Hawk’s interrogation had reached three hours. No water. No food. No break. Nothing but a relentless barrage of questions and psychological torture techniques that left him aching for a break. He could only imagine what Alex had endured, wherever she was. The moment they arrived at the military compound, the guards separated Hawk and Alex.
Over the years, he’d suffered through more than his fair share of hostile interviews from enemy combatants. Some of those “talks” required intense physical stamina just to stay conscious, much less stay mentally sharp to avoid giving up critical information. Alex had gone through the same training Hawk had, but riding out the harsh words from a man you knew and would smile and shake your hand once the exercise ended was different than being detained in a Russian prison.
A Russian officer strode in front of Hawk and glared at him. “What are you doing in Russia?”
Hawk shook his head and stuck to the script. “I’m a businessman. Our plane must have had a navigational malfunction. We were supposed to be headed to Morocco. I can show you the flight plan.”
The man held up a sheet of paper. “Is this what you’re referring to?”
Hawk leaned forward to read the words on the page. For instances just like this one, he always carried a fake flight plan.
“I think that’s it,” Hawk said as he squinted.
“This,” the man said, holding up the document, “was what we retrieved from the cockpit after we put out the fire. It is a flight plan for Perm from Washington, D.C. Now, would you mind answering my question truthfully this time: What are you doing in Russia?”
“I’m not a pilot, sir,” Hawk said. “I got on a plane that I thought was headed to Morocco but apparently took a turn. I don’t know if there were navigational problems or what. All I can tell you is that I went to sleep and when I woke up, the plane door was open and we were in a free fall. I grabbed a parachute and my partner, and we dove out the door, hoping for the best.”
The Russian officer broke into laughter. He looked around at the other men while pointing at Hawk.
“Did you all hear this?” the man said in Russian. “He expects me to believe that he’s Tom Cruise starring in a Mission Impossible movie.”
All the men chuckled, some of them shaking their heads at Hawk’s claim.
“You better hope I’m not like Tom Cruise,” Hawk said.
The man stopped and cocked his head to one side. “And why’s that?”
“Because in the end, I’ll escape and you’ll be dead.”
The officer shrugged. “Hopefully we’ve made more progress with your partner. But either way, it’s nice to see an attractive woman around here. My men hardly know what to do with themselves when we get one.”
Hawk lunged at the man but was restrained by the ropes around his wrists.
“That’s right, Mr. Hawk. Get angry. Try however you wish, but understand that I’m in control here and you are powerless to do anything about it.”
“You lay a finger on her and I’ll gut you myself,” Hawk said with a growl.
“Yet you’re not in a position to do anything. What kind of relationship do you have with her anyway?”
“You’re the one who seems to know so much about me, including where I was flying to. Why don’t you tell me?”
The man turned on his heels and strode toward the door. “Goodbye, Mr. Hawk. I hope you enjoy our lovely accommodations here tonight. You need to get used to them because you’re going to be here a while.”
“Don’t you touch her,” Hawk said again, leaning forward in a failed attempt to run after the Russian officer. Instead, Hawk crashed headlong onto the floor, skidding to a stop.
The guards standing around him laughed as they stared. After a moment, two of them helped Hawk get upright again before ushering him into a prison cell. The sound of metal clanking together echoed down the hallway. Hawk stumbled toward his bed, his entire body weakened from the lack of sleep and sustenance.
Hawk stared at the ceiling, his mind consumed with how Alex was doing. All was quiet for a few minutes, giving him the kind of peaceful moment that he didn’t desire. He wanted to know everything that was going on. If he could at least hear her, he would know if she was still alive and how they were treating her. The silence was deafening.
When the sun beamed through the slits from the small rectangular window near the ceiling, Hawk awoke. He wasn’t sure how long he’d slept. Despite his concern for Alex, he’d passed out from exhaustion, unable to keep his eyes open.
He sat up and rubbed his face, his head pounding from a headache.
A guard strolled by his cell and dragged a stick across the bars. “Time to get up, American scum. We have a lot planned for you today. And what you do will determine if it’s your last day with us.”
“You might release me?” Hawk asked.
The man chuckled and shook his head. “No, I will put a bullet in your head if I’m given permission. And I’ll enjoy it.”
Another guard hustled over to the door and opened it. He gestured for Hawk to leave the cell.
“What’s happening to me?” Hawk asked. “I need to know. And I need to know about my partner.”
“Don’t you worry about her,” the first guard said. “You’ll see her soon enough.”
Hawk shuddered at the reply. All he wanted was a gun in his hand and enough munitions to take out every one of the smug Russians stalking about the military compound, foreign relations be damned. Their innuendos regarding Alex made him sick—and furious.
Less than a minute later, the guards led Hawk into a common area,
