Hawk watched a woman wearing a baseball cap push her way through the mass of people crowding near the front steps. Her long dark hair bunched in a ponytail emerged neatly from the back of her hat. As she navigated through the people, she didn't appear to offer even an occasional "excuse me" to those inconvenienced by her march toward the front. Her reward? A prime spot in the center about three rows back from where President Young was scheduled to begin speaking.
“Did you see her?” Hawk asked.
“Hard to miss her,” Black said.
“Think that’s her?”
Black sighed. “It’s tough to tell from this distance, but I’d say it’s more than a fifty-fifty chance that’s her.”
“That’s all I need to know.”
Hawk zeroed in on the woman, who cast furtive glances to both her left and right as he headed toward her. He considered utilizing his badge to break through the security line and approach her from the front, but he didn’t want to alarm anyone and set off a panic. Sneaking up front behind was the best approach for containment should anything go wrong.
“Watch her, Black,” Hawk said. “In case she bolts, I don’t want to lose her.”
Hawk marched steadily toward her, stepping over picnic blankets littered with food and drinks. Kids darted back and forth around their parents, engaged in games of tag. Vendors drifted aimlessly, shouting offers for glow sticks and cotton candy.
Hawk maintained a visual on the woman, her hat facing forward.
“I’m almost there,” Hawk said.
A bottle rocket launched skyward from the Capitol Building, startling Hawk. Instinctively, he looked up toward the source of the noise. When he glanced back down again, she was gone.
“Where’d she go?” Hawk asked.
“I lost her,” Black said. “When that firework exploded, she ducked down. And I don’t see her anymore.”
Hawk cursed as he scanned the area. When he reached the spot where she was standing, he looked down and saw a hat with a black ponytail affixed to the back. He picked it up and scanned the area again.
“She’s not wearing that hat anymore,” Hawk said, holding it up above the crowd.
“Damn,” Black said.
“Wait a minute. I think I see her.”
He spotted a woman about the same height moving quickly through the crowd, bumping people and drawing a few nasty looks. As she headed toward the fringe, Hawk hustled to keep pace. She darted down the sidewalk and across the street.
For a brief moment, she vanished from Hawk’s view. But he pumped his arms and broke into a full sprint to catch her. As he rounded the corner, he saw her crossing another street. He raced in her direction, juking past two cars that slammed on brakes in traffic. The drivers of both vehicles honked their horns and shook their fists at Hawk. He mouthed an “I’m sorry” to each one before spinning and charging after the woman.
When he rounded the corner, he found the woman sitting down outside of a coffee shop and petting the dog of another customer.
Hawk eyed the woman closely before sitting down at the adjacent table.
“Evening, sir,” she said.
He stared at her, his steely gaze potent enough to burn a hole in her.
“Did you need something?” she asked.
“What were you doing near the front of the crowd just then?” he asked. “I was watching you.”
“I know,” she said. “I saw you. She told me somebody would be.”
“Who told you this?”
"The woman who gave me that hat with the ponytail along with two hundred bucks."
Hawk studied her closely. “Do you make it a habit of doing random things for money?”
“What are you implying?”
“Relax. I’m not going to arrest you.”
The woman drew back. “Arrest me? What did I do?”
Hawk ignored her question. “The woman who paid you to do this—what did she look like?”
“I don’t know—dark complexion, dark eyes, dark hair, about my height.”
“Did she have an English accent?” Hawk asked.
“A hint of one.”
“And where did you meet her?”
“Out there on the mall,” she said. “She offered me the money if I’d just walk up to the front, look around, and then duck down and leave the hat before disappearing.”
“And you didn’t find that suspicious?”
She shrugged. “It’s two hundred bucks, man.”
Hawk pulled out his camera and snapped a quick picture of her.
“Hey,” she said. “What was that for?”
“I just need to verify that you are who you say you are.”
“Am I under arrest or something?”
Hawk shook his head. “No, but you need to know that the woman who asked you to do that is very dangerous.”
“Whatever, man. I’ll never see her again, but I got my money.”
She stood, but Hawk grabbed her wrist. "When did you see this woman?"
“About an hour and a half ago,” she said before wresting her arm free and then striding down the sidewalk.
He texted the woman’s picture to Alex and asked her to run it through the facial recognition database. Then Black buzzed in over the coms.
“You find her yet?” he asked.
“I did—and she’s already gone. Apparently, Evana paid her two hundred bucks to do what she did, just to mess with us.”
“I’ll take great pleasure in escorting her to Gitmo,” Black said.
“You and me both.”
In the distance and over the coms, Hawk heard “Hail to the Chief” playing.
“Better get back here,” Black said. “The fun’s just about to begin. The president is about to speak.”
Hawk dashed down the street back toward the mall. His wild goose chase had netted no actionable information other than Evana Bahar was still around—and she intended to wreak havoc.
CHAPTER 34
7:15 p.m.
PRESIDENT YOUNG GLANCED at his speech one last time before handing it to one of his aides. He remained hidden in the Capitol Building, away from the crowd that had swollen so large that officials were starting
