Any Means Necessary

by R. J. Patterson

  Wednesday night at Le Diplomate meant Pork Milanese, a meal Fontenot considered scrumptious. His Cajun roots gave him a deep affinity for French food. His hankering for French dining rubbed off on McWilliams while they were are Harvard together. Years later, the two men continued to bond over such restaurant experiences.

  Fontenot took a seat inside a small private room that couldn’t hold more than a dozen people.

  “When will the rest of your party be arriving?” asked the server tasked with covering the room.

  “There will only be one more member of my party,” Fontenot said. “And I can assure you that paying close attention to us in here will be worth your time,” Fontenot said.

  The waiter exited the room, closing the door behind him.

  Seconds later, the door flung open again, but this time Otto McWilliams marched inside. With an ear-to-ear grin, he strode over to the table where Fontenot was. He stood, and the two men embraced.

  “You’re speaking my language,” McWilliams said after they finished. “You know how much I love French food.”

  “Of course I do,” Fontenot said. “I was the one who introduced you to it while we were at Harvard—or have you already forgotten?”

  “Oh, I remember,” McWilliams said. “There are some things I’ll never forget, like how you turned down Melissa Butterfield after the game against Yale our junior year. For weeks afterward, I wondered what was wrong you.”

  “I didn’t snub her—she just wasn’t my speed.”

  “She was everyone’s speed—fast.”

  “And loose,” Fontenot said. “I don’t care how beautiful a woman is, if she throws herself at men like Melissa did, I’m not interested. Nothing personal, but I can smell desperation coming a mile away.”

  “Yet you can’t smell my desperation, can you?” McWilliams asked.

  “What do you mean?” Fontenot asked. “What are you so desperate about?”

  McWilliams nodded. “I’m having to sell off my oil fields just to make ends meet. It’s a rather difficult time.”

  “Well, I’m buying tonight,” Fontenot said. “You order whatever you like. It’s on me.”

  “That’s very kind and generous of you, but that’s not where I need cheering up. I’ve done something I shouldn’t have.”

  “Go on,” Fontenot said. “Get it off your chest.”

  McWilliams sighed. “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but I feel like I must. That’s part of the reason I’m somewhat depressed right now.”

  “What did you do?” Fontenot asked as he leaned forward in his seat.

  “Look, I don’t know, maybe I shouldn’t burden you with this. I hate dumping my problems on top of other people.”

  “Even a good friend like me?” Fontenot asked.

  “Fine. You’ll probably laugh at me anyway,” McWilliams said. “But the truth is I’ve been really depressed for quite some time about one of my business deals. I lost our house in the Caymans.”

  “It’s not the end of the world. It happens. So, how did you lose this house? Bad business deal?”

  “It wasn’t in a deal,” McWilliams said. “I gambled it away.”

  “Whoa.”

  McWilliams nodded. “Nancy doesn’t even know about it yet. Please don’t tell her. We’ve only got thirty days to get out or they’re going to unceremoniously dump our things at the curb.”

  “You need to come up with something quickly.”

  “I haven’t exhausted all my options yet, but time is running out. But that’s not why you invited me here tonight, is it?”

  Fontenot shook his head. “No, it’s not. I brought you here to ask some very pointed questions.”

  “Questions about what?”

  “About Obsidian?”

  “Obsidian? What do you think I would know about them that you don’t?” McWilliams asked. “We’re on the same senate committee. You know what I know.”

  Fontenot stared intently at McWilliams. “Are you involved with them in any way?”

  “Oh, come on, Bernard. You don’t actually think I’d have anything to do with a group like that. I would never align myself with an organization like that in any way.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Seriously, is this what tonight was all about? Because if it was, I’m leaving right now. These accusations are absurd.”

  McWilliams stood and tossed his napkin onto his plate. He turned to walk away when a server entered the room. As McWilliams attempted to push his way past the man, he jammed a syringe into McWilliams’s neck. A few seconds later, he tumbled to the ground.

