“Why tell me all this?” Hawk said. “You’re certainly not endearing yourself to me by pulling back the curtain on your operation.”
“You won’t make it out alive,” Becker said. “That much I know. I figured you ought to know before you die.”
“Doc, I’m the one holding the gun here.”
“But I’m the one holding the syringe,” Becker said.
With that, Becker injected himself in the arm.
“What are you doing?” Hawk asked.
“Saving the world,” Becker snapped. “Just you watch.”
Before either of them could move, an explosion rocked the area downstairs. Hawk rushed over to the window and watched as the production portion of the hideout began to explode.
Hawk couldn’t do anything but watch as Becker jammed the need into his arm, convulsed, and then shake back and forth on his own. The seizure overtook his entire body. He thrashed all around before falling to the ground in a heap of exhaustion.
“Okay, that’s enough theatrics,” Hawk said as he looked at Becker, who had progressed to writhing on the floor.
Becker spewed bile out of his mouth. He was still alive but barely hanging on.
Hawk cursed as he rushed over to check on Becker. There was a pulse, but not much of one.
“Damn it,” Hawk said as he started to pace around the room. “What a fool.”
The fire outside the door started to rage. Hawk turned and looked at Becker, who was moving toward his dead assistant.
“He can’t help you now,” Hawk said. “He’s dead.”
Becker ignored Hawk and kept inching his way toward the assistant spotting the gun. Without hesitating, Becker picked it up and placed the barrel underneath his chin.
“Don’t do it,” Hawk screamed.
“The pain,” Becker stammered. “I’m dead anyway.”
Becker squeezed the trigger. His body fell limp as he crashed to the floor.
Hawk rushed over to the window as large chunks of the ceiling started to plummet downward. The ground shook as more explosions rocked the mountain. He ran outside, grabbing onto the railing to maintain his balance as he searched for Black.
After a brief scan of the space below, Hawk didn’t see his partner. However, Hawk noticed Mack Walsh.
Stay calm, Hawk.
Hawk’s adrenalin surged, blood rushing to his head as he unleashed a primal scream. He hustled down the stairs and sprinted straight for Walsh. When the two men collided, Hawk sent Walsh flying against the wall. Hawk stumbled but managed to maintain his balance, while Walsh grimaced and shook his head.
“You’re coming with me, you son of a bitch,” Hawk said with a growl.
Walsh narrowed his eyes and glared at Hawk.
“Don’t try anything,” Hawk warned. “I won’t hesitate to take you out right here.”
Another explosion drew their attention away from the conversation as they both watched another vat become engulfed in flames. Hawk was about to make his final appeal to Walsh when Black rushed over to the scene.
“We gotta get out of here, Hawk.”
“Already? I just found Walsh.”
Black looked around. “Where?”
Hawk turned his focus toward the spot where Walsh had just been. “He was right there.”
“In about thirty seconds, it won’t matter who we’ve got because we’ll both be dead if we don’t hurry,” Black said. “Come with me.”
Black ran in the opposite direction of the entrance, instead sprinting away from it.
“What are we doing?” Hawk said. “The gate is that way.”
“Just shut up and run,” Black said. “Trust me.”
A few seconds later, Black flung open a door and barely stopped his momentum in time to avoid plunging headlong off a cliff. Hawk poked his head out and saw that they were standing on a rock that jutted out over a snow-covered ravine. By his best estimate, Hawk figured they were about twenty meters off the ground.
“What do you want to do now?” he asked.
“Jump,” Black said. “It’s our only option.”
“I don’t think so,” Hawk said. “We have no idea what’s underneath all this snow.”
“It’s either that or get consumed in the fire.”
Hawk eyed the craggy rock face nearby to see if he could climb it or maneuver around another way to safety.
“This mountain is going to explode in about ten seconds. We don’t have time to plot our way down. We just have to jump.”
“I know you’re not serious,” Hawk said. “We should just—”
An explosion rattled the floor as it started to split beneath them. Then Black lunged forward, wrapping his arms around Hawk before the two tumbled off the ledge and plummeted toward the snow below.
CHAPTER 19
HAWK BRACED FOR IMPACT, covering his head and hoping that if he died, his death would be a quick one. He looked at Black, whose eyes were wild with delight. He seemed to enjoy flirting with death.
“Here goes nothing,” Black said with a wink.
Black released his hold on Hawk as the two crashed into the snow. Once Hawk regained his bearings, he could tell he fell feet first and only needed to climb up a few feet to reach the surface.
“Black? You there?”
“Alive and kickin’,” Black answered. “But we can’t afford to stay here for long.”
“Why’s that?”
“Look at the mountainside. These are prime conditions for an avalanche. Fresh loose snow, warming weather, and a seismic event.”
“What’s happening out there?” Hawk asked as he worked his way up and out of the snow.
“That explosion is acting like a seismic event. It can easily shake loose an avalanche.”
A few seconds later, Hawk reached the surface first. He took a deep breath, inhaling a lungful of mountain air tinged with smoke. Black's head popped up out of the snow next.
“Ready to run?” Black asked as he wriggled out of the shallow cave he made for himself when he fell.
“I had Walsh,” Hawk said. “But you screwed it all up when you came over.”
“If I hadn’t interfered, you wouldn’t have him now anyway,” Black said. “You’d be dead right along with him.”
“Until I see
