“Thank you,” Fornter said, nodding at the aide to dismiss him.
“So much for Fazil staying underground and off the radar,” Hawk said.
“He’s a bull in a china shop now,” Blunt said. “And we can put our plans on hold. The last thing we want is for Karif Fazil to somehow wrangle away some of Colton Industries’ latest tech.”
“Then let’s get to it,” Fortner said.
CHAPTER 3
Dallas, Texas
KARIF FAZIL GRINNED as he watched the files transfer to the portable hard drive he had connected to Thomas Colton’s computer. To Fazil, fighting against the Americans always felt like entering battle with one hand tied behind his back. No matter how careful he was or how well he planned his attacks, they always seemed to have an advantage that mitigated any of his brilliant strategy. And that advantage seemed to come in the form of either technology or Brady Hawk. But Fazil had figured out a way to neutralize both advantages, and he was giddy with excitement while doing his best to contain his emotions.
“You know these documents are encrypted, right?” Colton said from the corner of the room as he fidgeted with the bindings around his wrists. “You won’t be able to read them even though you have them.”
“I know what encrypted means,” Fazil said. “I doubt they will be too difficult for my Cal Tech-trained computer experts to crack. And if they are, I know where to find you.”
“That’s not my department,” Colton said. “They don’t let me near anything like that. I wouldn’t know where to begin in finding you the right person to decrypt anything.”
“Then let’s just hope my men don’t run into any problems.”
Fazil crossed his arms and stepped back from the computer as he watched the file names populate the folder connected to his hard drive.
“You have a very dangerous son, Mr. Colton,” Fazil said.
“Excuse me?” Colton said.
“I said, you have a very dangerous son.”
“Oh, you’re talking about Brady Hawk,” Colton said. “Well, come to find out, he’s not exactly my son.”
“And does he know that?”
“I think he was actually relieved when he found out.”
“But he still cares for you, doesn’t he?”
Colton shrugged. “Can’t say for sure, though the only reason I ever see him these days is if he wants something from me.”
“Is that how all kids are when they get older? They only come to see you if they need a handout?”
“I guess it’s a universal trait among humans,” Colton said, pausing for a moment before continuing the conversation. “Do you have any kids?”
Fazil wagged a finger at Colton. “Don’t start with me, Mr. Colton. I know what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to connect with me and humanize yourself. But don’t worry—I will never see any Americans as humans after what they did to my family. You will all pay at some point or another for the sins of your country’s destructive military machine.”
“That’s not what I was trying to do. I was just—”
“Silence!” Fazil barked. “If I have a question, I will ask you and then you will speak. Is that understood?”
Colton nodded.
“Good,” Fazil said. “Now that we’re clear, it’s time to go.”
“Look, we can make a deal,” Colton said. “It doesn’t have to go down like this.”
Fazil stormed across the room and backhanded Colton, drawing blood from the corner of his mouth. Stooping down to eye level, Fazil glared at Colton.
“What did I just say about speaking without being spoken to?”
Colton looked down.
Fazil grabbed Colton’s face. “Look at me when I’m speaking to you.”
Colton’s gaze met Fazil’s.
“Don’t test me, Mr. Colton. You don’t want to see what I’m capable of doing—not yet anyway.”
Fazil strode back across the room to the computer and summoned his bird Jafar, which had been perched on the windowsill. Jafar lit on Fazil’s shoulder and cooed.
Colton struggled with his bindings, his chair scraping against the floor as he tried to wrestle free. The noise resulted in a glance from Fazil. He turned and looked back at the screen.
“Don’t bother with trying to escape,” Fazil said. “It’ll only make things worse for you.”
Colton continued, refusing to look up at his captor.
With Jafar in tow, Fazil hustled across the room and delivered a vicious uppercut to Colton, connecting squarely with his chin. The blow knocked Colton backward. Fazil stood over his prisoner and studied him closely. Colton was out cold.
The computer beeped twice, signaling the task had been completed. Fazil hustled back to the terminal and snatched the thumb drive out of the USB slot. He stuffed the device into his pocket and returned to Colton, who still wasn’t moving.
Fazil radioed for two of his men to retrieve Colton.
“I need him in the van,” Fazil said. “We’re not done with him yet.”
CHAPTER 4
Dallas, Texas
UPON LANDING AT THE Dallas-Fort Worth airport, Hawk and Alex hustled to their rental car and drove to Dallas Executive Airport, which was where Thomas Colton kept his Gulfstream G650 jet. The latest report Hawk had received from Colton Industries was that one of the company security guards heard an Al Hasib agent mention something about stealing the boss’s jet. And if that was true, Hawk understood the gravity of the situation.
Hawk was quite familiar with Colton’s plane, which was a newer model year of the one Blunt often deployed for Firestorm missions. The Gulfstream G650 had one of the longest ranges of any executive jet on the market and could nearly fly Mach 1. If Fazil and his men got that jet in the air with Colton, they could disappear virtually anywhere in the world.
“What do you have in mind if Fazil has already taken Colton?” Alex asked.
“I’m hoping we don’t have to deal with that, but I’m working on something.”
“You know they’re going to disable the GPS tracker.”
Hawk nodded. “This isn’t going to be easy.” He slammed
