A voice behind him snickered. Barney jumped into the air, his heart thudding. "Good reflexes," Remo remarked.'
"How long have you been back there?"
"Since you left the house."
Barney shook his head. "You two are really something," he said, extending his hand to Remo. "Barney Daniels."
"Idi Amin," Remo said, declining the hand.
"One of us is the Master of Sinanju," Chiun elaborated. "The other is a rude pervert who is barely useful for household tasks."
"And the third is a drunk we've had to stay up all night watching while he humped his way to heaven," Remo growled.
"How could you watch?"
Remo shrugged. "No scruples, I guess."
"I mean, the sides of the building were sheer faces of poured concrete. You couldn't have looked in the window."
"Suit yourself."
"What did you hear?" Barney asked, testing.
"Nothing special. Grunts, groans, a couple of giggles from Blondie, a belch or two from you-the usual."
66
"Hmmm."
"And your promise to knock off Colder Raisin for her."
Barney winced. "You from the CIA?" he asked.
"That does it," Remo said. "He's going back unconscious, like I said." There was a flurry of discussion in Korean between the old man named Chiun and the young wise guy.
"No!" Chiun said finally in English. "He is a man. He will walk."
"Walk where?" Barney asked belligerently.
"Tenth Avenue in midtown."
"What for?"
"We're supposed to keep you alive."
"On Tenth Avenue? I'd have a better chance of staying alive in the Klondike wearing a jockstrap."
"Breathe in the other direction," Remo said.
"Who sent you here?"
"Your fairy godfather. Get moving."
Barney bristled. "Look, you guys, I appreciate what you did for me back there, but I want to know where I'm going and why."
Remo sighed. "Let me knock him out," he said to Chiun.
"You are in no danger with us," Chiun explained. "However, our employer feels that others will attempt to do you harm. We are to protect you."
"So why do you have to protect me on Tenth Avenue? Why not just follow me home to Weehawken?"
"Because you've decided to murder somebody," Remo said, disgusted. "And I've got to ask Upstairs if you're allowed to. Complications. Always complications."
Chiun smiled proudly. "I knew he was an assassin."
67
"A fellow's got to earn a living," Barney said.
They turned left on 81st Street, where muffled music leaked from a cellar door. "Oh," Barney said excitedly. "I almost forgot about this place. A terrific after-hours club. Care to join me for a cocktail?"
He veered off. Remo collared him.
This upset Barney. Did they know that he might not make the trip back to Tenth Avenue alive without some liquid refreshment to quench his thirst? Did they know they might well be delivering a corpse to their employer? Did they want that?
"Walk," Remo said.
"If I fought you, you'd win, right?"
"Wouldn't be surprised," Remo said.
"If you knocked me out, would you carry me?"
"I suppose I'd have to," Remo said. "Where on Tenth Avenue are we going?"
"Forty-fourth Street."
"That's too far. A cocktail, or I go unconscious." He offered his neck to Remo.
Just then, a gang of eight Puerto Rican street toughs approached them. One of them was picking his teeth with a stiletto. They circled the three strangers in the neighborhood.
"Hey, man, you got any change?" the one with the stiletto asked Chiun, teasing the knife around his wrinkled throat.
"You are annoying me with that toy," Chiun said.
The eight of them laughed.