The Last Assassin

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 moved through the swinging doors into the main room.

I didn't know where Delilah was. And I had only two minutes of darkness to find her.

42

The moment the lights went out, Delilah dropped the halter top and reached under her dress. She slid her fingers into the Hideaway grip, pulled the knife free from its sheath, and slashed Yamaoto across the forearm. The razor- sharp blade parted skin and muscle like water and sliced down to the bone. He howled in the darkness and released her wrist.

She shoved Big Liu hard and he spilled out of the booth and into the bodyguards. She felt Yamaoto grabbing for her and slashed him again. There were shouts and cries of confusion from all over the room now, the sounds of people stumbling into one another and cursing in the dark.

She crouched on the bench and walked to the edge of it, then dropped down. She started edging along the wall.

Then someone grabbed her ankle, and she was falling.

43

The scene through the green light of the goggles was like something out of a George Romero movie: scores of people stumbling in all directions, expressions fearful, arms splayed in front of them, bumping into one another and crying out in the dark.

I moved to the right, my head swiveling in sync with the front sight of the gun. The near panic in the room was palpable. Things felt one step away from a stampede.

I kept my back to the wall and kept moving to the right, toward the private rooms. That was my best guess for where Delilah had first joined Yamaoto.

I reached the corner of the room and started moving forward. Here and there small flares of light were appearing as the relatively cool-headed took out lighters and turned on cell phones. Come on, come on, I thought. I was running out of time.

I reached the first private room and tried the door. It swung open. Empty.