Hawk nodded. “We’d be walking by now if we hadn’t.”
He glanced up the side of the mountain, inspecting the sparse cabins nestled up against the hillside. A few of them pumped smoke through chimneys.
“You wonder what would make a person live out in a place like this,” Alex said.
“Maybe these folks just want to get away from it all—and the beach isn’t their thing,” Hawk said.
“Obviously, people aren’t their thing either,” Black said.
“There are days I wouldn’t mind disappearing into the mountains never to be seen or heard from again,” Hawk said. “This job will do that to you.”
They continued along in silence until they reached the spot Alex had designated for them to set up their first reconnaissance mission, which was a side road that hadn’t been plowed. Hawk checked his watch. It was just past 3:00 p.m.
He climbed out of the SUV, his feet sinking in the thick snow as he hit the ground. Traipsing through the powder, he walked around the front and helped Alex out. She glanced around the area, which was marked by a thick mass of tall pines and low-hanging clouds that settled over the top of the forest. A crow sat on a tree overhead and squawked at the trio of intruders.
Hawk looked skyward in the direction of the bird. “You sure you’re going to be all right while we’re gone?”
“I’ll be monitoring you every step of the way,” she said. “Besides, you know I can hold my own. I figured you’d rather have me here so I can come save you when you two get pinned down.”
Black chuckled and pointed his index finger at Alex while looking at Hawk.
“She’s got quite the sense of humor,” Black said. “Don’t let go of her.”
“Maybe I don’t appreciate it as much as I should since I’m usually the butt of her improv comedy routines,” Hawk said.
“Yet you still have to admit that she's hilarious,” Black said.
“Maybe I’ll have her roast you a few times and see how you feel.”
“Wait,” Black said, his mouth falling agape. “The great Brady Hawk has feelings? I thought you were a tough guy. Tough guys don’t have feelings.”
Hawk clenched his fist and shook it at Black. “You’re gonna feel this if you don’t stop. We’re on a reconnaissance mission, remember?”
“How could I forget,” Black said as he climbed on top of a snowmobile and fired up the engine.
Hawk followed suit and backed down the ramp into the soft snow.
“Test, one, two,” he said. “Test, one, two.”
“I’ve got you loud and clear,” Alex said. “I’ve also got several more one-liners for both of you after you get back.”
Hawk sighed as he and Black worked to unload the snowmobiles. Once they were on the ground, the two agents mounted up and rode off. After cruising along for five minutes, Alex gave them directions over the coms.
“You should see a logging road up ahead on your right,” she said. “Turn there and then find a place to pull off and walk the rest of the way in. It’s about a half mile directly northwest through the woods.”
“Roger that,” Hawk said.
Hawk and Black followed Alex’s instructions, pulling their vehicles off to the side and hiding them. They put on snowshoes and slogged their way toward the property.
“Do you really expect to find Walsh here?” Black asked.
“He certainly doesn’t know we’re coming,” Hawk said.
“At least, we think he doesn’t know. There’s no telling how well connected Obsidian is.”
“I’m less concerned about them knowing and more worried that this could be their way to lure us in.”
“If they are, we’re walking in with eyes wide open,” Black said.
“I prefer to storm in with guns blazing.”
“I’m with you, but remember what Blunt said. We need to bring this asshole back alive.”
“Yeah, I know. But that doesn’t change how I feel about what I want to do to him. What would you do if you found those men who killed your father in Iraq?”
“It wouldn’t be legal; I’ll tell you that much. But still, we need Walsh alive.”
“I heard you the first time,” Hawk said.
They trudged along for ten minutes until they reached the edge of a clearing.
“You should be able to see the entrance to the property now,” Alex said.
“We have visual,” Hawk said.
The two agents crouched down in the snow and peered through binoculars at the side of a mountain. There was a forest service road that cut through the parcel of land and disappeared around the bend. But Hawk didn’t see any signs of life or even development.
“I’ve got nothing,” Hawk said as he continued to scan the area.
“Me either,” Black said. “This looks like we were just sent on a wild goose chase.”
Hawk started to get up when he froze after hearing a voice behind him.
“I strongly advise you to keep your hands where I can see them,” a man said. “And please refrain from making any quick movements.”
Hawk raised his hands and slowly turned around to face an armed man in his late forties. He whistled and was joined by four other men, all with their rifles trained on the two agents.
“We’re gonna need you to hand over your weapons,” the man said. “And you’re not gonna need those snowshoes any more either.”
Hawk and Black complied, tossing their guns and shoes onto the ground near the man’s feet.
“Let’s go,” he said. “We’re gonna take a little walk.”
CHAPTER 15
HAWK PLACED HIS HANDS behind his head and felt his wrists burn as one of the men cinched a tie around them. After a jarring jab in the back, Hawk stumbled forward a few feet before regaining his balance. He glanced over at Black, who was receiving the same treatment.
While Alex's silence slightly worried Hawk, he was hoping she was listening to the situation and choosing to remain silent to protect her two fellow agents. He decided to catch her up to speed through a series of questions, tipping off the men's plans as well as the location of their encampment.
