Act of War by Brad Thor Page B

meth and the other with what looked like synthetic marijuana. There was a box of condoms and a red rose. The only text that accompanied the picture was the room number, 501.
    Hanjour slid the phone from his pocket and read the message. Taking out his wallet, he left some money for the waitress and walked over to the hostess. He said a few words to her and she smiled as he tipped her. Then he exited the restaurant.
    The female CIA operative rang Levy. “He just left.”
    Levy pinged Cowles down in the lobby and told him to watch theelevators. Raising his coffee cup to his mouth, Cowles turned his attention to the elevators and gave a play-by-play of what he saw, ending with, “The elevator is stopping on five. He’s getting off. Headed in your direction.”
    Levy looked at Harvath and said, “Here he comes.”
    The door had been propped open using the swing guard lock. When Hanjour entered, he would walk down a short hallway with the darkened bathroom to his right. The bedside table lamps were on, but had been covered with pieces of red fabric to dim their brightness and add to the mood. A small amount of incense had been burned so that it would appear that perhaps Fahad was trying to cover up that he had already started partying and was ready to go right to play mode. The bedspread had been kicked off and dropped on the floor at the foot of the bed. The radio was playing softly.
    Dim lights, a little bit of incense, the bedspread on the floor, and music. It was all designed to throw Hanjour off balance; to reinforce in his mind what he wanted to see.
    All they needed now was for him to walk through the door, which was exactly what he did next.

CHAPTER 15
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    K huram Hanjour gently pushed the door open and slipped inside room 501. He saw the bedspread up ahead on the floor. Turning, he locked the door behind him.
    He spoke in hushed Arabic as he kicked off his shoes and began unbuttoning his shirt. He had dropped it to the floor and was just unbuttoning his pants when he stepped into the bedroom and saw Anne Levy standing there. In her hands was a suppressed, Elite Dark SIG Sauer P226, the same weapon carried by a lot of Texas Rangers and Navy SEALs. It was pointed right at him.
    Hanjour spun, as if to flee, only to see that Harvath had stepped from the darkened bathroom and also had a weapon pointed at him. This one, though, looked different, like something out of a sci-fi movie. Its barrel was rectangular with a bright, white light and two integrated lasers.
    Before Hanjour was able to process that he was looking at a new cutting-edge Taser, Harvath depressed his trigger. The weapon delivered an incapacitating electrical charge that caused Hanjour’s muscles to seize. His body went completely rigid and he cried out as he fell forward. As soon as he hit the floor, Harvath was on top of him.
    “We’re out of here in ninety seconds,” he said, securing Hanjour’s wrists and ankles with FlexiCuffs.
    Levy placed a strip of electrical tape over the recruiter’s mouth, then stood up and alerted the team to go to the next stage.
    As Harvath finished trussing up Hanjour, Levy reclaimed a large,hard-sided Storm Case from the closet. Air holes had been drilled in strategic places and covered with a fine mesh, painted the same color as the case. It had sturdy wheels rated for over three hundred pounds of gear, far exceeding what Hanjour weighed. Kicking it over onto its side, Levy flipped open the latches and threw open the lid.
    The effects of a Taser were short-lived. Once the subject was down, you had to move fast, which was exactly what Harvath had done. As soon as Levy opened the case, Hanjour knew what was in store for him and began to thrash around wildly like a fish on a hot summer pier.
    It was estimated that anywhere from five to seven percent of the world’s population suffered from severe claustrophobia. In their files, the French and the Brits had remarked not only on Hanjour’s sexual proclivities, but