Tony set the shot and then caressed the trigger. The big rifle fired. Just shy of a second later the bullet struck home.
“Hit,” Jake said. “Perhaps two inches left of center in the upper third of the chest.”
Tony had already settled in and fired again, even as the target was dropping. The second shot struck home as well, although not as perfectly aligned. It didn’t matter. The first had been sufficient. A second shot increased the chances of someone outside narrowing in on the source of the shot, but given the noise generated inside the hotel by the large rifle, that was something that would have already been noted by people nearby.
“Let’s go,” Tony said as he stood and stripped off the electronic muffs. There might be some DNA material on them, but they’d need someone to match it to for it to be useful. Jake had already done the same. Both slipped on the ball caps and glasses they would wear to help make identification difficult. Tony opened the door slowly, scanned the hallway which happily was empty for the moment. That wouldn’t last. They had been lucky that the big rifle’s blast hadn’t attracted more attention, but already a few people were coming into the hallway at the far end. Others were probably on the phone calling the front desk. Quickly they slipped out. They headed down the hall, alert to the monitoring cameras and keeping their heads down at the appropriate time. They started down the stairs, stripping off the thin clear surgeon’s gloves as they went. They exited on the second level where the various hotel restaurants were located. The gloves went into a trash container they passed, and without hurrying, they walked down to the lobby level and out the front door. Inside the hotel, security was rushing up to the third level where a shooting had been reported.
Jake and Tony walked down the beach casually, covering the three blocks to where the SUV was parked. They climbed in and drove slowly away, just another couple of tourists.
“How did you know?” Tony asked finally. He’d had spotters before that had seen things he had missed. But that wasn’t the case here. Trask had told him in advance what was going to happen. There had been no one in sight when he’d described the scenario.
Jake grimaced. There was no ducking it.
“Sometimes I can tell what’s coming,” he said uncomfortably.
“You mean like a gut feeling how something is going to turn out?” Tony asked.
“Sort of,” Jake agreed.
“To that level of detail? Bullshit. No one can do that.”
“You’re right,” Jake said slowly. “We were just really on the ball and spotted Varennikov as soon as he appeared.”
Tony was silent for a bit.
“Are you always right?” he asked finally.
“One hundred percent when it kicks in,” Jake said. He didn’t elaborate.
“Carlson knows this, doesn’t she?” Tony said. “That’s why she wanted you here.”
“That’s right,” Jake agreed.
“I don’t believe this,” Tony said.
“That’s good. I’d appreciate if you don’t remember it either.”
“Don’t worry. No one would believe me if I told them about what just happened.”
Jake decided to change the subject. “It’s a shame we let Masud ibn Tahir al-Baghdadi go. I’d feel better if he had to pay for his part in the whole affair.”
“Don’t worry about that. Both Masud and his friend Saleh ibn Tarig ibn al-Fulan have a reckoning ahead of them. We don’t know where Saleh ibn Tarig ibn al-Fulan is at the moment, but we think Masud will lead us to him. Once that happens, they’ll get a surprise of their own.
Once again they parted ways at the airport. Jake climbed aboard the late afternoon flight to San Francisco, hoping this time he’d be able to stay home for a while. His memories said he would, but they’d done a few things differently this time around.
Epilogue
The heavy drops of rain pummeled the bushes outside the windows. The street gutters were filled with fast flowing water that rushed down the street toward the drains at the end of the block, as more water flowed from the soggy yards to replace that which had been carried away. The skies were gray and leaden, with no sign of let up. Jake smiled happily as he looked outside. They badly needed the water, but that wasn’t what made him so happy.
He had been mightily relieved when the date that marked the beginning of his long series of back-tracks had passed without incident several days before. The date passed quietly, and he