Final Strike (A Brady Hawk Novel Book 21)

by R. J. Patterson

“Do it,” Hawk said. “Blunt acted like this was urgent.”

  In less than fifteen minutes, Sterling helped Hawk and Alex transfer the balance of the Phoenix Foundation’s funds into a series of accounts in the British Isles. Sterling suggested they spread them out as a way of muddying the money trail.

  “They’re going follow the money,” Hawk said. “That phrase has become so popular in America that I think more people know that than they do the opening line of the Declaration of Independence.”

  Sterling shrugged. “Maybe that’s why your entire nation consumes conspiracy novels like they’re sweets.”

  “Or maybe it’s because the American people are tired of getting lied to and have seen so many conspiracies that they can easily spot them,” Alex countered.

  “You have a point,” Sterling said.

  “We also have sufficient funds to pursue Sinclair right now, thanks to you,” Hawk said. “But that’s not going to do us any good if we don’t get a move on.”

  “Before we go anywhere, we also need to dispose of all the electronics issued to us,” she said. “And while I hate this for you, Sterling, this apartment is likely compromised.”

  “It’s part of the job,” Sterling said. “I do have another place in Paris. It’s far less comfortable, but it’s a warm place to lay our heads while we make an attempt to solve what our next move should be.”

  “Isn’t that already apparent enough?” Hawk asked.

  Sterling cocked his head to one side and studied Hawk for a moment. “So apparent that … I’m not sure what you’re talking about?”

  “We need to find Sinclair,” Alex said as Hawk nodded to her reply.

  “I don’t think that’s the wisest decision right now,” Sterling said.

  “And why not?” Hawk asked.

  “He knows we’re coming for him, so we lose the element of surprise, which I’m convinced we’ll need to bring him down,” Sterling said. “I had that before you stumbled right into the middle of my operation.”

  “Okay, guys,” Alex said. “Let’s not dissolve this partnership before it gets off the ground. But you’re both right. We need to go after him, but we don’t need to go in guns ablazin’.”

  “Then what do you suggest?” Sterling asked.

  Alex strode over to the table and picked up a copy of that day’s newspaper. She flipped the pages until she reached an article with a headline that read: “Way of the Future: Sinclair to Offer a Glimpse of How the World Will Live at Smart Symposium.”

  “I’m not sure I follow,” Sterling said.

  “There’s a Smart Symposium and Exhibit that’s attended en masse by the public tomorrow afternoon in Paris,” she said. “And our good friend Mr. Sinclair will deliver a presentation on how his new smart homes function.”

  “Ah, yes,” Sterling said. “I’ve read about those. Freedom Houses, I believe is what he calls them. Should be fascinating.”

  “And also a great opportunity to catch him,” Hawk said.

  “Yes, and doing it together instead of working against each other,” Sterling added.

  “Perfect,” Alex said. “Grab your things. We need to get to the airport as soon as possible if we intend to make it on time.”

  In less than ten minutes, the newly formed gang was packed and walking out the door for Paris.

  CHAPTER 14

  Copenhagen, Denmark

  MIA SWALLOWED HARD as she looked at Lord Override, her face begging for a solution. He closed his eyes and shook his head. A helicopter hovered just outside the window of his third-floor apartment. He took a deep breath and looked up.

  Mia clenched her fists and cursed under her breath. Getting arrested would destroy her credibility, even if Director Blunt was able to broker her release from prison, be it a Danish one or American. No matter the scenario, she sensed imminent danger.

  She hustled across the room and took Lord Override by his arms, vigorously shaking him. He glanced at her, his eyes vacant.

  “Come on, man,” she said. “This is not the time to short circuit on me. You’ve got to have a way out of here.”

  “I do for one, but not for both of us,” he said as the color slowly returned to his face.

  “We might be able to make it work. What is it?”

  He took a deep breath before answering. “In the event of a raid just like this, I have a key to my neighbor’s flat at the end of the hall. He has a window that opens up along the side of the building. They won’t be looking for me there since there isn’t a street entrance below.”

  “You’re just going to jump down?”

  “No, I can repel down in my Police Intelligence Service jacket in case I do get noticed. But I’ve only got one.”

  “Then let’s go down together. You hold onto me. We’ll make it work.”

  “At this point, it can’t hurt to try. I certainly don’t want to leave you stranded here.”

  “No one named Lord Override would ever do such a dastardly thing.”

  He managed a quick smile. “Follow me.”

  Lord Override flipped a switch, which he said would protect his computers from being tampered with, and ushered her down the hall to his friend’s flat. After unlocking the door, they went inside and prepared for their descent.

  Mia could hear men shouting down the corridor outside, giving orders. After a few seconds, a loud thud followed by more shouting.

  They breached his apartment.

  “We’ve gotta move,” he said, returning with a grappling hook attached to one end of a rope. He flung open the window, secured the cable, and prepared to descend.

  “I’m ready,” she said.

  Mia waited until Lord Override was outside before joining him. The pair rode down together without incident. Once they hit the ground, he released the hook and gathered the cord before stuffing it all in a dumpster in the back alley of the apartment.

