The Last Assassin

was getting used to it. 'That was thoughtful of you,' I said.
    'I'm a thoughtful guy. In fact, I brought you a present. And, at the risk of disappointing you, I'll tell you now it ain't a kimono or dainty silk undergarments.'
    He put a paper bag on the table and I looked inside. I saw a black folding knife and slid it out. I opened it under the table.
    'That there is a Benchmade Presidio 520S,' he said. 'Three-and-a-half-inch blade and a combo edge. Thought you might like it.'
    'I like it a lot,' I said, closing it and sliding it into my pocket. 'Thanks.'
    He nodded. 'What did you hear from your friend?'
    I briefed him on what I'd learned from Tatsu. When I was done, he said, 'If the meet is the night after tomorrow, we're going to have to scramble. Can your friend get us the equipment we're going to need?'
    'No. To do this right, we're going to need some unusual stuff.'
    He smiled. 'Well, I reckon we know where to go for the specialty items.'
    I nodded. He was referring to Tomohisa Kanezaki, of course, a Japanese-American CIA officer based at the embassy in Tokyo. Dox and I had both worked with Kanezaki over the years. Some of the things he used us for were official; others were undertaken pursuant to a slightly more entrepreneurial initiative. At this point he was more a friend than an enemy, although you never want to get overly distracted by classifications like those. In the end, business is business.
    'I'll call him,' I said. 'But I'm going to leave your involvement out of it. The less he knows, the better.'
    'Agreed on that.'
    'Let's be ready to roll at oh-six-hundred the day after tomorrow. Check-in at the inn where Yamaoto's men are staying is at two o'clock, and I want to get there before they do.'
    'We're staying there, too?'
    'I'm staying there. Already made a reservation. But you we're going to have to keep under wraps. There aren't many white faces in those parts, and we don't want to do anything to be remembered.'
    'Am I going to be camping out? I don't mind, just want to know what to bring.'
    'I'll rent a van. We'll need it operationally, but it'll also be a mobile home, if you follow me.'
    'I follow you. All right, I'll do a little shopping tomorrow for gear. Looks like I'll be enjoying a last couple of nights of luxury here at the Prince and roughing it after that.'
    I nodded. 'Let's figure out what we need, and I'll call Kanezaki.'
    We went through everything, starting with what we wanted to accomplish and working backward from there. When we were done, Dox went back to the Prince and I found a pay phone in front of the station.
    Kanezaki picked up on the first ring, a habit I knew he had acquired from Tatsu.
'Hai,'
he said curtly, also in imitation of the older man.
    'Hey,' I said.
    There was a pause. He said, 'What, are you living in Tokyo at this point?'
    I smiled. Caller ID was exactly why I'd used a pay phone. I wanted to keep the cell phone sterile for as long as I could.
    'I've got some business here,' I told him. 'Nothing that would displease you if you knew about it. I could use your help.'
    'Okay.'
    'Your phone secure?'
    'Yes.'
    'One tranquilizer rifle with a night vision scope and a minimum of ten darts; two suppressed pistols each with infrared laser and night sights, spare magazine, a hundred rounds of hollow point, and a right-side tactical thigh rig for carry; two pairs of night-vision goggles; one GPS vehicle tracking system with magnetic mounts.'
    'That's it?'
    I heard the sarcasm. 'Yeah.'
    'Is this for Christmas? I don't know if I can get it all in a stocking…'
    'I need it by tomorrow night.'
    'John, come on.'
    Kanezaki liked to play up the difficulty of whatever favor he was asked, as a way of extracting greater concessions in return. He might have been doing it now. Or my request might really have posed a problem. It didn't matter. I didn't have time to screw around.
    'Can you do this?' I asked. 'If you can't, I'll figure something else out.'
    'I'm not saying I can't do it…'
    'Then what are you saying?'
    'Look, don't get short with me. Checking out that kind of hardware isn't like borrowing a few yen from petty cash.'
    'I imagine it's not.'
    'If I can do this, you're going to owe me.'
    'Owe you what?'
    'A favor. A job.'
    Your soul,
I heard. My hopes for Midori and Koichiro seemed to recede in the distance, like the light going out on a television screen.
    Well, I shouldn't have been surprised. I could have argued with him, but there were things more important than my soul in