The press corps scattered for cover, and members of the Secret Service detail rushed in to secure the area. In a matter of minutes, the Secret Service confirmed to the press that the incident was that of a lone shooter and that he was confirmed dead.
But Hawk knew his biggest challenge remained ahead.
CHAPTER 27
NOAH YOUNG WATCHED THE SCENE unfold in horror. Despite knowing about the missile attack in advance, Young still felt a sense of shock when it happened. He also felt a sudden doubt that he should be pursuing the office of the president, which would guarantee more situations like this in the future. But the rogue missile fired at the crowd shook Young to his core.
After Baker briefed Young on what occurred just moments afterward, he dialed Hawk’s number to get a less-filtered account.
“What the hell was going on out there?” Young asked once Hawk answered.
“Sir, I apologize for that scare,” Hawk said. “Based on all my intel, I believed that we had every angle locked down. And of course, the one I didn’t conceive of was the one that happened.”
“How could you not conceive that he wouldn’t bring another weapon?”
“I considered that he might bring a long-range weapon, maybe even a semi-automatic gun to make a last stand. But another missile launcher?”
“How did you miss that?”
“I saw he had another bag, but I assumed it was his getaway bag.”
Young clenched his fists as he spoke. “That was almost a costly assumption.”
“I know, sir. Navigating these scenarios is always tricky.”
“Well, I’m grateful nobody ended up dying, but it does mean I’m gonna have to answer plenty of questions that I’d rather ignore.”
“I’m sure you can spin this thing in your favor, telling the American people that if the terrorists don’t like you, then you must be the right man for the job.”
Young forced a chuckle. “You’ve never been in politics, have you?”
“I ran for vice president of my class once in high school.”
“Did you win?”
“Lost on account of the fact that I couldn’t cut a ribbon that I used as a prop for in my tongue-in-cheek speech. I mentioned how I could fill in for the class president when he couldn’t make ribbon-cutting ceremonies. I grabbed my scissors and after languishing for about fifteen seconds without being able to cut the ribbon I held up, I threw the scissors down on the table and walked off. I said something like, ‘I guess I can’t cut it.’”
“That explains a lot.”
“If I’d used sharper scissors, I think I would’ve won.”
“What was your campaign slogan?”
“‘Vote Brady—the one who’ll watch over you like a Hawk.’”
“That was bad, though not as bad as your screw-up today.”
“I know it wasn’t ideal, but at least we escaped without anyone even getting injured—well, other than the guy who deserved it.”
“Where do you go from here? I’m assuming Blunt and Alex are still being held by Fazil.”
“One of my contacts came through this morning. I’m heading over to Hyde Field once I debrief Baker. Thomas Colton has a jet gassed up and ready for me to go to Iraq to evac Blunt and Alex out of there.”
“And you’re confident you’re going to succeed?”
“General Fortner is providing some support and has special ops in place.”
“That isn’t what I asked because I sure as hell don’t want to have to explain another inexplicable event so close to the election.”
Hawk was silent for a few seconds. “If I don’t try, they’re as good as dead. And I won’t allow my team to die without fighting for them.”
“You’re a good man, Brady Hawk. Despite this situation nearly going fubar today, I have to say that I’m glad you’re watching out not only over me but also the rest of this nation. Keep up the good work.”
“Just doing my job, sir. And on that note, I need to get going.”
Young took a deep breath. “Wait. Before you go, I have one more question for you. What about our other situation you were running interference for me on? Any development there? I really need some good news.”
“I’m afraid I don’t have any for you,” Hawk said. “I made my appeal, even pitched him the possibility of learning the truth about his father’s death. But he wouldn’t bite and reminded me that the deadline was fast approaching later today.”
“So, now what?”
“It looks like you’re gonna have to do what you could’ve done in the first place, which is tell the truth to the American people. I know I’m not a political strategist, but I’m quite certain you’d rather be out in front of this story than trying to explain it after it already happened, especially so close to the election. It’s all anyone would talk about all weekend long.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that.”
“He’s got you over a barrel, sir. At this point, you’ve got to cut your losses and hope for the best. Besides, I think after today, you’ll definitely gather a large portion of undecided voters who will grant you sympathy votes.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Don’t mull it over too long because I think Fowler was serious. He’s going to spill the beans if you don’t.”
“Good luck, Hawk. And thanks for everything.”
“Roger that. It’s been a pleasure to serve you, sir. Hopefully when we speak again, you’ll have a more permanent title of president in front of your name.”
Young hung up and exhaled slowly. He had dodged a pair of missiles, but a political bullet was headed straight for him—and the only thing he could do about it was to face it head on.
CHAPTER 28
HAWK SKIDDED TO A STOP near the hangar assigned to Colton Industries’ jet and grabbed his gear out of the back. He hustled toward the plane, stopping for a brief conversation with Thomas Colton.
“I’m really sorry about all this mess,” Colton said.
“Don’t apologize to me,” Hawk said. “This isn’t your fault. Fazil is the one doing all this.”
“I loaded you up with some of our best tech, stuff that hasn’t even hit the market yet. I hope that helps.”