“How far north are we going to walk?” Hawk asked. “Do you plan on marching us to Canada?”
“Funny guy,” one of the guards said before using the butt of his rifle to whack Hawk in his ribs.
Hawk moaned as he staggered a few feet and fell down. The guard next to Hawk yanked him to his feet and shoved him forward again.
“Try to stay upright,” the man grumbled. “We don’t have much time.”
“I didn't realize we were in a hurry,” Hawk said, taking note of the tattoo on the guard's arm. Depicted were crossbones and a snake intertwined imposed over a mountain range. “Is someone going to be mad if you don't arrive on time?”
“Just shut your pie hole and keep marching,” the leader said, turning around to glare at Hawk. “You’ll know what you need to know when you need to know it.”
Black shot Hawk a glance. “Nice try.”
Hawk shrugged. “It was worth a shot.”
The leader, who was referred to by his subordinates as Ringo, stopped. “What part of shut your pie hole did you not understand?”
They continued on for another ten minutes, descending into a gulch until they reached the floor. Stopping in front of what appeared to be a craggy rock face, Ringo opened a panel and entered a code. Seconds later, part of the rock swung out, revealing an entryway into the mountainside.
Hawk sighed and looked at Black.
“Maybe we need Alex to rescue us after all,” Black whispered.
They moved through a couple of checkpoints until they reached a cavernous space. The rocky ceiling extended at least ten meters overhead, and the room was warmer than the chilling weather outside thanks to a system of heaters placed around the perimeter of the room. Scores of men scurried around the area, most of them armed with holstered handguns or semi-automatic weapons slung over their shoulders.
Ringo whistl
ed and gestured for another man across the room to come over. He excused himself from a conversation and hustled over.
“What’s going on? Who are these guys?” the man asked.
“Caught them snooping around in the woods, Chief,” Ringo said. “They look like feds.”
Chief stroked his scraggly, graying beard as he eyed Hawk and Black closely. “You sure they’re feds?”
“I didn’t ask them,” Ringo said. “But look at their weapons. They certainly weren’t out hunting game with those guns.”
Chief used his fist to lift up Hawk’s chin. “Are you a fed?”
Hawk shook his head. “No, sir.”
Chief shrugged and looked at Ringo. “See, all you had to do was ask. Now you’ve made a mess out of things since you brought them back here.”
“Brought us back where?” Hawk asked. “I don’t know where I am, nor do I care.”
Chief chuckled and pointed at Hawk. “I like this guy already.”
Everyone nearby broke into laughter before Chief darted behind Hawk and put a knife to his throat.
“I’m only gonna ask you one more time, and this time I want the truth,” Chief said. “Are you two feds?”
“Former Navy SEAL,” Hawk said. “My friend is a mercenary for hire. We’re not looking for you.”
“Just who are you looking for?”
“In my back pocket is a photo of the guy,” Hawk said. “Mack Walsh. Ever heard of heard of him?”
Chief pulled out the picture and studied it for a moment. “Never heard of a Mack Walsh, but I know this guy. His name is Billy Youngblood.”
“You bounty hunters?” Ringo asked.
Hawk nodded. “More or less. I promise you that we’re not here to make any trouble with you and whatever this is.”
Chief nodded at one of his underlings, the gesture understood. A knife ripped through the bindings, releasing Hawk and Black. They both rubbed their wrists and thanked the man for cutting them loose.
“So, can you help us find him?” Hawk asked.
“Normally, we keep to ourselves around here and wouldn’t rat any locals out, no matter what they were doing,” Chief said. “But Billy Youngblood isn’t from around here. I wouldn’t mind seeing less of him in these parts.”
“He has a mountain?” Black asked.
“That’s how we refer to it, but some corporation somewhere bought it years ago. Youngblood just manages it, so to speak. He oversaw all the construction there five or six years ago. Beyond that, I don’t really know much. People don’t take too kindly to others sticking their noses where they don’t belong. We just leave each other alone, and we all get along just fine.”
“But Youngblood is different?” Hawk asked.
Chief shrugged. “He’s just not one of us, and I have no idea what he’s really about. However, if you’re looking for him, it appears he’s up to no good.”
“You could say that,” Hawk said.
“Ringo, give these gentlemen their weapons back,” Chief said. “We don’t want any trouble around here, especially with no bounty hunters.”
“But, Chief,” Ringo protested, “they’ve been to our lair now and they could—”
“It’s all your fault anyway, but I don’t think they’re going to report us to anybody, now are you?”
Hawk shook his head. “Report what to who?”
Chief laughed. “These guys get it. We don’t need to trouble them any longer. Ringo, why don’t you escort them out?”
Black held up his index finger. “Before we go, you mentioned that Youngblood oversaw some construction on his mountain. You got any idea what he was building?”
“Not really,” Chief said. “Just lots of big trucks streaming materials in and out every day for about six months. The place is guarded like a fortress now, though I’m not sure anybody’s ever come around looking for it—until now.”
“A fortress?” Hawk asked.
“You best be careful around there,” Chief said. “I’d keep a safe distance if I were you and stay on this side of the river. I doubt you’d get the same kind of reception you got here. In fact, I’d guarantee it.”
