“You find it yet?” McGinn asked as he made his way toward the bodies.
“There were six men in the image Alex showed us, right?” Hawk asked.
“Roger that,” Alex said. “I’m looking at it again right now. And I only see four bodies on the feed I’m looking at. Are two outside the camera’s field?”
“You can see everything we can,” McGinn answered back.
“Well, there are two more men running around here somewhere. Let me see if I can pinpoint their location for you,” Alex said.
“Ah-ha! Found it,” Hawk said, using his foot to roll over one of the men, who’d fallen on top of the chemical weapons case.
McGinn knelt down and opened the case. He quickly shut it and picked it up. “This is it.”
Hawk stared down at the bodies strewn around the room and pumped his fist. “Now we just need to track down those other two agents to make this a clean sweep.”
Then he felt the cold barrel of a gun against the back of his neck.
“Don’t move another muscle or you’re dead,” McGinn said.
Hawk laid his weapon on the ground and raised his hands in surrender. “Unbelievable,” Hawk said. “I thought I could trust you.”
“You still can,” McGinn said. “You’re still alive, aren’t you?”
Hawk narrowed his eyes and turned to glare at McGinn. “So, what are you waiting on?”
“I made a deal,” McGinn said, keeping his gun trained on Hawk while securing the door through which the operatives had entered. “I deliver you to Al Hasib, I make off with the Sarin.”
Hawk shook his head. “And they’re just going to let you walk away with their weapon? I hardly think that’s going to happen.”
McGinn collected all the weapons off the men and then walked briskly to the other side of the room. He opened the door, keeping it ajar with his foot so he could address Hawk before exiting.
“Think whatever you wish, but I happen to know where the bigger cache of Sarin is—and that’s where the other agents are headed. But only after they tie up some loose ends with you.”
“Loose ends?” Hawk asked.
“Goodbye, Hawk. It’s been a pleasure knowing you. No hard feelings. Just a good business decision on my end.”
“You better hope they kill me,” Hawk said with a growl.
“Oh, they will. The man coming for you is the stepbrother of a man you recently killed. Good luck.”
McGinn slammed the door shut. Hawk could hear what sounded like a metal chain being wrapped around the double doors. He rushed over to them, shaking the handles. They barely budged.
Hawk wanted to hit something, preferably John McGinn, but needed to gather his wits if he was going to survive. Then, he heard a voice over his comlink that made him cringe.
“Mr. Hawk, I believe I’ve got something that belongs to you. Or should I say someone?” said a man.
“Who is this?”
“Oh, Mr. Hawk, you don’t know me, but you ran into my stepbrother once—and you killed him. Does the name Nasim Ghazi sound familiar?”
Hawk knew the name all too well, but he didn’t want to give the caller any more reason to hate him. “You’re going to have to help me out. I’m drawing a blank.”
“You disgust me,” Qureshi said. “You insult the memory of my brother, a man you needlessly killed.”
“I’m going to kill youl” Hawk said.
Qureshi broke into a hearty laugh. “You’re going to kill me? That just might be one of the funniest things I’ve heard in months. But I’m a fair man, so I’m willing to give you a fighting chance. You have ten minutes to find me. After ten minutes, I’m going to kill your little friend Alex. Or maybe I have other plans for her before I kill her. You’ll never know if you don’t arrive in time. I’ll be waiting—and watching.”
In the background, Hawk heard Alex yell.
“Don’t do it, Hawk. Just leave me. Get out of there and grab the weapon.”
Then a high-pitched shriek followed by another scream.
“Ten minutes,” Qureshi said before the com went silent.
CHAPTER 30
McGINN TUGGED ON THE CHAIN he wrapped around the handles to make sure the doors were secure. Satisfied with his work, he shoved an extra gun he’d lifted off the Al Hasib agents into the back of his pants, picked up the weapon and his gun, and headed toward the dock.
Once he exited the building, he raced down a set of stairs toward the port where he’d arranged to meet his contact. But he was nowhere to be found.
What the hell? Where is he?
