“So, what’s this big plan of yours?” Hawk asked.
“You’re going to work for the hotel.”
* * *
WHEN HAWK AND ALEX landed in Varadero, they breezed through customs, posing as a banker from Zurich along with his assistant to discuss investment options in the Caymans with a resort owner. They kept the details vague with the customs agent, who didn’t seem too interested in prolonging their visit to his kiosk.
Hawk and Alex spent over an hour trying to rent a car before driving straight to their hotel and getting to work. By the time they set up their command post in their hotel room and secured all the supplies they needed, it was getting late. Whoever was in possession of the missiles might be returning back from dinner soon. The less resistance, the better.
With a room on the eleventh floor, Hawk and Alex could see the entire peninsula where vacationers relaxed on the beach while the sea lapped gently against the shore. The sun had already started to dip below the horizon. Alex sauntered over to the window and stared out into the distance. Hawk put his arm around her.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to be out there, stretched out on the beach, reading a novel?” Hawk asked.
Alex shook her head. “That’s not the life we chose—or even one we’d be satisfied with, and you know it. Making sure people can enjoy their day at the beach—that’s what we do. And we love it. Don’t even try to deny it.”
“Sure, but sometimes don’t you just think—”
“The grass is always greener, especially when you don’t have to mow it.”
Hawk chuckled. “Where’d you come up with that one? Fortune cookie?”
Alex smiled. “No, the latest Salman Kahn movie.”
“He has the best lines, doesn’t he?”
“Well, if we’re only talking about Bollywood films, then yes.”
Hawk laughed. “Let’s finish this so we can go find a beach somewhere.”
A half hour later, Hawk was suited up in a hotel uniform he’d stolen from the laundry room. He also found a stray cart with leftover food from a room service order parked outside someone’s door. Hawk claimed the cart and wheeled it back to his room.
“What do I need to do to make this work?” Hawk asked.
“The homing beacon has been activated as of twenty seconds ago,” Alex said. “Just use the app I installed on your phone to find it. Your screen should give you a 3D readout of proximity to the missiles. Once you’re within twenty feet, you’ll know in which direction everything is.”
“What if it’s in the room above me?”
Alex shrugged. “There are no guarantees, but I’m sure you’ll figure out a way of anything thrown at you. After all, you’re Brady Hawk.”
Hawk sighed. “And how am I supposed to get in without alerting the entire floor that I’m about to crash through a door?”
“Use this,” Alex said, handing a card to Hawk. “I cloned the master key so you could get in.”
“How did you—”
“Sleight of hand,” she said with a wink. “Now get going. We don’t have much time.”
Hawk opened the door and entered the hallway. Activating the homing app on his phone, he waited for a moment for it to orient itself. Seconds later, the screen started flashing. A small box popped up at the bottom, directing Hawk where to go to discover the missiles. He needed to go up another floor.
Hawk eased his cart onto an elevator and selected the highest floor in the hotel. But when he did, the button’s light immediately went out as if he hadn’t pushed it at all.
Moving his card in front of a security panel, Hawk heard a beep. He pushed the button for the twelfth floor again. This time, the elevator hummed to life and pulled Hawk up. When the doors slid open, he eased his cart into the hallway and followed the directions.
“Two doors down,” Hawk said to Alex through his com device.
“Copy that.”
Hawk knocked on the door. “Room service.”
After waiting a few seconds and not hearing any movement inside, he waved his card in front of the access panel and unlocked the door. He wheeled the cart inside and was surprised to find a man there.
“Lo siento,” Hawk said, apologizing in Spanish.
The man scowled and started speaking in Arabic. He waved his arms and moved aggressively toward Hawk. Picking up the lid to the tray, Hawk smashed the man in the face, stunning him. He staggered for a second and attempted to gain his bearings. Hawk charged the man, driving him backward and slamming his head into the wall. With two solid punches to the face, Hawk knocked out the man.
“Having fun yet?” Alex asked.
“Whoever this guy is, he looked stunned to see someone in his room.”
Hawk took the man’s gun and swept the rest of the suite. Just as Hawk was ready to declare the area clear, he entered the bathroom. Cowering in the corner, he found a half-naked woman clutching her bra across her chest.
Hawk motioned with his gun for her to leave. She jumped to her feet and scrambled out of the room, putting her clothes on hurriedly as she left.
“Now I know why he looked so surprised and angry,” Hawk said.
“What’d you find?”
“He had a hooker in the room, but I let her leave.”
“Did you find the missiles?”
“I found three of them here in the closet.”
“And the fourth?”
“I’m still looking.”
“Well, the GPS says it’s there.”
Hawk rummaged around the room, opening drawers and looking in closets for the other missile. After an exhaustive search, he finally found a case underneath the bed. He yanked it out into the middle of the room and opened the locks.
“Alex, we’ve got a problem.”
“What is it?”
“Apparently, those tracking devices are embedded in the case, not the missiles. There’s one missing.”
“Damn you, Colton,” she said.
“And I
