“What makes you think I want to speak with you?” Petrov asked as Hawk stepped inside and the door closed behind him.
“And hello to you, too,” Hawk said.
“Looking at you makes me sick,” she said as she turned away and stared at the floor.
“Katarina, I work with your daughter every day,” Hawk said, hoping to play on her sympathies. “I can convince her to come down here and meet you if you like. Meeting you would mean a lot to her. She has plenty of unanswered questions.”
Petrov laughed and then glared at him. “Do you think your emotional mind games will work on me? I couldn’t care less about Alex. She was just a means to an end, part of the assignment. That’s how it was and how it always will be.”
“I don’t believe you,” Hawk said. “I’ve seen how you look at her. You have questions too, don’t you?”
She turned away and looked at the wall across from Hawk.
He tried a different approach. “I can make things more comfortable for you in here, maybe get you some time above the surface, outside in the sun. Would you like that?”
“I’m not interested in making any deals with you.”
“Suit yourself. All I want is a way to contact Karif Fazil. After all, he’s the real danger now, not you. Are you going to let him get all the glory while you rot in this prison cell? Why not take him down with you? There’s no need for you to suffer under this weight alone.”
She waved him off. “Even if I told you how to connect with Fazil, he’s too smart for you. He’d know something wasn’t right. I know it sounds crazy, but he’s got a nose for these things. He can just tell when something is wrong.”
“And he’ll know why now? Because you didn’t send him the rest of the payment you promised him for taking out Verge? I’m sure he’s pretty upset at this point.”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but if you want to get me to confess to a crime, you’re going to have to be smarter about it than that. Besides, I’m still alive, aren’t I? And when I get out of here, I’m coming for you.”
“You’re going to wish you died in here if you somehow manage to escape because I can promise you I’m not going to put you back in a cell.”
She laughed. “Is that a threat or a promise?”
“If you don’t want to help me, that’s fine,” Hawk said. “While I can make things more comfortable for you if you assist me, I can also make things more difficult if you don’t. You’ve obviously made your choice.”
Hawk stood and tapped on the door, signaling he was done. He stormed down the hall and asked for the warden to reduce her meal portions and number of showers she could have each week. It was a modest response to what she did, but it was all he had time for.
* * *
HAWK WAS ALMOST BACK to the team’s apartment when his phone buzzed with a call from Alex.
“Don’t worry,” he said as he answered. “I’m on my way back.”
“I’m glad to hear that, but that’s not why I called,” Alex said.
“Good because I’m in a foul mood.”
“Petrov?”
“Yeah, but we’ll talk about it later.”
“Well, hurry back,” she said. “Polat also sent another flash drive through the mail to Blunt, and I started digging through those files.”
“Anything interesting?”
“Yeah, you’re gonna want to see this.”
CHAPTER 39
Undisclosed location
Washington, D.C. area
BLUNT LEAPT TO HIS FEET at the sound of his perimeter alarm beeping. Maintaining a low profile and staying off everyone’s radar wasn’t easy to do in Washington, but he’d managed to do so successfully for longer than he thought possible. But as he glanced as the bank of monitors from the surveillance cameras surrounding his property, he knew his run of good fortune had come to a decisive end. SWAT team members rushed along the outer wall before two of them breached the front gate. Blunt’s gaze darted back and forth among the images, and he counted at least a dozen officers.
Cramming his cigar into his mouth, Blunt snatched his bottle of scotch off the counter and hobbled toward his panic room. He learned his lessons from previous secure hiding spots, having this one built with a discreet exit point a block away. If they managed to break into his panic room, he could seal himself off by ducking into a tunnel and scramble out before they could get the steel-reinforced door open. This time, Blunt had thought of everything. But he’d been around long enough to know no plan was foolproof.
Blunt watched on a laptop from his panic room as officers shouted at one another, systematically clearing each room. Access to the secret hideout came through the back of his closet by pressing a button built into the top of the doorjamb. It wasn’t visible and would give the most thorough agents fits if they were determined to find a way in.
Two SWAT team members slipped into Blunt’s room as he watched them on the video feed. They scoured every corner to uncover any potential hiding spots Blunt might be occupying. After a couple minutes, they left shaking their heads.
“Good,” Blunt said. “You bastards get out of my house.”
Blunt poured himself a glass of scotch in celebration, though he knew his house was burned. He’d have to escape to street level and find a new place, which wouldn’t be easy under the current circumstances.
Blunt’s phone rang with a call from an unknown number. He debated answering it for a fleeting second but knew it could be Hawk or someone else on the team with vital information.
“Hello,” Blunt said.
“I’m surprised you took my call,” President Michaels said.
“I don’t know what you think you’re doing but—”
“I’m the President of the United States. I’ll do whatever the hell I wanna do. And right now, what I want to do is make sure you pay for what you did.”
Blunt laughed nervously. “I wasn’t the one flaunting my power in the face of the Constitution just to increase my popularity in the polls.”
“And neither was I. That was about keeping America safe, nothing more.”
