by Rob Jones
“This is no way for loyal American soldiers to die,” the AG said.
Faulkner looked at him with his most serious face. “Like dogs, Jeff. They died like dogs on that beach!”
The Secretary of Labor now joined in the new chorus of revulsion. “And you’re saying Brooke ordered the deaths of these men?”
“I’m sorry, Erika, but yes… he did.”
“Oh my God!” The Secretary of Homeland Security chimed in, shaking his head in denial at what he was seeing and hearing. “Why the hell would he do such a thing?”
Faulkner gave a shrug. It looked like they were buying the little package he and Josh had put together. Now wasn’t the time to say the wrong thing and blow all their hard work. “That’s what we intend to find out.”
The AG tapped his pen on the hardwood table, his face now a picture of solemn fear and anxiety. “If this gets out it’s bringing the whole damned administration down.”
They’d just figured out their jobs were in the balance.
Now they were cooking with gas.
“And we all know that son of a bitch Bill Peterson will be all over this like fleas on a stray dog.”
So turn the heat up.
“Damn straight, he will,” Faulkner said. “And with the mid-terms coming up this will cause a lot of trouble for us. We’ll be walking on hot coals right up to an election we have no hope of winning… not after this gets out.”
“What the hell?”
“You’re looking at images of the recent terror attack in Hawaii.”
The AG turned to the Secretary of Homeland Security. “I thought that was already being connected with ISIS?”
“We have nothing yet.”
“Yes we do,” Faulkner said.
Everyone in the room stared up at the pictures of the devastating attack on the shopping mall inside the airport at Honolulu. Twisted metal. Shattered glass. Crumbling concrete and splintered wood. Paper and food and blood and screaming kids. Ruined bodies blown apart and sown over a scene of destruction.
And ECHO.
“You’re looking at pictures of the ECHO team leaving the scene of the attack. As you can see, they’re heavily armed with the weapons supplied to them by President Brooke. As of yet we have no idea why they committed this atrocity on these American citizens but we know they did it, and we know they did it with the approval of Jack Brooke.”
He was moving things up a gear. Would they buy it? ECHO had been in Hawaii in the last few hours in pursuit of the rings but the explosion and murder in the airport had been carried out by men working for the Oracle and nothing to do with Brooke or ECHO.
“This is appalling.”
“But why we would President Brooke do such a terrible thing?”
Faulkner got serious. He could smell the end. “We don’t know yet, Sarah, but there’s only one way we can find out and that’s by initiating a full and proper investigation.”
“And don’t forget about Peterson,” the AG threw in. “He’ll roast our goddam nuts for a decade with this.”
“I think the Vice President is right.”
“I would agree.”
“And… and,” Faulkner took off his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes. It was so tiring having to deal with such a terrible mess. “The only way we get on top of this is by getting out in front of it, and fast. How long before the press gets a hold of this?”
Not long, if he and Muston had anything to do with it.
Letting that sink in, he continued. “This is highly classified material, ladies and gentlemen, but these things always get out sooner or later. How many iPhones caught ECHO in that crime scene? How many internet nerds can connect them to Brooke? To this administration? We need to move on this and we need to do it fast.”
“I agree.”
“But the Twenty-Fifth?”
A wholesome, nonchalant shrug from poor hard-done-by Davis Faulkner. “I’ve been struggling with this for days now but I can’t see any other way. We cannot conduct any serious investigation into Brooke while he’s President because a sitting president is immune from prosecution.”
“Unless he’s impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate first.”
“Right,” Faulkner said. “And how long will that take? You all saw the evidence. Not only is he involved with a foreign terrorist network and the murder of American soldiers, but via his links to these people his fingerprints are all over the recent Honolulu airport terror incident. When it gets out we knew about this and did nothing, we’ll be burned on both sides and thrown in the trash.” He fixed his eyes on everyone around the table one by one. “Every single one of us.”
And now to bring her home.
“With the Twenty-Fifth we can end the danger to our nation right now. Then we’ll have all the time we need to mount a full investigation against him and see to it that he faces justice for the abuses he’s committed in that most glorious of offices, the Presidency of the United States. But it needs cabinet approval.”
This time, it was a murmur of assent.
“I’ll vote for it.”
“Count me in.”
Josh flicked back through the images and left the one of the screaming child in Honolulu up on the giant screen.
“Me too.”
“If this is real, then he has to go.”
“We can’t delay,” Faulkner said. “We can’t risk any more innocent deaths.”
“Then let’s do it,” the AG said. “We’ll invoke the Twenty-Fifth Amendment and get the son of a bitch out of that office.”
“If you’re all sure,” Faulkner said, suppressing the smile of his life. “I don’t want anyone to think they’re being pushed into this.”
“No one’s pushing me into anything,” the AG said, once again looking at the images on the screen. “It’s time to get Brooke out of the Oval Office.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
First thing Scarlet did when she got back to the hotel in Roppongi was grab a shower, and the second thing she did was check her calls. There were a dozen messages from various friends and acquaintances but only one from Lea Donovan, and it was hours old. She opened the message and read it. Short and to the point: Hawke’s team were still in pursuit of the fourth ring, and had a lead involving a man named McKenna. That was that.
