Hook and Shoot (20 page)

“Mr. Wallace.”

“Yeah.”

He leaned in too close, put his hand out.

I waited.

He seemed amused, gave a slow blink and nod to reassure me. “You want to shake my hand.”

“Not so far.”

He let the hand drop, apparently my loss. “I'm
Howard Argo. You and I need to talk.”

Argo seemed to know where he was going. I followed him down the hall into a conference room with the tables pushed against a wall, chairs spread out, and one run of lights making the space look bigger than it was.

He moved some chairs around, dropped into one, and put his elbow on the back of another. “Have a seat.”

I sat across from him. He looked confused by my suit.

“So what's all this about? The phone calls.”

“Throwing the fight.”

Argo leaned in, whispered, “I didn't want to be the first to say it.”

“I don't want to say it at all. But here we are.”

“I have to ask: Why?”

“Why?”

He raised his eyebrows.

I sensed lawyering. Leaned in, whispered, “I didn't want to be the first one to say it, but you're trying to kill us.”

“Interesting.”

“Try my side.”

“You're serious right now. You're talking literally kill. Not figurative, like you guys do.”

“Yes.”

“And you're under the impression my clients are
somehow involved.”

“The Yakuza. Involved to the extent of being entirely responsible.”

“First,” Argo said, “let's not call names. It's petty. I represent legitimate businessmen. What their associates do is none of my concern.”

“You should be concerned right now.”

“Name-calling and threats. I must say, on top of offering to throw your fight, we're disappointed in you.”

“My manners slip when swords come out.”

“Swords?”

“Short and long.”

“Interesting.”

“I'm tired of being interesting to you. Let's get this done.”

“We just want a fair fight. My clients would like to create a partnership with Mr. Takanori, and backing a successful, clean fighter is their best course.”

“Bullshit.”

“I'm afraid not.”

“Then why are they trying to kill us?”

“See, that's what's interesting. You think you're up against the entire organization.”

“Yakuza.”

“If that were the case, the opportunity for us to talk would have long since passed.”

“Maybe.”

“Jesus, you're like a bumpkin in the mountains, stockpiling shotguns in case the government comes to take your rifles. Hear that? No. It's a drone. Boom. Do you see now? It isn't us.”

“What the hell are you saying?”

Argo spread his hands. “It isn't us.”

“Then who is it?”

He sat back and studied me for a while. “You might want to bring Mr. Takanori in for this part.”

I pried Eddie away from his staff, walked him and Burch into the room with Argo, who stood up and put his hand out.

Eddie shoved his hands in his pockets. “Burch, be ready to kill this motherfucker.”

“Done.”

“Please, let's be grown-ups.” Argo glanced at Burch. “Besides, you look like you'd have a hard time swatting a mosquito.”

“Lucky me I'd just have to squish a leech.”

“You gentlemen have a nice day.”

I put Argo in his chair. His sternum was very soft.

“That's assault,” he wheezed.

“Damn. I was going for battery. Start talking.”

He straightened up, blinked a few times. “You guys. So tough, huh? I'd laugh, but I have a cracked rib.”

“Jesus,” Eddie said. “As much as I'm enjoying this, all the times I wanted to smack you across the table, can you pull it together?” He dragged a chair over and we both sat facing Argo.

Burch stood behind him, which made Argo turn sideways in his seat.

“Don't think you're impressing me here. I've walked away from desert negotiations between Italian families. So, you know.”

“Who's trying to kill me?” Eddie said.

Argo winced. “As I was telling Mr. Wallace here, my clients want a partnership with you. You know that. Why would they want you dead?” He winked at me. “Now, he and I have been discussing one possible scenario, but we think it's moot at this point. Don't we?”

“What scenario?” Eddie said.

Argo, controlling the room again, looked at me with a smile I wanted to kick across the room.

I said, “Throwing the fight.”

“What?”

“I let Zombi win in exchange for the Yakuza letting us all live.”

Eddie covered his ears. “No, I can't hear any more. Even a whisper of a fix gets out, we're done.”

