His plan was not, Milton knew, either particularly elegant or clever, but it was the best he could do at such short notice. There were issues with it: there was the collection of the blade from Satoshi and the release of his sister, both of which could go wrong; he knew that there was a very good chance that Satoshi would have men and women waiting to follow him after the meet, and he was going to have to rid himself of them. Finally, and assuming that the exchange was successful and that he was able to go black—confirming that he was not being tailed—he would then need to negotiate a second exchange: swapping the tantō for Yamato and Sakura’s safety, all the while aware that there was a good chance that Satoshi would be looking for him.

Lots of weaknesses. Lots of vulnerabilities. But no other choice.

Milton would have to do the best that he could.

99

The florist had said that the flowers would be delivered in the early afternoon and, wanting to make sure that he was in place in plenty of time, Katsuro made his way inside the hotel at half past eleven and went up to the desk.

“Can I help you?” the receptionist asked.

“A room, please.”

The woman looked at her screen and shook her head. “I’m sorry. We’re almost completely full.”

“Almost full? What do you have?”

“I’m afraid all we have left is a deluxe twin room with a view of Godzilla. It’s expensive—nine thousand yen a night.”

“I’ll take it,” he said.

The woman smiled, evidently recalculating her impression of Katsuro’s worth. “How many nights would you like, sir?”

“Two, please.”

The woman smiled again and busied herself with making the reservation. She took his details, asked whether he would like breakfast included, charged his dummy credit card and, once she was finished, printed a key card for him.

“You’re up on the tenth floor,” she said. “The elevators are just over there.”

“Thank you,” he said.

He wandered in the direction of the elevator lobby, but, once he was out of sight, he diverted and took a seat on a leather banquette where he could watch the activity in the reception area. There was a small coffee table next to the seat, and he took a copy of the morning’s Asahi Shimbun and busied himself with the front page while keeping an eye on the men and women who made their way inside.

100