The Last Assassin

"It's hot in here"? Why did you say
    that?'
    Big Liu and Kuro seemed horrified by Yamaoto's behavior.
Maybe it was a hearing aid,
they might be thinking,
see, that explains her conversational difficulties, it wasn't just a language problem…
    Yamaoto grabbed the halter top again and pulled. Delilah got her hand over the transmitter and pulled back — too hard. The fabric tore, and the transmitter detached. She heard it fall to the ground.
    Yamaoto shouted, 'Where's Rain? Tell me, you whore, where is he!'
    Delilah, staying in character, used her free hand to hold up what was left of the dress and screamed,
'Aidez-moi!
Somebody help me, please!'
    The bodyguards had all surrounded the table. Their guns were out now, but they were confused. They didn't know whether to focus on the table, on somewhere else in the club, or on one another.
    Delilah looked around. Everyone in the club was watching, trying to see what was going on. About half of them were out of their seats.
    Big Liu stood. 'Yamaoto…' he started to say.
    'Shut up!' Yamaoto yelled. Then he looked around, too, and seemed for the first time to understand the commotion he was causing. He turned to Kuro and barked something in Japanese. Delilah had a feeling she knew what it was: he wanted to take her somewhere he could control better, where he could get rough and get the information he wanted without frightening the patrons.
    She made no move for the knife on her thigh. She was boxed in now and it wouldn't do her any good. When they tried to take her somewhere else, though, there would be an opening, and she was going to cut right through it.
    Yamaoto still had her by the wrist. He said to Big Liu, 'Get out of the way.'
    Big Liu made no move to comply. He said, 'Bad business you do. This is nice girl. You very rude man.' He called to his associate, who got up and ran over.
    More of the patrons and hostesses were getting nervously to their feet. A few had started backing toward the swinging doors. Delilah thought she heard a woman scream from near the front entrance, but the sound was faint and she wasn't sure.
    Yamaoto, obviously making an effort to calm himself, said, 'This nice girl is a danger, as you'll see in a moment. Now, if you'll just…'
    And then the lights went out.

41

    I followed the path along its right turn and headed straight to the doors, the keycard in my right hand, night-vision goggles in my left, the HK in the thigh rig. I imagined the hostesses were watching me now through the wall camera, trying to figure out, Who's this guy in the suit? Why don't we recognize him? The security guy would be standing by the entrance, his alertness level low as long as the door was closed.
    I strode up the stairs, my heart hammering. I moved directly to the magnetic card reader and swiped the card in front of it. There was a clack inside the door as the lock disengaged. I slipped the card into my jacket pocket and took out the HK. I held the gun behind my back as the door swung open.
    The security guy was right there, just inside the entrance. He frowned when he saw me — obviously, when the door had opened in the absence of the buzzer, he'd been expecting one of the valets. As I stepped past him he said,
'Oi!'
Hey!
    I glanced left, absurdly aware of some sort of techno music playing in the background. There, the other security guy. I tracked right. The hostesses were staring open-mouthed, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. There was another guy behind them, a valet, from his appearance, just as Delilah had described in her briefing.
    The first security guy said,
'Oi!'
again and started coming toward me. Clearly he had misunderstood the nature of the threat. He must have thought he was dealing with a party crasher or something, someone who would be intimidated by a tough-guy stare and a little woofing. Then he noticed my hand behind my back. His eyes widened and he reached inside his jacket.
    I brought up the HK and put two rounds in his chest and another in his head. Everything was quiet: just three
pfffts,
then the sound of his body hitting the floor.
    I tracked to the second security guy. His eyes were bugging out and he was groping under his jacket. I dropped him with a single head shot.
    I looked around again. The hostesses were frozen, obviously in shock. Likewise the valet.
    Then the lights went out. The music stopped. The club was suddenly, eerily silent.
    One of the hostesses screamed in the dark. I pulled on the goggles and