Dead or Alive - Tom Clancy [268]
Hadi nodded.
“I know it really pisses me off.”
Dominic jerked his gun up, extended it toward Ibrahim, and shot him in the eye. Blood and brain matter sprayed over the wall. Ibrahim slumped sideways and went still, save his left arm, which twitched and flopped for ten seconds before stopping.
Chavez slapped Dominic’s arm up and away. “Christ almighty! What the fuck!”
Dominic stood up and backed away a few feet. Hadi curled himself into the fetal position and started whimpering. Dominic took two strides to him and pressed his gun to Hadi’s temple.
Chavez shouted, “Don’t! Not an inch, Dom.”
Dominic glanced sideways. Chavez had his own gun half raised in the direction of Dominic, who just shook his head and returned his attention to Hadi.
“Dom, don’t do it. …”
Dominic leaned down and said to Hadi, “Unless you’ve got something to tell us, shithead, I’m done with you. I’m going to put a bullet in your ear. When I say go, you either nod or you die.”
82
JACK AND CLARK made it to Virginia Beach in twenty minutes and found some public parking a block from the beach. All of the purchases the Salim kids had made were within three blocks.
“So what’re you thinking?” Jack asked as they got out.
“They checked in at one of the hotels around here using a new card but did some shopping on the old one. We play marshal and deputy again, and show their photos around.”
For the next hour, they walked from hotel to hotel, checking them off Jack’s list as they went. They were walking into the parking lot of the Holiday Inn at Atlantic and 28th when Jack said, “They’re here.”
“Yeah, where?”
“Swimming pool. Two loungers near the diving board.”
“I see ’em. Keep walking.”
They stepped into the lobby. Clark stopped, pursed his lips. “Remember that flower shop we passed on Twenty-seventh? Go back there, buy some daisies or something. And one of those card envelopes, too.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll explain. Don’t come back the same way. Meet me in the rear parking lot.”
Jack was back in fifteen minutes. He found Clark in the rear parking lot, standing beside a Dumpster. “They’re checked in under the same first names, last name Pasaribu. Their room is on the north side, facing away from the pool.”
“So we pick the door, go in.”
“Maids are up there. Flowers will work better.”
Jack went up first, carrying the daisies. Clark went up the opposite stairwell and stopped at the top, out of view around the corner. When Jack reached the Salims’ room door, he stopped and knocked, waited for ten seconds, then knocked again. Four doors down, a maid came out of another room and grabbed some towels off her cart. “Excuse me, miss,” Jack said.
“Yes, sir?”
“I got these flowers for my girlfriend. I have to get back to the base, but I wanted to leave them for her. Problem is, I already turned in my card key. Think you could pop open the door? I’ll put the flowers on the bed and be out in five seconds.”
“I’m not supposed to—”
“In and out in five seconds.”
A pause. “Well, okay.”
She opened the door and stepped aside.
“Thanks,” Jack said.
Clark took his cue and came around the corner. “Miss, hey, miss …”
“Yes, sir?”
“I need some towels.” Clark walked up to the cart and began pawing through the supplies, knocking soap bars and shampoo bottles on the ground. The maid walked over. “Let me, sir.”
Inside the Salims’ room, Jack dropped the flowers on the bed and looked around. Card key, card key … He spotted it lying on the ashtray, snatched it up, and headed for the door. Back outside, he called, “Thanks,” and headed for the stairs. Clark got his towels and headed in the opposite direction, circling back to Jack’s stairs, where they met at the top. They waited until the maid stepped into the room she was cleaning, then walked to the Salims’ door, swept the card, and slipped inside.
“How’d you know about the card?” Jack asked.
“They always offer couples two cards, and most people take both with them—but not to the pool.”
“What’re we looking for?”
“Credit cards and IDs. Past that,