  However, just as they rounded the corner, three SWAT members barreled toward the hackers. Mia took her cue from Lord Override and stayed cool.

  “He may have escaped out of the window,” Lord Override said in Danish.

  Mia remained behind him, avoiding eye contact with the agents, who all nodded as they rushed off in the direction Lord Override pointed to. As soon as the pair reached the next intersection, Lord Override darted left with Mia trailing after.

  “Impressive,” she whispered.

  “We’re not out of the woods yet,” Lord Override said.

  He found a motorcycle parked along the side of the street. After glancing around, he located the wires coming out of the handlebars and started fiddling with them. Seconds later, he pushed the ignition button and the motorcycle engine roared to life.

  Mia’s mouth fell agape. “How did you—”

  “Stealing motorbikes is how I ended up in youth detention,” he said. “And while I was there, I learned to hack.”

  She climbed behind him before they tore off down the street. A half-hour later, they arrived at a small farmhouse outside the city. They both dismounted, and Mia was hastily introduced to the property owner, an elderly gentleman who appeared to be in his seventies. Once they reached a study in the back of the house, Mia let out a low whistle as she scanned all the equipment.

  “Who is this guy again?” she asked. “Because there is some serious computing power in this room.”

  “Are you familiar with the River City Media hack?”

  “The one with well over one billion records stolen?”

  Lord Override nodded. “That’s the one. Well, it all happened in this room by that man. I introduced him as Poul Fredericksen. But you might know him as Shadow Lancer.”

  “That was Shadow Lancer?” she asked. “You must be joking.”

  “Nope. He also ran the youth detention center while I was there. He recruited six of us and called us the Shadow Gang. He is always willing to help out whenever I need it, no questions asked.”

  “We need to get back to work,” she said. “I’ve got some data to an
alyze.”

  She plugged in the flash drive to a computer and sat down. Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she called up the information and started combing through it. Lord Override joined her, pulling files over to another terminal in the room and scanning them.

  “What else exactly are you looking for?” he asked.

  “You’ll know it when you see it.”

  While Mia was grateful that he’d helped her escape, she’d learned long ago to never fully trust another hacker.

  A few minutes passed as she combed through the documents. She hunted for anything that would give her a clue about when the photographs and intel accompanying the file on Tahir Nazari were replaced by those of Omar Ebadi. Eventually, she found what she was looking for.

  Would you look at that.

  Mia stared at the screen, partially in disbelief, partially in anger. Just three days before the assignment was given over to the Phoenix Foundation to handle, someone had made the change. Then less than an hour after the assassination attempt, the original pictures were restored. Instead of a name associated with the changes, she found a number. But it was a number she could cross-reference. Someone had hacked into the database and made the internal files appear as though they’d never been touched. If it had been done through proper channels, the paper trail would’ve been easy to find and follow. However, someone else had been very careful to cover their tracks.

  “Yes,” Mia said, her exuberance muted by her desire to not draw the Shadow Lancer’s attention.

  “Did you find something?” Lord Override asked.

  She nodded. “But I can hardly believe it. I found the smoking gun, the evidence that’s going to put this bastard away for good.”

  “Wait a minute,” Lord Override said, “I thought you were simply looking to clear your name.”

  “And take down the people who did this to me.”

  “Who did what to you exactly?”

  She sighed and leaned closer to him, talking in a hushed tone. “Look, I haven’t been completely honest with you. The reason I’m on the run is because the CIA is targeting a secret black ops organization I’ve been working with. They’re trying to pin a major snafu on our unit, but we were set up.”

  “Whoa,” he said. “You’re working for the U.S. government?”

  “Sort of. It’s complicated. But there was someone we were supposed to eliminate, and apparently we killed the wrong guy. It’s all in the news. But I know we were set up.”

  Lord Override stared at her blankly.

  “I’m really sorry about lying to you about this,” she said. “I knew you wouldn’t help me if I told you I was working for the government, even though it’s in a roundabout sort of way.”

  His expression didn’t change as he remained silent.

  “I know you’re probably mad, but would you at least say something?”

  He nodded toward the door. She turned to see Shadow Lancer standing in the doorway with a gun trained on her.

  “Hand over the flash drive, Helenos-9,” he said.

  CHAPTER 15

  Paris, France

  AS FALCON SINCLAIR STOOD in the wings of the stage at the Pasteur Institute, he heard a murmur sweep through the crowd when the emcee announced the upcoming speaker. Sinclair peeked around the curtain to see a packed room. Among the sea of attendees, Sinclair knew there were people who could help him propel his newest idea into a worldwide phenomenon or label it a dud. Held rapt by the host’s recitation of Sinclair’s long list of achievements, a wide gamut of professionals awaited him, from scientists to journalists to politicians to curiosity seekers. And when the man welcomed Sinclair onto the stage, the audience exploded with applause.

  Sinclair flashed a small smile as he waved to the people crammed into the lecture hall. He hated crowds, much less speaking in front of them. If he could just take over the world from his retreat on Great Keppel Island, he would do it. But sometimes sacrifices were required to become the most powerful man in the world.

