“No more than the Secret Service can. We’re dealing with a terrorist here, not a rational human being.”
Young nodded. “I know, and that's what worries me. What if I do all this and she still kills Olivia? Then what?”
“You can’t think that way,” Blunt said. “Besides, there’s a way to use this to eliminate Evana once and for all if you get her to agree to make the swap herself.”
“She'll never go for that.”
“You don’t know unless you ask. That’s why it’s called a negotiation. So, if you're going to do it, might as well do it all the way.”
“Thanks, J.D. Just get my little girl home safe.”
“Make the call. I’ll be in touch.”
After Blunt left, Young retreated to his office. He paced around the room, rehearsing what he was going to say to Evana. All he could think about was his daughter and how she was feeling. And the more he did, the angrier he became.
Finally, he picked up the phone and dialed her number.
“Have you changed your mind?” Evana asked after she answered his call.
“I want proof that Olivia is fine,” he said.
“Of course.” She called for Olivia, who took the phone.
Olivia’s frantic voice produced a flood of emotions in Young. “Dad, I’m okay. Please come and—”
“That’s enough,” Evana said. "Happy now?”
“You better not hurt her.”
“If you keep your side of the bargain, I wouldn't dare. But if you don’t, well, let's just say there will be a price to pay. Now, have you changed your mind and decided to work with me?”
“Yes, under one condition,” Young said.
“You really are negotiating, aren't you?”
“I didn't want to disappoint you.”
“What are your terms?” Evana asked.
“You personally collect Farzaad Shirazi.”
She was quiet for a moment. “Okay, but no games. I will have precautionary measures in place in case you do. Is that clear?”
“Crystal.”
“Good. You have six hours. I'll text you the location of the swap one hour before it's time. Don’t be late.”
Evana ended the call.
Young sat down as tears trickled down his face. What have I done?
CHAPTER 24
THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION headquarters morphed into a cybersecurity firm as Blunt invited more agents from the NSA, CIA, and FBI to dig deeper into the mystery of all the missing hackers. Alex's role shifted to oversee the growing number of experts and Mia. Meanwhile, Hawk worked with Blunt to formulate a plan to kill Evana Bahar during the prisoner swap.
“You really think we can pull this off?” Hawk asked. “We don’t even know the location yet. That’s putting us at a huge disadvantage.”
“Did you expect Evana to give us plenty of time to prep? She’s got her goals, and they don’t include getting killed.”
“Of course, but this whole op is making me nervous. It’s never easy to lose someone, but I can handle losing a soldier who knew that there were inherent risks with joining the military. However, losing a young woman who never wanted any part of this with her whole life ahead of her? That’d be tough.”
“In that case, let’s make sure we don’t have to find out how tough it really is.”
“Agreed,” Hawk said. “So, what’s the plan?”
Blunt clipped the end off a cigar before glancing at his watch. “Farzaad Shirazi is scheduled to land in Washington in about fifteen minutes. The CIA is going to prep him for the exchange.”
“Meaning what exactly?”
Blunt put the unlit cigar in his mouth and chewed on it. "They're going to put an isotope tracker in his blood. That way, we'll be able to follow where she goes."
“She’ll be suspicious, you know that.”
“That’s why they’re going to plant an obvious one in him as well. Once she removes that, she’ll be lulled into a false sense of security.”
Hawk shook his head. “We need to have contingency plans in case that doesn’t work. You can almost bet that she’ll be handling Olivia the same way.”
“We need to be prepared for Olivia to come out with a suicide vest strapped to her.”
“And if she does, how do you propose we handle that?”
“I’ve got an idea, but we’re going to need Alex’s help.”
Blunt sighed. “I don’t know if we can pull her away from what she’s doing now.”
“Why not? This should be top priority.”
“It should, but we have another matter that is just as pressing at the moment.”
“I haven’t heard about this.”
Blunt nodded as he worked over the cigar in his mouth. “Right before you came down, I got a call from one of my contacts at the NSA about something they found on the dark web a few days ago.”
“You’re just now hearing about it?”
"Unfortunately, that's the case. Someone found a conversation in one of the chatrooms on the dark web about a Washington takeover planned for the Fourth, promising to be quote-unquote epic.”
Hawk furrowed his brow. “A takeover? What does that mean?”
“An epic takeover,” Blunt said. “Since it’s hackers, I’m guessing it’s some kind of cyber system.”
“What then? Government websites? Satellites? Traffic system? Aviation systems? There are so many different possibilities.”
“That’s why we need all hands on deck to unearth this threat before it endangers thousands upon thousands of people’s lives.”
Hawk stood and paced in front of Blunt’s desk. “We need to find those hackers before this gets out of control.”
“You’re preaching to the choir, but there’s only so much we can do at this point,” Blunt said. “Right now, you focus on working with the CIA unit tasked with securing Olivia Young.”
“There’s too much going on right now,” Hawk said. “We need more help.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got Titus Black on his way back now. And he should beat the shipment of weapons to Virginia Beach and will be there to inspect them.”
“I know we’re in a staffing crunch right now, but I need someone with me at Olivia’s exchange.”
Blunt shook his head. “You need to figure out another way because I can’t spare anyone. Understand?”
Hawk