She tossed the phone onto a table and crashed down onto one of the two double beds, exhausted, A life spent burning the candle at both ends and chasing the most dangerous men and women in the world took its toll, and that toll seemed to get higher the older she got.
“Any word from Joe?” Ryan asked.
“They still don’t have it,” she replied. Ryan was next to her on the bed, and Lexi and Nikolai were next to one another on the bed beside them. Not too long ago the smutty jokes would have been flying thick and fast but not tonight. They all felt drained and hungry and dying for a drink.
Ryan read her mind and reached for the telephone between the two beds. He ordered some food and cold beers to be brought up to the room, and then he dropped the receiver down into he cradle with a bitter laugh and rolled back on to the bed. “At least we got our ring,” he said, chortling into the pillow.
The phone rang.
Scarlet flicked it onto speaker and set it on the bed so everyone could hear it. “It’s Lea, everyone.”
“How goes it, Cairo?” the Irish accent said.
Scarlet sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. It needed a wash and she felt like shit. Watching the flashing neon signs outside their hotel room, she reported the news back to Lea. “We have the Ring of Cyrus.”
Lea blew out a breath. “Thank God, and great work guys.”
Some high fives in the Japanese hotel room, and then Scarlet said, “What about you?”
*
“We got the Ring of Akhenaten,” Lea said, watching the surf crash along the coast. She was leaning on the back of their pickup truck in a parking lot overlooking Waikiki Beach. Dawn surfers were climbing out of their trucks and get
ting ready for a morning of action, but she was more interested in ECHO’s latest possessions. “So that makes four, right?”
Hawke gave a thumbs up as Lea told her about mission in Hawaii, and Scarlet reported in return the news about the Tokyo mission. He felt a massive relief that Scarlet’s crew had successfully secured their ring. Along with Alexander the Great’s ring, plus the ones they had taken from Razak and Jojima, that made four of the eight ancient gods’ rings – halfway there, but their actions had enraged many dangerous forces along the way, not only the Oracle but now the Yakuza and Razak.
“Where’s number five?’ Scarlet asked.
“We don’t know yet,” Lea said quietly. “Rich is getting back to me. He thinks we’ll have a destination within the next few hours but he wants you to bring the jet to Hawaii in the meantime.”
“Easily done,” she said.
When she hung up, they watched in silence as the rising sun lit the waters of Māmala Bay a bright copper blue. Hawke was the first to end the moment.
“Wherever we go we have an uncanny habit of making enemies,” he said, holding Akhenaten’s ring up to the light of the rising sun. Holding the ring’s shank, he gently twirled it around and studied it more closely. After exchanging photos of the rings they had all tried to be the first to make sense of the ancient map engraved on the flat gold surfaces. The markings were clear enough, but with only half the rings it was like trying to guess the combination to a six figure lock on a safe. A million combinations and no hope of success.
The lines and dots and tiny carved symbols were as clear as day, but how to fit them together so they made sense and formed a map they could use to find the Citadel was the big mystery and there was only one way to solve it – secure the other four rings. And they had to do it before the Oracle or anyone else got their hands on them if they wanted to be first to the greatest treasure of them all.
Lea’s phone rang. She answered it and put it on speaker. “It’s Eden.”
“Back so soon?” Reaper asked.
“We have new information,” Eden said, dispensing with any small talk. “When will Cairo and her crew be in Hawaii?”
“She’s leaving right now, so in around six hours.”
Eden was mulling something over. “Good. As soon as they land, I want you back in the air and on your way to the US without a second’s delay.”
“America?”
“We’ll talk when you’re in the air.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
As the ECHO jet raced away from Hawaii and across the Pacific sky on its way to the United States, the reunited team were all crashed out in their seats. Scarlet was nursing a chilled vodka and trying to forget about the last few hours. Like everyone else, they felt exhausted, battle-worn and shell-shocked.
When she told the Hawaii team that she had narrowly avoided being killed by the Yakuza on the bullet train, the battle-worn former SAS officer reminded them all of just how perilous their lives really were. Then, when they discovered Hawke’s team had secured the Ring of Akhenaten, they breathed a sigh of relief and shared a moment of celebration before leaving Tokyo.
The joy was brought to a swift end when they heard that Kim and Camacho had landed safely in Washington DC and were on their way to the White House. This shook them all back to the reality of what was happening in the American capital and raised a lot of worrying questions about Alex Reeve and her father, President Brooke.
Having access to the highest levels of US Government was not something they took for granted, but along with Eden’s Westminster contacts it sure as hell made life a lot easier, plus Jack Brooke was a friend as well as a president. So was Alex. If Faulkner was moving against them with some kind of insane plan to take over the Executive Branch, they could both be in a lot of danger.
And so could ECHO.
With an enemy in the Oval Office things could get very difficult for them, if not impossible. There was no way they could engage in a firefight on US territory like they had done tonight at the cane plantation and later the airport without the support of the president himself. If the man sitting behind the Resolute Desk wasn’t their friend things would be very different. Not only would they not be able to get away with it, Hawke was certain they would quickly be arrested, separated and locked away somewhere.
