Hawk slunk behind a rock and pulled out his binoculars to survey the area.
“The drone should be out of ear shot now,” Alex said over the coms.
“Uh, huh,” Hawk said. “The only thing I hear now are some trucks way off in the distance and a snake slithering at my six.”
“Those things move quick from what I hear. You might want to keep going.”
Hawk spun around on his heel and stomped on the snake’s head. He ground it into the sand until the snake crunched beneath the weight of his boot.
“Problem solved,” Hawk announced before returning his focus to the supposed location in the mountains.
“Did you really have to do that?” Alex asked.
“Yes. Yes, I did. You can’t exactly med-evac me out of here if I were to get bitten by one of these creatures,” Hawk said. “I’m doing what I need to do to survive.”
“It was kind of a joke.”
“Sorry, but I’m not in the mood right now. I’m now about two hundred meters from the opening of the hideout.”
“And you can confirm that this is an Al Hasib location?”
“Sure as I’m sitting here,” Hawk said. “They disguised the entrance very well and are using natural features from the mountain to shield the door from view. There’s even a portion of the mountain that’s carved out, big enough for them to store several large tactical vehicles in as well as a few transport trucks.”
“You see anything else? Any people?” Alex asked.
“Not yet, but—wait a minute. The door is opening, and someone is walking out onto the patio area.”
“Recognize him?.”
“Sonofabitch. It’s Fazil.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
“I already told you I wasn’t in a joking mood.”
“Do you have a shot?”
Through his binoculars, Hawk studied Fazil. With his bird Jafar perched on his shoulder, the Al Hasib leader strode forward. He held his head high as he surveyed the desert area sprawled out in front of him. Apparently satisfied with the environment, he looked at Jafar and nodded. Jafar flapped his wings and squawked before taking flight and soaring away from the opening. Jafar climbed higher and higher, circling the area for a couple minutes.
Hawk froze, taking the whole scene in. His gaze bounced between Fazil and Jafar in an effort to determine just how long the interaction would last. On the third trip around the area, something spooked Jafar. Instead of continuing his circuitous route, he broke it off and flew straight back to Fazil. Looking furtively at the landscape for a few seconds, Fazil raced back inside with Jafar nestled on his shoulder.
“What happened to the drone?” Hawk asked.
“She’s still in a holding pattern several miles away,” Alex answered. “Why?”
“Because Fazil’s little pet bird looked like it was dive bombing him for a second, and then Fazil peered out in the direction I last saw the drone before darting back inside. It was strange, to say the least.”
“I don’t think anything is ever normal with that man.”
“That’s a fact, but I think the bird must’ve seen something.”
“You think there’s someone else out there with you?”
Hawk examined his surroundings once more through his binoculars. “If there is, I’m not seeing any signs of anyone.”
Alex didn’t respond. Hawk heard clicking sounds over his com, likely from Alex typing furiously on her keyboard.
“What is it?” Hawk asked.
“I’m seeing some heat signatures on the back side of the mountain,” she said. “It’s kind of weird, but it looks like there’s an overhang about twenty feet off the ground.”
“So you think there’s another entrance?”
“It would appear so,” she said. “But don’t just go running in there. I need to analyze some more data here from this satellite image.”
“Roger that.” Hawk slipped his binoculars into his pack and stayed low as he crept across the desert floor.
“Hawk? Hawk? What are you doing now? You know I can see you, right?”
Hawk smiled and kept moving.
“Would you answer me?”
“Gotta keep a low profile now,” he whispered. “If you can see me, you know I’m getting closer to the hideout.”
“I’m not done studying these images, Hawk. This isn’t funny.”
“You were the one cracking jokes earlier today, not me. I’m serious as a heart attack.”
“And so am I when I tell you that it’s not a wise decision to go charging into the compound.”
Hawk stopped behind a rock and eased into a prone position. “What choice do we have at this point? We know Karif Fazil is here. You could just obliterate the place. But I have to get the information. We need to know what he’s going to do with that weapon. If he places it in the Strait of Hormuz, all hell is going to break loose, and we’ll be on the precipice of another conflict in the Middle East.”
“I get it, but I’m also concerned there are other ways to get this information.”
“Such as . . . ?”
“I think it’d be easy to hack into the security mainframe and listen in on their meetings,” she said.
“There’s one problem with that,” Hawk said. “I’m here and you’re not. And believe me when I say this, but I’d love to have you here to do that. Unfortunately, that’s not an option right now, and I need you to guide me to wherever you’re seeing these heat signatures.”
“Okay, fine. But it’s only one heat signature—at least one human heat signature. There’s a smaller one, too.”
“Probably Fazil and his little pet.”
“That’d be my guess, too, but I can’t verify that.”
“If he stays where he is, I’ll be able confirm it’s Fazil in less than five minutes.”
“Roger that.”
Hawk resumed his trek around the mountain, cutting through a narrow pass in the wall likely caused by erosion. Alex guided him through the area, assuring him that there weren’t any guards in his path. After a few minutes, Hawk eased into position and pulled out his binoculars again to inspect the heat signatures Alex had identified.
“Are you still seeing those heat sigs?” Hawk asked.
“They’re showing up on my screen. Why? Are you not seeing
