The Sum of All Fears.pdf - Delta Force

'I let it in,' Dawkins said just before he collapsed.
'Three-foot box . . .' Parsons said quietly.
'Come on.' Clinton ran out of the emergency room. The nearest phone was at the
admitting desk. All four were being used. Clinton took one right out of the hand
of an admitting clerk, hung up and cleared the line.
'What are you doing!'
'Shut up!' the agent commanded. 'I need Hoskins . . . Walt, this is Clinton at
the hospital. I need you to run a tag number. Colorado E-R-P-five-two-zero.
Suspicious van at the stadium. Two men were driving it, white, thirties,
ordinary-looking. The witness is a cop, but now he's passed out.'
'Okay. Who's with you?'
'Parsons, the NEST guy.'
'Get down here – no, stay put, but keep this line open.' Hoskins put that line
on hold, then dialed another from memory. It was for the Colorado Department of
Motor Vehicles. 'This is the FBI, I need a quick tag check. Your computer up?'
'Yes, sir,' a female voice assured him.
'Edward Robert Paul Five Two Zero.' Hoskins looked down at his desk. Why did
that sound familiar?
'Very well.' Hoskins heard the tapping. 'Here we go, that's a brand-new van
registered to Mr Robert Friend of Roggen. You need the license number for Mr
Friend?'
'Christ,' Hoskins said.
'Excuse me, sir?' He read off the number. 'That's correct.'
'Can you check two other license numbers?'
'Surely.' He read them off. 'First one's an incorrect number . . . so's the
second – wait a minute, these numbers are just like – '
'I know. Thank you.' Hoskins set the phone down. 'Okay, Walt, think fast . . .'
First he needed more information from Clinton.
***
'Murray.'
'Dan, this is Walt Hoskins. Something just came in you need to know.'
'Shoot.'
'Our friend Marvin Russell parked a van at the stadium. The NEST guy says that
the place where he parked it is pretty close to where the bomb went off. There
was at least one – no, wait a minute – okay. There was one other guy in there
with him, and the other one must have been driving the rental car. Okay. Inside
the van was a large box. The van was painted up like an ABC vehicle, but Russell
was found dead a couple miles away. So, he must have dropped off the van and
left. Dan, this looks like how the bomb might have gotten there.'
'What else do you have, Walt?'
'I have passport photos and other ID for two other people.'
'Fax 'em.'
'On the way.' Hoskins left for the communications room. On the way he grabbed
another agent. 'Get the Denver homicide guys who're working the Russell case –
wherever they are, get 'em on the phone real fast.'
***
'Thinking terrorism again?' Pat O'Day asked. 'I thought the bomb was too big for