The Last Assassin

chair and sat with him, feeling helpless while he gritted his teeth and groaned.
    'Let me get a nurse,' I said. 'She'll give you something for the pain.'
    He shook his head. 'They'll give me morphine. It knocks me out. I can't have that. Not now.'
    After a few minutes the groaning stopped and his breathing evened out.
    'That was a bad one,' he said. 'They're getting more frequent, too. Fewer and fewer breaks. Hand me that towel, would you?'
    There was a damp towel on the bedside stand. I gave it to him and he mopped his face.
    'Don't worry,' he said, 'I'm all right. You see, cancer is simply nature's way of making you want to die.'
    I couldn't laugh, even though I knew he wanted me to. But I managed a weak smile for him.
    I put my hand on his shoulder and we sat quietly for a few minutes. I said, 'What have you got for me?'
    He pressed the call button. The bodyguard came in and handed him a backpack, then left.
    Tatsu gave the backpack to me. I opened it. Inside were a set of floor plans and assorted commo gear.
    I pulled out the plans and unfolded them. 'Whispers?'
    He nodded. 'And the communications equipment you asked for. Three pairs.'
    I shook my head in admiration. 'How do you get ahold of these things?'
    He smiled. 'People who owe me favors. The question is, what are you going to do with it?'
    'I'm not sure yet. I need to go over these plans, then get a firsthand look at the club. I'll know better after that.'
    'What about your inside man?'
    I thought about my talk with Delilah. She had called back to say she was coming, but it was tense.
    'That's proceeding,' I said. 'But no guarantee yet.'

29

    A fter leaving Tatsu, I bought a pair of binoculars, two pairs of long underwear, and a hat in Shinjuku. Then I went to reconnoiter Whispers.
    The club was located in the elegant, tree-lined Minami Aoyama area between Kotto-dori to the east and Nireke-dori to the west, not far from the Nezu art museum. Its immediate neighbors were hip restaurants and chic galleries and exquisite boutiques, sometimes unusual combinations of the three, all bracketed north and south by a pair of nameless streets. The northern one led to the club. The southern one ran behind it along a line of buildings, some of them separated by alleys.
    There was a construction site north of the club entrance, which provided a decent vantage point. I watched for a few hours as a group of valets helped people in and out of their expensive cars, but I couldn't see much more than that. Still, it was better to have some firsthand knowledge of the club's environs than none at all. By the time I was done, at two in the morning, I was chilled to the bone.
    I went back to the hotel and slept for six hours, then took the train to the airport to meet Delilah. She came through customs looking around, but didn't spot me right away amid the sea of mostly Japanese faces. She was wearing jeans and a black leather jacket, and there was a brown leather carry-on slung over one of her shoulders. Her hair was tied back and she was wearing no makeup that I could see. A little tired, maybe, but otherwise looking radiant as usual.
    I watched her unseen for a moment and felt a rush of conflicted emotions. Gratitude that she would do this for me. Guilt that I had asked her. Remorse that I'd fucked up and caused this mess to begin with. And confusion, about who and what I even wanted.
    I emerged from behind a cluster of people waiting on friends and family and business interests. She saw me then and nodded.
    I stopped in front of her. Every other time I'd seen her after an absence, there had been some kind of embrace. Not today.
    'Thanks for coming,' I said.
    She nodded. 'Where to?'
    'Here, let me take that.' She let me slip the bag off her shoulder and we started navigating through the crowds waiting in the arrivals lounge. She looked around as we walked, and I wondered whether it was operational or more in the way of taking in the unfamiliar sights in a new environment. Probably both.
    'I've got a van in the garage,' I said. 'It's about an hour's drive into Tokyo. I'll brief you on the way.'
    I glanced over and saw her looking at me, but I couldn't read her expression. 'Have you been here before?' I asked.
    She shook her head. 'China once. Never Japan.'
    'Maybe I'll get to show you around, then. I know a few places.'
    She looked at me. 'But business first. Right?'
    I thought she was trying to provoke me. Better not to answer.
    On the way into Tokyo I told her everything. Not