That guy is crazy! He took us 124 miles in less than 45 minutes." Cassel looked at the nearby Eiffel Tower, then clenched his fist and waved at the departing taxi.
"In France, we use the metric system; it's 200 kilometers," Jack corrected him, flipping his fingers and slipping Daniel's business card into his wallet. He hadn't seen many French films, but he didn't expect to see a familiar face the moment he arrived.
Neither Cassel nor Brian spoke French, so Jack used fake FBI ID to book a large, three-bedroom suite at the Four Seasons Hotel George V in central Paris.
The moment he landed in France, he activated his anonymous phone, including its location tracking function, but he never received a call.
While waiting for the call, Jack contacted his family back home. Jubal had found some leads and figured out how the three girls were sent to France.
According to FAA records, six hours after the three girls were kidnapped, that afternoon, a Dassault Falcon 7X private jet flew from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to Brussels, Belgium.
Because the private jet didn't fly directly to France, the FBI struggled to track it down.
A corrupted Belgian immigration officer admitted to seeing the three girls, apparently unconscious, being helped off the plane and placed in an ambulance, claiming they had food poisoning. Their subsequent whereabouts are unknown.
The private jet belonged to a wealthy Brazilian businessman, and according to Jubal, he likely had no involvement in the incident, as the plane was supposedly under maintenance.
"That doesn't make sense," Cassel said, his eyes widening. "They stole a private jet just to exchange hostages and ransom in Paris?"
It didn't make sense. A Dassault Falcon 7X worth $45 million was stolen and flown across the Atlantic to Paris, France, just to extort €15 million.
The current exchange rate between the euro and the dollar is nearly 1:1. Even at its peak over a decade ago, it was only about 1:1.6. This is like using an aircraft carrier to take on a local militia so poor they can only wear slippers.
Well, that comparison makes sense.
The CSIs have also made some progress. By analyzing the kidnapper's background noise, including church bells and ventilation duct noise, they have roughly determined his location at the time. It almost matches the IP address Justin tracked.
Jack was surprised by the richness of their database, even including voiceprint data from within Paris. Stella Bonasiera explained that they collaborate with several well-known crime labs in Europe.
The NYPD, including Beckett, are also working hard to further explore Roger Hansen's background. The Narcotics Unit shared information about him: he has a girlfriend.
By the time Jack finished summarizing his progress, another hour had passed. It was already 10 p.m. in Paris, and the phone still hadn't rang.
"We can't wait any longer," Cassel said, his impatience growing.
"Of course we can't wait any longer," Jack agreed, then turned to Brian. "Let's go to that hotel?" Brian nodded. Then they both looked at Cassel with a hint of ill intent, startling him. He quickly raised three fingers in a promise.
"Don't knock me out again. I promise to stay in this room!"
Jack sighed, "You can come along, but if danger strikes, make sure you don't run around."
After all, this was within the city limits of Paris, and the enemy wouldn't likely unleash heavy weaponry like RPGs. He was confident he could protect Cassel. He had to use his hero's aura when necessary; bringing this guy along might yield some unexpected gains.
—
"There's no light, and no one's visible from the window," Brian, disguised as a night runner, said as he returned to the two men.
"They might have moved Alexis and Kim somewhere else after receiving the ransom. There are fresh tire tracks in the basement parking lot, but no cars."
Jack nodded and led the two men into the five-story hotel building, which was closed for renovations.
The first and second floors housed a restaurant, which was still open. Above the third floor, there were no lights, and even the elevator was shut down.
Avoiding the inattentive security guards, they ascended to the third floor via the emergency staircase. Jack listened at the security door, pulled his ski mask from his pocket, and put it on. He then pulled out his Viper and fitted it with a silencer.
The "Viper" SR-1MP is a pedigreed Russian military pistol chambered in a special 9x21mm cartridge, widely used by Russian intelligence, special forces, and the Presidential Guard.
Internally, the pistol is known as the "Victor," but export models feature a Viper designation on the slide, earning it the nickname "Viper" in Europe and the United States.
Jack's use of this pistol was somewhat of a distraction; after all, the presence of Russian intelligence officers in Paris made perfect sense.
Unsure of the enemy's equipment, Jack loaded his magazines with a mix of 7N28 (SP-11) lead-core standard ammunition and SP-12 expanding ammunition. In addition to spare magazines, he also brought two extra magazines loaded with 7N29 (SP-10) armor-piercing ammunition.
While the standard ammunition is a plus, the SP-12 expanding ammunition features a semi-jacketed hollow point design with a white plastic tip and a lead core. Its impact on impact is significantly more pronounced than with standard hollow point ammunition.
Hollow-point ammunition, once touted by some military naiveté as a "dumdum bullet" with a blooming shape, was actually the most common type of ammunition on the US civilian munitions market and offered excellent stopping power against unarmored targets.
Considering the possibility of engaging targets wearing body armor, Jack had two extra magazines of 7N29 (SP-10) armor-piercing ammunition for these targets.
This semi-jacketed, open-point armor-piercing round is a highly sophisticated design. The jacket is open at the front, with a steel core in the middle, separated by a polyethylene liner.
Upon impact with a lightly armored target, this bullet peels away the outer jacket, allowing the steel core to continue forward, resulting in exceptional penetration.
According to Mao's own tests, this armor-piercing bullet can penetrate 5mm thick steel at a distance of 50 meters, representing exceptional performance for a pistol round.
However, in confined spaces, using ammunition with excessively high armor-piercing properties can easily cause ricochets after penetrating unarmored targets, so Jack kept this specialized armor-piercing pistol round as a backup.
It took the three of them nearly an hour to search the three floors from bottom to top. As expected, the place was deserted.
(End of chapter)