“Just keep telling yourself that. I used to have respect for you, but now all I see is a pathetic liar who escaped the consequences of his ill-conceived actions. People died because of what you did. Their blood is on your hands.”
“And you’re one to talk,” Michaels snapped. “I don’t know where you’re hiding out right now, but eventually I’m going to find you. And you’re going to wish you’d never dared to challenge my authority.”
“This isn’t over, but I can promise you that it won’t end well for you,” Blunt said sneeringly. “Besides, you have far more to lose than I do.”
Blunt ended the call and removed the battery from the phone.
I’ll see Michaels go down if it’s the last thing I do.
CHAPTER 40
Washington, D.C.
HAWK WAS LESS THAN A BLOCK from their new safe house when he spotted two SWAT team members closing in on Alex and Samuels’s location. Hawk pulled off to the side and dialed Alex’s number.
“Why aren’t you using the coms?” she asked. “I’m in the middle of something here.”
“Listen, you two are in danger,” Hawk said. “There’s a SWAT team getting into position around you.”
“That’s the last thing I need right now.”
“It’s the last thing any of us need right now,” Hawk said. “Michaels is on a rampage and sees us as the enemy, even though our names have been cleared. Since we haven’t been technically released yet, if we’re caught and dealt with, who’s going to know?”
“Save your philosophical diatribes for another time,” she said. “Right now, we need a way out of here.”
“They’re not inside yet, so do the only thing you can do at this point, pull the—”
Before Hawk could finish his statement, he heard the fire alarm going off, followed by Samuels’s voice.
“Pull the fire alarm,” Samuels said. “
That’s protocol for escaping a situation like this.”
“Now, grab your stuff and get outta there,” Hawk said. “I’ll meet you at the rendezvous point tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. I would stick around and sneak you out of here, but I can’t risk being seen right now.”
“Roger that,” she said.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING, Hawk pulled up to the park where he’d pre-arranged to meet Alex and Samuels in the event of a separation. Hawk glanced at his watch.
Five minutes early.
But there was no sign of them anywhere. Hawk noticed a police officer scanning the area. He kept returning his gaze to Hawk’s car.
Come on, come on. Where are you guys?
He wanted to call them but knew it was unwise. If there was one tenet Hawk felt was necessary to uphold in these types of situations, it was that of avoiding communication of any kind. Opening a channel to speak with Alex—whether over coms or by cell phone or text or email—could give those in pursuit the upper hand. Hawk wasn’t about to risk capture because he’d arrived early and was suspicious of a cop.
The sound of a cell phone buzzing jolted Hawk.
Alex, what are you—?
He looked at his phone and saw a number appear on his screen, one that didn’t belong to Alex or Samuels.
“Hello?” Hawk answered.
“Hawk, this Big Earv.”
Hawk hadn’t heard from Malik Earvin since Navy Seal training. Through the grapevine, Hawk had heard that Earvin left after a couple tours to join the Secret Service.
“How did you get my number?” Hawk asked, bewildered.
“I work for the president,” Big Earv said with a laugh. “You don’t think I can’t get your number? I even know that you drank a craft beer last night. IPA, right?”
“Big Earv, I drink one of those almost every night.”
Big Earv laughed. “Look, enough of the fun and games. I didn’t call to catch up. I called because I need your help. We need your help. Your country needs your help.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s the president. He’s been abducted.”
“And there isn’t anyone else better equipped to handle that than me?”
“I’m sure there is, but you know his abductor better than anyone. We could really use your help with this one.”
“Who took him?”
“Katarina Petrov.”
“How’s that—?”
“She broke out of a secure facility last night,” Big Earv said. “Apparently, she had some inside help.”
“And you think I can find her?”
“Commander Stone over at the Pentagon thinks so.”
Hawk glanced at his watch. It was now three minutes past ten and still no sign of Alex or Samuels.
“Okay, fine. I’ll help. But I need your help too. I’m supposed to pick up a couple of team members at this park I’m at. They had to run, thanks to the FBI milling around. It’s a long story and I don’t want to get into it all right now, but Alex Duncan and Shane Samuels are who you need to pick up. I don’t know why they’re running late, but they’re going to be looking for me. I’ll text you the address and Alex’s number. Maybe you can return the favor by keeping them safe and their whereabouts from the FBI until I get back. Sound like a deal?”
“Sending you the number of our lead agent working the case,” Big Earv said. “And I’ll grab your friends for you. And, Hawk?”
“Yeah?”
“Be careful. I hear this woman is a loose cannon.”
“More than you know.”
Hawk peeled out of the parking lot and called the number of the Secret Service agent coordinating the recovery operation.
“Brady Hawk, boy am I glad you agreed to help us on this case,” the agent said. “The last known address for them was—”
“I know where she took him,” Hawk said.
“How could you? Big Earv just told you about this.”
Hawk chuckled. “Yeah, but I know all about Petrov and how she operates, including her safe houses in the Washington area.”
“She has multiple safe houses?”
“Yeah, but there’s only one where she’d feel comfortable taking him. I’ll text you the address once I arrive.”