She sighed with the stress of it all but closed her eyes and thought of her island. A fantasy now, but long sought after and one day a reality. Her daydream was broken by a bustling of excitement in the cabin. When she opened her eyes, she saw the grim face of Sir Richard Eden on the partition wall’s plasma screen.
“Good work on the rings.” Straight to business, but the former Paras officer was tired and he looked it. “It’s great news that we now have the third and fourth rings. Now we have four of them and that makes half the map.”
“I’m sensing that something’s on your mind.” Lea said.
Eden sighed. “The Oracle and the Athanatoi were in Hawaii because they’ve read the Codex. They know what we know about the rings and they’re working out the locations. This puts us on a collision course with them on this mission.”
“We can handle a bunch of idiots that look like undertakers,” Scarlet said.
Now Hawke spoke up. “True, but it puts us on an elevated threat warning for the entire mission, plus the emergency in Washington has taken two of our team members away so we’re weaker than usual.”
Eden nodded. “There’s nothing to be done about any of that, Hawke. You just have to get through it and secure the eight rings.”
“A piece of piss.” In old style, Scarlet cracked a miniature bottle of chilled vodka and downed it in one. “That’s much better.”
Ryan shook his head. “Now she’s cooking with gas.”
“Burn, baby…burn,” she said. “It’s four in the morning and I just spent today riding an external elevator in a thunderstorm and almost got killed by a Yakuza torturer on a speeding train. If I want a drink, I’ll have one.” She turned to him, glowering. “Unless of course you want to try and stop me?”
Ryan shifted uneasily in his seat. “No, you’re all right.”
“Thought as much.”
Lexi opened up her sandwich and took a big bite. “I’m so hungry.”
After passing food around, Scarlet asked the obvious question. “So where are flying? We’ve been on board the plane an hour and I haven’t even asked where we’re going.”
“Las Vegas,” Eden said bluntly.
“Woo-hoo!” she said. “It’s party time, baby.”
“It is not party time,” he said with a smirk.
She slumped. “More bloody work then?”
“Afraid so, yes. My research has come up with a man named George Kozlov as the owner of the Ring of Ramesses the Great.”
Zeke’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve heard that name.”
“He was the third pharaoh of the nineteenth dynasty and the mightiest of all the New Kingdom rulers.”
Zeke was confused. “Huh? No, the other dude.”
“Kozlov?” Eden said.
“That’s the fella.”
“George Kozlov is one of the most famous gambling tycoons in the world. He owns the Castillo.”
“That’s the biggest casino in Vegas,” Scarlet said.
They all turned to her.
“What? Me and Jack go there all the time.”
Eden raised an eyebrow. “I hope you and Mr Camacho make these junkets on your own dime?”
Scarlet sniffed. “Well…”
“What else do we know about this Kozlov?” Lea asked.
“As Cairo rightly says, he owns the Castillo. It’s the largest casino and hotel complex in Las Vegas situated right bang smack in the heart of the city on Las Vegas Boulevard. He has a certain reputation for protecting himself and his assets, and he is also well-known for dealing with his enemies with, how shall I put it… extreme prejudice.”
Nikolai sniffed. “I cannot wait to meet this man.”
“I
think I read about this guy,” Ryan said. “They tried to put him on trial about a million times but he has so much money he just buys his way out of it every time.”
“That’s him,” Eden said. “The last occasion was for massive tax fraud and salting millions away offshore, and the time before that was the Big M.”
Lexi’s eyes widened. “Murder?”
“No,” Scarlet said sarcastically. “He refused to pay for a Big Mac.”
“Very funny.”
“Murder, yes,” Eden said. “One of his poker buddies was a man named Cash Lombard and although details are sketchy, it’s thought he’d racked up a big gambling debt with Kozlov and then refused to pay it back. I can’t speak for the rest of him but they found his head and hands in a storm drain.”
“Yikes,” Zeke said.
Nikolai lowered his eyes and shook his head.
Lexi put her sandwich on the seat next to her. “Maybe I’ll finish that later.”
“So what makes an animal like that have an interest in ancient jewellery?” Lea asked.
“He doesn’t,” Eden said. “But he has a very big interest in money, and according to our research here, he bought the ring at an auction in New York City twenty years ago along with a whole heap of other ancient relics, mostly gold, and mostly from a treasure trove excavated in Upper Egypt. He’s had all of it, including the ring, ever since.”
“Good work, Rich.”
“Thanks.”
“Where does he keep the ring?” Hawke asked.
Eden grimaced. “This is where it gets tricky. As I already said, George Kozlov owns the Castillo, and along with owning it and managing it he also calls it home. The entire top floor is his private residence.”
“Ah.”
“It’s top floor time!” Lexi said.
“Right,” Eden said. “If you want a quick way to think of it, then visualize a sort of private military compound with its own security force of heavily armed men, mostly former Special Forces. Accessed by key-code activated executive lifts and guarded twenty-four-seven, the inner sanctum of Mr Kozlov is probably one of the most secure locations in the United States.”
