The Last Assassin

The women were out in front of the island, helping a Japanese man and one of the hostesses with their coats. It looked like someone had managed to agree on a price tonight. One of the women buzzed Delilah out. The security guy bowed and held the door for her again.

As she reached the end of the walkway outside, one of the valets went running past her in the direction of the club. She turned around and got back to the turn in the path in time to see him pull a magnetic key from inside his suit jacket and wave it in front of the reader. He slipped it back inside the jacket, and she realized he kept it on a lanyard around his neck. The door started to open and Delilah moved out of its line of sight.

The other valet was in front, holding open the passenger door of a blue Bentley Continental GTC. The engine was idling at a low purr.

Nice ride, she thought. She smiled at the valet and walked off.

33

We reconvened in Dox's hotel room a half hour after Delilah had checked in from the club. She briefed us on everything: entrance and exit layout and procedures; security personnel and protocols; the backup generator. She hadn't missed a thing, and recollected exactly the right details. I wasn't surprised.

'The layout is good,' she said, when Dox and I had exhausted our questions. 'We can control it. The only thing I couldn't confirm was the emergency exit door off the main room, on the ground floor. It's there, but I didn't get to try it. The one in the basement, though, opens outward with a horizontal push bar. But there was a camera in front of it, and something written across it. I think that an alarm would sound if it's opened, so I didn't try. Here.'

She took out her phone and worked the keys for a moment, then handed the unit to me. 'What do you think?'

I had to squint a bit, but it was readable. 'Yeah,' I said. 'It's what you thought. Nice going.'

I considered for a moment, then said, 'I think it's safe to assume that the other door works the same way. Emergency doors in public buildings are installed to code. They always open out with a push bar. So we ought to be able to jam them from outside with nothing more than a steel rod. I'll check on that tomorrow when I recon the exterior.'

'It's an impressive place,' she said. 'Very high-end, smooth operation. And the women are stunning. All of them.'

'It occurs to me,' Dox said. 'Maybe I should reconnoiter this establishment myself. Couldn't hurt to have a second set of eyes, you know.'

I looked at him.

He shrugged and said, 'No need to get irritable about it. Nothing wrong with a man enjoying his work.'

Delilah reached into her purse and took out Harry's bug detector. 'Here,' she said. 'Don't want to forget.'

'You might want it tomorrow night…' I started to say.

'No, it's served its purpose. And nicely. Worked in the vestibule and for the camera watching the basement emergency exit, quiet the rest of the time. I can see why it's sentimental.'

I took it and shook my head. 'That's a story for another time.'

She nodded and rubbed her eyes. 'I should get some sleep.'

'You're right,' I said. 'We can finish planning tomorrow. Why don't you sleep in if you can, and call us whenever you get up.'

'That sounds good,' she said, standing up.

I stood, too. 'I'll walk you back to your hotel.'

She shook her head. 'Better to stay apart for now.'

Once again, I didn't know what was the real motivation there, personal or professional, but this wasn't the time or place to discuss it. 'Okay,' I said.

Dox stood, too. He extended his hand, and Delilah shook it. 'It's great they invited you back for tomorrow, and no surprise, either,' he said. 'You did really well tonight, on unfamiliar terrain and without a lot of preparation, and that's a fact.'

She gave him a nice smile. 'Thank you, Dox.'

'Our glorious leader thinks so, too,' he added. 'Just, like I said before, he's not very expressive about these things.'

Delilah's smile faded and she offered a tentative nod that said, Let's not go there now, okay? I was more direct, shooting him a Stop that shit look. But he plunged ahead.

'Yeah,' he said, 'the first time I gave him a hug you should have seen him, he was so tense I thought he would pass out. The second time he tolerated it better. Shoot, by the fourth or fifth time, damned if he hadn't started to like it. Now if a few days go by and I forget to throw an arm around him, he actually starts to mope.'

Delilah covered her mouth and looked down. She stood like that for a moment, very still, and then she started laughing. I looked at Dox, half incredulous, half enraged at the shit he was constantly pulling, but he didn't even notice because he was laughing, too.

There was nothing I could do but stand there while their laughter fed on itself and grew. Dox was wiping his eyes and saying, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry,' while Delilah just stood shaking with her arms crossed and her head down.

After an unpleasantly long time, it subsided. Delilah breathed in and out deeply a few times, then said to me, 'I'll call you tomorrow?'

I nodded and said, 'Yeah. Sure.'

'Good night,' Dox said, and I could tell he was struggling to hold it in.

She made it out without either of them losing it again, but I had a feeling she laughed all the way to the elevator.

I looked at Dox.

'I'm sorry, man, I'm sorry,' he said. 'There's just something about you that brings it out in me!'

'I think that's known as blaming the victim.'

'Go ahead, make fun of me for hitting on Tiara the tranny, it'll make you feel better.'

'No, it would make you feel better. That's why I won't do it.'

'Ah, you're a hard man, John Rain, a hard man,' he said, and this time I couldn't help it, I started laughing with him.

34

The next morning, I took a quick run past Whispers, just a local guy out for his morning jog in his shoes and tracksuit, a hat pulled low against the chill air.

I followed one of the alleys to the back of the club. Given their business hours, I doubted anyone would be about this early, but if I were seen, a jogger looking for a place to take a leak wasn't about to raise anyone's hackles.

In keeping with that possible cover story, I paused and started undoing the snaps on the pants of the nylon tracksuit while I scanned the perimeter for cameras. I saw none, just a windowless concrete façade with an emergency exit door on the left, plain steel with no handle or other hardware. A cement path ran the length of the building.

I resnapped the pants and walked over to the door. As I had expected, the hinges were on the outside. A one-meter steel bar jammed in tight at a low angle, with the bottom in one of the expansion joints in the path, would seal it.

I repeated the procedure on the west side of the building, where the basement exit was located at the bottom of a utilitarian concrete stairwell. This door was identical to the first one. Okay.

I continued on my morning run, stopping at Aoyama Park to call Tatsu at the hospital. The phone rang several times, then I heard his voice, almost a groan: 'Hai.'

'It's me,' I said. God, he sounded terrible. 'I'm sorry to bother you.'

He said nothing for a moment, and I could tell he was trying to catch his breath. 'Bother me?' he rasped, finally. 'These calls are all I look forward to. And visits from my grandson.'

'Any further word on tonight's meeting?'

'Yes, the informant just confirmed. No wonder I'm in pain, no one will let me get any sleep. The meeting is at ten o'clock.'

'Good. We're done with the initial pass. And I'm going to have that man inside tonight, after all.'

'What else do you need from me?'

'Like I told you last time, someone positioned to take out the place's power on my signal.'

'You want the lights out.'