The Last Assassin

the hell hadn't I thought of that?
    'You're right,' I said. 'I don't know what's wrong with me.'
    'You've just got a lot on your mind, that's all.'
    'And if we're using your car, who cares if he has urine all over him, anyway?'
    Dox frowned. 'You know, now that I'm thinking about it, maybe the dumpster wasn't such a bad notion after all.'
    We found a twenty-four-hour diner and went inside. We sat away from other people and ordered coffee. I was still too on edge to eat anything.
    'Let me see what he was carrying,' Dox said.
    I pulled out the knife and slid it to him under a napkin.
    'Damn, son, that's a double-edge Cold Steel Arc Angel. That boy knew his hardware. You going to keep it?'
    We'd been over this kind of thing in Bangkok, not with entirely satisfactory results. Dox was a trophy taker and I wasn't.
    'I was going to get rid of it,' I said.
    He made a face of exaggerated sadness. 'That strikes me as a shame.'
    I rolled my eyes and extended a hand palm up in a 'help yourself gesture. Dox gave me one of his irrepressible grins, rubbed the knife down with the napkin, and put it in his pocket.
    'Don't forget to scrub it,' I told him. 'Alcohol, then bleach.'
    'Yeah, yeah,' he said. 'Although I think your Mr Careful image might need a little polishing after tonight's outing.'
    I let it go. I looked at my watch. It was just past three. The sun would be up in about three hours.
    I realized that getting rid of Wong's body wouldn't buy me much time. Presumably his boss, Chan, knew where he was going tonight. Dox had seen them talking right before Wong headed to Midori's apartment. So Chan would assume that whatever happened to Wong had happened while he was watching the apartment. The place and timing in turn would implicate me. Chan would report this to Yamaoto. I didn't think Yamaoto would attack Midori and the baby directly, but he would probably do something to increase the pressure on them, as a way of drawing me out. And if Midori had any hint that my sudden presence had brought Yamaoto and company back into her life, whatever hopes I harbored of being with her and with Koichiro would instantly be snuffed out.
    There had to be a way out of this. There had to be.
    I thought about what I knew. Chan was the gang's captain. Wong reported to Chan. It was a conservative assumption that Chan reported, directly or indirectly, to Yamaoto. That meant Chan was the link between Wong's disappearance and Yamaoto's more active involvement.
    Meaning, if something were to happen to Chan, too, no one would know where or when Wong had gone missing. Hell, if I handled things right, no one would even know what had happened to Wong. In fact, they might just think…
    'You know what?' I said, a plan starting to take shape. 'I'm going to need that Balisong after all.'
    'Why?'
    I wanted to tell him, but I knew if I did he'd want to help. And I'd put him at enough risk already.
    'I'll fill you in later,' I said. 'But we don't have much time now. How soon can you get your car?'
    He shrugged. 'I valet parked it at the hotel, and they put it in some local garage somewhere. So probably a half hour, forty-five minutes.'
    'Good. Go get it, and stay mobile around East Houston. I'll call you shortly.'
    He looked at me. 'What are you planning on doing, man?'
    'Don't worry about it. I'll tell you after.'
    'You're fixing to take out Mr Chan, aren't you?'
    I sighed. 'Maybe.'
    'Yeah, devious minds think alike. But that's not going to make things worse?'
    'It could. But we know from having seen them together that there's some kind of bad blood between Wong and Chan. Other people must know about it, too — it wasn't as though they were doing a lot to hide it. And Wong's got a reputation for being quick to use that Balisong.'
    Dox grinned. 'This one, you mean,' he said, taking it out of his pocket.
    'Exactly. There's an opportunity for some strategic deception here, and I want to take advantage of it.'
    'So the plan is to do Chan with Wong's knife, make it look like they had a fight. Then Wong's missing, people figure he's in hiding after what he did.'
    'Exactly.'
    'Crude, but effective. Are you sure you want to do this all by yourself, though? That'd be the second time tonight, and the first one didn't go all that well, if you don't mind my pointing it out.'
    'Yeah, you've mentioned it. I appreciate your honesty.'
    'It's one of my charm points, it's true.'
    'I'm just going to take a look at that noodle place. At this hour, I don't even know if Chan