“Between that and some special forces General Fortner has in place, that should be enough to get the job done.”
Colton offered his hand, which Hawk gripped firmly and shook. “Good luck, son.”
Hawk shot him a sideways glance but didn’t say anything.
“Sorry, old habits are hard to break. For what it’s worth, I still think of you that way.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Hawk muttered. “And I’ll take all the luck I can get.”
Hawk boarded the jet, and within a matter of minutes, they were airborne. During the flight, he reviewed all the tech gadgets Colton left. Some of the items seemed helpful—a laser cutter the size of a keychain that could rip through steel—and others not so much, like the wifi microphone pen that could capture conversations and beam them to an Internet server anywhere in the world. Hawk couldn’t imagine a need for the latter on this mission, though he figured it might come in handy for a future operation.
The flight to Erbil took just over eleven hours, most of which Hawk slept. As the plane taxied, he checked his phone for messages, which included several from an unknown number and corresponded with several voice messages left by Fazil. All of them were angry and threatening.
Once Hawk deplaned, he grabbed the appropriate devices supplied by Colton and headed toward the parking lot, where Fortner had arranged one of his special forces agents to get Hawk into position.
“Major Aaron Matthews,” said the man standing in front of a tan Humvee. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Hawk nodded and shook Matthews’s hand.
“Delta Force,” Hawk said, his eyes widening as he noticed Matthews’s squadron patch. “And here I thought the general was just sending me some run of the mill Rangers.”
Matt
hews chuckled. “I tried to convince General Fortner and my squadron commander to let us handle this mission without you, but they insisted there wasn’t anyone more perfect for the job than you. You must be one hell of a soldier.”
“I’m familiar with Fazil and his protocols, which I need to brief you on during our trip,” Hawk said. “And speaking of which, we need to get moving.”
During the trip, Hawk relayed everything he had learned about the Al Hasib hideout from Kejal, including the most viable exit points. If Hawk hoped to rescue Blunt and Alex from the prison, he would need help, the kind of help that could redirect him should the situation demand a new course of action. Hawk figured the more Matthews knew, the better.
About an hour out from the location, Hawk’s phone rang again. The words unknown caller flashed on his screen. Hawk surmised that either Fazil or Young was on the other end.
“This is Hawk.”
“It is past time you answered,” Fazil said. “I have been trying to reach you.”
“I hope you’re not upset with me about your agent’s failed attempt to shoot down Air Force One. I gave him everything he needed to be successful, but it’s not my fault that you sent an incompetent operative. Though, I can’t say that I’m sorry he missed.”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Hawk. Upset isn’t the word I would use to describe my feelings right now. Livid and outraged are two far more appropriate words to describe my state of being at the moment.”
“Then you remember that I had nothing to do with it and only did everything to help your agent succeed during the operation. I directed him to the prime location to take a shot. I supplied him with takeoff times and Young’s entire schedule for the day. It was foolproof.”
“Nothing is foolproof, especially when you prey upon a young operative like Youssef, may Allah give him comfort.”
Hawk furrowed his brow. “You can spin this any way you wish, but deep down you know that he was incapable of finishing the job. Perhaps that was your plan all along—send a man you know will fail in order to coerce me to actually do what your men are incapable of doing.”
“I hope you realize your attempts to persuade me that you had nothing to do with Youssef’s misfire have failed,” Fazil said with a growl.
“What more could I have done? Pulled the trigger for him?”
“President Young was not on the plane, making your argument moot. Even if Youssef blasted the jet as he was trained to do, all that effort would have been for nothing—and that is all because of you.”
“You still would have had the best recruiting video footage in the history of terrorism,” Hawk countered. “Air Force One disintegrating in the sky after one of your agents fired a missile at it in Washington, D.C.? The beheading of a thousand government officials from the United States wouldn’t be able to surpass such a glorious image.”
“But Youssef missed. So for the moment, I am left with footage of an incompetent fool who had an easy shot but missed. Who will see that and be compelled to join?”
“Maybe someone who can actually make that shot. Maybe someone who you won’t have to spend hours training. As much as you like to think you’re different than the American government, you’re exactly the same. You’ll spin the outcome in a way that benefits you and your bottom line. Don’t kid yourself. I’m sure you’ve already dreamed up these scenarios.”
“No matter what I have planned next, none of it will make up for the way you sabotaged my plans with my shooter. I hope you know there will be consequences.”
“And there will be consequences for you, too. Do I need to remind you that you’re not running the show here? You’re simply throwing rocks at a tank that’s about to run you over.”
“You talk tough, especially for a man who is at my mercy when it comes to the lives of his closest friends.”
Hawk seethed. “The minute they die, you know you’re dead. I will gut you myself.”
Fazil laughed. “Just like you did all those other times before when you had the chance? I think you are fooling yourself, Mr. Hawk. But I am done talking about this. Get a plane gassed up and ready to go. I want you to be in the air in one hour, and I will give you further instructions once you’re airborne.”
“I’ll be waiting for your call.” Hawk hung up and growled. “I swear if I see that bastard, I may empty my entire clip into him.”
