The Last Assassin

38

Delilah sat with Big Liu, Kuro, and Yamaoto as a quick succession of waitresses brought them hot wash towels, a variety of snacks Delilah didn't recognize, and a bottle of Taittinger champagne. Kuro spoke with the waitresses in Japanese. Delilah pretended to understand the men's English only slightly better.

'Well,' Big Liu asked as a waitress poured their champagne, 'what do you think of Whispers?'

'Whispering?' Delilah asked, with a confused smile. If she played it right, they would think her not only English-incapable, but a bit dim, as well, and it was always good to be underestimated by the people you were manipulating.

'The club,' Big Liu responded, gesturing to their surroundings and smiling indulgently.

'Ah, of course! The club… very beautiful, yes.'

The waitress placed the champagne bottle in a silver ice bucket on the table, bowed, and moved off. Yamaoto raised his glass and said, 'Well. To good business.'

They all touched glasses and drank.

She heard Rain in her ear, telling her the door was jammed now, that she should clear her throat if she heard him. She did so.

She glanced around the room. Their toast and apparent bonhomie seemed not to have relaxed the nearby bodyguards, who still looked as though they were on a hair trigger. Rain wanted her to proceed right away, but she thought that, with the way the bodyguards were wired, if the lights went out now they might spring into some kind of action. It would be better if a little time passed and they settled down before something out of the ordinary occurred. She decided to wait just a little. When the atmosphere was more relaxed, she would excuse herself to use the restroom, give Rain the word that she was on the way, and let him in when his man cut the power.

For a few minutes, the men, led by Big Liu, tried to engage her in some polite conversation about how she liked Tokyo, but in short order tired of her struggles with English. They began talking among themselves, their references to business matters initially guarded, but then increasingly transparent as they drank more champagne and became accustomed to talking in front of her. She wasn't surprised. It wasn't as though she could understand, anyway.

At one point Rain, obviously concerned about why she hadn't yet given him a go sign, asked her to say something or at least clear her throat if she was all right. His timing was good – Big Liu had just drained his glass. She said, 'More champagne?' and gave everyone a refill. Rain said all right, he wouldn't bother her, but let's finish this soon.

'As I mentioned on the phone,' Yamaoto was saying, 'I'm convinced that my men were blameless. But certainly someone betrayed us, someone who knew where and when the transaction was to occur and what it was to consist of. We need to list the people on both sides who had access to that information and start there.'

Delilah glanced at Kuro. The man's face seemed a bit too set to her. Maybe his English was limited, and he was uncomfortable not being able to participate.

'Don't know all details,' Big Liu said. He leaned forward and began chopping the air to emphasize his sentences. 'But having man make list. Then ask people on list. Ask hard.'

Yamaoto nodded. 'And I'll do the same.' He turned and spoke in Japanese to Kuro, whose sole response consisted of the word hai, repeated crisply several times and always accompanied by a stiff bow of the head.

'One other thing I meant to mention,' Yamaoto said. 'Your man Chan in New York. He hasn't checked in with me in over a week. We had this problem once before and you told me it wouldn't happen again. I'm afraid he's now disrespecting both of us.'

Delilah thought, Ah, merde. Rain had briefed her on all this on the way from the airport. It wasn't going to be helpful for Yamaoto and Big Liu to discuss it now.

'Mmm, Chan,' Big Liu said. 'Have… problem there. Have to replace.'

'I'm sorry?' Yamaoto said with a frown.

'Chan have bad blood with soldier Wong. Wong hothead. Kill Chan, then disappear.'

Yamaoto's frown deepened. 'When did this happen?'

'Happen one week ago. Big Liu men look for Wong now. Find Wong, he very sorry.'

'You've found Wong or you're looking for him?'

'No find,' Big Liu said, chopping the air again. 'Look. Try to find. Will find. But… Wong was man watching woman for Yamaoto. So no report now. Need good replacement.'

'Wait just a moment,' Yamaoto said, leaning forward. 'Are you saying the man who was watching Kawamura Midori disappeared a week ago, after killing his own boss?'

Yamaoto was becoming increasingly direct, even aggressive, in his tone and posture, and Delilah realized she was seeing some sort of default persona come to the surface. It was considerably less polished than the one he'd been displaying until now.

Big Liu nodded. 'Wong bad man. Unreliable.'

