Giuoco Piano

The waiting game was always a pain. Cliff hated it in the military, and he hated it now. He had spent the morning fooling around with the Echo 8. He got the hang of it after wasting a few shots, but he had to get the sleight of hand down to make sure the photo could be taken discreetly and without him looking down at it. He also taught himself how to change the film roll while he was still messing with the thing. The instruction manual told him he only had twenty shots per roll but that was fine. He doubted he’d need to get a shot of twenty yakuza thugs each.

As he sat and fiddled with the camera, he noticed Sable was reading under the kotatsu. She looked exceedingly bored for someone staying in a CIA safehouse. Maybe she was adjusting to this faster than he was. Then he saw her yawn, stretch out, and fall back against the couch with her thumb in between some pages. He smirked.

“Those things are dangerous,” Ikumi said.

Cliff almost jumped out of his skin and whirled around to see the Japanese woman.

Ikumi merely smiled and giggled as she walked off.

“Could you avoid doing that in the near future, if at all possible?”

“Maybe. But no promises,” Ikumi replied.

Cliff sighed and looked back to see Sable fast asleep. He wondered if she was cut out for this kind of work. Hell, he might not be, even after all his training. But he was here now, and so was she, and by God they’d have to give it their best shot. If what Susan said was true, the weight of the world was on their shoulders.

Ikumi walked over to Sable. She was out of her suit from before and wearing a casual white sweater and a pair of jeans. She hoisted Sable off the couch and propped her up to keep her from ruining her posture in her nap. She then returned to Cliff’s side and sat beside him.

“So what’s that?” she asked with childlike innocence.

“It’s…nothing. Something for the job.” he replied.

Ikumi stared at him openly. Cliff avoided her eyes and packed the lighter up, reassembling it and making sure it still lit. When it produced a flame, he felt satisfied with his toil. The woman next to him leaned over.

“You’re a soldier.”

“Yeah?” Cliff shot back immediately.

“I can tell. The way you carry yourself. You were in combat. I’ve seen it on many men your age.”

“Well, congratulations. You’ve managed to figure me out.”

“Not by a long shot. What are you here for? To help us, or yourself?”

Cliff looked at the wall in a blank stare. He ruminated on that question, perhaps a bit too long for Ikumi’s liking. She shifted to look at his eyes as he pondered.

“I’m not sure I’m here for anything. I was told to do something. I was told I was recommended for the job. Now, whether I like it or not, for one reason or another, the job has to be done.”

“That’s no fun. You’re such a serious man.”

“That’s just how I am.”

“Be kind to yourself.”

“I can’t afford that luxury.”

“Then you will die alone.”

“You’re probably right.”

Ikumi huffed and leaned back. Cliff was a hard man to read. His blatant stoicism came from his military service, the kind that you kill people during. He’d tried to forget it by becoming a priest. Do some good for the people. But no matter how hard he tried, his past would never fully let go. Even now, he felt its steely claws sunk into him as he was miles away from home and his church. Cliff was a hard man to read, but not to those who’d also seen how cruel the world could be.

Cliff watched Ikumi as she got up and walked back to the kitchen. He looked back to Sable. The coffee must not have had much of an effect on her. Maybe he should invest in espresso next time. He sighed to himself and got up. He walked over to Ikumi and watched her start making some instant noodles.

“So why are you here, again?”

“What do you mean?” Ikumi asked.

“You said you worked closely with the police. So why are you here with us?”

“Oh…well, I’m supposed to offer assistance whenever possible.”

Cliff wasn’t buying it, but he nodded anyway. In all reality, Ikumi probably was sent to spy on them and make sure the police got an advance warning to any trouble about to happen. She didn’t have that prim and proper look for nothing. She looked much more like she should’ve been behind a desk in a government office. Why send her? He remembered the chill he got as he turned away and walked back to the couch. Those chills didn’t come from nothing. Something was off about Ikumi, and he’d have to ask Susan about it in their next meeting. For now, there was nothing he could do.