“We need to know now. You can’t leave us in the dark for that long.”
“Do you want my help or not? I’m not inclined to tell you just so your agents can screw up the whole situation.”
“Fine. Text me when you get there. I’ll have a team standing by to help.”
Hawk hung up and sped toward the location he suspected Petrov would be holding Michaels at.
* * *
AN HOUR LATER, Hawk slowed down and eased to a stop along a two-lane road. Outside of the metropolis, rolling hills and old farmland made for quiet retreats for the wealthy. Blunt had once told Hawk about Petrov’s old home beyond the suburbs and how she refused to sell it, renting it out through a shell corporation. Hawk learned Blunt had visited the home once when Petrov was still married and engaged in her parenting duties with Alex. Hawk concluded that if he were in a similar situation, that’s where he’d go. Plenty of woods to escape into with a single approach by car to the home. And the home was so old, how many hideouts or secret passageways there were was anybody’s guess.
Parking about a quarter of a mile away from the driveway, he went the rest of the way on foot. The road was quiet in the middle of the day, devoid of any traffic. A dog barked at Hawk as he crept past its house. Once Hawk cleared the fence, the yapping ceased.
Hawk decided to make his approach from below the house, which sat just at the foot of a small hill. While he wasn’t sure it would make much difference, Hawk wanted any advantage, however small it might be. If Petrov was focused on the likely route of any approaching vehicles, she might miss him. The extra time was worth the potential reward.
The house was set about three hundred meters off the road. Hawk crouched low as he hustled up toward the structure, bracing for the door to open at any second and Petrov to start firing at him. Hawk slipped up behind a felled oak tree. Part of the wood had rotted, and the grass around it had withered. The natural barrier gave Hawk a respite in his journey to the house and a chance to call Alex.
“What happened to you?” Alex demanded once she picked up. “What happened to going dark?”
“Did they pick you up?”
“Yeah,” she said. “But I’m not happy about this. How come you think you can do this on your own?”
“I don’t. That’s why I’m calling you.”
“And where exactly are you?”
“At a little country farmhouse, one I think you may have spent some time at as a kid.”
“Are you at my old house?”
“I think that’s where Petrov has Michaels.”
“Have you confirmed that yet?”
“Not yet. That’s why I haven’t called the Secret Service. But I was wondering if you could give me the lay of the land so I know what I’m in for.”
“Hawk, don’t do this. Wait for backup. It’s too dangerous to go in there alone. And if something happens to Michaels . . .”
“Nothing is going to happen to him, okay? Just tell me about the house.”
She spent the next minute describing the floor plan.
“Any good hiding spots?” Hawk asked.
“There are plenty. They’d probably be too difficult to describe. But just be careful in the basement.”
“Why?”
“Lots of low-hanging pipes, storage rooms, doors to the outside.”
“From the basement?”
“There was a passageway from the basement to the outside that was connected by an underground tunnel,” she said. “I think it was built in case of nuclear blast. There was a bunker down there for a long time, but my mother converted it into a wine cellar.”
“A wine cellar?”
“I guess she knew there were no bombs coming. Anyway, that’d be a great way
to get in or out, if you need to.”
“Roger that,” Hawk said.
“Be careful, Hawk.”
“You know me.”
“I do—and that’s why I say that every single time.”
Hawk hung up and contemplated his next move. For a fleeting second, he considered walking in the front door and leaning on his marksmanship skills but then thought better of it. The back entry was the best idea, and he knew it.
Hawk commenced to slinking around the side of the house and scanning the back for the cellar entry. It didn’t take him long before he identified it and hustled toward the door. He descended the steps and found the passageway connecting the cellar to the basement.
Dangling spider webs latched on to Hawk’s face as he eased through the tunnel using a flashlight from his phone for light. The dirt ground beneath him was damp and rocky, neither of which aided him in his quest to sneak in quietly.
After creeping along through the length of the tunnel, Hawk noticed a faint light coming from beneath the door leading into the basement. He took a deep breath and exhaled before drawing his weapon.
Here goes nothing.
Hawk pushed gently on the door, and light flooded into the tunnel. His eyes took a few seconds to adjust. When they did, he realized he was staring into the beams of two high wattage bulbs situated on tripods and aimed toward the door.
“I’m glad you could make it, Mr. Hawk,” Petrov said as she held her gun to President Michaels’s head. “I’ve been expecting you.”
“I know you’re desperate, but I don’t think you fully understand what you’re doing,” Hawk said, keeping his gun trained on her.
“You underestimate me—again,” she said, mocking him with her tone. “Not only do I know exactly what I’m doing, but I’m going to get you to do whatever I ask.”
Hawk looked at Michaels, who had duct tape stripped across his lips. “Are you okay?”
Michaels shook his head.
Petrov waved her index finger at Hawk. “I don’t think you understand who’s in control here. That would be me. You don’t talk to my hostage. You talk to me.”
“Look, I just want to resolve this as quickly as possible without anybody getting hurt,” Hawk said.
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