“I’m not so sure,” Black said. “Sinclair might be using other means to manipulate Young.”
“You mean like the election?” she asked.
“Exactly. See if Clive Blackwood’s name is on any of those lists.”
“Yep, here it is,” she said, shaking her head.
Hawk stroked his chin. “So, Sinclair pays off Quinn with a sweetheart deal on a house in the Caymans and then has Young replace him with Clive Blackwood? That doesn’t seem like a smart move.”
“Maybe Quinn got greedy, threatened to expose Sinclair’s plan,” Alex suggested.
“But Quinn’s still alive,” Hawk said.
“For now,” Black said. “And Quinn would be exposing himself too if he tried to pull a stunt like that on Sinclair, not to mention the number of people on the list that Quinn would have to go through to make that information public. He’d run into brick wall after brick wall.”
“Never underestimate a scorned bureaucrat,” Hawk said.
Alex shut her laptop. “Well, this list makes it clear there are plenty of powerful officials with ties to Sinclair. That would explain how he’s been able to make Obsidian a nearly unstoppable force.”
“But to what end?” Hawk asked. “We still don’t know what his ultimate plan is.”
“We know enough to know it won’t be good, whatever it is,” Black said.
“That’s right,” Alex said. “And once we get Blunt out of this CIA black site, we only have one mission.”
Hawk mulled the revelation over as the trio rode in silence. He then turned to Alex. “I just remembered something.”
“What?” she asked.
“Do you still have all those names from all the people we connected to The Chamber?”
She nodded and opened her computer up again. “I haven’t looked at those files in a while, but I have them on here.”
“Cross-reference those with the Obsidian payoffs,” Hawk said.
Alex typed on her keyboard before responding. “Whoa. This is crazy.”
“What?” Black asked, leaning up from the backseat.
“I’d say at least forty percent of the people from our list that we suspected had ties to The Chamber are getting paid off by Sinclair,” Alex announced.
“That shouldn’t be a surprise,” Black said. “It’s not like those crooks straightened up overnight.”
“Of course, but it makes me wonder if The Chamber was bigger than we thought and they just reorganized,” Alex said.
“That’s what I’m thinking,” Hawk said. “And we know their end game was to bring all nations under a singular world order, controlling every financial market and every government from one central place.”
“That’d be the death of this nation as we know it if that happened,” Black said.
“And that’s why we can’t let this happen,” Hawk said.
Alex sifted through the names on her spreadsheet and then gasped. “Would you look at this?”
“What now?” Hawk asked.
“Guess who was on The Chamber list?” Alex asked, but she continued without waiting for a guess. “Clive Blackwood.”
“What about Quinn?” Black asked.
“Nope,” she said. “Quinn isn’t on there.”
Hawk sighed. “Sinclair is aggressively getting all his most loyal people in place.”
Black started checking his guns again. “I’m getting angrier by the second.”
“Take it easy,” Hawk said. “We still have time to take them down, but we’d better be quick about it.”
Hawk turned on the radio, hoping to squelch the conversation and subsequently Black’s ire. But that was a failed effort when the DJ came on and started talking about the situation in New Orleans.
“Thanks for spending your evening with us on 100.3-FM, Washington’s home for classic rock,” the DJ said. “But tonight I also want us to remember all the victims from the tragedy in New Orleans where so far one hundred and thirty-seven people are dead from the toxic gas leak from Zeus Chemical. We’re partnering with the Red Cross, and if you’d like to donate, you can go to our app and—”
Hawk turned the station, but the next one was a news channel.
“Officials are still searching for answers as to the cause of the Zeus Chemical leak that’s claimed the lives of one hundred and thirty-seven people so far. However, there were a handful of people who survived. And all of them lived in the new Freedom Homes built by Falcon Enterprises and billionaire magnate Falcon Sinclair.”
Hawk powered off the radio.
“Anyone think that’s a coincidence?” Black asked.
Hawk shook his head. He’d been around long enough to know that it wasn’t.
“I can’t wait to nail the bastard,” Black said.
“We’ll get to that soon enough,” Hawk said. “How about a little Paint It Black by the Rolling Stones.”
“I love the Stones. Crank it up.”
* * *
HAWK ANNOUNCED THAT they were within a mile of the facility, according to the coordinates Big Earv had given them.
“Make sure all those guns are hidden,” Hawk said.
Black chuckled. “For how long?”
“This is a simple snatch and grab,” Alex said.
“Simple?” Hawk asked.
“Just go get ‘em, counselor,” she said.
Hawk adjusted his tie and put on a pair of costume glasses as he pulled up to the guardhouse. He flashed his credentials, and the man raised the gate and then waved them inside. Once parked, Hawk and Black got out, leaving Alex to man the operation from the SUV.
“How are the coms?” Hawk asked as he approached the door.
“I can read you loud and clear,” Alex said. “Just make sure Black waits a few minutes before shooting anyone.”
“Stop worrying about a high body count,” Black said. “We’ll be fine.”
“Sorry, but I don’t share in your confidence,” she said.
“Trust us,” Hawk said.
“I wish I could,” Alex said. “But you’re both not exactly the most trustworthy when it comes to restraint.”
Hawk shrugged. “I won’t argue with that, but I can promise that we’ll be on our best behavior.”
“Until we get our hands on Blunt,” Black added.
“See,” Alex said, “that’s what I’m talking about.”
Hawk laughed. “Talk to you soon, Alex. We’re about to go in.”
They entered a cozy lobby and were quickly asked about the nature of their visit by a guard.
“We’re federal prosecutors,” Hawk said, “and we need to talk with one of your inmates.”
“It’s a little late for that,” one of the guards said. “Visiting hours ended thirty minutes ago.”
“We’re not
