As a last touch to their outfits, all three put on one of the wigs contained in the bag, just in case anyone had seen their faces and might see them again.
Mayumi left the room as a raven-haired girl, Julie as a platinum blond, and Shiris as a fiery red head.
"We don't look at all suspicious with our luggage bags," Julie remarked sarcastically, running through the mall with a roller bag.
"At least you don't have to carry a bag," Mayumi muttered, looking extremely funny trying to balance herself while holding an incredibly heavy bag on her shoulder. Shiris laughed. She herself had both a roller and a shoulder bag.
Luckily, at this time of night the mall was nearly deserted. The girls decided to call for a cab from the front of the mall.
"Yeah, that's right. Okay." Mayumi hung up the pay phone and sat down.
"They'll be here in 10 minutes, so we ought to rest. We'll most likely have to leave early in the morning."
Julie sighed and slumped down next to Mayumi. "I can't wait to hit the sack. I'm exhausted!"
"Shiris, what's the matter?" Mayumi asked curiously as Shiris stared out the window.
"We got company…" she whispered, pointing outside. The other two jumped up and raced to the window. Outside, three sets of flashing red and blue lights could be seen turning into the parking lot.
"What do we do?" Julie asked.
"We have to wait. Hopefully the taxi will get here sooner than they will." Mayumi ordered, sitting back down. "We have to act normal. Sit down."
The others sat, fidgeting hands betraying their nervousness. If the cop that they hit with the car was in that crowd, he might recognize their faces.
Just then the taxi pulled up outside.
"Thank you!" Julie whispered, kissing the cross chain around her neck. The girls filed outside, Mayumi first, then Julie, and then Shiris.
At the same instant Shiris went through the glass doors, a cop opened the door next to her.
She glanced at him, and saw that it was the man they had hit. She quickly looked down, hair hiding her face. The cop didn't give her a second glance.
"Whew! That was close!" She muttered to herself, climbing into the front seat. She was the only one who had the faintest inkling of where they were going.
"Can you take us to Moscow?" She asked in perfect Russian. The taxi driver, an older man with a grizzled beard, nodded and pulled out of the parking lot.
The girls in the back sat back and sighed. They were home free, for a while. In the background, police sirens could be heard from the mall.
Three hours and many naps later, the taxi pulled up in front of a restaurant.
"We're stopping here?" Julie asked, looking at the sleazy looking bar.
"Yes. Now get out of the car," Mayumi muttered though clenched teeth. Her nerves were strained, her head hurt, and she was starving.
"Fine, whatever," Julie muttered, feeling a little testy herself.
Shiris led the way into the restaurant. They immediately went into the bathroom, hung up the OUT OF ORDER sign, and set up shop again. This time Jane appeared very calm, which they were very glad to see.
"We're in Moscow and awaiting further instruction," Mayumi said.
"Good. Go to a hotel called the Lion's Den in Moscow. At the hotel will be a package with further instruction." The screen fuzzed out for a minute, then blipped back on. "Did you copy that?"
"Yeah…" Julie said, uneasy.
"Jane?" Shiris asked, uneasy as well. The screen had never done that before. Their connections were always perfect. A blip in the information screen could only be a bad thing.
"Yes?" Jane asked pleasantly. In fact, she hadn't stopped smiling since they had seen her.
"What was that blip in the screen?"
Jane's face faltered for a moment, and then the smile returned. "Oh, I bumped the cable for a moment. Nothing to worry about."
Shiris nodded, satisfied. She hadn't thought about that. Mayumi and Julie also relaxed.
"Oh, okay. Well then, we'll contact you." Mayumi said.
"Good. See you then," Jane said, and clicked off.
"Well, lets go hail another taxi," Julie sighed, packing away the equipment. After a second, the other two helped her.
"But first, we eat," Mayumi ordered.
"Wow! Mayumi, I thought you were never hungry! This is a special occasion!" Julie cried, jumping up.
"It does sound like a good ides," Shiris added, checking her wallet for money. "Yep, lets go!"
An hour later, and with full bellies, the girls climbed into their second cab of the night.
