Sympathy For the Devil (34 page)

OMNI scanned the security footage from the time his bus had arrived at the Philadelphia Bus Terminal on Filbert Street. And there was Samuelson, last off the bus. Just another poor bastard down on his luck, trudging with his bag containing dozens of samples of deadly diseases into a cold Philly night.

Why Philadelphia? Hicks didn’t know. But he was going to find out.

Security cameras tracked him through the terminal and out to the street and all the way to a Hilton Garden Inn a block or so away from the bus station. That had been three nights ago. He’d paid in advance for five nights and, in searching hotel records, OMNI said he was still there.

And that’s why Hicks was driving to Philadelphia. He left the high fives and the celebration to Scott and his men. Their mission was over. They’d earned it.

He hadn’t earned shit. Yet.

I
T WAS
after ten by the time Hicks pulled into the hotel’s parking lot. He parked in the handicapped space next to the fire door stairs that were closest to Samuelson’s room. It would make it easier to get out of there when the time came.

He knew he’d be on camera the entire time he was on the property, but that didn’t bother him. Footage could always be deleted later.

He walked through the lobby as though he was a guest. He even waived at the night clerk on duty, though the man was too enraptured by the glow from his iPad to have noticed. Hicks noticed he wasn’t texting, so he decided he must be watching porn.

Hicks knew the elevators were locked down after eight o’clock and could only be operated by a magnetic room key. He pulled out what appeared to be a standard hotel room key card and inserted it into the slot to call down the elevator. The card was an electronic version of a ghost key. He’d preloaded it with the hotel manager’s codes so he could open any door in the building.

He took the elevator up to the fifth floor and walked down the hall to room 505. Samuelson’s room. He paused outside the door and listened. He heard the TV was on, so he figured Samuelson must be inside. He had no idea if he’d thrown the security latch or not and the OMNI satellite wasn’t in range to scan the room. He’d have to try his key and take his chances.

Hicks pulled his Ruger and slid the card key into the lock. He pushed in the door and it opened all the way. Samuelson hadn’t used the safety latch at all.

From the doorway, Hicks could see the bed was unmade and empty. So was the chair on the other side of the room. The bathroom door was open, but the light was off.

The latch hadn’t been thrown because Samuelson wasn’t there.

Hicks went in and shut the door behind him. He began searching the room for the messenger bag he’d seen Samuelson holding in his trek from New York to Philadelphia. It wasn’t on the table or under the bed or in the closet.

But Hicks did find a mini-safe in the closet. And it was locked.

Luckily, it was a newer safe that allowed housekeeping supervisors to swipe their keys and open the safe in case a guest checked out and forgot to empty it. Hicks used his key card to open it. Samuelson’s messenger bag was stuffed inside.

Hicks tucked his Ruger back in the holster and slowly eased the bag out of the safe. It was heavier than he thought it would be and moving it slowly only made it seem heavier.

Hicks laid the bag on the bed and undid the leather straps. He found a metal case roughly the size of a cigar humidor and slid it out of the bag. He opened the metal catches and slowly opened it. Inside were fifty plastic vials exactly like the one Omar had been holding in the basement when Hicks shot him. None of them was labeled except for a single red, green, or blue dot.

Hicks figured these must be the samples Samuelson was supposed to deliver to Omar. But he’d never gotten the chance. But he’d already been in Philadelphia before he was supposed to deliver the rest of the samples to Omar.

Something didn’t make sense. Either Omar was lying or…

Hicks heard the gentle ping of the elevator sounding that it was stopping on the fifth floor. He shut the case and gently slid it and the bag under the bed. He didn’t expect Samuelson to be armed, but he didn’t know if he’d be alone. He didn’t want a stray round hitting the toxin if all hell broke loose.

He backed up into the dark bathroom and aimed his Ruger at the door.

He watched the door open and Samuelson and another man walked into the room. A tall, dark skinned man. Painfully thin and bald with a wiry beard.

Hicks waited for Samuelson to close the door before he spoke from the darkness. “Don’t fucking move. Either of you.”

Both men put up their hands without being told to do it. Samuelson grew even paler than he already was, but the dark skinned man looked calm and cool. “I don’t know what you’re doing here,” he said, a hint of a French accent, “but you have made a terrible error. And it will cost you your life.”

“I’ve heard that before.” Hicks stepped out of the bathroom. To Samuelson, he said, “Throw the latch on that door nice and slow. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Samuelson did as he was told. “We don’t want trouble, mister. If it’s money you want, I’ve got money right here in my jacket. It’s yours if you just get out of here and leave us alone.”

“I didn’t come here for money, John Boy,” Hicks said. “I came here for you.” He looked at the tall man. “Who’s your friend? One of Omar’s buddies?”

The tall man’s eyes narrowed. “You know of Omar. You are the man he fears.”

“I don’t know about that,” Hicks said. “I’m a pretty nice guy once you get to know me. And he and I are going to get to know each other a lot better real soon. As a matter of fact, why don’t you join us?” From his pocket, he took some of the plastic pull ties Scott had given him before the raid and tossed them on the bed. “I insist. Put those on. Pull them tight with your teeth.”

Samuelson looked up at the tall man, then back at Hicks. “Look, you seem to know who I am and what I do, okay? We can make a deal, here, man. I’m not exactly dealing pot here, so I know we can talk our way through this.”

