Page 63 of Tom Clancy Line of Sight

“What do you want to talk to her about, may I ask?”

“It’s private.”

Emir’s eyes narrowed like a cobra’s just before a strike, his smile frozen.

“She’s not here today, but I can leave a message for her.”

“When will she be back?”

“I don’t know.”

Jack wasn’t sure why this guy had his back up, but he figured he’d better change tactics. He pulled out his wallet and handed him a business card. “Honestly, it’s no big deal. I leavetown tomorrow. A friend of mine asked me to look her up and to give her a letter.”

Emir studied the card. “You can leave the letter with me if you like.”

Jack forced a smile. “I appreciate that. It’s just that I have to make sure it’s really her. That’s why I need to meet her.”

“I will give her your card and your message. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“No, but thanks for your time.”

The sparkling shine returned to Emir’s eyes.

“Of course. We are here for you, anytime.”

Jack could feel the smaller man’s gaze boring into the back of his skull as he headed out the door.

“Swing and a miss,” Jack whispered to himself. Number five of twenty-three was probably a no-hitter. Time to push on.

He pulled out his phone to call the next Aida on the list, hoping for the best.

TRIESTE, ITALY

Dom called ahead to Lisanne after forwarding Iliescu’s address to her, a hotel in Trieste, asking her to book a room for Adara and him at the same place, ideally on the same floor as the Romanian’s.

“I guess I’ll be sleeping in the van,” Midas said with a wink after Dom hung up.

“We won’t be spending the night. Just need the room reservation for cover. Besides, you Ranger guys are tough. I’d bet a night in a van wouldn’t be the worst place you ever slept.”

“Not by a long shot,” Midas said, and laughed.

Dom directed the retired colonel to take them back to the FBO hangar and the Gulfstream. The airport was on the way to the city center, where the hotel was located. Besides the pistols and ammo they had stored in well-hidden shielded storage lockers, the Hendley Associates aircraft possessed several hidden items of particular use on field ops. Dom needed to grab one of them, and he called ahead to Lisanne to retrieve it. When they arrived, Lisanne greeted them at the hangar door.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I did a little research,” Lisanne said. “You’re in luck. Your hotel uses Onity locks.”

“Damn lucky.”

“I downloaded Gavin’s Onity program into the Arduino microcontroller. It’s ready to go.”

“Thanks.”

Dom shouted a greeting to the two Gulfstream pilots on the way to the cabin ladder. First Officer Chester “Country” Hicks and the captain, Helen Reid, were cleaning up at the open sink in the maintenance bay after performing a thorough inspection of the aircraft.

“Where to next?” Reid asked.

“No telling where or when,” Dom said. “I hope you guys brought a deck of playing cards.”

Hicks laughed. “Never leave home without ’em.”