“I'm curious as to what they'd do, though,” Argo said, “if I brought that offer to them. It might have
worked. But you all have to know how ridiculous it is, thinking you've been up against the entire organization. I mean, really? To think you'd survive this long?”

“Move on,” Burch said.

“No, I want to make sure no one in this room is delusional. It's a requirement of mine. Who have you been fighting?” He checked each one of us.

“Omori and the Dojin-gumi,” I said.

“Right. One family. That's it.”

Eddie said, “It still makes no sense.”

“Which part?”

“The Yakuza doesn't want me dead, but the Dojin-gumi is a Yakuza family.”

“Is it?”

Eddie looked at Burch, me. Blank faces all around. “What does that mean?”

“I should be charging you for this. This kind of disclosure, what's it worth?”

“Walking without a limp seems fair,” I said.

Burch nodded.

Argo checked his watch. “Okay. Let Uncle Howie enlighten you for a bit at the request of my clients. They want the Zombi fight to happen. They want you all focused and ready. Otherwise, I'd wish you good luck and let you go back to hiding with your used-up whore in that cave you call a gym.”

Burch's jaw clenched. I heard his knuckles crunch.

Argo said, “The Dojin-gumi was expelled from the organization after Mr. Wallace's fight with Junior Burbank. But you can't take all the credit, son. It was that plus Omori letting the Brandenberg girl get snatched by Eddie and Mr. Burch here. Guy lost so much face he'd need Mount Rushmore to get him back to zero. So the family was out. Omori went old school, committed
seppuku.
Slashed his own bowels out and had his eldest son finish the job, took his head off with one swipe.”

“Goddamn,” Eddie said.

“The sons swore a blood oath to kill all of you. That's who you're up against.”

“How many sons?” Burch said.

“Three. Three whole men, and you thought you were against an army.”

I said, “That's wrong. The night they killed Lou there were six. At least.”

“First, I have no knowledge of anyone being murdered. Let's get that on the record. Second, you must be mistaken. This family is born and bred to kill people, so I imagine they can be overwhelming, confuse you.”

“I wasn't confused,” Burch said. “Woody's right. I put at least two down when we found Lou, on top of the two brothers already cold and stiff. Your numbers are wrong.”

Argo shrugged.

“Mercenaries,” Burch said.

“Not possible,” said Argo. “This family does not work with outsiders. They're insular to a fault, one of the reasons there are only three of 'em left. But listen, I haven't even told you the best part yet.”

Eddie said, “Is it something about the Yakuza killing this shitty family? That would be pretty good.”

“Afraid not.”

“They're allowing this clan to come after me?”

Argo looked at the ceiling. “How to put this. I spoke before about how silly you were to think the entire organization is trying to kill you yet failed. Ridiculous. Well, they are trying to kill the Dojin-gumi. And they cannot.”

“Shit,” Eddie said.

“Indeed. The sons are taunting them, letting them know, hey, this is what we're going to do and you can't stop us. It's been frustrating.”

“Son,” Burch said.

“Sorry?”

“You said sons. If there were three, they're down to one.”

“Again, I have no knowledge of any deaths, but that's the part I was getting to. Now, I only get the information my clients want to share, so I don't know the details, but apparently the eldest son had a confrontation with Mr. Wallace outside the casino.”

Shuko, the window knocker. “He and I had a talk.”

“Whatever you talked about, he's unhappy. According to my clients, he feels you've all had your chance to die honorable deaths. He's going to wait, make sure everyone sees you suffer. This whole week you've been in your little bunker, and no one has been trying to kill you. Great, huh?”

We didn't say anything.

Argo said, “I think Mr. Wallace can answer this best. Is it better to think you're going to be killed every day? Or to know when it's coming, like a scheduled fight? It's probably different for your death, though. I mean, how do you train to die?”

“He's coming for us during the Zombi fight,” I said.

Argo winked. “For some reason he seems fixated on putting you on ice—no, in a freezer. What's that about? Is that some kind of fighting term?”

