The Last Assassin

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.