Yamaoto shook his head as though he couldn't believe it. 'Killed him how? How do you know?'

'Kill with knife. Find Chan, he very stabbed.'

'Why didn't you tell me this before?'

'Big Liu… embarrass by unreliable man. Find replacement first, then tell Yamaoto, better I think.'

'Yes, but don't you see? Chan was killed and Wong "disappeared" just before the ambush in Wajima! You think that's a coincidence?'

Merde, Delilah thought again. She should have left earlier. And getting up now, in the midst of Yamaoto's agitation, might precipitate a connection in his mind that she needed to avoid. She would have to ride this out.

Big Liu looked at Kuro, plainly at a loss. Kuro started to translate, but Yamaoto cut him off.

'My men told me they were ambushed by two men at Wajima. Right after your problem in New York. I don't believe in coincidences. This is the work of John Rain. The man you were supposed to be watching for.'

At the mention of his name, Delilah realized that everything Rain had hoped to accomplish was about to fall apart. Yamaoto had just infected Big Liu with suspicion. For the moment, Big Liu seemed disinclined to agree with Yamaoto's theory, but if Yamaoto died this very night, Big Liu's views would surely change. He would realize that Rain had killed no fewer than five of Liu's people. And his men had been watching Midori in New York. They knew where she, and the child, lived. They could get to them, either as retribution or to bring Rain out in the open, it didn't matter.

There was only one way to prevent that. None of the three men could leave here tonight. She had to tell Rain and Dox, but couldn't until she could excuse herself.

Big Liu was frowning, either at Yamaoto's tone or because he didn't understand, Delilah wasn't sure. Yamaoto barked a few curt words in Japanese to Kuro, who translated.

The men were focused on each other now. They seemed to have forgotten her entirely. But she was aware of exactly how that could change. And how quickly.

Big Liu was quiet for a moment, then said, 'New York and Wajima… far apart. Seem…'

'They're not far apart at all. Rain must have gone to New York to see the woman and the child, as we had hoped. He spotted your surveillance and eliminated it, either by accident or design. And then Wajima…'

He paused there, then sat back in his chair and was quiet, his head tilted forward, his hand rubbing his chin. Delilah knew he was just a thought or two short of a dangerous epiphany. He would either hit it, or skip right over it, she judged it fifty-fifty.

'You see,' he said, to no one in particular, 'Rain must have had access to someone who had information about Wajima. And…' He looked at Delilah, as though noticing her for the first time. 'There are people who knew about Wajima who also know about this very meeting. Tonight.'

Big Liu started to say something, but Yamaoto stopped him with a raised hand and continued looking at Delilah.

'You came to the club just last night, is that right… Laure? And tonight you came back to interview with Mr Kuro, yes?'

She knew he knew, or almost knew. But she gave no sign of it. She thought, It's hot in here, but wanted to be sure before she said it.

'That's really a remarkable coincidence,' he went on, with a chilling smile.

The extra comment suggested to Delilah that he wasn't quite certain of himself. He was probing, trying to get her to react and confirm his suspicions. She sensed she could bluff her way through.

She smiled and dipped her head as though pausing to digest his words, then said, as though her substandard English hadn't been adequate to the task, 'Thank you. It's very nice to be here.'

Yamaoto nodded and started to turn back to Big Liu. Then, without warning, he lunged across the table and grabbed the front of her dress. He yanked it hard toward him and the straps gave way, exposing her breasts and belly. Delilah, not expecting the move, gasped. Before she could react, Yamaoto had grabbed her hair and slammed her face into the table. She saw a flash of white light, then felt Yamaoto's fingers digging into her ears. She twisted her head and jerked back, but too late. Yamaoto pulled out the earpiece and shoved her away from him.

'What the hell?' Big Liu shouted. 'What the hell?'

Yamaoto held the earpiece up so Big Liu could see it. 'She's wired!' he said.

The bodyguards had all come to their feet and were looking around wildly for the source of the threat. Their hands were inside their jackets, on the verge of bringing out hardware.

Delilah swept the front of her dress back up and held it against herself. A natural enough reaction, under the circumstances, but she wasn't thinking about her exposed body. The microphone was attached to the halter top, and it wasn't going to pick anything up if it wasn't close to her mouth.

'It's hot in here,' she said.