Assembled in the living room were three men, all sitting upright on a long couch. They all stiffened when Sinclair sat down across from them in a wicker chair.
“So, gentlemen,” Sinclair said, pausing to take another sip of his drink, “where do we stand right now with the rollout?”
The man on the left side of the sofa glanced at his notes before answering. “Over a hundred smart homes—”
“Freedom Homes, Richard,” Sinclair corrected. “Let’s call them by their correct name. We wouldn’t want to slip up and say a generic name like that in public, would we?”
“Of course not, sir,” Richard said. “Over a hundred Freedom Homes have been constructed throughout the U.S. and another hundred existing homes have been retrofitted in various locations throughout Europe.”
“Excellent,” Sinclair said. “You’ve made incredible progress, especially considering how you’ve also continued to keep the space program on track. Before long, we’ll be ushering people from their Freedom Homes and into our shuttles headed for the last great frontier in our universe.”
He turned his attention to the burly man seated in the center. With a shaved head and a dragon tattoo on his right forearm, the man named Rocky leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees.
“Where are we with the girl?” Sinclair asked.
“We’re still searching for her,” Rocky said.
“What’s taking so long?”
“Unfortunately, our contacts have been unable to yield any results,” Rocky said. “Apparently, her location is being protected.”
Sinclair cocked his head to one side and furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”
“She has disappeared, withdrawn from the university she was attending and has vanished. None of her friends know what happened to her.”
“And her parents?”
“Her father is dead, but her mother is a ghost. No record of her anywhere.”
“Keep looking for anything you can find on her,” Sinclair said. “We need to have all the leverage possible at our disposal in case we run into any problems with her uncle.”
“I understand,” Rocky said. “Our men will find her. I’ll give you an update when they do.”
The men discussed a few other business details, most of which bored Sinclair. When they were finally finished, he dismissed the group before descending the steps outside. He strode across the patio leading to his infinity pool. After a deep breath, a smile washed over his face as he kicked off his shoes and then sat down next to a bikini-clad woman.
“It’s a little bit cold for that, isn’t it?” Sinclair asked with a wry grin.
Madeline Young shrugged without looking up from her copy of Vogue magazine. “Live through a handful of winters in Washington and then tell me if you still think this weather should be considered mild.”
“Makes no difference to me,” Sinclair said. “I just hope you’re not trying to impress me.”
“I wouldn’t dare think of doing such a thing.”
“Good,” Sinclair said before leaning over and planting a kiss on her cheek. “I was smitten from the first time I saw you.”
She looked up and cast him a sideways glance before patting him on the hand. “You keep working on your charm, babe. All those other women fawned over you for your money. After being married to the most powerful man in the world, you’ll have to do more than just throw money at me to keep me here and win me over.”
“You were married to the most powerful man in the world, and you left him for me,” Sinclair said. “That ought to tell you something. Besides, I am about to become the most powerful man in the world, supplanting your former husband.”
“Power and money aren’t everything. You’ll have to make a sincere effort if you want me. I’m not keen on playing games with anyone.”
Sinclair chuckled. “You are certainly spry, dear. But don’t you worry. I’m not in short supply of my manly magic.”
Madeline rolled her eyes. “Can a storm just sweep me off this island and out to sea? You’re so bad at this.”
Sinclair hopped to his feet and spread his arms out wide, spinning around as he continued. “How can you appreciate all of this and not fall in love with the man who made it all happen?”
Madeline mindlessly flipped a few pages in her magazine. “You’ll have to do better to woo me. You’ll either figure it out or you won’t. But all the riches or power or fame or exotic locations in the world won’t sway me.”
“What about all of them together on top of a sensitive man with dashing good looks and a witty personality?”
She looked up at him with a faint smile. “When you find someone like that, please introduce me.”
Sinclair huffed as he eased into his flip-flops and started toward the house. “Just be ready when the time comes. I have a feeling we’re going to need you.”
CHAPTER 5
Tangier, Morocco
BLUNT CROSSED HIS ARMS as he scanned the choppy water in the Strait of Gibraltar. He removed his sunglasses and then rubbed the lenses against his shirt, clearing off a few smudges.
“All better now?” asked Mia, the Phoenix Foundation’s latest addition to the team.
Blunt bit down hard on his cigar and shook his head slowly. “You can never be prepared for a screwup of this magnitude. To be honest, I might be all better if I just took a flying leap off this balcony onto the rocks below.”
Mia cautiously leaned forward and looked down at the shore. Blunt had studied the landscape often while he’d spent time trying to sort out a challenging dilemma: jagged stones haphazardly piled on top of one another absorbed the lashing of one wave right after another. From a hundred feet, the view from the veranda appeared serene. But underneath them, a battle was being waged on the rocks, the exact opposite of peaceful.
She turned to face him. “You’d be lucky to survive a fall like that.”
Blunt grunted. “And I’ll be lucky to survive this situation once the president is done with me. This could lead to a sustained conflict in the Middle East, possibly even war, if things escalate.”
“Not to mention, it’s an election year,” Mia said.
