Young retreated to his office and shut the door. He paced as he weighed his next move. While he could announce Blunt’s capture at any time, Young didn’t have any interest in a trial. Hiding Blunt away until after the election was the best possible move. However, the rest of his team needed to be apprehended immediately.
Young sat down and dialed the number for John Pembroke, the deputy secretary of Homeland Security.
“Mr. President,” Pembroke said, “it’s an honor to speak with you today. How can I be of service?”
“I was calling for an update on all the names I gave you,” Young said. “Have you captured any of them yet?”
“I’m afraid we haven’t located any of them yet. It doesn’t appear that they’re even on U.S. soil.”
“Dammit. Someone must’ve warned them somehow.”
“I wish I had better news to report, but we’re working on it,” Pembroke said. “Earlier today, I spoke with several people at Interpol about enlisting their help.”
“You think they’re in Europe?”
“Based on their connections and past behavior, that makes the most sense.”
“Keep me apprised if there are any changes,” Young said. “I want to know the minute they are found.”
Young hung up and sighed. He could feel the pressure building, and he didn’t like any of his options.
Where are you, Brady Hawk?
CHAPTER 20
Paris, France
HAWK PULLED INTO a spot at the Vaugirard Hospital parking garage less than two miles away from the Pasteur Institute. He glanced over at Alex, who had already changed into her physician’s coat. She fished out their two identification badges from her pocket and handed Hawk his card.
In the backseat, Sterling tested the coms on his laptop. “We’re so close, I can almost feel it.”
“I wish I shared your confidence,” Alex said, adjusting her red-haired wig. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned so far about Falcon Sinclair it’s that if he were going to be named after an animal, an eel would be more appropriate.”
Sterling chuckled. “I’d always thought of him as more of a slug.”
“Definitely slimy enough,” she said. “But he moves far too fast to get caught easily.”
Hawk studied his face in the mirror, sagging eyes with more pronounced crow’s feet than he’d ever noticed before. He finger combed his hair and caught Sterling watching.
“Getting old is never easy,” Sterling said with a faint grin, “but you get used to it.”
“What are you trying to say?” Hawk asked.
Sterling shrugged. “Nothing in particular. Perhaps I’m just sharing a timeless truth, a nugget of wisdom from an agent who’s had ten more years in the field than you have.”
“I’ll file that away for later,” Hawk said. “In the meantime, did you double-check to make sure our profiles are still in the hospital’s security system?”
“You’re both in there as ER doctors,” Sterling said. “If you get any feedback from the guards, tell them you’re new and push them to let you through. Keep your coms as well as your camera on at all times so I can see and hear what’s happening in case you run into any problems.”
“Roger that,” Hawk said before he glanced at Alex. “You ready?”
“Let’s roll.”
They walked into the lobby and headed toward the emergency room. Flashing their badges to the nurse at the triage desk, she leaned forward and squinted.
“Venez ici,” she said in French.
Alex and Hawk obeyed the command, drawing closer to the woman.
“I’m not familiar with either of you,” the nurse said in French.
“We’re new,” Alex said. “But our shift is about to start and we’d appreciate it if you would let us get to work.”
“I don’t see you on my schedule, Dr. Dubois. I’m going to need to check your badges against my administrator’s roster.”
“We just started yesterday,” Alex said.
The woman snatched Alex’s badge and studied it, keying in the numbers at the bottom. While Alex’s file popped up on the monitor, the nurse continued to hunt on her computer.
“Is there a problem?” Alex asked.
“Yes, there is, Dr. Dubois. You’re not on any schedule for today.”
Hawk remained calm. He turned his head and covered his mouth as he spoke into his coms. “A little help here, Sterling.”
“Give me a moment,” Sterling replied.
“Keep stalling,” Hawk whispered behind Alex.
As the two women continued to discuss how and why Dr. Dubois wasn’t listed on the schedule, a voice over the intercom interrupted them: “Docteur Dubois et Docteur Chartrand, on a besoin de vous aux urgences.”
The nurse sighed and nodded at the door before buzzing them through. They both hustled inside, not wanting to give the nurse a chance to change her mind.
Alex, who was more fluent in French, took the lead. She approached the triage nurse and picked up a chart.
“Do you have the patient list?” Alex asked.
“Right here,” the woman said, trading clipboards with Alex. “You must be new to our department because I haven’t seen you before.”
Alex offered her hand. “Yes, I’m Dr. Dubois and this is Dr. Chartrand. We’re visiting doctors from Geneva.”
“Welcome,” the nurse said with a warm smile.
Alex responded in kind. She returned her attention to the clipboard and ran her finger down the list in search of Sinclair’s room number.
“Perfect,” she said and handed the clipboard back to the nurse.
Alex resumed her trek down the hall with Hawk matching her stride for stride.
“He’s in room 119,” Alex whispered.
However, they both slowed as they neared Sinclair’s room. Two armed men stood posted outside the door.
Alex stopped an orderly walking by and asked him if it was normal to see men with guns in the emergency room. The man shook his head as he kept walking.
“I’d just stay away,” he called out over his shoulder.
Hawk made eye contact with one of the men, who glowered back. He raised his sleeve and said something
