Black shrugged. “It’s not all about bullets and bravery. Sometime patience and persistence are just as important, if not more so.”
“Are you writing fortune cookies in your spare time?” Hawk asked.
“You’re digging my succinct nuggets of wisdom, aren’t you? I’ll be sure to write that one down later to pass it along to all the children I’m never going to have.”
“You just seem a little too amped up for this assignment, that’s all.”
“Well, I do have some history with Kitty Tiller,” Black said.
“History? Did you—”
“Oh, no. Nothing like that. But I was working an assignment once where she was involved with this senator who I was shadowing. I’ve met her several times. She’s a pleasant woman, even if she is a preying opportunist. I find her ilk disgusting. However, men who fall into her clutches are stupid, especially with the reputation she now has. And the fact that Fortner ever got involved with her in the first place makes me question his wisdom. He certainly knows better.”
“Maybe he knew exactly what he was doing and was using her.”
“Let’s not give Fortner that much credit just yet. I don’t think he sought out any of this business with Obsidian. It’s far more likely that he was just a vulnerable man in a key role.”
“You might be right, but he’s been more than competent when it comes to avoiding capture,” Hawk said. “He’s been two or three steps ahead of us.”
“He was ripping pages right out of the Obsidian playbook for coercing cooperation. Now that his tactic has been exposed, we can plan ahead too. And I don’t think he ever thought we’d find his hideout in New Orleans. That might’ve never even been a place we considered to look had we not had such good fortune.”
Hawk laughed. “I wouldn’t exactly call getting pounded into pulp good luck.”
“But meeting Liling was definitely was since she pointed us toward New Orleans.”
“And here we are, sitting outside Kitty Tiller’s apartment, just waiting for him to show up,” Hawk said before he sighed.
“It makes sense that he’d come here, especially if he was working with her before. She might be gathering some kind of intel to help him or simply needing a place to lay low in Washington while he manipulates someone else to do some of Obsidian’s bidding.”
Hawk leaned forward in his seat, squinting as he watched the dimly lit street. “Look over there. Is that him?”
Black peered through his binoculars. “That’s him all right. What is he doing?”
“Does he have a key?” Hawk asked.
“It looks like he’s waiting for someone to open the door.”
“Let’s get him.”
As Hawk went to open the door, he jumped back as a shadowy figure slapped a piece of paper against the window.
“Alex?” Hawk said as he furrowed his brow. “What are you doing here?”
“Look at this,” she said. “I want to know what you were doing there.”
“Fortner just showed up. Let’s talk about this later.”
“We’ve been made,” Black said. “He’s running.”
Alex stepped away from the door and made room for Hawk to open it. He and Black tore down the street after Fortner.
“Which way did he go?” Hawk asked.
“He cut down that alley right there,” Black said.
“I’ll go around the backside and wait for you to flush him out.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Hawk sprinted around the back of the building before he found a spot behind a dumpster to ambush Fortner. Staying completely still, Hawk tilted his head to one side and listened for the sound of footsteps. Other than a dog barking a block away or a police siren wailing down the street, the area was relatively quiet. And there weren’t any footfalls clattering against the concrete.
“You found him yet?” Hawk whispered in his coms.
“No,” Black said. “He must’ve gone in a different direction. I don’t see any sign of him.”
“Should I abandon my post and search the streets?” Hawk asked.
“That’s probably our best option at this point. I’ll keep going this way, but if he’s in front of me, he’s doing a good job of staying out of sight.”
“Well, I haven’t heard anything that remotely sounds like someone running.”
“Damn it,” Black said. “Where could he have gone so quickly? It’s like he vanished.”
Hawk’s ears perked up at the sound of feet scuffling against the asphalt. “Wait. I think I hear something. Keep moving this way.”
Hawk crouched low as he kept his gaze focused on the open area just beyond where he was positioned. He turned off the safety on his gun and wrapped both hands around it.
Come to daddy.
The sound stopped. Hawk put his face against the ground and eyed the pair of shoes visible beneath the wheels of the dumpster. Designer Italian leather dress shoes.
The man spun on his heels and headed in the opposite direction.
“Get ready,” Hawk whispered over the coms. “He’s headed back toward you.”
Hawk crept into the alleyway and drew his weapon, ready to take out Fortner if fired upon.
“Put those hands up where I can see them,” Hawk said.
The man turned around slowly and raised one hand in the air, while the other was holding a toy poodle.
“What is the meaning of this?” the man asked. “I’m just out for an evening stroll with Mr. Rockerfeller.”
Hawk holstered his weapon. “I apologize, sir. Wrong place, wrong time. I thought you were someone else.”
Before Hawk could say anything else, a car roared out of the alley behind him.
“False alarm,” Hawk said. “But I think he just drove out of here and is on the street. I’m in pursuit.”
Hawk pumped his arms as he increased his stride until he reached full speed. His lungs strained to process the cold air while his legs burned from sudden burst toward the street.
By the time he reached the sidewalk to get a clear view, the car’s tires were screeching as it rounded the corner. He looked behind him to see Black slowing to a stop next to Alex, who had apparently been taking in the whole scene.
“If you were at your computer, we