CHAPTER 16
A GUARD ESCORTED HAWK and Black outside to the perimeter of the property and handed them their snowshoes. He nodded at them before turning and walking away. The two operatives strapped on their shoes, and Hawk hailed Alex on his coms.
“That was close,” she said. “What the hell was that?”
“As far as I can tell, they were some militia group,” Hawk said.
“They let you off easily from what I could hear.”
“I’d say we were fortunate,” Hawk said. “Apparently, they aren’t very fond of Mack Walsh—or Billy Youngblood, as they known him.”
“But the good news is we now know exactly where he is and how to get there,” Black said. “And we also know that this isn’t some ragtag outpost either.”
“Oh?” Alex said. “That must’ve been the part where I couldn’t hear much of what was going on.”
“Yeah,” Black continued, “there was some major construction happening that nobody around here knows much about.”
“We’ve got a lot to discuss then,” she said. “Get back here as soon as possible, and let’s regroup for tomorrow. You don’t have much daylight left.”
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING, the team returned to the area, this time parking much closer to the edge of Walsh’s property. After considering all the intel gleaned from the militia group, the team decided to deploy a drone to get a closer look.
“It won’t be long before we’re all replaced by drones,” Hawk said as he huddled over Alex’s left shoulder to get a look at the image transmitted back to her computer.
Black, who was standing to Alex’s right, flexed his bicep. “They’ll never be able to replace these.”
Alex shot him a sideways glance. “Wanna bet? If there are combat ready drones, I can guarantee you they won’t charge in when they shouldn’t.”
“That hurts, Alex. I thought all was forgiven.”
“Forgiven, but not forgotten,” she said with a wink.
The drone wove through the forest, hovering smoothly above the snow-coated vegetation. After a couple minutes, the device entered an area far less dense with charred pine remnant emerging from the ground like spikes.
“What happened here?” Alex wondered aloud.
“It looks like there was a fire at some point,” Hawk said.
Alex pointed at the screen and rotated the camera. “Look at this though. It’s almost a perfect circle, like it was a controlled burn.”
“Or an explosion,” Black said.
“Freaky,” Alex said before navigating the drone out of the area.
A couple minutes later, the drone wound along the river and came within several hundred meters of where Chief had said the edge of Walsh’s property was. Then the camera started to flash in and out.
“What’s going on?” Hawk asked.
Alex scowled as she hammered away on her keyboard. “I’m not sure. Everything is functioning correctly as far as I can tell.”
“Well, something’s not right,” Hawk said.
“We’re getting some kind of interference,” she said. “It’s like there’s an electromagnetic field that’s disrupting everything.”
A few seconds later, the camera blinked and then went completely black.
“We lost the signal,” Alex said.
“Well, we need to get closer than that,” Hawk said.
“And we can’t leave a drone lying just outside the entrance to the hideout,” Black added. “If they find it, we’ll lose the element of surprise.”
“If we still have it,” Alex said. “How do you know that those militiamen weren't playing you yesterday?”
“We don’t,” Hawk said, “but when I looked at Chief’s face when he was talking about the man he knows as Billy Youngblood, the contempt was genuine. You just can’t fake that.”
“In
that case, you boys better suit up,” she said. “The mountain awaits you.”
* * *
HAWK AFFIXED A BODY CAM to the strap on his pack and turned the device on before heading out with Black.
“Can you hear me?” Hawk asked over his coms.
“Loud and clear,” Alex said.
“Good. We’re going to get your drone back and figure out what’s going on here.”
“I don’t like it, Hawk.”
“I know,” he said. “I can tell you’re apprehensive about this mission. What’s going on?”
“I don’t know. I just can’t shake this bad feeling I have. These people we’re dealing with, they’re—” She stopped abruptly, suspending her thought.
“They’re what?” Hawk asked. “Is everything all right?”
“Yeah,” she said slowly, “everything is fine. I just got chills thinking about what might happen if we don’t stop these people.”
“We’ll stop them. Don’t worry,” Hawk said as he turned and looked at Black. “You’ve got two of the best agents on the case.”
Black chuckled. “You've got the second best agent and me. You're in luck.”
“You better be as good as advertised,” Alex said. “This is your chance to prove it.”
Hawk and Black moved along the same path as the drone, reaching the charred area and forging ahead without taking too much time to examine it. Black surveyed the damage and nodded.
“This was definitely an explosion,” he said. “No doubt about it.”
A few minutes later, they arrived at the spot where the drone started to go on the blink.
“There’s the drone,” Hawk said.
Alex gave a celebratory whoop. “Hopefully it’s not fried.”
“I’ll let you be the judge of that,” Hawk said as he knelt down and picked it up. “Are you getting this?”
No reply.
“Alex, are you there?”
Nothing—except a screeching noise in his ear from the coms. He backed up a few meters before speaking again.
“Alex?” he tried again. “Are you there?”
“Oh, there you are,” she said. “You went out for a moment, just like the drone.”
“Well, I can’t see much of anything new from here,” he said. “But there’s definitely something inside that mountain. And we’re going to need to get a little closer to check it out some more.”
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