Barry Eisler - The Last Assassin

One of the women gestured to the stairs. Delilah thanked her, noting that, from their position behind the island, the women wouldn't be able to see the restroom doors or that of the utility room. She headed down, opening her purse, taking out an innocent-looking leather key case, and detaching the head from one of the keys on the way. Inside the body of the key, attached to the head, was a lock rake. She palmed the rake, dropped the keys back in her purse, and took out an exceptionally thin steel nail file that always doubled nicely as a torsion wrench.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Rain's detector buzzed. She looked up and saw a ceiling camera aimed at the emergency door, presumably to catch an intruder trying to come in the back way. She wondered why the club hadn't invested a trivial amount more for an additional camera covering the interior, then realized it was probably out of deference to the patrons' privacy concerns. It didn't really matter. With the electricity cut and the lights out, the camera would be irrelevant.

She hadn't seen anyone heading toward the restrooms in the last few minutes, and suspected they were empty now. Still, best to check. The men's room first, an embarrassed apology ready in case she had erred. But it was unoccupied, the three stall doors all slightly ajar. Likewise the ladies' room. Okay.

She paused in front of the emergency exit door, behind the camera's ambit, and looked it over. It opened out, with a metal push bar across its center. She wanted to try it, but the camera would have caught that. Also, there was a sticker running along the length of the bar in red Japanese characters, with an exclamation point at the end. Probably a warning that an alarm would sound if the door were opened. She took out her cell phone and snapped a picture. Rain could read it later to confirm.

She walked over to the utility room. Steel door, hinges on the outside, likely a five-pin tumbler in the knob. She tried the knob and was unsurprised to find it locked. Doubtful there could be anyone in there, but you never know, so she knocked, ready to seem extremely clueless about what down here was a restroom and what was a utility room in the unlikely event someone answered. But no one did.

She glanced at the stairs, then slid the file into the lock and turned it slightly, taking up the slack. Then she inserted the rake and ran it back and forth over the tumblers. A moment later the knob turned and she was in.

The room was dark, but she found a wall switch and flipped it on. She saw it instantly: a backup generator, bolted next to the exterior wall. She walked over and looked more closely. Diesel unit, digital control panel, she could shut it down anytime. If there was a problem with the controls, she could simply pull the leads. No worries about after-the-fact signs of tampering on this job.

She looked around, hoping to see a fuse box, which would give them other options. But there was none. Probably in the office upstairs. And therefore, for their purposes, inaccessible.

She turned off the light and walked out, checking to make sure the door was locked behind her. Then she ducked into one of the ladies' room stalls, hid the rake again, and took out the earpiece. She put it in and tilted her head down.

'It's me,' she said. 'Is the reception okay?'

'Loud and clear,' Rain answered promptly.

'Roger that,' Dox added.

'Okay. Leaving now.' She dropped the earpiece back in her purse and flushed the toilet. She walked out of the stall and checked herself in the mirror, already in character again. Then she headed back up the stairs.

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.

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.'