“We need to sweep the area,” Hawk said. “Joseph is still at large.”
Black tossed the men’s weapons aside and emptied all the ammunition, while Hawk walked around the perimeter in search of another potential location for Joseph. Near the front, Hawk found a door with a placard that read “storage.” He stopped and made eye contact with Black before pointing at the sign.
Hawk counted down, holding his fingers in the air.
3 . . . 2 . . . 1.
Hawk swung the door open and was greeted with several shots. He dove to the ground and crawled into the room on his belly. Moving to the right, he took cover behind a shelving unit and tried to assess the situation while Black raced to the left side of the aisle.
Hawk peeked over the top of a shelf and barely got a glance before another bullet ricocheted off the wall behind him. He waited a moment before taking another look, and this time he was able to see the situation more clearly.
“We’ve just got one shooter,” Hawk said. “He looks like he’s holding Joseph hostage.”
“Want me to see if I can flush him out?” Black asked.
Hawk nodded. “Do it.”
He watched as Black crept to the outer edge of the shelving units on the left-hand side. They were clunky and metal, echoing every sound that hit them. Black eased down the side and disappeared from Hawk’s sight. A few seconds later, a burst of shots peppered the area in front of where he had last seen the gunman—then return fire aimed in Black’s direction.
Hawk eased down the righthand side until he arrived at the aisle parallel to Black. He held up his gun and motioned to it. Hawk understood the signal: Black’s gun had jammed.
Before Hawk had a chance to consider their next move, he heard metal crunching against metal. He looked up to see the shelving units toppling over like a dominoes chain reaction.
Hawk preferred to stay on the outside, but he knew it would back him into a corner. So instead, he made a dash for the center aisle. However, he was clotheslined and knocked to the ground by a crowbar.
Hawk fell hard, landing on his back on the concrete floor with the iron rod clanking to a resting spot next to him. His grip loosened as his gun dropped out of his hand and slid out of reach. The attacker snatched the gun off the ground. He then stood, looming over Hawk.
“My, how our fortunes can change,” said the man as he trained Hawk’s gun on him.
Hawk gasped as he recognized the man’s voice and then his face.
It was Shane Samuels.
“Good night, Brady Hawk.”
CHAPTER 30
HAWK SET HIS JAW as he glared up at Samuels, who wore a smug smile. Hemmed in against toppled shelving units, Hawk couldn’t do anything but brace himself for the bitter and painful end. A thousand thoughts rushed through his head at once, mostly about how he didn’t want to leave Alex.
But in an instant, everything stopped.
The smirk pasted across Samuels’s lips was replaced by twisted agony when a crowbar was lodged into the side of his head. Samuels teetered for a few seconds, dropped his gun, and collapsed on top of Hawk. He scrambled to get away from the dead body of a man who just moments before appeared menacing and on the threshold of taking Hawk’s life.
Hawk had been so focused on Samuels that he hadn’t seen Black reach down and pick up the crowbar. Black stooped down and offered his hand to Hawk before yanking him to his feet.
“Cutting it close their, partner,” Hawk said.
Black cocked his head to one side. “I was hoping more for a thank you.”
Their barb trading ended abruptly when they turned in the direction of metal scraping against the floor.
“It’s the senator,” Hawk said as he hurdled one of the downed shelves and raced to cut off Joseph at the door.
Hawk arrived at the same time as Joseph and pinned him to the wall with a forearm.
“What do you want from me?” Joseph asked. “I think it’s pretty clear this guy abducted me.”
“This guy?” Black asked as he joined the two men. “You mean you don’t know him?”
“I’ve never seen him before in my life,” Joseph said, his voice escalating several octaves.
Hawk chuckled and looked at Black. “Do you know how to tell when a politician is lying?”
Black nodded. “When his lips are moving.”
“Exactly,” Hawk said, returning his gaze to Joseph. “Now you’re going to tell us everything.”
“I was hoping you could explain everything to me,” Joseph said.
Hawk grabbed a fistful of Joseph’s shirt and led him outside and across the building to the other offices where he’d previously been with Samuels.
“What are you doing to me?” Joseph protested. “Do you even know who I am? There are going to be serious repercussions for you two. You’re taking a U.S. Senator hostage.”
Black looked at Hawk. “Should I knock him out cold so we can discuss how we want to handle this lying sack of shit?”
“Be my guest,” Hawk said as he released Joseph.
Black delivered a menacing blow that put the senator out. The two agents lifted him off the ground and placed him in a wooden chair. They secured his hands and feet and waited for him to wake up.
“You really think he’s lying?” Hawk asked.
“If not, we’re in a heap of trouble,” Black said. “But what do we know to be true after doing this as long as we have?”
“If it smells fishy, it is fishy.”
“That’s right,” Black said. “We don’t have time to be conned by a guy who’s made his living off swindling the American people in the name of public service.”
“Let’s wake him up then,” Hawk said.
Black snatched a mug off a nearby desk and returned a minute later with a cup brimming with water.
“Would you like the honors?” Black asked.
“All yours,” Hawk said.
Black splashed Joseph in the face, resulting in a disoriented awakening.
“What ha—where am