“Yeah, thanks for reminding me. That all but assures Noah Young will have my head.”
Mia cocked her head to one side. “I thought you two got along famously.”
Blunt shrugged. “It’s politics. You can be useful allies, but the moment you become a liability for someone with more power than you, they cut you loose.”
“But don’t you know where all the bodies are buried?”
“That doesn’t do you much good when you’re the one who dug the graves and put the bodies in them,” Blunt said. “And President Young knows it. We’ll just have to see how he plays this, but this is undeniably a major snafu that won’t be fixed through diplomacy or financial reparations. Someone will lose their job over this.”
“And you’re that convinced it’s going to be you?”
“Unless you can help me prove otherwise. Our team was just doing its job out there, but this is a colossal mistake, the kind Hawk would never make.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” came another woman’s voice.
Blunt turned to see Alex striding toward them on the veranda with Hawk not far behind.
“Wouldn't be sure about what?” Mia asked.
Alex chuckled. “That Hawk couldn’t make a mistake. I’ve been trying to get him for two years to get the toilet paper to roll over the top, yet he insists on having it roll off the backside.”
Mia shook her head and clucked her tongue. “You’re a better woman than I am. I think I would’ve divorced a man who committed such an offense.”
Hawk placed his hands on the ledge, his face stoic as he stared out across the water.
“What’s wrong?” Blunt asked.
“I wish I could join in the fun here,” Hawk began, “but I can’t help but think that I ruined a man’s life today. Not only that, I devastated an entire family. Omar Eb
adi was one of the good guys. And I mean that in the sincerest of ways. He was trying to reform a broken system from within. And like that, he’s gone.”
The smile disappeared off Alex’s face. “That’s who we were tasked with killing. It wasn’t your fault.”
“I pulled the trigger, didn’t I?” Hawk scoffed. “I’d say it was a hundred percent my fault that he’s dead now. I doubt his loved ones care about the distinction. And quite frankly, neither do I. Ebadi was championing the presence of U.S. troops in rural areas to hold the Taliban at bay. Yet here we were, picking him off like it was target practice.”
“I don’t know who was behind this, but we received the wrong intel,” Alex said, turning toward Blunt. “And in this case, someone lost their life over it. I’m mad as hell about it, too, but there’s not much we do about it now, except find out who’s responsible and why.”
“The sonofabitch who did this needs to pay,” Hawk said.
“I agree,” Blunt said as he gnawed on his cigar. “The problem is we don’t have much time. The president is undoubtedly irate about this whole incident, one that leaves him red-faced, particularly when he was making so much progress in the Middle East.”
Blunt gestured toward the house. The team picked up on his clue and headed inside. They all took seats surrounding an oval dining room table.
“So, how are we going to handle this?” Alex asked. “Want me to dig into the intel we received and see who gave faulty information to us?”
Blunt leaned back in his chair and tapped his forefinger to his lips. “I think I want Mia to look into that, though I think that’s something that’s best uncovered from the outside.”
A faint smile spread across Mia’s lips. “You mean, I get to hack into the CIA database?”
He nodded. “That’s exactly what I mean. And I want you to figure out who was behind it, or, at the very least, figure out when this switch in intel occurred. How close did it happen to when we were assigned this mission.”
“Roger that,” Mia said.
“So, where does that leave us?” Alex asked.
“We’ve got other problems we need to deal with, one that might save us from the full force of President Young’s wrath,” Blunt said.
“Such as …” Hawk said.
“Such as Falcon Sinclair,” Blunt said as Mia pushed a pair of folders toward Hawk and Alex. “I’ve had Mia working up some of Sinclair’s acquaintances, some people who might be able to give us more insight into what Sinclair might be up to and what his endgame is with everything he’s doing.”
“I can get behind that,” Alex said while perusing her documents. “Is this who you want us to start with?”
Blunt leaned toward her, craning his neck to see. “Ah, yes, that’s the one. It’s Cameron Daniels.”
“What do we know about him?” Alex asked.
Mia sat upright in her chair. “Daniels and Sinclair were partners a few years ago in the space venture that was in development. But Sinclair bought out Daniels in a very underhanded move to gain complete control of the company—and the shares. Daniels seems like he’s still pretty bitter about it, if his past few public interviews are any indication of how he feels about his former cohort.”
“This ought to be interesting,” Alex said.
“Indeed,” Blunt said. “He’s living in a Swiss chalet, so I hope you two are up for a little trip to the Alps.”
“Always,” Alex said.
“Daniels is very private and won’t be easy to get to,” Blunt said. “His home is protected with a state of the art security system, and he won’t talk to the press, so you’ll have to figure out some way to get to him, maybe one that doesn’t draw the attention of the local authorities.”
Hawk remained silent as he scanned the pages. After a few moments, his head bobbed up, a scowl on his forehead.
“What is it, Hawk?” Blunt asked.
“Screw this Sinclair guy,” Hawk said. “I want to go after whoever messed with the intel that led me to kill the wrong man.”
“In due time,” Blunt said. “We’ll take care of that. But if we don’t give Young some good news, it may not matter much. He’s going to be coming for us, that much I’m certain of. Without anyone to scapegoat yet, he’s going to want to give the media a whipping boy. And I’m the most likely candidate.”