"We want to go to the Lions Den," Shiris said, up front once again. The driver, this time a middle aged man with a baldhead and a moustache, nodded with a cheerful smile and took off. Shiris began to wonder if he was trying out for he Russian grand prix.
Within a few minutes, the cab arrived in front of a second-class hotel with a huge lion at the front gate.
"Well, this looks like the place," Julie said, looking at the lion.
"Yeah, especially since it says Lion's Den," Mayumi commented, smirking at Julie, who stuck out her tongue.
"Enough!" Shiris whispered fiercely when they began poking each other as she was trying to pay the driver.
"Thanks!" Shiris told the man, and took her bags up to the front desk.
"Hi, we have a reservation for…." She trailed off when she realized Jane had not given them a name under which they were reserved. Shit! How could she forget that?!
"Uh, hold on one second, I forgot something…." She ran over to Mayumi and Julie who were reading magazines.
"Guys! Jane didn't give us a name!" Shiris managed to keep her voice below a scream, but just barely.
"What? What do you mean?" Julie asked, standing up.
"She forget to…oh my god. She did. How could she do that?!" Mayumi exclaimed, thinking back to the conversation with Jane. She had definitely forgotten to give them a name.
"This is not like Jane. What should we do?" Shiris asked, glancing back at the hotel clerk. She was looking at them strangely.
"We're already attracting attention. We have to come up with a name and fast." Shiris urged.
"Okay, okay. How about we-"
"Excuse me," said a voice from behind. They whirled around and saw the clerk.
"Sorry to interrupt, but do you three know a Mrs. Jane?"
They looked at each other. Should they say yes?
"Yes." Mayumi stated curtly.
The clerk smiled, relieved. "Well then, I have your room ready. She said that you might not remember the name under which she booked you. She said that she mentioned it at the very end of your conversation, so you might not have caught it."
They looked at each other again. Well, it was better then spending the night out on the streets. They had spent the last of their money at the restaurant.
"Okay, thank you," Mayumi said, taking the key card from the woman.
"Any time," she smiled, and went back to her desk.
"So I guess Jane remembered that she didn't tell us…" Shiris said quietly, not sure why Jane had given her real name.
"Yeah…well, let's go up to the room. Maybe she left a message," Julie said, taking the keys. "Room 678, sixth floor. Let's go,"
Shiris and Mayumi followed Julie to the elevator. Once inside, Mayumi said, "Once we get in there, I want the whole room checked. Something's not right." Shiris nodded, and Julie looked grim.
DING
The doors opened, and they stepped out. No one tried to attack them or kill them. Mayumi motioned them forward. Room 678 was down the hall and to the left. At the corner, Mayumi peered cautiously around. The other two stood, guns drawn, behind her.
"All clear," she whispered. Mayumi drew her gun as they walked to the door.
"I'll count to three and then open it. One, two….three!"
BAM
The door slammed against the wall. The girls, nerves geared up, stealthily slipped into the room. The main room had two double beds with a bathroom and a closet leading off from it.
"Check for recorders or cameras," Mayumi whispered. Julie went to the closet, Mayumi to the main room, and Shiris to the bathroom. Julie whipped the bathrobes out of the way and took a device from her bag. It looked like a long toothbrush. In reality, it clicked when it came near a device that used high frequency waves, such as transmitters.
Nothing clicked.
Mayumi took out a replica device. Once again, nothing clicked.
Shiris received no clicks either, and then pulled at the mirror above the sink. It didn't budge, which meant it could be a double-sided mirror.
She put down her equipment.
"Hey, is everything okay?" Julie called, hearing no activity.
"I found a mirror that won't move. Don't worry, I'll be very careful," she called back, and slammed the butt of her gun into the mirror. It shattered into a thousand pieces.
Behind it, Shiris saw plain wood.
"What the hell was that?" Julie cried, rushing in.
"Don't worry, it was a false alarm."
"You call that being careful?" Julie asked with a grin.
Shiris shrugged and went out into the main room. Mayumi stood up after looking under the beds.
"All clear in here," she said. "It seems okay."
"Yea, I guess so," Julie agreed, and plopped down onto a bed.