little time in the process.
    I checked the time/date stamp. He’d left the message at 08:00 GMT the previous day. That was four in the afternoon in Singapore, while I’d been in the air. So I had—I looked at my watch—a little over eight hours before the call.
    I purged the browser, went to another pay phone, and called Kanezaki.
    He picked up right away. “Where are you?”
    “Not over the…”
    “I’m using a scrambler, it’s okay. Where are you?”
    “Singapore.”
    “Perfect, perfect. I was hoping you’d catch the nonstop from Newark. I’m here, too.”
    “What are you…”
    “You saw the bulletin board, right?”
    “Yeah.”
    “You were already in the air when I got the information. I had to leave right away—assemble the gear you need, charter a plane…there wasn’t much time.”
    “Where are you?”
    “Grand Hyatt, Scotts Road and Orchard. Can you meet me here?”
    Ordinarily, I would have declined. It’s inherently uncomfortable for me to allow someone else to choose a meeting place. But it made no sense for Kanezaki to try to set me up now. Maybe another time, but not now. I suppressed my paranoia and said, “Yeah. Give me two hours.”
    “Room seven-oh-four. I’ll be here.”
    I hung up and called Delilah from another phone.
    “You get it?” she asked.
    “I got it. Thank you.”
    “Let me give you another number, a sterile line, scrambled. I need to talk to you, it’s important.”
    “You can just put it on the…”
    “I’ll put the number on the bulletin board. But I need to talk to you.”
    I hung up, checked the bulletin board, and called her back on the sterile line.
    “What is it?” I said.
    “Do you know where Dox is?”
    “I…have a good idea.”
    “You said he’s on a boat. How are you going to get him off?”
    Why was she asking me this? “How do you think?” I said.
    “I think you’re so angry and afraid that you’re planning on going in with both guns blazing.”
    I frowned. “That’s not exactly the way I’d put it.”
    “Without solid intelligence about the layout, and the numbers and placement of opposition on the boat, you might as well be wearing a blindfold. It’s suicide, for you and Dox. You can’t do this alone.”
    “Look, I appreciate the offer, but this is going down today. You’re too far away.”
    “I’m not talking about me. I’m talking about Boaz.”
    “What?”
    “He’s in Jakarta now. And he has something you need.”
    “What the hell is he doing in Jakarta?”
    “You know what he’s doing there. Waiting for your call.”
    I felt something go cold inside me. “You told him,” I said quietly. “About Dox. About Hilger.”
    “Yes, I told him. My people want Hilger dead. They’ll help you.”
    “Hilger dead is secondary. All I’m trying to do for now is save Dox.”
    “It amounts to the same thing. And if you get killed storming that boat, you won’t save anyone.”
    I didn’t respond. First Midori, I was thinking. Now you. I drop my guard a little, and look what happens. Every damn time.
    “Do you understand?” she said.
    “I don’t need your help,” I said, barely managing to modulate my voice. “I don’t need you second-guessing me and deciding what’s best behind my back. I’ve lived a long time, through shit you wouldn’t believe if I tried to tell