Young stood before making another lunge at Sinclair, but he grabbed the American president’s arms and flung him back down to the ground.
Sinclair paced around Young while Karelin took in the scene from the corner.
“Now,” Sinclair said, “you can continue to attempt to solve this with physical violence, which I can assure you won’t end well for you. Or you can walk out of here a free man and retain your power and position as the leader of one of the largest countries on Earth.”
“What’s the catch?” Young asked.
“There is no catch, as it were. There’s simply the agreement that you will discuss all major decisions with me moving forward and heed my advice, even if it contradicts what your other advisors say. If not, I will unleash some of my weapons upon you—and you’ll be powerless to stop them. Meanwhile, your war hawks will urge you to strike back at the Russians, but any such attempt will be swatted down by my defense system they own. Do you comprehend what I’m saying here?”
“I’d never agree to anything of the sort,” Young said. “That’s treason and would cause me to break the oath I pledged to fulfill in front of the American people.”
Sinclair turned toward the screen and clicked the remote. An image of Madeline Young appeared. She was clad in a bathing suit and straw hat, relaxing poolside.
“Would you like to see her again?” Sinclair asked. “Would you like to live?”
“That’s not her,” Young said with a growl. “This ploy won’t work on me.”
“Oh, it’s very much her. She’s even reading her favorite author right now, Jodi Picoult. If you’d like, I can even get her to speak.”
“That’s a recording. I’m not stupid.”
“If it’s not a live video, could I get the person filming it to do this?” Sinclair asked before he pulled out his phone and texted a message. Seconds later, the man capturing the footage placed a newspaper up in front of the camera, showing the day’s date.
“Neat trick,” Young said. “I’m still not falling for it.”
“I’m not asking you to fall for anything. The fact that your wife was scuttled away before the bomb hit the White House isn’t something that’s up for debate. But I can lessen the impending consequences upon your return to Washington if you simply allow me to be a part of your administration, a virtual cabinet member, if you will. I need an answer now because I’m running out of time to help you.”
“It’s too late for that. You’re going to attack Washington anyway—and not even you can stop those missiles.”
Sinclair shrugged. “You can blame Al Fatihin—and I’ll help you capture Evana Bahar. In fact, I’ll help you capture a dozen of the most wanted terrorists in the world. What do you have to lose?”
Young sighed and looked at the ground. He didn’t say a word as the seconds ticked past.
“I need an answer now,” Sinclair said.
CHAPTER 29
HAWK AND ALEX HELD their ground for the next minute, fending off a growing number of guards. As Hawk scanned the area in between shots, he estimated there were now eight of Sinclair’s men firing at his position from around the room. Hawk looked into his bag and realized he wasn’t going to be able to withstand the assault much longer.
“Mia, are you still there?” he asked over the coms.
“Still here,” she said. “Are you ready for me?”
“Almost. Can you tell where we are in the basement?”
“Yeah, I can see you on my screen.”
“Okay,” he said. “Can you disable the elevator and initiate a lockdown?”
“I’m still connected,” she said. “All of the buildings functions were on a different system than the mainframe, so I’ve got access to the doors, gates, elevators, and security cameras in the facility.”
“I’ll give you the go-ahead when we’re clear.”
“Copy that,” she said.
Hawk grabbed two smoke bombs out of his pack and opened the canisters before rolling them in the direction of the hostiles. When the smoke was sufficient to provide cover, he crouched low, shielding Alex as they hustled toward the elevator. Once they cross the threshold, they put their backs to the wall and pushed the button for the ground floor. Bullets peppered the elevator as the door closed, denting the aluminum. The moment they started to rise, he raised Mia on the coms.
“Commence the lockdown,” he said.
“Got it,” she said.
“I’ll let you know once we’re off the elevator so you can decommission it as well. That’ll buy us enough time to get out of here.”
Mia sighed, and Hawk immediately sensed something was wrong.
“What is it, Mia?” he asked.
“Well, I thought I should let you know that the coordinates I set for the missiles appear to have locked in,” she said.
“That’s great,” Alex said. “Good work.”
Mia groaned. “Uh, about that. You see, there’s a slight problem.”
“Spit it out, Mia,” Hawk said.
“The coordinates I entered are for the facility.”
“Which facility?” Hawk asked.
“The one you’re in.”
Hawk cursed as he looked at Alex and shook his head. “You do realize the President of the United States is in this building? Why wouldn’t you just drop them harmlessly somewhere else, like the ocean?”
“I wasn’t about to let this monster continue what he’s doing,” Mia said. “Besides, weren’t you going to rescue the president anyway?”
“Well, he has his own Secret Service detail, so we figured he’d be fine once the threat was mitigated,” Hawk said. “But I guess that’s not the case anymore.”
“Nor does President Young have any Secret Service members to help him,” Mia said.
Hawk scowled. “What do you mean?”
“The security cameras show that all of the men who were with the president are knocked out in another room, their bodies piled on top of one another.”