  Hawk, dressed in server attire, knelt next to McWilliams and checked his pulse before lugging him through a private exit and down to the restaurant’s basement.

  * * *

  HAWK SLAPPED MCWILLIAMS several times in an effort to get him to wake up. The tranquilizer was only supposed to last about five minutes, but McWilliams was having a hard time regaining consciousness. Hawk rechecked the rope that bound the senator to the chair and then stepped back to watch and wait.

  Behind Hawk, Fontenot paced around, muttering to himself before going after Alex and Hawk.

  “This wasn’t part of the deal,” Fontenot said. “You never said anything about drugging him and interrogating him.”

  “Relax,” Hawk said. “It’s not like we’re going to water board him or anything. We just need to get some straight answers out of him. And it was clear that wasn’t going to happen from the way your conversation was going.”

  Fontenot scowled. “This was the plan all along, wasn’t it? Use me as the bait to lure him here and then you question him.”

  “We couldn’t just grab him off the street, could we?” Alex said. “We hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but it’s apparent that you’re just too close—not to mention he thinks he can lie to you and get away with it.”

  “How do you know he was lying?” Fontenot asked.

  “He’s a politician and his lips were moving,” Hawk said, trying to suppress a smile.

  “I take offense at that. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a—”

  “It was a joke,” Hawk said. “Take it easy, will ya?”

  Alex tried to dispel the growing tension. “We think it would be naïve at best, foolish at worst, to assume that the link between McWilliams and Pantheon and now Obsidian and Pantheon was just some weird coincidence. And from the sound of your conversation, you weren’t ready to push back on him and discover the truth.”

  Before the conversation went any further, McWilliams started to stir.

  Fontenot rushed over to him. “Hey, Otto, are you okay? It’s me, Bernard.”

  McWilliams lunged toward Fontenot but was stopped short due to the bindings.

  “How could you do this to me?” McWilliams asked while glaring at Fontenot and struggling to get free.

  “I—I didn’t know this was going to happen,” Fontenot said. “I was just supposed to ask you some questions, but then—”

  “We need to talk,” Hawk said.

  “Who the hell are you?” McWilliams asked.

  “I’m the man who’s going to cut you loose if you tell me what I want to know.”

  “I’m not telling you a damn thing. Now get me out of here before I have you arrested for these shenanigans.”

  Hawk didn’t budge. “I need you to tell us what you know about Obsidian and their plans to launch a devastating virus on the world.”

  “Maybe you didn’t hear me the first time,” McWilliams said with a snarl.

  “Oh, I heard you,” Hawk said. “I also heard you say this.”

  Hawk tapped a button on his phone, which played a snippet of McWilliams’s conversation with Fontenot. After just a few seconds, Hawk stopped it.

  “I’m sure Nancy would love to hear about your gambling problem and how you lost one of your homes because of your addiction,” Hawk said. “Now, you’ll answer what I ask or else your wife will find out all about this. Then we’ll forward this to the ethic
s committee to review since you’ve been covering up your betting deficit with campaign donations.”

  McWilliams looked down and shook his head. “What do you want to know?”

  “Why is Obsidian working out of some of Pantheon’s labs?” Hawk asked.

  “Convenience, I guess.”

  “You guess,” Alex said, butting her way into the interview. “You know exactly why, so stop beating around the bush with us.”

  “Fine, I used some of my connections at Pantheon to help Obsidian get space in those labs. But I didn’t really have a choice. They forced me to work with them.”

  “Forced you how?” Hawk asked.

  “They told me they would show pictures from one of my previous affairs to my wife,” McWilliams said.

  Alex shook her head. “I’m not buying it. You’re lying to us.”

  “I swear it’s the truth,” McWilliams said.

  Alex snatched Hawk’s phone and started tapping around on the screen.

  “What are you doing?” McWilliams asked, the lines on his forehead creasing.

