Page 54 of Tom Clancy Line of Sight
The three Americans picked up the rental van that Lisanne had arranged, and headed for Nova Gorica, just thirty minutes across the border. The Trieste airport was the closet one in the region to the small Slovenian city. Paradoxically, the quickest route was also the longest, according to the GPS, but even that“highway” was only a two-lane through mostly flat farm country, heading toward the mountains. They passed through a customs station without issue and arrived at the police directorate complex in Nova Gorica in less than an hour.
Gerry Hendley put Dom in the lead for this particular mission, though he had fewer years in the field as an operative than Midas, a retired U.S. Army Ranger colonel. Not that the rock-jawed snake eater couldn’t break down an Iraqi insurgent or a Taliban fighter in a field interrogation under combat conditions, but as an FBI agent seconded to The Campus, Dom had the superior experience and qualifications to conduct a softer, civilian investigation. Normally, Gerry would have sent Ding Chavez or John Clark to head up an operation like this, but the two of them were in Pretoria, South Africa, on a consult with the “Recces”—the South African Special Forces Brigade. Dom was glad for the chance to show his leadership skills.
The goal today was to first meet Detective Oblak and discuss Jack’s case and, after gaining his confidence, persuade him to arrange a meeting with Elena Iliescu to try to get her to open up about the attack and her possible connection to the Iron Syndicate.
Dom suggested Midas wait in the van while he and Adara made the first attempt. Two people, one a woman, would appear less threatening than three in a room.
A frosted-haired woman in a gray jumpsuit and wearing a photo badge sat behind the small security desk in the lobby, focused intently on her computer screen. Dom approached her with a big, friendly smile.
Dober dan—Good morning—were the only two words of Slovenian that Dom spoke, and he’d picked that up fromGoogle Translate only ten minutes ago. He’d found over the years that just saying hello in the local language broke the ice, especially with overworked bureaucrats.
The middle-aged woman glanced up from her screen with a sour look on her face, like somebody had double-dipped a chip in her guacamole.
“Dober dan.”
Clearly his mastery of Slovenian wasn’t up to snuff, Dom thought. So much for breaking the ice. He soldiered on.
“We have an appointment to see Detective Oblak.”
“Your identity papers, please.”
Dom and Adara handed over their passports. Dom included his FBI credentials in a separate wallet.
The woman scanned the documents, unimpressed. She handed them back.
“Let me check his log.” Her red-lacquered nails clacked on the keyboard. A screen pulled up. She shook her head.
“Detective Oblak isn’t here.”
Dom stepped closer to the desk. “I’m sorry? There must be some confusion. He’s expecting us.” He wanted to add, “And we’ve traveled over four thousand miles to get here,” but he bit his tongue. Quantico had taught him that little trick. “Keeps an agent from sticking his foot in his yapper,” his training officer had explained.
“He’s not available. He’s out in the field.”
“Perhaps you can call him for us? It’s quite urgent.”
The woman frowned anAre you kidding me?glance over the top of her reading glasses.
Adara smiled. “We wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t extremely important.”
The woman sighed, picked up a cordless phone, and dialed. A man’s voice answered on the other end. They chatted in Slovenian. Dom and Adara didn’t understand a word.
The woman’s eyebrows raised. She handed Dom the phone.
“Detective Oblak will speak to you.”
“Thanks.” Dom took the receiver. “This is Dominic Caruso.”
“Mr. Caruso, I’m sorry I missed our appointment in regards to Elena Iliescu. I’m at the hospital right now. Why don’t you come over here and we can discuss the matter further.”
“In the hospital? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Thank you for asking. It’s Elena Iliescu you should be asking about.”
“How is she?”
“She’s quite dead.”
“Dead? How?”