“You’re going to be doing a lot of talking.” Hicks smiled at the tall man and decided to take a gamble. “Just like Omar. And Djebar.”

The dark man didn’t say anything, but his eyes said plenty. He knew exactly who Djebar was.

And suddenly, a lot of loose ends began to fall into place.

Hicks spoke to the tall man in French. “Who are you working for?”

The dark skinned man finally smiled. “I work for Allah. His will protects me.”

“We’ll see about that.” Hicks shifted the Ruger from Samuelson to him. In English, he said, “Put the ties on. Now.”

The man took one of the ties and handed one to Samuelson. “Let us do as he says, doctor. My men will free us when we get outside.”

Samuelson watched how the tall man put the ties on his own wrists and did the same. “He’s not kidding, man. He’s got five mean looking bastards downstairs.”

Hicks didn’t let it rattle him. “Oh, I’m sure. Former Republican Guard types, too. I’ve been killing his brand of tough guy all week. Forgive me if I’m not impressed.”

“They were necessary means to ends,” the tall man said. “And as you will soon find out, I am not Omar and my men are not cab drivers.”

“Neither am I. Now pull those nice and tight and put your hands against the wall.”

Both men did as they were told and Hicks made them step back three steps from the wall so they couldn’t swing at him while he frisked them.

Samuelson pled his case while Hicks patted them down. “This is bigger than you think it is, man. You don’t need this kind of trouble. You CIA boys cut deals all the time, right? We can cut one here, believe me. You could walk away a wealthy man.”

Samuelson’s pockets came up clean except for a wallet, a hundred in cash and two condoms. Hicks tossed them all on the bed. “I’m already wealthy, asshole, and I’m not CIA.”

As Hicks began patting down the tall man, the man said, “Don’t waste your time trying to bargain with him, doctor. He is a zealot. A true believer. A patriot who believes in truth, justice, and the American way, even though his idea of the American way is far different than what you and I know it to be. He’ll be dead in a few moments anyway, so save your breath.”

Hicks finished patting down the man’s leg and brought his fist up into the man’s balls. The man’s knees buckled and he fell forward into the wall. Hicks grabbed the tie that bound his hands and pulled it back until his hands were behind his neck and his head was flush against the wall. The man screamed.

“That’s the second time you’ve threatened my life in the last five minutes, asshole. I don’t like that. Maybe you’ve got guys outside and maybe you don’t. Anyone shoots at me, you get it in the back. Because
that’s
the American way.”

Hicks let the tall man fall to the floor. He went back to put the metal case back in the bag and pulled it over his shoulder. Then he pulled out his handheld and had OMNI scan the area for security cameras. Anything that could tell him what might be waiting for him outside.

From the floor, the man said, “Are you calling the police? They’ll never get here in time and my men will kill them when they do. Unlike you, we do not believe in leaving witnesses behind. Like you did with Djebar’s men.”

Hicks looked up from the handheld. The man said, “That’s right. Those two guards you left alive were dead fifteen minutes after Djebar failed to check in with us. You have no idea how far we can reach, but soon you will. And by then, it will already be too late.”

Hicks went back to the handheld. He couldn’t let himself get sidetracked by talk of what may have happened. He had to focus on what was happening now and that meant getting a look at what was waiting outside.

OMNI searched for wireless camera feeds in the area. Hicks selected a security camera from the building across the street. It was focused on the lot in front of its own building, but Hicks was able to readjust the focus to center on the hotel lot. He saw his Buick right where he’d parked it.

And a red minivan just inside the entrance to the lot. A minivan that hadn’t been there before and didn’t look like it was staying there long. The resolution on the cam feed was shit, but he could see thin trails of smoke coming from the exhaust. The windows were tinted, and he couldn’t see how many people were inside. But the headlights were on and someone was keeping the motor running.

Hicks put the handheld away and adjusted the messenger bag’s shoulder strap over his shoulder. “Time to go boys and girls.” He pulled Samuelson off the wall and told the tall man to get up.

He rolled over onto his knees and stood. “If you are a religious man, you should make your peace with your God now because you will not have time when we get downstairs.”

Hicks shoved him toward the door. In Arabic Hicks said, “To Him we belong and to Him we shall return.”

“Fuck you.”

“Nice language.” Hicks smiled as he opened the door. “How American of you.”

H
ICKS PRODDED
the tall man and Samuelson down the hallway faster than they would’ve liked to go. He kept them side by side, making sure they provided him with cover if anyone got off the elevator.

Halfway down the hall, the elevator began to move downstairs.

The tall man said over his shoulder, “Your time is running short. My friends are coming to check on me.”

Maybe they were, and maybe they weren’t. Hicks didn’t care. He planned on taking them down the fire stairs anyway.

He dug another tie out of his pocket. “Stop moving.” They did as he told them to do and he slipped a tie through both their belts and pulled it tight. He didn’t want them splitting up in case any shooting started. “Now you two assholes are literally tied at the hip. Move to your right and head down the stairs.”

“You can’t expect us to go down stairs tied like this,” Samuelson said; struggling to get away from the tall man. “What happens if one of us trips and falls?”

“Then you get up,” Hicks said, “Because if you can’t, I put a bullet in both of your bellies because you’re no good to me anymore.” He shoved the tall man by the back of the head. “Keep that in mind before you pull any shit. You’ll get your virgins, but you’ll be screaming a long time before you get there.”