Chapter 20 second quarter

Decker was right to suspect that two men were waiting for him in the hall.It was just after 8 o'clock in the morning.He turned from the hotel checkout, saw them, and knew there was no point in avoiding them.They smiled at him as he walked toward them through the crowded hallway.At least, Decker thought, those two men were the right ones for the task.Apparently, their man in charge hoped that Decker would let his guard down, because he knew them, had worked with them in Special Forces. "Steve, long time no see, how are you?" one of them asked.He and his companions are about the same height and weight as Decker -- 6 feet tall and 190 pounds.They're also about the same age as Decker -- 40.Because they had the same physical training, they were basically the same size—narrow hips, strong, broad shoulders, which gave them extra strength in their upper body, which was necessary for special operations.But there's only so much they resemble Decker.Decker's hair was sandy brown and slightly curly, while the man he was speaking to had short red hair and the other had brown hair combed straight back.The two men had stern features and watchful eyes, which didn't quite match the smiles on their faces and the casual clothes they wore.

"I'm fine, Ben," Decker said to the redhead. "How about you?" "Nothing to complain about." "How are you, Hal?" Decker asked the other. "Nothing to complain about either." No one took the initiative to shake hands with each other. "I hope you two haven't been on guard here all night." "It didn't start until seven, so it's an easy job," Hal said. "Check out?" He pointed to Decker's suitcase. "Yeah, I changed my plans at the last minute." "Where are you going?"

"LaGuardia." "Why don't we give you a drive?" Decker tensed up. "I don't want to trouble you. I'll take a taxi." "There'll be no trouble," said Hal. "We'd be friends if we didn't help you after all these years of seeing you. It won't take a minute." He reached out from under his suit. He took out a thin mobile phone and pressed a few numbers. "You'll never guess who we just ran into," he said into the phone. "We're talking to him in the foyer right now. Okay, we'll wait for you."

He ended the call and put the phone away. "Need you carry your suitcase?" "I can take it myself." "Then why don't we go outside and wait for the car?" The traffic outside is already very congested, with car horns blaring one after another. "Look," Ben said, "you might not be able to hail a cab." He saw a uniformed doorman coming towards them. "Everything is fine," he told the doorman, motioning him to move away.He glanced at the overcast sky. "It looks like it's going to rain." "It's forecasted," Hal said.

"The pain in my left arm was all the forecast I needed. Here comes the car," Ben said. A gray Pontiac pulled up in front of the hotel.The driver's face was unfamiliar to Decker, and the back-seat windows were tinted, making it difficult to see inside. "What did I tell you?" Ben said. "It'll only take a minute." He opened the rear door and held out his hand for Decker to enter. Decker's heart was pounding.He looked from Ben to Hal and stood still. "Problem?" Hal asked. "Don't you think you'd better get in the car quickly? You have a flight to catch."

"I was wondering what to do with my suitcase?" "We'll put it in the trunk. Press the button to open the trunk, please?" Ben said to the driver.Immediately, the spring lock on the rear of the car clicked.Ben took Decker's suitcase, lifted the back of the car, put the suitcase in the trunk, and closed the back. "Look, that solves the problem, doesn't it?" Decker hesitated for another moment, his pulse racing.He nodded and got into the back seat of the Pontiac.He felt cold in his stomach. Ben sat next to him, and Hal took the front passenger seat.He turned to look at Decker.

"Buckle your seat belt," said the thick-necked driver. "Yeah, safety first," Ben said. The metal buckles jingled as Decker buckled his seatbelt.Others also buckled up. The driver pushed a button, and with another click, all the doors locked.The Pontiac's engine rumbled, and he pulled into traffic.