“Are they dead?” Alex asked.
“I’m not sure,” Mia said. “I don’t see any blood in the room. I’m just assuming they got knocked out by some kind of gas or injection.”
Hawk sighed. “How many are there?”
“Four.”
“Damn it,” Hawk said. “How much time do we have?”
“At their current rate of speed, the missiles should strike the compound in just under ten minutes.”
Hawk set his watch. “Roger that. Be ready to help the moment I ask for it—and we’ll have a talk about this when we get back.”
“I apologize for throwing a kink in your plan, but that would be a small sacrifice compared to what Sinclair plans to do to the world. And I think you would agree.”
“We’ll try to clean up your mess,” Hawk said, “but I’m not happy about this. This is not how we operate.”
Mia didn’t say anything. Hawk muted his mic, and Alex followed suit.
“Can you believe this?” he asked.
“Don’t blame me,” she said, throwing her hands in the air.
“I’m not. I know this is what we get for bringing someone like her onboard. This would’ve been a much bigger disaster if we hadn’t. But now, we don’t have much time.”
“We can still do this,” she said.
“I hope you’re right.”
The elevator came to a stop, and outside was an eerie silence. Hawk nodded knowingly at Alex as she clutched the gun in her right hand, her left arm bloodied from the earlier encounter. He was worried that she wasn’t up for the task.
“Are you okay?” he whispered.
“I’m great. Now let’s get Young and get the hell off this island.”
The doors slid open. Hawk and Alex didn’t move.
After a pregnant pause, a hail of bullets poured inside.
CHAPTER 30
A MAN POKED HIS HEAD through the open door in Sinclair’s control room. He glanced at his watch and then looked at Young, who still hadn’t uttered a word. S
inclair marched over to his assistant to find out why he needed to be bothered yet again.
“This better be good,” Sinclair said.
“Actually, I wish I had better news, but this is really urgent.”
“Spit it out.”
“Those missiles aren’t headed to Washington, D.C., anymore.”
Sinclair smiled. “Excellent. That’ll give us time to figure things out. How is this possibly bad news?”
“They’re headed straight for us.”
“What?”
The man nodded. “We have less than eight minutes to evacuate the premises before impact.”
Sinclair gritted his teeth and scanned the room. He’d planned for plenty of things, but this wasn’t one of them. He needed to think, but there wasn’t any time.
“Get everyone out of here,” Sinclair said. “I’ll handle this myself.”
“But, sir, the American spy—”
“Where is he?”
“Last I heard they were still in the basement.”
Sinclair nodded. “I’ll lock the doors. Now run along and make sure nobody is left in the building.”
“Should I make an announcement?”
“No. Call the department heads. Keep it quiet. If the American operative is still in the building, he’ll be buried under the rubble with it, eliminating another problem for me.”
“Yes, sir.”
Sinclair closed the door and locked it so he wouldn’t be bothered again.
“What’s happening?” Karelin asked.
Sinclair ignored him. “I need a decision, President Young. Do you want to see your wife again? Do you want to save face, maybe even retain your position of power? If you do, say so right now, and I’ll make it all happen.”
Young took a deep breath and turned to face Sinclair. “I’m rejecting your offer. If my wife truly is alive and was involved in the White House explosion, she’s betrayed both me and her country—and I don’t want anything to do with her.”
Sinclair clucked his tongue, shaking his head. “That’s a shame, Mr. President. We could’ve been a great team. But next time I see you, if you’re still alive, you’ll probably be speaking Russian.”
“Right now, I have some choice French words for you,” Young said. “And I won’t be begging for your pardon either when I say them.”
Their conversation came to an abrupt end when the sound of gunshots echoed in the corridor just outside the room.
“Why is there shooting outside?” Karelin asked.
“It’s nothing to concern yourself with,” Sinclair said. “You’re coming with me.”
Young scowled. “You’re just going to leave me here?”
Sinclair nodded. “I have no use for you anymore. How do you Americans say it, ‘You’ve made your bed. Now lie in it’?”
The fighting outside the door grew louder and more furious.
CHAPTER 31
HAWK AND ALEX WAITED UNTIL the initial burst of bullets stopped. The door started to close when Hawk released his last smoke bomb, rolling it out into the hallway. The shooting restarted, forcing Hawk and Alex to stay hidden. Just as the two doors were about to meet, Hawk pressed the button, reopening them.
He stayed low, dashing to the right. Alex, who’d been on the opposite side of the elevator, followed after. They took cover behind what appeared to be a receptionist’s desk.
“You still there, Mia?” Hawk asked after activating his microphone on his coms.
“What do you need?” she asked.
“Keep the elevator doors open, and I need you to tell me how to get to Young.”
“You might need some help,” she said. “There are four Secret Service men and four Russian security officers locked in a room a few meters down the hallway on your right. I saw a man lock up their weapons in a closet at the back.”
“Roger that,” Hawk said.
