“The last thing we need right now is a snowstorm,” Hawk said.
“It doesn’t matter whether you need it or not because we’re getting it,” Alex said.
Hawk could hear her fingers flying across the keyboard as she muttered under her breath.
“What is it?” Hawk asked.
“I don’t know what they did, but it’s like every camera in a five-mile radius was turned off for five minutes. I’m trying to recreate their exit, but it’ll take me forever to distill the possibilities. And I’m afraid by then it’ll be far too late.”
“Is there any other way you can figure out where they’re going?” Hawk asked.
“If I look at the time just before they left, I might be able to figure out something,” she said. “But that’s only if they slipped up and made a mistake. In the midst of that kind of chaos, it is possible.”
“Okay, just do whatever you think will help you find them,” Hawk said. “But before you disappear into all those images, do you know where Black is?”
“Talk to Blunt,” she said.
A few seconds later, Blunt came on the coms. “What is it, Hawk?”
“I need Black. Where is he? I thought he was supposed to be patrolling the grounds and looking for anything even remotely suspicious.”
“Well, he just got here,” Blunt said. “And he’s got some explaining to do.”
“He’s at the Phoenix Foundation? Right now?”
“He walked in a few minutes ago—with his sister.”
“What’s he doing with his sister?” Hawk asked. “This is one of our most important missions ever and he’s decided that now he needs more family time?”
“It’s a long story, but apparently the short version is that she was being held against her will.”
“By who?”
“Not sure yet. He promised to tell me everything soon, but in the meantime, I’m just going to trust him.”
“You know I like Black, but that makes me a little wary of what he’s been doing. I’d never—”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t recommend finishing that sentence,” Blunt said. “If you were in his situation, who knows what you would or wouldn’t do?”
“But I certainly would have a conversation with someone about it before I did it.”
“You would? I wouldn’t count on that.”
Hawk sighed. “Well, maybe a few times I decided to do what I wanted to do and somehow avoided the crushing consequences, but there were good reasons for what I did every single time.”
“In your opinion,” Blunt said.
“In everybody’s opinion. People understood that. It’s not like I was some renegade, who threw caution to the wind and ignored the sage advice of some more elderly people in my life. I was always listening.”
“Our perceptions of our own lives often vary quite differently from reality.”
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
“You’re a damn good operative, Hawk, but self-analysis and introspection may not be your greatest qualities. However, I prefer right now that you stick to being a great agent and find Young. Alex is tracking your location now and will send Black to you.”
“Roger that. Let me know when you have a general direction to start looking.”
Hawk reached his car and slid into the front seat. Turning the key in the ignition, the car roared to life. He peeled out of the parking deck and sped onto the streets.
“Talk to me, Alex,” Hawk said over his coms. “I’m in the car and ready to go somewhere.”
“I’m looking,” she said. “The local authorities are coordinating with the FBI and have set up a five-mile perimeter around Capitol Hill.”
“At least you know where to look.”
“Yeah, but what kind of location are we looking for? That’s the million dollar question I can’t answer right now.”
“I’d start with warehouses,” Hawk said. “Maybe search for ones on the leasing market. That’s how I’d find an open space if I were in her position.”
Hawk heard Alex’s fingers tapping furiously on her keyboard followed by a sigh.
“What is it?” Hawk asked.
“Good idea, but that’s narrowed it down to just under a hundred possibilities.”
“Can you map those? Maybe even see if there was any activity at those locations in the past twenty minutes? Just a suggestion.”
“It’s a great one, but it’ll take me some time.”
“Fine,” Hawk said. “Why don’t you send me the closest ones, and I’ll start to visit a few myself.”
“I’m texting you a short list now.”
* * *
BLUNT PACED around the office, gnawing on his cigar and mumbling to himself. Evana Bahar had made a brazen attack during the middle of the State of the Union address and had thrown the capitol into complete chaos. Even the safe distance they were away from the epicenter, he could hear emergency vehicle sirens wailing into the night.
“Did Hawk have any useful ideas?” he asked.
“I’m narrowing down potential locations but trying to figure out a quicker way to do this. To be honest, I’m not sure how helpful this will be. But until I have another lead, this is about as good as it gets.”
Blunt turned his focus toward the television on the far wall where a reporter was giving a live report. He turned up the volume to hear what she was saying.
In the background, people scurried in all directions, fleeing the building. She stressed that there was no point person yet who was communicating with the press or the public about what action officials were taking to get the president back. Then the picture started to flit in and out as if there was some type of magnetic interference. After a few seconds, the picture dissolved to black.
“Hmm. That’s weird.”
Then Evana Bahar appeared on the screen, her face just a couple of feet from the camera.
“Good evening, Americans,” she began. “It would be a shame that if in a country proud of its so-called freedom you wouldn’t get to see the trial of your president and hear him answer for all the crimes he’s committed against you and other nations.”
She paced around Young, who was tied to a chair and gagged. With a