While mildly annoyed, McGinn wasn’t concerned. He’d just locked Brady Hawk up in a kill box, though McGinn all but assured he’d never see the Firestorm assassin again after giving away Alex’s position. It was a plan he’d managed to execute flawlessly. All Qureshi had to do was finish off Hawk and Alex, which wouldn’t be difficult given their situations.
McGinn dialed a number on his cell phone, but the call went straight to voicemail.
Crouching behind a shipping container, McGinn could only wait and think. He actually thought Hawk was a good man, but McGinn was just following orders, like a good soldier does, even if he didn’t understand why or agree with the reason given. McGinn thought the order seemed harsh, particularly since Hawk had eliminated some of the CIA’s top threats globally in recent months. But McGinn operated in a black-and-white world: orders were orders. Who was he to challenge such a directive?
McGinn peered around the edge of the container toward the water. He saw what looked like a faint glimmer in the distance. The ship was heading straight toward the dock.
It was only a matter of minutes before he could vanish and never to set foot in Somalia again.
And it couldn’t happen quickly enough for McGinn’s liking.
CHAPTER 31
HAWK RUSHED TOWARD THE OTHER DOOR, rattling it with both hands. But it didn’t budge. He then grabbed the rope he’d repelled into the room on and tried to search for a place to secure it and climb up and out. In the operation planning, he suggested to McGinn that they should have an alternative way out in case things went sideways, but McGinn nixed the idea, claiming that it would also create a way for more assailants to access the room and potentially entrap them.
That dirty backstabbing bastard. This was a set up from the beginning.
Hawk blamed himself for not seeing it, then blamed Blunt for being too trusting with one of his old friends from Congress. But then Hawk stopped. He needed to expend his mental energy on figuring out a way to escape the room.
Once more, Hawk surveyed his surroundings. The room appeared to be a storage area without much in the way of storage. It was mostly open with the exception of a few shelving units with a scant number of supplies. The double doors at each end of the room were secured, and the only other portals were the skylights above. No windows to jump through.
For a moment, Hawk even contemplated putting a hole in the wall until he realized thick aluminum comprised all four sides. He looked over the supplies but couldn’t find anything of use. A few beakers, a microscope, some dyes, stacks of washcloths, petri dishes.
If I wanted to make some hippy tie-dye headbands, I’d be in heaven right now.
But he wasn’t. He was in a hell of McGinn’s making. McGinn hadn’t just met with Garaar—they plotted together.
Hawk noticed a blinking red light in the corner on the side of the security camera. There was another camera on the other side of the room as well. Without a clear way out, Hawk decided he wasn’t going to give Qureshi the pleasure of seeing him struggle. Hawk hung washcloths over the camera lenses and plotted his next move.
Hawk’s com link crackled to life with Qureshi on the other end.
“You might think you are clever by covering the cameras, but your little friend is going to die in five minutes if you don’t meet me in the lab,” Qureshi said. “I know you know where it’s at since I found the schematics of the building with your friend here. Five min
utes. Not a second more.”
Hawk seethed. “I swear I’ll kill you when I find you.”
“All your empty threats won’t save your friend’s life. Better hurry.”
The line went silent. Hawk shook his head as he looked around the room. He’d spent five minutes trying to figure a way out, and he was convinced this was exactly the plan that McGinn had conceived and hatched with Qureshi.
Of all the times to be in this situation … and Alex is gonna die.
Hawk interlocked his fingers and put his hands on his head.
He was definitely in a kill box, but it wasn’t him who was going to die, at least not first.
CHAPTER 32
ARAV KATARI NAVIGATED THE AJAGAR into the port and eased it against the docking station. His crew worked quickly to secure the vessel, while he watched from the ground. Directions were shouted back and forth. Ropes were tied off. Crewmembers scurried across the deck.
“I hope they can reverse what they’ve done just as quickly,” said a man.
Katari turned around to see John McGinn standing a few feet away.
“They make lightning seem slow,” Katari said, offering his hand to McGinn.