He crept down the corridor with Alex, and then they came to the room she’d directed them to. Once he opened the door, he found the men inside, just as she described. They were gagged and bound to chairs with ropes. Hawk explained the situation as he and Alex hustled around to each man, freeing them. Then Hawk repeated himself in Russian.
“We have seven minutes to retrieve our respective presidents and get out of here before a missile strikes this compound,” Hawk said. “Does everyone understand?”
Heads bobbed, conveying that they realized the urgency of the situation.
Upon fetching all of their weapons, Hawk had the U.S. and Russian agents split up to attack the Obsidian guards. Meanwhile, he and Alex circumvented the main area, utilizing a back hallway that Mia had found to get them to Young unimpeded.
“Mia, we’re almost there,” Hawk said. “Are you ready?”
“Just give me the signal,” she said.
They eased around the corner but jumped back when an unarmed man came hustling straight toward their position. Hawk pushed Alex back toward a doorway nook in the shadows and waited for the stranger to pass. Once he was gone, Hawk gestured to Alex to continue.
A few seconds later, they were standing outside the door.
“We’re here,” Hawk said.
“I’m opening the doors now,” Mia said.
Fifteen seconds passed, and nothing happened.
Hawk checked his watch. Only five minutes remained before impact.
“What’s going on? Why isn’t anything happening?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I’m doing the same thing I did every other time.”
Alex pointed at the facial recognition box. “This entrance requires facial recognition. Do you think that could be it?”
“Maybe,” Mia said. “I don’t know. I just know that whatever I was doing before isn’t working now.”
Hawk stepped back and surveyed the area. The opaque glass prevented him from seeing whatever was taking place inside. He could make out at least two silhouetted figures moving around the room, but nothing more.
“Think this glass is bulletproof?” Hawk asked.
Alex shrugged. “There’s only way to find out.”
He stepped back and fired a shot at the glass. It spidered, and then he kicked at it with his foot. As he did, a bullet came from inside the room.
Hawk jumped back, avoiding getting hit. Almost all the glass burst out and spread across the floor. He peered around the edge and saw Sinclair wielding a gun.
“Hold tight,” Hawk said, easing back and then looking at Alex. “Sinclair’s armed.”
Hawk trained his weapon in front of him and moved around the now open door. He locked eyes with Sinclair as he jammed the nozzle of his pistol into Young’s head.
“That’s far enough,” Sinclair said. “You make another move, and I’m going to put a bullet in your president’s head.”
Hawk didn’t flinch. “You’ll do no such thing. If I see your trigger finger even twitch, you’ll be dead before you can fire. This is the end of the line, Sinclair.”
“You must be the infamous Brady Hawk,” Sinclair said.
Hawk wasn’t in the mood for flattery and didn’t budge.
“I managed to co-opt your boss, but I underestimated you,” Sinclair said. “I should’ve had my men deal more severely with you when you first appeared on our radar.”
“We all have regrets,” Hawk said, refusing to inquire about Sinclair’s revelation regarding Blunt. “Now, just send President Young over to me unless you want to die.”
Perspiration streamed down Young’s face, his eyes full of fear. A few feet to Sinclair’s right stood the Russian president, whose hands were raised in a gesture of surrender.
“I don’t want to hurt anybody,” Sinclair said. “But I will if you don’t back away.”
“You’re not the one calling the shots here, mate,” Hawk said with a sneer. “You back away from the president and drop your weapon before I put a hole in your head.”
Sinclair tightened his grip on Young, eliciting a moan from the president. “I don’t
think you’re fast enough, so here’s how this is going to go down. I’m backing out this door with President Karelin, and when I’m gone, you can have your gutless president. But don’t try to come after me. You’ll regret it.”
Alarms sounded in the building, whooping a warning. A robotic woman’s voice made an announcement. “Everyone, please exit the building immediately. You have one minute to evacuate the premises.”
Sinclair edged toward the door, still holding Young. Hawk wanted to take a shot, but he realized the risk was too great. The Australian billionaire wasn’t to be reasoned with and appeared mentally unstable given the stakes of the situation.
Sinclair edged backward, taking baby steps as he went. When he reached the door on the far side of the room, he forced it open with his back, urging Karelin to go first. Once they were both almost inside, Sinclair shoved Young forward. He stumbled and then slid headfirst along the floor. The door clicked behind Sinclair as he peered through the small glass slit before darting off.
Hawk and Alex hustled over to help Young to his feet.
“Are you all right, Mr. President?” Hawk asked.
“I’m better now,” Young said.
Hawk ushered Young toward the door. “Well, we need to get out of here right now.”
“Hawk! Alex!” Mia’s voice crackled on the coms. “You don’t have a second to lose.”
Hawk hustled toward the door, talking as he went. “What do you mean?”
“Sinclair just initiated a self-destruct sequence,” Mia said. “You have ninety seconds to get out of that building before it implodes. It’s going to hit before the missiles get there.”
“We’ve gotta go now,” Hawk said, gesturing for the president to move.
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