Alex squinted as she studied the bruise over his right eye. She reached up to touch it, but Hawk withdrew.
“What happened there?” she asked.
“Ran into some trouble, but don’t worry. I took care of it.”
“Okay, I see. Going for the honest and transparent approach now, aren’t we?”
Hawk ignored her jab. “Where’s McGinn?”
“I sent him to look for you, so I’m assuming based on your question that you didn’t run into him while he was talking to the guy who’s supposedly selling the weapon to Al Hasib.”
“What are you talking about?”
She opened up her laptop on the table and spun the screen toward him. “I’m talking about this.”
“What is this?”
“That’s McGinn talking to Garaar a few hours ago at the place we’re supposed to infiltrate on Saturday night. But that’s not all.”
Hawk’s eyes widened. “Think we’re being played?”
“You tell me after you have a look at these documents I found here,” she said as she handed him her phone. “I took pictures of them when they were out the first time I got here. I looked for them again, but he removed them from the safe house as far as I can tell.”
Hawk looked at her phone and perused the documents. “These are procedural papers for a hit, aren’t they?”
“Sure looks like it to me. Look at the date.”
“That’s this Saturday.”
Alex nodded. “Exactly. I’m not so sure about this job now. And if you want to get the hell out of here right now, I’m with you.”
“Let’s give him a chance to explain.”
Alex stared at him slack jawed for a moment. “Are you serious? If you start putting all of this together, I’m thinking I don’t want to give him any opportunity to snow us with some lie.”
“So, we just let the weapon fall into Al Hasib’s hands? I don’t think so.”
“What else do you suggest? We can’t just go through with this mission like everything’s fine because it isn’t.”
“No, but we play it cool. Maybe I’ll ask him some questions, see if he comes clean. If he doesn’t suspect we’re on to him, McGinn’s answers will be direct.”
She exhaled as she shook her head. “I don’t like it, but I’ll go along with you on this.”
“We can’t abandon this mission. It’s too important.”
“Well, we could always steal the weapon now.”
Hawk stretched his arms and walked around the room for a moment, apparently pondering Alex’s idea.
“It’s not a bad backup plan, but we don’t need to be burning any bridges with the CIA if this is legit.”
“I’m not sure it’s going to matter once we leave here, Hawk. For all we know, you might already be on the CIA’s hit list.”
“You’re probably right, but let’s see how this thing plays out first.”
CHAPTER 23
McGINN TOOK A DEEP BREATH, inhaling the rich aroma of Kenyan coffee brewing in a pot on the counter. He’d already drank a cup and wondered if there’d be enough for the two guests sleeping in the safe house. He called Alex just before midnight to see if Hawk had come back, explaining that he’d run into someone and had some business he needed to attend to. With Hawk back safe, she told McGinn not to worry about it and they’d talk in the morning about what happened.
McGinn arrived at the safe house at 7:00 a.m. on Friday and hoped to rouse Alex and Hawk with the smell of a hearty breakfast. Sausage, eggs, and potatoes were all sizzling in pans on the stove.
Hawk stumbled toward him, one eye open, the other still held tightly shut. “Breakfast in the morning? But you didn’t even spend the night,” Hawk said.
“That’s how amazing I am,” McGinn said with a wry grin.
Hawk sat down on a chair at the kitchen table.
McGinn placed a coffee mug in front of Hawk along with cream and sugar.
Hawk waved him off. “Real men drink coffee black.”
“My grandfather said drinking it black would put hair on your chest.”
Hawk studied McGinn for a few seconds. “From the looks of it, you like yours with cream and sugar.”
“Be careful, Hawk. I could still spit in your eggs if you’re not nice.”
Hawk chuckled and took a long sip of his coffee.
“Where’d you go last night?” Hawk asked.
“I wanted to ask you the same thing,” McGinn said. “I went looking for you.”
Hawk smiled. “And apparently, you didn’t do a very good job.”
McGinn laughed and waved his spatula at Hawk. “I’m warning you. You’re walking on thin ice with me.” He looked in the direction of Alex, who had yet to stir. “Alex, do you want something hot to eat?”
She moaned and waved dismissively in McGinn’s direction.
Hawk’s smiled vanished as he turned his full attention to McGinn. “All joking aside, what happened?”
“You first,” McGinn said in a more serious tone.
“I was busy with my own problems. I ran into some Al-Shabaab thugs, but I fought my way out of it.”
McGinn’s eyebrows shot up. “And they didn’t take your weapons?”
“This isn’t my first rodeo. I know how to hide my stuff from prying eyes.”
“If you say so.”
“I do. Now, it’s your turn.”
McGinn pushed the eggs around before placing the spatula down. He leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms, taking a deep breath and exhaling before he spoke.
“Like you, I was busy with my own problems.”
“It had nothing to do with our heist, did it?”
McGinn shook his head. “Oh, no. Nothing like that.” He paused. “I mean, nothing that’s going to endanger our mission on Saturday.”
“Why don’t you say what you mean instead of beating around the bush with it? Did you meet with the weapons maker yesterday?”
McGinn eyed Hawk closely. “Were you following me? Is that where you were?”
Hawk laughed. “Trust me when I say this, but I would’ve loved to have been following you yesterday when your truck was surrounded by some of Al-Shabaab’s finest who stuck their guns in my face. Yet I somehow distinctly remember not following you.”
McGinn turned around to look at the eggs. He peeked at them,
