Hawk groaned. “What is it now?”
“I see a pair of Jeeps about two miles behind you,” Alex said. “And as far as I can tell, they have machine guns mounted on the roll bars.”
“Pakistan is such a welcoming country. You know, it’s moments like these that I wish I had a drone so I could fire missiles at those thugs to keep them off my tail.”
“Well, this isn’t James Bond. You have to do things the old fashioned way. Now, just make sure you hide your vehicle. The CIA evac team is fueling up just across the border in Afghanistan. They’ll be awaiting my word, so make sure you stay in touch.”
“Roger that,” Hawk said before he resumed his song.
When he finished, he slowed down as he approached the gates of the mining site. The Chinese and the Pakistanis struck a deal to develop the mine and process the resources found there. And with a high daily yield, both countries worked hard to protect their investment with stringent security measures.
Hawk held out his papers for the guard as he approached the vehicle. He studied the papers for a moment before handing them back and waving Hawk inside.
With the operation to retrieve Frank Stone a collaborative effort between the Phoenix Foundation and the CIA, Hawk had access to more resources than ever. The CIA created a low-key legend for him as a geologist studying copper mines around the world. They even hired someone to write a book about copper mining and stuck Hawk’s picture on the back to further legitimize his standing as an authority in his field. Instead of keeping his fingers crossed that he wouldn’t meet any resistance in Pakistan, he was welcomed as a celebrity among the engineers partnering on the mine with the Chinese and Pakistanis. And a week before Hawk arrived, nobody would’ve even been able to find his existence on the web.
“I found the perfect spot for you,” Alex said. “Just head east, and there’s a nook at the base of the mountain you should be able to squeeze your Jeep into.”
“Heading that way now,” Hawk said.
A couple of minutes later, he came to the location Alex suggested and parked. Using his access badge, he swiped it across a security scanner adjacent to a door built into the wall. Once the locked clicked free, he entered the structure and began his search for Al Fatihin's hideout.
“All right, Alex,” Hawk said. “I’m in. Keep me on the right path, okay?”
“I’m overlaying your position now with the schematics of the mine,” she said. “We’ve got the NSA to thank for hacking those Chinese computers and pulling up the plans for this facility.”
“Stop brownnosing. You know the NSA is listening to this conversation. You’re just trying to get on their good side in case you ever get—”
“That’s enough, Hawk. Not everything I’ve done is documented, even by the NSA.”
Hawk chuckled. “I going into the stairwell now.”
He hustled down the steps, emerging on a floor three levels below where he started. If the Chinese were anything, they were concerned with safety in their construction of the mine, which ran contrary to everything Hawk had heard about projects of this magnitude in China. There were escape hatches and stairways everywhere he looked, making the fringe portion of the mine seem more like a vast maze than a place that was digging up copper and gold at an astounding rate.
As Hawk crept down the hallway, he whispered into his coms. “Do you have a location for Stone now?”
“I have a guess,” Alex offered.
“A guess? You do realize this isn’t the kind of place where I need to be speculating, don’t you?”
“There are four potential areas where Al Fatihin’s hideout could be located. And if prior intel on Chinese construction procedures is accurate, one of those spots belongs to the mine’s labor offices.”
“And the other three?”
“I’d be playing a hunch if I told you.”
Hawk sighed. “Might as well hear it at this point.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Alex said. “So, while studying the schematics, conventional wisdom would tell you that if you were wanting to hide something, you’d put it deeper into the ground. However, when comparing this with other mines built by this same Chinese corporation, I found that they usually put a survival room near the initial bottom floor of the mine in case something happens. It gives the workers a place to retreat to as well as a chance at survival if there is a collapse.”
“Get to the part where you tell me which one it is, Alex.”
"There's a survival room on the fourth floor that has two tunnels leading to the surface, neither of which are visible from the outside. I'm guessing those are secret entrances."
“And why would you make an escape route hidden to the outside?”
“Exactly,” Alex said. “Try the one on the south side of the fourth floor.”
“Roger that.”
Hawk hustled along the inside wall. The hallway was devoid of any workers as the resources on the level had apparently been long since exhausted. When he reached the room, he stopped and stared at the lock, which was comprised of a numerical pad and a spot for a fingerprint.
"Alex, got any ideas about how I can crack a keypad that requires a touch identification?" Hawk asked in a hushed tone.
“Short of severing someone’s thumb, no,” she said. “At least, not at this juncture in the operation. Had I known this earlier—”
“I know,” Hawk said. “You would’ve had all your bases covered. But this intel came along so fast and out of nowhere that the higher ups didn’t want to delay for fear that Stone might be moved again.”
“Well, you’re there now,” she said. “My best advice would be to camp out down the hall and wait for someone to exit the room. Then hope you can grab the door before it locks shut.”
“That’s not what I wanted to hear. I was hoping you might at least figure out
