R Patterson - The Shadow Hunter

The half-hour drive to Sonbong passed quickly as Hawk and Tyson reminisced about their time in training as well as how becoming fathers had changed them.

“Did you know being a father would be so difficult?” Hawk asked.

“Difficult?” Tyson asked. “With one kid?”

“You don’t know John Daniel.”

“Well, if he’s anything like his old man, I could see it being a challenge. My boys are wild, but that’s nothing compared to having a daughter. Women cry over everything.”

Hawk laughed. “I do remember that women crying was your kryptonite. One tear just welling up and you’d give defense secrets to China.”

“That’s a little bit of a stretch, but an accurate assessment of my disdain for tears.”

“That’s how Sheila got you to marry her, didn’t she? A couple of tears one day when you tried to break up with her and then you ran out and bought a ring.”

“Also false, but plausible.”

The two men shared a hearty laugh.

“But as emotional as Sheila and Sam are, I still love them to pieces,” Tyson said. “I’m hoping that there will come a time when I can return home safely and I’ll be able to watch Sam grow up. I really just want to walk her down the aisle.”

“Marriage?” Hawk said. “You’re already thinking about your daughter getting married? Samantha’s only what? Fourteen now?”

“Yeah, she’s a teenager and that time goes by fast,” Tyson said. “And when you’re living in the middle of nowhere missing your family, you’ll think about anything if it’s related to your family, anything to stay sane—even if it hurts to do so.”

Tyson’s tone turned more somber as he slowed the SUV.

“Okay, we’re coming up on the drop point at the harbor,” Tyson said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen here, but be ready for anything. And if you can help it, wait until they’ve notified the Russians that the code has been received. If my family’s life is hanging in the balance, I don’t want the Russians to think I sabotaged this drop.”

“Roger that.”

Hawk steadied his breathing as he felt the vehicle come to a stop. He struggled to hear the conversation between a guard and Tyson. After a brief moment of silence, a different man began speaking with Tyson. The man’s tone was much more authoritative, leading Hawk to believe Tyson was talking with a higher-ranking officer.

Hawk heard the hum of the automatic windows as the vehicle began to move again.

“So far so good,” Tyson said. “I’ve been directed to drive along the harbor to the military entrance.”

“Is that where you’re supposed to deliver the codes?” Hawk asked.

“Yes. Now sit tight. We’re approaching the next guard station.”

Hawk didn’t move during the prolonged discussion between Tyson and the new guard. After a few moments, Hawk heard footfalls just outside the rear of the vehicle, followed by a bright light that penetrated the blanket he was under. A tapping sound on the window made Hawk wonder if he was about to be discovered before it stopped. The light also vanished.

As the SUV began to move again, Tyson updated Hawk on what was happening. There was a warehouse that Tyson needed to visit first.

“Just stay put,” Tyson said. “Once we leave this compound, I’ll let you out and you can figure out how to deal with this situation. Just be patient a few minutes longer.”

When they reached the warehouse, Tyson exited and walked away. Hawk listened as the footsteps faded and then stopped. A man began shouting at Tyson, who attempted to explain himself. Hawk made out something about the codes.

Tyson pleaded with the man before the sound of an intense beating commenced. The scuffle lasted a few seconds before Hawk heard what sounded like a body hitting the pavement.

Hawk shouldn’t have been surprised given what he knew about how ruthless the North Koreans were, but Hawk couldn’t help but think the situation was a setup from the beginning. The Russians had seen a way to keep their hands clean of the situation, while also giving the North Koreans a gift of a U.S. citizen involved in espionage. North Korea would be able to leverage Tyson for whatever purposes they desired—and they’d also be able to activate the nuclear warheads they’d received from Russia.

Hawk couldn’t find anything good about the situation, especially since he was hidden in the back of the vehicle. Without any advance knowledge on what the location was like or even where the codes were now, Hawk was flying blind again.

Moments later, two men walked near the vehicle. One of the men told the other one to take it somewhere and to search it before cleaning it out.

Hawk estimated the soldier drove for about three minutes, making various turns. As he did, Hawk took careful note of each one in hopes that he’d be able to return to the scene. Once the vehicle came to a stop, the man was whistling as he encircled it. After he began cleaning out the interior, Hawk waited for his chance. It’d have to be swift, his aim true. With the element of surprise still on his side, he liked his odds.

When the tailgate swung upward, Hawk dove headlong into the man’s midsection, knocking him to the ground. The man grabbed hold of Hawk’s shirt, tethering the men as they rolled for a few feet. When they came to a stop, Hawk was on the bottom. He scrambled to regain the upper hand, something he succeeded at after a brief tussle. Sitting on top of the man, Hawk delivered a throat punch. When he gasped for air, he let go of Hawk, who darted behind the man before breaking his neck. The man crumpled to the ground.

As Hawk caught his breath, he looked around the area. He hadn’t had any opportunity to analyze the locale before, but now he surmised he was in an impound yard of some sort, probably one belonging to the military or at least controlled by it. Vehicles lined a chain-link fence, some of which had clearly seen better days almost a lifetime ago. Rust covered a portion of most of the cars along with patchy snow and ice.

Hawk dragged the man’s body beneath one of the nearby cars before taking his uniform. He also confiscated the man’s phone and dialed into a secure line before delivering a code message to Magnum.

“I found the package but misplaced it,” he said. “I’m hoping you will send someone over to help me find it. I’ll be home tomorrow night at eight o’clock and will send the address later.”

He needed help but wouldn’t know what to do with it—at least not yet anyway.

Hawk realized he couldn’t keep the cell phone. Once the soldier was confirmed missing, they would use his cell phone as a way to find him. And Hawk didn’t know when that would be. He switched the phone’s language to English and sent a text message to Alex.

code red - orlovsky

They’d developed a quick way to communicate if they believed the other person was in danger. Code Red meant a hostile could be approaching. Hawk knew Alex could hold her own, but that didn’t lessen his concern. Under his breath, Hawk said a little prayer for her and John Daniel.

Hawk smashed the phone with his boot before swapping out a license plate on Tyson’s car. He needed to determine a safe place to base his operations and then figure out a way to get that message back to headquarters. And he didn’t have much time to do it.

The mission had changed and the stakes had been raised.

Los Angeles

MORGAN STARED AT THE report a staff member had just handed her detailing Hawk’s message. Her team had determined that the package was Eddie Tyson, though they weren’t sure if misplaced meant dead or captured. As for the rest of it, he clearly needed a special ops team to help him, which would be challenging given the situation brewing in the Pacific.