I heard the lid thump shut and felt my arms and legs clamped against me. Wondered how quickly a person can go insane.

Argo looked at Eddie. “Last chance. My clients are going to get a piece of Warrior whether you're alive to see it or not. Let's work something out. Maybe they can try a little harder to stop this crazy bastard.”

Eddie didn't move, didn't talk.

Argo stood. “Enjoy the next week, gentlemen. Look for me at the fights. I'll be in the front row, wearing the blood-proof poncho.”

Eddie took his time packing everything—the laptops, papers, Warrior backdrop rolled up and back in the tube. Burch was slumped on the couch, exhausted.

I stood in the doorway to the kitchen and told myself I didn't need to lean against the frame to feel something solid.

Vanessa slid past me with a warm cloth for Burch. When she knelt next to him, he caught her hand. “Omori's dead.”

She froze, water dripping on the couch. “How?”

“Offed himself, too much shame. Coward.”

She stared at the blank wall, saw something there none of us could imagine. Her knuckles turned white around the steaming cloth. Water ran onto Burch's shoulder. He didn't seem to notice, kept his eyes on Vanessa.

“Good.” She touched the cloth to Burch's forehead.

Eddie kept his voice soft, told her, “They're cut off from the Yakuza. It's just the Dojin-gumi coming for us.”

“Just. Where are we going?”

“Home. Too much to do and I'm going nuts in here.”

Burch said, “We can't base any actions on what Argo says. He could be working for the Dojin-gumi.”

“They all know we're here,” Eddie said, “so what's it matter?”

“This could be a ploy to get you out for a public killing.”

Vanessa put her hand over her mouth.

Eddie said, “Burch, you're still in fantasy land. Anytime he wants, this Shuko guy can come through the door and drag me into the street, chop my head off.”

“That's incorrect,” Burch said.

“Vanessa, what's the deal on him?”

Burch sat up. “What's the matter with you? Don't ask her to talk about it.”

“He's a demon,” Vanessa said, her voice dead. She eased Burch back down. “A demon.”

Eddie leaned close. “Woody, you saw him. What do you think?”

“I think I won't get the chance to blindside him again. I should have stomped him out for good, ended this.”

“You didn't know he was the last one.”

“Is he? Burch, you see Argo's face when I mentioned
Lou getting killed?”

“Enough. We'll talk about this later.”

“It's okay,” Vanessa said. “This needs to end, the sooner the better.”

Burch let out a breath. “I didn't see his face. I was behind him.”

“Guy had no idea what I was talking about.”

“Well, he has no knowledge of any deaths. He said so. Twice.”

“Yeah, bullshit. That was deniability for the two sons you put away. We start talking about the swarm of guys who killed Lou and ambushed us, he gets all fussy about how that's impossible, not with this family.”

“The blow darts were Dojin-gumi.”

Eddie looked between us. “So Argo's lying or he's ignorant. Doesn't matter. But your faces tell me there's something else.”

I said, “This last son. Shuko. He's getting help from somebody.”

The limo was packed, idling in the front lot. I stood with Gil and Eddie at the front of the gym, where I'd first seen Burch come through the door. Give me that moment again, I'd lay bricks, dig a moat, light a ring of fire. By the look on Gil's face, he'd buy the matches.

Eddie saw the look, put his hand out anyway.
“Sorry we took up your back room and stepped on your dick all week. But business had to get done, you know?”

“Any of that business involve our contract?”

“Ah, that. I'm afraid all negotiations are on hold pending the outcome of this weekend.”

“The outcome,” I said. “Meaning whether you're alive or not?”

“We,” Eddie said.

“You should wear snakeskin suits. Save everybody the hassle of guessing.”

He shrugged. “Game face. Your full contract isn't signed yet, but we're locked in for the Zombi fight. It's the one thing I'm sure of right now—you will be fighting him on Saturday. So please fucking reassure me: You got this?”

Fighting a man I didn't know how to beat and waiting for a man no one could kill.