  “I’m sending this file to your wife,” she said.

  “Okay, okay. Obsidian didn’t threaten me like that. They told me they could guarantee me the chairman position on the senate intelligence committee if I assisted them in finding some lab space.”

  Fontenot walked deliberately toward McWilliams before raring back to punch him. Hawk grabbed Fontenot’s forearm, stopping him just before he could make contact with McWilliams’s face.

  “You were responsible for blackmailing me,” Fontenot said. “I thought we were good friends, fraternity brothers with a deep connection. And then you go and pull a stunt like this, something that could’ve ruined me—all so you could become chair of the committee? How could you do this to me?”

  McWilliams stared at his shoes and remained silent.

  “Now is not the time to clam up,” Fontenot said, still being restrained by Hawk. “You start talking right now, or I’ll tell Nancy myself about what you’re doing.”

  McWilliams sighed, refusing to look Fontenot in the eyes. “I’m not proud of what I did. But I just—I don’t know. I thought I should’ve been the one to chair the committee, and I saw an opportunity and I—”

  “And you backstabbed one of your best friends in the senate,” Fontenot said. “I never imagined you would turn out like this.”

  Hawk released Fontenot, who eased up and retreated to the far corner of the room.

  “Obsidian is a dangerous organization,” Hawk said. “We both know that. But we need to know where they’re developing this antidote and when they plan on releasing this virus.”

  “I can tell you where they are,” McWilliams said, “but I can’t tell you anything about their plans. I just know it’s going to happen very soon.”

  Hawk placed a piece of paper and pen on the desk in front of McWilliams before cutting him loose.

  “Write down the address, and get outta here,” Hawk said. “And don’t think we won’t be watching you.”

  CHAPTER 24

  Jacksonville, Florida

  AFTER A PLANNING SESSION during the short flight down to Jacksonville, Hawk awoke the next morning ready to uncover the scope of Obsidian’s scheme as well as concoct a way to stop it. He was first in line at the Starbucks around the corner from their hotel, waiting to get Alex a latte. Though he wasn’t sure how Black liked his coffee, Hawk figured the man’s namesake might be a good bet.

  When Hawk returned to the room, he was greeted by a gun pressed against his forehead.

  “Is this how you treat everyone who brings you coffee?” Hawk asked.

  Black holstered his weapon and took the cup offered to him. “This looks black.”

  Hawk nodded. “Is there a problem with that? I don’t want to get shot for bringing you the wrong coffee next time.”

  “This is how I like it,” Black said, his morning voice still gravely. “You did good, kid.”

  Hawk hated being called a kid, even though compared to most people in his field, he was. Titus Black only had five years on him at the most, but that was significant in the world of espionage. So much could happen during a short timeframe like that, things that could change a man forever—for better or for worse. Hawk wasn’t sure if the scales in his life were even, but he intended to weigh them in his favor for good after stopping Obsidian.

  Hawk placed Alex’s drink on the nightstand and nudged her. “Time to get up, honey,” Hawk said softly. “We have some monsters to catch.”

  She opened her eyes wide and then stretched, groaning as she grabbed the headboard behind her. “I can stay here and work in my pajamas while you two go out there and do the dirty work,” she said. “I’m not in quite the same rush.”

  “True,” Hawk said, “but you never know when you’re going to have to come to our rescue. And if that time comes, do you really want to be wearing that?”

  Alex shrugged. “Okay, I’ll change. But then you two need to get going ASAP. Those fastidious researchers in the lab like to clear their minds and start their work before all the riff raff comes rolling in.”

  Hawk and Black suited up and took off outside. They linked up their com devices with Alex and made sure everything was in working order.

  “You’ll be happy to know I’m dressed in something far more appropriate for saving you two when the time comes,” she announced.

  Hawk threw his head back and sighed before shifting into gear and heading onto the interstate to reach the facility McWilliams had told them about.