“Karif Fazil?” Matthews asked, his eyebrows arching.
“The one and only.”
“Taking care of him would certainly be a feather in our cap, not to mention President Young’s.”
“I don’t care who gets the credit. I just want Fazil dead. That man is toying with us and will continue to torture us until he’s dead and buried.”
Matthews eased his foot onto the gas pedal as the Humvee purred. “Let’s see what we can do about that.”
CHAPTER 29
Zagros Mountains, Iraq
HAWK SCANNED THE AREA surrounding the Al Hasib hideout. The Great Zab River wound lazily around the bend, almost an afterthought amidst the scenic vistas created by the Zagros Mountains. The sun hadn’t set, but it disappeared behind the peaks more than an hour earlier. To Hawk, the conditions were perfect for a strike, one he hoped Fazil would’ve never anticipated.
Just as Hawk began to go over the final plan with the Delta Force team members, his phone rang.
“Where am I going?” Hawk asked as he answered the phone.
“Istanbul,” Fazil said. “I will email you the coordinates.”
Hawk glanced at his phone as the text arrived almost simultaneously. The numbers looked familiar to him.
“The Chamber’s old headquarters—interesting choice of venue,” Hawk said. “I’ve been there before, you know.”
“Where you have been is of no concern to me,” Fazil said. “The only thing that matters is if you will show up. If you fail to do so, I will kill your friends. Do you understand?”
“I do. See you soon.” Hawk hung up and stuffed his phone in his pocket.
He returned his attention to the Delta Force team.
“We don’t have much time,” he said. “If Fazil is the kind of man I think he is, he’s going to try to threaten my friends in front of me. Let’s make sure he never gets that chance.”
Matthews selected Bobby Wright and Jackson Quinn to accompany Hawk on the rescue mission inside the hideout. If Kejal’s intel was accurate, Hawk’s newly assembled team would have to fight their way past three levels of guards before reaching the prison cells. To get out, Hawk and company would have to work quickly to escape without several more legions of guards rushing over to help. While Hawk pondered what the odds of successfully completing such a mission would be, he figured that it didn’t matter. There was no way in hell he was going to let Fazil use Alex and Blunt as leverage any longer. Something had to give—and whatever it was, it was going to give within the next hour.
Hawk bowed his head and said a quick prayer.
“You religious or something?” Quinn asked.
Hawk shook his head. “Not particularly, but I’ll take all the help I can get on this mission. If there is a God up there, I know he’d be rooting for us.”
Hawk nodded at his two companions and started moving toward the entrance to the cave. They crouched low as they hustled across the craggy terrain. Hawk went first, followed by Wright then Quinn.
“Think these bastards know what’s coming for them?” Wright asked.
“I hope not,” Hawk said.
Once they reached the gate, Hawk invoked the protocol for gaining entry as Kejal described. Rapping on the gate three times, then twice, followed by three more times, Hawk hoped that he’d remembered correctly.
A few seconds later, the gate swung open. Quinn and Wright entered first, taking down the guard in a matter of seconds, breaking his neck with a quick turn and tossing his body outside.
Hawk pulled the door shut behind him and retook the lead. They wound around the dimly lit corridor and went straight for another f
ifty meters before they encountered their next wave of Al Hasib guards. This time there were only two, both put down by shots from the handguns fitted with silencers. Hawk and company stepped over the bodies and continued to move toward their destination.
After another hundred meters and a serious of turns, a quartet of guards stood positioned outside the inner sanctum of the Al Hasib hideout—at least, that’s how Kejal described it. Being outnumbered presented a bigger challenge to Hawk’s team, but they were up for it.
Hawk fired first, hitting the guard in the center of his chest. The two guards flanking him didn’t have a chance to react before Wright and Quinn immobilized them with one shot, ensuring they’d never move again with another bullet each. That left one guard, who had reacted quickly enough and sprinted in the opposite direction.
“We’ve got a runner,” Hawk said, racing after the man.
The last thing Hawk wanted was to incur the influx of more guards.
He chased after the man, who had cut down another corridor. Hawk followed as close as possible but gave up after the man vanished into a sea of hallways and doors.
“Let’s go,” Quinn said over the coms. “We don’t have time to chase down anyone else. We’ve gotta get the assets and get out of here as quickly as possible.”
“Roger that,” Hawk said as he stopped and hurried back to his companions.
They followed Kejal’s instructions and came to the last set of guards they were supposed to encounter before the prison. Two armed men stood outside the door, standing at attention.
“You guys take these two,” Hawk whispered. “I’ll get to work on the lock.”
With silencers on the end of their handguns, the two Delta Force team members dropped the guards. Hawk rushed up to the lock and fished out the laser cutter Colton had left on the plane. In a matter of seconds, Hawk sliced through the thick deadbolt and pushed the door open.
Wright stood still at the doorway, gesturing for Hawk to enter. “After you.”
The holding rooms were clustered along a long corridor that wasn’t directly lit by anything. Each cell had a small light in the corner that was just bright enough that someone could likely make out the contents of his or her cell but little else. Water leaked from pipes up and down the hallway, resulting in puddles throughout.
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