“Shut up, old man,” she said. “Your time is almost up. Your voice will be silenced.”
Evana walked behind the camera and stared at the computer. Over five hundred million people were watching the live event.
She measured the rope one more time and tied a knot to secure it on a metal beam she exposed from removing the ceiling tiles.
“On your feet,” she said, snatching Young by the back of his collar and yanking him up. “In five minutes, you’re going to pay the piper.”
* * *
HAWK CONTINUED HIS CLIMB up the stairs and wondered if he’d have any energy left once he reached the top. He could finally see the end and figured he would reach it in less than a minute.
His phone buzzed with a call from a blocked number.
“Yeah,” Hawk said.
“I gave you very specific instructions,” Evana said. “You were to go to Union Station and wait there until Young was dead. Then I said I’d give you the code to defuse the bomb in the girl’s leg.”
“And that’s what I did,” Hawk said.
“What kind of fool do you take me for? Not only are you not there, your FBI friends arrested someone they thought had the detonator. I warned you that I had thought of everything. Now you will all pay a dear price.”
“Be careful of switching the game when your opponent has nothing to lose,” Hawk said before he hung up on her.
Hawk stopped and raised Alex on the coms.
“So I just heard you struck out with the terrorist you arrested at Union Station,” Hawk said.
“How did you—”
“Evana called me to taunt me, which means that she has someone else there who will be activating the bomb remotely, and I know we don’t have enough time to isolate whoever that is. Now, has Black made any progress?”
“Negative. He said there’s not enough time to disarm it. But what about the Electro 451?”
“I thought about that too, but it won’t affect cell towers.”
“So now what?”
“I need you to crash all the cell towers in the city so calls can’t get through.”
“Are you kidding me, Hawk? There’s not enough time to do that. And even if I do, that’s how law enforcement is communicating with each other. We’d put everyone in the dark.”
“Better than everyone dying. Just figure out a way, Alex, and don’t tell a soul. If Evana hears about it, she’s likely to deviate from her plan again.”
“You want me to do this in five minutes?”
“Just do it—and tell Wood to get that chopper airborne. I’m going to need it in about three minutes.”
Hawk put his head down and sprinted up the last fifty steps.
CHAPTER 29
HAWK OPENED THE DOOR to the observatory deck and slipped inside. A cool, stiff breeze blew in from where she had already removed the windows. He was hidden from view by the elevator, which was in the center of the room. Just around the corner, he could hear Evana blathering on about how evil the United States was and how she was going to avenge all the terrible things that the American military had done around the world by executing President Young.
Hawk tightened the silencer on the end of his gun. From his vantage point, he couldn’t see Evana, but the two other terrorists with her were in the open. Hawk trained his weapon on one of the men before squeezing the trigger. The other man spun in Hawk’s direction, opening up and exposing his chest to Hawk. One shot to the center mass and one bullet to the head and the man crumpled to the floor.
Peeking around the edge, Hawk darted back when Evana fired in his direction.
“Face it, Mr. Hawk. It’s over. Your beloved president is going to die, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Hawk leaned against the wall and pondered his next move. “Well, he’s not dying the way you want him to.”
He blasted the camera, which toppled over with a clatter.
"Nobody's going to see what happens now," Hawk said. "It's just you and me."
“I should put a bullet in his head right now,” she said.
“But you won’t,” Hawk said. “You want to prove that you were better than Karif Fazil. You wanted a grander execution, a larger moment to solidify your legacy as a terrorist leader.”
“I’m not a terrorist,” she said. “I’m a freedom fighter, warring against your nation’s tyranny.”
“Call yourself whatever you wish, but it doesn’t change the reality of who you are.”
“Make another step toward me and I’m putting a bullet in Young’s head and tossing his body out of the window.”
“And then what? You’re a martyr for your cause? If that was really what you were after, you would’ve strapped a vest to your chest a long time ago. No, you don’t want to die.”
Hawk peeked around the corner, and a bullet ricocheted off the wall near him. He couldn’t see or hear what she was doing.
“It’s all over if you try anything. I’ll shoot Young, and if my man at Union Station doesn’t hear from me in three minutes, he’s been instructed to detonate the bomb once those trains arrive in the terminal. So you want to reconsider your approach right now if you want to save all those innocent Americans. Now, lay down your weapon and I’ll make the call. Young still dies, but at least all those people don’t.”
“I can’t do that,” he said.
“It’s your choice. All that blood will be on your hands. Is that what you really want?”
Hawk took a deep breath and crouched. He slid his gun across the floor and out into the open so Evana could see it while he remained hidden around the corner.
“There, I did it,” Hawk said. “Now make the call.”
After a few tense seconds, her phone slammed against the back wall near Hawk, splintering into hundreds of pieces.
“Looks like it’s not your day, Mr. Hawk. I can’t get a signal. Goodbye.”
Hawk peered around the edge in
