Hawk shook his head. “Yet you stand by them and fight for them.”
“It’s how I’m going to survive—and why you’re about to die.”
Hawk motioned for Walsh to come toward him. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Walsh lunged toward Hawk and swiped at him. The blade slashed Hawk’s bicep, drawing some blood. But it wasn’t enough to make him wince as he swung back with the branch.
Hawk hit the top of Walsh’s hand, forcing him to release the knife. Both men dove for the weapon that fell into a nearby bush. Hawk got his fingers on the edge of the grip, but Walsh snatched it away and rolled on top of Hawk.
“It’s over,” Walsh said.
He reared back and prepared to plunge the blade into Hawk’s chest when a bullet ripped through Walsh’s chest. He dropped the knife as he clutched the gaping wound on his right side with both hands.
Alertly, Hawk grabbed the knife and watched as Walsh fell onto his back and gasped for air.
“You’re right,” Hawk said. “It’s over.”
A boat roared up near them on the shore.
“Please drop your weapon immediately and place your hands where we can see them,” ordered an officer over the boat’s speaker.
Hawk flung the knife a healthy distance away before taking Walsh’s phone and then raising both hands in the air. He looked down at Walsh, who was still struggling to breathe.
“My phone won’t help you,” Walsh whispered. “You better run. You’ll never get out of prison alive, if they don’t shoot you on-site.”
Walsh closed his eyes and ceased breathing as he fell limp. Hawk sighed before slowly rising to his feet.
A couple officers stormed toward Hawk.
“Keep your hands where I can see them,” one of the men said.
Hawk didn’t move as they searched him for a weapon. After a quick check, one of the guards announced that Hawk was clean. “But there’s a dead body over here.”
“Two of you stay behind here while we send for another boat,” one of the men on the vessel said. “Let’s take him back to NSC headquarters and process him there. Everyone is gonna want their pound of flesh from this clown.”
Black darted through the woods and approached the officers with his hands in the air. “It’s okay,” Black said, slowly reaching to hold up the badge attached to a chain around his neck. “I’m Special Agent Grant with the bureau. This man is a hero, not a criminal. He’s the one who apprehended the actual suspect.”
The man in charge huffed. “We’re handling this now. You can take that up with all the eyewitnesses who reported something to the contrary. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we need to process this traitor.”
Glancing at Black, Hawk cut his eyes toward his front right pocket. “Get my phone and call my lawyer. I’m sure he’ll be able to sort out this misunderstanding. And thanks.”
Black nodded before he fished the phone out of Hawk’s pants amid protests from the officers.
“Rob Fulchum is my lawyer,” Hawk said. “He'll know what to do.”
As the men escorted Hawk to the boat, they eyed Black closely.
“Come on, guys,” Black pleaded. “Let me contact his lawyer for him. You’re going to be embarrassed about arresting him when the footage comes out.”
“Whatever,” one of the guards replied. “Call his lawyer for him. It’s not gonna make much difference. He shot Fortner, who’s in the hospital fighting for his life.”
CHAPTER 29
ALEX TOOK THE PHONE from Black and gained access to it by generating a simulated fingerprint she found on file from Mack Walsh. She downloaded all of the data onto her computer and started to comb through it while listening to radio reports about what the security detail believed happened.
“Thanks,” Alex said. “I know what you did out there. If you hadn’t shot Walsh when you did . . .”
“Just doing my job,” Black said. “We’ve all got each other’s back around here. Let’s just hope Blunt can get everything cleared up soon.”
Black studied the video monitors depicting certain sections around the new NSC campus. Investigators collected casings, while paramedics continued to check attendees for any injuries.
“I would’ve sworn that I saw Walsh on the ground,” Black said.
“Those look-alikes threw everything off,” Alex said. “And I can’t for the life of me figure out where they went.”
Black nodded knowingly. “Look, I know we’re all focused on getting this information off Walsh’s phone, but I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now.”
“I’m trying not to think about it,” Alex said. “I do take some solace in the fact that President Young is an ally of ours and the Phoenix Foundation. But now that we’ve had time to catch our breath and reflect, this whole scenario felt like a setup. Obsidian wanted Hawk here so they could frame him.”
“What makes you so sure of that?”
“Somebody on the inside had knowledge of where all the security cameras were,” Alex said. “This building is brand new, and somehow Walsh avoided being seen. We know that Hawk saw him because he chased him across the river. But no one else did apparently, at least if the chatter I hear on the law enforcement communications is to be believed.”
“But why?” Black asked. “If Obsidian wanted Hawk dead, they had their chances.”
“There’s something else at play here,” Alex said. “It’s almost as if they wanted to prove something with this attack. I haven’t sorted through all potential reasons why yet, but it seems as though a brazen act of this nature could trigger something else they wanted. And framing Hawk would help further that agenda.”
“So to thwart this, all we have to do now is prove Hawk's innocence.”
“Easier said than done, and I’m not sure how to do it,” Alex said. “But I do know the FBI investigators are confused as to how Hawk was seen running from one side of the rooftop to the other without a weapon, but there were long-range shots fired from both locations. I