“Let’s hope you’re wrong,” Alex said.
Blunt’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He dismissed everyone before finally answering the familiar number.
The moment he answered, a woman came on the line. “Please hold for the President of the United States.”
After a brief pause, Noah Young started speaking.
“Hello, J.D.,” the president said in a chilly tone.
“Good morning, Mr. President,” Blunt said. “What can I do for you today?”
“Probably not anything ever again, except get your ass back to Washington. We need to have a conversation … and it needs to be conducted face to face.”
CHAPTER 6
Saas-Almagell, Switzerland
HAWK SHIFTED DOWN as he wound around the road leading up to the estate of Cameron Daniels located in an exclusive enclave in the Swiss Alps. He stomped on the gas while easing out of a curve. Tilting his head down, he looked over the top of his sunglasses at Alex. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention toward the craggy mountain peaks in the distance.
“Do you think we’re in a BMW commercial here?” she asked.
“We could be,” he said, accelerating out of another s-turn. “Beautiful woman in a sexy sports car with her hunky husband and—”
“You should’ve just stopped at beautiful woman,” she said.
He shrugged. “Of course, but they’re still trying to sell automobiles.”
“Exactly. All they need is a woman behind the wheel.”
Hawk slowed down and pulled onto the shoulder. He dangled the keys in front of her. “Would you like to drive?”
Alex grinned. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Moments later, the couple had switched places. Alex burned rubber as she started, speeding along a straightaway before reaching a tight curve.
“So much for the surprise entrance,” Hawk said.
“Beautiful woman in a racy car? I think we’ll be just fine.”
They zipped past a man laboring up the hill on his bike. A few minutes later, she took a hard left turn, veering up to a gate.
“Now what are you gonna do?” Hawk asked.
Alex revved the engine several times.
He shook his head. “Don’t even think about it. This is a rental, and I didn’t buy insurance.”
She cast him a sideways glance. “Why not? You know we always wreck these things or at least get them shot up.”
“I thought we were just driving up here to have a nice conversation with Cameron Daniels, not get into a shootout with him. Besides, it’s not like he has a legion of bodyguards waiting to shoot us if we make one wrong move.”
“At least, not that we know of.”
Hawk huffed. “Look, I don’t care how hard you drive this thing, just don’t get us in a wreck. I’d rather not go through that fifth circle of hell.”
“You doubt my abilities, don’t you?”
“Honey, you know I think the world of you. But the problem is we’re in front of a thick, locked gate and—”
Without warning, the gate swung open slowly, allowing them access to the neighborhood.
With his mouth gaping, Hawk stared wide-eyed. “What the—”
She glanced at him and winked before holding up a small black box. “Works every time.”
“What is that thing?”
“It’s a special automatic opener,” she said. “This bad boy reads the gate and then determines the universal code before entering it in. A matter of seconds later, it’s flinging open for the world to see.”
His eyebrows shot upward. “Impressive.”
“Well, as much as I’d like to take credit for this,�
�� Alex said as she held up a small black box, “Mia made this for me.”
Hawk gestured toward the road. “Take us in, Number One.”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “You know how much I hate Star Trek.”
“I hear there’s a Bollywood knockoff version that might interest you.”
“No,” Alex replied curtly. “Not even Bollywood can save us from that sci-fi disaster.”
“Now you’re just trying to press my buttons.”
She gave him a coy look before revving the engine and roaring inside.
Alex pulled up to the curb in front of Daniels’s house. Hawk leaned forward, attempting to peer inside.
“There doesn’t appear to be anyone home,” he said.
“That shouldn’t be surprising,” Alex said. “Daniels’s wife left him after he decided to part ways with Falcon Sinclair. According to one article I read, she was pissed that he made such a stupid decision. They could’ve been multi-billionaires instead of just raking in a nine-figure salary every year.”
“Priorities,” Hawk said.
They both sat there for a few seconds before a man rolled up on a bike. He darted toward the garage. After pulling inside, he put up his bicycle on a rack hanging from the ceiling before striding toward them. Daniels wore a tight-fitting pair of shorts and a shirt that accentuated his bulging chest.
“By the way he’s walking, I think he wants to fight,” Hawk said, opening his door and climbing out.
“Honey, be nice,” Alex said. “I doubt he really wants to start something.”
Hawk heard her, but he wasn’t interested in taking her advice.
If this requires some hand-to-hand combat, I’m ready for it.
“Hello,” Daniels said. “What’s this all about?”
He gestured toward Hawk and Alex’s car.
“We use this new-fangled mechanical contraption to get around these days,” Hawk said. “Perhaps, you should try one. You wouldn’t be nearly as winded after returning to your house each time.”
Daniels chuckled. “Believe me, if I could figure out a way to stay in shape that didn’t involve overexerting myself up these Alpine mountains, I’d do it. But the truth is, it’s not that easy. Gotta tax different muscle groups to beef up.”
Final Strike (A Brady Hawk Novel Book 21) Page 3
