“That’s a lie,” shouted Young in the background.
The camera panned over to him. He’d twisted back and forth until he had worked the gag out of his mouth. She rushed over toward him.
“This is all propaganda,” Young said as he rocked back and forth. “Don’t do anything to get me out of here. I—”
Evana chuckled. "Isn't he charming to the end, still peddling his lies and trusting that you'll believe his stories without questioning them? Well, this ends tonight, and you're all going to have a front-row view."
She spun around, turning her back on the camera, which followed her across the room to Young. He continued to shout at her, refuting everything she said. With a smirk, she shook her head as she stared down at him.
“It’s too late, Mr. President. Nobody will buy your pack of lies anymore.”
With that statement, she drew back her stick and struck him repeatedly in the head until he fell unconscious.
* * *
EVANA BAHAR SMACKED Young’s face several times, checking to see if he was out. She felt his neck for a pulse.
“Not to worry,” she said, looking directly at the camera. “He’s still alive. I wouldn’t let him get off that easily.”
She took a deep breath and smiled wide. Reveling in her moment of fame, she knew this would surely make her immortal. History books the world over would tell of the time an American president was taken hostage, judged, and punished for his criminal behavior toward the rest of the world. Her cousin, Karif Fazil, had laid out a blueprint for how to put on a show and exact retribution from a world leader. But Fazil’s plan hadn’t taken every detail into account, primarily Brady Hawk and his creativity when it came to outwitting his foes. Evana was convinced she would build on Fazil’s idea and take it to the dramatic conclusion that he couldn’t produce. However, he didn’t have the kind of help she had.
Out of the blue one day, an Obsidian representative showed up at one of her hideouts. The man claimed to be unarmed and said he needed to talk with her—and if she tried to run, she and her organization would be obliterated. It was the kind of offer she couldn’t refuse, but not because of the threat. Despite the predatory way she was approached, she saw a genuine opportunity for the kind of partnership that could wreak havoc on the world—and the kind of assistance she needed to pull off her public hanging of President Young.
She picked up her phone and dialed a number. “Kill the security cameras. We need to go out again.”
CHAPTER 22
HAWK AND BLACK CONTINUED racing from one warehouse on the list to another, trying to follow the game plan Alex laid out for them. But with so many possibilities in the area and the slow pace at which the pair of Phoenix Foundation operatives were eliminating them, Hawk grew frustrated. Outside of a lucky break, he realized there was no way to find President Young before Evana Bahar did her worst to him.
“There has to be another way to go about this,” Hawk said as they hustled back to the car after crossing another property off the list.
“It’d be a helluva lot easier if Alex could just track that live stream Evana is pumping onto the internet,” Black said. “Then we might actually have time to figure out how we’re going to stop Al Fatihin once we get there.”
“Well, she said that if there’s one thing that terrorist organization does well, it’s the internet security. She told me it’s one of the most advanced systems she’s ever tried to crack over the last five years. And coming from her, that’s saying something.”
“How long would it take?” Black asked. “It can’t be any longer than it’s going to take for us to ferret these people out by going literally door to door.”
“She says it would—and I tend to trust her on matters like this.”
Hawk sighed. “Outside of Alex getting any more help on this one, I think this is how we have to do it. But like you, I’m not happy about this, mostly because I think we’re headed for a dead end. And I mean that in a very literal sense.”
“Try to get Alex back on the coms,” Black said. “We should’ve heard from her by now.”
Hawk attempted to connect with her over the coms. After several tries, there was no response.
“Maybe they went down with all that fighting,” Black suggested. “You should see if you can reach her on your phone.”
Hawk unlocked his cell phone and was about to start dialing when something flashed on the screen that arrested his attention. He gasped as his eyes widened.
“What is it?” Black asked.
“They’re on the move again,” Hawk said, shaking his head in disbelief. “This might all be for naught.”
"How do you know they're moving?"
“There’s an alert from two minutes ago that says Al Fatihin has ended its feed but promised—and I quote—‘more fireworks to come’.”
Black shook his head. “If that’s not cryptic, I don’t know what is.”
“Cryptic or not, it means all the time we spent eliminating potential locations has just been rendered meaningless,” Hawk said. “If they’re on the move now, they could wind up at a place
