“There’s nothing in here from what I can see,” Black said.
“Me either, but I want to check one more thing.”
Hawk hustled around the side of the building, looking for any sign that Al Fatihin was utilizing the structure. He aimed his flashlight inside the stark facility, illuminating the reception area. There wasn’t as much as a piece of paper strewn on the floor. He then went around to the other side and found the power breaker off and padlocked in place.
“See anything?” Black asked as he hustled after Hawk.
“Not a damn thing,” Hawk said as he pointed at the power box. “This thing is locked shut and off. There’s no way they could be utilizing this place.”
“So now what?” Black asked. “Got any great ideas pinging around in that head of yours?”
“We just keep marching down the list,” Hawk said.
They raced back to the car, and Hawk contacted Alex via the coms.
“We just struck out again,” Hawk said. “We’re not finding anything. Have you been able to narrow things down at all for us?”
“Well, I can rule out a few places. I’m texting you a list that you can eliminate from your search, but unfortunately, we just have to keep looking. However, we need to move quickly.”
“Why? Any update on Young?”
"Evana is getting more brutal by the minute. Hawk, I'm worried he might not survive much more of this."
“What about A’isha?” Hawk asked.
“She’s gone,” Alex said.
“What do you mean she’s gone?”
“Blunt was wondering the same thing, so I tapped into the capitol’s security feed. And she’s not in the chamber.”
“Did law enforcement get her out of there?” Hawk asked.
“That’s all I can figure right now. I doubt she decided to start wandering the streets of Washington on her own.”
“See what you can find out, okay?”
Alex sighed. “I’m not sure that’s a top priority right now.”
“Then call someone who can help you. We need to find her before Evana tries to use the girl again.”
Hawk’s phone buzzed.
“You gonna get that?” Black asked.
Hawk nodded. “I’ve got another call coming in, Alex. Just keep this channel open in case we need you.”
“Roger that,” she said.
Hawk answered his cell.
“Mr. Hawk, did I catch you at a bad time?” a man asked. Hawk recognized the voice right away.
“General Fortner, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”
“I couldn’t reach your colleague, but I wanted to call and thank him for leading us straight to your offices. I half expected Black to attempt to free his sister. And thanks to my brilliant foresight, I inserted a tracker in her. And now I know exactly where she is, not to mention where Alex and J.D. are hiding out. As we speak, our agents are surrounding the Phoenix Foundation. And I’m going to have to ask you two to stand down in your search for Evana Bahar.”
Hawk didn’t say a word. He simply hung up and tried to reach Alex through the coms, but she wasn’t answering.
CHAPTER 20
ALEX LOOKED AT HER PHONE, which was buzzing with a notification from the Phoenix Foundation’s security system. She furrowed her brow and scanned the room for Blunt. His cane was still resting against the wall in the corner where he’d left it when he came in.
“Blunt,” she called. “Are you still here?”
“Yeah,” he answered. “I’m across the hall with Laura.”
She hopped up from her desk and walked to the adjacent room where they were.
“She said she was hungry, so I went to get her something to eat,” Blunt said.
“Did you leave the office?”
“No. Why?”
“I got an alert letting me know that there’s some activity outside.”
Blunt scowled. “Let me have a look.”
They both returned to Alex’s office and called up the security cameras. They were all black.
“Something’s wrong,” Blunt said.
Alex reached inside her desk and pulled out her gun. “We need to move.”
“It’s Laura,” Blunt said. “They must’ve put a tracker in her.”
Alex hustled downstairs and grabbed a security wand, careful not to turn on any lights. She noticed the glint of a headlamp outside.
Racing back up the steps, she waved the wand around Laura.
“What’s happening now?” she asked.
“Just stay calm, but I think Fortner’s people put a tracker in you and they’re coming for you now,” Alex said.
The wand beeped as Alex hovered it over Laura’s forearm. Alex snatched a knife out of her pocket.
“This is going to hurt a little, but I have to get this out of here.”
Laura nodded and closed her eyes. Without hesitating, Alex jammed the blade into Laura’s skin and quickly dug out the tracker. Blunt raised up to smash it, but Alex grabbed his wrist before he did.
“What are you doing?” Blunt said. “We need to end this transmission before we head to the panic room.”
“We can use this to divert them away from here.”
“And how do you expect to do that?”
Alex rummaged through her desk drawer. “Apply some pressure to Laura’s arm with this rag while I look for something.” Moments later, she pulled out a box.
“What’s that?” Blunt asked as he followed Alex’s directive to assist Laura.
“When Hawk was in Pakistan, he mentioned that he wanted a drone,” Alex said. “So he’s got a birthday coming up and I thought I would surprise him with one.”
“Brilliant idea,” he said.
“I’m not sure I follow what’s happening,” Laura said.
“Watch,” Alex said as she took a piece of tape and fastened the tracker to the drone.
She paused for a moment, wanting to create a diversion before unleashing the drone. After grabbing her keys, she pressed the panic button, setting off the alarm from her car. With all the agents hopefully wondering what was going on, she eased open a window and released the stealth drone outside.
Despite the successful launch of the diversion, she grabbed her laptop and two others before urging Blunt to retreat to the panic room. He retrieved his cane and hobbled down the steps, well behind Alex and Laura.
“Come on, come on,” she called. “From what I
