BooksBarbecue
Back Point of Contact Save as PDF
Chapters (83)
  1. Cover
  2. ALSO BY TOM CLANCY
  3. PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. 51
  55. 52
  56. 53
  57. 54
  58. 55
  59. 56
  60. 57
  61. 58
  62. 59
  63. 60
  64. 61
  65. 62
  66. 63
  67. 64
  68. 65
  69. 66
  70. 67
  71. 68
  72. 69
  73. 70
  74. 71
  75. 72
  76. 73
  77. 74
  78. 75
  79. 76
  80. 77
  81. 78
  82. 79
  83. What’s next onyour reading list?

Jack pulled a Benjamin Franklin out of his wallet and held it up. “That’s one hundred dollars, American. It’s yours if you take that drink away right now.”

The waiter snatched the bill and pocketed it before grabbing the drink and scurrying away.

“We should go,” Lian said. “Those men are trouble.”

“Friends of yours?”

She flashed a knowing smile. “No, not at all. But they’re men, aren’t they?”

“I’m enjoying myself. Let’s stay put.”

“Are you sure?”

Jack looked her straight in the eye. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

She studied his face, then stole a glance at his powerful hands and shoulders. “Yes, you are, aren’t you?”

“Let’s just say I’m a good judge of character.”

“We’ll have to see about that, won’t we?”

They ate and drank in silence for a few minutes, Lian casting wary glances at the table full of trouble between bites, her street-cop instincts on full alert.

Jack refused to look at them, but in his peripheral vision he saw them finally get up and leave. Once they cleared the bar, he waved the waiter back over.

“Sir?”

“A mai tai for the lady.”

The waiter frowned in confusion. “Sir?” He glanced at Lian for guidance. “Ma’am?”

She smiled.

“A mai tai sounds good,” she said, “but that thing was as big as my head. You better bring two straws.”

The waiter laughed. “Okay, lah!”

21

While Jack was enjoying the mai tai and the spectacular view, Paul was drinking hot tea and sweating bullets.

He sat at the kitchen table, staring at Rhodes’s USB drive, as well as the dummy drive containing his Smithsonian photographs.

His test of the security system went about as expected. Well, he’d hoped Dalfan’s security was lax, but he expected it to be like other high-security environments in which he’d worked, and his expectations proved correct. That wasn’t good for him.

Pretending to hide a USB drive in the bottom of his computer bag was Paul’s way to test how thorough their search procedures were. He was a little surprised Dalfan went to the trouble of opening up his personal USB drive to check the contents instead of just handing it over to him. If there had been a virus on that drive, it would have infected the security station computer, but that also meant that the security computer wasn’t connected to the mainframe, so all Dalfan would lose in an infection scenario was one computer.

Smart.

The fact Dalfan security also checked for explosive residue meant they were very serious about both kinetic and digital threats. Paul now assumed that at least some of Lian’s security team must have been concealing weapons as well.