Reese fished out a check that was written to A Hand Up in the amount of two hundred fifty thousand. “There’s just one problem.”
“What’s that?” Hawk asked.
“It’s not signed.”
“Of course not,” Hawk said. “I always want to see how things are going before I lug around a check ready to be deposited. I wasn’t born that long ago, but I wasn’t born yesterday. Now, if you let us go, I’ll just sign that little check and you’ll never hear from us again—ever. I promise.”
Reese scratched the side of his face and crinkled up his nose as he stared off in the distance. “As tempting as that offer sounds, I value my life so much more.”
“What are you going to do?” Alex asked in a breathy voice. “Call the police?”
Reese grinned slyly. “You wish. No, I’m going to handle you in a more appropriate manner for your skill set.”
“Skill set?” Alex asked. “What are you going to do? Bury us on one of the properties we represent?”
Reese glared at her. “Let’s cut the realtor bullshit. I know you both work for the government in some capacity as special agents. I don’t even really care who. All I know is that you need to stay here while I get someone to help deal with you.”
Hawk glanced at Alex and subtly shook his head.
“What’s the matter, Mr. Reese?” Hawk asked. “Can’t handle your own dirty work?”
“I have half a mind to shoot you right now,” Reese said with a growl.
“That’s way too much clean up for a man in your position. And right now, it’s all hands on deck for your employer’s next big move.”
Reese chuckled. “You sure are tenacious, but it’s not going to work with me. I’m onto your tactics and what you’re trying to do here. But I’m not going to confirm or deny anything about what my employer is directing me to do. The only thing I’ve been ordered to do at the moment is collect donations and offer triple matching to every qualifying gift.”
“I think we can also cut the charity bullshit, too,” Hawk said. “We all know that you work for Obsidian and that the organization has a major event planned next week. And it’s not going to be a simple donor drive—it’s going to be a drive to fill its coffers in another method.”
“That’s enough,” Reese said before he drew back his handgun and acted as if he was going to hit Hawk with it. The CEO relented and instead knelt behind Hawk and affixed his hands and arms to the chair, wrapping a rope around his wrists as well as his ankles and fastening them to the seat legs.
When finished with Hawk, Reese moved on to Alex and finished tying both of the once-prospective donors to their chairs.
“I hope Max was right about you,” Reese said.
“Either way, you’ve made an enemy,” Hawk said. “And you’re going to regret this decision every waking hour for the short time that I allow you to keep inhaling oxygen on this planet.”
“You talk a big game for someone who’s going to die later today,” Reese said.
“I suggest you tone it down just a little bit before I start shooting.”
“I’d like to see you try,” Hawk said with a sneer.
“Better quit while you’re ahead,” Reese said before recoiling and smacking Hawk in the head with a pistol. Hawk moaned, teetering in and out of consciousness before finally relenting and passing out.
CHAPTER 12
BLACK WAITED FOR TWO HOURS without hearing back from Hawk or Alex before he decided to call Blunt and discuss the matter. With Fortner’s phone in hand, Black didn’t feel like the team could afford to lose much more time if they intended to capture the renegade general. Black had tried several combinations of Kitty’s birthday for the password, but none of them worked. But with only three attempts remaining before the phone locked, he decided to let someone more proficient in hacking into such devices handle the duties.
Blunt grunted when he answered the phone. “You do realize I’m in the middle of my weekly chess game, don’t you?”
“Of course,” Black said. “You’ve only been playing for a whole month now, but you haven’t forgotten to mention that almost every day in the office.”
“Yet here you are calling me.”
“I wouldn’t be doing it unless it was an emergency.”
“The Russians better be raining down nukes on our heads.”
“I’m sure you would’ve heard from someone else by now if that was the case.”
“In that case, I’m gonna hang up now and get back to my game.”
Black sighed. “Look, I’m sorry for interrupting you, but I need to know if you’ve heard from Hawk and Alex. I’m getting worried about them.”
“Let me assure you that they are more than capable of handling themselves in just about every situation imaginable. Now if there isn’t anything else—”
“As a matter of fact, there is.” Black decided to shift tactics and pique Blunt’s interest with a piece of good news.
“What is it?”
“I found Kitty Tiller.”
“Big deal. I could go to Off the Record and be slurping down some fruity cocktail with her in fifteen minutes if I wanted to.”
Black smiled at Blunt’s bluster. “But could you pry Fortner’s phone out of her hands?”
“She gave you his phone? Out of the goodness of her heart?”
“I may have incentivized her a bit.”
“That’s why you’re my favorite agent.”
“I think you misspoke there,” Black said. “You pronounced the word best like the word favorite. Common mistake. People do it all the time with me.”
“And what have you found out from getting Fortner’s phone?”
“Nothing yet,” Black said. “That’s why I’m desperate to get in touch with Alex and Hawk. I need her to hack this thing open for me before he slips through our fingers again.”
Blunt groaned. “Hell, Black, you sure know how to ruin my night out.”
“You’re always talking about my special set of skills,” Black deadpanned.
“Let me see if I
