R Patterson - The Shadow Hunter

Morgan’s assistant buzzed in to notify her boss of an incoming call. “Ma’am, Alex is on line two.”

“Thanks,” Morgan said as she stared at the blinking light on her office phone.

With Hawk in play and presumably armed with intel, she knew there was still a chance at mitigating the situation. But at the moment, Hawk was all alone. And his wife was on the other line, alone and concerned. Morgan didn’t want to talk to her, anticipating how unpleasant the conversation would be.

This is why you get the big bucks, Morgan.

“Good afternoon, Alex,” she said.

“I need you to start telling me what the hell is going on,” Alex said, talking hurriedly. “I got this message from Hawk and—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down, Alex. Take a deep breath and start from the top again.”

Alex sighed. “Where’s Hawk?”

“Right now, we don’t know his exact location, just that we believe he’s in North Korea.”

“And what makes you think that?”

“The phone he called us from was registered to a North Korean number,” Morgan said. “It’s unlikely that he got the phone while still in Russia.”

“And the phone’s location?”

“We couldn’t get a signal to figure out exactly where, so we’re still a little hazy on the details. Now, you said Hawk sent you a message, right?”

“Yeah,” Alex said. “And he never would’ve jeopardized the mission unless he felt like John Daniel and I were in grave danger.”

“What did he tell you?”

“That’s even more bizarre given that he’s in North Korea. Hawk passed along one of our coded messages that I was in imminent danger of being attacked by Andrei Orlovsky.”

“Well, I’ve got two of my best men guarding your property,” Morgan said. “You shouldn’t have anything to worry about.”

“Thanks but that doesn’t really put my mind at ease. Orlovsky has an ax to grind with us, and Hawk likely exacerbated the tensions between us and the Russian arms dealer.”

“Just relax. I’ll send over some more support if you want it.”

“I don’t think it’ll make much of a difference since Orlovsky’s men are probably already here. But I want to know when Hawk is coming back and what’s going on with him.”

“I’m not sure you do.”

“Morgan, I’m not playing games. Tell me what’s happening with Hawk.”

Morgan proceeded to explain Hawk’s circumstances to Alex. By the time the conversation ended, Alex was crying.

“We’re doing everything we can get to get him home safely to you and John Daniel, believe me,” Morgan said.

“But not until the mission is completed, right?”

“Nobody’s keeping him there,” Morgan said. “The mission we sent him there for is effectively over. But he’s staying there of his own volition. And if you trust him like I do, you have to assume that there’s a greater threat he’s identified. Otherwise, I know he’d be heading straight back to the ranch to be with you and John Daniel. However, the naked truth is that I don’t know what he’s up to. I’m just trying to trust him and help him in any way I can.”

“He never should’ve left,” Alex said. “Everything was fine the way it was. But now what am I supposed to do?”

Morgan drummed her fingers on the desk and closed her eyes, thinking of how to respond, trying to put herself in Alex’s shoes. Nothing to say that Morgan thought of could allay Alex’s fears.

“When we sign up for jobs like these, we never expect them to go south,” Morgan finally said. “But sometimes they do. However, I have faith in Hawk. And I know you do too. His situation may put you more on edge since you’re not the only one he might leave behind. But I think he’s been in a few scenarios far more dangerous than this, right?”

“Yeah,” Alex said with a sigh. “This just wasn’t what I had in mind.”

“Well, it’s not over yet. He’s still fighting and we’re going to do everything we can to help him succeed.”

They said their goodbyes and Morgan hung up. She ordered two more guards to get on the first flight to Billings to go help shore up the security around Alex’s property. At the very least, Morgan could give Alex a little peace of mind there.

Morgan asked her assistant to call President Norris. A couple of minutes later, Morgan was discussing the situation in North Korea with him.

“Sir, in light of what’s happening in North Korea, I thought I would give you a heads up on something,” she said.

“I’m listening.”

“We have an operative in Sonbong right now,” she said.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. We don’t know much at the moment. He was in Russia trying to retrieve a former Navy SEAL who was supposedly dead, but we found out he was still alive, perhaps still in a Russian prison.”

“Then how did your agent end up in North Korea?”

“We intercepted a message that the Russians were strong-arming the Navy SEAL into delivering a code to North Korea. At the time, we didn’t know much about it or its significance. But now that we know there’s activity in Sonbong, I don’t think this is any coincidence.”

“But you’ve lost contact with your asset?”

“Yeah, he had to go dark,” Morgan said. “But he’s promised to reconnect with us as soon as possible to update us on the situation, as well as get us the coordinates to get a special ops team in there to help him.”

“Sneaking a special ops team into North Korea right now? Are you out of your mind? I don’t want to know about anything else, unless you succeed.”

“We could stop an attack before it starts, sir.”

“And what if he gets caught? Then what? He’ll be paraded around for the world to see as another reason to distrust the United States”

“Of course, sir,” she said. “I just thought I’d let you know that we still have a chance of stopping this thing before it starts, though I’m still not sure how good of a chance it is.”

“I’ll be looking forward to our next call,” Norris said.

Morgan thanked the president for his time and said goodbye.

She shared Norris’s apprehension and stared at her phone, hoping it would hurry up and ring with news of Hawk’s whereabouts as well as his state of mind. Meanwhile, hers was becoming more of a mess by the minute.

Uncle J.D. never warned me about this.

She dialed her uncle’s number and waited for him to pick up. After a few rings, her face fell as his voicemail message started playing.

Sonbong, North Korea

HAWK CROUCHED LOW in the woods just off the shore and watched for any sign that the Navy SEALs would arrive on time. While they were trained to be punctual, Hawk had learned that flexibility was imperative in situations like this. Aside from fluctuations in the tide or current, any number of problems could arise when navigating foreign seas. Enemy ships, equipment malfunction, an unexpected fog—they were all part of the variables that could change in a second and leave Hawk twisting in the wind.

He checked his watch. The team was fifteen minutes late, which now meant he was officially worried.

Hawk had been able to find another phone and alert Morgan at the Magnum offices about what was going on. He briefed them on his needs as well as giving the exact location where to send the help, all by speaking in code. Then Hawk called Alex to warn her more directly as well as promise her that he’d be back. He hated making those types of promises, but he figured if he broke it, he wouldn’t have to worry about being in the doghouse because of it.

He glanced at the time. The SEAL team was now twenty minutes late, which moved him beyond just worried and inching toward outright panic. Without anyone to assist him, Hawk had only a small chance of returning home, much less completing his mission. He’d been in plenty of dire situations before, but this one felt different. There were no safe houses nearby to seek refuge. There were no CIA assets to smuggle him out of the country. He was truly alone—and he felt it.