a way this news is welcome. Perhaps the money is no longer in the hands of an incompetent. I have always preferred doing business with a professional."
"You would consider dealing with him?" The subordi¬nate, in dark suit and crisp white shirt, tried to mask the surprise in his voice. The oyabun had never let himself be blackmailed.
"You seem startled." He smiled, then walked over and extracted a raw steak from the cooler in the corner. Neko dropped to her haunches as he tossed it to her. "Don't be. I've spent a lifetime in negotiation."
That much, his subordinate knew, was true. Tanzan Mino had seen more deals than most men would in a hun¬dred lifetimes. The most important ones had been the back-room kind. For thirty-five years,