He led Alex up to the balcony of his apartment. A table for two was set and prepared, complete with a chilled bottle of wine.
Alex covered her mouth with her hands. “When did you do this?”
“When you were taking a nap this afternoon,” he said. “I didn’t have time to bake anything, so I got some food from the store. But I hope you like it just the same.”
“I do. I love it,” she said, her mouth still agape.
“There’s something else I want to show you, too.”
Hawk dropped to one knee and opened a jewelry box containing a diamond ring. “Alex Duncan, will you marry me?”
She started crying as she nodded emphatically. “Of course, I will,” she said between sniffles.
“While you were gone, all I thought about was how you were doing,” Hawk said. “I still had my duties here, but every other waking moment I spent wondering how you were and dreaming about getting my hands on Karif Fazil for what he did to you. I hope I never lose you like that again.”
“That makes two of us.”
Hawk stood, and she leaped into his arms.
* * *
AFTER DINNER, they cleaned up and returned to Hawk’s apartment to watch the results roll in. Just after midnight, one of the anchors came on the screen, the bumper music comprised of strong drumbeats signifying breaking news.
Our political analysts have just called the state of Arizona for Noah Young, which gives him enough electoral votes to win the presidency.
Hawk pumped his fist subtly. “Finally, I can go to bed.”
Alex eyed him closely. “That seems like a rather muted celebration for someone who’s job depended on who won.”
Hawk smiled. “It just means we’ve got more work to do.”
He got up and strode toward the stairs leading to his room but stopped when his phone rang.
“Unknown caller,” she said, picking up the phone and waving it at him. “Who do you think it is?”
“It better not be either of the people you’re thinking of. One has a country to run for another four years and the other one wants me dead.”
“Any other guesses?”
“Give me that,” Hawk said, taking the phone from her. He pressed the button to answer. “This is Hawk.”
“I wanted to thank you for everything,” said President Young.
“Well, sir, this is an honor that you would call me so soon after the news outlets are projecting you won the election, but don’t you have better things to do?”
“The better things I have to do are keeping Americans safe and their freedoms intact from any outside interference. And that starts with you.”
“I do what I can, but you’re going to need more than Firestorm to keep those evil agents at bay.”
“Yes, but there’s one man who needs to be eliminated before I’ll be able to sleep.”
“I’m sure he’s more than angry after we stormed in and rescued Alex and Blunt. He’s going to try to retaliate.”
“That’s why I won’t rest until I know he’s dead and buried six feet under ground.”
Hawk took a deep breath. “Well, thank you for your call, Mr. President, but I really need to go.”
“And where exactly are you going now?”
“Mr. President, I’m going hunting.”
THE END
To order the next book in the Brady Hawk series, TWO MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT, click here.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am grateful to so many people who have helped with the creation of this project and the entire Brady Hawk series.
Krystal Wade was a big help in editing this book as always.
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. Stay tuned ... there's more Brady Hawk coming soon.
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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.
Hard Target
© Copyright 2018 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.
First eBook Edition 2018
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