“Absolutely not,” Hawk said as he leaned close. “There are some major issues we need to discuss.”
“Like if we need to exit Firestorm?”
Hawk took a deep breath. “That’s not exactly what I was thinking.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
“Alex, I need you. You’re the reason why my missions are successful.”
“Handlers are a dime a dozen. Besides, you weren’t kidnapped, tortured, and nearly killed by a man who worked for Blunt.”
“No, I wasn’t. You’re right. But he’s dead now.”
She shook her head. “That’s not enough for me. You can’t protect me all the time. In fact, you didn’t protect me. Someone from Searchlight saved my life.”
“So, you’re going to work for them now?”
“That’s the plan.”
Hawk sighed. “Can I at least get you to reconsider? Maybe when Blunt returns, it’ll be different.”
“It won’t be different, Hawk. It’ll never be different. Blunt has his own agenda, and the sooner you wake up and realize that, you’ll understand Firestorm isn’t about keeping Americans safe and striking back at the heart of Al Hasib. It’s about Blunt, plain and simple. He has a plan, and you’re just a pawn in his game.”
“Alex, I—we—saved a lot of people. You and me together. Blunt wasn’t even around this time.”
“I know, and that’s what I’m afraid of. If it hadn’t been for Kade Parker—”
“For all we know, Parker may have set that up just to recruit you. Look at you. All you can talk about is how he saved you from Blunt’s aide. I knew that Hunter Preston was a henchman for Blunt. But I also knew that he was a henchman for hire, the highest bidder. All Searchlight had to do was—”
“Stop it, Hawk. I know you think you’ve got it all figured out, but you don’t. It’s far more complicated than that. Blunt is up to something, and I’m going to find out what it is.”
“Without me?”
“It doesn’t have to be. That’s up to you.”
Hawk motioned for their waitress to bring him some more wine. He stared at the mountains rising in the distance behind Alex, contemplating what to say next.
“Look, I get it. Things haven’t been great with Firestorm lately. Blunt was gone. General Johnson is sketchy at best. And we’re asked to do things that take an iron stomach to do. But—”
“There is no but, Hawk. We’re either helping keep Americans safe or we aren’t. And with Blunt, I just don’t know.”
Hawk cocked his head. “How can you say that after what we just went through? We saved countless lives.”
“Yes, but it’s for a reason, a reason we don’t know. There’s always some ulterior motive with him.”
“Where is this coming from? I thought you were on my side. I thought you wanted to help me find out who my father was.”
She dabbed her lips with her napkin. “I do, Hawk. But not like this. Not when I’m on Blunt’s payroll. Not when I’m unsure of what his endgame is.”
“I think his endgame is noble.”
“And I don’t.”
“So what are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I’m out of here. It’s too much—or not enough answers. Take your pick. It’s just not working for me. And quite frankly, I’m scared of what I might become if I continue.”
“Suit yourself,” Hawk said.
Alex got up and exited the winery without even a glance over her shoulder.
The waitress poured Hawk another glass. He drank it almost as fast as she poured it.
Maybe Alex’s right. Maybe I’m the fool.
Hawk couldn’t be sure either way. Working for Blunt had always been complicated, a fact Hawk knew the moment he started. But he trusted his gut. He trusted Blunt.
And Hawk hoped Alex hadn’t made the wrong decision.
***
J.D. BLUNT TURNED off his surveillance device and picked up his phone. He dialed a number.
“I think we have a problem—and we need to deal with it now.”
THE END
The next book in the Brady Hawk series "FULL BLAST" will release in October 2016. To stay up to date on all of R.J. Patterson's books and the Brady Hawk series, sign up for his monthly newsletter here.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am grateful to so many people who have helped with the creation of this project and the entire Brady Hawk series. I always thought San Francisco would be an interesting place to create a terrorism threat, and after visiting there, it affirmed my suspicions that it would make a great backdrop for a story like this.
Krystal Wade has been a fantastic help in handling the editing of this book, and Dwight Kuhlman has produced another great audio version for your listening pleasure.
I would also like to thank my advance reader team for all their input in improving this book along with all the other readers who have enthusiastically embraced the story of Brady Hawk. And don't worry ... there's more Brady Hawk coming soon.
NEWSLETTER SIGNUP
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
R.J. PATTERSON is an award-winning writer living in southeastern Idaho. He first began his illustrious writing career as a sports journalist, recording his exploits on the soccer fields in England as a young boy. Then when his father told him that people would pay him to watch sports if he would write about what he saw, he went all in. He landed his first writing job at age 15 as a sports writer for a daily newspaper in Orangeburg, S.C. He later attended earned a degree in newspaper journalism from the University of Georgia, where he took a job covering high school sports for the award-winning Athens Banner-Herald and Daily News.
He later became the sports editor of The Valdosta Daily Times before working in the magazine world as an editor and freelance journalist. He has won numerous writing awards, including a national award for his investigative reporting on a sordid tale surrounding an NCAA investigation over the University of Georgia football program.
R.J. enjoys the great outdoors of the Northwest while living there with his wife and three children. He still follows sports closely.
He also loves connecting with readers and would love to hear from you. To stay updated about future projects, connect with him over Facebook or on the interwebs at www.RJPbooks.com and sign up here for his newsletter to get deals and updates.
POINT OF IMPACT
© Copyright 2016 R.J. Patterson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law.
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
eBook ISBN: 978-1-938848-85-8
Print ISBN: 978-1-938848-86-5
First eBook Edition 2016
Cover Design by Books Covered
Published in the United States of America
Green E-Books
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Brady Hawk Box Set Page 44
