R Patterson - The Shadow Hunter

“I’m okay,” Alex said as Hawk answered.

“Thank goodness,” he said. “But did you get a visit from one of Orlovsky’s men?”

“Yeah,” she said. “He eventually came around the property.”

“And?”

“He’s dead.”

Hawk paused. “Did you kill him?”

“In a manner of speaking,” she said. “I more or less helped him to his death by tossing him over the upstairs balcony.”

“Orlovsky has to think you’re dead or he’s going to keep coming around.”

“I’ve already been thinking about how I’m going to stage the picture of my death before I send the confirmation image back to Orlovsky.”

Hawk chuckled. “I should’ve known better than to even suggest that to you. Of course you’re already on it.”

“And based off your voicemail, you’re all right too, aren’t you?”

“Big Earv and I made it out, but there’s still more work to do.”

“Like what?”

“We need to hunt down whoever’s leaking sensitive information. Three Navy SEALs are dead as a result, and if we hadn’t gotten a little lucky, we would’ve missed our chance to sabotage the nuclear warheads.”

“Well, I’m glad I didn’t know about everything as it was happening,” she said. “I’ve at least been sleeping some of the night.”

Hawk waited a moment before responding. “I need you, Alex.”

“What exactly do you mean by that?”

“I mean, if I’m going to do this, I need you helping me.”

“So you want to keep working for Magnum?”

“I do, but I know how you feel about it. Can we at least talk about it when I get back?”

“Sure. We can have a conversation,” she said. “But right now, I’ve got a dead body to clean up. And I need to let Morgan know what went down here tonight.”

“Of course,” Hawk said. “See you soon.”

Alex dialed Morgan’s number, waking her in the middle of the night.

“What is it?” Morgan asked groggily.

“We’ve got a mess out here at our ranch, and we’re going to need some help covering it up.”

Los Angeles

A WEEK LATER, Hawk and Alex joined the Magnum team in their underground headquarters to discuss the operation as well as the fallout from North Korea’s attempted launch of nuclear weapons. Despite the attempt by rogue actors within the U.S. military to provoke North Korea by going beyond what President Norris commanded, the tensions seemed to ease. All U.S. Naval ships had returned to their usual patrolling routes, and Kim Yong-ju was no longer rattling his saber, undoubtedly humbled by his failed attempt to strike at the U.S.

Hawk wore a sling to help with his recovery, though he only used it due to Alex’s insistence that he did. He received a raucous ovation when he entered the conference room with Alex.

“Please,” Hawk said, holding up his good arm, “this isn’t necessary. I was just doing my job, which happened to be something completely different than what I was supposed to do.”

As the clapping subsided, Hawk and Alex found a pair of empty seats located next to Morgan, who was seated at the head of the table.

“I can’t thank the two of you enough for what you did for this country,” Morgan said. “If my uncle knew what you did, he’d be proud of you.”

“He’s probably chewing on a cigar right now and fishing,” Hawk said. “I doubt he even knows how closely we came to war.”

“It’s just as well that he didn’t,” Alex added. “If he thought the world was this tenuous, he’d come out of retirement and kick you out of your chair, Morgan.”

Morgan offered a thin smile. “He’d have a tough time moving me from here.”

Hawk was certain that she meant that too. Magnum was her show, her fingerprints all over it. The thought of J.D. Blunt returning to his post was enough to make Morgan’s good-natured self vanish, if only for a moment.

Morgan clasped her fingers together, resting them on the table in front of her. “I’d like to start off by saying that I’m grateful for every single one of you today. This was a total team effort that required us all to be at the top of our games in order to succeed. Dr. Z’s inventions, Mia’s hacking skills, Big Earv’s bravery in piloting a boat into enemy waters with no way out, Alex’s help with another semi-related project, and of course Hawk’s ability to adapt on the fly and stop an imminent attack on the U.S. that would’ve undoubtedly killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Americans. Whether you were analyzing data, developing operational tools, or doing the heavy lifting out in the field, you all contributed to Magnum’s success.”

“Only we didn’t get Eddie Tyson home,” Hawk said. “That was the primary objective.”

“But it doesn’t matter,” Morgan said. “The fact that we prevented a war should be good enough for you, Hawk.”

He sighed. “It is, but I can’t stop thinking about Tyson and his young son who needs him. He’s stuck in a North Korean prison somewhere, being treated like garbage. We can’t just leave him there. If it hadn’t been for him, we’d likely already be at war.”

“We can’t just go into North Korea on a reconnaissance mission,” Morgan said. “We have to get word from someone about where he might be before I authorize an extraction team.”

Hawk slapped the table with an open palm. “It shouldn’t be that way. We can’t treat people who’ve sacrificed everything for their country like this.”

Morgan’s eyes widened as she cocked her head to one side. “We’ll go back for him when we can. In the meantime, we’ve got plenty of other unresolved issues going on here.”

“I’d say everything looks resolved to me,” Big Earv said with a chuckle. “North Korea is blaming Russia for sabotaging their warheads, which you have to admit was hilarious when one of them changed course and took out an entire aircraft carrier.”

Mia giggled. “That was me.”

“And using a device I designed,” Dr. Z said with a grin.

The two bumped fists as Big Earv continued.

“Apparently, all those Navy SEALs that Hawk ran into were wearing FSB gear and had fake Russian names and passports.”

Mia shifted in her chair as she started typing on her laptop. “Hawk, are you sure they were Navy SEALs?”

Hawk nodded. “Sure as I’m sitting here. The Reaper has too many unique tattoos. And I ought to know since I stared at them half the night during our training. He slept on the bunk next to me and snored louder than a freight train. Now that I think back about it, it’s truly amazing I ever got any sleep around that man.”

“Well, if you’re that sure, would you be willing to visit him?” Mia said.

The Magnum team stared at Mia in disbelief.

“You found him?” Morgan asked.

Mia nodded and smiled. “And he’s not that far away either.”

“Let’s go get him,” Hawk said.

Alex glanced at him. “You’re not in any condition to go bring the Reaper in.”

“I don’t have to do it by myself. Besides,” he said, shirking off the sling, “this thing’s just for show anyway.”

“Excellent,” Morgan said. “Hawk, Big Earv—I need the two of you to put together an operational plan and have it on my desk by the end of the day.”

“Roger that,” Hawk said.

“We’ll handle it, ma’am,” Big Earv said with a wink.

As the team started to file out of the room, Morgan remained in her seat. She grabbed Hawk’s arm and told him and Alex to remain behind. She repeated the order to Mia.

When only the four of them remained, Morgan stood. “I think we all know how unnerving it is that someone leaked information about our operation to someone that paid a rogue team of mercenaries to kill their own countrymen. I don’t know who’s behind this, but I want you guys to figure it out for me. Hawk, you’ve got an expansive knowledge of potential suspects. Mia, you have the technical skills to trace a digital leak. And Alex, you’ve got the kind of analyst skills that, quite frankly, are missing at this organization. I think the three of you can figure this out on your own. Agree?”