McGinn smiled as he shook Katari’s hand. “Let’s get out of here so we can avoid any potential trouble.”
“Trouble?”
“I don’t want to press my luck,” McGinn said. “I just left an assassin locked up, but I’m not inclined to hang around to see if he somehow managed to survive.”
“An assassin?”
McGinn waved dismissively at Katari. “Let’s just get going.”
Katari nodded. “Do you have the promised amount?”
“Two hundred and fifty thousand U.S. dollars?” McGinn asked.
“I was told it would be a half million.”
McGinn sighed. “That’s more than I was told to deliver.”
“I’m not going anywhere until I have the money in my account.”
“You get nothing if you don’t get this ship out of the harbor and quickly.”
Katari eyed McGinn closely. “Two hundred fifty now and two hundred fifty when we arrive. I won’t let you off until I receive the amount promised to me in full.”
“Fine,” McGinn said. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“No, you’ll do it or you won’t leave this ship,” Katari said, snatching the case from McGinn’s hands. “And I’ll take this as insurance.”
“Be careful with that,” McGinn said. “I’ll make sure you get what you were promised. Just get us the hell out of here, okay?”
“I’m supposed to pick up another man.”
“Whoever he is, I know he’s not promising you the kind of cash you’ll be getting from me. Let’s go. Now.”
Katari nodded and whistled at his crew, gesturing at them. They knew what it meant. They needed to prepare to leave the harbor.
CHAPTER 33
HAWK GLANCED AT HIS WATCH and let out a long breath. Only four minutes remained before Qureshi would make good on his promise and kill Alex. The situation wasn’t a promising one as Hawk had run out of options.
As he looked around the room yet again in search of something that could help him escape, he heard a smack on the concrete floor. He turned around to see a rope dangling from the skylight and reaching all the way to the ground.
“Well, don’t just stand there and gawk. Get a move on,” said the person hunched over the skylight.
It was Emily.
Hawk shimmied up the rope in less than a minute.
“I thought I told you not to contact me again,” he said as he reached the roof.
“A thank you might be more in order,” Emily shot back.
Hawk ignored her. “We’ve got to get to the lab. Some Al Hasib agent is going to kill Alex if I don’t get to her in the next couple minutes.”
“And what? So he can kill you instead? I don’t think you’ve thought this through.”
“Look, if I don’t make it out for some reason, I want you to take care of Alex and make sure she gets home safe.”
“I’m coming with you,” she said.
“No, you can’t. They’ll shoot her on site. I can’t have that. I need to do this my way.”
Emily bit her bottom lip before speaking. “Fine. Do it your way. I’ll be watching though in case things go sideways.”
“Wish me luck,” Hawk said before he slid down the roof, jumped to a pole, and shimmied down to the ground.
He sprinted toward the lab and then stopped in front. Taking a deep breath, he turned the knob and entered the room, both hands raised in the air.
“What are you doing, Hawk?” Alex asked.
Hawk locked eyes with her and remained solemn, walking slowly toward who he assumed was Qureshi.
“You have me now,” Hawk said. “You can let her go.”
Qureshi laughed. “You thought I was actually going to let her go? Oh, you Americans are so naïve.” He shoved Alex toward the lone guard flanking him. “Take care of her.”
“Be a man of your word,” Hawk said, still moving slowly toward Qureshi. “We both know you don’t care about her. It’s me you want.”
“You might be right, but that’s not going to change my mind. However, I’ll let Ahmad have a little fun with her before he finishes her off. But you are all mine.”
Hawk had walked close enough that he was in striking distance. Unexpectedly to Qureshi, Hawk ducked down and kicked at Qureshi’s knee cap, crippling him. Qureshi yelped in agony and instinctively reached down to grab his knee. Hawk proceeded to seize the opportunity, delivering a vicious blow to Qureshi’s neck.
As Qureshi tumbled toward the ground, Hawk grabbed Qureshi’s hand that held his gun and pointed it at his guard, squeezing off two shots, one of which hit his guard in the head. Qureshi struggled to pull away from Hawk as the two men fell to the ground, tussling over the weapon still in Qureshi’s hand.
