24 Declassified: 03 - Trojan Horse Read Online Free PDF Page B

they exited the vehicle, the pair was mobbed by nearly a dozen children—beggars. Tony moved through the horde as if he were wading through the surf. Fay grinned at the children, and Tony shot her a warning look.
    “Ignore them,” he barked. “And the flower girls over there, too. They’re probably pickpockets.”
    “What is this, Oliver Twist ?”
    “You’re not in Kansas anymore.”
    “I’m from Ohio , Tony. I told you I’m from Ohio.”
    “Forget it.”
    Tony led the way as they pushed through a flyspecked screen door. Fay heard a persistent and angry buzzing, looked up. Her nose wrinkled in disgust when she saw a long strip of orange flypaper covered with writhing black bodies. The pest strip was dangling above her head. Fay hurried through the door.
    It was ten degrees cooler inside La Hacienda’s small lobby. The floor consisted of multicolored tiles, some of them chipped and stained. The peeling walls were pale blue, a large ceiling fan turned in lazy circles high above them, and near the door sat several empty chairs, newspapers scattered on the floor around them.
    Tony stepped up to a wooden partition covered with scratched green Formica. A door opened, and a young man greeted them in Spanish. Tony replied in kind. Tony booked the room, paid in U.S. dollars, and signed the registry. Then they climbed a flight of shabbily carpeted stairs to the second floor. At the top of the steps, a portrait of Mexican President Vicente Fox grinned at them beneath the flag of Mexico.
    “Room six, here we are.”
    Tony turned the key, pushed the door open.
    The room wasn’t as bad as Fay feared it would be. Two curtained windows, a dresser, a small battered desk, two rickety-looking beds, a lumpy armchair, and a telephone. A tiny bathroom next to a walk in closet. Enough room for a shower but not a bathtub.
    The room was hot and stuffy. Fay opened the heavy curtains to find the windows were barred. She reached around the iron barrier and unlocked the window, but she could only slide it open about six inches before a security bolt stopped her.
    Tony dropped his backpack on the bed near the window. The springs squeaked like irritated mice. He opened the curtain blocking the other window, found the air conditioner. It rattled so much when he flipped it on, he thought it might fall out the window. But the unit soon settled down and began pumping outcoolair.
    “Fay, start setting up. I’m going back down to the truck to bring up the rest of the equipment. When I get back, we’ll contact CTU—we’re going to need an update on Lesser’s activities over the past four hours before we can start our operation here.”
    6:54:23 A . M .PDT Beverly Hills
    Detective Castalano drove southeast on north San Fernando Road, toward Fletcher Drive, then headed south on California Route 2. Traffic was heavy already, and the going was slow. The police radio inside the Lexus crackled once. Frank turned it off.
    “It must be nice, living so close to the ocean,” Castalano said. “Do much surfing these days?”
    Jack Bauer shook his head. “Nah. Too busy with work. The family. Been teaching Kim to surf, though. Sometimes she even pretends to enjoy it.”
    Castalano chuckled. “Yeah, family time can be far more complicated than the job. How’s Teri?”
    “Itching to get back to work, full time. That’s fine with me, but she’s not having much luck finding work that suits her. How’s Rachel, and Harry?”
    “Rachel’s great, still teaching. Harry’s twelve now and a holy terror. Second year in Little League—”
    “No kidding?”
    “The team sucks, they haven’t won a game yet but he loves it. Nat Greer is the coach. You remember Nat?”
    “Sure. How’s he like retirement?”
    “Forced retirement due to injuries. He’d be the first to clarify that, which tells you all you need to know about how Nat’s enjoying his golden years.”
    Castalano merged onto U.S. 101, heading north. Traffic was thick, but moving.
    “I would