  He arranged his written speech on the lectern and then began.

  “Good afternoon. I want to thank Dr. Girard for the invitation to share with you at this fantastic symposium on Science and the Future World. When he first reached out to me about sharing with this brilliant community, I must confess that I told him no. You’re all very intimidating.”

  Sinclair paused as the line drew a collective chuckle from the crowd.

  “After Dr. Girard’s third request and the gift of a vintage 1998 bottle of Domaine Leflaive Montrachet Grand Cru, I accepted. So, this is my public admission that even I can be bought.”

  More laughter from the crowd.

  “On a more serious note, I am honored to be here with the opportunity to share some of my latest ideas on how science will shape the future. And based on all the speculation I read online over the past few days, I believe that most of you came here expecting me to talk about space travel. Well, I always hate to disappoint, but I’m afraid that will not be today’s topic. In the near future, space travel will only be a luxury, a type of voyeurism vacation only accessible by the rich. Our team is working hard to figure out a way to reduce those costs in the future so more people can see our beautiful planet and breathtaking galaxy from another perspective. So, we’ll table that discussion for another day. What I do want to talk about might sound rather mundane, but if you’ll stay with me, I trust you’ll be rewarded.”

  Sinclair picked up a small remote and clicked a button, revealing his first slide projected onto the large screen positioned high above the stage. The image of a simple, brick ranch house materialized.

  “This is the house that I grew up in,” Sinclair said. “There’s nothing fancy about it. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a small yard with a couple of trees. In short, my brother and I lived with my parents here, much like many of you did in your own homes. A simple structure adequately fulfilling the purpose of providing us with a warm shelter. Nothing fancy. Yet over the years, our society has become obsessed with building elaborate homes that do little more than gobble up precious natural resources.”

  He paced across the stage as he laid the foundation for his talk.

  “But as the world’s population continues to grow, we’re going to need something more out of our homes. No longer can we exist in the vanity of sprawling properties where we do little more than sleep and occasionally eat. We need something more practical, something that will allow us to live healthier lives and create the type of peace of mind necessary in this increasingly restless world.”

  Sinclair clicked another button on the remote, replacing his boyhood home with a sketch of a futuristic house.

  “Today, I came here to introduce you to what I’m calling Freedom Homes, replacing our line of smart homes. Now, in the past, I touted these houses that were technologically in touch with us. We used artificial intelligence to learn your habits and your preferences, creating a house that did what you needed it to do without you having to do anything. People liked this idea, though the system for the price tag was a tad beyond affordability for most. And as every one of us here knows, good technological advancements require being able to balance innovation with accessibility for the masses.

  “That’s why we believe these new Freedom Homes are a game changer for the future of modern living. We have been able to extract features to allow an existing dwelling to be retrofitted using this new technology. Of course, shoehorning in some of the Freedom Home features into older houses won’t bring about all the same benefits, but it will be enough to transform the lives of those people in unimaginable ways.”

  Sinclair spent the next half-hour detailing how his new Freedom Homes would use proprietary inventions to create electricity, heat and cool homes, and grow food using a twist on hydroponic farming. For single-family houses, he showed how the homes captured water and filtered it. Every detail was meticulously accounted for as he explained how each system worked to the crowd, which seemed mesmerized by his lecture, oohing and ahhing a
s Sinclair revealed each feature.

  “In closing, I want to point out that we’ve been quietly building these homes in several communities in the United States,” Sinclair said. “We found willing neighborhoods in Jacksonville, Florida; Savannah, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina; and New Orleans, Louisiana, and constructed more than five hundred homes in total. And we’ll be soon publishing studies about how the first six months have been for those residents.”

  Sinclair wrapped up his speech and receiving a standing ovation. He clasped his hands together and bowed before striding off the stage.

  After he reached the wings, one of the symposium organizers greeting Sinclair, vigorously shaking his hand.

  “That was incredible,” the man said. “The people here ate it up. What an amazing addition to our society.”

  Sinclair smiled wryly. “That’s exactly what we were going for.”

  CHAPTER 16

  Paris, France

  ALEX WRESTLED WITH HER blonde wig before popping in her green contacts. She was always amazed what a different cut and color could do to a person’s face. But then changing the eye color took disguises to a different level. As she studied her face in the mirror, she hardly recognized the woman staring back at her.

  I’ll never get over how weird this is.

  “Are you sure Sinclair won’t recognize me?” she asked as she exited the bathroom.

  Hawk smiled and shook his head. “Not a chance, but he will take notice. You can bet on that.”

  She gestured toward her long, black dress with a plunging neckline. “This is quite a bit different than the frumpy catering uniform I wore at the race track.”

  “I don’t care how good of a memory he has, there’s no way he’s going to give a second thought to the notion that he just saw you in Italy.”

  “I hope you’re right,” she said. “Otherwise, we’re going to have some big problems on our hands.”

  Alex snatched the media credential for the symposium at the Pasteur Institute off the counter and headed toward the door, her heels clicking against the marble floor. She glanced around at the place that Pierce Sterling considered modest.