Hawk delivered a combination of powerful uppercuts to Qureshi’s body and then to his face. But Qureshi fought back, stomping on Hawk’s knee to send him to the ground. However, Hawk didn’t relinquish his grip on the gun.
Qureshi jerked his hand to the left and then rapidly to the right, utilizing Hawk’s leverage to point the gun at Alex. Qureshi then squeezed off a shot, hitting Alex. She stumbled backward and fell to the ground.
Enraged, Hawk kicked Qureshi in the stomach and proceeded to rip the gun away from him.
Hawk fired two bullets into Qureshi’s companion, the fellow Al Hasib agent.
Qureshi staggered for a few seconds before falling to the ground.
“When I killed your brother, it wasn’t personal,” Hawk said. “But I promised you that you would die. I always keep my word.”
Hawk didn’t hesitate, shooting Qureshi twice, once in the head, another time in the chest. After Hawk was sure Qureshi was dead, Hawk rushed over to Alex.
“Are you okay?” he asked as he knelt down next to her.
“I think I’ll live. It’s just a flesh wound.”
Hawk smiled and ripped a section of Qureshi’s shirt off, using it as a bandage to tie around Alex’s arm.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked again.
“Stop fussing over me,” she said. “We need to get that weapon back from McGinn.”
“Yeah, you’re fine,” Hawk said.
“I know. Let’s get moving. We don’t have any time to waste.”
CHAPTER 34
ARAV KATARI STRAINED TO SEE into the dimly lit dock for a person running toward his ship. He’d promised to wait for an Al Hasib agent even though Katari had never seen the man. Katari agreed to split the twenty-thousand dollars the man had promised with three other crewmembers. When an opportunity like that came along, Katari refused to pass it up. He knew how hard his crew worked, and he knew who could keep a secret.
He was still scanning the docks when he felt sharp cold steel pressed against his neck. Katari glanced down at the knife and froze.
“It�
�s time to go,” McGinn said. “I’m not paying you to be a taxi service. Whoever you’re waiting on isn’t coming.”
Katari turned around slowly. “And neither is whoever you’re afraid of. There hasn’t been any movement along the docks in at least ten minutes.”
“All the more reason to leave now and stop wasting my time.”
Katari raised both his hands in a gesture of surrender and strode toward the ship’s bridge.
“Faster,” McGinn growled. “I’ve got people to meet.”
Picking up his pace, Katari skipped steps as he climbed the stairs leading to the bridge. He picked up his radio and gave the order for the ship to be released from the dock. Katari watched as the crewmembers hustled back and forth to get the ship in position to push back out to sea.
McGinn, who’d followed, had put his knife away in favor of a gun.
“Who are you so scared of?” Katari asked, nodding toward McGinn’s weapon. “No one is going to attack you aboard my ship.”
“It’s not anyone on your ship I’m worried about.”
“Well, you can put that thing away now. We just cleared the dock, and we’re almost fully in the channel. I can guarantee you that we don’t have any stowaways.”
McGinn remained stoic, vigilant in his self-appointed lookout position.
“You can relax, Mr. McGinn,” Katari said. “Go enjoy yourself in the galley. Drink a beer.”
After a few more moments of silence, McGinn exhaled and a wry grin spread across his face. “You’re probably right. That bastard couldn’t follow us out this far.”
CHAPTER 35
HAWK AND ALEX DIDN’T SO MUCH move as they heard footsteps approaching. Lying flat on their backs in one of the ship’s lifeboats, they both held their breath and waited for the men patrolling the deck to pass. Once their voices faded, Hawk let out a long breath as did Alex.
“So we made it on board,” Alex said. “Now what?”
“You need to stay put while I go deal with McGinn.”
“Oh, come on, Hawk. You’re just gonna leave me here to twist in the wind. At least give me a weapon to defend myself.”
Brady Hawk Series, Books 4-6 Page 24