So Cliff did nothing. He flipped through the TV channels and their very strange commercials. Then he asked Ikumi where he could go to get some proper American reading material and she decided to go with him. He came back with a new copy of Without Remorse by Tom Clancy as well as a few other good, thick paperback novels to keep himself occupied. The best part is that they were relatively inexpensive compared to back home. He noted on his way back that the faces of many of the men in the streets were hard and stoic like his. The harsh economic crash of 1990 was still wearing people down even five years later.

What a mess. Cliff thought to himself.

The rest of the day went by rather uneventfully. Sable got her nap in and Ikumi left to run some errands in the afternoon. She still wasn’t back by the time their pagers went off. He and Sable noted the address and headed out. The good thing about the yakuza was that they liked to be seen around their neighborhoods, which made them easy to spot on the streets. All Cliff had to do was look for some guys in suits not like the usual office salaryman attire that he had seen before.

The problem was getting there soon enough. Brooks had tracked them to a neighborhood off the beaten path. Susan paged them with the information and their exit plan. Apparently, this was their hangout, so they could take as much time as it took to get there. Brooks would meet them on the other side of the city at a pastry shop where they would hang out, eat, and create alibis. Then, if the coast was clear, Brooks would drop them off at the safehouse. If not, they’d have to make their own way back without drawing suspicion.

Sable and Cliff boarded the bus to Sakuho and were on their way. They hadn’t a moment to lose. A two hour trip by bus was the fastest way they could get here. A lot could happen within those two hours, and it reminded Cliff of the time he spent in the aircraft waiting to do his combat jump. The waiting game always made him antsy. He’d have to talk to Susan about either getting their own car or getting more rides from Brooks at this rate. Sure, it was more conspicuous, but time was not on their side with this operation. Every hour of every day that passed without them doing the legwork to catch these guys was bringing them closer to a disaster.

Cliff went over his plan with Sable. Unfortunately, she would have to watch him from a distance. He didn’t want to risk her being caught by the yakuza, let alone seen. Cliff was taking a bit of a risk showing his face. They might remember him if they met later on, but it was a risk he had to take. Afterall, it was all part of the job. Cliff sighed and wondered how the hell he got into this mess again. A brief recount of his life decisions didn’t pinpoint any particular moment, but he assumed that his service was a big part of it. Then again, Sable had no prior combat experience at all.

The bus pulled into the stop at Sakuho and both Cliff and Sable disembarked. It was time to go to work. Cliff felt himself ease back into that mindset. He quickly scanned the immediate area and then started moving. Sable caught up to him and they began the long walk across town. The town was small; it reminded him of home. Sable especially took note of the countryside all around. It sat in the valley with Mount Arafune on the eastern side and Mount Yoko on the west. Sable was used to the rolling flatlands of her hometown of Albion and its surrounding area. Cliff was more familiar with it since he moved to Owls Head, but even he took the time to admire the landscape..

It was back to business after a few minutes. Cliff moved along with Sable in tow. She pointed out the address up ahead and Cliff looked. It was an Italian restaurant, according to what Sable could translate on the sign. Cliff stared blankly ahead, contemplating this latest revelation and the irony so palpable that he could taste it as clear as his mother’s lasagna back home. He let himself have a small chuckle and cracked a wry smile.

“I agree. It is a bit on the nose for the local mafia,” Sable added in kind.

“Alirght. I’ll go over and ask the kind gentlemen about a good place to eat or something and you make sure that if I get made, Susan knows.”

“Right. Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

Cliff’s sarcastic reply undercut Sable’s naive confidence in him. He didn’t know the first thing about how to do this, but Susan was right. He could definitely play the “stupid American” card and do it really well. All he had to do was act naturally. Times like this reminded him of those old Humphrey Bogart films that he used to watch. Now was the time to put on a little show of his own as he walked across the street and headed up to the restaurant’s front door.