The Last Assassin

it out before Yamaoto arrives,' she said.
    I nodded. 'Yeah, that's good thinking. It's not as though anyone's going to notice until afterward. And it'll be one less thing for us to worry about once he's there.'
    'But how do we take out the main power?'
    'My contact here will have a man in the appropriate electrical substation. But there's a catch. He can only give us less than two minutes of darkness. More than that, and there'll be some sort of investigation by the city authorities, which my source doesn't want.'
    'Two minutes…' Delilah said.
    'It should be enough. Because before I call our man and the lights go out, you'll already be next to the emergency exit to let me in. In fact, you'll have to be.'
    'Because once the power is cut, the front door will be inoperable. It's got an electronic lock.'
    'Exactly. And at the same time, we can't use the emergency door before the power's out — otherwise, the exit alarms would give us away.'
    She nodded. 'And the camera pointing at the exit door…'
    'It'll already be dead when you let me in. I don't know if the video feed gets recorded, but with the power out, it won't make a difference.'
    'But what about inside the club? Even after you cut the lights, it won't be totally dark. People will have lighters, cell phones…'
    'That's perfect,' I said. 'We want just enough light so that people don't panic and start moving around. A little bit of light will keep them calm and in place for a couple minutes while they wait for the power to come back on. With lighters and cell phones and before their eyes have adjusted, they're not going to be able to see more than a few feet in front of them regardless. I'll be moving through in night-vision goggles with a suppressed HK. I'll be in and out in less than two minutes. No one will even know what happened until the lights are back on and we're gone.'
    Delilah nodded. We were quiet while she digested it.
    'You checked into a new hotel?' I asked.
    She was using the same name at Le Meridien and at Whispers, just in case anyone at the club thought to check up on her. Obviously, after tonight, that arrangement would no longer be tenable.
    She nodded. 'The New Otani. Near Akasaka Mitsuke subway station. Under Aimée Ackers.'
    'Good, then we're set. Now listen. If something goes wrong, if you need me in there for any reason, you just say, "It's hot in here," and I'll come running.'
    'How would you get in?' she asked.
    'I think the HK will be persuasive in a pinch.'
    She laughed.
    'I'll come, too,' Dox said, 'but I'll be farther away and it'll take me longer.'
    Delilah smiled. 'I doubt we'll need the cavalry.'
    I looked at her. 'I doubt it, too. And I know you're used to operating without backup, but tonight you have it. "It's hot in here." Use it if you need it.'
    She nodded, but I could tell it was more to placate me than out of any real conviction. Well, there wasn't much I could do other than to let her know the backup was there. She was probably right, anyway. We probably wouldn't need it.

36

    D elilah got to the club at nine-thirty that night. She was wearing a crimson satin halter-top dress she'd bought that afternoon. She'd noticed a lot of black on the hostesses the night before, and thought it would be good to stand out a little. Well, the red satin would be perfect for that, it would catch the club's subtle lighting just the right way. The accessories were right, too: black patent leather heels with a closed toe; an antique silver mesh evening bag; a silver ruched silk stole, to add some texture. On her left wrist she wore a single diamond bangle to catch the light; on her ears, small diamond studs, selected for the opposite reason. No earrings at all wouldn't have been right with this outfit, but she didn't want something that would draw unnecessary attention to her ears, either, given the earpiece she was wearing in one of them. The earpiece was small and flesh-colored and her hair was down, so she would probably be fine regardless, but why take chances?
    As she turned onto the club's street, she dipped her head slightly and said, 'Everyone in position?'
    'I'm here,' Rain said. He was in an alley south of the club, near where they'd parked the van.
    'Roger that,' Dox said. 'I see you clear as day. And honey, you are a vision of loveliness.'
    She smiled. If she hadn't seen Dox in action in Hong Kong, she might have thought he was too much of a joker to trust on an op. But she'd never seen anyone cooler than he'd been that