  “Do you have to save Hawk often?” Black asked with a sly grin.

  After a sideways glance at Black, Hawk balled up his fist, shaking it playfully at his partner for the day’s mission.

  “It just depends,” Alex said. “If he goes in guns blazing, he doesn’t always have the best exit strategy.”

  “Good to know,” Black said with a wink. “I’ll make sure I don’t let him race off without my consent or any discussion regarding an escape plan. I’ve found those are vital for survival.”

  “Should I recount all the times I’ve saved you, Hawk, or would you like to share them with your new partner?” Alex asked.

  “Just finish setting everything up, Alex,” Hawk said with a growl.

  “Maybe you should’ve bought yourself a triple latte,” Alex said. “You woke up feisty this morning. Just make sure you channel all that aggression out on the numbskulls who want to infect the world with a virus.”

  “I’ll let you know when we get there,” Hawk said.

  He turned off his coms and focused his attention on Black.

  “It’s not so bad to have someone watching your back, you know,” Black said. “I’m sure she doesn’t mind it when you get her out of a jam.”

  “I don’t mind being saved, but it does remind me how fragile everything in our world is. I’m only one mistake away from either getting killed myself or worse—captured. Alex is always going to come after me, and one time she might not be able to rescue me. I’d have a hard time living with that.”

  Black punched Hawk in the shoulder. “You’ll be fine, big man.”

  Hawk withdrew and eyed Black carefully. “I’m not sure we’re there yet in our partnership.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You hitting me in the arm,” Hawk said. “I barely know anything about you.”

  “You should know that Blunt trusts me, and that should be enough.”

  “But it’s not for me. He’s been fooled before.”

  “No one’s doing any fooling here,” Black said. “We’re all on the same team, striving for the same goal.”

  “And what’s that exactly?” Hawk asked.

  “Eliminating Obsidian. It’s a tall order, especially considering that Blunt had to join his number two team with me to make this happen.”

  Hawk smirked. “Number two team? You sure do think a lot of yourself.”

  “I’ve got a lengthy record of success—and I don’t have an
yone to save me. Instead, I have no margin for error. It’s a scary way to operate in our world.”

  Hawk looked at his GPS and noticed that they were only five minutes away from the facility. He turned his coms back on. “We’re almost there,” Hawk said. “Be ready.”

  “I will,” she said. “And I want you to know that was one of the sweetest things you’ve ever said about our relationship. I’d have a hard time without you, too.”

  Hawk furrowed his brow. “You heard all that.”

  “Yeah, Black didn’t turn off his coms.”

  Black chuckled. “You really do need some coffee, Hawk.”

  “We’ll talk later, Mr. Number One agent,” Alex said. “We’ll have to compare notes before I actually consider you to be a better assassin than Hawk.”

  “It’ll be my pleasure,” Black said.

  Hawk exited the freeway and drove along a surface street that ran parallel to the St. John’s River. A few minutes later, he turned right into a nearly empty parking lot in front of a building that appeared all but deserted. A few cars sat near the entrance to the lab, the paint fading due to the searing Florida sun and unwavering humidity that settled over the area year round.

  Hawk and Black got out and approached the front doors.

  “Here we go,” Hawk said over his coms.

  The glass was papered up, preventing Hawk and Black from catching even a glimpse of what was inside. They shook the doors, but they remained locked. Despite raising quite a raucous, neither agent could attract the attention of anyone inside.

  “Now what?” Black asked.

  “Try the back entrance,” Alex said. “There’s a loading dock on the east side of the facility. And from what I can tell, it looks like there might be a way in there.”

  “Is the back door actually open?” Hawk asked.

  “That’s what it looks like,” she said. “Go find out for yourself.”

  Both men hustled around to the back of the complex and raced up a ramp adjacent to the dock. A rollup door was raised with only opaque plastic strips hanging from the ceiling to prevent Hawk from seeing what was inside.