Solomon's Gold

CHAPTER 44

Elizabeth's phone signaled a call from DCI Hood's direct line.

"Hello, Clarence."

"Good morning, Elizabeth. The number you found in that woman's apartment was activated ten minutes ago."

"Did you get a trace?"

"Only a general area. Somewhere on the Lower East side of Manhattan, between Avenue A and the river, bounded by 21^st St. to the north and 4^th Street to the south."

"That covers a lot of territory."

"Yes, but it's a start. The phone was turned off after a short conversation."

"Were you able to capture what was said?"

"No. We'll see what NSA comes up with. They'll have it in their database somewhere."

"By the time they find it, it could be next month," Elizabeth said.

"I know, but there's nothing we can do about it. We have to hope they use it again."

"It can't be a coincidence that it goes active now, this close to the conference."

"I don't think so," Hood said. "Unless they turn it on and start talking, we don't have much chance of finding it."

"I hate this part."

"The waiting?"

"Yes. We know something is going to happen. It's a credible, priority threat, but nobody is willing to cancel the conference. We've got high profile targets, as high as it gets. It's a perfect set up for everything to go wrong, and all I can do is sit here and hope something turns up to give us the information we need to head this thing off at the pass."

"I did my best to persuade Corrigan to stay away, but he wasn't going to hear it. His Chief of Staff gave me the impression she thought I was being disloyal."

"She's bad news," Elizabeth said. "She's a narcissist, caught up in her own little world of reflected power. With people like her in the White House, we don't need enemies."

"Why don't you tell me what you really think about her, Elizabeth?"

"I was being nice."

"I'm hoping we can still take that vacation," Hood said. "Perhaps after the conference…"

Someone said something in the background at Langley.

"Elizabeth, I'll call you back. There's a development."

Hood disconnected.

A development. I hope it's a good one.

Five minutes later Hood rang back.

"We might have something. The Bureau has been going through tapes from the hotel where the conference is being held. A white van with three men in it pulled into the service alley two days ago. The men were contractors of some kind. They went into the hotel with toolboxes and a ladder and came out about forty-five minutes later."

"That doesn't sound unusual," Elizabeth said.

"No, except that the van's a rental. Contractors who could work in that hotel have vehicles with a commercial license plate. They wouldn't be renting something."

"What kind of contractors?"

"The tape isn't very good. There's a sign on the side of the truck, but we can't read it. The angle is wrong."

"What's the Bureau doing to follow up?"

"Checking with the rental agency as we speak. They are also questioning people at the hotel."

"You think the van was being used by the terrorists?"

"It's a possibility. The only possibility we have, so far. It may turn out to be nothing."

"If it isn't nothing, it means they've already been into the hotel and done something. I suppose it could've been reconnaissance. But what if they planted a bomb?"

"The Bureau is going through that hotel with a fine tooth comb," Hood said. "Dogs, explosive detectors, the works. So far, nothing's turned up."

"Maybe they were just contractors."

"Let's hope so," Hood said.