on their entry form,” he told Clark. “If they didn’t check in, we’ll have to get creative. The Indonesian embassy in Washington keeps a list of citizens traveling on vacation to the U.S., but since they came in on a bogus passport, it’s a toss-up whether they’d be logged into the system.”
“We’ll start with the hotel,” Clark said. “They have to be sleeping somewhere.”
Bell gave him the name of the hotel and signed off.
“Econo Lodge in Little Creek,” Clark told Jack. “Stuff your face. We might be doing a lot of running today.”
They found the Econo Lodge about two miles from the Amphibious Base and a quarter-mile from the Little Creek channel. Jack asked, “SEALs at the amphib base, right?”
“Yep. SpecWar Group Two—Teams Two, Four, and Eight, plus an SDV team—swimmer delivery vehicle.”
“You miss it?”
“Sometimes, but most days not. Miss the people, mostly, and the work, but there were some pretty ugly times, too.”
“Care to elaborate?”
Clark looked sideways at him and smiled. “No. It’s the nature of what SEALs do, Jack. They go places nobody else wants to go and do what nobody else can. Nowadays they call those spots ‘denied areas.’ Back then we called it ‘Indian country.’ SEALs get a lot more attention today than when I was in, and more’s the pity, as far as I’m concerned. The less people talk about you, the better job you’re doing.”
“So what changed?”
“Don’t know, really. I keep in touch with guys that are still in, and they can’t quite figure it out, either. They get a lot of kids who come in thinking they’ll jog on the beach, do some push-ups, and walk away with the Budweiser.” Here Clark was referring to the SEAL Trident badge. “Those usually last less than a week.”
“Chaff from the wheat,” Jack observed.
“At about a seventy-five percent attrition rate. Here we are. ...” Clark pulled off of Shore Drive and parked beside the lobby. “Might have to run a little con to get the info we need,” Clark said.
“You lead, I’ll follow.”
They went in and walked up to the reception desk. An early-twenties blond girl with a spray-on tan said, “Morning.”
“Morning.” Clark pulled out his marshal’s badge and flashed it. “U.S. marshal. Looking for a couple kids that checked in a couple weeks ago.”
“Wow. What’d they do?”
“Depends how quick we find them. After midnight, we’ll have to file a material witness warrant. We’re just trying to cross some t’s for an old case. The names were Salim—Citra and Purnoma Salim.”
“They sound Arab.” She wrinkled her lip.
“What’s your point?”
Clark had put a little steel in his voice. The girl shrank back and said, “Nothing. Sorry. Uh ... so you just wanna know if they were here?”
“For starters.”
The girl sat down at her computer and started tapping the keyboard. “You gotta date?”
Clark gave it to her. “Give or take a day or two.”
“Okay, yeah, here they are. They stayed one night, then checked out.”
“Cash or charge?” Jack asked.
“Paid with cash, but we took a credit card for damages.”
“You have it on file?”
“I don’t know if I can give that to you. I could get in trouble, couldn’t I?”
Clark shrugged. “No problem, I understand.” He turned to Jack. “Get the Deputy AG on the phone.”
Jack didn’t miss a beat. He pulled out his cell phone, hit speed-dial, and walked to the other side of the lobby.
The girl asked, “What’s that?”
“Deputy Attorney General. Gonna need your name for the warrant.”
“Huh?”
“We’ve gotta serve the warrant on a named individual. That’s the way it works. Gonna need your boss’s name, too. So what’s your name?”
“Lisa.”
To Jack, Clark called, “Lisa ...” Jack nodded and said her name into the phone. Clark, back to the girl: “Gimme your last name and Social Security number.”
“Uh, wait. Wait a second.... So you just need the credit card info?”
“Yeah. Don’t worry about it, though. We’ll have a team down here in about twenty minutes. What time do you get off?”
“Nine a.m.”
Clark chuckled. “Sorry, not today you’re not.”
Lisa was tapping on the keyboard again. “They used a Visa. Card number ...”
Pretty slick,” Jack said, as they climbed back into the car.
“Nobody wants the hassle. I call it the little-big theory. Make the favor you’re asking seem real small and the consequences real big. So whatdya think? Your type?”
“Her? Cute enough, but something tells me she’s not exactly a crossword-in-ink kind of girl.”
Clark laughed at this. “So you’re holding out for beauty and brains?”
“Anything wrong with that?”
“Not a thing. Call in the card, get Bell working on it.”