Barry Eisler - The Last Assassin

She heard Dox in her ear again: 'Yamaoto's coming in right now. He moved too fast and had bodyguards in the way, I didn't have a shot. You'll see them all in a second, with Kuro, too.'

'Got it,' she said.

'All right,' Rain said. 'We weren't really expecting to be able to drop him yet. We'll get him inside.'

The buzzer sounded a second later. The security guy opened the door and bowed especially low, and four Japanese men in suits walked briskly inside. The first two she recognized from Rain's photos: Yamaoto was the older one, walking in front, his posture erect, projecting the kind of forceful personality you could feel from across a room. His clothes fit beautifully and she could instantly see from the tailored cut of the jacket and the movement of his shoulder blades beneath the material that he wasn't wearing armor. Kuro was softer-looking, with Brylcreemed hair and more the air of a businessman than of a gangster, coming along a half step behind Yamaoto. The other two, muscles bulging inside their suits and eyes darting from side to side as they struggled to keep up with their bosses, were obviously bodyguards. Like their Chinese counterparts, they had telltale bulges under their jackets.

The hostess behind the island came around and started taking coats. The office door opened, and Kyoko came out with the other hostess. While the younger women helped the men with their jackets, Kyoko discussed something in Japanese with Yamaoto and Kuro. At various points the two men and Kyoko all glanced at Delilah, then went back to talking.

This time Kyoko escorted the men inside herself. Delilah wanted to get up and see where they went in the main room, but that would have drawn too much attention to her. She'd have to wait for another chance.

She whispered, 'No armor.'

'Roger that,' Dox answered immediately.

A minute later, Kyoko returned. She walked over to Delilah and said, 'We have… an interesting situation.'

Delilah raised her eyebrows, thinking she might have an idea now what was going on. She wasn't yet sure whether it was an opportunity or a problem. Maybe a bit of both.

'One of our guests,' Kyoko continued, 'is quite taken with you. And uninterested in anyone else tonight.'

'But you tell him… I, not a job yet. Interview.' Rain and Dox would be wondering what was going on, but they'd catch on in a minute.

Kyoko nodded. 'That seemed only to add to the attraction.'

'Which guest?'

'The Chinese gentleman. Mr Liu.'

'Mr Liu wants me to hostess him?'

Kyoko laughed. 'That's exactly what he wants. Look, this is an unusual situation. You haven't even been properly interviewed, let alone trained. But Mr Liu is an important guest. And the two members with him, Mr Yamaoto and Mr Kuro, want him to be happy.'

If she said no, it would look strange. An applicant like Laure would jump at the chance to impress a bunch of important people during her interview. If she said yes, she wasn't sure what she'd be getting herself into. She'd know exactly where Yamaoto was and what was going on around him, true, but she wasn't sure how she'd extricate herself when the moment was right. Well, she'd figure something out.

'Kyoko,' she said, 'do you think I should join them?'

Kyoko sighed. 'Mr Kuro will treat it as the interview you came for. And if you make Mr Liu happy, I can't imagine you wouldn't get the job.'

'Then with pleasure I will join all of them. Again, their names are Liu, Kuro, Yamaoto?' If they hadn't understood already, Rain and Dox would get it now.

'That's right. Now, they know you're only an applicant, so they won't expect you to know everything about the club, our procedures, that kind of thing. So no need to be nervous. Come, I'll introduce you.'

Kyoko took Delilah into the main room. It was more crowded than the night before, perhaps because it was later now, perhaps because Saturday was just a busier night. About sixty people, Delilah estimated, two-thirds of them hostesses.

In the far corner, in the booth adjacent to the emergency exit, sat Big Liu, Big Liu's associate, Kuro, and Yamaoto. She was surprised by that – she had expected them to use one of the private rooms. But no, of course, Big Liu was obviously a lecher; he would want to sit wherever he could best drink in the parade of beauty around him. And Yamaoto probably wanted to indulge him, to use Big Liu's own appetites to distract the man from whatever concessions they were trying to wring from him. After all, that's why they were meeting here to begin with.

Two of the bodyguards, one Chinese, one Japanese, sat across from each other in the outer seats of the adjacent booth. They were watching the room carefully, and each other as well. Understandable, under the circumstances. Their organizations were on the brink, and if Yamaoto and Big Liu failed to reach some understanding tonight, the meeting could end in a war. Delilah glanced across the room and saw the other two in the opposite corner, where they would have a different angle on the principals and a clear field of fire.

As Kyoko and Delilah neared the table, Big Liu stood and smiled. Damn, the man was eager.

'Gentlemen,' Kyoko said. 'This is Laure. She came tonight only to interview for a position, but is so flattered by your kind attention that she would be pleased to join you for a drink.'

'Yes, please,' Big Liu said, shaking Delilah's hand a little too vigorously. He turned to his associate and spoke a few words in Chinese. The man slid out, expressionless, and sat down with the adjacent bodyguards. Well, Big Liu's priorities were certainly clear.

Big Liu turned his attention back to Delilah. 'I am Liu,' he said, shaking her hand again. 'But please, call me Big Liu.'

'Yes, Big Liu,' Delilah replied, the Parisian accent thick. 'Enchantée.'

'Ah, you are French,' Big Liu said.

'Yes, French. My English… please pardon, I am still learning…'

'So am I!' Big Liu exclaimed with a florid wave of his hands, then laughed as though this was the funniest thing in the world.

Delilah turned to Yamaoto and Kuro. They both bowed their heads in welcome. Delilah reached for Yamaoto's hand. 'You are… Mr Yamaoto?' she said.

'Yamaoto,' he said, shaking her hand perfunctorily. She sensed he was tolerating her presence simply to indulge Big Liu. And, presumably, to distract him.

Delilah turned to Kuro and extended her hand. 'And you, Mr Kuro?'

' Hai ,' he said, shaking her hand.

'Thank you, inviting me at your table,' she said, for Rain and Dox's benefit.

'Please, please,' Big Liu said, gesturing to the bench. Delilah slid in, across from Kuro and diagonal to Yamaoto, and Big Liu sat down next to her.

Kyoko bowed and left them. Delilah smiled and thought, Here we go.

Listening to Delilah's progress inside the club, I was both pleased and concerned. Pleased that things had turned out so that she was in a position to report precisely on Yamaoto's position. But concerned that she was closer than was ideal. Certainly she had lost some freedom of maneuver. Sure, she could excuse herself to use the restroom, but what if something held her up on the way? Or if, when she went to do it, Big Liu decided to tag along so he could speak to her privately, make a pass, whatever? There were a dozen ways this unexpected arrangement could cause problems for us.

In fact, it already had, because she was no longer free to speak and so couldn't give Dox and me the real-time updates I wanted. She'd been doing a nice job of keeping us informed under the guise of talking to the people she was with, true, but that kind of communication had its limits.

Well, she knew where Yamaoto was right now and could tell me soon enough. In the meantime, I wanted to get things rolling.