Saturday, 2:00 PM - 34 hours remaining
Hanae woke to her phone ringing again.
This time she'd actually made it to a bed. Actual sleep. Deep and dreamless and exactly what she'd needed.
She grabbed the phone. "What?"
"Boss." Takeshi's voice. Urgent but controlled. "Yamashita's here. In the lobby. He says he's ready to collect his payment."
Hanae sat up, everything aching. "Tell him I'll be down in ten minutes."
She dressed quickly—black suit again, hair pulled back, professional. The stitches in her side pulled but she ignored them.
Took the elevator down to the lobby.
Yamashita was waiting near the entrance, looking exactly as she'd imagined. Late forties, elegant suit, calm expression that suggested he'd done this a thousand times and would do it a thousand more.
He saw her approaching and smiled. It was polite. Professional. Terrifying in its normalcy.
"Kurosawa-san. Thank you for seeing me."
"Yamashita-san. You're early. I have six days remaining on your deadline."
